Fated Touch Box Set #2: Dragon Shifter Romance

Chapter 8

8

We journeyed long our hearts a-laden.

With our hopes held tight within us.

Found we now our own lost Eden.

In these fields where shines the dusk.

The singing stirred me from my sleep. They were sung in the style of a soft ballad. The bittersweet words made my heart ache for the world I’d left behind and for lives that could’ve been.

I sat up and looked around the room. The fire was now a lump of dying embers. A stinging chill hung in the air. I looked down at my grandmother. She and Midge were still fast asleep.

I strained my ears, but heard nothing. However, the silence didn’t sooth my heart, so I flung aside the covers and crept out of bed. I dressed in my clothes and slipped out into the hall.

All was dark, but the clear night sky guided me with its soft light as I tiptoed to the door of the boys’ room. I opened the entrance and peeked inside. Two lumps lay on the floor huddled in blankets. One of them snored, indicating my grandfather. The other must have been Caius. My heart settled and I allowed myself a smile as I drew out of the room.

Then I froze. The bed covers were drawn back and the mattress lay empty. Marcus was gone.

I flung open the door and rushed to the sleeping lump by the bed who I roused with as hard a shake as I could manage. “Caius! Caius, wake up!”

He shot up so fast his head brushed my chin, and he looked around with all the alertness of someone on a dozen cups of coffee. “What is it?”

I pointed at the bed. “Marcus is gone!”

Caius scurried to his feet and rushed over to the bed to confirm my account. With all the noise Sage sat up and rubbed his blurry eyes. “What seems to be the trouble?”

“Marcus is gone!” I told him.

The slumber vanished from my grandfather’s eyes and he flung aside his sheets. “When?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know. I just came in here to check on you guys and he was gone.”

Sage stood and arched an eyebrow. “What made you believe we were in danger?”

“I heard someone singing in the hall and went out to see who it was,” I admitted.

“And found no one?” Sage asked me.

I shook my head. “No. The singing stopped before I got out into the hall.”

Caius spun around and his expression was as tense as the rest of his body. “We have to find him!”

“And so we will,” Sage guaranteed as he wrapped a blanket around his shoulders. “Bee and I will search the upstairs while you two young ones investigate the much larger downstairs. If we finish before you we will scour the east wing and will meet you back in the main hall. Understood?”

“What about waking up the baron and his servants?” I suggested.

A dark shadow settled on my grandfather’s brow. “I doubt the young lad wandered away on his own for some night digging.”

Caius frowned. “You meant the baron might have taken him?”

“I can think of no other reason your brother would willingly leave the room without rousing us,” Sage admitted. “However, this is all conjecture. For the moment I suggest we search alone. If we do not find him then we will request our host and his men help us search. Until then, be careful.”

We nodded, and with a few lit candles in hand Caius and I hurried out of the room and downstairs. The night cast its soft light through the windows and complimented the weak light from our candles.

I held mine high above us and looked at the west and rear halls. “This is a big place.”

Caius nodded at the west wing. “We’ll start there.”

I made to follow him, but something gave me pause. I turned my head to the corridor that led to the rear of the house. My blood froze in my veins when I saw a familiar figure standing in the frame.

It was the man in black. He had that strange, haunting smile on his lips. Though his eyes were dark, I knew they looked directly into mine. The man bowed his head before he stepped into the corridor, vanishing from sight.

“Caius!” I hissed as I rushed after the stranger.

He spun around. “What is it? Is it Marcus?”

“Just hurry up!” I snapped as I reached the corridor. “I saw that guy-” I froze. There was no one in the hall. My shoulders drooped as Caius joined me. “Gad damn him. Where’d he go now?”

“Who?” Caius questioned me.

“That guy in black I keep seeing!” I snapped at him as I stabbed a finger at the floor between my feet. “He was standing right here just a moment ago and then he stepped into this hall.”

“It was probably just a trick of the light,” Caius insisted as he took a step into the hall. “But let’s check here anyway.”

I frowned at his back, but followed behind him. Doors on either side led into the adjoining rooms. I peeked into the dining room while Caius took the door on the right to check the trophy room. We continued down the hall toward the rear patio, but one final door gave me pause.

This one stood a few yards shy of the rear of the house and had no companion on the other side. It also stood ajar. I reached out my hand to grab the knob.

“What are you doing there?” a voice barked.

I jerked my hand away and spun around to face the front of the house. Caius slipped in front of me and held his candle aloft. The light shone on the angered face of our host, Baron Mechta. His sharp eyes looked between us and his hands tightly grasped the wheels of his chair.

“Well?” he snapped. “What are you doing here at this hour?”

“My brother is missing,” Caius told him. “We’re trying to find him.”

The baron wheeled himself between me and the door, and slammed it shut. “I doubt you’ll find him down in the basement. Why don’t you see if he’s digging some holes in the rear of the estate?”

“Why would he be doing that at this hour?” Caius countered.

The baron turned his chair to glare at Caius. “Perhaps because his brother insisted on his leaving earlier and he wants to prove him wrong.”

“Jane? Caius?” my grandfather called from the other end of the hall.

“We’re down here!” I answered.

Sage and Bee joined us with neither of them dressed and both wearing long blankets. My grandfather’s gaze settled on our host. “I am sure our friends have informed you of our dilemma.”

He nodded. “They have, and I’ve informed them that they can go outside to look.”

“He may be out there,” Sage agreed as he looked between Caius and me. “At the very least, we found no trace of him upstairs.”

Caius pursed his lips. “Then we’ll go outside.”

“Let me get my servants with some lamps and we’ll join you out there,” the baron offered before he wheeled past us and toward the front of the house.

“I’m not waiting for him,” Caius announced as he strode forward to the back porch.

We hurried after him and stepped out into the dark night. A chill breeze blew past me and I saw my grandmother, undressed as she was, shudder beneath its icy touch. Caius heeded not the cold wind as he rushed forward. The breeze snuffed out our candles, but our eyes soon grew accustomed to the darkness.

Caius paused at the top of the steps and looked out on the hole-littered lawn. I joined him at his side and set a hand on the stone railing. “You really think he’s out here?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know, but wherever he is I’ll find him.”

I reached my hand into his and smiled up at him. “We’ll find him.”

“And we will take the right path if you two will be so kind as to take the left half of the lawn,” Sage spoke up as Bee and he joined us.

Caius nodded, and we split into our two groups. Caius and I fanned out a few yards from each other, but I soon sorely missed his strong hand as I stumbled among the bushes and trees. The few lights in the house faded behind us as the shrubbery and branches hid it from view.

I still gripped my useless candle and sighed. “What I wouldn’t do for a light. . .”

I reached the point where the lawn dropped down to the next tier and paused. A low stone wall divided the two differing sections and the steps were nowhere to be found. I knelt close to the ground and eased myself to the next level. I winced when I felt my feet crunch against a flowerbed and jumped over only to trip over the edging that bordered the bed.

I dropped onto my knees and my white candle tumbled in front of me. The candle made a strange clacking noise, and I raised my head high enough to see a pair of black boots. My heart quickened as I lifted my gaze higher, but my pulse settled some when I saw before me not the man in black, but a man clad in gardener’s garb. He wore a brown rubber apron over his front that covered a simple white blouse shirt with dark pants. In one hand he held a hoe which he slightly leaned against. The only unusual point about him was the small white scarf wrapped around his neck and tucked tightly into his shirt.

The man himself appeared to be about twenty with long red hair tied back in a tail and a thin but not narrow face that suited his flashing eyes. His age didn’t quite match the curiously intent look in his eyes, but the bright smile on his lips was as genuine as I’d ever seen. He stooped and picked up the candle.

“What a strange hour to find such a lovely flower in bloom,” he teased as he held the candle out to me.

“This flower is looking for someone,” I revealed as I accepted the candle. I sighed at the unlit wick. “And it would really help to have a light.”

“Might I?” he offered as he drew out a match and struck the light. He lit the end and I got a clear view of his short sandy hair. There were specks of something that glistened in them like silver, but they must have been bits of dirt and leaves from his occupation.

“Thanks,” I returned as I climbed to my feet. “Now you wouldn’t be able to draw a young boy out of your pocket, would you?”

He chuckled. “I’m afraid not, but why would a flower be looking for a young boy at this hour and in this place?”

“He disappeared from the house and we couldn’t find him inside, so we thought we’d try in here,” I told him. I paused and raised my candle to his smiling face. “What are you doing out here at this hour?”

“I prefer working during the night shift,” he explained as he looked out on the many holes that surrounded us. “And I have a great deal of work for me this night.”

“Could you give me a hand looking for this kid?” I pleaded as I swept my eyes over the area. “Or maybe watching me before I fall into a hole.”

The man tilted his head to one side and studied me with a quizzical expression. “How strange. I would have thought the darkness wouldn’t bother one such as yourself.”

I blinked at him. “One such as myself? What’s that mean?”

He examined me for a moment longer before his smile widened. “I see. My apologies. Perhaps I will follow you, if only to keep you from falling into one of these various gopher traps.”

“My Lord!” I heard a voice shout. “My Lord, over here!”

I craned my neck and glimpsed a group of lights some hundred yards off. “Looks like the escort will have to wait!” I quipped as I cupped a hand in front of my candle and rushed toward the light source.

I met Caius halfway to the grouping and nearly ran into a bush. We reached the lights and found my grandfather stooped over a prone figure. The various lamps and candles showed it was Marcus, still dressed in his sleeping clothes. His chest moved up and down in a quick, strained motion and his pale face was twisted in anguish.

“Marcus!” Caius shouted as he pushed his way through the group and to his brother. “Marcus!”

Sage reached across the boy and grasped Caius’ arm. “He is alive, but unconscious. We should return him to the house.”

The house was some fifty yards off, but Caius slipped his arms beneath his brother and lifted him like a babe. He carried him to the house with the train of people following him. I paused on the large porch and looked around for my gardening buddy, but he had evidently returned to his work.

I hurried after the group and watched the baron wheel his chair into a simple elevator that the servants drew up to the second floor. Our host and our group congregated around the door to the boys’ room, but Sage barred our way.

“Allow me some time to examine the boy, if you would,” he pleaded.

“Miss Fenla is a nurse,” the baron reminded us as he looked to his companion who stood at his side. “She could take a look at him.”

Sage smiled. “We appreciate the offer, but I am sure my skills will be enough.”

“Then I expect a full report when you’re through,” the baron insisted. “If this is some sort of illness then I won’t have it sneaking up on me.”

Sage bowed his head. “You will be told all that must be told. Now if you will excuse us.” He stepped inside and slammed the door shut.

The baron frowned. “Such impudence. Come along, Fenla.” She wheeled him past us and back to his elevator near the balcony.

I looked to Bee who stood near me. “Did you see anything wrong with him?”

She closed her eyes and shook her head. “Nothing caused by animal, at least not where I could see his skin.”

I folded my arms and cupped my chin in my hand. “Neither did I, but something happened to him to make him that pale.”

Bee looped one arm through mine and smiled at me. “Whatever it is, I’m sure Sagious will find the problem and know how to handle it. Now why don’t we go back to our rooms and play a little bit of cards while we wait?” Midge twittered in agreement.

I glared at the bird. “Not you. You cheat.”