Page 31 of After Midnight (Skye Druids #7)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

The morning was cloudy, with dark clouds drifting overhead and hinting at rain.

The flowers Bronwyn had planted were blooming, showcasing vibrant colors and drawing bees and butterflies alike.

Sabryn wished this could be a relaxing day of doing nothing but sitting with nature.

Instead , she slowly made her way around the outside of the manor, strengthening wards by adding her magic.

The pain in her neck built until she couldn’t handle another second of it.

She leaned her head to one side and then the other, hearing it pop.

It alleviated the ache for a few seconds before it returned.

She needed sleep and her special pillow, or her neck would only get worse.

But there wasn’t time for a nap—not that she would be able to rest. How could she, with Edie’s threat still looming in her mind?

Not to mention that the manor had been breached, and, of course, the kicker— Finn’s unauthorized tats.

She , like everyone else at the manor, was exhausted. Going a night without sleep was hard but doable. Doing that for several days in a row was simply unfeasible. Perhaps that’s how the evil intended to win the war.

Once she finished her warding, Sabryn leaned against the corner of the house to rest. She was desperate for a candlelit soak in a bath, sipping wine and reading on her eReader as her favorite cello playlist drifted through the speaker.

But she’d take changing out of her clothes, brushing her teeth, and a warm meal.

She should return inside the manor and see what else she could do to prepare for the next attack.

The longer she was involved in this war, the more she wondered how they would win.

It felt as if the enemy had every advantage.

Yet the Skye Druids had won several times in the past, and they would figure out how to do it again.

Voices reached her, and she strained to hear if it was Kurt .

She hated the disappointment she felt when she didn’t hear his deep timbre before the voices faded.

She tried not to look for him but found herself searching for him anyway.

Still , she hadn’t seen or heard him since he’d left her room earlier.

But she wouldn’t ask anyone if they had run into him.

They might think she cared. Which she didn’t.

At least, she didn’t want to care.

It was impossible to draw a line in the sand with Kurt when there was so much outside interference.

She couldn’t discount the years he had been a Knight or the lengths he had gone to for each of them time and again—without ever asking for anything.

Those thoughts inevitably led her to consider their numerous—and frequent—text exchanges.

He had been a trusted friend, just as Carlyle , Finn , and Elias were.

One of her boys.

Her family.

She had accepted that Saber wished to keep his identity secret and never pressed him for information about his past. She wished she could welcome Saber as Kurt . She wanted to, but the past she carried and the one she had learned from him wiped away any chance of that.

What she hadn’t told the boys was that she had considered Edie’s demand because it was easier to leave than be around Kurt and the constant reminder of what they’d had and his involvement in her father’s death.

She wanted him to know how it felt to love someone so much, only to have them vanish without a word.

But she stayed because it wouldn’t just be Kurt she hurt.

She owed it to everyone who had been fighting alongside her to continue.

Sabryn lifted her head when she heard footsteps crunching on gravel. She both hoped it was Kurt and prayed it wasn’t. She held her breath until Finn came into view.

He searched her face as he stopped beside her. “ You look like you’re carrying the weight of the world.”

She shrugged. “ There is a lot going on.”

“ Do you think it’ll ever end?”

“ Sometimes , I wonder.”

They shared a wry smile before he pressed his back against the manor beside her. “ I know you’re going to ask, so let me put your mind at ease. I don’t feel the tats.”

“ I was going to ask,” she said with a chuckle.

“ I’ve been thinking about why Edie wanted you and Kurt off the isle.”

She looked at the sky, watching a gray cloud drift past. “ Come up with anything?”

“ Only that you two must be important for her to want you gone.”

“ Or they want us to think that.”

He rolled his head to her, piercing her stare with his deep brown eyes. “ You’re a wind talker.”

“ I am. And you’re a Bleeder . What of it?”

“ Why didn’t you say anything when we learned about the pillars? You could be the sky pillar.”

Sabryn snorted. “ Just because I can hear the wind doesn’t make me the speur .”

“ That’s the Celtic word,” Finn mused. “ I couldn’t remember it. I think you should see if you are the speur .”

She turned toward him, bracing her shoulder on the stone. “ All right. Let’s say I am. We figured out the sky pillar is somewhere at the Fairy Glen .”

“ That’s right.”

“ We were there. I didn’t feel any kind of call to it. Wouldn’t you think I would be drawn to it if I were the speur ?”

Finn flattened his lips and sighed. “ I don’t know. How often did Ariah go into the forests before realizing she was the earth pillar?”

He had a point there. Ariah was a forest child, but even she didn’t know she was the talamh .

“ You know I’m right,” Finn said as he faced her.

“ Let me get this straight. You think I’m the speur pillar because Edie wants Kurt and I off Skye ?”

Finn grinned and crossed his arms over his chest. “ Why not?”

“ Then how does Kurt fit in? You can’t say he’s the water pillar, because he isn’t a water dancer.”

“ I’ve not figured out how he fits into it all yet, but I will.”

Sabryn gave him a crooked smile. “ Because neither Kurt nor I are part of this, other than as backup.”

“ You’re not even going to consider it?”

“ There’s no point. Besides , I’m not from Skye .”

He pulled his head back, frowning. “ What does that have to do with anything?”

“ Ariah was raised on Skye . Kirsi was raised on Skye .”

“ You think the water and sky pillars will also have been raised on the isle?”

She quirked a brow. “ You don’t?”

“ I think we’re all called to fight this evil. It doesn’t matter how or why we answered the summons. It could be any of us.”

Their phones buzzed at the same time. Sabryn pulled out her cell and saw a text from Kurt .

I found Parker .

“ Well , I know what we’re doing next,” Finn said eagerly.

Sabryn looked up from her screen, a pit in her stomach. “ When did he leave?”

“ He didn’t. He’s been working out of one of the attics.”

“ I didn’t see him.”

Finn twisted his lips. “ He was with me warding the house. He made it a point to keep his distance.”

“ Oh .” She should be happier about that than she was. Why did everything have to be so confusing when it came to Kurt ?

“ You have a right to be upset about what happened in DC ,” Finn said.

Sabryn should feel justified by his statement. Instead , all she felt was confused and torn.

“ No one will blame you if you stay behind.”

She scoffed and pushed away from the stone. “ Not likely. I have a few choice words for Parker .”

Finn wore an easy smile as they walked together to the cars. He gave no hint that what had occurred with the mist bothered him, but Sabryn knew it was all an act. She let him have his secrets for now—just as he let her have hers.

By the time they reached the Range Rover , Carlyle , Song , Elias , and Bronwyn were already there. Carlyle tossed her the keys to the SUV . She caught them in midair. Kurt strode out of the manor just as she headed for the driver’s side. Their gazes met, and he drew up short.

“ I can ride with Sabryn ,” Carlyle offered.

She stopped him with a look. “ Don’t be silly.” She motioned to Kurt and said, “ Get in.”

Sabryn felt Finn’s gaze as he climbed into the passenger seat.

She started the engine as Kurt shut the door and put on his seat belt behind her.

She looked in the rearview mirror and saw him opening his laptop and typing something.

His brow was furrowed, the lines cutting deep from the many hours he spent frowning.

“ Where to?” she asked.

He didn’t look up as he said, “ Head east.”

She put the SUV in reverse and backed up before heading down the winding drive with Elias following. Once she reached the main road, she headed east.

“ I take it he isn’t at the hotel,” Finn said, turning to look at Kurt .

Sabryn glanced in the rearview mirror to see him shake his head.

“ I’m not sure where he is,” Kurt muttered.

She frowned at his tone. “ What’s bothering you about this?”

He finally looked up, his baby blue eyes meeting her gaze in the rearview mirror. “ He’s not trying to hide his location.”

“ Maybe he thinks he killed you,” Finn offered.

Sabryn shook her head and adjusted her hands on the steering wheel. “ Parker has to know by now that Kurt’s alive.” She asked Kurt , “ How did you locate him?”

“ His mobile.”

Finn’s eyes widened. “ He didn’t turn off the location services?”

“ Seems not,” Kurt replied.

Finn sat back. “ Trap , then?”

“ Possibly ,” Sabryn agreed.

She caught Kurt’s gaze in the mirror. “ But it might not be a trap.”

“ You think my brother’s dead?” he asked.

Sabryn shrugged. “ Why else would he allow himself to be found?”

“ Maybe he doesn’t think we’ll come after him,” Finn offered.

Kurt rolled his eyes. “ He was always full of himself. And he might think that. But he’s not trying to mask his location.”

That bothered her, too. If he was working with Edie , it stood to reason that she would hide him. Unless she wanted him to be found.

Sabryn slowed and pulled over on the next road she found. “ We need to talk this out with the others.”

She put the vehicle in park and turned off the ignition, pulling out the map of Skye from the center console. They all walked to the back of her SUV to wait for the others.

“ What’s going on?” Elias asked as he exited the other vehicle.

Sabryn opened the map and laid it across the hood of Bronwyn’s older Range Rover . “ We need to do a tracking spell.”

“ To see who’s with Parker ?” Song asked.

Sabryn shook her head. “ I want to make sure Parker is where we think he is. He isn’t attempting to hide, nor has he left the isle. That doesn’t make sense to me.”

“ Because he’s working with Edie ,” Carlyle said.

Finn leaned a hand on the vehicle. “ We know she helped him, but that’s all we know for sure. It could’ve been a one-time thing.”

Elias pulled a face. “ He isna going to tell us anything. And even if he does, we can no’ believe it.”

“ I’ll get my brother to talk,” Kurt replied.

Sabryn tapped the map. “ First thing’s first. Let’s see if he shielded himself.”

“ Why would he shield his location with magic but not turn off his mobile?” Bronwyn asked.

“ Because that’s the kind of stupid shit Parker does,” Kurt answered.

The seven of them gathered around the map and laid their linked hands upon it.

They began chanting. The locator spell was complicated and took years for any Druid to master.

Their combined magic made it not only easier but also faster.

Sabryn stared at the map as they chanted.

It wasn’t long before a flash of red like a flare popped up, indicating Parker’s location miles from his phone.

Then the flare faded, and another flashed on the opposite side of the isle.

Then another, and another. There was one more before things went silent.

“ Well ,” Kurt said. “ It’s safe to say he shielded himself.”

Elias grunted. “ That doesna tell us if we’re walking into a trap, though.”

“ I think it’s safe to assume we’re always walking into a trap,” Finn pointed out.

Carlyle nodded and gazed out toward the ocean in the distance. “ We shouldn’t assume Parker has remained on Skye . That map is only of the isle.”

“ But that was seven of us using magic,” Song said. “ I think we were close to locating him, shielded or not. I believe he’s still here.”

Kurt nodded. “ Me , too.”

Sabryn folded the map. “ Then how should we proceed?”

“ If he set this ruse, he’ll no doubt expect us to come at him as we did in town,” Finn said.

Elias grinned. “ Then we split up.”

“ I like this,” Carlyle said. “ It’s worked for us in the past.”

Kurt nodded eagerly. “ Then let’s give it a go.”

“ All right,” Sabryn said. “ Carlyle , come with us. I’ll drop you and Finn off so you can walk to where Parker’s phone pinged. Elias , come up behind him with Bronwyn and Song . I don’t want anyone alone.”

They piled into the vehicles and returned to the main road to resume their journey.

Sabryn always got nervous before a battle.

The moment she stopped feeling anything was the day she ceased fighting.

This wasn’t just any skirmish, though. This was Parker .

The man who had killed her father and attempted to end Kurt’s life.

Parker was the kind of enemy who made stupid mistakes like not turning off his phone’s tracking. But he was also the kind of foe who occasionally displayed brilliance—like aligning with Edie . He was a wildcard in the purest sense of the word. Anything and everything could go wrong.

Her phone dinged with a text. A heartbeat later, so did Kurt’s , Finn’s , and Carlyle’s .

“ It’s Rhona ,” Carlyle said.

Sabryn should have told her what they had planned. It might be better if they had descended upon Parker as a whole, but not this time. She glanced at Finn next to her. “ Tell her what’s happening but add that we have it under control.”