Laoch

by Kate LaMontagne

  RANGERS OF CORVAN #2

  LAOCH

  Kate LaMontagne

  Warnings

  Please be advised that this book is intended for adult readers aged eighteen and older due to sexually explicit content, language, and violence.

  This book is a work of fiction and depicts explicit consensual male/male sexual situations. Do not read if you are offended by such content.

  Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved.

  By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book onscreen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Acknowledgements

  Wedding March: Hanan Harchol’s guitar rendition of Pachelbel’s Canon in D

  Groom’s Waltz: Jason Mraz’s I Won’t Give Up (both available from Amazon.com’s Digital Music Store)

  Modified cover art provided by Kachinadoll via Shutterstock.com.

  Books in the Rangers of Corvan Series

  Tiger (Book 1)

  Laoch (Book 2)

  Synopsis

  Laoch

  After Laoch’s fated-mate is murdered by the same assassin who murdered his aunt Enya, his father Liam sends him to deliver Enya’s journal to her son Tiger on the planet Corvan, and to assist in training Tiger to master his imminent Fae abilities.

  Laoch is determined to complete his task even as his fragile hold on life and sanity wanes. The death of his beloved Aidan leaves Laoch in a state of despair and loneliness that slowly undermines his will to live.

  He loves spending time with the cousin he has secretly watched over for years, but he finds himself curiously distracted by Noah, Tiger’s UCAR teammate. Something about Noah pulls at Laoch’s senses, but he doesn’t understand it. Fae have only one fated-mate in a lifetime and Aidan is dead, taking half of Laoch’s soul with him.

  Noah

  Noah has no one outside of the UCAR team he’s currently assigned to. Raised as an abandoned infant, he bounced around for years from one foster home to another until joining the military. Now his teammates are his family.

  Sensing the atmosphere of melancholy surrounding Tiger’s mentor, Noah worries about the reason for it and searches for a way to help him get through it. If anyone can understand loneliness and heartache, it’s Noah.

  Laoch always seems to regard Noah with curiosity, but Noah is normally shy, and what does he have in common with a Fae swordsman anyway? Nevertheless, he puts on a brave face and his tightest pants, flirting with Laoch at every opportunity.

  Can two forlorn souls buck fate to find happiness together?

  Rangers of Corvan: Laoch is a 58,580 word steamy gay sci-fi military romance with an HFN ending. There is violence within the story that may not be suitable for everyone, as well as explicit intimate scenes not suitable for readers under the age of 18. This is a direct sequel to Tiger and reading the first book in the series would be helpful in enjoying this one.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Acknowledgements

  Synopsis

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Epilogue

  Author’s Note

  Prologue

  Laoch fought his way through the rain and the howling wind over the Isle of Innisfree, Ireland on Old Earth, searching for his beloved. Aidan was supposed to wait for him at the stables, but he was nowhere to be found. The courier from his father had delayed Laoch at the inn.

  Why would Aidan have wandered off in this god-awful weather? He could sense Aidan’s anxiety, but he had no idea what would be causing it. The mate bond only allowed them to sense each other’s emotional and physical state, not direct thoughts.

  Perhaps Aidan thought that Laoch had gotten lost in the storm and had gone out to search for him. He tried to think if there was a logical direction he would have headed. Worried that he might have inadvertently wandered toward the cliffs, he turned into the wind, shielding his eyes from the stinging raindrops, and tried to move faster.

  The wind was blowing so hard, he felt like he was making little headway against it. Suddenly, the wind dropped off so quickly he nearly fell on his face.

  A terrified scream reached his ears at the very moment that a blinding pain tore through his chest. He stumbled and fell to his knees, clutching at his heart and gasping for breath. Trembling, he fought off his shock and struggled to his feet.

  He staggered in the direction the scream had come from until he spotted a dark shape on the ground. Panic seized him and he cried out, rushing forward.

  “No! Aidan! No, no, no! Please, no!” he begged.

  He fell to his knees next to the huddled form and turned over the bedraggled body of his beloved, pulling his head and shoulders up into his lap. Aidan gasped, coughing up blood, a terrible wound in his chest.

  “It was him. Cillian.” He stared up into Laoch’s eyes as Laoch stroked his cheek. “I’m sorry my love,” he gasped, clutching Laoch’s hand. “He forced me to come.”

  Laoch cried and lifted Aidan’s fingers to his lips, kissing them fiercely. “Don’t leave me Aidan! Please, I can’t go on without you!” he sobbed.

  Aidan smiled back at him serenely, caressing his cheek. “Yes, you can. You’re the strongest man I know. I love you Laoch and I’ll always be with you, but I want you to live and find someone who makes you happy again. Don’t surrender to despair.”

  “That is impossible. A man cannot live with half a soul mo ghrá, nor do I wish to.”

  “Laoch, you are needed. You have a destiny to fulfill. Promise me you will not succumb to the loss of our bond. Fight it. Be brave my hero, my love,” he whispered. His eyes grew heavy and closed for the last time.

  “I promise mo ghrá, and I swear to end Cillian by my own hand.” He placed a soft kiss on Aidan’s lips, then threw his head back and screamed his agony to the heavens.

  Chapter 1

  One year later.

  Laoch was incensed. He’d never disobeyed his father in all his one hundred and ninety-two years of life. He had sworn an oath over Aidan’s lifeless body to end Cillian, Aidan’s murderer, but now Liam was ordering him off planet to Corvan to become a tutor to his cousin, Toro “Tiger” Yamano.

  “Father! I have an oath to uphold to my beloved! If I return to Corvan to tutor Toro, it will be an unconscionable betrayal!” He trembled with indignation and frustration. He’d pursued Cillian for a year, always missing him by mere minutes.

  Liam regarded his son with a compassionate gaze. “Laoch, my son, I am not asking you to ignore your oath, but you’ve chased Cillian across the country unsuccessfully for a year and I see the effect it’s having on your health. I know the stress of losing a fated-mate is tearing you apart. Toro is coming of age a
nd I’m only asking you to take a break for a while to work with him. He knows nothing of our ways and if he comes into his abilities without understanding what’s happening it will be a disaster in the making.”

  Laoch was pacing agitatedly around his father’s library, on the threshold of a panic attack.

  “Laoch. Come sit down, please,” Liam pleaded quietly. He patted the chair next to him.

  Laoch stopped his pacing and looked at his father, then crossed to the chair and sat down dejectedly. He leaned forward and buried his face in his hands. His long platinum hair hung down over his shoulders, obscuring his face.

  Liam rose and moved to face Laoch, lifting his chin so he could look into his tormented violet eyes. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he gazed back at his father silently.

  “Oh, my child. I know you are in pain, but I don’t want to lose you. I’ve already lost one son. I don’t want to lose you too. Please, do this for me. We will continue to track Cillian and keep you updated. Just go to Corvan for a while. Help Toro and try to relax a little. It won’t be forever.”

  Laoch just nodded and stood. Liam drew him in, hugging him tightly. “I love you. Be safe and look after your cousin.”

  Laoch couldn’t speak past the lump in his throat, so he just hugged his father back and nodded again.

  After Laoch left to pack his bags, Liam slumped in his chair and let the despair flow through him. Aidan was as much his child, his son, as Laoch. Aidan meant “little and fiery” and he was that. Laoch meant “warrior and hero” and he was that too. They were perfect for each other.

  When the two had mated, they received the glorious mark of the phoenix, their spirit animal. It glowed as if it was truly on fire. Now Laoch’s mark was fading, not only a sign of his failing health but a sad reminder of his loss. The pitying looks of those around him just made it worse.

  Yes, getting him away from his current environment was for the best, even if it meant leaving Old Earth for a while. He wouldn’t be spending all his spare time grieving by Aidan’s crypt or having to endure the political machinations of the Fae courts, at least not in person.

  He hated to send Laoch away, but Tiger really did need help. Having lost his mother as a child, he’d had no guidance in the Fae culture. Now that he was coming into his abilities, he’d be a danger to himself and others if he didn’t receive training in how to control them.

  Laoch was suffering and his health was deteriorating. Most Fae who lost their “pair” did not survive, either withering away or committing suicide. Laoch had promised Aidan to try to go on but the battle to survive and the stress of chasing after Cillian was too much of a strain on his mind and body.

  Liam had seen the symptoms; the faded mate-mark, the tremors, the nightmares, depression, even after a year. Taking responsibility for Tiger’s training and spending time with his younger cousin might help to take his mind off Cillian and Aidan for a while.

  Laoch had kept tabs on Tiger since he was a child, so he was the perfect choice. He was familiar with Tiger and the planet, and who would be more reliable than his own kin?

  Liam knew that Laoch had tried to be sneaky about his trips to Corvan after it had been decided they needed to stay away and not draw attention to the child until he grew into his Fae abilities. Laoch was careful so Liam never challenged him for his disobedience, but he could never fool his father.

  After Enya’s death someone needed to check on Toro periodically. Good thing too, considering the incident at the military training center. Liam never told Laoch that he knew about it, or that he knew about Laoch’s retribution against Harriott, the instructor who kidnapped and tortured him. If Laoch hadn’t killed him, Liam would have.

  He bid Laoch farewell in the morning, placing a kiss on his forehead and clasping his forearm in the formal Fae leave-taking. Laoch would travel the Fairie Road to get to Corvan, eliminating the need to utilize space travel.

  The Faerie Road was an inter-dimensional path that allowed the Fae to travel anywhere in the known universe and between the magic realms by stepping through portals, sort of like a wormhole, but generated by Fae magic.

  *****

  Stepping through the portal that terminated near his usual hotel when on Corvan, Laoch arranged for a room and settled in to make some calls. He needed to find out if Tiger was still assigned to Fort Yamano and make arrangements for a location they could use for training and living quarters.

  Since no one from his family or the courts had ever contacted Tiger, it was going to be a challenge to explain everything to him and convince him to move in with a virtual stranger while learning what it meant to be Fae.

  Laoch knew Tiger was aware of the Fae and that he was part Fae himself, and he was apparently smart enough to hide that fact as much as possible. Whether or not he was aware that he already had capabilities beyond those of normal humans and that they were increasing, he was not sure.

  It turned out that Tiger was in the field currently, so he decided to pop up north to visit his old friend Lucius McNair and see how his research was going. He’d met Lucius while he was in Scotland and Lucius had explained about the research compound he was setting up on Corvan to study native mating venom. Lucius only knew Laoch as a professor of Fae history and culture.

  He’d stayed in touch with him since then, trying to facilitate his research by teaching him about Fae mate bonds, similar to those of the Corvan natives. He never gave Lucius any information about the secret abilities of the Fae, however.

  No, the Fae courts would have his head if he started revealing to other species just how powerful the Fae really were. Let them speculate as wildly as they wanted to. As long as they had no proof, it was all just fairy tales.

  He fed Lucius information in bits and pieces, giving subtle hints, and posing theories to nudge Lucius in the direction necessary to his research but letting Lucius believe they were all his own ideas. Not that Lucius was not brilliant in his own right but having a little background from a Fae perspective helped to connect the dots so to speak.

  ‘Nudging’ was one of his Fae abilities. He couldn’t just command someone to do something they didn’t want to do, but he could make suggestions that would influence the person to do what he wanted or believe what he told them.

  Laoch kept portaling back to Aurora hoping to catch up with Tiger but all he knew was that he was in the field tracking some miscreant and no one knew when he’d be back. For a military organization, the United Corvan Army Rangers seemed rather lax about keeping track of their personnel.

  After several weeks of trying to connect with Tiger, Laoch was furious when he finally found out that upon his return to Aurora, Tiger had immediately been involved in an altercation with a street gang, resulting in his being severely injured and hospitalized. As an outsider, Laoch was limited in the amount of information he was able to garner regarding military matters, but he was at least able to determine Tiger’s current location.

  He slipped into Corvan General Hospital undetected, gowning up in scrubs and a surgical mask. Accessing the hospital’s electronic database, he read through Tiger’s medical file. He was still in the regen tank and according to the doctor’s notes he was expected to make a full recovery. The details recorded by the trauma surgeon’s scanner, however, made his blood boil.

  How dare they lay hands on his cousin!! Tiger carried the blood of Fae royalty! The hospital’s records, of course, made no note of who had attacked Tiger, but Laoch would most certainly find the guilty party and ensure that they paid for their crime. He closed out the file and headed for the tank room. There was nothing he could do for Tiger at present, but he wanted to see him before beginning his hunt.

  Self-recrimination was counter-productive, but he couldn’t help feeling if he’d been more determined to find Tiger when he arrived on Corvan, he might have prevented the whole situation. He ducked into a darkened alcove briefly when he saw several people enter the tank room. They didn’t stay long, and they were visibly upset when they depart
ed.

  Stepping inside once the coast was clear, he took note that all the tanks were empty but one. Whoever those people were, they had to be there because of Tiger. He moved quietly to the tank at the far end of the row and his heart clenched as he approached. Tiger lay suspended in a green substance wearing only a pair of black swim shorts. A respirator mask obscured his face and the green goop and plexiglass distorted his view, but the injuries were still visible. The reflection of his back off the bottom of the tank looked like raw meat. He was covered in bruises and had a large gash and bruise on his forehead. The evidence of strangulation was visible around his neck.

  Laoch swallowed against the bile threatening to force its way up his esophagus. He leaned against the side of the tank breathing heavily, his forehead and hands pressing as close as he could get to his cousin. His beautiful baby cousin! What had those monsters done to him? Tears soaked into the surgical mask as they ran unchecked down his cheeks. Tiger might be a grown man and a warrior, but to Laoch he’d always be the child he had watched over for years.

  He needed to find a way to get his hands on the security report of the attack. Obviously, being documented as a gang related crime there would be multiple criminals involved, but the injuries weren’t only normal fight wounds. Tiger had been worked over by sadists.

  The report would be somewhere in the security department at Fort Yamano. He would have no problem breaking in at night once he determined which office held what he sought. While he still dressed in traditional Fae clothing and affected the old formal airs of the Fae courts, Laoch was not stuck in the past. When he left home, he was more than familiar and comfortable with modern technology and culture.

  Among his other skills, Laoch was a trained assassin. He could break into anywhere, hack any system, and kill without compunction. He started a pattern of working with Lucius during the daytime and hanging around the fort at night, picking up bits of conversation in the halls, the mess hall, and even the bars. He found out who was on Tiger’s team and followed them in disguise, even buying some of them drinks. They talked among themselves about the case and what they were doing to try to find the attackers. One of them dropped the name of Captain Remington Styles as the lead investigator at the fort.