Page 22 of Blood Skye (Skye Druids #6)

Chapter Twenty-Two

Carlyle had never seen anyone as excited as Song when she caught her second fish. And her smile… It had blinded him. Gutted him. The way her face lit up and her eyes glittered sucked the air straight out of his lungs.

Her joy was contagious. She was like a little kid, and it made him wonder if she’d ever had any fun when she was younger. Based on how she reacted, he wasn’t sure she had. And that made him sad. Just what kind of childhood did she have? Sadly , he could guess.

He wanted her to keep fishing so he had more opportunities to observe her. She had gone from complete focus and copying him to her muscles loosening and enjoying the simple act of casting a line. The tension and edginess that seemed to make up her entire being had been stripped away, revealing another person entirely.

Carlyle couldn’t help but imagine what she might have become had the elders not gotten their hooks in her.

“ I can keep at this,” Song offered. “ If we need more.”

He glanced at the two fish she’d caught. “ That’s plenty for lunch. We don’t want to waste.”

“ Tomorrow , then?”

“ If you’d like.”

They changed places. She took over steering the boat as he bled the fish and removed the scales and entrails, followed by the fins and head.

“ That didn’t look too difficult,” she commented.

He cleaned off the knife. “ It isn’t. I’ll let you give it a go tomorrow.”

“ I’d like that.”

Carlyle took the plate with the cleaned fish and got to his feet.

“ Did your father teach you about fishing and cleaning?”

He nodded slowly. “ Everything I know came from him. We would spend entire weekends fishing. He’s a good man. Patient . Kind . Loving . I’m the man I am because of him.”

“ You’re lucky to have that.”

“ I am.” He met her gaze. “ Surely , you met him.”

Her brows raised. “ Thomas ?” Song shook her head. “ Not that I’m aware.”

Carlyle had hoped. He would’ve been a good influence on her if she had. After going below, he left the bulkhead door open so he could see Song . After their encounter at the townhome, he had made a rash judgment about her and the kind of person she was. He’d been too blinded by his rage and panic to look deeper, see more.

He saw the tool the elders had sent, not the person beneath. Carlyle hadn’t thought of her as someone with hopes, fears, or dreams. He had assumed she willingly carried out the elders’ orders. After all, most of those he had dealt with from the London Druids were exactly like that.

It had taken a lot of guts for Song to suggest they work together. Especially knowing how he felt about her. Now that he knew about Lauren , he understood the lengths she would go to. Because he was doing the same.

What had the elders done with Lauren ? If the organization had gone to such lengths to train Song and give her an entirely new persona, who was to say they wouldn’t do the same to Lauren —if they hadn’t already? In fact, Lauren could be in Song’s position, with each of the sisters believing they were doing what it took to save the other.

“ You have several modes of travel planned,” he called up to her. “ Do you also have a place to go?”

“ Of course.”

He glanced out at her, their gazes meeting. “ Don’t go to family. It’ll be the first place they look.”

“ I wouldn’t, even if I knew where they were.”

No sister. No parents. No family. Where had she come from? Carlyle wanted to ask, but now wasn’t the time.

“ I’ll go where my sister and I can blend in,” Song said.

He paused in chopping and looked her way, surprised she was giving him such information. But her attention was on the water. “ Asia ?”

“ China . There are places there we can disappear. We’ll drop the British names the elders gave us and take the ones given to us at birth.”

“ Song is pretty.”

“ Thank you. Jai and I will disappear. No one will find us.”

Carlyle wasn’t sure if she was trying to convince him or herself. They both knew London would never stop looking for them. The only way they would truly be free of the organization would be in death.

Unless the elders died first.

Something about being rocked gently on a boat went straight to Carlyle’s soul. Song had anchored the boat the moment he’d said lunch was ready and savored every bite of their lunch, telling him multiple times how good the meal was. There was an easiness about her now. They both took advantage of the water while they had it because everything would change the moment they docked in London .

He and Song relaxed. He stretched out on the sofa as the gentle ebb and flow of the water flowed past. She wiped her hands on a towel and placed it on a hook to dry. Then she sighed in contentment and looked out the kitchen window. He wondered if she was aware of how happy she looked in that moment.

“ I can teach you to cook,” he offered.

Her head swiveled to him before she walked to the chair and sank into it. “ It would be a useful tool.”

“ Don’t sound too excited.”

She grinned. “ I did sound dour, didn’t I ? I’ve just never wanted to be in the kitchen. There are so many ingredients and ways to cook. How do you remember them all?”

“ I have recipes, but I’ve memorized some because they’re favorite dishes.”

“ What about today or at the bunker?”

He put an arm behind his head. “ That’s when I dig deep, thinking about all the meals I’ve cooked before. I look at the ingredients available and come up with possibilities. Then I cook the one that sounds the best.”

“ I think I’ll stick to fishing.”

He grinned. They fell into silence then. It was comfortable, the kind people who have been friends for a long time have. That , of course, made him think of Finn .

Apparently , he wasn’t the only one with drifting thoughts because Song asked, “ Do you think those men got out of the obstacle course?”

“ They’ll get out. It’s just a matter of when . I hope they’re still in it.”

“ I doubt it. They’re most likely out by now.”

Thinking about Finn also brought Mason to mind. “ What did you do to Mason ?”

“ Nothing .” When he gave her a flat look, she lifted her hands, palms out. “ Honest . London ordered me to get close to him. There were things in the manor they wanted. So , I got close.”

“ Quickly .”

She lifted one shoulder. “ I had a time limit.”

“ The way I heard it, you made it seem that you and Mase were lovers.”

Song studied him for a moment. “ The only one I spoke with was the butler.”

“ I’ve known Billings for a long time. He was worried. Mason hasn’t been acting right.”

“ I couldn’t tell you about Mason . I had a job.”

Carlyle sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the couch. “ Mason never questioned you?”

“ When he first saw me, I thought he might. But he didn’t. He welcomed me. I assumed London had informed him that I would be there.”

“ You’re telling me you didn’t spell him to make him do whatever you wanted?”

Song’s lips curved slightly as she shook her head. “ My , what skills you think I possess. If I had that kind of ability, do you really think I’d have remained with London ? I’d have gotten free of them a long time ago.”

“ True ,” he bit out, angry at himself for not realizing that sooner. Carlyle leaned forward and braced his arms on his thighs. “ Did Mason give you access to his private life?”

She pulled a face. “ What little he had of it. He spends most of his time running the estate. When he’s not doing that, he’s at London headquarters.”

“ Do you know he suspected the elders of killing his parents?”

“ I wasn’t aware of that, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they murdered them.”

“ My point is that he didn’t trust London . He feared for his sister’s life. That’s why he sent Ferne away. He wouldn’t go back into the fold and turn his back on her.”

Song pushed to her feet. “ But he did.”

“ I find that hard to believe. At least, he wouldn’t do so willingly.”

“ I’m not saying London didn’t do something, but I wasn’t aware of anything.”

Carlyle scratched the side of his nose. “ Did he share anything with you?”

“ He told me about the running of the estate.”

“ Nothing else?”

She removed the cap from her head and combed her fingers through the thick, black length. “ He never spoke about Ferne , you, or the Skye Druids , if that’s what you want to know.”

“ What about his parents?”

“ Not a word,” she replied with another shake of her head.

Carlyle sighed. “ London sent you to get close to him. Could it be they wanted you to watch him?”

“ As I mentioned, my orders were to find something in the manor, I assumed it’d be in his desk, but the get-close part was to keep an eye on him.”

He watched the way her lips tightened. She didn’t want to talk about this because she had already been through it and had come to the same conclusion. None of it made sense. Anyone could’ve snuck in and looked through a desk. They didn’t need someone to get close to Mason to do that. But Mason wouldn’t have accepted a stranger into his home without questioning them. Either he was in on Song’s setup, or he was truly a part of London and had agreed to whatever they asked.

Carlyle licked his lips as he looked up at Song . “ When I went searching for you at the manor, Finn went after Mason . I was to take you to the lodge while Finn brought Mason elsewhere.”

“ Because you believed I had information about Thomas ,” she said.

“ Yes . Finn was to learn if Mason was still the man I knew. However , Mason wasn’t in his room when Finn arrived.”

Song’s brows snapped together. “ I never heard him leave his bedroom. Where was he? Please don’t tell me he was with the extraction team.”

“ Finn found him in the attic. Said he seemed off, like he was sleepwalking. He never noticed Finn . Did you see Mason acting like that?”

“ I wasn’t there long, remember? But , no, I didn’t see anything like that. Does he have a history of sleepwalking?”

Carlyle rubbed his palm over his itchy whiskers. He needed to shave. “ Not unless it’s a recent development.”

“ Magic , then?”

“ That’s my guess.”

She looked away, her frown deepening. “ I was set up, and Mason was in the attic, possibly spelled. If it was a spell, that means someone was in the house to cast it.”

“ Or he was spelled days before when he was in London .”

“ Ask Mason . Unless you don’t have him.”

Carlyle squeezed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. “ We don’t.”

“ Mason and your father both have a connection to Skye through you and Ferne . Thomas is missing, and Mason isn’t acting right. Sounds like the elders.”

“ Not the ones I knew.”

Song grimaced and met his gaze. “ You haven’t spent a lot of time with the elders lately. Things have changed.”

“ And those in the organization are okay with the changes?”

“ How many do you know who would go up against them?”

Carlyle said without hesitation, “ My father. If he thought it was morally wrong. And Mason’s parents.”

They shared a look.

“ Bloody hell,” Carlyle murmured.

“ This won’t stop.”

He nodded, knowing she was right. “ Not until the elders are gone.”

“ Not even then. The organization is too distorted.”

“ Then we disband it.”

She released a long breath. “ You can’t save everyone. You want to find Thomas , release Mason from whatever hold London has on him, keep those on Skye safe, and now also liberate the London Druids ? Just one of those is difficult. All of them? Impossible .”