Laoch

by Kate LaMontagne

  “No. Sorry.” Eoin ducked his head apologetically. “I took the liberty of updating Tristan. He’ll send another Fae to cover tomorrow when I go off duty. He said he’d be here tomorrow morning to talk strategy with you. Captain, will you be assigning another Ranger to cover Noah’s position?”

  TJ frowned, pissed at the thought of anyone assuming the worst regarding his missing Ranger.

  Eoin blushed, averting his eyes. “Meaning no disrespect sir.”

  “No… you’re right. I’ll have Heath take Noah’s place until we locate Noah. You should go on to bed. With all of us here we’re well covered. The alarms will alert us if Cillian tries anything tonight. I’ll square it with Tristan. You’ve already covered a double-shift.”

  Eoin nodded. “Yes sir. Goodnight.” He hesitated. “Please wake me if you find out anything.” He headed down the hall and a minute later they heard his door close quietly.

  “Well,” TJ said, “we’d best rack out too. Tomorrow’s going to be a long day.”

  Chapter 12

  The next day there was still no sign of Laoch and Noah. Searches were organized and Liam took the lead on Old Earth, sending search parties to check the Fae realms and the human world but there were just too many possibilities, too much ground to cover. After three days, the searches were called off.

  Tiger wanted to keep looking but TJ had to make the hard call. “Tigger, the men are worn out. No one’s slept or had a real meal in three days. If we get any leads or fresh ideas, we’ll jump on it, but right now we’re just banging our heads against a rock wall. I don’t like it either, but we’ve got nothing.”

  Tiger slumped down in his chair. They were gathered together in Remi’s living room waiting for food to be delivered, no one had the desire or the energy to bother fixing anything. Heath and Elias, the new guards at Remi’s house, listened in. Tris and Heath kept casting covert glances at each other. Something was going on there, but Tiger was too tired and too worried about his cousin and team-mate to give a shit.

  “Put me back on leave status,” he told TJ. “I’ll keep looking on my own.”

  “Absolutely not! You’re a prime target! I’m not going to let you wander around out there by yourself.”

  “But…”

  “No. I don’t want to hear any more about it,” TJ cut him off.

  Tiger slammed out the patio door, stripping off clothes as he went, till he got down to his briefs. He dived into the pool and started swimming laps till he was too exhausted to swim any more. He stopped in the grotto, treading water and contemplating the murals on the walls. There had to be more he could do.

  A shaggy blond head popped out of the water next to him. “Are you through pouting?” TJ asked.

  “I’m not pouting. I’m thinking… and cooling off,” he said.

  “Okay. What are you thinking?”

  “I’m thinking he’s my cousin and I told him if I were in his position I’d never give up. He’s got to be somewhere. He didn’t just disappear into thin air. Where have we not looked? If Cillian got to him maybe he’s being held prisoner somewhere.”

  “He’s in a weakened condition but he’s still pretty strong and Noah’s no slouch. They wouldn’t give up without a fight. If they fought, there would surely be some signs of a struggle,” TJ mused.

  Someone shouted from outside the grotto. “Captain, there’s news from Master Liam’s estate. They’ve found a body.” Tristan was standing at the side of the pool when they emerged from the grotto.

  “Who is it?” Tiger asked breathlessly. “Have they identified the body?”

  “No,” Tristan said, “but I’m to bring you to the location. Nothing has been touched. The master is waiting for the three of you.”

  “Three?” TJ and Tiger looked at each other in confusion. “Remi!” they both said.

  Crawling out of the pool, they didn’t bother to dry off or change clothes. They just re-dressed in the clothes they’d discarded on the pool deck. Remi came running out with their weapons as Tristan cast a portal and they all leapt through together.

  They hit the ground in a roll and came up at the feet of Liam, who handed them a flask. “Drink up,” he ordered, and they did so without questioning.

  “Over here,” he said, pointing away from the lake toward a wooded area.

  TJ looked over his shoulder and saw ripples coming from something under the surface of the lake. He shuddered. “Glad we didn’t land in there,” he told Tristan, who grinned back at him.

  As they approached the trees, they caught sight of the body. Tiger was the tracker in the group, so he picked his way around the site, careful not to disturb anything while the others held back.

  Recognizing Laoch’s fancy boot prints, he could see as plainly as reading a book where Laoch and someone evenly matched had fought, advancing and retreating back and forth, obviously fencing. Further back, three men had struggled at close quarters. One had been killed. A human, but not Noah. A bloody KA-BAR still embedded in his chest with the initials NW engraved on the handle. Laoch’s boot prints suddenly dug in and moved quickly to where the three men had fought, blood drops overlaying the boot prints, then they just stopped.

  Tiger backed off and joined the waiting group. Liam waited for his assessment anxiously.

  “It was them,” Tiger confirmed. “The knife is Noah’s. It looks like they were surprised by three men. Laoch fought with a swordsman who held his own, probably Cillian. Noah fought with the other two.”

  “The dead man is human. Whoever fought with Laoch had to be Fae with a dragon sword or he’d be dead. Not sure about the third guy. Looks to me like Laoch was wounded and he cast a portal to get himself and Noah away from here. There’s a lot of blood near his prints. The other two headed off in that direction then their tracks disappear too.”

  Tiger looked at Liam, hesitating to deliver bad news. “Tell me what you think nephew. You’re obviously very skilled at this,” Liam demanded.

  “Laoch’s probably lost a lot of blood. He was already weakened, then wounded. He said casting portals takes a lot of energy. I think he took them through a portal to where he thought they’d be safe and either he’s too weak to cast another portal or…”

  “Or he’s dead,” Liam finished. “Noah can’t return on his own.”

  “If he’s only wounded, Noah will do his best to care for him. I didn’t see any indication that he was hurt. Laoch’s Fae metabolism may heal him eventually but given his previous condition and depending on how bad his wounds are, it doesn’t look good.” Tiger hated himself for having to speak so clinically about the probability of the loss of both men, both like brothers to him.

  He wandered away from the group, towards the lake. The water drew him closer, sunlight sparkling off the surface. It was a beautiful location. Peaceful.

  Liam spoke as he appeared at Tiger’s side. “This was my sons’ favorite spot. They were bonded here and spent many a night out here gazing at the water and the stars, planning their future.” He rested his hand on Tiger’s shoulder. “I have to believe he’s still alive. Anything else is unacceptable.”

  Tiger closed his eyes, breathing in the scent of the water and the flowers. “He would go somewhere away from people. He wouldn’t risk giving away the secret of portals. Somewhere he was familiar with, where he’d feel safe. Somewhere he felt Cillian wouldn’t know about.” He looked at Liam. “Did he travel extensively?”

  Liam shook his head. “He was too busy fighting the enemies of the queen and keeping watch over you, and then, of course, trying to track down Cillian. He thought I didn’t know about his trips to Corvan, but I understood his need to be close to you, so I never said anything. If he weren’t a warrior, he probably would be a historian or an archeologist. There are a lot of pictographs in this area. He spent a lot of time studying them. Aidan would sketch them for him.”

  “I saw the sketch he did of a phoenix. It was incredible. Do you have any of his work here? I’d love to see them.” He was eager to kno
w more about Laoch’s mate. Laoch didn’t open up much about Aidan. It was too painful a subject for him.

  They all went back to Liam’s house, where he served refreshments. Liam led Tiger to his library, where he pulled several sketch pads off a shelf, handing them to Tiger. Tiger leafed through them slowly. “These are beautiful! Did he ever publish any of these? Or paint?”

  “Some,” Liam replied. “There are actually several paintings in a museum on Corvan and some here. I think he published some art books containing his sketches with some commentary provided by Laoch.” He laughed. “Laoch goes by “Professor Laoch” when he’s on Corvan, but that’s pretty close to the truth. When one lives as long as we do, history is second nature.”

  “Thank you for sharing these with me, and your stories about the two of them. Laoch doesn’t talk much about himself. I love learning more about my family.”

  Liam smiled at the reference to “family”. “Yes… family.” He hooked his arm around Tiger’s neck, giving him a side hug. “Well, shall we rejoin your mate and friends?” He led Tiger back to the dining hall and the somber group.

  *****

  Cillian was in a foul mood. He’d missed his best shot at killing Laoch and now no one knew where he had disappeared to. No one had seen him for four days. Even Laoch’s allies, who had previously been hounding his own steps, were now focused on finding Laoch and his human bodyguard. What a laugh! A human bodyguard for a Fae warrior?

  He backhanded the Fae soldier who stood before him. The same man who had failed to capture the bodyguard. The soldier stood his ground, saying nothing. He was well aware that Cillian could easily take his head if he wanted to.

  “Get back out there and find him! Tell your men I want to know everywhere they go, everything they talk about, what questions they ask, anything they look up or look at, who they talk to.”

  He tipped his head back, closing his eyes. “He’s alive. I feel it in my bones.”

  “What about the others?” the soldier asked.

  “Let them live for now. They’ll ferret out the information I seek. Just follow them and report back on what they find. If the opportunity arises, bring me the half-breed Fae. There’s something more to him than meets the eye. I want him alive. Don’t fuck it up this time.”

  The soldier nodded and saluted his master, then turned and left the room.

  Cillian threw himself into a chair and poured himself another glass of wine.

  Chapter 13

  Noah helped Laoch to stand. Laoch leaned against him, his right arm hooked over his shoulder and his left tucked into his waistcoat while Noah carried the dragon sword in his right hand in case of attack. It was the only weapon they had now. He’d left his knife in the chest of one of his attackers.

  Laoch had tackled him so suddenly he hadn’t had time to pull it out. Admittedly he’d saved Noah’s life. There was no way he’d have been able to take down the sword-wielding Fae coming towards him with a KA-BAR.

  If they hadn’t pulled Laoch’s attention away from his fight with Cillian, he might have been able to kill the asshole and they wouldn’t be in this mess now. Out in the middle of nowhere, no food, no weapons, no medical supplies, unable to travel and unable to contact anyone.

  Fucked. Up. Beyond. All. Recognition.

  Laoch showed him the way to the cave. Once they reached the entrance behind the waterfall, it was pitch black. Laoch lifted his left hand as well as he could without opening his chest wound and produced a small flame that hovered above his upturned palm. They shuffled to the back of the first small cave and Laoch pointed to a branching tunnel that led to a much larger cave.

  A short distance ahead, Noah spotted a torch stuck into a hole in the wall. He slid the sword into Laoch’s scabbard and took the torch down, lighting it from the small flame. Laoch closed his fist and the flame snuffed out.

  “Cool trick,” Noah muttered.

  “My spirit animal is a phoenix. Fire is my core ability,” he replied.

  As they moved further into the cave Noah saw more torches. He lit each one they passed by. Soon he could see just how big the cave really was. He suspected someone could easily get lost in there and never find their way out again. There were more tunnels branching off the one they stood in.

  Along one wall he saw a large pile of firewood and some other items that must have been left behind by previous visitors. There was an old fire ring lined by stones and a pile of blankets nearby. He lowered Laoch to the ground and set the torch into an empty hole. Grabbing the blankets, he stepped deeper into the cave and shook them out. He came back, folding them into a pillow and placed it under Laoch’s head.

  Lifting the torch, he scouted around the lit portion of the cave assessing the layout, checking for traps or animals, and looking over the debris for anything they could make use of. One lucky find was some empty water bottles. That was pure gold. Even though they had a waterfall literally at their front door, having something to carry water in meant having a way to bring the water to his patient and carry a supply if they had to leave.

  He gathered up anything he thought they could use and put it in a pile near the firewood. Rinsing out a couple of the bottles, he filled them with fresh water and brought them back to Laoch. “Laoch. You awake?” Laoch’s eyes fluttered open. “I’m leaving you some water right here.” He showed the bottles to Laoch.

  Pulling the dragon sword from Laoch’s scabbard, he said “I’ll be right back. I’m going to go cut some fresh branches from the trees to use for bedding. There’s nothing in here and the ground is too hard to lay on for long. Stay put, okay?”

  Laoch just nodded and closed his eyes again. Noah decided they needed warmth first, so he added wood to the fire ring and lit it with the torch. Once he had a good fire going and he was sure he wasn’t going to set fire to anything else, he rushed out to get the branches. It was darker now, but he did at least have some moonlight to find his way around.

  It didn’t take long to gather what he needed. The dragon sword cut through the branches like a hot knife cut through butter. He brought the sword back, returning it to its scabbard and checked on Laoch. He appeared to be asleep, so Noah didn’t disturb him.

  Spreading the branches out to dry, he took his shirts back to the waterfall and rinsed the blood out as best he could, then draped them over some rocks to dry. Neither of them had worn overcoats. They literally had only the shirts on their backs and lightweight jackets… and the blankets that had been left behind.

  Fortunately, the natives not only left a huge supply of wood but they had also stockpiled torches so he could afford to keep them burning all night. They were far enough back in the cave that he didn’t think the light would penetrate the waterfall at night. He needed to be able to check on Laoch and he couldn’t very well do it in the dark.

  There wasn’t a whole lot that he could make use of. He thought he saw some fruit trees and some wild berries while he was fetching the branches, and he’d seen signs of rabbits. If he could fashion some snares maybe they could have some roasted rabbit for dinner. All the Rangers had extensive survival training, so he’d figure out something.

  After the branches were dry, he stripped the smaller branches off into a pile near the fire ring and set the larger branches aside. Everything was green so there was no chance of it catching fire while they slept. Moving Laoch carefully over to the pile he managed to get him onto it without disturbing the pile too much. He moved the bottles of water and the sword within reach of the makeshift bed and added more wood to the fire, setting some extra logs close enough to add during the night if he needed to.

  With all that done, he decided there wasn’t much else he could do for the time being. Food would have to wait until morning. He checked Laoch’s condition one more time then stretched out next to him, pulling the blankets over them and closing his eyes with a heavy sigh.

  Laoch woke him a few hours later, shifting restlessly and muttering in Elvish. The only word Noah understood was “Aidan”. He sa
t up and tried to rouse Laoch but when he touched his face, he realized he was running a fever.

  “Damn, you just can’t catch a break, can you? What god did you piss off to have to have all this shit in your life?” He checked Laoch’s wound and the skin around it was red and hot. It was still too dark out to try to locate medicinal plants, but he needed to get Laoch’s fever down.

  “I know this is going to piss you off later,” he muttered “but I don’t have any other options.” He started stripping Laoch’s clothes off. They were damp from perspiration, so he hung them over the rocks to dry. He was trying to maintain a clinical attitude. Perving on a sick man was kind of, well… sick... but damn! The man was built like a god. The only imperfection was the messed up tattoo.

  He’d never even seen Laoch with his shirt off, let alone the whole package. ‘Oh, fuck, don’t think about packages! And don’t think about fucking! Shit! I am so screwed! No! Not screwed! Stop thinking! Stop thinking!!’

  Laoch had figured out that Noah had the hots for him, so this would probably get him killed. His hands were shaking by the time he finished. He grabbed his undershirt, which was now dry, and sighed pathetically as he stuck it back into the cold water of the waterfall.

  He’d covered Laoch up to the waist with the blankets for modesty’s sake and started wiping down his upper body and face with the cool shirt. It took a while and many trips back and forth to the waterfall to keep cooling the shirt, but finally Laoch’s fever broke.

  Noah turned to place another log on the fire before lying back down when he felt warm fingers stroking across his bare back. “Aidan,” Laoch whispered. Noah turned back around and before he could say or do anything strong hands were wrapped around his neck and Laoch had his tongue in his mouth. He pulled Noah down so that their bare chests were pressed together, and his hips thrust against Noah’s as he kissed the hell out of him. He broke off the kiss and lay there hugging Noa tight, whispering in his ear. It was all in Elvish, but the meaning was all too clear as Laoch rolled his hips against Noah’s hardening member.