“My god,” Lazarus thought, “where have you been all these years.” He continued to read the missing person’s report. The woman had disappeared from the back streets of London. No family, no one to miss her, except the police. The perfect target. She also had a record for petty theft and prostitution.
He saved all the information to the cloud, in a file anyone on his team could access. Something he did out of habit. He also did a summary of the events of the day. If anything happened to him, they could see what he was working on. He didn’t know it at the time, but his best friend and boss, Lukar Adamokus, better known as Agent Adams, checked his cloud posts daily.
There was a knock on his door. “Come in.” He closed his laptop.
“She’s asking for you.” Michael informed him.
“I’ll be right there.” Lazarus followed Michael back to their guest’s room. Aria was sitting up in bed.
“Good evening. You’re looking much better.” Lazarus pulled a chair up next to the bed. “How are you feeling?”
“Better, thanks to you. I don’t think I could have survived another day.’
“Aye, I don’t think so, either.” He replied. “Where did you come from? You’re not from around here.”
“I don’t remember. I’m sorry, I get bits and pieces. I can’t seem to put the pieces together. Nothing fits.”
“It’s alright. It will come in time. You rest. I’m sure you’ll be able see things better in the morning.” Michael arrived with a tray. “Mr. MacGregor has brought you a draft of brandy. Drink it, it will help you sleep.”
She took the offered drink and sipped it slowly. She coughed a few times. Michael had added a sleeping powder to the drink, but he didn’t think she would taste it. Lazarus sat with her while she slowly sipped the remainder of the brandy. She handed him the glass. “Thank you.”
“Get a good night’s rest and we’ll talk more in the morning. Good night.” He stood and put the chair back where it belonged and left the room.
She got comfortable. In no time at all, she was asleep.
*****
Lazarus joined Michael downstairs to enjoy his own brandy. The two men sat in front of a warm crackling fire in the sitting room.
“She should sleep until morning, my lord.”
“Good. I found some history on the woman. She is originally from London with a shady past, petty larceny, prostitution. Nothing very impressive. She has been missing a long time and doesn’t appear to have been missed. She has been out there somewhere, Michael. This is an odd place to turn up.”
Michael nodded. “Aye, my lord. She’ll have me eye.”
“Good man. I can’t thank you enough. Did you ever think you would be sitting here, when we first met?”
“Nay. Ye sceered the hell outta me the first time we met. I dinnae know who ye were. I’d been here seven years and never seen hide nor hair of ye.”
Lazarus chuckled. “I wish you could have seen your face. You’d a thought it was the beast himself come to see you.” They both had a good laugh. “I think I’ll call it a night, good night, Michael.”
“Good night, my lord.”
Lazarus walked the halls of Castle Thighearn, something he did every night before he retired. Having a stranger in the castle kept him from going down to the caverns below the castle to his hoard. He looked in on his unwanted guest. Having this woman in the castle was a problem. He had spent too many years alone and his home didn’t feel safe for the first time in five hundred years. There was something about this woman that had his hackles up. She could be a spy, trying to trick him into thinking she was some poor victim of who knows what.
Lazarus decided to take a walk. The only way this woman could have ended up on his moor, was to have come from the sea, either in a boat or someone dropped her off. If she had come overland, someone would have tried to assist her long before she got to Durness and Cape Wrath.
Castle Thighearn sat on top of the cliffs, a thousand feet above the ocean. The shortest route to the beach below, was to fly, but that was out of the question. There was a path around the cliffs and down to the beach. It was the long way and he could use the exercise and fresh air. Once he was on the beach, he searched. A footprint in the sand was all he needed to satisfy his suspicions. It was almost dawn and he hadn’t found anything. The last place he could look, was a large cave at the far end of the cliffs. The end of the cave that opened to the ocean filled with salt water, while the other end was fed with fresh rainwater through a huge sink hole, creating a waterfall from above.
There was one other way down from the top of the cliffs and he had almost forgotten it was there. Only a few people knew about it, most of whom had died with his parents, except for one. Behind the waterfall, there was a crevice you could climb if you knew how. Lazarus and some of his boyhood friends had found the rear exit when they played in the cave when they were children.
Lazarus hadn’t been in the cave for centuries. He knew tourists visited the cave on a regular basis, but where he was going was out of bounds to visitors. Carefully making his way behind the falls, he used his dragon sight to look for signs of anyone being there. Half way up the crevice, he saw what he was looking for; a rock had been wiped clean, so it could be used as a foothold. The more he looked, the more he saw. Little disturbances in the slimy moss as the route got steeper and more treacherous. One of his childhood friends had slipped and fallen, breaking his leg. They had been forbidden to play in the cave, so they told his parents they had been playing on the cliffs when he fell. If this woman was strong enough to climb the crevice, she was much healthier than she appeared.
Lazarus walked back the way he came. He would keep an eye on the crevice to watch for more activity. It wouldn’t be necessary to enter the cave, he could check it from above. Back on the beach, he used his cell phone to let Michael know he would be back in time for breakfast.
It had been years since he had walked on this beach. He had always dreamed of taking romantic walks with his true mate. Unfortunately, he never found her and now he probably never would. By the time he returned to the castle, he had worked up an appetite. He wanted to shift and appease his dragon with a hunt, but it was too dangerous. The only thing available were sheep which he didn’t care for. When he first turned dragon, when he was young, he gorged himself on mutton, now he couldn’t stomach it. Michael had mountains of food waiting for him when he returned.
“How is our guest this morning, is she awake yet?”
“Aye, my daughter took her a tray a short while ago, she should be back soon.”
“I was right to be suspicious. There are telltale signs this woman isn’t what she appears. I think you’ll find she is quite capable of getting about. Either that or someone has been spying on the castle. I need to go to Inverness.” Lazarus needed to talk to his contacts face to face, he couldn’t risk using his phone
“I’ll bring the car around.” Michael told him.
“Thank you, I’ll drive myself, I need you to keep an eye on things here.” Michael understood. “I can’t risk having this woman snooping about. Make sure doors to unauthorized areas are locked, as well as our personal quarters.”
Lazarus made a call and arranged to meet one of his men. The long drive to Inverness allowed him time to think about the turn of events. Could this woman be a spy, sent there by his enemy. He had his suspicions and no stone would go unturned until he got the truth. It was the first new possible lead he had had in a very long time.
She had to have come from the north. The men that murdered his parents had come from the north. There was no question which direction to send his hired men. It would take time to infiltrate the islands to the north, they were full of Viking descendants and they didn’t take kindly to strangers. Lazarus had gone there himself when his siblings first disappeared. Being young, he barely came away with his life. The Vikings lived to exterminate dragons, and they almost exterminated him.
Chapter 9
Arriving at his destinatio
n, Lazarus walked into a backstreet tavern, a prearranged meeting place they had used in the past. It seemed darker than usual. Letting his eyes adjust, he used his sensitive hearing to detect how many people were in the tavern, he could hear their hearts beating. There was the bartender behind the bar. Gunnar, his contact, sat in a dark corner, another man sat at the bar, sipping a mug of ale. Two, rather nervous men sat at a table next to the rear exit, it led to the back ally. Something seemed off. Lazarus went to the bar and ordered an ale, keeping his back to the patrons. He detected the change of a heartbeat, it was starting to race. Lazarus braced himself for an attack, but it never came. Instead, there was a crash and the attacker fell upon a table, shattering it to bits and falling to the floor.
Gunnar walked past the remains of the table. “Did you see that, the clumsy oaf. Some fellows can’t handle their drink, passed out right on top of the table,” he glanced at the bartender, “you might add the damages to his bar tab, so he can pay you when he wakes up.” Gunnar dropped some money on the bar to pay for his drinks and exited the tavern. Lazarus continued to sip his ale, he knew Gunnar would be waiting for him at another time and location, this meeting was over before it began.
Lazarus took his time at the bar. The bartender dragged the unconscious patron out the back door and deposited him in the ally. The other man had disappeared unnoticed, it bothered Lazarus, he didn’t like losing track of a threat. Downing the last of his ale, he left the tavern. His senses were on high alert as he walked to his car. He detected an odd smell as he approached his car and he kept walking. He pulled out his phone and made a call. He needed a professional to check out his vehicle before he could drive it home and he knew just the man for the job. Hopefully he was still nearby.
“Gunnar, I need my car checked.”
“Already taken care of, and the low-life who was messing with it. It’s okay to drive,” and he hung up.
Lazarus would have to wait several days before the next meeting could take place. He wanted to know who these men were. Were they hired by his enemy or just a couple of down-on-their-luck thugs? Whatever they were, they weren’t very good at it. He knew Gunnar would have everything there was to know on the two assailants by the time they met again.
Driving home, Lazarus considered how to handle his house guest. He was almost certain there was a connection between her and the men at the tavern. It was too coincidental that a woman showed up at the same time as an attack after years of nothing. Lazarus called ahead to let Mr. MacGregor know he would be home earlier than expected.
“Is everything alright, my lord?” Michael asked.
“Aye, Michael. We had a bit of a problem and had to reschedule the meeting. I’ll try again in a few days. How is our guest?”
“Staying in bed. Roana is staying nearby, keeping an eye on her.”
“Thank you, Michael. I’ll be there soon.” Lazarus thought about Roana. He was curious how much Michael’s daughter-in-law knew about the goings on in the castle. Did she know about the beast? Michael’s son had been afraid for his wife staying in the castle. He didn’t know if Roana was a local or if Nicholas met his wife somewhere else. He would ask Michael when he got home.
By the time he arrived at Castle Thighearn, it was getting dark. As Lazarus pulled up to the gates, he saw someone watching him from the window of Aria’s room. She stepped back from view when he glanced her way.
“So much for staying in bed,” he thought to himself.
Michael met him at the door and took his coat. “Dinner will be served within the hour, my lord. Would you like a brandy before dinner?”
“Yes, thank you. I’ll take it in the sitting room.” He ran up the stairs. “I’ll be right back, I have to check on something.” He headed for his private chambers. He wanted to check his daily reports even though it was too soon to expect something from Gunnar. He passed the guest room and glanced into the room. His house guest was in bed and appeared to be asleep. He would leave her alone for now, he preferred to let her make the first move. After checking for any new reports, he locked his laptop away and returned to the sitting room.
Michael brought him his brandy. “Dinner will be served shortly, my lord.”
“Thank you, Michael.” He swirled the golden liquid around in the brandy snifter and then took a sip. He was about to ask Michael about his daughter-in-law, when Roana walked into the sitting room.
“Excuse me, Laird MacEachen, da, would it be alright if I returned to my home this evening? Nicholas is lonely, and I miss my husband. I’ll return first thing in the morning.”
“Is everything alright upstairs?” Lazarus asked.
“Aye, I saw you had returned, Aria is sleeping. She should sleep till morning. I gave her a sleeping pill with her evening tea. I made sure she took it. Mrs. Stewart will check on her before she goes to bed.”
“Has she talked to you very much? Has she remembered anything?”
“Nay. There is something odd about that one, I huvnae figured out what it is, but I will.”
“Thank you, Roana. I’m sure we can manage until morning,” Lazarus told her. “Enjoy the rest of your evening.” So, it was Roana at the window, he thought to himself.
“Thank you, my lord.” Roana kissed her father-in-law good night and left the castle.
“You have yourself a fine daughter-in-law.” Lazarus sipped his brandy. “Is she from around here?”
“Nay, Nicholas met her at school. He told me it was love at first sight. They married almost right away. I thought he should wait, but he wouldn’t hear of it. Kids now days, they be so impatient.”
Lazarus pondered what Michael said while he sipped his drink. It was nagging at the back of his mind. Michael excused himself to check on dinner and returned to tell Lazarus his dinner was ready in the dining room. It was quiet while they ate, but before Michael could clear the dishes away, Lazarus asked the question that had been bothering him all through dinner.
“Michael, you’ve seen the beast. Please, don’t be offended, but I must ask. Is Roana a shifter?”
“Our Roana? Nay, my lord.”
“Are you sure?”
The color left his face, Michael had to sit down. He knew if Lazarus suspected Roana was a shifter, she probably was. “Nay, I’m not sure.”
“You don’t know?” Michael shook his head. “I’m sure Nicholas does?”
“I have no idea, my lord.”
“Don’t worry, Michael. They are probably afraid to tell you for fear you’ll think them crazy. Some of my closest friends are shifters, Lukar for example. That’s our secret, mind you.”
“Prince Lukar? I had no idea. I thought you were the only dragon?”
Lazarus let out a bellowing laugh. “As far as I know, I still am. No, he’s not a dragon, he’s a rare tiger.”
“You mean there are other kinds of shifters?”
“Aye. Bears, tigers, wolves. All kinds.”
“But my son is no shifter, I’d have known, wouldn’t I?”
“One or both parents have to be a shifter. Unless you’ve been hiding something from me. I don’t believe your son is a shifter, only his wife. I’m sure he is aware. When true mates meet, they know right away they are meant to be together. When you mentioned they married right away, I had my suspicions. When you told me, she was keeping an eye on our guest; she must be something that isn’t out of the ordinary. It might explain why Nicholas was worried about Roana staying here. He feared I would figure it out, he must know about the beast. I’ll talk to her tomorrow. It will ease their worry about you finding out.”
“Thank you, my lord. If you don’t mind, I think I’ll have another drink.” Lazarus laughed and told him to pour him another as well. They sat, both deep in thought.
“How does one become a shifter?” Michael asked.
“Originally, I don’t know. What I do know is, shifters have been around since the beginning of time. I was on a case recently and it made me believe some of it is due to magic.”
“
Magic? How?”
“I’m not sure, but my mother believed in magic, and I believe my mother was a very wise woman.”
“I have one last question and then I am going to retire. Are you immortal? You don’t look a day older than the day we first met.”
“No, I will die one day, and that day might be very soon.” Lazarus finished his drink. “Time to call it an evening. Good night, Michael.” Lazarus got up and left, while Michael took the dishes and glasses to the kitchen. Lazarus took his regular walk about the castle. Every evening he would stop by his parent’s portrait in the main hall and wish them good night. Then he would stop by the portrait of himself with his siblings and renew his promise, how he would find them or die trying. He stopped by the guest room to look in on their guest. He stood next to her bed for a while and watched her sleep. She was a beautiful woman in her own way, and she looked innocent while she slept.
“What secrets do you hide?” he wondered as he watched her. It was only a matter of time before the truth would be known.
Chapter 10
The next morning, Lazarus was up before dawn. He hadn’t slept much. The events of the previous day kept playing through his mind. Something major was about to happen, he could feel the tension in his dragon. His enemy was getting impatient and Lazarus was glad. He’d wait him out and let him make the first move. He checked for new reports on his laptop, hoping to see something from Gunnar, but there wasn’t anything yet. He showered and dressed, he knew Mr. MacGregor would be up already and there would be coffee waiting for him in the dining room.
He stopped by the guest room to see if Aria was awake. She was sitting in a chair by the window, looking out over the ocean. He gently tapped on the door. She glanced his way and smiled. “Good morning, Laird MacEachen.”
“May I come in?”
“Yes, of course.” She was about to get up as he stepped into the room.
“Please, don’t get up.” He waved her to stay seated. “The ocean is beautiful at dawn, I enjoy watching it myself. So peaceful, yet it can be so fierce. Do you like the ocean?”
Last of His Kind: Lazarus (Eichthighearn Dragons Book 1) Page 5
