Delve into the
thrilling first installment of the all-new Skye Druids series by New York
Times bestselling author Donna Grant, where magic reigns and danger
abounds.
Skye isn’t just an
island. It’s a home. A refuge. But not to Elodie MacLean. Not anymore. Tragedy
tore her world apart and then took the one thing she felt made her whole. She
vowed she’d never return, but that’s exactly where she ends up. Now, surrounded
by the ghosts of her past, Elodie must navigate her version of Hell and try to
make peace with herself and her family. But someone or something doesn’t want
her on Skye, and she finds herself attacked—and this time not by her personal
demons.
Scott Ryan has a
mission: uncover who has been killing Druids and why. When his quest takes him
to the beautiful Isle of Skye, he doesn’t think anything could captivate him
more than the land itself—until he lays eyes on the breathtaking and confident
beauty his leader sent him to find. However, it’s clear that she has trust issues,
and he can’t reveal his plans—at least, not yet. But he’s always been sure of
his ability to sway a person, and she’s a challenge he's more than happy to
accept, especially when he finds he will do anything to protect her.
With so much history
and so many secrets, victory is anything but guaranteed for the couple and
their allies. And the forces at work, those who wish to rule the Scottish isle
and all those who reside there, have a plan that nobody will see coming.
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Iron Ember Excerpt
Chapter
One
She was back.
It was the last place
she wanted to be but the only place she had to run to.
Elodie threw open the
curtains. Dust danced in the air, the sunlight catching it. She stared out the
dirty window to the sea beyond. Skye. The home she’d proclaimed she would never
leave because she loved it so fiercely.
It was also the place
she had sworn to never return to.
And yet, here she was.
“Bloody hell,” she
murmured as she turned her back to the window and looked over what remained of
the furniture from her parents’ cottage.
Her gaze slid to the
hearth where echoes of children’s laughter clung to the stones. Her mother had
made the best hot cocoa. After playing for hours outside in the winter, Elodie,
her elder sister, Edie, and her brother, Elias, would sit before the fire with
steaming cups of cocoa and her grandmother’s strawberry scones.
Elodie squeezed her
eyes shut. She wanted to hold onto the lighthearted memories, but the other
ones were always on their heels—the ones that had altered all their lives,
throwing them into chaos.
She blew out a breath
and focused on the clutter and mess before her. The dust was so thick that she
knew she would end up with respiratory problems for days if she didn’t take
precautions. And it wasn’t as if she could use magic to prevent it.
Returning to Skye was
like walking through one of Dante’s nine circles of Hell. Elodie didn’t know
how she would survive being back on the island. If only she’d had somewhere
else to go. Anywhere else. If she still believed, she would think Skye
had interfered and brought her back.
“If that’s the case,
then my magic wouldn’t be gone, now would it?”
It was hard not to be
bitter and angry about her life. She owned her decisions, but she had been on a
different path. Then, everything had imploded with the force of a nuclear
explosion.
When she looked around
after, everyone just went about their lives as if her family hadn’t been rocked
to its core. As if she and her siblings hadn’t had their blinders ripped off
with such force that it’d changed all three of them in one heartbeat—their
innocence gone in the blink of an eye.
Corann had tried to
help, but the old Druid hadn’t been able to reach any of them. And Elias had
left. Elodie still hadn’t forgiven him for leaving her and Edie to navigate the
churning waters of their society. Elodie might have been the youngest, but she
was the one who’d ended up taking care of Edie. Her sister had the kind, gentle
spirit of their mother. Elodie had lashed out and turned to drinking and drugs,
but Edie had gone into herself.
Elodie walked through
the main area of the cottage and past the kitchen to the hallway. Pictures of
their family still hung on the walls. Snapshots of a happy life that had hidden
the rot beneath. She stopped at one where Edie smiled brightly with a cake and
lit candles before her. Maybe Elodie hadn’t been the one to take care of Edie.
They had leaned on each other, clinging to one another and struggling to keep
their heads above water. It was only because of her sister that Elodie hadn’t
sunk too deeply into the hard life. She’d known she had to be there for Edie.
And in the end, they’d kept each other afloat.
Until Elodie hadn’t
been able to stay another minute on Skye.
Fifteen years. It
seemed like a lifetime, but it was much too soon to be back. Nothing would keep
her on Skye longer than necessary this time. Not her sister. Nothing. Skye had
annihilated her family. It had destroyed her. How Edie could remain on the isle
was a mystery. And Elias? All Elodie could hope for was that her brother had
found some semblance of happiness. They all deserved it.
Elodie forced herself
to walk to each room, but she couldn’t manage to go inside her parents’. She
stood before the closed door as screams and shouts from that horrible day
filled her head. Elodie backed away and turned on her heel. How in the world
would she stay in the cottage? Sleep just feet from where it’d all happened.
“I can’t,” she stated
with a shake of her head.
Elodie grabbed her
purse and the single bag that held her measly belongings and started for the
door. Then she remembered why she was on Skye.
“Fuck!” she yelled and
fought the sudden urge to release the scream of frustration that welled up.
She wasn’t a crier, but
everyone had their breaking point. She forced the tears back and dropped her
bags. The only way to get on with her life was to take her sister’s offer. All
Elodie had to do was clean up the cottage so they could sell it. It was a good
deal. Elodie had the place to herself instead of sleeping on the sofa at Edie’s
crowded house with her sister’s kids and husband. And all without having to pay
any sort of rent.
Since Elodie was
homeless and jobless and had less than two hundred pounds to her name, it
really was a blessing. At least she’d thought that until she arrived on Skye.
Even driving around the island had made her chest constrict. Her anxiety rose
with every mile. Then she’d arrived at the cottage. It had taken Elodie half an
hour to work up the courage to actually walk inside.
“Maybe I deserve this
torture,” she said aloud. “I didn’t exactly live a good life.”
This was supposed to be
her chance to start over. To travel the path she’d been on before she got
derailed.
“Fine. Let’s do this.”
She opened the door,
then went to all the windows and opened them despite the frigid temperatures
and the threat of rain. The dust had to go somewhere, and the sooner she got it
out of the house, the better. Elodie started in the bedroom she had once shared
with her sister. She carefully folded the bed linens from each twin bed and
dumped them outside. Thankfully, Edie had given her fresh sheets, pillows, and
blankets.
Next, she found an old
towel and used some cleaner to wipe down the walls and window, sweeping the
cobwebs from the corners before vacuuming the carpet. Only then did she bring
in her bag and purse.
Elodie wiped her face
with her arm and made her way to the main area. Someone had placed sheets over
the furniture. She slowly and carefully folded them, but there was so much dust
that some still escaped. The pile joined the bed linens outside. On her way
back inside, she smiled as she saw the dust wafting out the windows. Hopefully,
most of it would land outside instead of back in the house.
The smallish living
area didn’t take long to wipe down. The windows would take more than one
cleaning. She didn’t want to touch the outside yet. That was a whole other
matter entirely. Her first priority was to get the inside clean enough that she
could locate any repairs that needed to be addressed. Only after she did that
would she tackle the outside.
The old cottage was too
quiet. Elodie pulled out her phone and put on her favorite playlist as she went
back to cleaning. She kept moving, which helped to keep her warm. There was a
brief shower, but she didn’t bother closing the windows. The house needed to be
aired out to get rid of the musty smell. She suddenly froze, the hairs on the
back of her neck lifting. Slowly, she straightened from scrubbing the bathroom
counter and looked at the doorway. No one was there. At least no one she could
see.
A chill raced down her
spine. With the sponge still in her gloved hands, she walked into the hallway.
She glanced at her parents’ room, then looked the other way. Elodie slowly made
her way to the kitchen. Her gaze landed on a tall, gorgeous man with black and
silver hair, standing next to a pretty female with red hair.
The man was a Fae. It
seemed there was no escaping them anywhere, but they hadn’t been allowed on
Skye in decades. At least as far as she knew. What was he doing back?
“Hi,” the woman said.
Elodie swung her gaze
to the female. She looked close to Elodie’s age, and something about her seemed
familiar.
“You don’t remember me,
do you?” the woman asked with a smile.
Elodie shook her head.
It was unnerving that people already knew she was on the isle. Worse that they
remembered her when she had done everything to forget Skye and everyone on it.
“I don’t.”
“You’ve been gone
awhile. I’m Rhona.”
In an instant, Elodie
remembered Rhona and her cousin, Sorcha. They used to come over occasionally.
She had always liked both girls. Elodie glanced at the floor, slightly
embarrassed for the harsh welcome she had given them. “Of course.”
Rhona looked at the man
beside her, love shining in her eyes. “This is Balladyn.”
“A Fae,” Elodie said
before she could stop herself.
Balladyn inclined his
head of long hair. His eyes were silver, but she saw a ring of red around them.
“Reaper, actually.” His voice had an Irish lilt.
Reaper. Elodie wasn’t sure what that
meant.
“We wanted to welcome
you back and see if you needed anything,” Rhona said.
Elodie shifted her feet
nervously. Did they know she’d lost her magic? “That wasn’t necessary.”
“You’re one of us,”
Rhona said with a soft look. “We look after our own.”
Resentment threatened
to choke Elodie, and she had to remind herself that she shouldn’t direct her
anger at Rhona. She hadn’t been any older than Elodie back then. Corann was a
different matter. “Corann sent you?”
A frown moved over
Rhona’s face so quickly that Elodie almost missed it. “We lost Corann. I’ve
taken his place.”
“Oh.” Damn. She
should’ve had Edie bring her up to date on things. Then again, Elodie hadn’t
wanted to talk to any Druids, so she had made sure not to take an interest in
anything. “Honestly, I won’t be here long. As soon as I get the place fixed up
and sold, I’m leaving.”
Rhona’s green eyes
narrowed slightly. “That’s a pity. We could use you.”
No one ever had use for
her. Elodie glanced at Balladyn to see that the Reaper’s gaze hadn’t moved from
her. It was unnerving to have him watch her in such a way, and yet she didn’t
feel threatened. “It’s for the best.”
“Why don’t you come for
tea later this week? We can catch up,” Rhona said.
Elodie’s plan to keep
to herself was rapidly disintegrating. She liked Rhona—or at least the person
she had once been. It wasn’t in Elodie’s nature to be outright rude, but Rhona
would likely ask questions that Elodie wasn’t prepared to answer. And she was
tired of lying. “I’m no–”
“Please don’t decline.
Think it over.” Rhona smiled. “Please.”
Well, bugger it. “I’ll
consider it.”
Rhona’s smile was huge.
“Great. And if you need any help, we can get this place together quickly.”
The offer was so
tempting that Elodie nearly took it. If they did, she could leave Skye that
much quicker. However, if she agreed to Rhona’s offer, it would inevitably lead
to those pesky questions she was intent on dodging. “Thanks, but I’ve already
made good headway today.”
“At the very least, let
me fix the leaking roof,” Balladyn said.
Her gaze snapped to
him. The roof was leaking? She glanced around but didn’t hear any dripping.
Then a drop landed on top of her head. This might be a bigger project than
she’d thought. She faced him and forced her tight lips into a smile as her
stomach churned with anxiety. “I would appreciate that.”
“It’s done,” he said
with a bow of his head.
“Thank you.”
Rhona flashed another
smile. “It’s good to have you back. I hope you’ll consider the tea.”
Elodie held her smile
until the two of them suddenly disappeared. She blinked and frowned. Balladyn
must have teleported them out. At least the leak was fixed. She looked up at
the ceiling and spotted the water damage.
“I’m going to be here
forever,” she grumbled.
Donna is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over a hundred novels. Her most popular series is the breathtaking Dark King (aka Dragon King) series featuring dragons, immortal Highlanders, and the Fae.
In addition to her novels, Donna has written short stories, novellas, and novelettes for digital-first and print release. She has been dubbed as giving the “paranormal genre a burst of fresh air” by the San Francisco Book Review. Her work has been hailed as having “deft plotting and expert characterization” by Publisher’s Weekly and “sizzling” by RT Book Reviews.
She has been recognized with awards from both bookseller and reader contests including the National Reader’s Choice Award, Booksellers Best Award, as well as the coveted K.I.S.S. Award from RT Book Reviews.
Donna travels often for various speaking engagements, conferences, and book signings. She is also a frequent workshop presenter at national conferences such as RT Book Lovers Convention and Thrillerfest, as well as local chapters.
Born and raised in Texas, she also has ties across the border in Louisiana. Growing up with two such vibrant cultures, her Cajun side of the family taught her the “spicy” side of life while her Texas roots gave her two-steppin’ and bareback riding. She is never far from her faithful 80 pound dog, Sisko, or her cats. She can often be found at the movies or bookstore. Or buying makeup. And shoes.
https://donnagrant.com/
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