The Dragon Warrior (Lochguard Highland Dragons 4)

Grant focused back on the human. “In case Max did go off digging, do you know of another archaeologist you could call? If there’s a special dig site nearby, even a fabled one, we need to know.”

“Of course. I know someone in Wiltshire. Let me call her whilst you organize the search,” Lachlan answered.

Before Grant could do more than nod, Lachlan took out his mobile and went into the hall.

Adrian’s voice filled the room. “It looks as if you’ve taken charge, mate, but why do you trust him so much?”

Grant shrugged. “He has the most to lose if the exhibition fails. That should motivate him to do whatever it takes, which includes keeping our clan members safe.”

Aaron jumped in. “I agree with Grant. Arguing will only take away precious time that could be used finding the annoying human.” He motioned toward Grant. “What’s your plan?”

Grant would have to keep an eye on Adrian. He didn’t need dissent among the dragon-shifters. “Since there are four pairs of us, we’ll each cover one compass direction. Since Faye and I know the landscape better, we’ll take the direction with the most potential dig sites. We’ll check in every fifteen minutes until we find him.”

The Welsh dragonman spoke up again. “We might not find him, McFarland.”

Grant looked the male dead in the eye. “We need to. Otherwise, you can explain to all of our clan leaders why we failed with this assignment.”

Since Grant didn’t know Wren all that well, he wasn’t sure if the male would challenge him or fall in line. After a few beats, the Welsh dragonman bobbed his head. “Fine, we’ll look until we find him. But if I do spot him, I’m not going to be gentle bringing him back. He’s not part of my clan.”

“Fair enough,” Grant replied.

Lachlan walked back inside. “My contact provided me with a list of possible sites, all related to dragon-shifter history. I have them here.”

The human turned his mobile around and Grant scanned the list. One stuck out to him. “Craig Phadrig is the easiest to access of the lot. It’s to the west.”

Adrian asked, “How do you know that?”

“I visited the place as a boy. It’s an old fort and there are trails that take you to the top. While’s it’s famous for the Pictish occupation, there’s been a lot of speculation that dragon-shifters once helped protect the area during its heyday. But none of that matters. I have a feeling Max would love nothing more than to do a little digging at night, without any prying eyes. Of course, he’ll have to take a taxi or a car, so we might be able to head him off. Faye and I will take the west of the city where the fort is. Northcastle can take the east, Stonefire the north, and Snowridge the south. Any questions?” When no one said anything, he continued. “Then let me give you my mobile phone number as well as Faye’s. We’ll coordinate the information.”

Not giving anyone a chance to protest, Grant rattled off the numbers. He then looked to Lachlan. “Just make sure the DDA knows what we’re doing. I don’t want to be shot down by mistake.”

“I’ll tell them as long as you promise to tell me directly when you find Max. The DDA will want to find a way to contain him. If he indeed ran off to do some illegal digging, then he’ll be assigned a team to watch over him.”

Or, rather, babysit him. “That’s fine. Humans aren’t my jurisdiction. You can do what you like with him,” Grant replied. “But I do expect you to watch over our clan members whilst we’re away. And try not to lose any more of the participants.”

Lachlan clenched his jaw, but it was the only outward sign that Grant had struck a nerve. The human replied a beat later. “As I mentioned, we’ll be going back to the B&B, where it’s more secure. No one will be allowed in or out until you all return.”

“Good. Then let’s not waste any more time. Faye, come with me.”

As Grant made his way out of the room, he didn’t bother to check that Faye followed. He knew she would.

His dragon spoke up. Adrian looked less than pleased.

Someone needed to step up, and I did. The Northern Irish dragonman can glare at me later, after we find the troublesome human.

I’ll make sure to flash my teeth at Max. Maybe it’ll scare him into cooperating.

I doubt it, but we can still try.

His dragon fell silent and Grant picked up his pace. The sooner he found the human, the sooner he could corner Faye again and pick up where they’d left off. Even if he wasn’t going to claim her until the mission was complete, there was a lot he could do without initiating the mate-claim frenzy. Once Faye had a taste, he was sure she’d come around to the idea, especially if he could contain his jealousy and some of his alpha tendencies. If he wanted Faye, he needed to work on giving her room to thrive.

His dragon chimed in. Now you’re trying to take credit for my ideas.

Since we are one and the same, they’ve always been our ideas.

That’s not quite true, and you know it. Next time, I’ll keep my ideas to myself until I can wrestle away control from you.

Grant resisted sighing. How about we just focus on retrieving the human? We work best together when it comes to tracking. It’s also something you like to do.