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  Jim flinched and everyone else in the room froze. Patrick took a few breaths as he looked into Jim’s eyes. “Do not ever try to lay blame on any of us for what those butchers did to Bernadette. None of us tried harder than Donovan to locate her after she was kidnapped. We all felt her loss just as strongly as you.”

  Jim had enough sense to look ashamed and then tried to apologize, but Patrick threw the ropes he held to the floor, turned and tromped away.

  Seamus called the group together in the den. He took a deep breath. “Colin, you and Kevin see if we can figure out how these guys are shielding themselves from us. That will make it much easier to find and dispose of the rest. Once we do, we need a way to deactivate whatever they are using.” He turned to face Patrick. “Paddy, I want you and Jim working on their tracking system.” He glanced over to Conor. “Conor, get to work on this drug they are using. Gather some of our other healers, and see if you can get an antidote worked up. They all have darts in their guns, so it should give you a fair amount of the drug to work with.”

  Seamus closed his eyes for a second to gather his thoughts.

  “Noel, I am leaving you and Brian to see what you can get out of our not so friendly guest. Make sure there are always two of you with him and keep him secured. I am going over to check on Megan and Da. If you need me just relay it through him.” Seamus paused long enough to take in a deep breath. “Colin, let Da know I am on my way. Then ward this cabin as soon as I leave.”

  Before Seamus could go, Jim approached him. “I want to apologize to you for being rude and mistrusting of you before. If Megan hadn’t been with you, they’d have her again, and I’m sure they would’ve been long gone. Thank you for saving her yet again.” Jim’s voice broke. “And now you’ve saved the rest of us.”

  Knowing it could not have been easy for Jim to admit he had been wrong, Seamus smiled. “I appreciate you telling me this, but I cannot take the credit for her being safe. I did not sense them in the area either until it was almost too late. It was Megan. Just before lunch, she had a dream about Bernadette and herself going to some cave when she was young. She was anxious after the dream so we had lunch and went looking for the cave. Megan directed us there as if she had been there a hundred times. She said she felt her mum was trying to tell her how to get to it. So if you want my opinion on who saved all of us, I would have to say somehow or in some way it was Bern who gave us the warning that kept Megan safe.”

  Jim’s eyes narrowed and his brow wrinkled. “I know Bern was a very powerful Tuatha, but how could she do that from the grave?”

  “Jim, I know it sounds impossible, but that is the way it happened. I truly have no answer.” He glanced at his watch. “Now I would like to go check on Megan and my father, and then figure out how we can eliminate the rest of this threat. If you will work with Paddy on getting some type of handle on this tracking device, it will help us in keeping Megan safe.”

  “I’ll do it right now. Tell my daughter I love her and to stay safe until I see her again. Which will be soon I hope.”

  Seamus smiled at Jim’s genuine love and concern for his daughter. “I will tell her.”

  Jim headed back to Patrick as Seamus disappeared.

  When Seamus arrived, he found Roarke and Megan sitting beside the altar. Megan jumped up and ran over to him. Throwing her arms around him, she said, “Thank God you’re safe. Are my uncles okay? Did they hurt dad at all? Can I go see them? What about the men outside?”

  Roarke and Seamus looked at each other over Megan’s head and burst out laughing. It was hard to do and be quiet at the same time, but nonetheless they accomplished it to the point of tears running down their faces.

  Megan glanced from one to the other with a perplexed look. “What?” Disgust covered her face when she realized what she had done again. “Sorry, I guess I will never be able to break that habit.”

  Still shaking with laughter, Seamus drew her farther into his embrace. “Megan, a ghrá, I hope you never lose that habit. You brighten my day even when you boggle my mind. And to answer your questions, I am, yes, no, not yet, and we are working on it.”

  Stepping out of his arms, now laughing herself, Megan asked, “If I boggle your mind, how is it you answered each one of my questions in perfect order?”

  “Ah, now that is even more mind-boggling, is it not?”

  “You think you’re funny, don’t you?”

  “Now where would you get a crazy idea like that?”

  At that, Megan punched him in the arm. Seamus grabbed her, pulled her into his embrace once again and kissed her, not allowing her time to react. She melted into him and much of his tension faded away. His father’s energy disappeared as he left the small cavern to give them some privacy.

  A short time later, Roarke entered the small cavern again, clearing his throat to attract Seamus’s attention.

  “Seamus, I am sorry to interrupt you, but Brian just contacted me saying they need you back there right away. He told me to tell you that there are nine more men up here besides the seven at the cabin. Son, he said this is worse than you could have ever fathomed.”

  “Bloody hell, how much worse can it be? They were able to get sixteen men up here and none of us knew they were there until they were on top of us. They drugged Sean and Paddy and they are tracking both Megan and me.”

  He turned back to Megan, her muscles tensing beneath his fingers. “Megan, a ghrá, this does not sound very promising. I know you would like to be with your family, but I hope you will trust me and mine to keep you safe in the interim.”

  She looked up into his eyes. “I’m scared to death right now, but yes, I do trust you and your family. Can you have one of my uncles come and see me as soon as possible? I know you’re all busy trying to get rid of the bad guys, but it would make me feel better if I could see one of them for just a few minutes.”

  He admired the way she was trying her damnedest to keep from falling apart on them. “Let me see what the situation is. Then if we can spare one of them for a bit, I will have them pop over to reassure you.”

  Megan reached up, putting her arms around Seamus’s neck, and kissed him. “Thank you.”

  “Love, I will always try to do whatever you ask. You are my mate, my life, and you will find out as time goes on that I would move heaven and earth for you.” He held her for a few more seconds before letting her go. Turning to his father, he said, “Da, keep her safe along with yourself. Let Colin know I am on my way.” And he left.

  When Seamus arrived back at the house, Brian was in the kitchen his hands covering his face.

  “By the look of you, I would have to say the information you got was not good.”

  Brian met his gaze. “Dammit, Seamus, this is a disaster. These people have technology beyond anything you or I could imagine. They can tell the difference between a Tuatha and a non-Tuatha. They can track anyone they have placed a microchip in, which is how they are tracking you and Megan. We do not know how to prevent it. They can render us useless with whatever drug they are using, not to mention they can shield themselves from us.”

  Brian rubbed his hands over his face and let out a breath. “This guy knows what technology they have, but not much else. We are going to have to inform the king and high lords. Then put a team to go after them. You thought you brought most of them down over the last seventeen years, but you are wrong. They have been building faster than you could possibly have known.”

  “Shite, all right we need to find out what else this guy knows and then see about getting rid of our immediate threat. After which, we can deal with going after the rest.”

  They started for the den when they heard Donovan groan. They changed course going into the great room to find Donovan coming around. Even though Donovan was still very much out of it, Seamus laughed and said, “Welcome back to the land of the living, my friend.”

  Donovan groaned. “I feel as if I was run down by a lorry.”

  “Close enough, but not quite.”

  L
ooking past Seamus, Donovan noticed Brian, “What the hell happened, and what is Brian doing here?”

  “It seems we had company and none of us even noticed until they were on top of us. You and Sean were out for the count. I caught up with Paddy just in time, or he would have been drugged as well. We formulated the best plan for the situation. Unfortunately, Brian is not the only one here. I had to call in Noel, Kevin, Colin, Conor, Brian, and my father.”

  Seamus watched Donovan as his mind began to work, “Where is Megan? Is she safe?”

  “For the moment she is in some secret cave of Bernadette’s with my father. She is safe for now. We still have to deal with at least seven more men with guns and tracking devices out there. The hardest part of that is that they can shield from us unless they are very close.”

  Brian put his hand on Seamus’s shoulder. “No, there are nine more.”

  Seamus shook his head. “I killed the one that shot at Paddy and another tried to get into my cabin. So that leaves only seven.”

  Donovan stared at Seamus and said, “Dammit to hell and back, you told me it was not safe for us to be around you, but did I listen? No. Instead, I went head on into this with you and now we have had to bring in more of our people, which is exactly what you were trying to avoid. Seamus, I am sorry for causing you more trouble than you needed.”

  Brian answered before Seamus had a chance, “No, Dono, they did not come up here for Seamus. They sent sixteen men to get Megan and take her back.”

  Donovan gasped. “What! How would they know anything about her?”

  Brian continued, “Remember she was in that lab. It seems they had implanted a microchip in her as well. They have been monitoring her all her life. They know she comes into power in a few weeks, and they want her before she does.”

  Seamus watched the blood drain from Donovan’s face. “Bloody hell, we have got to keep her safe. If they can track her, they know where she is and she has only your father to protect her. We need to get there immediately.”

  Seamus placed his hand on Donovan’s shoulder. “Slow down Dono, they are not able to track her at the moment. Something in the cavern she is in is preventing them from being able to get a handle on where she is. She is scared and wants to see one of you, so if either you or Sean has the power to transport, I would like her to see one of you. If you do not, I will have Paddy do it. So before anything else shall we see if you can change?”

  As he spoke, they heard Sean moan as he started to come around. They turned in unison.

  Blinking a few times and shaking his head to clear it, Sean looked around. “What in the name of all that is holy happened? I feel like someone beat the living daylights out of me.” Suddenly he did a double take at Brian. “Bri, what in the blazes are you doing here?”

  The look on Sean’s face and his question brought laughter from Donovan, Seamus, and Brian.

  Sean scowled, and then it was as if a light bulb went on. “Some men burst into the cabin. I saw Dono go down, but before I could do a damn thing, something hit my thigh and everything went black. Where are Paddy and Megan? Are they all right? Is that why you are here Brian? Has something else happened? All of you stop looking at me and answer my question. Tell me what the hell is going on. Where is Megan?” He was roaring by the time he finished.

  Seamus could not help himself; he doubled over laughing. Catching his breath, he looked at Donovan and said. “It must be a family trait.”

  Donovan looked at Seamus as if he had two heads. When he realized what was so funny he laughed himself, then said, “I will never figure it out but you are right. We all have that tendency, do we not?”

  Seamus, still laughing, said, “Aye, that you do.”

  Sean growled. “Would someone mind telling me what in the blazes is going on?”

  Brian filled him in and then both Donovan and Sean tried to change. Both failed.

  Disappointed, Seamus said, “I was afraid of that. It might take you hours or even days before you will have any of your powers back. I have sent samples of the drug back with Conor so he and some of our healers can work to see if they can come up with an antidote.”

  He looked between Donovan and Sean. “Another thing I would like to check out is how and when they implanted our tracking chips. Did they use the darts to implant them simultaneously when they drugged us? Or did they implant them afterwards?”

  Seamus pointed his thumb over his shoulder. “Our friend in the other room has a tremendous amount of equipment. Colin was going to check into it while I was gone. I need to know what he has figured out.”

  When they entered the den, Noel stalked in tiger form around a very unhappy man, while Colin sat behind the desk tinkering with one of the pieces of equipment set up on it. Colin’s grin spread from ear to ear. “I think I have found a way to jam the devices they are wearing, which is how they are shielding themselves. Each one of them carries one of these.” He held up a small object that looked like a beeper. “Kevin is gathering all of the ones we now have so I can see if we can block them remotely. If it works, we should be able to find the rest of them in no time.”

  Seamus beamed at him. “Well done, Col. I knew between the two of you we would have a solution to this in short order. Once you two have finished here, we will deal with the rest of this group. Then I need both of you to help Jim and Paddy on the tracking device. We have to figure out what they are using and how to get rid of it.” Seamus picked up the device and examined it. “After you accomplish that, we need to find out more about the machine they have that can tell the difference between them and us. Therefore, you four will have your work cut out for you. How many of the GPS units do we have now?”

  “We have two of them. Paddy and Jim have one. The other one is over here,” Colin said as he pointed to the far side of the desk.

  Seamus walked over and picked up the GPS device, handing it to Colin. “I need to find out if Dono and Sean have a chip in them now. If they do, then we know how they are implanting them, since they bear no marks to indicate a separate entry wound into their bodies. Then, hopefully, Conor will be able to figure out how to get rid of them.”

  Colin turned on the GPS. Three blips showed on the screen. Seamus sighed.

  Donovan said, “Well, we now know that somehow the device is inserted with the drug through the darts. Now if we can just figure out how to get the bloody thing out, we will be in business.”

  Jim and Patrick entered the room just then.

  Patrick looked at Donovan and Sean and said, “Well, it is good to see you two up and about. How are you both feeling?”

  Donovan said, “Like I have been drugged and beat to shit. I am sure we will be better in time. This drug is very potent. We should have been able to dispel it completely hours ago, yet I feel as if my head is still in a fog. Have you figured out anything on the tracking device?”

  Patrick replied, “From what I can discern they use the drug to carry a small microchip which travels through the blood stream. It is going to be difficult to find out where it ends up. I would like to check and see if the modifications I have made to this GPS can pinpoint the chip in any of you. If I did it right and it works, then one of our healers will be able to remove them surgically.”

  Seamus looked at Patrick in awe. “Damnation, you mean I have been running around with this in me for all these years and within a few hours you have figured out how to get it out?”

  “Trust me, Seamus, if I did not have all their equipment there would have been no way of knowing any of this. As bad as this situation is at the moment, it is a blessing in disguise. Without this happening, we would have never known Megan even had a chip in her, and we might never have found out just how advanced these people are. We may have our work cut out for us at the moment, but now that we know so much about these guys we should be able to stop them better than we could have years ago.”

  Gratitude flowed through his body and tears stung his eyes. To have his trusted friends and family around to share his burde
n meant more to him than he could ever express. That realization brought Megan to mind and reminded him he had promised to send one of her uncles to her. “Patrick, can you take a break from your work for a bit? Megan is a tad unnerved by all that is going on. She would like to see one of you. Since Dono and Sean are in no condition to go to her, I think it would be best for you to pop over and give her a little reassurance.”

  “I can take as long as she needs. Give me the coordinates and someone contact your Da. Let him know I am on my way. When you figure out where the rest of these bastards are let me know. I will be ready to act.”

  “Good. If we need anything we will contact you through my father.”

  When Patrick left, Seamus scrutinized the man tied to the chair. His eyes spread wide open and sweat ran in rivulets down his face. Even strapped to the chair, the man shook. Seamus turned to Brian and asked why Noel was tiger instead of human.

  Brian laughed. “As Noel told me I am a very devious man. Charles over there would not give us any information, so I decided it best to have Noel act like he was going to eat him. You would have died laughing. He answered every question I asked. In fact, I think he would have sung the National anthem in Gallic if he knew how.”

  Shaking his head, Seamus started toward Charles. Brian was always the comedian in the family. He loved to do things in a big way.

  “Well, Charles, now it is time to answer my questions.”

  A brief moment of defiance flared in his eyes. “I’ve all ready answered all his questions,” he said, nodding toward Brian.

  “Good, now you are going to answer mine.” Seamus wrapped his hand around the man’s neck and squeezed until Charles’s face turned red. When the man’s defiant expression turned to fear, Seamus released enough of the pressure to allow Charles to breath once more. “What is your full name?”

  “Charles Thresher.” His voice trembled.

  “Very good, who do you work for?”

  His eyes followed Noel’s pacing as he replied. “Golden Enterprises.”