Laoch chuckled tiredly and fell back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. He did feel slightly better. Maybe he needed to have a conversation with Noah to clear the air.
Chapter 10
Noah and his Ranger construction buddies showed up at Remi’s house bright and early the next morning. Since he was going to be staying there for the foreseeable future, he’d brought his gear from the barracks.
Seeing an opportunity to get even with Laoch, Remi gave Noah Tiger’s old room…. right next door to Laoch’s room. There were plenty of empty guest rooms in the house, so he relocated what he called ‘Tiger’s timeout room’ to one of those.
Tiger hadn’t explained to Noah why Remi’s room suddenly needed soundproofing when he’d called the night before. Maybe with so many extra bodies in the house he thought it would be too noisy for he and Remi to be able to sleep soundly. He’d just walked away muttering something that sounded like “fucking Fae ears”.
Laoch and Remi both glared and circled around each other for the rest of the week. Eoin was located in the room across the hall from Noah. When Jake went to school, Eoin accompanied him, posing as a human school security guard. Noah stayed at the house to make sure Tiger and Laoch were covered while they were at home and drove them to and from the TC.
There was no need for Noah to remain at the ‘TC’, as they all referred to it, since the place always had Fae coming and going. Tiger was not happy about the ‘TC’ designation as the term reminded him of his time spent with Harriott. Fae glamour did not work on other Fae, so there was no worry that Cillian would try to sneak in as one of Tristan’s men.
Noah was bored senseless being stuck at Remi’s house all day by himself. There was usually no one else around until Jake and Eoin got home from school. Between security checks, he worked out in Remi’s home gym and did laps in the pool.
He’d thought being around Laoch was going to be a perfect opportunity to get closer to the gorgeous Fae but Laoch seemed determined to avoid him. Noah had no clue what had set him off, but it seemed like everything had gone FUBAR since the night he’d tried to comfort the man after dropping him off at Remi’s.
He’d flirted and done everything he could think of to get Laoch’s attention since the first day they’d met, thinking he’d seen some interest in the man’s eyes. Certainly, he’d caught him eyeing his ass several times when he thought no one was looking.
Was it possible Laoch was straight? Noah had poured himself into the tightest shirts and pants he could still breathe in to show off his attributes, even going shirtless at the TC, but nothing was working. The only time Laoch showed more than passing interest was when he spotted the phoenix tattoo on his back. He longed to feel those delicate slender fingers tracing the pattern on his skin but Laoch stopped just short of touching him.
Briefly, he’d thought the tattoo was a topic of conversation he could use to draw the man out, but it just seemed to heighten his anxiety. Laoch was strung way too tight. The night he’d freaked out Noah had mentioned it to Tiger and Tiger had bolted out of the TC like his ass was on fire, but TJ told him not to worry about it.
Horny was too polite a word to describe the effect Laoch was having on Noah. He was terribly conflicted. He was almost frantic to establish a connection with Laoch. Was it just lust? He didn’t believe it. He’d heard of the ‘allure’ of the Fae. Maybe that was part of it, but he knew it didn’t explain everything that was going on with him.
Yes, he was constantly sexually stimulated around Laoch but there was more to it. He wanted to know everything about Laoch. He wanted to see joy in his eyes. He needed to take care of him, protect him, take his pain away, be a shoulder to lean on and cry on.
His heart wanted to lay claim to Laoch, but he was only a lowly soldier with nothing to offer the man who apparently wanted nothing to do with him. Noah was despondent, yet his brain reacted like a happy puppy the minute Tiger called to let him know he and Laoch were ready to return home.
He resolved to pin Laoch down, not literally because Laoch could wipe the floor with him, but to initiate an honest conversation about what was going on with Laoch and what Noah’s feelings were.
Maybe he could enlist Tiger’s help. Apparently Laoch was Tiger’s mentor and had recently saved him from some mercenary wacko, but they seemed pretty close. He wasn’t above begging Tiger to play matchmaker for the two of them.
*****
Surprisingly, once Noah had dropped Tiger and Laoch off at the front door and parked the Security truck in the underground garage, Laoch sought him out. Noah was running a perimeter check at the back of Remi’s extensive property when he spotted Laoch lounging on a large boulder along the return leg of his sweep.
Noah smiled happily at Laoch as he approached. Laoch returned it, although not quite as enthusiastically. “Laoch. Did you need something? I haven’t quite finished my perimeter check.”
Laoch sighed. “I think we need to talk Noah, but somewhere more private.”
Yes! Noah was thrilled that Laoch had started the ball rolling and he wouldn’t have to beg Tiger for his help. Finally, they could clear things up between them. “Okay, just let me finish my sweep and have Eoin take over, then I’ll meet you by the pool.”
Fifteen minutes later Noah stepped out of the patio doors expecting Laoch to lead him off to a more secluded area of the property. What he did not expect was for Laoch to cast a large portal and grab his elbow, pulling him through to another world. He fell to his knees and Laoch was at his side, tipping a vial of some sweet liquid concoction down his throat.
He felt instant relief and pushed back onto his feet, shoving Laoch away as he looked around at the bizarre landscape. A bright moon reflected off the nearby lake and he gasped as he looked up at the single white cratered orb that hung overhead. Not pink… brilliant white.
“Wh… where are we!? I thought you wanted to talk!” He whirled around toward Laoch, expecting some sort of attack, but Laoch just waved him off casually and strolled toward the lake.
“Relax. I just wanted to talk where we wouldn’t be overheard or interrupted. We’re on Old Earth. This is my family’s estate on Fae lands.”
“How… how did we… how did you…” Noah was at a loss for words. He didn’t even know where to begin. They weren’t on Corvan anymore. They were light years away from home on the mother planet, on a Fae estate. Strange trees and flowers surrounded them and… was that a unicorn grazing nearby?
The lake shimmered in the moonlight as something moved under the water. “Come. Sit down and get comfortable Noah. We have a lot to discuss.” Laoch gestured Noah over to a giant tree where he sat in the grass leaning up against the trunk. Noah wandered over slowly, glancing around warily. He flopped down on the grass and sat cross-legged near Laoch.
“I’m sorry to be so abrupt but we didn’t have time to stand around arguing while I tried to explain portal travel. It’s a Fae thing. We can open a rift in space and go anywhere as long as we know the location, but let’s not get side-tracked. We can discuss portals at another time.”
“That stuff you gave me… what was it?”
“It helps non-Fae travelers to overcome the effects of portal travel. It won’t harm you.” Laoch tipped his head back and breathed in the scent of the flowers. He was ethereal in the moonlight. “This was Aidan’s favorite spot.” He smiled at a memory of him and Aidan kissing in each other’s arms under that very tree.
“Who is Aidan? You said ‘was’. Is he…?”
Laoch turned sad eyes toward Noah. “Aidan was my mate, my one true fated-mate. He was murdered by Cillian, the man who approached Tae, the man who seeks to kill me and most likely Tiger. He will murder anyone he deems important to me.”
Noah’s heart leapt. ‘He is gay, or at least bi!’ “You were married?”
“I was mated and bonded to the one man fate chose for me. Fae can take anyone for a mate, but they will only ever bond to the one person in the universe that was intended to be theirs. Their souls m
erge into one and they receive matching mate-marks, linking them forever.” Laoch pulled his shirt open, showing Noah the fading phoenix over his heart.
Noah frowned. “Why does it look like that? Is that normal?”
“When my mate was killed, our souls were ripped apart. You understand? The only person who could ever join his soul to mine is gone, never to return. I’m dying Noah. You and I can never be bonded. Even if we were to overlook that, I’ll still die. And even if I didn’t, because we can’t bond, I would live on while you would grow old and die. Do you understand now? There can be no future for us together. I know you have some attraction, maybe some affection for me, but it’s just not realistic to pursue a relationship that’s doomed to fail. I’m sorry.”
Noah looked truly devastated. This was not at all the way he’d expected this conversation to go. He opened his mouth to argue his case, but he was cut off when a voice rang out from the surrounding woods.
“I knew eventually you’d come back here.” Cillian stepped out into the open as Laoch leapt to his feet, stepping between him and Noah. His dragon sword was already in his hand. “You’re so predictable.”
Laoch wasted no time attacking the bastard he’d pursued for over a year, finally standing before him. “You’re no match for me now Laoch. I knew if I just led you on a wild goose chase long enough you’d become a useless shell, pining for your Aidan,” he sneered as they clashed swords over and over.
Laoch roared and lunged, very nearly running Cillian through. “You have lost your edge Cillian. Your soul is rotting away from all of your evil deeds.”
“You killed my mate, so I took yours!” he shouted. “I’ll take them all! Everyone you care about!”
“Your mate was killed attacking the queen’s court. The only reason you’re still alive is because you never bonded. You’re a coward! You wouldn’t even bond with your own mate because you were afraid of dying!”
Noah shouted as he fought off two more men who had crept out of the woods behind them. The only weapon he had on him was a knife, but he succeeded in taking one of the men out of the fight. The distraction gave Cillian an opening and he managed to stab Laoch in the chest just as Laoch threw out his arm and cast a portal, tackling Noah through it before it closed with a loud pop.
“Nooo!! Bhearrtha!! Cillian slashed too late at the portal with his sword. He roared in fury as his prey was snatched away. “Foc!! He threw his sword down, panting and pacing back and forth. Finally, he picked up his sword and sheathed it. He cast a portal to return to Corvan. “Come on,” he ordered his minions and stepped through.
Chapter 11
Laoch and Noah landed hard on the other side of the portal, their forward momentum slamming them into a tree trunk. Noah had the breath knocked out of him and he lay there trying to find the strength to move. There was a roaring noise nearby… or was it in his head? Certainly, his ears were ringing. After a few minutes he realized he was pinned down by Laoch’s body. He poked around in Laoch’s pocket and was relieved when he found another vial of the liquid Laoch had given him earlier. ‘Thank goodness it survived the crash landing!’ he thought.
He gulped it down and tried to push Laoch off him. “Laoch? Laoch!” Noah wasn’t sure where they were, so he kept his voice low, struggling to move enough to look around. He could see a pink moon peeking through the trees overhead, so he assumed they were back on Corvan, but the area didn’t look familiar.
“Laoch? Shit, you are one heavy mother-fucker,” he groaned. “Come on, wake up dammit!” He grabbed Laoch’s shoulder and tried to roll him over. His hand came away sticky and red. Panic set in then and his adrenaline spiked.
He managed to squirm out from under Laoch. His dragon sword lay nearby and Noah grabbed it, looking around to be sure Cillian and his goons were nowhere near. They must not have followed, or they’d be all over them by now. He leaned the sword against the tree and rolled Laoch over.
The blood soaking the front of Laoch’s shirt scared the hell out of him. He pulled the shirt open and bit his lip when he saw the sword wound near Laoch’s heart, slowly bleeding out. He took off his shirt and folded it up, pressing it to the wound and applying pressure as he checked Laoch’s breathing and pulse. He seemed to be breathing okay but his pulse was faint. There was a knot on the back of his head, but Noah didn’t see any other obvious injuries.
After a bit, the bleeding seemed to be negligible, so he checked Laoch over more thoroughly for broken bones. The only light was from the moon, so he couldn’t see very well. Taking stock of his surroundings, he could see a clearing beyond the trees. The roaring noise turned out to be a waterfall that fed into several large pools. Steam rose from one of them, so he assumed there was some thermal activity in the area.
Taking Laoch’s sword with him, Noah worked his way over to one of the pools and pulled his undershirt off. He soaked it in the cool water and squeezed most of the water out. Returning to Laoch, he trickled some of the water into Laoch’s mouth, then patted the shirt over his face trying to rouse him. He needed to find cover for them. They were too vulnerable in their present location, but he didn’t dare leave an unconscious Laoch there while he scouted the area. So far, the only signs of life he’d seen were small nocturnal creatures.
Folding up his jacket to use as a pillow for Laoch, Noah thanked his lucky stars that they had landed somewhere with a moderate climate. Laoch groaned and his eyes fluttered open. He tried to move but Noah pressed on his good shoulder to stop him.
“Don’t move. You have a chest wound. You’ll start bleeding again.”
“Noah? Are you all right? They didn’t make it through behind us did they?” He tried to look around, but it made his head hurt too much.
“No, I haven’t seen anyone at all. I’m fine but I have no clue where we are. You put us here! Do you know where we landed?”
Laoch tried to take a deep breath, which threw him into a coughing fit. When he finally settled down, he said “I had to choose in a split second, and it needed to be away from a populated area, so I chose Lucius McNair’s compound in the mountains of Corvan. People can’t know about the Fae using portals. Most of what we do is kept secret.”
Lucius knows I’m Fae, but he doesn’t know who I really am or the truth about the Fae. We can’t go to him for help. He’ll wonder how we got here without coming through the pass and why I’m carrying a sword wound. If I try to use a glamour and pass out he’ll see the real me. He’s never seen me in my true form. He thinks I’m just a bookish professor. You’re in uniform and we have no equipment. It will all seem highly suspicious.”
“Well, you need medical treatment, can you zap us back to the captain’s house?”
Laoch winced, regret written on his face. “I can’t cast another portal right now. It takes a lot of energy and I’m too weak. I’m afraid we’re stuck here for now.”
“Well isn’t that just wonderful! If you Fae didn’t try to kill each other all the time and drag us humans into your squabbles we wouldn’t be in this mess! You guys need to stop all the subterfuge and get on with your lives! You practically kidnapped me! Cap will think I deserted! Look, we can’t just sit out here. I need to find us shelter and food, medical supplies. How far do you think we are from the compound?”
“Maybe two miles, but we have shelter. No one will find us here. I picked this spot for a reason. There’s a cave behind this waterfall. There’s firewood stored in there in case the natives need to hide from invaders, but it’s considered a sacred place, so they only go in there under the direst of circumstances. We’ll have fire and water at least.”
*****
Tiger paced back and forth in front of the breakfast counter while Remi cleaned up the last of the dinner dishes. Laoch and Noah had been gone for several hours and had missed dinner. Even if their ‘meeting’ had gotten complicated he would’ve expected to at least hear back from them by now.
Neither one of them had given any details to Eoin. Noah had just said he and Laoch were goin
g somewhere private to talk. Tiger was hopeful that they would finally get everything out in the open and settle whatever was going on between them… or not going on as the case may be.
He thought he pretty well knew what Laoch’s mindset was regarding getting romantically involved with anyone again but there seemed to be a lot of confusion too with all the weird shit that Laoch was experiencing. With no idea where to begin looking for them and knowing that Cillian was probably out there stalking him, he was becoming more and more frantic.
TJ and Remi exchanged a worried look. Eoin was still out on guard duty and Jake was upstairs doing his homework. “Come sit down babe,” Remi said. “There’s nothing we can do right now. If they don’t get back by morning, we’ll send out search teams. They could be anywhere with Laoch having that portal thingy going for him. Maybe his father will have some idea where to start looking.”
Tiger snorted. “Portal thingy?” Remi ignored his response. “We should pull Tristan in and let him know what’s going on. He’ll need to re-assign his men and we need Fae to utilize portals. I’m still learning to control them. I might be able to cast one in an emergency, but I wouldn’t bet anyone’s safety on my ability just yet.”
“I’d portal anywhere with you babe,” Remi crooned and laid a sloppy kiss on Tiger.
“Fuck. Jake’s right. You two are disgusting. Do you ever turn it off?” TJ grumped.
“Hey, don’t bitch if you’re not getting any. It’s your own fault if you insist on hanging around here all the time instead of visiting your angel of mercy,” Remi pointed out.
“He’s busy. He’s on call at the hospital for a month and he won’t do anything there because he’s afraid we’ll get interrupted mid-coitus. My right hand is developing calluses.”
Their heads swiveled around as Eoin came through the patio door. “Anything?” Tiger asked.
Laoch Page 8
