Page 5 of After Midnight (Skye Druids #7)

It seemed Kurt upended her life anytime he was in it.

She knew what to expect this time. She knew him .

The only way he would hurt her is if she allowed him to get close.

He’d had his chance with her and had chosen something else.

It took Sabryn a moment to realize that the doors hadn’t opened.

She looked at both Bronwyn and Song , who each had a hand on a knob, waiting for her.

“ Let’s get this over with,” she said.

The women opened the doors and walked in ahead of her.

Sabryn scanned the cozy room—one of her favorites.

She inhaled the scents of books, leather, and fire as she entered.

The walls were stocked with books, the floor-to-ceiling bookcases only broken up by the large hearth, double doors, and the stunning window overlooking the front of the estate.

The room was quiet and lit mainly by the flames dancing in the fireplace.

The sconces were on yet dimmed to their lowest setting.

Elias sat on the sofa facing the hearth, perched on the edge of the cushion near the arm.

Finn stood near the fireplace, one arm resting on the mantel as he stared into the flames.

Carlyle was at the window, gazing out to the dawning new day.

And Kurt sat in the chair to the left. His head lifted as the doors opened. She purposefully kept her gaze from meeting his. She’d seen enough that morning. The problem came when Bronwyn sat next to Elias and Song beside her. That left the only other chair—the one facing Kurt .

Sabryn briefly thought about standing but didn’t want anyone—especially, Kurt —to think she was bothered by his arrival. So , she lowered herself into the chair and turned her head to Elias .

His blue eyes, usually bright and engaging, looked troubled.

Elias parted his lips as if to speak and then closed them.

Carlyle walked to stand behind Song , his fingers on her shoulders as if the very act of touching her calmed him.

Bronwyn nudged Elias as Song looked up at Carlyle , a question in her eyes. It was Finn who finally spoke.

“ I’m sorry, Sabryn ,” he said, turning his dark eyes to her. “ We should’ve handled things better this morning.”

Elias nodded. “ We were no’ trying to keep anything from you.”

“ Absolutely not,” Carlyle agreed. “ We were attempting to acquire the facts.”

Sabryn rested her arms on the chair and endeavored to calm her racing heart. It was futile as long as she could see Kurt staring at her from the corner of her eye. “ And what are those facts?”

All three looked at each other as if expecting one another to speak.

Kurt blew out a breath. “ That’s a question I should answer. I didn’t show up out of nowhere. I knew where you were because I’m Saber .”

Sabryn had expected something drastic, but not this.

Her stomach dropped to her feet as she dug her fingers into the leather chair arms. She glared at Elias , expecting him to laugh and say it was all a big joke, but he didn’t.

Instead , he dropped his chin to his chest. She felt another scream welling.

“ Saber ?” Bronwyn asked Kurt . “ As in the fifth member of the Knights ? The hacker?”

Leather creaked as Kurt shifted in his chair. “ The very one,” he replied in that highborn British accent she had once loved.

“ You went out of your way to make sure no one knew your identity. What changed?” Song asked, wielding her refined British accent like a blade.

Sabryn still couldn’t bring herself to look directly at Kurt . Instead , she focused her gaze on the coffee table between them, where she could still see him in her periphery.

He ran a hand down his face. “ If I had been thinking straight, I never would have come here. I’d have gone straight to Parker .”

Sabryn’s eyes jerked to him at the mention of his brother.

Kurt stared at the floor, slowly shaking his head.

She thought back to the warehouse attack.

He’d said the London Druids had tracked him.

It had never entered her mind that he had connections to them or might even be one. Everything was starting to make sense.

“ He’s been tracking me since the warehouse,” Kurt continued.

“ I’d lose him for a short time, but he always found me again.

I hacked a city’s CCTV system and saw one of the Druids with him using a tracking spell.

The wards and protection spells I used weren’t working effectively. So , I made adjustments.”

Song quirked a brow. “ What kind of adjustments?”

“ He fekking tattooed a ward on his chest,” Finn stated.

Kurt grimaced and shifted in the chair. “ Three wards, actually. It did the trick. I thought I had shaken Parker . Then I tracked him and saw he was headed toward Skye . The problem is, I’ve not slept more than about fifteen minutes in four days and wasn’t thinking clearly.

Which is why I didn’t track him in time.

He had four hours on me by the time I realized he was coming here. ”

“ London Druids don’t travel to Skye ,” Bronwyn said. “ Why would you think they’d head here?”

Kurt’s baby blue eyes slid to Sabryn , his gaze pinning her to her chair. “ Parker knew I’d come if they went after Sabryn .”