Aifric spent most of his time at the Cruaich, as befitted the Steward of the Highlands, but this was still his ancestral home. That meant it was Byron’s home too – so why was he was sneaking away from Perth simply to return to his own damned house?

I was forced to stop again after Byron paused at the border. It was too dark to tell for sure but this time he seemed to get out of his car. I watched, worried that new guards had been posted there now that all the trolls had vamoosed. If that were the case, I’d have to be more than careful ‒ I’d have to be the luckiest damn woman alive to tail him up to the main building. There was nothing obvious, however, other than a flare of light which was extinguished quickly. A torch, perhaps?

Unwilling to drive right through the Moncrieffe border – or even close to it now that there might be prying eyes scanning the landscape ‒ I parked near a copse of trees and walked the last part. The driveway wasn’t as long as those at the Adair or the Scrymgeour Lands and I could see the lights of Byron’s car as he continued on his way. He didn’t go to the Moncrieffe castle but halted halfway. Maybe that was where everyone was supposed to park.

Aware that we were now some way back, I hurried towards the border with Bob on my shoulder. Unfortunately, this time we were without Speck. Although I understood how passing through individual Sidhe Clan borders worked in theory, I wasn’t convinced that I could manage it in practice, not without preparation. I couldn’t even call my warlock buddy for help; the signal at the Adair Lands was too weak to receive calls. All the same, I wanted to give crossing the border a shot. My curiosity was too great to turn back now.

When we were less than fifty feet away, I slid towards the bushes at the side of the road. We were in the middle of nowhere so there was little light, something that was working in my favour. I hunched and tiptoed forward. I couldn’t see any flickering shadows but that didn’t mean there wasn’t anyone there and it didn’t ease my tension. I moved faster and gradually got closer to the border. There weren’t any people ‒ but there was something there.

I stopped at the edge of the border, remaining still for a long moment, as I scanned up and down for any sign of life. I knew from the puddle of fabric at my feet that I wasn’t going to see anyone; Byron hadn’t stopped and got out of his car for a chat with a family servant, he’d got out to bring down the Moncrieffe flag. No doubt he’d done so by sending up a pyrokinetic bolt so the flag fell to the ground without Byron putting a single foot across the border. That was the little flare I’d seen. And he hadn’t stopped there; Byron had apparently made use of his second Gift as well, lifting up the flagpole to remove it entirely from the spot that controlled the border itself. It now lay uselessly on its side.