Instead of going to The Skillet for breakfast, Asher and I went back to his farm, taking the hidden rear entrance of course, to share the news with his granddaddy and his mom.
I found out what grits were—very tasty by the way—and I found out why Granddaddy had installed the underground perimeter defense to his property so many years ago.
“I grew up in the old country hearing stories of the Sidhe—or Fae folk—from my da and his da. Of course I never took any of it too seriously,” he said. “That is until shortly after I moved to Deep River and bought this land and started clearing it for farming. I was felling a tree when a group of folks come walking through the woods, all dressed fine as you please, not like a hunting party or hikers. I told them hello and asked where they were going. They walked right up to me, not a one of them smiling. When they got close I felt sort of afraid, you ken, because they didn’t look normal. They were fiercely beautiful. And some of them had on jewelry with strange symbols—like on that pretty ring of yours. I’ll never forget the look of them. I was a bit frightened, like I said, but I told them ‘hello’ again, trying to be hospitable.”
“They probably didn’t understand you,” I offered. “The Light Elves don’t speak aloud as we do.”
“Oh, they understood me well enough, lass—they had no interest in being neighborly. One of the three males in the group asked me what I was doing—more like he demanded to know. I explained I was clearing the land to farm it. And he said something about how it was typical of ‘humans’ to think they own the world and to alter it for their own selfish purposes. Well, by this time, I was getting pretty heated. I started to argue with him—I bought the land with my hard-earned money, and I needed to farm it to make a living. Then another fellow stepped forward.”
He stopped and cut his gaze over to Asher. “Had the bluest eyes I’d ever seen in my life—like turquoise sea waters. He asked if I might consider leaving a swath of land untouched at the back of the property so he and his people could maintain their traditional traveling routes to and from a certain destination they had to reach every ten years. Well, it all sounded like mad daftie talk to me. I was about to tell him so when he said something that chilled me to my bones.”
“What was it?” Asher asked, enrapt.
“He said, ‘You would be wise to make this small concession, for the sake of your beautiful daughter.’”
Granddaddy passed a hand over his face, drawing a shaky breath. “Jenna was only eight years old at the time. She loved to play outside and run around and explore the property. Before that day I’d always thought of it as the safest place she could possibly be. I wasn’t going to take any chances. I agreed to leave the woods untouched at the back of the property, and they went on their way. I started digging the trench that day—right inside the tree line. I wasn’t sure if it would work or not, but it was the only thing I could think to do, short of moving. I’d sunk my life savings into the land—it was supposed to make a future for my family.”
“And it worked?” Asher asked.
“It did,” Granddaddy paused. “... for the most part.”
“It still does, apparently,” I said.
Asher wore a smug grin. “I don’t think Culley will be too eager to come back for seconds. If he does—or if he sends someone else—I’ll be ready for them. I’m going to talk to the guy down at the gun shop about making me some pure iron buckshot.”
“He won’t be back,” I said. I was sure of it. I’d seen it in his eyes.
I wasn’t the right person for Culley—I couldn’t save him—from Audun, or from himself. And deep down inside, he knew it. In spite of the cocky threats he’d thrown at Asher, he had already let me go.
I only hoped—for his own sake—he’d eventually let someone else in.