Page 43 of After Midnight (Skye Druids #7)

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Edinburgh

The rain never stopped. Diana didn’t know how anyone lived in the horrid city. Everything was damp and dreary. And Scottish . She couldn’t wait to return to London .

She drummed her nails on the sofa arm as she stared out the window to the distorted world beyond.

She wouldn’t be here if she hadn’t sent Parker to find Kurt .

Now , she had lost both her sons. Though she didn’t have concrete proof—yet—she was sure Georgina planned to double-cross the London Druids .

Diana had already visited the leader of the Edinburgh Druids twice without much success.

Georgina —because she refused to call a woman George —was cagey and shrewd.

It was no wonder she had become a leader.

Diana wanted to dismiss her, but she knew that would be unwise, and Diana made it a point to never underestimate anyone.

The Edinburgh Druids were a larger group than London had initially estimated.

Georgina needed something from the London Druids , and they needed the Edinburgh Druids to deal with Skye .

It was the perfect exchange. At least, it should’ve been.

She propped her elbow on the sofa and rested her chin on her knuckles as she attempted to sort through what might have happened with Parker .

He’d never disobeyed her before. Not once in all his years.

He had been the perfect child. Kurt had started out that way, too, but he had always tested her by questioning orders and disobeying.

Kurt was too much like her. It’s why she had given him more room than Parker . If she had treated her youngest the same, Parker would likely already be dead. He was great at following orders, but not so great at making decisions.

Eventually , Kurt would’ve returned to the family, one way or another.

She had grown tired of waiting, and her plans required him.

She had given Parker Kurt’s location. It should’ve been an easy grab, but she had forgotten just how clever her eldest was.

He had led Parker on a merry chase around Scotland for days.

She never should’ve sent Parker to Skye .

Especially not with the Edinburgh Druids .

Her mobile rang from its place atop the coffee table. She leaned forward to see who was phoning and steeled herself when she saw Thomas Oliver’s name.

“ Hello ?” she answered.

“ Diana .”

Her fingers curled into the leather sofa.

She hated how he said her name—part sneer, part suggestive.

She didn’t know why she had ever allowed him into her bed.

The affair had been short and benefited both of them, but Thomas was one of those men who never let a woman forget. When he was very forgettable.

Yet he thought his prowess something for the history books. When a man aged and the rotating women on his arm remained young, it said a lot about the person.

“ Yes , Thomas ?” she replied, keeping any hints of rancor from her tone.

“ I expected you back in civilization by now.”

She pushed to her feet and walked to the window. “ Things aren’t finished here.”

“ You mean your wayward sons haven’t been located.”

He tsked at her as if she were a schoolgirl. She curled her fingers into a fist and fought to remain calm.

“ You didn’t just lose one. You lost both. That’s not befitting someone I’ve granted such power to.”

She couldn’t wait to shove his face into the ground with her foot. “ Oh , I have my boys,” she lied. “ I was trying to sort out what’s happening with the Edinburgh group. But I’ll alert the pilots to depart in the morning.”

“ Explain yourself,” he snapped.

“ I believe Georgina is endeavoring to double-cross us.”

“ Well ,” he said after a brief pause. “ That will not do. Dig deep. I need specifics so I can put her in her place.”

Diana glared at the window as her anger festered and grew. “ Of course.”

The line went dead. She dropped her hand and closed her eyes. Few had been able to stir her emotions like Thomas Oliver . She was one of only a handful who knew he ran the London Druids —and remained part of the small group who still held that information.

It couldn’t leak out to the rest of the London Druids .

The elders had always led them, which had to continue—even if it was just for show.

Thomas gave the elders plenty of power in exchange for their silence.

Thomas had always been able to discover what someone wanted, what they craved. And he gave it to them.

She was no exception. He’d seen her drive and recognized her ambition. It was one of the reasons they had become lovers. But he hadn’t been malleable enough for her, and she hadn’t been a fire walker.

Yet , Thomas still turned to her for important matters. He believed her utterly devoted to him and his cause. And she let him think that. It had allowed her to continue climbing the ranks within the organization, but she wasn’t finished yet. There was much more to be done.

The phone rang again. She almost didn’t look at it before answering. The number was unknown, but the area code came from the Isle of Skye . Her heart missed a beat at the thought that it might be Kurt . It had been years since she had heard his voice.

Her finger trembled when she accepted the call. “ Hello ?”

“ Hello , Diana .”

She squeezed her eyes shut at the deep timbre of her eldest’s voice.

Her free hand reached out for something to steady her and made contact with the cool pane of glass.

Kurt’s call wasn’t just unexpected, it was astonishing.

She had never allowed emotion to rule her, and she wasn’t about to let him know how pleased she was. If he’d rung her, he needed something.

“ What a surprise to hear from you,” she replied.

“ It shouldn’t be. After all, you broke our agreement.”

The hard edge to his voice steadied her. He was angry, but she had anticipated that. “ I need to point out that you broke it first. Just shy of three months after we struck the bargain.”

“ You knew?” he asked in disbelief.

She sighed. “ Did you honestly think I wouldn’t keep tabs on you? I released you, son. I didn’t cut you out of my life as you did me.”

“ You ,” he began furiously, then paused and drew in a deep breath. “ You had Sabryn’s father killed and were intent on ending her. I didn’t want to be a part of our so-called family.”

His voice was measured, the words carefully chosen. But she heard the resentment all the same. She could tell him the truth, but he wouldn’t believe her. “ Shall I remind you that you rang me? I take it you’re annoyed that I sent Parker for you.”

“ Annoyed ?” he asked with a bark of laughter. “ Yeah , I’m bloody annoyed . Tell me what I want to know, and I won’t kill him.”

Diana’s stomach dropped like a stone to her feet. “ You aren’t a killer, son.”

“ No , apparently, that’s just Parker . Or is it you, too?”

“ Me ?” she asked uncomfortably. She turned to head back to the sofa since this was a conversation best had sitting.

Kurt snorted. “ Always playing the innocent. That act is getting old. Why not just admit that you sent Parker to get me, and when I wouldn’t come, you told him to end me?”

End me .

The words echoed in her head. Her knees buckled, but she grabbed the arm of the couch and fell upon the cushions. “ That is not what I did.”

“ Sure , it isn’t. Parker doesn’t do anything you don’t tell him to do.”

“ Kurt , listen to me,” she stated, her blood turning to ice. “ I sent your brother to fetch you, yes. We knew you wouldn’t come easily, and you led him on a merry chase. I recognized there was one way to get you to come to him.”

“ Oh , he got me to Skye . Then he drove a knife between my ribs. It was by sheer luck alone that he didn’t penetrate my lung.”

Diana bent over, her eyes closing. She refused to accept what she was hearing. This couldn’t be happening. Not to her family. She had gone to such lengths to ensure it would never happen. And yet, it was.

“ I didn’t,” she whispered hoarsely. “ I would never . Not with you or Parker . He was only supposed to bring you home.”

“ Did you mention that I needed to be alive?” Kurt asked sarcastically.

She wiped the tears that trailed down her cheeks as she straightened. “ He knew that.”

“ He didn’t.”

Her plans, carefully thought-out and orchestrated, were going up in smoke. And she hadn’t even realized it. “ Does that mean you’re holding your brother?”

“ You have no idea what’s going on, do you?”

The derision in his voice was like being doused with ice water. Diana shut off the worry and concentrated solely on him. “ Meaning ?”

“ However influential you believe you are, however powerful you think the London Druids are, you don’t stand a chance.”

She drew in an unsteady breath, her exasperation mixing with disquiet. “ I don’t need to hear how formidable the Skye Druids are.”

“ I’m not talking about them. I’m referring to the evil growing here. The one we’re fighting on a daily basis.”

We . He considered himself a Skye Druid now. She probably should’ve seen that coming.

“ It’s an evil you can’t even begin to imagine,” Kurt continued.

“ It’s coming from another dimension and is bringing a battle that has played out in Skye several times before.

The Druids have beat it back every time.

Now , it’s our turn. This is when you admit that London —i.e. , you—is working with the evil.”

“ London wants to wipe out Skye . That’s what I know.”

“ I should’ve known you wouldn’t admit it.”

She wouldn’t let him provoke her. Though , it wasn’t easy. “ I know nothing about what you speak of, and that’s the truth. Whether you believe it or not.”

“ If Skye falls, it won’t matter how many Druids London has at their disposal. Life as you know it will be over.”

That was simply not an outcome she would consider. Yet she couldn’t ignore what her son was telling her. “ Don’t be dramatic.”

“ How’s this for dramatic, Diana ? Parker has joined the evil. We don’t have him. Yet . I’ll make sure none of us kills him when we do find him, but that comes at a price.”

She swallowed as she leaned back against the sofa.

Kurt was a great many things, but he wasn’t a liar.

If he said he didn’t have Parker , then he didn’t.

She hadn’t been able to get ahold of her youngest in days.

Could Parker really have aligned with this supposed evil?

Was that what Georgina kept hidden from her?

Or was it something even worse?

“ And what might that price be?” she asked, proud that her voice wasn’t shaking.

Kurt drew in a deep breath. “ I want to know everything you discovered about the Beaumonts . And I mean everything .”