Page 9 of Blood Skye (Skye Druids #6)

Chapter Nine

Isle of Skye

Rain lashed the windows of Carwood Manor as Sabryn stalked into the library and sank into one of the armchairs. No sooner had she sat than she jumped back up to her feet and paced. Her gut swirled with panic and apprehension. It had happened. They had been compromised. Carlyle and Finn were only God knew where in England , and she had no idea where Saber was or even how to get ahold of him. At least Elias was on Skye .

“ We prepared for this,” came a Scottish voice.

She looked toward the door where Elias stood in his gray tee, his hand in the front pockets of his dark jeans. His dark blond hair was long on top and trimmed on the sides. Bright blue eyes watched her beneath thick brows. Women had swooned over his good looks and intensity, and while he’d had his fair share of one-night stands, it had been the manor’s owner, Bronwyn Stewart , who had captured his heart.

“ Preparing for something and having it actually happen are two different things,” Sabryn replied.

He withdrew his hands from his pockets and walked into the room, moving directly into her path and halting her. Elias gently grabbed her shoulders and looked into her eyes. “ We prepared for this. We all knew it was an eventuality. Saber will do what he always does. We’ll be back up and running again soon.”

“ What about Finn and Carlyle ?”

Elias blew out a breath and dropped his arms. “ Finn was right to go with Carlyle . If he hadna, I would have. If there’s trouble, they’ll find their way out of it. They always do.”

“ I don’t like this.” Sabryn shoved her hands into her hair and plopped onto the sofa, dropping her elbows onto her legs. “ I have a bad feeling.”

“ You’re no’ the only one.” The cushion shifted as he sat beside her.

Sabryn lifted her head to look at the hearth opposite her and let her hands hang between her knees. “ First , Scott and Willa’s father went missing. Then Carlyle’s . We should’ve at least found Luke by now.”

“ It isna as if we didna search. Scott and Willa know that. We even called in the Warriors . Broc can find anyone, anywhere, but even he couldna locate Luke Ryan .”

Sabryn nodded, thinking about the occupants of MacLeod Castle , who had primeval gods inside them. “ Which means Luke is probably dead.” Sabryn swallowed and looked at Elias . “ We should’ve done more to help Carlyle .”

Elias bowed his head for a second and then met her gaze. “ We can no’ be in two places at once. The attack on Killian and Ariah forced our hands. Carlyle understood that.”

“ Did he?” She looked away, her guilt expanding rapidly. “ Do you remember what he was like after Mabel ?”

“ Aye . He was a mess.”

“ A mess?” she repeated with a snort. “ He went to a dark place we nearly didn’t get him back from. That was his friend. Imagine how he’ll be if his father dies.”

Elias ran a hand down his face and blew out a breath. “ You doona need to remind me. It’s all I can think about. I want to be out there with him. But as worried as I am about Thomas being killed, I’m more concerned about what London will do to Carlyle if they catch him.”

Sabryn sank against the back cushions and squeezed her eyes closed for a heartbeat. “ I can’t let my mind go there. I don’t like what I’ve conjured the few times I dared. You , Bronwyn , Finn , Carlyle , and Saber are family—the only one I acknowledge, anyway. If anything happens to any of you, I’ll? —”

“ Mourn us,” Elias said, covering her hand with his. “ You willna do anything reckless. Others count on you.”

Sabryn hoped he didn’t ask her to promise because it wasn’t something she could give. Her irresponsibility had sent her running from Washington DC to Britain to trace her roots on her father’s side of the family and find other Druids . Instead , she found a group of men who had become everything to her.

“ I still remember the first time I saw Carlyle ,” she said, a brief smile tugging at her lips. “ I was looking into the Druid murders I’d learned about in one of the chat rooms.”

“ Because you have a knack for finding people,” he added with a crooked smile.

She glanced at him, nodding. “ I was walking the London streets, getting soaked while tracking a suspect. I turned a corner, and there he was. Carlyle had been tracking the same person.”

“ You joined forces in apprehending the murderer. The two of you began working together, heading to Ireland after another lead, where you found Finn . About six weeks later, I encountered the three of you. Carlyle led us to Saber , and the Knights were born.” Elias squeezed her hand. “ We’ve captured many of the murderers targeting Druids . We’ve made a difference.”

Sabryn pressed her lips together. “ We have done a lot, but there is more to do. Especially here on Skye .”

“ It’s why we’ve remained.”

“ We came to help you,” she insisted, turning her head to him. “ As soon as we heard you returned for your youngest sister, we headed here in case you needed us.”

Elias’s lips twisted. “ Which , I did.”

“ Elodie’s troubles worked themselves out.”

“ Now it’s Edie we need to focus on. I doona want to think that my middle sister might be involved in anything sinister, but something has changed. She isna the same.”

Sabryn was grateful for the subject change, even if it was focused on Elias’s sister. “ Edie is being watched. If she’s involved, we’ll find out.”

“ That doesna help with Carlyle and Finn .”

“ Or finding Luke and Thomas .”

Elias started to speak when the manor’s front door opened. Sabryn turned to look out the library across to the entryway. Several seconds passed before Rhona , the leader of the Skye Druids , and her mate, Balladyn , walked into the sentient manor. Rhona’s long, red hair was gathered at the back of her head with a claw clip. Her green eyes scanned the area until she looked into the library and spotted them.

The tall, broad-shouldered man who followed her wasn’t human. He’d once been a general in the Light Fae army before a betrayal handed him to the Dark , who turned him. Balladyn then became King of the Dark before being betrayed a second time. As he lay dying, Death —also known as Erith —offered him the opportunity to become a Reaper and join her, tasked with collecting the souls of the Fae she passed judgment upon. To say that Balladyn was powerful was an understatement.

His black and silver hair hung down to the middle of his back. Silver irises ringed in red met Sabryn’s . He retained some of the coloring of a Dark Fae despite being neither Light nor Dark . His coloring bothered some, but she found the unusual shades fascinating. Or maybe it had more to do with the fact that he was a Reaper . Regardless , she called him a friend.

“ This found its way to us,” Rhona said as she handed Sabryn a medium-sized brown box.

Sabryn opened it to find an array of new cell phones. She grabbed one and gave Elias the box. Sabryn knew without looking that the phones were from Saber . “ Make sure everyone has one.”

“ I already took one,” Rhona informed them. “ I have other news. Where is everyone?”

“ Most are somewhere in the manor. I’ll wake them,” Elias said as he stood.

Sabryn watched as he and Balladyn left the library together. She looked down at the phone. “ You don’t ever think about how much you use one of these until you don’t have one at your disposal.”

“ How long until Saber contacts you?”

“ Your guess is as good as mine.” She shrugged and lifted her gaze to Rhona . “ The only reason he would’ve sent that message was if someone breached his place. Saber has always told us that he has other locations he can use in case something like this ever happened.”

Rhona moved to sit on the other end of the sofa. “ So , it’s just a matter of waiting until he gets there.”

“ While we have no idea what’s happening with Carlyle and Finn .”

“ Actually , that’s one of the reasons I came. I was going to wait until everyone was gathered, but you should know now. Esther and Henry stopped by.”

Sabryn wasn’t surprised by that. The siblings were part of a long line of Druid enforcers, the TruthSeeker and the JusticeBringer . Esther was mated to a Dragon King , which meant she spent most of her time at Dreagan . “ Do they have new information?”

“ Do you recall hearing about Melisse ?”

Sabryn searched her memory for that name. She knew little about the Dragon Kings and Fae besides what she had learned while on Skye . She had met Esther’s mate, Nikolai , who was the King of Ivories . “ I don’t think so. Who is she?”

“ She’s the first offspring of a Dragon King and a Dark Fae .”

Sabryn whistled. “ That’s right. I remember hearing something about her. Can she help?”

“ She and Henry are together now. I asked Esther , Nikolai , Henry , and Melisse to go to London to look for Carlyle and Finn . If anyone can find them, those four can.”

Sabryn reached across the cushions and squeezed Rhona’s hand. “ Thank you.”

“ I know what it’s like to lead. The pressure is overwhelming sometimes.”

“ Sometimes ?” Sabryn asked with a bark of laughter. She released Rhona as she sat up. “ I can’t let the boys down.”

Rhona gave her a soft smile. “ You won’t. You aren’t .”

“ Carlyle shouldn’t have had to look for his father with only Finn . It should have been all of us.”

“ Go to them.”

Sabryn leaned her head back against the cushion to look at the ceiling. “ Not with everything going on here.”

“ It’s why I asked Henry and the others to head there.”

Sabryn rolled her head to the side to look at Rhona . “ We could use them here, too.”

“ More than Skye Druids are being harmed in the world. You know that. It’s what the Knights did before you came to the isle.”

“ True , but there isn’t some beast between dimensions trying to get to everyone else. They’re after the Druids on Skye .”

Rhona looked away. “ I can’t argue that.”

“ Any other new updates?”

Rhona shook her head. “ How are Elodie and Elias taking this Edie thing?”

“ As well as can be expected. Elias is doing what he always does—putting on a brave face. I’ve not seen much of Elodie . Between the spotlight on Edie and Scott’s father still missing, the couple is having a tough time.”

Rhona puffed out her cheeks and released a breath. “ It doesn’t make sense that Luke is still missing. Scott and Willa need some kind of closure.”

Sabryn knew that even finding a body didn’t necessarily mean closure. Scott and Willa would likely blame themselves and cart around that guilt for the rest of their lives— Scott because he asked his sister and father to locate a dangerous magical book in Edinburgh . Willa and Luke hadn’t just found it, they had attempted to steal it. And Willa had been gravely injured trying to get out of the city. Luke hadn’t been seen since.

“ What if we don’t find Luke ?” Sabryn shrugged at Rhona’s frown. “ I always ask myself what the worst in each situation is.”

“ Willa and Scott will never know what happened to their father,” Rhona answered.

Sabryn nodded. “ They’ll wonder if he suffered or if he is still suffering. They’ll never give up the search.”

“ All right. What’s the worst that can happen if Carlyle’s father is killed?”

“ We’ll lose the Carlyle we have now. Especially if he believes he could have done something to prevent Thomas’s death. But there’s another question. What if London gets their hands on Carlyle ?”

Rhona made a sound in the back of her throat. “ They’ll kill him.”

“ Yes .”

“ He isn’t our only tie to London .”

Sabryn pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger. “ Ferne and Mason .”

“ If anything happens to Carlyle , I don’t know if anyone can do much to keep Ferne from returning to check on her brother.”

“ London won’t pass up the opportunity to make an example of Ferne as they will with Carlyle .”

Rhona rubbed her hands together slowly. “ Then let’s hope Henry and his group find Finn and Carlyle quickly.”

Voices filtered through the manor as those staying at Carwood began to make their way downstairs. Sabryn sat up and put on her brave face.