“We’ll be off grid for a bit. Just drop us off at the old castle at the Omega compound,” Ronan told him.
“Roughing it?”
“Yep. It stays with us.”
“Got it.”
“Holy shit,” Niall remarked as they stepped out of the car in front of where the old Maguire compound had stood.
Ronan looked at it incredulously. The Omegas had been busy. Where the burned-out compound had once stood, there was now a more modern block stone building several stories tall. Ronan was eager to go inside, but now was not the time for that.
As they stood looking at it, Rebekah emerged and looked them all over with a scowl.
“Well, I’ll be damned. The boys are back in town, eh?”
“Aye,” Ronan told her.
“I guess you’ll be wanting your car back then.”
“Nah. You can keep it. I’m sure you and Maeve are making grand use of it.”
“Maeve? I thought she was with you. I haven’t seen her since you carted her off to the States.”
Ronan squinted at her as if it would somehow make what she’d just said make sense. How could Maeve not be here? Where was she then?
“You haven’t heard from Maeve? I assumed she was coming back here.”
“If she came back, she’s done an excellent job of avoiding anyone I know seeing her.”
Ronan sucked in his breath and exhaled slowly. It didn’t sit well with him, but he’d have to worry about that later. Right now, he had bigger things to worry about.
“Ronan told you we were coming?” Fergus asked.
“Aye. I’ll take your things and see you later, I guess.”
“Thanks, Rebekah,” Ronan said.
“That’s Omega to you, Alpha.”
“Right,” he smiled. “Of course, Omega.”
They followed her inside and gave her their luggage to store while they were out in the wild. Once they were sorted, they returned to the edge of the woods and stripped off their clothes, bundling them and shifting into bear form.
It had been a while since the four brothers had been together like this. They were a sight to see, their ginger fur notably different from any other bear clan in the region, likely the entire island. It was one of the two unique traits possessed by only their family. The other being an ability to erase the memories of humans, a skill that came in very handy for a Boston mafia family.
While the former had been of little use to them when they’d been forced out of Ireland by the Maguires and into a mostly human environment, the latter had served them well with friends, foes, and especially, any authorities that got too close to the truth about the family business. It was of no use to them out here.
Tonight, they planned to do some old-fashioned exploring. All sources indicated that Martin Cobain was avoiding any public appearances since he’d already been spotted by too many people. He was out there somewhere, keeping close to what he considered home.
Ronan had been hesitant to contact the Omega Clan due to their prior association with the Maguires, but it seemed that they had happily moved on from being subjugated and had no interest in protecting anyone who might threaten their newfound freedoms.
It had taken a bit of hunting in the dark, but they had finally located the entrance to the tunnel exit from following it from the outer cliffs. Unlike the main tunnel they’d found that led from the castle dungeon, it was not closed off or locked.
It also was not large enough for bears to traverse. They shifted into human form and threw their clothes back on before entering, relying on only a thin beam from a penlight. The tunnel was much longer than expected and quite narrow in places.
“Here,” Fergus said, pausing by some discarded packaging from a sandwich and a bottle of water.
Ronan knelt down to inspect it further and noted it was only half-eaten and fairly fresh, so they’d been right that he was hiding down here rather than risking too much public exposure. He obviously was unaware that the dragons had spotted and followed his trail while he was out or he’d have sought a new hiding place.
They continued to follow the path, noting that it got much wider as it approached the cliffsides. They weren’t far. The sound of the waves crashing below and the fresh sea air crept in around them as they progressed. They came out on the other side, standing on the narrow shelf around the exit of the cave.
“You think we missed him?” Olcan asked.
“No. Follow the ledge until you see a cave with a metal door sealing it off, then go into the cave past that, right before the shelf ends,” Ronan told him. “That’s where Greyscale said the tunnel from the dungeon comes out. It’s very narrow and they’d never explored it properly, so they weren’t aware it led in.”
“Why would he go back in there if it’s sealed off?” Niall asked.