Chapter Twenty
Brenna peered down at the tiny machine that couldn’t be much bigger than a robin. “How many of these did you find?”
Kerrin replied, “Four. Two were at the southern end of the park. I think they were heading toward Teagan’s position, where she confronted those dragons.”
“Can I touch it?” she asked.
Kerrin nodded. “Any remaining darts have been removed, and there’s nothing harmful coating its surface. We checked.”
She gingerly lifted the fifteen-centimeter-long—about half a foot—object. It was thicker at one end than the other and had wings to either side. The surface was painted in the guise of a bird with brown feathers.
Kerrin’s voice filled the room. “It’s quite sophisticated and expensive to make. Whoever did this has money to spare.”
She looked up. “Have your volunteers keep searching for any others. We can’t afford to let any of these be retrieved and stolen back.”
“Of course. I’m also working on a temporary solution to keep them from flying inside the clan’s lands. While I might be able to rig a sort of electrical barrier triggered by a motion sensor, the trick will be in ensuring a young dragon or an innocent bird isn’t fried in the process.”
Orla sat at her side and snorted. “Yes, fried dragon-shifter would be a bad thing.” She motioned toward the door. “I know you want to go back to your work, Kerr. Leave this with us for now and go on.”
With a nod, Kerrin exited the small room.
Brenna looked to Orla. “Teagan should be doing this, not me.”
“Teagan’s neck wound is worse than expected and shows signs of infection. Even with a dragon-shifter’s ability to heal quickly, it could endanger her health if she doesn’t rest. Besides, we can handle it for now. Maybe Killian will show his arse again. Then he can take over.”
Despite Orla’s light tone, Brenna had seen more than a few worried looks on the older female’s face over the course of the day. Killian would never stay silent so long. Everyone in central command was starting to think he’d been taken prisoner.
Or worse.
Her dragon spoke up. You don’t know that for certain. Besides, once Teagan is better, maybe we can go searching. I’m quite good at finding things that are lost.
A light flashed on the computer, signaling a video conference request. She quickly said to her dragon, We’ll discuss this later. Brenna moved closer to the screen, checked the name, and hit Accept. “Do you have any information for us, Arabella?”
Arabella MacLeod of Lochguard’s upper body appeared on the screen. The scar on her face and healed burn on her neck contrasted with the sleeping baby against her shoulder. “Keep your voice down, Brenna. I’m not risking this one waking up. Declan can nearly shatter glass with his cries. I’m convinced he’s part banshee and not a dragon-shifter at all.”
Since Brenna and Arabella were both originally from Stonefire, she wasn’t fazed by the female’s tone or casual remarks. Brenna asked more quietly, “So? Did you find anything?”
“I’m still trying to break the encryption,” Arabella said. “However, I was able to determine the range of the thing. Someone had to be within a mile to control it.”
Brenna cursed. “Which means they were inside or near the clan’s lands.”
Arabella nodded and gently patted her son’s back. “At this point, I can’t tell if it’s the same design and programming as the devices that previously attacked Stonefire and Glenlough. As soon as I find out, I’ll let you know. I have some of Lochguard’s best and trusted IT people working on this with me.”
The baby dressed in bright green dinosaurs squirmed against Arabella’s shoulder, and she cuddled the tiny one closer. Despite everything going on, Brenna smiled. “It’s nice to see you happy, Ara.”
Arabella’s face softened as she stared at her child. “Me, too.” She looked back at Brenna. “Talk to you soon.”
The screen went blank.
Orla spoke up. “The world will soon be ruled by females, and about time, too.”
Brenna frowned. “I think we should all rule together, on equal footing.”
“Equal in some ways, but a few more females in power would be nice. And preferably before I die.”
“Your list of things to happen before you die is growing fairly long, Orla.” A knock on the door prevented the older female from replying. Brenna shouted, “Come in.”
Lyall appeared in the doorway, concern plain in his eyes. “We found Killian.”
Brenna closed the distance between them. “What’s happened?”
The older male sighed. “One of the volunteers found him unconscious in the woods surrounding Glenlough.”
Orla stood. “Where is he now?”
Lyall answered, “He’s in one of the conference rooms. Awake, but… different.”
Brenna’s stomach twisted. “Different how?”
“It’s quicker for you to see than for me to try to explain. Come, I’ll take you to him.”
Her dragon huffed. I don’t like this.
Me, either. But Killian is alive, which is the most important factor.
As they walked, Orla’s cane thumping along with them, Brenna asked, “Does Teagan know you found her brother?”
Lyall shook his head. “The doctor thinks it’s best to let her rest a bit longer, until her slight fever breaks. However, if Orla thinks we need to defy the doctor’s orders, I will. But given everything Teagan’s gone through today, I thought I would go to you two first.”
Orla replied, “Good. I’m the best judge of whether stressing my injured granddaughter is worth it or not, especially considering that the DDA will be visiting tomorrow and she needs her strength for that.”
“You would think that the DDA would wait until she’s healthy again,” Brenna muttered.
Orla shook her head. “You may be a good Protector, Brenna, but there is much for you to learn about dealing with the Irish government, or any government for that matter. To them we’re pests and, at best, second-class citizens.”
Lyall stopped in front of a conference room door. Ignoring Orla’s opinion, he said, “Just prepare yourself and keep in mind he’s not the Killian we know.”
Once she nodded, Lyall entered the room. Brenna took a deep breath and followed the dragonman inside.
Killian sat in a chair at the far side of the conference room, his wrists cuffed and attached to long chains secured on the floor.
The restraints weren’t a good sign.
Looking closer, she noticed Killian’s dark hair was disheveled and his torso was bare, but otherwise he looked fairly normal. If he had injuries, they were somewhere she couldn’t see.
And yet, as Killian silently looked at her with furrowed brows and confusion in his gaze, her gut sensed something was off. Brenna took a step toward him and said, “Killian? Are you okay?”
He studied her for a second before demanding, “Who are you? Are you the one who’s going to release me? I’ve been waiting for the bloody leader to meet with me.”
Her heart stopped a second. It couldn’t be true. Killian had to be joking.
Maybe if she humored him, he’d tell her the truth. She touched her chest and said, “I’m Brenna.”
“Who?” Killian demanded.
Orla moved to her side and leaned forward. “What’s wrong with you, Killian? You’ve worked with Brenna for months. And I bloody well hope you remember me.”
Killian crossed his arms over his chest, the chains jingling in the process. “Should I? And what’s wrong is that strangers are keeping me locked in this room against my will.”
Orla leaned forward. “Killian O’Shea, I’m your grandmother. Stop playing games.”
He stood up, stretching his chains to the limit, and that was when Brenna noticed the tattoo on his arm had been lasered off. The flesh was still tender and slightly pink where the former design had been, but there was no longer ink there.
On high alert, Brenna watched his pupils. However, they never once flashed.
Something was very wrong.
She jumped in. “Does your inner dragon remember anything?”
“Dragon? What the fuck are you talking about? I don’t have any bloody inner dragon. All I know is that I woke up surrounded by strangers and now everyone keeps asking me questions and saying I should know who the fuck they are.”
Her beast spoke up. And yet he remembers how to talk and retained basic knowledge of how the world works.
Brenna decided that if she was to learn anything, she needed to treat Killian as a stranger found on Glenlough’s land. Maybe he’d respond better to that approach.
She placed a hand on her hip and stood to her full height. “Before I can provide answers, my doctor needs to examine you. We can do this the easy way where you cooperate, or we can do this the hard way, where we drug you unconscious. Which will it be?”
Killian studied her gaze a second before replying, “If I cooperate, will you remove the restraints?”
She shrugged a shoulder. “Let’s see how you do first.”
“That’s better than an outright denial,” Killian muttered. “But if anyone tries to cut me open during the process, I’m going to punch them hard enough to break bones.”
She should nod and walk away, but she couldn’t help but say, “I’d like to see you try. I’m going to be there as they examine you and trust me, I know a few things about knocking a male down.”
Killian grunted noncommittally. “Maybe, maybe not. I’ll just have to be a good boy so you’ll take off my bloody restraints. Then we can have a proper match.
Her dragon chimed in. He’s more talkative than before.
Is it wrong that I like the change?
But then her eyes fell on Killian’s missing tattoo, and guilt flooded her body. No matter if she already liked the new version of Killian better, she would never be selfish enough to wish he stayed that way. Teagan and Orla had trusted Brenna and provided opportunities she’d never dreamed of. The least she could do was do her bloody best to restore Killian to his former self.
She finally spoke again. “Just sit down for now. I’ll call the doctor.”
Brenna took out her mobile phone and dialed Dr. O’Brien. Between him and the Stonefire pair of scientists arriving at any moment, she only hoped they could pinpoint what had been done to Killian and reverse it.
Because there was no bloody way she would accept that Killian’s memory and dragon were gone forever. After all, a doctor back on Stonefire—Dr. Cassidy Jackson—had lost her dragon and found it again.
Her dragon asked, And what if he never has it again? What then?
Afraid of speaking the truth, Brenna focused on the phone. Dr. O’Brien picked up and she went to work.
~~~
Teagan awoke to someone poking her shoulder and saying her name. Even though her eyelids were heavy and moving a finger took an enormous amount of effort, she slowly forced them open. Brenna’s brown hair and green eyes came into focus. “Brenna?”
Brenna grimaced. “Sorry to wake you, Teagan. The doctor says you need to rest, but we have a problem.”
Fully awake, Teagan registered the slight sweat on her body and that moving took some effort. The combination of fever and pain medication made her slow. She finally sat up and said, “Tell me what’s wrong.” She darted a glance over to Aaron’s bed, but he was still there. The machines connected to him beeped the same as before.
Brenna shook her head. “It’s not Aaron. It’s Killian. He doesn’t remember who he is or even that he’s a bloody dragon-shifter.”
Teagan blinked, now fully awake. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
Brenna filled in the details before saying, “He’s sitting with your mother as we speak. Orla is hoping it may help with restoring his memory.”
Teagan ignored the heaviness in her heart. A life with her brother never recognizing her would be unthinkable. Killian had had her back from the moment Teagan had stated she wanted to be clan leader.
Her dragon chimed in. We’ll try any avenue. There has to be a way to bring him back.
Brenna’s voice prevented her from replying. “Dr. O’Brien just finished with Killian, taking blood samples. He’s going to analyze them and see if he can find anything unusual. However, there’s someone I know firsthand who lost and found their dragon—Dr. Sid back on Stonefire. She may or may not be able to help us. However, I didn’t want to reach out to her until you gave permission. This is, after all, a clan matter.”
Teagan vaguely recalled the story of Dr. Sid Jackson and how finding her true mate had brought her dragon back after more than twenty years of silence.
However, Teagan had no bloody idea if Killian had ever found his true mate or even knew who she was. Teagan couldn’t rely on the same tactic. She wasn’t one for waiting around, for one. And she wouldn’t stud out her brother to try and find his true mate.
Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to focus on fixing the problem. She’d take any help Stonefire provided. “Let Ronan do his tests, and then I’ll reach out to Stonefire. Bram will want to send someone and I’d rather wait to have more visitors until after I deal with the DDA. I don’t need them having a surprise inspection and finding people that shouldn’t be here.”
“Of course,” Brenna replied. “Do you want Killian brought here? He’s in restraints for the moment, so he should be safe to move.”
Teagan shook her head and instantly regretted how her neck stung. “No. Moving him increases the risk of him trying to escape. Even if his inner dragon is silent, he’s strong and can overpower most of the Protectors in human form. Not to mention that if he retained the knowledge of how to break out of handcuffs, he could slip away once I’m asleep again. As soon as I’m strong enough, I’ll visit him. But make sure every Protector is on high alert. Also, they need to keep his memory loss quiet for the time being. We don’t need a panic right now.”
Brenna didn’t miss a beat. “They’ve already been ordered to keep it confidential. Also, Killian never mentioned a second-in-command. Does he have one? I should probably hand over the reins to him or her now that things have calmed down a bit.”
“He’s had trouble finding a good fit. However, after all you’ve done today, I think you should stay in command for now.”
“Until Killian is himself again,” Brenna added quickly.
“I’m not good with false hope, Brenna. I will do everything in my power to bring back my brother to his original self, but there is a chance it can’t be reversed. If it comes to that, then I’ll reevaluate the situation. Does that sound fair?” Brenna bobbed her head and Teagan continued, “What about the Stonefire scientists? Arlanna mentioned them whilst cleaning my wound. Are they here yet?”
“They landed ten minutes ago and are being briefed by Dr. Guinness.” Sullivan Guinness was Glenlough’s junior doctor. Brenna studied her a second. “I should go get Arlanna so she can check on you. You’re still pale and probably weak from the fever.”
“I’m fine,” Teagan barked.
Brenna raised her brows. “You’re not. And don’t even think of getting up until you’re cleared. As temporary head Protector, I have the power to strap you to the bed and keep you there until the doctor clears your health.”
Brenna stood tall. It took everything Teagan had to not smile at the young dragonwoman’s posture.
Her beast spoke up. She’s still young, remember.
Perhaps, but she’s definitely coming into her own.
“I wouldn’t dream of it.” Teagan motioned toward the door with a hand. “Fetch the nurse and go back to aiding my family. Killian is going to need all the help he can get.”
Brenna’s pupils flickered, but the young female was gone before Teagan could say anything else.
Her dragon spoke up. If anyone can help Killian, it’s her.
Are you not telling me something, dragon?
No. They aren’t true mates; Killian’s came and went years ago. But never underestimate a female soldier out to prove herself.
Teagan slid back down onto her back, too tired to interrogate her dragon’s remark about Killian’s true mate coming and going. I don’t care who helps him as long as Killian gets his memories back.
And if he doesn’t, at least we’ll still have Aaron.
Teagan turned her head toward Aaron’s bed. His chances are better than Killian’s, but not guaranteed.
He’ll survive. Just wait and see.
The longer she stared, the heavier Teagan’s eyes grew. After memorizing Aaron’s sleeping face, she allowed them to flutter closed.
With Killian’s predicament, her male had bloody well wake up. She needed him more than ever.