Celtic Dragons

by Dee Bridgnorth

“It’s like in the business world,” he told her. “Sometimes the only way to make a deal happen is to make compromises or sacrifices that suck in the short term, but are the right decision in the long term. What I really want, long term, is for this problem to go away, for you to be safe, for me to be safe, and for us to see what it’s like living normal life together. Short term, that means that I have to make the smart decision and not try to play outside of my field.” He squeezed her fingers, lifting her hand to kiss the back of it as he offered her a reassuring smile. “My male ego isn’t offended by that, so stop looking worried.”

  Leaning over the table, she kissed him. “I had you pegged so wrong. You are not even close to the spoiled, entitled rich boy that I first accused you of being.”

  He chuckled. “Thanks, I guess. I can come off that way sometimes, probably. Especially when I’m trying to impress a pretty girl.”

  “What you said over the past five minutes impresses me far more than any amount of money you could ever have.”

  “Score.” He tapped her under the chin affectionately and sat back again. “So. We still have issues to work out. And here’s one way that I can help. It’s this open area that’s a problem, right? Approaching the house without being seen?”

  “Right,” she agreed, turning her attention back to the blueprint as well. “That’s the problem. Trees here, to a point. And a shed for cover as well. But the house is just out in the open. It eliminates a sneak attack, most likely.”

  “Unless.”

  “Unless what?”

  “Unless you draw them to you, under the cover of the trees.”

  Moira frowned, studying the blueprint. “How would we do that without showing our hand? We’re not going to be able to get four or five shifters to all simultaneously walk out to a group of trees that’s hard to see through. Even if we baited them with something …” Her eyes went wide and she turned back toward him. “You want to bait them with you.”

  “It’s something I can do,” he repeated. “If I’m spotted in the tree line, then at least Darren is going to come after me, right? And he’s the key. We take him out, we’re in a good position.”

  “What happened to it being too dangerous for you to be there?” Moira asked, leaning back in her chair, clearly not liking his idea to use himself as a moving target. “We literally just had that conversation.”

  “It would be a liability for me to be involved in the fight,” he said. “That’s true. I can’t battle this guy. Or any of his cohorts. But I can lure them—and when he follows me into the trees, what he doesn’t know is that you all are there, ready to swoop down on him. Otherwise, we’re back to figuring out how to get all the way up to this house without being seen.”

  Moira didn’t answer him right away, leaning her elbows against the table and contemplating while she chewed on the edge of a pen. “How does he see you there? The tree line is far from the house. Do we just hope that he looks out the window and sees you?”

  Grady shook his head. “No. We need Felicia’s help. She’s going to have to sell it when she goes back there today and say that she thinks that she could have been followed. So that they’re on guard, looking around the property.”

  “That puts her at risk though.”

  “She’s at risk no matter what, right? If she doesn’t go back, she’s at risk. If she goes back and pretends everything is fine, she’s at risk. And if we do it this way, she’s at risk.”

  Moira looked over toward the sleeping girl. “She looks so young, and she’s been through so much. I know she can do it. I just feel protective of her now too.”

  “I know,” he agreed. “I feel the same way. But my priority has to be taking him out without him hurting you, and I’ve run all the numbers, so to speak. This is the best way.”

  “You could be right,” Moira said, nodding slowly. “It’s the best way. And because you were so reasonable about not being able to be part of the fight …I can suck it up and let you play bait. Even though it makes me nervous.”

  He smiled and kissed her softly. “That’s my girl. Now …wake up the other girl, because she has to call and check in.”

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Moira

  “All right, here’s what we’re doing,” Moira said, standing front and center in the Connelly Security conference room, Ronan, Eamon, Siobhan, Kean, and Grady all sitting around the table. “We’ve flipped one of the shifters, and she’s given us Darren’s address and a description of the house and grounds. Based upon that, we drew up a blueprint and started strategizing, and after we outlined our best strategies, I flew over the property to confirm that Felicia’s recollection was correct. It was, and there are clear signs of movement around the house, which means they’re there and ready to be targeted. We need to act fast, before they launch another attack against Grady or kill anymore of their own members—particularly Felicia.”

  Kean lifted a hand to interrupt. “Where is she right now? Still at the hotel?”

  “No,” Moira said, shaking her head. “She’s following the instructions that Darren gave her. This morning, she checked out, and she’s killing time around Boston, finding spots where she can transition safely so that anyone who was following her would soon lose track of her. If he’s watching her today, he should see absolutely nothing suspicious. We won’t be in contact with her at all, in fact. Not until the very end when she sends a prewritten text to my phone saying that she’s in the house and that she’s delivered the message that she may have been followed despite her efforts.”

  Ronan’s brow furrowed. “After walking around all day? Why would they think she’s been followed?”

  “She’s going to say that she’s just worried about it. Felicia’s nervous nature is in line with that, and Darren is paranoid enough to do a check. When that check takes place, they’re going to see Grady in the tree line. Upon being spotted, Grady will hastily retreat, as though trying to hide from them. What we can’t plan for is how many of them will come after him. It’ll be at least one, and we’re hoping it’s Darren.”

  “And if it’s not?” Siobhan asked.

  “Then we capture whoever it is that does go after Grady and we give them the option to work with us or be…dealt with,” Moira answered, before turning to Eamon. “While we do that, Eamon, you’re in charge of picking Grady up and flying him to a safe location nearby before returning. He’s not to be there during the actual battle—regardless.”

  Eamon nodded, saying nothing else. He wasn’t a man to talk much, but Moira knew that he knew she had picked him to take Grady away because of the lingering effects of what had happened to him in that vault. When he had transitioned outside of his own control, it had weakened him, and he was still suffering the side effects. Their research indicated that most likely what had happened was that Callum and Darren had, in the form of cockroaches or some other unnoticeable form, bitten at Eamon’s legs. Because of the powerful supernatural connection between shifters, even of different natures, it had sent Eamon’s powers haywire.

  Although Eamon was one of the bravest men she knew, Moira understood that he wasn’t eager to get close to the shifters again. Plus, they didn’t know whether there was some inherent connection between him and them now that might once again send his powers out of his control. He wouldn’t shy away from the fight—never—but he was the ideal candidate to spirit Grady away from danger.

  “There’s a problem,” Ronan said. “Not with the plan. Clearly these people are abusing their powers, and Darren, at least, is a murderer. He needs to be taken out—and it’ll be your judgement as to the others. But I can’t be a part of it.”

  Moira frowned, not understanding. “What? Why?”

  “Because I have to go out of town,” Ronan said, giving her an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, Moira. I know that this is more than a case for you and that you need all of us on board. I can’t really explain to you what I have to go do, but I hope you know that it’s imperative to the Dragon Clan’s wellbeing.”<
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  She did know, instinctively, that Ronan wouldn’t abandon her right now unless he absolutely had to, but it still hurt a little bit to hear him say that he wasn’t going to be there. They always backed each other up, no matter what. And while she thought they had a good plan in place to mitigate the risks of dealing with Darren, she would be far more comfortable with Ronan there, not just because there would be one more on their side, but because he was her leader.

  “I’m sorry,” he said again, clearly reading her expression correctly. “I hate that I have to go as much as you do.”

  Moira nodded. “I believe you. Is everything okay?”

  “It’ll be fine,” he assured her. “I just have to deal with some things that, for right now, are not pressing concerns for any of you. This is where your attention should be.”

  “All right,” Moira agreed, swallowing down her disappointment. “I know you’d be there if you could.”

  He stood up and walked around to her side of the table, hugging her and dropping a kiss on her hair. “I have no doubt that you have this completely handled. No doubt. I’m late already, so I have to leave now. But I did at least want to hear the plan first. Don’t hate me?”

  “Never,” she said, smiling up at him. It was a sad smile, but one filled with lifelong affection. “Good luck.”

  “Thanks.” He lifted a hand to everyone, saying his goodbyes, and then hurried from the room.

  Moira huffed out a breath, scrunching her nose. “Well, that makes things potentially more difficult, I guess.”

  “No,” Siobhan said. “We’ve got this. Four of us, against one of him? He doesn’t stand a chance in the world. Even if he doesn’t come alone, we’ll dominate.” She smirked, nudging Kean. “Guy hides out as a cockroach. Sorry, but I don’t have a lot of respect for a man who sneaks around in that form, murderer or not.”

  Kean chuckled, draping his arm around the back of Siobhan’s chair and tugging her blonde braid. “Tell him that when you see him.”

  “Don’t think I won’t,” she said, still smirking. “We have this one in the bag. I mean it. No worries.”

  “I hope you’re right,” Grady said, piping up for the first time in the Dragon Clan meeting. “I never thought I would say this, but a day of fielding clients seems like a vacation after dealing with all of this stuff.”

  There was a knock at the cracked open door that drew Moira’s attention away from her friends, and she turned toward it, expecting Ronan but instead seeing her father there.

  “Dad?” she frowned, walking toward him. “What’s wrong? Is Mom okay?”

  “Yeah, I need to talk to you,” her father said, motioning for her to follow him. “Right now, Moira.”

  The tone he was using was reminiscent of one that she might have heard in her childhood. Confused, she slipped out of the room after her father, feeling Grady’s eyes on her. “We can talk in my office,” she told her dad, leading him down the hall. “But you’re worrying me. Something’s wrong.”

  “You’re damn right something’s wrong,” Liam Brennan said, pushing open her office door and motioning for her to hurry up and enter in front of him. “How about the fact that Kean’s mom called me this morning, gushing about how wonderful it is that now you, like Kean, have found your human match. I had to talk to Colleen O’Shea on the phone about my daughter’s romantic involvement with a human!”

  Moira’s heart sank. In all the chaos over the past few weeks, she had hardly seen her parents, even though they didn’t live far away. She hadn’t even stopped to consider what their reaction would be when they found out about her and Grady, probably because, until yesterday, she hadn’t been sure whether there was a her and Grady. Immediately, the conversation she’d had with her father the morning she’d first met Grady flashed into her mind, and she remembered how adamant he had been that Kean was betraying his duty by intending to marry outside of the clan and that Ronan was a weak and dangerous leader for allowing it.

  It was inevitable in such a tightly knit group that there would be divisions amongst them. Her parents, Moira knew, had always been the dark horses of their generation, largely because of the nature of their marriage. The others had all had more emotionally healthy marriages, and even though her parents had both professed their commitment to the cause for their marriage, she knew that there had to be some latent resentment. There just had to be. Otherwise, there was no reason for her parents to be the outsiders.

  “Dad, I’m sorry that I wasn’t the one to tell you, but listen—”

  “No,” he said, cutting her off, closing the door to her office firmly. “Look, it’s bad enough that Kean is going this way and worse that Ronan is allowing it, but I will not stand by and allow my daughter—my daughter—to shun her duty like this. It flies in the face of everything that your mother and I ever believed in. In the face of everything we devoted ourselves to. We gave up our lives to an arranged marriage because it’s what was dealt to us, and that was the right thing to do.” His old, weathered face was red with anger as he spoke, and it unsettled Moira more than she could have imagined. “I cannot believe that you would go along with this! Your mother is bedridden over it.”

  “Dad …” Moira tried to keep her tone calm. “You can’t use Mom’s emotions against me. That’s not fair. We both know that Mom struggles with her…strong feelings.”

  “And knowing that, this is what you do to her?”

  This time when Moira spoke, her voice was sharper. “Listen to me. You’re my father and I respect you and I never want to hurt you or Mom. You know that. You guys gave me a great life, despite everything, and I love you both for it. But you don’t get to come in here and dress me down for my decisions, as an adult, about who I’m going to be with.”

  “If you weren’t part of the Dragon Clan, then no, I wouldn’t,” Liam retorted. “But as your elder and as your father, it’s my responsibility to hold you accountable. And I’ll hold Ronan accountable too. I’m not the only one upset about this in the older generations, Moira. We’re not going to stand for this …mixing! It’s not right. And if you think it’s going to keep us from dying out, you’re wrong. It’s going to lead to us dying out even faster because we won’t be producing the next generation!”

  Frustrated, and more than that, exhausted and anxious about her upcoming mission that day, Moira threw her hands up in the air. “There’s nothing I can say to you that’s going to make this better, so I’m not going to try to argue with you, Dad. Yes, I’m dating Grady. Yes, I’m sleeping with him. Yes, I plan to keep doing it. Yes, I think I probably love him.”

  Apoplectic, her father took a stumbling step backward. “Don’t you ever say that again!”

  But Moira smiled. She hadn’t meant to say it at all, but now that she had, she realized it was true and that made her laugh. “I love him. No, Dad, I really do. I’m in love with him. I’m sorry, but I am.”

  “Do you think that I was never in love?” her father demanded, waving a hand around the room. “Do you? I was in love with a woman named Treena Lipsmeyer, and she was incredible. Beautiful. Sweet. Intelligent. She was the most perfect person in the entire world.” His voice cracked as he spoke, and he looked away for a moment. “But she wasn’t like me. She could never be my mate. And I walked away from her to do my duty, and it’s because of that sacrifice that you’re even here. You would do well to remember that!”

  Her heart broke for her father. Moira had always suspected that her father had experienced a great love in his lifetime, but he had never said so directly before. Now, as he stood there shaking with regret and anger, she walked over and put her arms around him, hugging him hard. “Oh Daddy. Stop yelling at me and go find her then. I want you to be as happy as Grady and I are going to be.”

  For a moment, her father let her stand there with her arms around him, but then he pushed her back and hurried out of her office, slamming the door behind him.

  Moira slumped down into a chair and sighed, dropping her head into her hands.
Her father was never going to come around on this issue, and she didn’t know what that would mean for the future of the Dragon Clan. Although there were often differences amongst the members, they had never had such a fundamental issue to disagree over before. She was worried that her father might do something drastic. Or leave. Or, at the very least, give up on his relationship with her.

  It was a desperately sad thought, and she sat there with it for a few minutes, not looking up when the door to her office opened. She knew it was Grady, and as he sat down beside her, his arms encircling her, she leaned against him and knew with utter certainty that he was worth any fight she had to have about him.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Grady

  “You okay?” Grady kissed Moira’s head as he held her, perched on the arm of the chair she was sitting in, her tucked against his side. “That sounded ugly.”

  “You could hear it?”

  “Yeah.” He rubbed her back gently. “Not all of it, but we all heard that there was shouting. Do you want to talk about it?”

  Moira looked up at him, and he noted that she hadn’t been crying but that she did look disheartened and worn out. He reached out to touch her cheek, but his hand froze in midair when she spoke.

  “I love you.”

  Grady blinked at her, not sure he had heard her right, since he had hardly expected those words to come out of nowhere. “You do?”

  “Yes.” She looked up at him steadily, appearing utterly sure of herself. “I do. My father doesn’t approve of us, because you’re not part of the clan. I was defending our relationship, and the words came out …and I realized they were true.”

  It was fast—really fast—but all Grady could do was smile, his smile so wide that it felt like it might split his face in two. “Moira,” he said, leaning down to kiss her. “I love you. I really do. I love you. I’ve never said that to a woman before, and I’m so glad I waited until it was right. I love you.”

  She whispered the words back to him, over and over again, and there was no stopping Grady from getting to his feet and lifting her with him. He moved her over to her desk and lifted her to sit on the edge, her legs automatically wrapping around him to press him closer.