DRAGON'S GAP: Set Includes Stories 1-3 Plus Love's Catalyst

by L M Lacee

  “Okay, sounds good and thanks all of you.” They all heard the relief in her voice as Rene` placed Kelsey down on the floor and Molly and Kammy both came and gave her a hug. Molly sighed as she thought. They were so sweet. She really liked them, even though they were younger than her but as the oldest cousin she knew it was her job to teach them. So she smiled and said. “Thank you.” She could see Grandpa had something to talk to her Mama about, so she said. “I feel better, do you want to see our new playroom?” As she knew they would, they both said yes! So with a long look at her mama, to make sure she knew she was doing this for her, she took them to the room.

  After they had gone Charlie with a confused look asked Sage. “What was that look for?”

  Sage grinned as she told her. “She was letting you know she was only leaving with the younger girls for you.”

  “Am I now meant to do something?”

  “Saying thanks after we have all gone, that should do it.” Claire advised.

  “Seriously this parent thing is confusing.” Charlie grumbled as she threw herself into a chair.

  “I know! Right?” Both Claire and Sage said together as they watched Reighn try and put Cara down so she could go and play. She screamed loudly as she clamped her little legs around him and hung on tightly. He quickly stood saying. “Alright little one…alright!” Then smiled at the worried Charlie. “She will be alright. She just needs some time.”

  “But what happens when you leave?” Charlie asked and she did not care if they heard the panic trying to break free.

  Reighn shrugged. “If she has not settled by then, I will take her with me and return her for her afternoon nap.”

  Charlie sighed. “Okay let us hope she settles down.” Reighn nodded in agreement as he took a seat at the dining table next to his father, while Claire and Sage found theirs. Rene` said. “I am sure you are wondering why we are here?”

  Charlie shrugged. “Sort of, I am guessing it was not because you heard Cara crying?”

  Rene` grinned. “No, although we would have come, had you called.”

  Charlie hunched a shoulder. “I was getting there.”

  Sage said. “We are family Charlie, call next time.”

  “Yeah okay.”

  Rene` said. “We are here to give you an update on the Hunters and Shields who looked into the information you obtained and gave to me when you arrived.”

  “Wow already?”

  Reighn smiled and said. “We are diligent. I will not tolerate shifters and dragons being killed to obtain young. Somethings have to be stopped immediately, so none like this little one here has to go through that ever again.”

  Charlie ducked her head. “Amen to that!”

  Rene` said. “What we found out also concerns Claire and Lars. Which is why I asked them to come here, but we will wait for him to arrive before we get into that part of the information that concerns them. For now Charlie I can tell you that the sheriff of the town the girls were held in was spoken to. And as it stands now the sheriff and the agency that deals with human trafficking are now investigating the Fredson’s. As well as the people who have been investing in the town. It appears on the surface that the sheriff was not involved, but we are still looking into him and the mayor. We will be keeping our eyes on the investigation to make sure they do not brush it under the carpet, so to speak. I have also several people tracing down the names on the flash drive of the people who received the young, stolen and sold.

  Our people paid a visit to the male that obtained the four girls. In the process of questioning him, my Shields found more records, very detailed records of other young who were stolen and sold. How many there were and where they were obtained.”

  Charlie let out a breath, fearful to know but unable not to ask. “Dear Goddess, how many?”

  “Over two hundred and that includes the ones on the flash drive!”

  She swallowed and said hoarsely. “Not as many as I thought and far too many than should have been.”

  Reighn sighed as he agreed. “Yes, from the documents you obtained our Hunters are able to follow the trail of some of the young ones sold. It is early days yet, but we will keep several people on that, to make sure all the children are well and happy. If not we will remove them from where they are. So far it looks like they were sold to families that wanted a child but we will track down each young one to make sure. Also, all intermediaries in the chain will be found and seen by the human police. Of course I have people overseeing that.”

  “Thank you.” Charlie asked. “So how did it work?”

  Rene` thought about her question for a moment then told her. “Think of a web, and each group was a small web that made up a larger web. We have taken out several webs with the information you gave us and what we found from the male that took the girls. What we do not have yet is the sole figure or gang in the centre of the main web, but we know about them now. So along with human law enforcement, we will track them all down.

  Charlie asked. “Was the web that stole the girls responsible for Justice?”

  “No, Justice was from another web, before he died the male gave us the name of that web. When we locate them, we will find out more, apparently they work from England.”

  “So you are saying that it is possible Justice came from there?”

  Rene` nodded. “Yes, it is possible.”

  “Wow that is amazing.” Charlie looked at Cara who had fallen asleep in her uncle’s arms. “Well I will hope all the little ones stolen are as loved as my girls are.”

  “We will too.” Sage murmured thinking of her girls and the fate that could have been theirs. Lars came in just then changing the mood in the room. “Hello all, I am sorry I took so long.”

  Reighn asked. “Concerns I need to know about?”

  “No, just making sure an order I issued was being taken care of.”

  Reighn grinned. “Good.”

  “So why am I here?” He kissed Claire and took a seat beside her. Reighn said. “We were just filling everyone in about what our Hunters found with the information Charlie gave us.”

  “Oh yes!” Lars nodded, his face like everyone else’s showing disgust and anger.

  Rene` said. “In the process of finding out about Charlie’s young, my people found out some information regarding Kale.”

  “Our Kale?” Claire asked as she held Lars’s hand tightly. “Yes, it appears Kale was birthed from a female that belonged to another web of thieves.”

  “Oh damn.” Claire muttered.

  Rene` nodded. “But as it happens we were lucky, there was a male that was apparently involved with a female, who was the sister to Kale’s birth mother. Anyway, he offered up her journal along with all her records. It seems she was their accountant. So we were lucky on both counts, we have names dates and places as well as where all the ones her web stole are now. We have people looking into the records and tracing every child or person mentioned.

  As for Kale, the female wrote that Kale’s birth mother was human, and the father was some type of bear. He unfortunately was killed in, of all things a raid by a rival gang. “The birth mother met him when she became the web’s scout. Apparently she scouted out the family with children or places that the humans call foster homes where there are many young ones. She would locate and pick out her for the web to steal. She even recorded if there were any deaths at the time of the kidnappings.”

  “The human authorities did not realize what was happening.” Charlie asked. “That seems unlikely?”

  Reighn nodded as he said. “So it would seem but if you think about it, they were clever, they never hit the same town or country twice in a six-month period. What sheriff department or police investigators were going to connect the dots, to see the bigger picture?”

  “That is of course if they were not in on it?” Claire mumbled.

  “Well, there is that too!” Rene` said. “Regardless that web has been stopped as well. We have obtained all the information and passed on what we feel the human off
icials need to know.”

  “Our Kale? What did you find out about how he arrived here at Dragon’s Gap?” Lars asked as he looked at Rene`.

  “Well as to that, this female that wrote everything down said Kale was born premature and his mother died in childbirth just as we suspected. Why she did, we do not know? The female did not write that down, maybe she did not know. After the baby was born, the sister took him and decided the baby needed to go to Dragon’s Gap. Again we do not know why?”

  She wrote that she knew of a place that she was sure people gathered and left from to go to Dragon’s Gap. It seems to accomplish that she had to sneak away. She wrote she was not able to leave the gang she had become involved with for extended periods of time. Maybe she was too scared or her male was more important to her than her own safety. Whatever the reason she wrote that she knew she could go away for no longer than four days. So she hoped she would find someone to take the baby. She apparently found the rest stop where people waited before they come here.

  She waited for two days and eventually a car of people arrived and she knew she had hit the jack pot, they were on their way here apparently. She wrote they were waiting for another car load of refugees to arrive before they left.

  Now, here is where it becomes interesting. The people all went to use the restrooms, so she took her chance to hide the infant and run. But as she was about to place the baby in the car, a faceless male came and she writes. Snatched the baby from her arms and then vanished into thin air. She says she was so scared she jumped back into her car and drove away never looking back. That was the last she saw of him and never mentioned the baby or what happened to him again. When asked she told her boyfriend he died. She wrote she had many, many sleepless nights after that.”

  “Where is she now?” Reighn asked just before Lars was going to. Rene` shook his head as he said. “Sadly she died at the hands of her boyfriend, he said he took a bad load of drugs and killed her by mistake.”

  “Wow that is some mistake!” Sage muttered as Charlie nodded then she asked. “So we don’t have any idea who the faceless male was?”

  “Maybe she was on drugs herself.” Claire said in two minds about the faceless male. Whether he was a good guy or bad. Either way he had delivered her baby to her and by the look on Lars’s face he too was not sure either.

  Rene` told them. “She wasn’t apparently, she never indulged. No, I am inclined to believe her entry to her journal. I believe she saw what she thought she saw and that there was a faceless male.”

  Reighn said thoughtfully. “It is a mystery.”

  “Do you have any ideas who the male could have been Rene`.” Charlie asked him, he was shaking his head no, before she even finished speaking. “I do not.”

  “The Elementals?” Claire mused. “They could have done it.”

  “No, they would have just given him to you and Lars. Why hide him?” Reighn stated.

  “Well who then?” Charlie asked with a confused look on her face.

  “I know, a Goddess!” Sage stated firmly. “If you think about it. A Goddess could do it without anyone seeing.”

  “A faceless male Goddess?” Claire reminded her.

  “Oh yeah, I forgot about him.”

  “A mystery for another day, but now we know where Kale comes from.” Reighn told them bringing that line of discussion to an end.

  “Well yes and truthfully, I do not care anymore, he is here healthy and safe.” Claire also stated ending the speculation.

  “What happened to the gang of thieves?” Charlie asked Rene`, who smiled like the Commander he was. “They are of no more concern my Shields administered our Lords justice. So no more young will be kidnapped by their hands. Our people are combing through the records for additional information. Information that we can use to help shut down any other gangs operating, and to find the ones at the center of the web.”

  The most powerful dragon ever to live, sitting there cradling in his arms sweet little Cara as he told them in a soft voice filled with his dragon. “I will not allow any like them to live in the same world as my young, as any of our young.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE:

  S torm flew through the early morning air. He loved this time of day when the air was thin, and flying was a matter of a soft movement of his enormous wings. He had been away seven days and six nights. It had seemed like months.

  Too long away from shadow and hatchlings. I miss them! His dragon complained. Storm grinned as he promised. I know my friend but we are returning now and I will send someone else next time. I promise.

  Good, I do not wish to leave shadow and young again.

  Well, if we have to, we may take them with us. How about that?

  Maybe, that is a good compromise!

  Storm smiled as he listened to his dragon grumble as he had done for the last seven days. The nights had been the worse. It was bad enough he was lonely and missing Charlie, he had hardly slept with his arms feeling empty all the time. But having to listen to his dragons constant whining sounding in his head, almost drove him crazy.

  His dragon snarled. Whining there was no whining! Females whine. I was discontent.

  Storm hurriedly placated him while trying not to laugh. I apologize my large friend, no disrespect intended.

  His haste to be home had driven him to decide to leave his Shields early and fly through the long night. Now as the sun rose over the green meadows, he could almost taste the magic in the air that all dragons felt when they came close to the barrier around Dragon’s Gap.

  It was always a tickle feast when they crossed the ward, as it bubbled along their scales, like thousands of little fingers running over skin. Causing the dragon to shiver and shake a little until they passed through the shield. Therefore, Storm never felt the little darts finding purchase in his hide between his scales. Or the poison starting its journey throughout his blood system.

  His assailant had struck at the right time, as it was impossible for a dragon to fly through the barrier in combat mode. So his scales were soft and not overlapping as they did when armored, letting the darts penetrate his skin.

  His body was tired by the hard pace they had set to return to his family and the distance they had covered. His blood was hot and pumping around his body quicker than normal so when the poison reached his huge heart making it stutter and miss a beat or two. Then work even harder to pump the blood along his vessels again, causing the poison to move quicker throughout his system poisoning all his major organs.

  By the time Storm had reached the lake between the castle and the Faerie Grove. He knew something was wrong. He slammed shut his bond to Charlie and opened the old path way he had to his brother, Reighn!

  Reighn leapt from bed as Sage cried out. “What has happened, the girls?”

  “No my soul. It is Storm!” Reighn told her as he ran to the balcony and threw himself into the sky, transforming as he fell. I am coming brother, hold for me. He received no reply and with fear fighting for space in his mind, he trumpeted his anger and warning into the morning sky. Every dragon at the castle and Dragon’s Gap woke and followed their Lord into the sky.

  Faeries streamed from the Grove as the huge dragon crashed into the earth, missing their homes by yards. The impact was so hard it trembled the ground, shattering trees within the Grove and windows in the nearby castle.

  Charlie screamed in fear as she woke, leaping from the bed and running before she knew what had happened. Luckily the girls had slept in their own beds that night. She felt like her heart had stopped beating, as though her breath was caught in her lungs. All she knew was she felt bereft from the sudden disconnection to Storm. As she made the French door leading to the lounge’s balcony, she heard and saw her dragon falling.

  “No… No... No!” She beat on the glass as she screamed. “Storm!” Turning around to return to her bedroom to dress with fear grabbing her by the throat and stopping her taking a full breath. She met the eyes of a faerie who stood in her lounge.

  Su
dden calm descended on her as if ice filled her veins, she told the two nannies that had flown into the room. “Go to the girls. They are scared.”

  Quickly with one frightened look at the faerie they went, leaving Charlie and the faerie together. Although she was fairly sure she knew who stood in her home, Charlie demanded. “Who are you?”

  “I am Sela. Your future. You grey one will come with me to the High Queen. Where I will receive my reward?”

  Charlie looked down to where her Storm lay as others flew to him. Reighn stood at his head a hand above his eyes. They would wonder why she was not there she knew, and then come for her. She returned her eyes to the faerie. Pointing behind her to Storm, she asked. “Did you do that?”

  Sela shrugged one shoulder. “Of course, he had no right to you. I have prior claim.”

  Charlie saw red, an actual red haze descended over her eyes. Only once before had that happened, and none had survived that encounter. Her Storm was down, hurt and this female had caused it. Anger pulsed in the room. Sela stared fearfully at her. “Grey one what are you doing?”

  Charlie smiled. “This!” With a flick of her hand, she drew her gun up and shot at the faerie. Not bullets like a regular gun, no this was a gun Elijah had given her and one she had trained with over the last six days. The gun fired pellets that for a human or dragon would sting and make them hop about. Which she had proved when she had shot Johner by accident, Sort of!

  For faeries it was like being shot by a regular bullet, it damaged the tissue and made a hole in the body. Sela screamed in agony as two rounds grazed the skin of her arm and ribs. With speed she shrunk and flew from the castle still screaming in pain. Missed the bitch! Dammit.

  Keeper, Johner and Rene` burst into the room from the balcony and door. Charlie snarled. “She is gone. It was a faerie named Sela. You know who that is?”

  “Yes, we have had dealings.” Rene` told her.

  “Thought as much. Rene` can you settle the girls?” Charlie asked as she ran towards the bedroom. “I am dressing.”

  June said. “I am here for the babies, go Charlie.”