Page 40 of After Midnight (Skye Druids #7)

Chapter Thirty-Five

The wind was all around her, mild at times, and fierce—almost angry—at others.

But no matter how hard Sabryn listened, it didn’t talk.

Panic thumped against her ribs as her mind raced and her stomach churned sickeningly, putting her into fight-or-flight mode.

Only Kurt’s comforting hold grounded her.

She stopped and closed her eyes. Her chest was heavy, making it difficult to breathe past the scream swelling within her. Kurt said nothing as he moved in front of her once more. She felt his presence and eagerly reached out with her other hand. Her palm connected with his chest as he moved closer.

Solid . Steady . Unfaltering . She should’ve realized he was Saber . Maybe a part of her had. Sabryn drew in a shaky breath and opened her eyes. His pale blue orbs were locked on her, a small frown furrowing his brow.

“ You’re the sky pillar,” he stated.

Her stomach roiled with dejection and the last bits of hope that faded like the stars at dawn. “ I … I thought I might be. I was drawn here.”

“ You’re the only wind talker we have. It has to be you,” he insisted.

She swallowed and looked away. “ I can no longer hear the wind. I haven’t since we encountered Edie at the cottage.”

“ Something must be blocking you. Like the Ancients are being blocked.”

“ The Ancients spoke through Ferne . They got into my head. They’re not as blocked as we were led to believe.”

He gently turned her back to him. “ Think about the lengths they had to go to in order to reach Ferne and you.”

“ I thought you didn’t believe it was them.”

“ But you did,” he reminded her.

Sabryn sighed and shook her head. “ I don’t know anymore.”

“ Why are we here?”

“ I don’t know that either. I didn’t even realize I was headed here until I parked.”

He rubbed his hands up and down her arms. “ You were drawn here. That has to mean something.”

“ It means I was hoping I might be the sky pillar. I didn’t know I wanted it until I learned I wasn’t it.” And did that ever make her sound pathetic?

Kurt covered her hand on his chest with his. “ Everyone wants to be special. And you are.”

“ Don’t worry. I’m not going to fall to pieces. You don’t have to try and bolster my ego.”

“ I never imagined you were. I’m simply stating a fact. Look at what you created with the Knights . If you need a reminder of how special you are, think back to all the people you’ve helped over the years.”

She pressed her forehead into his chest. “ Thank you.”

He kissed the top of her head and wrapped her in his arms. “ So , this is the Fairy Glen . I can see why one of the pillars would be here.”

“ Rhona called the pillars gateways to protect against forces outside the living,” Sabryn said as she lifted her head and looked around him.

“ The basalt outcropping is named Castle Ewing because it looks like a ruined castle.” Her gaze lowered to the foot of the castle to the large spiral of stones. “ The Skye Druids are the pillars.”

“ You can’t know that.”

She lifted her gaze to his. “ Corann brought the young Druids here and told them the story, remember? I detailed it for you after Rhona , Bronwyn , Elodie , and Ariah remembered. There must have been a wind talker with them that day. And we need to find whoever it was so they can take their place as the sky pillar.”

“ I’m not so sure. In case you forgot, Edie wants us gone. What if it’s because you are the pillar?”

“ You’re wrong, but I’ll play Devil’s Advocate . If I am the sky pillar, why is Edie so keen on having you gone?”

His lips parted to answer, but no words came. After a moment, his brow furrowed. “ I don’t know.”

“ Exactly . It was a ruse. One more distraction.”

“ You think even the Ancients getting into your head was a distraction? They told you I needed to stay, too.”

She walked around him to stand at the beginning of the stone spiral. “ I think the Knights are integral to the battle. The only way that happens is if we’re a true team as we were before you came here. That’s why the Ancients went to such extremes.”

“ But back to what Edie threatened. When a foe like that specifically targets someone, it means something.” He moved to stand beside her.

“ Maybe it doesn’t,” Sabryn said, turning her head to him. “ Maybe it was all a smoke screen. What if most of what we’re dealing with is meant to keep us looking everywhere but where we really should be?”

He grunted. “ Is the mist going after Finn also something to divert our focus?”

“ Possibly . I don’t know. All I am sure about is that I’m not the sky pillar.”

“ Well ,” he said with a long sigh. “ I’m glad.”

She chuckled as she faced him. “ I’m dying to hear why that is.”

“ Think about what Ariah and Killian went through. He was targeted to stop her from discovering she was the earth pillar.”

“ You not up for an attack?” she teased.

He wore a serious expression and pulled her against him. “ I can handle it. I was talking about my worry doubling for you. I couldn’t cope if something happened to you.”

“ It’s a chance each of us takes when we go into battle. We’re taking it just by being on Skye .”

“ Believe me, I know. You’ve no idea the worry I’ve sustained, sitting behind a screen miles from you and waiting for one of you to update me. And the times you were injured…” He looked away, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed. “ It was the worst.”

“ You’re in the middle of it now.”

He lowered his gaze to her, his expression earnest and somber. “ There’s nowhere else I’d want to be.”

It felt weird, but also very, very right to be in Kurt’s arms again. The easiness they’d had between them in DC was back, almost as if the last years hadn’t happened. She took his hand, and they retraced their steps to the car park.

“ I know why I was drawn here,” she said.

He nodded to a family walking past. “ Why is that?”

“ To show me I wasn’t the pillar so I can concentrate on other matters. Everyone has a part to play on this gameboard. Some might view us as nothing more than pawns in a chess game, but they’d be wrong.”

“ Why is that?”

She glanced at their linked hands, an inward smile spreading through her to chase away the last of her sadness.

“ Pawns are crucial to creating a strong structure that provides a solid foundation for attacking and defending. They’re also good for controlling the center of the board.

Their strategic placement can significantly impact a game’s outcome. ”

“ I think I need to learn chess.”

“ Our enemies showed us what they planned by dividing us. We need to come up with a strategy for when it happens again. Because it will happen again.”

“ Agreed .”

They released each other when they reached the vehicle and then climbed inside.

Sabryn felt good about things for once. Well , good was perhaps the wrong word.

She felt better about them than she had in a long time.

She was still disappointed about not being the pillar.

Being on Skye , fighting alongside the others, and knowing she had ancestors from the isle had made her believe— hope —that she might be it.

But Kurt was right. It was better that she wasn’t.

She was a Knight . Her attention needed to be with them.

She started the engine and looked up as she put the vehicle in reverse, only to freeze when her gaze collided with Edie . “ Kurt ,” she murmured.

“ Drive ,” he directed.

Sabryn’s foot remained on the brake as Edie stood ten feet from the SUV . The smirk on her face infuriated Sabryn . She put the vehicle in drive. She could gun it. Run Edie over and end her threat once and for all.

“ She’s not worth it,” Kurt said.

Sabryn tightened her hand on the steering wheel. “ She’s killed. She’ll kill again.”

“ But you’re not a murderer. If you run her down, that’s exactly what you’ll become. We know Edie’s working with the evil. If she dies, it’ll find another, just as it did when Kerry got caught.”

Fuck . He was right. Sabryn huffed a breath and returned the gearshift to reverse. Edie’s laugh iced her blood. She had known Sabryn wouldn’t do anything. It had been a test, and Sabryn had failed.

“ We need to get out of here,” she said, flooring the accelerator. She jerked the wheel to the side, narrowly missing a parked car, before throwing the SUV into drive and speeding through the car park. She saw the exit and headed around a row of vehicles.

“ Sabryn !” Kurt shouted.

There was no time to react as something slammed into them from the side.

Glass exploded and metal screeched as the SUV flipped once, then twice, before rocking to a violent halt.

Her ears rang, and glass tinkled as it fell.

She swallowed feebly and tried to make sense of what’d just happened.

A look outside showed everything was upside down.

No , not the world. She was upside down.

Kurt . She swung her head to the side and spotted him hanging with his arms by his ears. She couldn’t tell if he was unconscious or… She couldn’t even think the word. She couldn’t see any blood, but the entire passenger side of the vehicle was crumpled inward.

She reached for him, only to wince as something pulled at her side.

Sabryn gasped at the pain and lifted her head to find the keys she had tossed into the cupholder now embedded in her side.

Sweat beaded her brow as she cautiously placed her shaking hands over them and called to her magic.

She drew in a breath and gripped the keys.

Her magic slid down her fingers, giving them strength as she yanked them out and tossed them aside.

She pressed her hand against her tender side as blood welled. This time when she reached for Kurt , she was able to reach him. She gently touched his face.

“ Kurt ? Can you hear me?” she asked.

She needed to feel for a pulse, but to do that, she needed to reach him better.

That meant unbuckling herself. Sabryn used her blood-covered hand to reach for the button, but her fingers kept slipping.

They couldn’t stay like this. They were sitting ducks, waiting to be attacked again.

She kept pressing against anything she touched, hoping she would find the latch.

Finally , she did. The seat belt released, and she fell awkwardly against the roof of the SUV .

Sabryn glanced outside the cracked windshield as she scrambled to Kurt .

She brushed aside his hair and felt for a pulse.

When her fingers found it, she nearly collapsed with relief.

She hated to move him in case he was injured, but she had no choice.

If she didn’t get him out now, they would both die.

“ Kurt ,” she whispered, crawling over piles of broken glass to get into a better position.

Sabryn got on her knees and had just reached around to release his seat belt when she heard footsteps moving casually around the vehicle. Sabryn instantly stilled. Was it Edie ? Were Parker and the Edinburgh Druids with her?

Magic pooled in her palms as she waited with bated breath.

The person stopped outside Kurt’s window.

She slowly moved to the side, trying to see the individual.

There were no sirens, no indication that anyone had seen the accident or called the authorities.

Sabryn spotted her cell lying just out of reach.

It must have fallen out of her back pocket when the SUV rolled, and she had no idea where Kurt’s was.

“ There’s nowhere for you to go,” Edie stated. “ You should’ve heeded my warning.”

Sabryn released magic simultaneously at the seat belt buckle and Edie , then fired off another round at Edie instead of softening Kurt’s fall.

Both her shots landed against Edie’s lower legs, causing the Druid to howl in rage-filled pain.

Sabryn used that time to grab Kurt under his shoulders and try to pull him through the driver’s side.

She was nearly out when magic struck her torso.

The force of it made her lose her hold on Kurt .

Sabryn lay back and saw two Edinburgh Druids coming at her from either side.

She flung out her arms and launched a volley of magic at them.

One found its mark, but the other went wide.

She left Kurt inside as she shimmied out of the vehicle and did a backward roll to get to her feet as Edie joined the other female.