Chapter 38
Groaning at the pounding in his head, Reif cracked his eyes open, trying to get his bearings, but the bright, blinding light made him quickly shut them tight.
Jeeze that must have been some celebration last night.
Trying to remember what happened made the pain in his head worse so Reif gave up and slipped back into a deep sleep.
~/~/~/~/~
All night, Brian sat there, leaning against the boat’s bulkhead, holding the note Reif left for him, unable to believe it.
Why? That question ran through his mind over and over but when the sun rose, it was still unanswered because Reif had never given any indication he’d changed his mind about having their babies.
My babies! A sob escaped him at the thought that his dream had disappeared.
~/~/~/~/~
“Wake up! Macushla! Wake up! Brian needs us! C’mon!” Kieran bounced on Logan’s gut several times before jumping off the bed and pulling on his jeans.
“Babe, now what’s the problem?” growled Logan, refusing to move. The celebration last night lasted far into the early hours of the morning, leaving him tired and cranky.
Wrestling his long-sleeved t-shirt over his head, Kieran’s voice was muffled.
“Something to do with the baby Nessies.” Popping his head through, Kieran glanced at his sleepy mate.
“Macushla, don’t worry. Go back to sleep.
I’ll go find out what’s the matter.” On the way to the elevator, Kieran sent a text to Groose, telling him he needed a car to take him to Loch Ness.
It was the click of the door lock that snapped Logan’s eyes open. “Babe? Kieran, where are you?” Hearing no reply, he asked their spirit where his mate was and, after hearing the response, shot out of bed. Grabbing his phone he called Groose as he hopped around, trying to pull up his jeans.
“Logan?” Groose answered, “Did you know Kieran just ordered a car to take him to Inverness?”
“Has he left?”
“No, he’s waiting downstairs for the car. Do you want me to send some enforcers with him?”
“Fuck yes, but I’m coming too. Don’t let him leave until I get there,” Logan ordered, finally sitting down on the edge of the bed so he could properly get his pants on.
Scrambling into the rest of his clothes, he then grabbed jackets for himself and his mate and ran from the suite to the elevator waiting for him.
Stomping his feet, Kieran was trying to keep warm, but was failing at it, even with his arms wrapped around his body. Debating whether to go inside to wait or stay where he was, he looked down the road, hoping the car would arrive shortly.
“Babe,” Logan growled, setting a jacket on Kieran’s shoulders. “What are you doing outside? You’ll freeze your balls off.”
Looking over his shoulder, Kieran grinned as he slipped his arms into the jacket’s sleeves. “Thanks, macushla. I was in a hurry because Brian needs me.”
“So our spirit told me. Any idea why?”
“Nope, just that it has to do with the baby Nessies. I hope Reif’s sea dragon didn’t have a miscarriage.” Kieran fell quiet, biting his bottom lip nervously.
“Do you think Ian and Colton should come with us?” asked Logan.
“I don’t know. I hate to get Ian up so early, especially since he’s carrying triplets.”
Logan pulled out his phone, dialed his brother and when Colton answered, he explained what was happening. After hearing his reply, Logan hung up and said, “Ian and Colton are coming. They’ll be down in a few minutes.”
Nodding, Kieran was relieved, especially since his spirit didn’t know what the problem was.
Placing his hand over where their squirt was growing, Kieran could only imagine Brian’s anguish if Reif’s beast was losing the babies.
Just as the car drove up, Kieran saw Ian and Colton emerge from the hotel, zipping up their jackets against the cold morning air.
Once everyone was seated, Logan told the driver, “Loch Ness Marina, and hurry, please.” Then, after seeing the worry on his mate’s face, he pulled Kieran onto his lap, wrapping his arms around him tightly.
There was silence in the car during the drive; for once, Kieran was speechless and all he could do was hope they’d get there in time.
~/~/~/~/~
Logan felt someone shaking him and then sensed the car had stopped. Opening his bleary eyes, he gazed out the window at the wisps of fog still floating around the boats.
“Sorry to wake you sir, but we’re here,” someone said.
Shifting his eyes to the enforcer who had awakened him, Logan nodded.
Then, turning to Kieran, he said, “Babe, wake up,” and tapped both Colton and Ian on the shoulder.
“C’mon, guys, we’re here.” Opening the car door, Logan’s head was quickly cleared by the inrushing cold air.
“Macushla?” Kieran asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “Do you see Brian?”
“No, he must be on his boat.” Climbing out of the car, Logan clasped Kieran’s hand, leading them all to the slip where Brian’s boat was docked.
There was no sign of life outside the boat; only a creaking noise coming from the open door leading to the cabin as it swung back and forth in the early morning breeze.
Guided by his spirit, Kieran jumped aboard and headed down below where he found a near-frozen Brian staring at a letter.
“Macushla, come quick!” Grabbing a blanket from one of the aft berths, Kieran threw it around the sea serpent’s shoulders and began to vigorously rub his arms.
Now, with all of them present, Ian quickly assessed the situation. “Colton, more blankets. Logan, I need something hot for him to drink. Kieran, find Reif.”
Hearing Ian’s last command, Brian looked up from the note he was clutching in his fist and his eyes found the Shaman. “He’s gone and he’s never comin’ back. He does nae want our babies.”
“What do you mean?” Kieran said, prying the piece of paper from the sea serpent’s fingers and, after quickly reading it, passed it on to Ian.
“You listen to me, Captain. I don’t believe this for a second.
Something happened to Reif and we must find him.
I know he wanted the babies so don’t try to tell me he didn’t.
” Placing his hands on Brian’s back, they heated up, drawing all the sadness and hopelessness out of him and replacing it with love.
Ian wrapped the extra blankets around Brian and held a mug of hot tea to his lips. “Drink.”
Closing the door to the cabin, Logan turned on a heater, then took the note from Ian, read it and proclaimed it “bullshit.” Last night at the party, he and Reif had talked about the beast’s pregnancy and how excited Reif was about his impending fatherhood.
Now, less than eight hours later, Reif supposedly had changed his mind.
“Brian,” said Logan softly, “I agree with my mate that this note is nonsense, but even if you want to ignore our opinion, you can’t ignore our spirit’s warning that the baby sea dragons are in danger. ”
Stricken upon hearing that, Brian cried out. “Ye mean he’s gonna get rid of our babies?”
“Hell no!” exclaimed Logan. “That’s not what I mean at all. Something has happened that has put Reif, his beast and the babies in danger. You have to tell us what happened last night. When did he give you this note?” he asked, slapping it down on the galley table.
Sitting beside the sea serpent, Kieran softly murmured, “Brian, will you trust me?”
Listening to the same words the Shaman had spoken to Reif, Brian remembered how he urged his mate to do so. Can I do anythin’ less? Slowly he nodded, feeling the hope Kieran was sending him.
“Thank you,” Kieran said. “Now, after the party, you and Reif went to your boat, is that right?”
“Ay. We were goin’ to stay here while we searched for a house.”
“Okay, then I assume both of you made it here.”
“Ay, we did.”
“Then what happened?” asked Kieran, keeping his voice low.
“Reif was goin’ to unpack while I washed up for bed.”
“And…”
“When I came out of the head, he was gone, leavin’ the note behind.”
Colton was reading it while Brian was talking and something wasn’t right. Carefully examining it, it finally hit him what it was. “Guys, look at the handwriting. Does it look familiar?”
Taking it from his brother, Logan studied it. “Fuckingbedamned! I’d bet anything the same person who did all the fake documents wrote this note.”
“Let me see.” Brian examined it, but though he saw the similarities, he wasn’t totally convinced. “It might be, but if it ‘tis, what does that mean? That my mate was in on the green diamond scam all along?”
“No, I don’t think so,” Logan said, “but I’d guess the group didn’t like losing the sea dragons if they never expected the diamond to be found. Zane might be able to find out if the same person was hired to write this note.”
“Brian, will you come back to the hotel with us?” asked Kieran.
“But if what ye say is true, and Reif is bein’ held a prisoner, should nae I stay here in case they release him?”
“We can leave two enforcers here but I think it’s better if you’re with us in case Zane has any questions,” Kieran said.
“C’mon. The faster we get to Zane the faster we’ll have some answers.
” He helped Brian up, keeping the blankets wrapped around him as they left the cabin and made their way to the waiting car.
~/~/~/~/~
Squinting, Reif looked around, trying to remember where he was; the pounding in his head had been reduced to a muted drumming.
Nothing looked familiar. Closing his eyes, he sought the memories that would help fill in the gaps of what happened to him, but all he could come up with was the party, then waiting for Nessie to join him in the boat’s stateroom.
That was it. So, where the fuck am I and where’s Nessie?
Reif groaned as he tried to sit up only to be yanked back to the bed by…
what the fuck? Reaching up, his fingers found a metal collar around his neck with a chain leading away from it.
Snapping his eyes open fully, he searched for the person responsible for doing this to him.
Not finding anyone, he debated his next step before finally shouting, “Hello? You made a mistake! Hello!”
~/~/~/~/~
Sitting next to Zane at the computer, David asked, “What do you think happened to Reif?”
“Not a clue, babe,” Zane said, his fingers flying over the keyboard. It was a little over an hour since Logan handed him the note Reif supposedly left for Brian and he’d been searching for information that would help find the sea dragon.
Hearing the knock on their suite’s door, David went to answer it, expecting to find the breakfast he had ordered for them, but instead found Kieran. “Hi Ki, can I help you?”
“I had an idea and wanted to talk to Zane. Is he busy?” asked Kieran.
“Come in. He’s at the computer, doing research.” Closing the door, David led their guest to the bedroom. “Ki’s here to see you.”
Keeping his eyes on the screen, Zane said, “Yo, Ki, what’s up?”
“My spirit is adamant Reif’s baby sea dragons are in danger, but can’t give me any more than that. I didn’t want to mention it to you in front of Brian, but Logan got him to lie down in our spare bedroom since he didn’t sleep at all last night, so this is the first time I could let you know this.”
Stopping, Zane turned around. “How can they be in danger? I thought Reif’s sea dragon was pregnant and wouldn’t lay his eggs for another three months.”
“Right. That’s why I didn’t say anything to Brian. And there won’t be baby Nessies until three months after that, so I can’t understand how they could be in danger now,” Kieran responded.
“What happens if Reif is killed?” asked David, wringing his hands at the thought.
“Come here, babe,” Zane said, pulling his mate onto his lap and flooding him with his Alpha power. “I don’t think whoever has Reif will kill him. He’s much too valuable for that.”
“I agree with Zane,” Kieran said.
“Then why are Brian’s babies in danger?” asked David, his voice trembling.
“That’s what I hope to find out, babe,” Zane replied. “Here, sit down next to me while I get back to work.”
“I better get back in case Brian wakes up,” Kieran said. “Call me if you have any questions. In the meantime, I’ll see if my spirit can tell me anything more.” Leaving Zane and David, Kieran walked slowly down the hallway, deep in thought about the baby sea dragons.
~/~/~/~/~
Handing the wheel over to Mason after they’d stopped to fuel up, Hunter rummaged around in the motorhome’s kitchen, looking for something to eat.
Yesterday went smoothly but that abruptly ended this morning when Mac insisted they stop for a couple of hours.
That threw everything off including the driving rotation, so Hunter ended up driving longer to get things back on schedule.
Now he was standing, staring blankly into the cupboard, trying to keep his eyes open.
“Go sit down, Hunt,” Quin said, softly, as he joined his brother. “I’ll get you something to eat.”
Grunting, Hunter headed over to the dinette, flopping down onto a seat as he looked longingly at the tent surrounding the bed currently holding Robin and Sawyer.
It would be a while before either of them would be up, so any hope of getting a short nap had disappeared in a heartbeat.
Giving up, Hunter crossed his arms on the table and dropped his head on top of them, closing his eyes.
Placing two, big bowls of beef stew on the table, Quin nudged Hunter’s arm, waking him up. “C’mon, Hunt, food’s ready.” Sliding in across from his brother, he began to eat.
“Hmm, this smells good,” Hunter mumbled, eagerly digging in.
“Mason made it for the trip. All you have to do is heat it up in the microwave, thank goodness, and even I can do that,” Quin grinned. “What are you going to do now?”
Picking up the two empty bowls, Hunter washed them and placed them in the dish rack. Glancing over at Quin, he said, “Probably see if I can nap sitting up until someone wakes up.”
Sliding out of the bench seat, Quin grasped Hunter’s arm. “C’mon, you can lie down on my bed. There’s plenty of room for you and me.”
“No, honey, that’s not necessary. I’ll be fine out here.”
“Please, Hunt. I’m lonely in there,” Quin pleaded.
Studying Quin’s face, Hunter saw the panic in his brother’s eyes, knowing it was caused by his fear of what might happen when they got to Jackson’s pack.
With the explosion he anticipated occurring after he revealed the real reason for their visit, Hunter knew Quin’s fear was justified.
Smiling at his youngest brother, he said, “Sure, I’m all for sleeping in a comfortable bed. Let’s go.”