Page 42 of After Midnight (Skye Druids #7)

Chapter Thirty-Seven

The cold sank into the marrow of her bones.

Sabryn was in sweats, covered with a blanket, and drinking whisky while sitting cross-legged on the sofa in the library with a fire roaring in the hearth.

And she still couldn’t stop shaking. She remembered little of the fight after seeing Kurt get struck by Edie’s magic.

“ Sabryn ?”

She startled at Rhona’s voice. A look around reminded her that the room was filled with those waiting to hear her account of things for the second time that day. What was happening to her? First the Ancients and now this?

Sabryn swallowed and tried to remember what had been asked. Oh . Right . Rhona had asked her what drew her to the Fairy Glen . “ I don’t know.”

“ I already told you that’s what she said to me,” Kurt replied.

He stood beside the hearth, looking haggard and worried, his arms crossed.

His gaze rarely left her. Elias , Carlyle , and Finn wore similar expressions.

Finn had parked her in the middle of the couch and sank next to her while Carlyle took the other side.

Elias stood behind her with Bronwyn to his right, and Song to his left—her family shielding her.

“ We’re only trying to figure out what happened,” Ferne said.

Kurt ran a hand down his face and turned away.

Sabryn huddled under the blanket. “ I left something out about my interaction with Corann and the Ancients . And I did it because I wanted to talk to Kurt first.” She detailed what Corann had told her about forgiving Kurt .

“ After what I experienced and saw, I knew he was right. I went to Kurt and told him all of it.”

“ That’s when you left the manor for your drive?” Theo asked.

She tried not to feel interrogated, but it was difficult.

Especially when every eye in the room was focused on her.

“ I wanted to get out and show Kurt around Skye . Yes , my first stop was the Fairy Glen . And no, I have no idea why. I heard the wind and tried to communicate with it when we got there.”

“ It didn’t respond?” Willa asked.

Sabryn sipped the whisky and let the warmth slide down her throat to settle in her stomach and spread. She shivered again despite it. Finn shifted closer. When he did, a muscle in Kurt’s jaw clenched. “ It did not,” she replied. “ I thought I was being punished for ignoring it.”

“ I’d have blocked it out, too, if it was yelling at me all the time,” Ariah stated.

“ I , uh…” Sabryn paused and swallowed. “ As the only wind talker among us, I thought I might be the sky pillar.”

Elias twisted his lips and said, “ You were no’ the only one to think that. We talked about the possibility, too.”

“ Are you?” Rhona asked.

Sabryn shook her head. “ Hard to hold that position when I can no longer hear the wind.”

A weird vibe ran through the room, making her frown. She was missing something.

“ What happened at the glen?” Jasper asked.

Sabryn looked at Kurt and found his gaze on the floor, his brow furrowed in what seemed to be a permanent frown. She took another sip of whisky to fill the silence. “ Nothing much. I told Kurt about the pillar, and he said he was glad I wasn’t it since it put a target on Ariah .”

“ Not just me,” Ariah said, running her hand along Killian’s thigh. The two shared a look, unspoken words passing between them.

Sabryn shrugged. “ Then we headed back to the SUV and debated why Edie wanted us off the isle if I wasn’t a pillar.”

“ I’m wondering that myself,” Filip murmured.

Jasper leaned against a bookshelf. “ It could be a diversion.”

“ That was Sabryn’s thought,” Kurt replied.

Carlyle shrugged. “ It’s a good one. It means we’d be running around wondering why you two were targeted instead of focusing on other matters.”

“ We had just gotten into the SUV when I looked up and saw Edie .” Sabryn squeezed the glass as she recalled Edie’s smile. “ She was close enough that I …well, there’s no easy way to say this,” she said as she looked from Elias to Elodie , “ I considered running her over.”

Kurt dropped his arms and hooked his thumbs into the front pockets of his jeans. “ I cautioned her against it since we knew Edie was working with the evil.”

“ We jailed Kerry , and it found a replacement,” Rhona said as she nodded. “ We spent a lot of time trying to figure out if there was someone else before we learned it was Edie .”

Elodie shifted in the chair, her mouth pinched. “ And , in the meantime, our sister hurt others. I don’t blame you for thinking that way, Sabryn .”

“ Nor I you, Kurt ,” Elias stated. “ Our goal is to stop anyone from harming others. It’s what we’ve done for years. It’s what we have to do here.”

Finn absently rubbed his leg as if his jeans bothered his newly tatted skin. “ Except Edie is just a pawn. We’re going to spend weeks fighting against those like her when we should be preparing for the big battle.”

“ I’m no’ going to sit by and watch innocents die while doing nothing,” Scott replied.

Song said, “ That isn’t what Finn meant.”

“ We can have this discussion later,” Rhona said and nodded at Sabryn . “ Please , finish.”

Sabryn drained what was left of the whisky, and Carlyle took the glass from her, allowing her to tuck her hand beneath the blanket. “ Kurt’s point of letting Edie live was valid. I knew we had to get back to the manor, so I sped through the car park. I was close to the exit when something hit us.”

“ What ?” Theo asked.

When she shrugged, everyone turned to Kurt .

His pale blue eyes locked on her. “ I only saw a blonde.”

“ Magic , then,” Willa said.

Theo blew out a breath. “ It bloody well tore the SUV apart. I can’t believe Kurt didna have more than a cut on his temple.”

“ The force of whatever struck us caused the vehicle to flip twice,” Sabryn said. “ The only reason we stopped was because we struck another car.”

Callum spoke from the back corner. “ You were being toyed with, then. Just as we were last time.”

“ Edie and the other Druids weren’t playing with me.” Sabryn brought her knees up to her chest. “ They were intent on killing me. I think their aim was to kill, but the strike on the SUV didn’t do as much damage as they had hoped.”

Elias placed his hands on the back of the sofa near her head as he leaned over her. “ Or maybe it did precisely the damage they were going for.”

“ What do you mean?” Rhona asked.

Elias straightened and walked to stand in front of the fire as he directed his gaze to Sabryn . “ I think all of it was engineered to see your response.”

“ Me ?” Sabryn asked in disbelief.

Elias’s brows snapped together as he looked first at Finn and then at Carlyle .

Sabryn regarded each of them in turn. “ What aren’t you telling me?”

“ Finish your story,” Rhona urged softly.

It was the kind of voice a parent used with a frightened child. Calm , gentle. Apprehension gripped Sabryn . “ I tried to get Kurt out of the vehicle but was struck by magic. I had no choice but to leave him and deal with Edie and the other Druids .”

“ At some point during that, I came to,” Kurt added. “ I went for both Edie and the Druids , but Edie saw me and ducked.”

Sabryn nodded. “ He gave chase when Edie ran, and I was able to catch my breath. I started to follow them when the blonde attacked me again.”

“ I tried to corner Edie , but she got behind me.” Kurt shrugged as he shifted his feet. “ Edie had just landed a strike on my shoulder when I saw you,” he said to Sabryn .

“ I saw that.” She’d felt rage so profound that it scared her still. She had never felt anything like it before.

Finn lightly touched her leg. “ Then what?”

“ I don’t know. The next thing I remember is Kurt holding me as sirens wailed,” Sabryn told them. The room grew quiet as if nobody knew how to reply. She caught Kurt’s gaze. “ What happened? What did I do?”

He hesitated for just a beat before he said, “ You were controlling the wind, and you had Edie pinned against a vehicle with it.”

“ That’s …” Insane ? Impossible ? Ridiculous ?

“ I saw it, too,” Theo added.

Sabryn shook her head. “ I have no memory of any of that.”

“ The last thing you saw was Kurt being injured,” Jasper said. “ What did you feel?”

She looked at him, her heart racing and her hands fisted beneath the blanket. “ Fury .”

“ And then?” Carlyle whispered.

Sabryn tried to swallow to wet her dry mouth. She lowered her gaze to the blanket as another shiver went through her. “ Nothing .”

“ You could’ve killed Edie ,” Kurt stated softly. “ I’ve never seen such a display of power.”

Her gaze jerked to him. She wanted his arms around her again. Needed his warmth to envelop her. But she didn’t move, and neither did he. “ Did I hurt anyone?”

“ I kept everyone back,” Kurt answered.

Rhona leaned forward in her chair. “ Have you ever done anything like that before?”

“ No ,” Finn , Elias , Carlyle , and Kurt said in unison.

“ At least no’ as long as we’ve known her,” Elias added.

Rhona’s green eyes turned to her. Sabryn shook her head. “ Not that I’m aware of.”

“ That kind of power couldna come out of the blue, could it?” Scott asked.

Ariah shrugged. “ I didn’t know I was the earth pillar until I stumbled upon it.”

“ I’m not the air pillar,” Sabryn stated. “ I don’t know what happened, but I’m not the pillar.”

Elodie shot Sabryn a smile. “ Skye does weird things to people. I should know.”

“ I’ve never heard of a wind talker controlling wind,” Bronwyn said.

Rhona drew in a deep breath. “ Neither have I . I wish Corann had kept records.”

“ I can search the Druid chatrooms,” Kurt offered.

Elias nodded. “ That’s a great idea.”

“ It won’t take long. I just need to put in a few keywords,” Kurt explained.

Rhona dipped her chin. “ That would be helpful. Let’s get on that.”

“ I need my laptop, which is…” Kurt trailed off and grimaced. “ I had it with me.”

Finn pushed to his feet. “ There are plenty around here. I’ll get you mine.”

“ Mine was custom built for hacking, but I’ll take anything right now,” Kurt said.

Killian offered, “ Make a list of what you need to build a new one, and we’ll get it.”

Kurt nodded his thanks.

Sabryn was ready for the interrogation to be over, but given how Theo kept staring at her, she wasn’t sure it was.

“ Why both Kurt and Sabryn ?” Theo asked.

The room went silent as everyone stilled, their gazes moving to him. Sabryn pushed back into the sofa and instantly regretted it when the injuries on her back screamed in protest. She’d refused the Healers , as had Kurt .

“ Why did Edie say both of them needed to leave the isle?” Theo asked.

Song tilted her head. “ We decided it was a diversion.”

“ But Edie could’ve just said Sabryn . She didna have to say both,” Theo pointed out.

Jasper crossed his arms over his chest. “ That’s true. What are you thinking?”

“ I’m thinking Edie knows something.” Theo’s gaze shifted from Kurt to her. “ Are you sure your power has never manifested before?”

“ Positive ,” Sabryn replied.

“ What about your family?” Theo pushed.

She shook her head but did a double take when Kurt’s face went slack.

“ What is it?” Carlyle asked him.

Kurt’s expression filled with confusion that turned to bafflement.

His jaw worked as he struggled to find words.

“ When Parker and I were getting ready for DC , I saw a folder on Diana’s desk.

She had traced the Beaumont family tree.

” He paused and ran a hand down his face.

“ I saw a drawing of a woman with wind swirling around her. Diana snapped the file closed before I could read the page.”

“ It could be nothing,” Elias said.

Finn twisted his lips. “ Or it could be something.”

“ Wind talkers run in my family,” Sabryn said. “ My father was one. So was my grandfather.”

“ I’d forgotten about that drawing, but it wasn’t just of a wind talker,” Kurt said.

Sabryn sighed. “ Looks like we need to talk to Diana .”