Page 34 of Blood Skye (Skye Druids #6)

Chapter Thirty-Four

Carwood Manor

The meeting was about to begin. Carlyle stood near the library’s double doors, watching Song . There was a chill in the air that had nothing to do with the damp weather. Healers had restored both him and Song , but her injuries had been extensive. He didn’t think he would ever get the sight of her lying still and not breathing out of his head.

There wasn’t a trace of London left on either of them. She had washed the blood away and dressed in borrowed clothes before venturing from her room. He hadn’t had a chance to talk to her privately since Balladyn teleported them to Skye . Both Rhona and Sabryn had questioned him after the Healers finished. They wanted his version of events before they spoke to Song . Rhona left when they finished, but Sabryn called in Elias and Finn . Carlyle had to repeat everything for them. By the time they finished, Song had come downstairs.

The entire time he’d been talking to his friends and allies, he’d been thinking about Song . He should’ve known she would be taken care of. Bronwyn , Elodie , and Ferne had made sure she had everything she needed. They’d set her up in a comfy chair with a cup of tea. For anyone looking in, Song seemed at home.

But she had yet to look at him. As a matter of fact, she hadn’t looked at him since she regained consciousness. She seemed withdrawn. No . It was more than that. She was in shock. After all of Thomas’s revelations, anyone would be.

Including him.

“ You good, mate?” Finn whispered as he came up beside him.

Carlyle was about to give the usual answer of “ fine ,” but he paused. He wasn’t okay. Far from it, actually. He shook his head.

“ I’m here when you want to talk.” Finn slapped him on the back and moved into the room to stand beside Sabryn .

Ferne and Theo were near the window. Next to them stood Balladyn and Rhona . Nikolai , Esther , Henry , and Melisse were also there. As were Elodie and Scott .

Rhona cleared her throat and walked to stand in front of the roaring fire. She looked around. “ Tonight , it’s just our small group. Carlyle asked me not to overwhelm Song with everyone at first. This meeting is being recorded so I can send it to the others when we’re finished.” The leader of the Skye Druids looked from Song to him. “ Who wants to begin?”

“ I will,” Song said before Carlyle had a chance.

Hearing about Song’s childhood the first time had been difficult, but it was excruciating the second time around, especially knowing everything they did now. When she paused after detailing how the elders had manipulated her into working for them, Carlyle relayed his information. The Knights knew most of his history, so nothing was new to them, but he was laying his past bare to all.

Ferne interrupted when Carlyle mentioned the course. “ I asked Dad to train me after I overheard you and Mason talking about it because I hated being left out. He told me it was special training for something you and Mason would have to do.”

“ Does that mean he knew what was going on within London ?” Elias asked.

Ferne shrugged and looked at Carlyle .

He shrugged, as well. “ That’s difficult to say. I don’t remember Shane ever saying anything like that. Mason and I were eager to be tested. We asked a lot of questions, but he was always evasive. The only odd thing was that he didn’t want us talking about our training or the course. To anyone.”

“ That’s why he was so upset that I found out,” Ferne said with a twist of her lips.

Carlyle swallowed before he continued, mentioning Mabel’s murder and how he’d met the Knights . He then skipped to his and Finn’s return to London to look for Thomas .

“ Who ordered you to be at the townhome?” Finn asked Song .

She lowered her mug after taking a drink. “ My orders always came from the elders.”

“ Is Thomas an elder?” Nikolai asked.

“ Not that I’m aware of,” she replied, then briefly looked at Carlyle . “ But he’s definitely someone of importance.”

Carlyle said, “ I agree that he must be higher up in the organization than he ever told me. He must hold considerable power within the ranks.”

“ That day at the townhome,” Finn said, directing his comment to Song , “you warned Carlyle that danger was closer than he realized. Did you know about Thomas ?”

She wrapped both hands around the mug. “ Believe it or not, I was privy to very little about the organization. I had my orders, and they included what I was to tell you.”

“ Thomas wrote that,” Carlyle said.

Rhona nodded, a small frown furrowing her brow. “ Most likely.”

Carlyle and Song took turns going into detail about the night at Mason’s up until a few hours ago. No one interrupted them. Everyone in the room looked as shocked as they had been by the truths revealed that night. When Carlyle finished, there was a long stretch of silence as everyone let the story sink in.

Finn was the first to speak. He looked at Song and said, “ What happened to you is reprehensible. But you’re a survivor. Just like each of us in this room is.” There was a chorus of agreement. Then Finn’s dark eyes slid to Carlyle . “ Your family has your back. Now and always.”

“ Now and always,” Elias and Sabryn said in unison.

Emotion choked Carlyle as he nodded to his family, feeling their love and the bonds that held them together.

Bronwyn turned to Song and asked, “ What was so important about your sister?”

Song stared into her mug for a long minute before looking up. “ Actually , it wasn’t my sister my parents were protecting that night. They wanted me and everyone else to believe she was special.”

“ But it was you,” Carlyle said as realization dawned.

Song looked at him and nodded. “ Shi whispered it to me at the end. I thought she was part of the organization, but I was wrong. She did what she had to do to stay near me.”

Elodie frowned. “ I can’t imagine what she went through all these years. Training you but never telling you anything. Or helping.”

“ It was likely a test,” Carlyle said. “ Thomas was fond of them. My guess is Shi figured that out, and Thomas saw an opportunity to show her how far she had fallen by forcing her to train Song . Giving her access to her daughters but never able to be a mother to either of them.”

“ The worst kind of torture,” Melisse replied.

Ferne rubbed her hands on her arms. “ I’d like to think Shi did it knowing that Song would learn the truth one day and be ready to take action against London .”

“ Perhaps she did,” Balladyn said. “ Shi did save Song in the end.”

“ So …she’s dead?” Song asked hesitantly.

Balladyn dipped his chin. “ London headquarters has a plethora of wards, but nothing that can keep a Reaper out. I veiled myself and looked for Shi . I found her body.”

“ Thank you,” Song replied in a soft voice.

Bronwyn’s brow wrinkled. “ I don’t understand why your parents hid you at all.”

Carlyle watched Song shift in her chair, obviously uncomfortable with the question. Or maybe it was the answer. If Bronwyn hadn’t asked it, he would have.

“ Because I can see,” Song said.

Carlyle pushed away from the wall. “ See what?”

She turned her head to him. “ The tears in the dimensions.”

The room went silent. Carlyle took a step toward Song . “ How ?”

“ I don’t know. Shi used a spell to block it before she and my father left that night.” Song looked at the others. “ Why are all of you looking at me so expectantly? Is there a tear here?”

Carlyle ran a hand down his face. “ We suspect.”

“ Then I’ll help you find it,” she promised.

Rhona clapped her hands together once and rubbed them. “ All right. It’s nearly dawn, and it’s been a long night. Let’s get some rest while we can. We’ll regroup in a few hours with the others and figure out our next steps.”

Carlyle moved to the side as everyone filed out. Song got to her feet but remained behind as he had hoped. When they were alone, he walked around the sofa to stand in front of her. He itched to grab her hands and hold her against him once more. Instead , he kept his arms at his sides. “ How are you?”

“ Doing about the same as you, I suppose.”

He nodded. “ It was a rough night.”

“ I never thanked you for bringing me back.”

“ You didn’t think I wanted to go through this alone, did you?” he teased lightheartedly.

Her lips curved briefly, but the smile didn’t remain. “ For years, I wondered what had become of my parents. I used to pray that they’d find me. Then I hated them. I didn’t think they deserved my sister and me if they’d abandon us.”

“ Things are often more complicated than we know.”

“ I went from loving my mother to hating her to loving her within a millisecond. There is so much I wanted to say to her. To ask her. Now , I will never have that chance.”

“ What we know is that she loved you. Don’t ever doubt that. She withstood torture to keep you hidden, and then she suffered years within the organization to train you and watch you grow up. Thomas wanted to hurt her. In reality, he gave her a gift. He let her be with you.”

Song gave him a halfhearted shrug. “ Yeah .”

Carlyle watched her walk away, seemingly lost in thought. He almost called her back but decided not to at the last minute. The night had been physically, emotionally, and mentally draining. She needed time to digest it all. Just as he did. Though he couldn’t get the feeling of her in his arms out of his head. She was in a house full of strangers after her world had been turned upside down. She didn’t need his advances.

Not today.

Maybe when the time was right.

Eventually , Carlyle made his way upstairs to his bedroom on the third floor. He turned his mind to discovering what Thomas’s role was in the organization. But he was tired of thinking about the man he had called his father. Carlyle should probably care that the life he’d known in England was gone, but he had given it up years ago when he joined the Knights . In the back of his mind, he had always known that. Even if he didn’t admit it.

Dealing with a lifetime of Thomas’s deceptions was too painful to touch on yet. Every memory, each second of his life, had been a lie. He had admired and adored Thomas . A murderer and deceiver. That blood ran in his veins.

Carlyle entered the bedroom and closed the door behind him, weary to his soul. He eyed the bed. His eyes stung, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep. His mind was still too full, his heart heavy.

He sank into one of the chairs near the window and stretched out his legs. He had a good view of the horizon. If he squinted, he could make out the water.

That brought him back to when he and Song had fallen into the Thames . Shi hadn’t just saved Song , she had saved him, too. If her magic hadn’t hit the correct stone, the floor wouldn’t have opened, and they would likely still be in that room. And Carlyle would’ve been forced to kill his father.

He scrubbed his hands over his face and sat up. Thomas was the enemy. His father . How could he begin to rectify that in his mind?

The click of the door handle caused him to lift his head. He spotted Song standing in the doorway, wearing a paisley robe. His heart leapt at the sight of her. She softly closed the door and made her way to him. He leaned back in the chair when she stepped between his legs. Her dark eyes searched his face before she tenderly skimmed her fingers along his jaw.

He rested his hand on her waist and gently tugged her toward him. She straddled his legs. As she leaned forward, the thick curtain of her hair fell to one side. Carlyle looked at her mouth before rubbing his thumb across her lower lip. She caught the digit between her teeth and closed her lips around it, then swirled her tongue around his thumb. He went instantly, painfully hard.

Her robe gaped open at the front, showcasing her bare skin and the swells of her breasts. He pulled his thumb from her mouth and slid his fingers into her hair while drawing her head to his. Their lips brushed and lingered. Then , he kissed her again, sliding his tongue along her lips. When their mouths met a third time, he kissed her deeply. Her soft moan made his blood burn with need.

She sat up and licked her kiss-swollen lips. He watched as she untied the belt at her waist and pulled the robe open before it slid down her arms to the floor, baring her amazing body.