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  “And what exactly does Golden Enterprises do?”

  More sweat beaded on his forehead, but the man hesitated. Seamus pressed harder against Charles’s windpipe for a moment then let up.

  The man sucked in a lungful of air. “I don’t know. I was just hired to bring in the girl.”

  “What do they want with her?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Seamus searched the man’s eyes before deciding he spoke the truth. “Then how about we try this one? Why is it we cannot detect you from a distance?”

  Charles watched the tiger as he prowled around him. Sweat pouring like rivers from his body. “We have a small GPS tracker like the one over there on the desk, and we were given a small device that each of us were told we must have on at all times. I thought it might be so they could keep track of us, but maybe that is what is preventing you from detecting us.”

  “How is it you can find one particular person?”

  “I was told she has a small chip that was implanted in her as a young child.”

  “So this is how you know where she is?” Seamus removed his hand.

  “Yes, except we kept getting more than one blip on the GPS, and then they separated so I sent parties out, one after each indicator. Then the one disappeared, returned, and disappeared again. The other kept jumping all over. At one time the GPS showed one of the blips to be right outside the cabin.” Charles squirmed in the chair. “I was told the female couldn’t transport from one place to another like the rest of you yet. But then one of the blips completely disappeared, so I think the damn device is faulty.”

  Seamus moved a couple of steps away. “How is it you know so much about the young woman?”

  “They have a whole dossier on her. She has been under surveillance since she was a little girl. They told me we had to bring her in before the twenty-first. They said she didn’t have any power to do us any harm. We were told to watch out for her uncle because he might be with her. When we arrived, we found two powers in the house. There was another we were tracking that must have been in another form,” Charles paused, eyeing Noel again before he continued, “because he was running in the woods at a very fast pace. We also found the girl. I sent eight men after her, but they split into two sets of four because of the faulty GPS. Eight of us came here and I sent two of them to track the third one running in the woods.”

  “How many men do you have up here?”

  “The five with me and ten more out in the field. No, one of them came back here so it’s nine more in the field.”

  Seamus let out a breath before he continued. “How many people do they need to bring in one person?”

  “We didn’t know who else we might encounter up here. They said she might have some of her family with her, and I was taking no chances.”

  “How is it you drugged two of our people, yet did not drug her father?”

  “I have a device that can tell the difference between your kind and humans.”

  Seamus nodded. Brian had mentioned that fact earlier, but it still boggled him. He brought his face directly in Charles line of sight. “Where did you get such technology?”

  Charles pushed his head back against the headrest. “Golden Enterprises has been working on this stuff for about twenty years now.”

  His gaze the slid toward Noel and he shuddered. “Could he at least turn back into a person now that I have answered your questions?”

  Seamus grinned.

  Chapter Eleven

  As soon as Patrick arrived in the cave, Megan’s head jerked around. A smile split her face as she jumped up and ran to greet her uncle. She jumped into his arms. “Thank God you’re okay. How are Uncle Donovan and Uncle Sean?”

  He twirled her around before he set her back on her feet. “They are awake, but a bit disheveled yet. If it had not been for Seamus, I would be in the same boat, not to mention you. I thank the gods he had taken you out on your picnic before those men arrived and brought you to this cave where you are safe. Is it true you think Bern’s directed you here?”

  She nodded, “Does that sound like I’m crazy?”

  “Ah, Megs. Not at all. My sister had great power. I would not put it past her to be able to somehow help you now.”

  “Thanks. It really feels like she is trying to tell me something, but I don’t know what.”

  He nodded. “If she saved you and the rest of us from these bastards, that is enough for me.”

  “I’ve been so worried, and I’m scared out of my wits. What do these people want with us? Are they the same people who kidnapped mom and me and killed her?” Megan started pacing back and forth through the cavern.

  “I hate to make you worry any more than you already are but, yes Megs, they are. And they are not fooling around or taking any chances. They knew you were here, and they sent sixteen men to kidnap you again. They have equipment that shields them from us until they are so close we do not even have time to react. These men are very dangerous, so I want you to do everything Roarke tells you to without question or hesitation. Will you promise me that?”

  “I promise. Now why are they interested in me? How do they know I’m even here?”

  “Well, I can only guess as to why, but when they kidnapped you they implanted a microchip in your body and can track you. They have been keeping a close eye on you ever since. They know you are about to come into your power, obviously, they are under some delusion that they can steal your magic.”

  Megan stopped pacing. She threw her arms up in the air and let out a huffed breath. “Great, just friggen great, so does this mean I will have to be in hiding for the rest of my life? Why can’t they leave me alone? Isn’t it enough they killed my mother and took away half my life’s memories, but now they have to hunt me as if I were some type of animal? You know, five days ago I thought my life was normal, with the exception of losing Mom and being in a coma for years. Now my life has turned into a...I don’t know what. First, I find out I’m more than human, and then that I’m to be mated to someone I don’t even really know. Now some jerks are trying to kidnap me and use me for some experiment. When is this nightmare going to end?”

  Megan’s temper spiked. Some of the things that had been on the altar now flew around the room, as if they were in a rage as well.

  Roarke cleared his throat. “Megan my dear! I think you need to calm down just a wee bit before you knock one of us or yourself out.”

  She looked at him and then around the room as he pointed to the flying objects. Her heart raced. “Am I doing that? How’s that possible?” As her anger subsided, the objects floated to the ground.

  Megan watched the objects as they settled on the floor, then turned and looked at Patrick and Roarke whose eyes where huge as they stared at her.

  Roarke spoke first. “I have never seen anything like this. True, most of our children can use telekinesis, but they have to be looking at an object in order to get it to move. I thought you had none of your childhood powers.”

  Mystified, Megan said, “Are you sure I was doing that? I’ve never been able to move anything without first walking over to it and picking it up.”

  Patrick said, “True, but you also did not know you could move anything without physically doing it. Now you know you should have been able to use your mind to do it, so maybe you should see if you can do it consciously.”

  Megan looked at him and then at one of the objects on the floor. “How do I get it to move?”

  Roarke replied, “Just look at the object. Call on your magic from within. Then call the object to you.”

  Again, Megan looked at an object; putting her hand out toward it. At first, nothing happened, so she tried again. This time the object flew to her. She grabbed it and held it up; delighted she said, “Did you see that? I did it. Oh my God, this is fabulous.”

  Patrick said, “You did great, Megs. We will have to try some other things and see just how strong your power is at this point.”

  He gave her a few more tests, which took her
only about two or three tries to perfect.

  Then Roarke told Megan to turn her back on an object and picture it, willing it to herself.

  She did as he asked but instead of the object flying through the air, it just appeared in her hand. Shocked by what had happened she whispered, “Was that supposed to happen?”

  The silence in the cavern encased them all. Finally, Roarke spoke up. “I have never seen the likes of it. Not even years after someone came into power.”

  Patrick stared at Megan, so pale she wondered if all the blood had drained from his body. Turning to Roarke he said, “Bern used to do that, but she was well over a hundred before she had perfected it. How is it possible for Megan to be doing it without having come into her powers yet?”

  “What do you mean well over one hundred?” Megan’s whispered question drew Patrick’s attention back to her.

  However, before anyone answered, Roarke and Patrick put their hands up to quiet her. Roarke whispered to Patrick, “How many are you picking up?”

  “Five, maybe six, I cannot quite get a read,” Patrick whispered back.

  “Dammit to hell and back, they must have picked up the energy Megan was putting off while we had her testing her skills. How could we have forgotten about them? I only hope they cannot get a fix on us, or we are going to be in big trouble.”

  Megan’s exhilaration evaporated at their words. Once again she felt as if the world was closing in on her. A shudder raked her body as she sank to the ground. She knew by the look on Patrick’s face he was contacting his brothers. Her mind reeled. Who could he contact if the drugs they used on Uncle Donovan and Sean did the same thing to them it had done to Seamus and her?

  As if Patrick sensed her turmoil, he sat next to her and whispered. “Take it easy Megs, I have contacted Noel and he will relay this information to Seamus and the rest of them. We will have reinforcement shortly.”

  Seamus felt the energy in the room change as Noel went from tiger to man in seconds. Noel said, “We have another problem, mates. Paddy just contacted me and told me they have at least five, maybe six men wandering around outside the cave.”

  “Son of a bitch.” Seamus turned to Colin and said, “How close are you to disabling their shielding Colin, because now would be a very good time to say you have perfected it.”

  Colin’s head came up. “I am close, but it is still going to be a bit longer than a few seconds or minutes for that matter. What brought them snooping around again? Did Megan go back out into the main cave?”

  Noel answered, “No, it seems she got extremely angry over the fact that her life had gone to hell over the last few days.”

  Seamus laughed and asked, “What difference should that make?

  Before Noel answered him, he walked over to Charles and knocked the man unconscious. “It would seem our Megan has started to get some of her adolescent powers, but in a much stronger fashion than most. She got so angry about these arses trying to kidnap her again and that they had planted a microchip in her it seems she started making things fly around the room.”

  He let out a breath and shook his head. “Paddy and Roarke were so fascinated by what she had done they decided to test her a bit farther. They let themselves become so engrossed in her abilities they forgot about the danger. It took them a bit to notice our friends hanging about. My guess is the searchers are picking up the energy from Megan, but if they figure out she is in that cave they will blow a hole in it to find her. I would suggest that we hurry up and get them before they figure too much more out.”

  Seamus turned to Colin. “How long before you can disable the shielding?”

  Colin answered, “Give me five minutes and it should be ready to try. I cannot give you any guarantees, but I think it should work.”

  Seamus went into military mode, bellowing orders to each person in the room.

  “All right, now we have to attack the same way we did in here. We cannot allow them to even get one shot off at us, which means we will need to all materialize at the same time. Noel, get Kevin and have him bring Jim. Dono, since your powers have yet to return, you and Sean will have to stay here with Jim.”

  “I want you each to have a gun. Do not think twice about using it on anyone trying to get in, or on Charles if he even attempts to move. Be extremely careful as you now have one of the microchips so they will know where you are. We know that there are still a few more of them somewhere around the cabin. I will ward this place with some of the heaviest wards I can, so do not, under any circumstance, leave and try to come back in.”

  Kevin walked in along with Jim as Seamus finished going through their attack plan.

  Nodding to the current arrivals, Seamus continued. “I think the best thing to do is for the rest of us to jump over to the cave, which will give us a better sense of where these guys are if Colin cannot disable their shielding devices. I feel we are running out of time.”

  Donovan addressed the group readying themselves to leave. “Be careful. Do not take any unnecessary chances yourselves. We cannot afford to have any more of us with these microchips attached. Believe me none of you will like the effects of those drugs they are using.” He then looked at Seamus. “I do not know how you lived without your communication powers for so long. It has only been a few hours, and already I feel like someone cut off my right arm. Now get rid of the rest of these arses so I can see my niece.”

  Seamus nodded, and they were gone.

  Seconds after materializing within the cavern, Seamus pulled Megan into his arms. She did not struggle or balk at his show of affection, but instead melted into his embrace.

  She looked past him and whispered in his ear. “When I asked to see one of my family, I didn’t mean for you to bring them all.”

  He knew she was trying to alleviate some of the stress of the situation so he whispered back to her, “I thought you might enjoy the company and show us all your new tricks.”

  With that, she smacked him on the shoulder, but he could tell she was much more relieved than she wanted to admit.

  Both Kevin and Noel came up and hugged her, giving her a reassurance that this would all be over soon. Then Seamus introduced her to his brothers, Brian and Colin. Both hugged her as well and welcomed her to the family.

  The strong sense of urgency pressed against his mind again, so Seamus got down to business, explaining what was going to happen and who was going to do what.

  When finished, Seamus looked at Colin who nodded. Seamus walked over to him and Colin hit a button on a small box he held in his hand. Almost immediately, Seamus and Colin started cursing. When everyone looked over at them, Seamus explained, “Either they have brought in reinforcements or Charles was lying. There are a great deal more than six of them outside.”

  Seamus paced back and forth before saying, “We will need to bring in more of our people.”

  Noel piped up, “Before we do that, will you let me try something Shannon and I have been working on over the last few years? I might be able to knock out all of them in one sweep. It will not kill them, but maybe it will give us the upper hand without bringing in anyone else for now. I will have to warn you though, it might also knock out Dono, Sean, and Jim, as they will not be able to shield themselves from it.”

  “Colin, contact Conor and have him get back to the cabin so we have one person standing when I am through. All the rest you will have to encircle Megan to shield her as well. Once I do this, we will need to work fast because we will have about fifteen minutes before the effects wear off.”

  Seamus replied with a big grin on his face. “I can almost guarantee Dono is going to be quite pissed off at you. He is not going to like the fact that he is going to be knocked on his arse twice in one day. If you think you can do this and save us bringing in more of our people, I am willing to try it. So tell me exactly how this is going to work.”

  Noel explained what he was going to do, and then he contacted Shannon to arrange for her to send him her powers. After Conor relayed a message throug
h Noel that he had arrived and informed the men in the cabin of their plan, Seamus along with Brian, Colin, Kevin, Paddy, and Roarke encircled Megan. Seamus reassured her that she would be all right.

  Even with his own shielding, Seamus could feel the effect of what Noel was doing. He shook his head to clear it, as did the rest of them. Megan sat on the cave’s floor in kind of a daze with her hands over her ears as if she was trying to block out a loud noise. Then she shook her own head.

  When Noel’s process ended, Seamus said, “Well Noel, you said that it would hurt us a bit, and you were not kidding. Is everyone all right?” He looked pointedly at Megan who smiled and mouthed yes. Turning toward Noel, Seamus asked, “Did Conor let you know the effect on Dono, Sean, and Jim?”

  “Aye, he said they are out cold.”

  Seamus took a deep breath, “Then we need to get out there and finish off these bastards, so we can have a little peace.”

  He sat down next to Megan pulling her into his embrace. “You still look a bit dazed. Stay seated for a short while before you try to move. We will finish this as quickly as possible and then I will be back to get you. Stay close to Da as he will be on alert for any danger.”

  “You be careful.” Megan kissed his cheek.

  “Aye, I will be.” And he was gone.

  Chapter Twelve

  Roarke helped Megan stand. He must have felt her legs tremble because he asked, “Are you sure you are all right, child?”

  Smiling at his concern, she said, “Fine now, but I thought my head was going to explode while Noel sent out that energy.”

  Roarke nodded. “To tell you the truth I felt similar. I feel sorry for anyone who cannot shield himself from that. It was a good thing we surrounded you with our shields. I must say, Megan, your family seems to carry a very strong line of magic. I have never seen some of the things I have seen here in the last few hours.”

  “I wouldn’t know much about that. All of this seems pretty amazing to me. I do have one question I need to ask now that the dust has settled, so to speak.”