My heart just about stopped. “They’re leaving?”
“That’s the talk. Certainly they’ve been a bit more frantic in their activity of late.”
“But why would they be leaving?”
“Maybe they’re finally believing their own words.” She swept on the lights and shrugged. “Most researchers give up after a while. The loch holds her secrets well, and even the most well-financed venture must run out of cash.”
I hesitated, then asked, “So they’ve had no sight of the monster?”
She looked at me. “Oh, that’s one for conjecture.”
“So despite what they’re saying, you think they have?”
“I think they’ve found something, lass. Whether it’s the monster or not is anyone’s guess.”
I smiled. “You don’t believe in her?”
“Oh, I do. But I believe she’s far too clever to be caught by the likes of them. After all, she’s lived in these parts for centuries. She’d have to be a canny one.”
Canny didn’t take into account modern equipment or hunting methods. And it certainly didn’t take into account being betrayed by some greedier members of the dragon community.
Even so, perhaps my mother, like the locals, had been too complacent, too confident the loch would hold her secrets against all comers.
But then, that affliction had also been my downfall. I’d been so damn confident in my skills that I’d waltzed straight into their trap. Well, not again. Not without some planning beforehand, anyway.
But the five hundred-foot range of the tracker in my tooth would make planning my assault a whole lot tougher. The minute I entered that place, they could find me. If they suspected I was there, that was.
The question, of course, was whether they actually had the receivers here, or whether they were all in America with those who were still trying to capture me. I had to hope they were, but I couldn’t actually bank on it. They knew I wanted my mother out of there, after all.
I ducked in front of Trae and stepped into the cottage. The front room was small, but homely, and filled with flowers whose sweet scent warmed the slightly stale air.
“Haven’t had time to give it a good airing, but open a window or two, and it should be right.” She walked across the room. “There’s three bedrooms along the hall through here, the bathroom to my right, and there’s a small kitchen diner to your left.”
“It’s lovely,” I said.
She beamed. “Will you be needing breakfast?”
I hesitated, and glanced at Trae. “Would you prefer breakfast early or late?”
I put a slight emphasis on “late,” and he raised his eyebrows, amusement bright in his eyes. “Late would be better. I’d prefer to sleep in after the flight over we had.”
“Late, then. About ninish?”
She nodded, and Trae gave her the cash for the cottage. She bustled back out the door, a woman who was all energy and good cheer.
“Now what?” he said, once she’d left.
“Now I need to go talk to the loch.”
“Just let me bring in the bags.”
While he did so, I opened a few windows, allowing the cold night breeze to meander in and freshen up the place, and lit the fire with the kindling and logs provided. Then I kicked off my shoes, picked up the keys, and chucked them toward Trae as he came out of the bedroom.
“Barefoot?” he said, as he caught sight of my feet. “I hope that’s not a requirement around these parts, because I’m just not built for it.”
I grinned and tucked my arm under his. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep you warm.”
He snorted softly. “You can hardly keep yourself warm at night. I mean, look at your toes. They’re blue.”
“But it’s a very fetching shade of blue.”
He laughed and dropped a quick kiss on my lips. “Come on, let’s get down to the water so we can get back up here to the warmth.”
We headed out, picking our way across the grass and then highway, before walking down the slope to the dark shores of the loch. To our right, the stony remains of Urquhart Castle were silhouetted against the moon-washed water and the hills beyond, and only the occasional twinkle of a house light, or the bright beam of headlights sweeping past on the A82 shattered the illusion of being alone in the wilderness.
I stopped when the water began to lap at my toes and his boots, but the touch of it filled me with a delicious sense of power and welcome. It was almost as if the loch had long mourned the loss of her dragons. Part of me ached to dive in, to swim deep and enjoy the murky depths, surrounding myself in the sense of strength, power, and history that the loch represented to my family. But given that the scientists might have sensors located along the loch, if not in it, that just wasn’t wise. I’d have to wait a while yet before I could enjoy such freedom.
“That’s my mom’s land over there,” I said, pointing left, across the bay to the sharp, tree-covered hill that had been the ancestral lands of my family right down through the generations. Few lights shone through the thickness of the trees, certainly none coming from the old, stony building that was neither house nor castle, but somewhere in between. But even a heavily fortified building that had withstood time and weather hadn’t been able to withstand the invasion by the scientists.
He frowned. “There’s not much evidence to be seen that there’s a whole underground scientific study going on over there.”
“That’s why he’s been able to get away with it for so many years.”
He scanned the tree line for a moment, then said, “So there really is another castle over there?”
“Well, it’s not what you’d call a traditional castle—there’s no massive towers and stuff.” Although it did have turrets. “It’s more like a great big fortified house. Dad used to draw me pictures of it.”
I couldn’t actually remember a whole lot about the place. What I knew about the history behind it was thanks to the pictures and the stories he’d told me. He’d loved the old house, and had for years studied the ancient texts that were hopefully still locked securely within the secret vaults. He probably knew more about all the different generations of sea dragons who had lived and died within its walls than my mother did. Thanks to him, I knew my past, even if I had no real acquaintance with this land.
“Meaning it’s a protected building?”
“Yeah.”
“Then the scientists shouldn’t have been able to do much alteration without someone knowing about it.”
“I’m guessing they didn’t bother to apply for permits.” There’d been basements there already, of course, but they’d added to them. Added the pools and the cells that had become our home within home for far too long.
My gaze ran across the hill again. “It is odd that we can’t see any lights. The last time I was here, the outside walls were lit all night.”
Hell, they turned off the lights in our cells for a bare six hours, and only then because they’d finally realized Egan wouldn’t come near me unless it was dark.
“Does the no-lights factor mean they have already left?”
“God, I hope not.” But my heart began to race at the thought. It would have been ironic indeed to have come all this way for naught. Ironic, cruel, and yet somewhat fitting, given the way my life had been turning out of late.
I took a deep breath, trying to calm the sick fear that was churning my stomach and not entirely succeeding.
“I could do a flyover and check,” Trae suggested.
I was shaking my head before he’d finished. “Too risky. Besides, there’s a better way.”
I let go of his arm and stepped a little deeper into the water. The waves tugged against my legs, as if urging me to go deeper still. I smiled and squatted, slipping one hand into the water and caressing it with my fingers.
Ripples of power ran away from my touch, a steady vibration of energy only one other would notice or feel.