Page 10 of After Midnight (Skye Druids #7)

Chapter Eight

He was losing her.

No , that wasn’t exactly true. He had lost her years ago.

Kurt watched the door swing closed behind Sabryn . He wanted to call out to her. Run after her. He hadn’t in DC , and it had cost him everything. Few got a second chance. Why waste it? He stood, his chair scraping across the tile.

But he didn’t get anywhere as Elias , Finn , and Carlyle got to their feet, making it clear they wouldn’t allow him to go after Sabryn . Kurt watched what was likely his last opportunity go down the drain. And he only had himself to blame.

The sight of Sabryn withdrawn and guarded was unbearable.

Especially after years of easy, fun banter between them via text when she hadn’t known the truth.

He had hoped… Yet he had known in his heart this would be the outcome.

It was why he hadn’t told her sooner. If hiding behind a screen was the only way he could be in her life, he had been happy to take it. Now , that was gone.

“ Go after her,” he told the men.

Elias shook his head. “ She just needs a minute.”

“ She’s going to pack her things,” Kurt replied.

Finn frowned. “ She wouldn’t.”

Kurt blew out a breath. “ It’s what she does when she closes off. I invaded her space. Her family. She doesn’t feel safe here anymore.”

“ Elias ,” Bronwyn called softly.

He looked down at her beseeching face before his gaze darted to Carlyle and Finn . The three left the kitchen together.

Kurt looked at the table. He thought about the few moments of comradery he had shared with the Knights . As stilted and tense as it had been, it had been as great as he had known it would be. But he didn’t belong here—not at the manor, not with the Knights , and not with Sabryn .

He dipped his head to the others at the table. “ Excuse me.”

“ Where are you going?” Bronwyn asked as he stood.

They would stop him if he told them he was headed to Parker . So , he told them what they wanted to hear. “ I’m going to stay somewhere else. Sabryn shouldn’t be driven from those she loves.”

“ There’s that cottage we’re working on,” Filip offered.

Scott nodded as he looked from his friend to Kurt . “ That’s right. You can stay there.”

“ That’s a perfect solution,” Elodie said.

Kurt tried to smile but couldn’t quite get his lips to move. Not only was it somewhere they knew, but it was also warded, and would tell them if he left. But he had no choice but to accept. “ I appreciate the offer. Thanks .”

“ The keys are in the car,” Scott said, pushing his chair back to stand.

Kurt slid his gaze to Song . She hadn’t said anything, but she watched everything. “ Tell Carlyle the meal was as delicious as I imagined it would be.”

“ You didn’t eat much,” she stated.

He glanced at his plate, which he had only taken a few bites from, and then left the kitchen to find his boots in the library.

He sank onto the couch to put them on, wishing he had remained in the room instead of venturing out.

A rumble of thunder broke the silence as he pushed to his feet.

As he turned to leave, he spotted his rucksack propped against the door.

The front door opened, and Scott came in, shaking the rain from his dark hair. He spotted Kurt in the library and altered his direction.

“ Here you go,” he said, holding out the key.

Kurt jerked in surprise when Balladyn suddenly appeared beside him. “ Fucking hell,” he muttered.

“ Those won’t be needed,” Balladyn told Scott and reached for Kurt .

There was no chance to get away. One moment, he was in the library. The next, he was in a cozy living room with rain beating on the roof and a fire popping in the hearth. He turned his head as a woman with long, red hair walked into the room carrying a book and a cup of something that steamed.

Her green eyes locked on him. “ Hello , Kurt . I suppose you know who I am.”

He glanced at Balladyn , who remained beside him, and nodded. “ You’re Rhona , leader of the Skye Druids .”

“ Thank you, baby,” she said as Balladyn walked to her and bent to press a kiss to her mouth.

“ Anything for you,” he murmured.

Kurt looked away to give them a moment, clasping his hands behind his back and studying the pictures on the mantel. Unease settled unpleasantly in his stomach. He wasn’t sure if he was about to be berated, trounced, or booted off the isle. Maybe all three.

“ Please , sit,” Rhona bade and sat in a comfortable-looking chair beside the couch.

Kurt walked around the coffee table to the sofa as Balladyn stood near the doorway. Kurt lowered himself onto the edge of the cushion and looked at Rhona .

“ Would you like some tea? Coffee , maybe?” she offered.

He shook his head. “ No , thank you.”

“ We’ve located your brother.”

With everything that had just happened at the manor, Kurt had momentarily forgotten about Parker . Rhona’s statement brought everything back. He rested his arms on his knees and clasped his hands. “ Who has he hurt in the fifty hours I slept?”

“ No one,” Balladyn answered.

Kurt jerked his head to the Reaper before sliding his gaze to Rhona . “ That’s …unexpected. And not his usual operating procedure.”

“ We thought it odd, as well,” Rhona agreed. “ If he was here to hurt Sabryn and lure you out, why hasn’t he done it? Or at least tried? Granted , she hasn’t left the manor, so that could be it…”

Kurt squeezed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger as he closed his eyes.

“ I’ve not had any contact with my family for over six years.

” He dropped his arm and met Rhona’s gaze.

“ They shouldn’t have been able to find me.

No one finds me if I don’t want them to.

But Parker did. He’s stubborn and relentless, but he’s not smart enough to know how to locate me. ”

“ Who is?” Balladyn asked.

There was only one person. “ Diana .” Kurt sat back and shook his head. “ My mother always had grand plans for creating an empire. She trained us to be exactly what she wanted and needed since birth.”

“ Heirs ,” Rhona murmured.

Kurt nodded. “ In more ways than one.”

“ When did you deviate from her plan?”

“ DC .” Even saying it aloud was agonizing.

His world had begun and ended in the city. He had seen two futures for himself: the one Diana wanted, and the one Sabryn offered. It hadn’t been a choice at all.

Rhona took a drink of her tea before holding the mug in both hands. “ What happened?”

“ I met Sabryn .”

“ And ?”

Images of the past flashed in Kurt’s mind, one after the other, like a slideshow.

Sabryn laughing, Sabryn teasing, Sabryn falling asleep on his chest in the middle of a movie.

“ We had amazing chemistry from the moment we met. I fell for her hard. We were inseparable. At least until her father’s accident.

Then I …” He drew in a breath at the painful memories. “ I wasn’t there when she needed me.”

“ And then?” Rhona pressed.

Kurt stared into her eyes. “ I went home. I tried to call her. When she wouldn’t answer, I got on a plane. But she was gone by the time I got there.”

“ So , you looked for her,” Rhona guessed.

He winced and nodded. “ It’s far too easy for hackers to find someone.

When I realized she was in London , I wrongly thought she was there for me.

I couldn’t get home fast enough. Within thirty minutes of landing, I realized my folly.

She wanted nothing to do with me. No matter how many times I told myself to let her go, I couldn’t.

I looked for a way to get back into her life.

That came when she and Carlyle met. I knew of him from our mutual association with the London Druids .

I used my connections to get my name—well, my hacker name—in front of him.

And , as I expected, the Knights reached out when they formed. ”

Balladyn grunted. “ And you had your way in.”

“ Yet you never told her who you were,” Rhona said. “ Why not?”

“ I wanted to prove that I was worthy. That I was on her side. But as the weeks turned to months and then to years, that became increasingly difficult.”

A red brow arched. “ All of that just to tell her you were sorry for not being there for her? We both know there’s more to the story.”

Kurt pressed his lips together and silently scolded himself.

Had he really thought no one would piece it together once it was all laid out?

He didn’t ask how they had figured it out.

It didn’t matter. He was tired of carrying it around.

Tired of the burden that was eating away at his soul.

No matter who he told or whether he could make it right, there was no absolution. Not in this life nor any other.

They needed him to fill in the blanks. But he couldn’t. Not yet.

“ You’re right. There is more,” he admitted. “ And I’ll share all of it with you. But I must tell Sabryn first. I don’t want anyone else imparting the information before I do.”

“ We won’t share it,” Balladyn stated.

Rhona nodded. “ It will stay between us three. But we need to know.”

Kurt shook his head. “ I owe her that much.”

“ I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but you must understand where I’m coming from.” Rhona set her cup on the table beside her. “ I have a London Druid leading ten Edinburgh Druids , and they have come to my home to do harm. I cannot—will not—sit by and wait for something to happen.”

“ Parker knows I’m here. If I don’t get to him soon, he will strike,” Kurt warned.

Balladyn shrugged a shoulder. “ All the more reason for you to tell us what we need to know.”

“ What’s your plan?” Rhona asked. “ Just hand yourself over to your brother to be taken home?”

Kurt ran a hand over his jaw. “ It’s the only way I can get him to leave.”

“ Not the only way,” Balladyn said.

“ You forget I know exactly how stretched thin everyone is. This isn’t a fight you need to take on. There’s nothing they can do that would make me give up any secrets,” he argued.

Rhona rolled her eyes. “ Don’t be stupid. Of course, there is.”

“ Then wipe my memory. I know some can do it. I’ll do whatever it takes to protect you.”

“ He’s telling the truth,” a female voice said from behind Balladyn .

Kurt tensed as a woman with curly, auburn hair walked around the Reaper .

“ Forgive us, but we had to know,” Rhona told him.

For the first time in days, Kurt smiled. “ I didn’t even think of that. I’m glad you did.”

“ This is Reaghan ,” Rhona said. “ She’s from MacLeod Castle .”

He went still. He was in a room with one of the Druids from MacLeod Castle ? The surreal moment would be branded in his brain forever.

“ He spoke the truth,” Reaghan said as she walked to the couch and sat beside him, turning her body toward his. “ Mostly .”

Kurt started to argue, but she held up a hand.

“ I detected something when you spoke about DC ,” Reaghan replied.

The words died on Kurt’s lips.

“ I think it’s time you told us what happened,” Rhona said. “ As I promised before, this will stay between those in this room until you tell Sabryn .”

“ Not just Sabryn . I should tell the others, too,” Kurt said.

Rhona dipped her head. “ Deal .”

Before Kurt could start, Balladyn held out a tumbler filled with whisky. Kurt accepted it with a nod of thanks and tossed it back before he began.