“You probably wouldn’t make such a fuss if it were that Lachlan bloke escorting you.”
“Having a male follow me into the toilet is just wrong.”
“Not that. You keep staring at him when he’s in the room. Care to tell me why?”
Cat lowered her voice. “He’s an interesting subject for my next series of paintings. I’m not about to ask him to sit for me, so I need to memorize the details of his face and hands. Those are the two hardest areas for me to get right.”
Faye snatched a piece of bacon. “On the last day of the exhibition, I can tie him to a chair for you. He won’t want anyone to know about his humiliation, so we should be safe from him reporting to the DDA.”
Cat moved her plate out of Faye’s reach and scooped up a bite of baked beans with her fork. “Yes, because Finn and Grant are known for looking the other way.”
“Perhaps,” Faye answered with her mouth full of bacon. “I have dirt on my cousin. And Grant, well, I’m sure I can convince him, too.”
Cat looked like she wanted to ask a question, but went back to eating her breakfast. Since it probably had to do with Grant, Faye changed the subject. “At any rate, I need to find Iris and Max. Do you want to come with me? Not only will it save you a trip from seeking her out yourself, but Max seems to listen to you, so maybe if you tell him to stay put, he will.”
“He only listens to me because I’m nice to him. He may be eccentric, but he’s interesting. He also has some fascinating stories about history. I’ve been trying to convince him to write a book for secondary school students. His flair might encourage some of them to pursue history, archaeology, or something along those lines.”
Faye laid her head on the table. “Please don’t encourage him. At least, not until the exhibition is finished. Otherwise, he might run off to every nearby archaeological site he can find and claim it’s all in the name of research for a new book.”
“From what I gather, he only went to Craig Phadrig because thieves are supposed to ransack it soon,” Cat answered. “I would do the same thing if a precious painting was rumored to be a target. Surely you have something that you would risk your life for.”
“My family, of course. And the clan. Other than that, I don’t have many hobbies or interests.”
Cat raised an eyebrow. “And that is your problem. We need to find you one.” She changed her voice to a whisper. “And one that doesn’t necessarily involve a man.”
“Maybe. Just don’t suggest painting. I’m sure my months’ old nephew could do a better job than me.”
Amusement danced in Cat’s eyes. “Oh, I don’t know. We could always start you out with finger painting.”
Faye tore off a bit of toast and tossed it at Cat. The bloody woman caught it. Faye gave her best glare, but all Cat did was toss the piece of bread back.
As it bounced off Faye’s head, they both started laughing. Faye was the first one to catch her breath. “Maybe if we toss some bits of toast at the others, it’ll lighten the mood. Everyone seems so serious this morning.”
Lachlan’s voice filled their ears. “I’ll thank you not to turn the breakfast room into a war zone, Ms. MacKenzie. We don’t need the negative publicity.”
Faye glanced at Lachlan. “What? That dragon-shifters enjoy having fun and aren’t different from humans in that respect? How is that negative?”
Lachlan smoothed his shirt. “It would turn into a destruction of property story in the papers and online. I’m sure the Dragon Knights would use anything as an excuse to launch another attack.”
Faye raised her brows. “We wouldn’t have to worry about that if the DDA did its job.”
Lachlan didn’t bat an eyelash at her tone. “The DDA does what it can with its limited resources.”
“Caring doesn’t cost anything,” Faye stated.
Cat stood and moved between them. “We’re all on the same side. Let’s not forget that.”
Faye’s dragon huffed. Maybe if we put in a complaint, the DDA will send us someone less rigid.
I checked into MacKintosh, and he’s supposed to be the best. Not only at staging events, but also when it comes to damage control. In this instance, the stuffier the better.
She focused back on Cat and Lachlan. “Aye, we’re on the same side. But just a piece of advice, Lachlan. Almost everyone in this room is tense. You need to find some relaxing activities along the way or the slightest incident could start a fire. You’ll have to use all of your skills then, and it still might not be enough.”
“Duly noted,” Lachlan answered. “For the moment, I need to persuade everyone to change and get ready. We’ll be leaving in an hour.”
Faye had to give the human credit. He knew how to stay focused.
She gave a mock salute. “Yes, sir.”
Cat spoke up. “We’ll be ready on time. Even if I have to find someone to dress Faye, she will be downstairs in an hour.”
Faye opened her mouth to say she could take care of herself, but Lachlan had already moved to the next table. Turning her head to Cat, Faye stuck out her tongue.
Cat shrugged. “I got him to leave, aye? Now, we’d better hurry or we won’t have time to talk with Iris and still meet Lachlan downstairs on time.”
“And I’m not sure I want to see that male upset. I have a feeling his quiet nature hides something deep inside.”
Cat looked at the human. “Me, too. But nothing sinister.”
She studied her friend a second. “I never said sinister. But I’m curious exactly how you plan to use him in your painting. Please tell me it’s as a fairy, complete with rainbow wings and a dainty wand? And maybe some cat ears?”
Cat snorted. “Don’t be ridiculous. You’ll just have to wait like everyone else until I’m finished.”
“Some friend you are.”
Cat merely smiled at her.
Sighing, Faye stood. “Right, then if you’re not going to tell me, we should go.”
“You’re giving up fairly easily, Faye MacKenzie.”
“What can I say? I don’t dare upset your Lachlan by being tardy.”
Cat opened her mouth to say something and promptly shut it.
As they made their way toward Max’s room, Faye wondered if she should wake Grant in an hour or let him sleep. She knew he’d want to be part of the action, but on the other hand, he didn’t take care of himself properly. Faye would have to be the judge of what was best for him in this case.
Her dragon sighed. He shouldn’t be our concern.
Even putting aside your grudge, we need the best fighting force possible in case something does happen.
Her beast paused a second before saying, I suppose.
Taking advantage of her dragon’s agreeable nature for the moment, Faye picked up her pace. First things first, she needed to prepare Iris for the day ahead.
~~~
As Grant circled around his last area to search for the day, he scrutinized the surroundings. Usually he enjoyed gliding over the land and taking in the hills and lochs of the Highlands.
However, he was anxious to finish his sweep and find Faye. After all, the devil had forgone waking him up and had left him with a message: You needed the sleep. When you read this, do your job and then find us.
In her note, Faye had acted if she were still head Protector. He was also a bit miffed she had made decisions for him.
His dragon said, I agree with her, and someone needs to look after us. Besides, those few extra hours of sleep make us sharper and better able to find clues.
What clues? All I see are trees, cottages, and more bloody trees.
Someone is impatient.
Grant was about to argue with his dragon about patience. Few dragon halves possessed it, and under normal circumstances, Grant’s was no exception.
But he decided against it. After all, Grant had been denying him their true mate. That would make anyone testy.
Grant himself was wound tight after his dream of Faye naked and beneath him. While sex dreams wer
e great, the tenderness of her curling up against his chest as he held her tight still sent a wave of longing through his body. He’d always secretly wanted to have someone he could trust completely and confide in. He loved his brother, but Chase preferred to tease and treat the world as a ride to be enjoyed. Grant wasn’t sure where he got that from, but the differences in their personalities had created a type of barrier between them growing up.
Faye, on the other hand, knew how to balance fun with dependability. She would never betray him by spilling a secret. After all, she never had in the past and she’d known more than almost anyone about his time in the army.
His dragon chimed in again. She will be ours. Stop doubting it.
I wish it were that easy, dragon.
It could be.
Rather than wax on about what he wanted, he focused on what he could do in the present. Grant flapped his wings as the ground sped past beneath him. He’d nearly reached the village that signaled the end of his search area when he noticed smoke coming up from a large patch of trees.
While it could be humans or even a routine controlled fire, he wasn’t taking any chances. His gut said to investigate the smoke.
Grant maintained his trajectory and speed. He needed whoever it was to think he was going to fly past them.
At the last second Grant folded his wings to his back and dove for the trees. As the branches broke against his body, he didn’t think of the bruises he’d have the next day. Instead, he scanned the area and saw the backs of two forms near a fire.
In the next second, the male and female jumped up and faced him.
It was his father and his father’s sister.
While recognition flared in his father and aunt’s eyes, the realization only took a split-second. The pair turned and ran just as Grant half-crashed to the ground. Not wasting any time, he lunged for them in his dragon form. However, he could only reach his father in time. His aunt ran out of sight.
Fucking fantastic. Even if he made it out of the trees as quickly as he could, his aunt would probably take the car parked near the lone cottage he’d seen next to the trees and escape before he could reach her. If he didn’t have a prisoner, he might be able to catch up to her. But that would require releasing his father.
Grant looked down at his father, Michael. He may have a way to still find the other traitors, even if his aunt warned them.
His father spoke. “Let me go, lad. You don’t want to become involved.”
His father’s statement only piqued his curiosity. Not that Grant could ask questions in his dragon form.
No, he had to find a safe place to stow Michael McFarland until Grant could interrogate him. He wanted to do it straight away, but he couldn’t risk something going wrong with the exhibition.
Then it hit him. Inverness Castle had an underground dragon holding cell. If Grant stashed his dad there, he could question the traitor as soon as the exhibition was over.
With a plan in place, Grant moved toward the clearing beyond the trees. As expected, there was no sign of his aunt.
Focusing back on his father, Grant turned him upside down and shook him a few times to dislodge his belongings. As a few things tumbled to the ground, Grant snatched up his dad’s mobile phone between two talons of his free hand and tucked it gently into the small pouch around Grant’s neck. He would ask Ian and Emma, Lochguard’s techies, to poke around and see what they could find.
He scanned the rest of the bits and bobs and didn’t see anything of value. Hopefully if his father had any sort of anti-dragon defense items, Grant had shaken them out. There was no way he would risk Michael running free by setting his dad down to shift, calling for back-up, searching his prisoner, and then finally taking off.
Since Grant had come on a mission to find rogue dragon-shifters, he carefully took out a vial of ground mandrake root and periwinkle from the small pouch around his neck. Holding the tube with one of his rear feet, he delicately tugged the ring on the top. If he spilled any on himself, Grant wouldn’t be able to shift again for days.
Quickly laying his father on the ground, Grant tossed the powder at the older man. While he coughed at the dust, Grant took out the large bottle of water, ripped it open, and dumped the contents over his dad. While the powder had already been inhaled and made contact with Michael’s skin thus putting it in effect, the water would dilute it enough so it wouldn’t do the same to Grant.
When his dad finished sputtering, he demanded, “What the bloody hell did you do to me?”
Not answering, Grant picked up the man, tightened his hold on his father, crouched down, and jumped into the air.
As he beat his wings furiously, he was grateful for the rest earlier. He should make it back to Inverness in record time.
His dragon said, Are you honestly going to hand him over to the humans at Inverness Castle? We haven’t checked them out and they could be incompetent. Our prisoner might break free.
It’s our only option. Besides, I’ll let Finn know I found our father and he can stress to the DDA the importance of watching this prisoner.
But will Finn allow us to question him? He may send someone else.
While Grant wanted nothing more than to be the one to interrogate his father, even he recognized that he might not be the best one to do so. We could use the help. Someone unrelated won’t allow their emotions to get in the way.
And what if the DDA claims him as their prisoner? We may never be able to find Roderick and the others.
Roderick was Grant’s uncle and the unofficial leader of the dragon-shifters who left Lochguard.
I have faith in Finn.
His beast huffed and remained quiet. For once, Grant wished his dragon would keep talking. It would help distract him from the dragonman in his talons.
Not wanting to allow happier memories of his childhood to affect his mission, Grant pushed himself to fly harder. The sooner he dropped off Michael McFarland, the sooner he could go to the exhibition and talk about it with Faye. She might have a plan of how to better handle the situation.
So, you’re going to rely on Faye now? That’s different, his dragon said.
I would be a fool not to. She has no love for our father. She can make the necessary decisions without any sort of guilt or duty hanging over her.
His dragon paused a beat before adding, Just think if she were always at our side. We could accomplish heaps.
He wanted that more than anything, but protecting the clan came first.
Grant flapped his wings harder and blanked his mind. He needed to secure Michael McFarland before anyone could attack and cart him away.
Chapter Twelve
Faye watched as the five participants of the DDA’s exhibition made the final adjustments to their displays.
Cat’s paintings and photographs caught her eye the most. The vivid colors and definitive brush strokes captured both the land and the vitality of Lochguard’s people. Although the humans would be most interested in the dragon paintings, Faye preferred the ones featuring the children or the broch near their land. The pile of rocks on Loch Never had once been a defensive tower of sorts, and Faye appreciated Cat’s imagination in bringing it back to its original glory. Not with the people of old, but rather with a modern twist of fairy lights and of a couple stealing a kiss. There was also a faint outline of a dragon in the stars above the pair, as if it were watching over his or her descendants.
Cat noticed her staring and raised her eyebrows in question. Faye gave a thumbs-up. As her friend went back to work, Faye looked at Max’s set of tables. She really didn’t want to attempt a conversation with the human, but her curiosity won out and she walked over.
After waving hello to Iris leaning against the far wall, Faye looked at the tables. Odd bits and pieces were laid out. Some with labels, some without. Her eye was drawn to a photograph of a large floor mosaic that was mostly intact. It had two dragons entwined in flight in the center.
Before Faye could try to construct their story from the ot
her images at the edges of the mosaic, Max rushed over and said, “I had hoped to bring the genuine article with me, but the British Museum wouldn’t allow it. Even though I found it, they took credit for it and claimed it.”
Not wanting to talk about the politics of artifact finding, she asked, “Where was it found?”
“In southern Britain, not far from where Clan Skyhunter once lived. Very few Roman mosaics survived that depict dragons. This one not only features them, it tells the story of dragons assisting the villa owner.” Max pointed to one of the smaller images in the corner. “Here, the dragons are protecting the inhabitants from other dragons.”
Faye leaned down. The mosaic was missing some tiles, but she could just make out a dragon standing in front of humans while another dragon roared at him.
Max spoke again. “If you like this one, I have a few other tables of artifacts from the Roman period in Britain. Some of the finds are truly extraordinary.”
Before Faye could think of how to politely decline, she saw Grant striding toward her. Judging by the firmness of his jaw, something had happened.
“Excuse me, Max.”
Faye met Grant halfway. She opened her mouth to ask what was going on, but he beat her to it. “Not here. Come.”
“What about Cat?”
“I asked Aaron on the way in, and he said they’ll keep an eye on her.”
She nodded and allowed Grant to guide her to a room off the main exhibition space. Once he closed the door, he asked, “How much longer do we need to be here?”
“I don’t know. Lachlan didn’t specify. What’s going on?”
He lowered his voice. “I found my father. He’s currently being held at Inverness Castle.”
“What?”
“It’s true. I also found my aunt, but she managed to slip away. We need to question my father as soon as possible, before word gets out that I have him.”
She studied him a second before stating, “You’re telling me this because you want my help.”
“Of course I want your help, bloody woman. As much as I want to singlehandedly do this on my own, there’s too much history between my father and me. You would do a better job at interrogating him.”
The Dragon Warrior (Lochguard Highland Dragons Book 4) Page 10