She’d snapped it at just the right moment. When you enlarged the photo, it was easy to see. Aifric was fingering a tiny silver ball with veins of red running through it. I’d seen one of those before – Charlie had tried to give me one. It was filled with poison.

‘I was a fool,’ I said. ‘I thought it was the Kincaids who hated me, the Darrochs too. But it turns out that Aifric Moncrieffe is an excellent actor. William Kincaid was collateral damage. And so was Lily.’

‘What about his son? Byron, is it?’

Something clutched at my heart. ‘I don’t know. I don’t think he’s involved but I can’t be sure. I can’t be sure of anything any more.’

‘I found out a lot when you were gone,’ Lexie admitted. ‘The Moncrieffes are destitute because Aifric’s been forced to pass a lot of money to some of the other Clans. He’s been doing it for years.’ She swallowed. ‘Ever since Clan Adair.’

‘Bribes. To cover up whatever it was he did.’

‘You think he’s responsible for what happened with your father?’

I shrugged helplessly. ‘It seems that way.’

Speck shifted. ‘The vast majority of the Clan-less don’t give a flying bejesus what happens with the Sidhe but…’

Taylor broke in. ‘But anyone who met Gale Adair has nothing but good things to say about him. No matter what he might have done.’

My eyes flew to his. ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’

‘If you’d dwelled on your life with the Sidhe, I would have. But you wanted to forget that part of you had ever existed. You were just a kid, Tegs. You needed to heal. If you didn’t want to know, then I wasn’t going to stir up the past for you.’

I understood the sentiment. But while I might have needed Taylor’s protection when I was eleven years old, I certainly didn’t need it now. My world had been turned on its head and nothing would ever be the same again. ‘Did you find anything at the Adair lands, Brochan?’ I swallowed. ‘At my lands?’

He took a moment before answering. ‘There’s definitely still evidence of an immense battle. Old scorch marks, rubble that no-one’s cleared up. That kind of thing. It’s been too long though. I can’t say what happened with any certainty.’

Speck looked at me with dark, worried eyes. ‘He’s going to know you’re still alive. He’s not going to stop trying to get rid of you. I don’t know what his reasons are, but with the Foinse out in the open and no issue any more with the magic, he has no cause to keep you alive. Especially now that you know he tried to kill you.’