by Donna Grant
So did Daisy. Her gaze was on it, a low rumble of a growl falling from her mouth.
Gemma didn’t know how long she stood there before the alarm that had held her captive vanished. Still, she didn’t move out onto the dock. The waves were becoming higher and higher as the storm intensified.
She took a step back. Then another. Gemma turned on her heel and hurried to the house. There was a window in the back that never locked. She’d use it to get inside. On her way there a flash of lightning allowed her to glimpse the outline of a person ahead of her.
A scream rose up, but Gemma held it in and veered to the right as she started running. Her attention was on the figure she’d seen, and she ended up moving too close to the edge of the isle and the mountain of boulders near. She realized her mistake the moment a wave swallowed her.
Gemma lost her hold on Daisy but managed to keep her footing. But she wasn’t so lucky with the second wave. She was yanked out into the churning water. As she struggled to keep her head above water, she saw the figure suddenly standing on the boulders watching her.
She gulped in a mouthful of air before being pulled under again. With her eyes on the surface, she swam as hard as she could against the current trying to take her out into the sea. Her arms and legs grew tired and her lungs burned for air, but her fight paid off as she got free. Just as she was about to break the surface, lightning showed her that the person still stood on the edge, waiting to see if she would rise up.
Gemma stopped swimming and squeezed her eyes shut, a silent scream of terror running through her. She wanted her mum and dad. Even Kyle. Someone so she wouldn’t be alone.
Her eyes snapped open. No longer could she wait. She had to get some air or drown. She pushed hard and broke the water. A quick look showed that she was now alone.
The waves pushed her closer and closer to the rocks. She barely had the energy to keep her head above water, much less fight the waves. She did manage to kick off one rock, but still scraped against several more. Gemma hissed at the saltwater that seeped into the fresh cut.
She wasn’t going to survive a near drowning only to be smashed against the boulders. Gemma gritted her teeth and waited for the next wave. She used it to turn herself and push off a rock to get clear of the largest of them. Then she was able to grab the smaller ones and hang on before the wave took her back out with it.
Chilled to her bones, she clawed her way out of the water. A moment later, something licked at her face. She looked up to find Daisy. Tears stung her eyes as she rubbed her head.
“Hey, girl,” she murmured.
Her arms shook when she pushed herself to her feet. Thankfully, Daisy was all too eager to go with her. It was a blessing, because Gemma didn’t think she could lift her if she tried.
She made her way to the house and found the window. After she got it open, she silently and slowly climbed over the sill. It took her forever because her body wouldn’t obey her properly. Once inside, she called softly for Daisy, who leapt through to land softly beside her.
Gemma shut the window against the storm and huddled in a corner behind some furniture with her dog. She wanted out of the wet clothes, but the trepidation that had held her at the water was back. Whatever had been there was now in the house. It wasn’t as if she had anywhere else to go. The isle was small with only a few deserted buildings besides the house. It was a great place to play, but not somewhere she wanted to be by herself now.
Daisy trembled, wedging her way between her and the door. Gemma didn’t know if the dog was cold or scared—or both. But Daisy was all she had, and she wasn’t going to lose her.
She wrapped the end of Daisy’s leash around her hand several times. The leash wouldn’t yank out of her grasp a second time.
The storm raged for hours in the endless night. Gemma didn’t close her eyes once, even when the thing in the house left. And when dawn came, she still didn’t move. She remained just as she was with her behind numb, her legs stiff, and her body freezing.
Even Daisy didn’t move. The dog closed her eyes, but every sound caused her ears to twitch, which was how Gemma knew the dog wasn’t really asleep.
When midday came, Gemma finally rose, wincing at her stiff body. She cautiously walked through the house. Nothing had been disturbed.
She went upstairs to her room and peeled off her semi-dry clothes before finding new ones. Part of her wanted to remain there because she felt safe. But she was hungry and thirsty. And she really wanted to find her family.
Gemma took a deep breath and walked down the stairs, making sure to step around the parts of the stairs that squeaked. She went outside and stood on the back porch where she would be able to see the dock.
It was there, but there was no sign of her da’s boat, or her family. Maybe they’d sailed off, waiting for the weather to calm so they could return for her.
She went back into the house and stood at the table where the dinner from the night before sat half-eaten. They’d been in the middle of it when her father had gotten a call. One look from him to her mum, and the next thing Gemma knew they were packing up.
Her stomach growled loudly. She sat and finished the food, scraping the plate clean before moving on to her brother’s. Beside her, Daisy licked her lips, waiting. Gemma lowered her mother’s plate to the floor to let the dog eat.
She didn’t venture from the house the rest of that day. Or the three following.
By the fourth day, she went to the dock and stood on the edge, looking out at the water. That’s when she knew her family had left her.
Chapter One
Present Day
Dreagan
Cináed rubbed his eyes and sat back in the chair. He should have known better than to tell Ryder he was willing to help out. Cináed thought he might get to use his skills on the computer.
Instead, Ryder had him looking through old newspapers from all over Scotland in search of anything out of the ordinary. It began three weeks ago, and Cináed made his way through one huge stack only to be told that was from Glasgow. Then he was shown other stacks.
It would help if Ryder had some idea what he wanted him to look for, but all Cináed got in reply was that if it sounded odd, put it aside.
Humans reported on every little thing. Cináed actually thought he wouldn’t find many odd things in the newspaper, but he’d been wrong. More often than not, he was setting aside a paper to show Ryder.
Cináed popped the last raspberry biscuit in his mouth and reached for the next paper. He was now on the newspapers from Inverness, and finding quite a bit that was ‘odd.’
He propped his foot up on the stool before him while reading about a reporter’s take on the queen’s recent visit to Balmoral Castle. Cináed fought to stay awake. He kept yawning as he moved from story to story with nothing catching his eye.
It was on the third page of the newspaper on the bottom right-hand side that he spotted the headline: Young Girl Found Alone on Isle.
Below it was a close-up picture of a pretty child with her head turned staring into the camera. The black and white photo didn’t show the color of the lass’s long hair that had tendrils flying across her face from the wind.
There was something in the girl’s eyes that wouldn’t let him look away. Misery, despair, and acceptance stared back at him from the picture.
It was several minutes before Cináed read the article about how the girl—a Gemma Atherton—was found alone. The isle had been purchased by a Mr. Ben Sinclair ten years prior. With three houses and a tiny post office, the isle only held a family of four. Presumably the girl’s family.
Cináed was surprised to read that Gemma had no idea where her family had gone. The article went on to say that there was a search for the mother, father, and son across the United Kingdom, the surrounding isles, as well as the seas.
A family going missing certainly constituted something odd. Cináed put the paper aside to show Ryder later, but he soon picked it back up again. He read the article three more time
s. And each instance he wondered what had become of the girl and if her family had been found.
Cináed folded the newspaper so that the article was on top and picked up the rest of the oddities he’d found that day before he stood and made his way to the computer room, which was Ryder’s domain.
He met Kinsey on the stairs. Ryder’s mate had a box of donuts in hand as she smiled at him. He didn’t need to ask if every pastry in there was jelly-filled, because those were Ryder’s favorites.
“You found something,” Kinsey said.
He looked into her violet eyes and shrugged. “Maybe.”
“Anything you want me to look into?”
“Actually, I’d like to look myself.”
Her dark brows shot up on her forehead. “I see.”
They reached the door to the computer room. Cináed opened it and waited for Kinsey to enter before he followed. Ryder didn’t glance away from the multiple rows of screens he watched. Instead, he held out his hand, waiting for Kinsey to take it when she walked to him. After they shared a quick kiss, she sat in the chair next to him and set the box of donuts down.
“More things for me to look into?” Ryder asked him.
Cináed set the papers on Ryder’s desk but kept the top one. That got Ryder’s attention. He pulled his hands away from the keyboard and focused on Cináed.
“What did you find?” Ryder asked.
Every Dragon King had their own special magic. Guy could take away someone’s memories. Constantine could heal anything but death. Ulrik could bring someone back from the dead—or obliterate their soul. Kiril could freeze anything.
And the list went on and on.
For Ryder, he could make and operate anything electronic. Computers were his specialty. There wasn’t a hacker in the world who could get through his firewalls. And there was no security system in operation that could keep him out.
If anyone needed anything looked for at Dreagan, they went to Ryder. With his facial recognition software, and the ability to search the entire world for a needle, he got the job done quickly.
Cináed’s ability wasn’t so cut and dry. When he wanted to learn something, he was able to do it. Whatever that might be. For a while he’d helped Vaughn with his legal practice, but Cináed was ready to move on to something else. He’d now turned to computers, which Ryder had been happy to show him.
Ryder slowly smiled. “Something caught your attention.”
“Aye,” Cináed said.
Ryder then pointed to one of the other keyboards. “Get on it.”
Cináed walked to the chair. Before he reached it, Ryder had turned control of the screen to him. He sat and popped his knuckles as he glanced at the photo of the girl once more. Gemma Atherton.
What was it about that name that caused him to frown? He should know that name. Maybe he’d find out when he discovered what had happened to the child.
Cináed opened up a search page. He then typed in the girl’s name and “missing family” before he hit enter. Instantly the screen was filled with links. One by one he went through them reading what was said. He highlighted anything he found important before moving onto the next.
It wasn’t long before he was utterly absorbed in his search. Gemma had dominated the headlines across the UK for several months. There were many pictures of her, but in every one she had the same expression from the first photo.
Then, suddenly, there were no new pictures. The papers re-used photos. As odd as Cináed found that, what was more puzzling was that the authorities had found nothing of her parents or brother.
After a few months, Gemma’s name stopped being printed as the talk centered on the missing parents and son. There was a search of the isle for bodies, which made him roll his eyes. As if Gemma had murdered her family. Anyone in their right mind could look at her and know a seven-year-old didn’t do it.
Cináed frowned. This happened years ago, but he still was sure of her innocence. He finished the article and went on to the next, but there was nothing. Everything about Gemma Atherton and her family ceased.
Another search to find what had happened to Gemma netted him nothing. But Cináed had been taught by Ryder, so he wasn’t deterred. His next search gave him exactly what he wanted.
Gemma had become a ward of the state and gone into foster care. He was able to bypass the security from the government and get into the files. There he discovered that Gemma’s foster parents had put her into therapy to talk about what had happened, but after seven different therapists over a three-year period, everyone came to realize that she wasn’t going to discuss it.
Gemma kept to herself, shying away from others. She made decent grades and finished school. As soon as she came of age, she left her foster parents’ home. The documents from the government ended as well.
But Cináed knew there was more. It took some digging, and a couple of tries remembering what Ryder had taught him, but he found what he was looking for on social media using the facial recognition software.
The one final picture of Gemma in the files when she came of age made it easy to pop that into the software and search the entire Internet for her. Unfortunately, it was a search that would take hours.
Cináed pushed back the chair and ran a hand down his face. He didn’t understand the connection he felt to Gemma, but it was there. Maybe he just felt sorry for her that her family disappeared.
He spun the office chair as he was about to stand, but he spotted Ryder leaned back in his own chair, legs stretched out and ankles crossed as he watched Cináed.
“You’ve been glued to the screen for twelve hours,” Ryder said.
Cináed frowned and looked at the time. It had been twelve hours. He shrugged and swung his gaze back to Ryder. “There was a lot to look through.”
“Who is Gemma Atherton?”
“I don’t know.”
Ryder quirked a blond brow. “She obviously intrigued you.”
“I found this,” Cináed said and tossed him the article. “That seven-year-old’s parents and older brother disappeared one night. She wouldn’t say how long she was on that isle by herself with her dog, but my guess is awhile.”
“Maybe her family meant to leave her.”
“Hmm. I think it’s more than that. Something isna adding up.”
“If I know the authorities, they took pictures of everything. Did you look at those?”
Damn. Cináed knew there had been something he was missing. He slid around as Ryder sat up and swiveled his chair to start typing. Within seconds, the pictures filled two of the many screens.
Ryder clicked on each one, letting it fill an entire screen so they could get a closer look. It didn’t take long for Cináed to realize that this was no cut-and-dried case.
“Would a woman leave something that is obviously an antique behind?” Cináed asked as he pointed to the broach in one of the pictures.
Ryder shook his head. “I doona think so. No’ on purpose, at least. Look at the bedrooms.”
Cináed inspected each one. “They’re messy. Drawers half opened. In all except this one,” he said, pointing to what was obviously Gemma’s room.
“I suppose the parents could have tried to get away without her knowing.”
“On an isle with no one else about? And Gemma had a dog.”
Ryder’s lips twisted. “I forgot about the dog.”
“The only way on or off the isle was by water. Is there a boat in Ben Sinclair’s name?”
“Is he the father?” Ryder asked as he typed in the name.
“That’s the name listed as the owner of the isle.”
Ryder grunted. “That’s odd.”
“What is?”
“There are many Ben Sinclairs, but none of them are the one who purchased the isle.”
Cináed turned to Kinsey’s computer since she wasn’t there and began digging into the name. Between him and Ryder, it didn’t take long for them to discover that Ben Sinclair wasn’t a real person. Through several shell com
panies, the isle was in fact purchased by a Daniel Atherton.
“The father,” Cináed said with a frown.
“There is a boat in the name of Ben Sinclair as well.”
“Why did he buy both under a fake name?”
“No one does that unless they’re hiding from something. Or someone.”
Cináed recalled something he’d read in one of the papers. He did another hunt and found there was a storm that had hit the west coast of Scotland three weeks before Gemma was found.
“I’ll be damned,” Ryder mumbled. “Do you think she fell overboard and managed to get back to the isle?”
Cináed shrugged. “I’ve no idea, but I’d like to find out.”
“Why is this important?”
“I can no’ explain it,” he said, meeting Ryder’s hazel gaze. “I just know I have to find her.”
No sooner had the words left his mouth than his computer dinged. He looked at it to discover that the search had finished.
“That was quick,” Ryder said with a frown. “Too quick.”
Cináed pushed his chair back to the computer and quickly ran through the photos of Gemma. There were only a few, and then nothing for several years. There were more recent ones of her going back about eight years.
“This is why you look for names as well as faces,” Ryder said as he tapped his finger on the screen.
Cináed looked to discover that she had changed her name to Gemma Clacher. That was odd enough since that surname was linked to Henry and Esther North, a brother and sister who recently discovered they were adopted and their names changed to hide the fact that they were the JusticeBringer and TruthSeeker of the Druids.
“That has to be a coincidence,” Cináed said.
Ryder blew out a breath. “Is it? Or does it mean something else? Look where she’s living.”
Cináed scanned the screen until he saw it, shock rushing through him. “She’s here. Right here in the village.”
Chapter Two