“Thank goodness. They were absolutely beautiful.”
“Ay, yer mate’s right. The ones around my cottage are safe because Angus protects them,” Brian assured David.
“Let’s get back to the lodge,” Logan said, passing the photo to Brian. “I take it you believe Reif is there and not in Spain?”
“Ay, I know this place.”
“I think he’s there,” said Zane. “I’m sure Reif wouldn’t go willingly, so they had to knock him out and take him someplace close. Getting him to a place in Scotland is a lot easier than taking him to another country, especially if they needed to fly there.”
“But it’s a guess, right?” asked Colton.
“Yes,” Zane agreed, “but I would bet on it.”
“Maybe I can help. If I can find his thoughts, it might tell us where he is,” Dakota suggested.
“Babe, that’s a great idea,” said Slate.
“Yeah, it is,” Logan said. “Dakota, go ahead and see if you can find Reif. Everyone else, be quiet,” he ordered.
Taking Slate’s hand, Dakota activated his shadow voice, searching through myriad thoughts, looking for Reif’s. Knowing they’d be fainter than others, since he wasn’t close by, he quickly discarded the loud ones until what was left were those farther away. Wanting to be certain, Dakota followed each thought thread to its owner before discarding it and tracking another.
Seizing a very faint one, he pulled on it slowly since it was very weak, finally arriving at the end. Squeezing his mate’s hand to let him know he’d found Reif, Dakota found what he was looking for. “Heisin Scotland!” Then, glancing at Brian, he continued, “Reif isn’t in good shape. We need to move quickly if we want to save him.”
Looking out the window, Logan snapped, “Everyone on the roof in ten minutes. Make sure you all dress in black.”
“Are we going?” asked Theo.
“Yes. Everyone goes. I don’t know who’ll be there but whoever they are, we may need to fight them if they won’t hand Reif over.” Then, after sending a text, Logan nodded at Dakota before leaving the room—giving him a signal to pass on the information about the sea dragon’s condition to Ian and Colton. After seeing the look in his brother’s eyes, he knew it was now a race against time.
~/~/~/~/~
From high above, Reif looked down at himself lying on the bed, not moving, wondering when the last life thread tying him to his body would break, freeing his babies from a lifetime of sorrow. It should have happened by now, but when he heard someone in his mind say Nessie was on the way, it produced a flicker of hope in his soul, enough at least, to keep him tied to his body on earth.
~/~/~/~/~
Even though it was lighter than Logan preferred, night had fallen early and low-hanging clouds obscured the full moon; his black dragon could fly without the risk of being spotted. Standing on the roof, he zipped up Kieran’s jacket, tucking his mate’s scarf inside the collar. “Babe, are you sure you’ll be warm enough?”
“Absolument,macushla.I’m wearing my pink, silk, long underwear under my black jeans which, you might want to know, are lined with pink fleece.”
Logan smiled. Then, moving to the center of the roof after everyone had arrived, he shifted into his black dragon, lowering himself so they could climb aboard. Receiving the okay from his mate, his dragon lifted off, making a bee-line for the lodge.
Brian was seated behind the Shaman, whose hand was on his thigh, sending him a constant stream of love and hope. But even so, Dakota’s words about Reif’s condition, made him fearful that they’d arrive too late to save his mate.
Logan had been flying for an hour and was beginning to tire. Digging down for more power, he was determined not to be the reason they might get there too late. Suddenly, he heard his mate in his mind.
Macushla, there it is!Kieran pointed to a white, stone castle sitting in the middle of a large manicured lawn.
Circling it several times, Logan landed in front of the building, allowing everyone to get off. Then he took off again, flying low around the lodge, opening his mouth and roaring while shooting scorching flames to get the attention of those inside. Finally, when the massive front door opened, he landed, shifted, standing behind everyone, and waited for the vampires to make the first move.
“Whatdowe have here?” smirked Valerian, striding out of the house, flanked by Zeidan and Xavier. Sniffing, he snorted in disgust. “Wolf and bear shifters and a sea serpent. Oh, I’msofrightened.”
“Their blood is pretty gamey, but it’s a nice switch from the human kind,” Zeidan said.
“Do you see what I see?” whispered Xavier.
“Yes, I do. Something to add to our collection,” grinned Valerian.
“Maybe we can use him to lure our old coven leader back,” whispered Zeidan.
