Love Hurts (Eternal Flames Book 12) Read online

  “Okay, let’s get out of here and try to contact Radar. He might be able to tell us where the Commander and the others are,” Flyer said.

  Flyer felt his way along the wall until he found the ladder. The boat started rocking as Ireland moved behind him. Once the boat was steady, Flyer started climbing carefully up the ladder, feeling his way, with Ireland following. They were making their way out of the tunnel when Ireland said, “Your reasoning why you do not have a mate is flawed, Flyer. First, fate does not make mistakes when she chooses who is to be mated. Second, I may not have any training in what you do, but it seems to me I’m holding my own in keeping both myself and you alive.”

  CHAPTER 9

  “I know we need to contact Rory, but is there a way to call someone else on this thing?” Ireland asked.

  Flyer nodded. “Sure, it’s a phone. It isn’t programmed for just one number.”

  “Do you mind if I use it? I haven’t spoken to my family in three years and with everything going on, I―”

  “Call them, Ireland. I’m sure five minutes won’t matter. Besides, I don’t hear the dogs,” Flyer replied.

  Ireland took the satellite phone out of the bag and made the call. Walking far enough away so he could see Flyer but have a bit of privacy.

  “Hello.”

  Hearing the soft sound of his mother’s voice had Ireland’s throat tightening and heart racing. Gods he had missed her.

  “Hello?”

  Doing his best to talk past the lump in his throat, Ireland rasped, “Mom.”

  Ireland heard his mother draw in a deep breath before whispering, “Ireland? Ireland is that really you?”

  “Yes, Mom. I’ve missed you so much,” Ireland said, as tears started falling.

  Ireland knew his mother was crying as well as she asked, “Where have you been? I’ve been so worried. We thought—We thought—”

  “I know, Mom, and I’m so sorry. Let me explain,” Ireland replied, and then quickly told her everything.

  When he finally finished his mother said, “I hope that means the bastard who did this to you is dead! I know if he isn’t he soon will be. When I get your father and brothers together, we will hunt the son of a bitch down and—”

  “Mom! Mom! Calm down. Look, not all is bad. I found my mate. Well, kind of.”

  “What do you mean, kind of?” His mom asked.

  “We haven’t exactly made it official and well, right now, things are a bit—chaotic,” Ireland said, hedging a bit.

  Ireland’s mother knew him better than anyone, three years separated or not. “Do not be evasive with me, young man. If this man is your mate then why the hell has he not made you his? You’re mates! And damn it, you’re one hell of a catch if I do say so myself!”

  Ireland couldn’t help but laugh at his mother’s hoity tone. She was like most mothers—protective and proud of her family. Helen Lancer was one of the sweetest and nicest women you would ever want to meet, but she could be a real bear if someone tried to harm one of her own. Maybe because she was a brown bear.

  Ireland explained how he found Flyer and what was going on. When he was finished, his mother asked, “Do you love him, Ireland?”

  “I th—think so,” Ireland stammered.

  “You either love him or you don’t, Ireland,” His mother snapped.

  Sighing, Ireland whispered, “Yes, I love him.”

  “Then you know what you need to do. Remember, Flyer is a human and they don’t think like we do. Being a shifter, we have our animal to help us understand our instincts to be with the one fate means us to be with. However, being human, they fear those instincts. They question everything. Hell, it took your great Aunt Ethel six months to reel her man in. Now, if you love this Flyer—which I have to say is a very unusual name for anyone, let alone a human, then I say do what you need to do to make him whole, and trust in the fates that he will come around and love you as much as you love him. If he doesn’t already that is. Like I said, you are one hell of a catch for any man,” his mother said without hesitation.

  Ireland smiled, whispering, “Thanks, Mom. And Flyer is his call name for the team he works with. His real name is Aiden.”

  “Well I do have to say I like that much better. I don’t like that he is in such a dangerous line of work, but together I know mates can do anything,” his mother said.

  “Mom, he is really good at what he does. He saves lives. His work is dangerous, but he is very well trained,” Ireland insisted.

  Sighing, his mom said, “I will have to trust you on that. However, you might want to give him a word of warning. If anything happens to my baby, I will come to this Crystal place and he will find out just how mama bear I really am.”

  Ireland laughed. “I’ll tell him. I need to go Mom. I promise to call when I get back to Crystal. I really want to talk to the rest of the family.”

  “You better do more than just call us, young man. Three years is too long for any parent to go without seeing their child,” his mom firmly stated.

  “Okay, Mom. Love you,” Ireland said as he hung up.

  Walking back to Flyer, the man turned at the sound of his footsteps. “Everything go okay?”

  Ireland wiped his eyes. “Yeah. I talked to my mom. Anyway, we can talk about the call later. Right now, we need to call Rory, so we can get the hell out of here.”

  Dialing the phone once more, Ireland waited until he heard Rory pick up. “Flyer?”

  “No, it’s Ireland. Flyer’s right here though,” Ireland quickly replied turning the phone so he and Flyer could both hear the man.

  “Ireland, Wade and the guys haven’t checked in yet and I’m worried. They were heading to the ranger station and I was supposed to tell you guys to meet them there when you checked back in. They were supposed to contact me when they got to the station, but I haven’t heard anything from any of them and they should have been there by now. I’ve tried infrared, but the only heat source I can track are yours and the men who were after you guys. The funny thing is, originally there were like thirty guys on your tail and five dogs. Now, I see two dogs and ten men,” Rory explained.

  Ireland looked at Flyer wide-eyed. “They might have them in one of those underground systems like we were just in.”

  Nodding, Flyer replied, “It’s very likely.”

  “What underground system?” Rory asked.

  Flyer quickly answered, “Ireland and I got to the river and followed it to a lake. Ireland found a cave. When we went inside there were tunnels. Infrared can’t penetrate through the earth that deep. It could explain why you can’t find the guys and the others. In the one we were in we found a shit ton of guns, drugs, and explosives. They have to be using the underground water system to traffic their shit. It’s one of the reasons we wanted to contact you so quickly. We’re going to need to order an extraction of merchandise ASAP, before these fuckers can get rid of it.”

  “Let me get with Savage. He hasn’t been the easiest man to contact lately, but I’m sure he’ll know what to do with your discovery. Right now, we need to concentrate on finding my brother and mate,” Rory stated.

  Flyer sighed. “You’re right. As much as I don’t want to let this stash go, the guys’ safety is far more important. Where’s the ranger station, Radar?”

  Ireland heard Rory rapidly tapping away and then replied, “You guys are near the base of Ranger Mountain.”

  “So, I take it the station is at the top of this thing?” Flyer asked.

  Rory continued to tap away, then snorted, “Actually, no. That mountain is where the original station was first located. The newest one is twelve miles west of Ranger Mountain. It’s in the middle of Lincoln Forest. Flyer, has your vision improved yet?”

  “No,” Flyer quickly replied.

  “Damn!” Rory murmured.

  “What’s wrong?” Flyer immediately asked.

  “The terrain that will get you there the fastest is really bad. It’s over the mountain, past a river, and through a thick forest. E
ven with your sight it will still take you a day and a half to get there and will be a challenge, but blinded, it will be next to impossible. The other route is easier, but will take no less than three days,” Rory said in frustration.

  “Damn it,” Flyer whispered.

  Rory’s voice choked up with emotion as he said, “I’m scared, Flyer. Wh—what if—what if something bad has happened to—I don’t know what I’ll do if I lose one of my mates, Flyer, or my brother.”

  Ireland could see the concern on Flyer’s face and hear it in Rory’s voice. The soulful sound of Rory’s heart breaking had Ireland thinking about how he would feel if anything horrible happened to his own mate. Knowing what he had to do, Ireland quickly said, “We’ll take the mountain. Call Illan, maybe he can spare some men to come this way and help us out of this mess. In the meantime, Flyer and I will go to the station.”

  “I will, but I’m telling you, the quickest route is not going to be possible with Flyer being blind. It’s too rough,” Rory insisted.

  Looking in Flyer’s direction, Ireland whispered, “Flyer’s eyesight is getting better every hour and I have a feeling that soon enough, he will be back to twenty-twenty. Now don’t worry about anything. Just keep checking your maps. Maybe they’ll show up or call, and if they do, please let us know. We had better go. I haven’t heard the dogs lately and that has me worried.”

  Flyer tilted his head as if he was confused and was giving Ireland a curious look, then absently muttered, “Yeah, if they’ve found Wade and the guys, they may think they were the ones on the plane. It would answer why no one is here yet.”

  Rory cleared his throat. “Okay. I’ll get a hold of Savage and keep looking for our team. Just do me a favor and keep in contact, okay?”

  “Will do, Rory. We’ll contact you when we set camp for the night,” Flyer said then handed the phone to Ireland.

  Ireland and Flyer started up the mountain without saying a word to each other. Ireland knew Flyer had understood his meaning when he had said to Rory that Flyer’s sight would be twenty-twenty soon enough. He figured it wouldn’t take the man long to bring the subject up again and he wasn’t disappointed.

  “What did you mean when you told Rory I would soon have my sight back?”

  “I meant exactly what I said. I can’t allow my human feelings to be the reason Rory loses his mate and brother as well as all your friends. I won’t force the issue, but if you want to try the mate healing way then I’m willing,” Ireland replied.

  “I don’t want this to be how we mate, Ireland,” Flyer said. With every word Flyer spoke, Ireland’s heart broke a little more. “I’m not good with relationships. I never wanted to be with anyone for any length of time because of what I do for a living. I told you that not even two hours ago.”

  Ireland didn’t dare make a sound or Flyer would know how hurt he was by his mate’s words. Then the man drove the knife in even deeper when he said, “However, if this is what we need to do to save Wade and the others, then I say we do it.”

  Ireland had to gain some control over his voice. He knew if he sounded the least bit despondent, Flyer would change his mind. He couldn’t let that happen. Rory and Suneth’s happiness depended on this mating to heal Flyer so they could get to Wade and the others as quickly as possible. Drawing in a deep breath, Ireland slowly and quietly let it out before saying, “Then we have a plan. When we stop for the night we call Rory and then make our mating official.”

  CHAPTER 10

  Rory hadn’t been lying when he said the terrain would be dangerous and damn near impossible to maneuver even with good vision and in perfect physical health. But with Flyer’s injured arm and his sight not an option, it was slow going. Extremely slow.

  After helping Flyer climb the first fifty feet, they hit their first obstacle. There was a flat overhang above their heads, and they would need ropes, spikes, and grappling equipment to make it over. So, they cautiously backed up about ten feet where Ireland managed to find another route up.

  There were a few missteps and slides, along with some cuts and bruises, but Ireland managed to get them halfway up the mountain before they ran into their next big obstacle. A large crevasse that was at least six feet wide and ran as far as he could see in either direction. There was no way they could jump over it and it was too risky to go down one side and up the other. For one, the fissure was too steep and deep, and two, both walls were covered in knifelike jagged edges. One slip and you might as well call the vultures in to start feasting.

  “I need to scout a new trail before I bring you any further, Flyer. This crevasse is way to precarious,” Ireland said, as he looked around.

  “I don’t want you going alone, Ireland. What if something happens? We have a saying in the military, ‘No man left behind’.”

  “I’ll be safe, Flyer, I promise,” Ireland said, as he guided Flyer to a rock where he could sit and wait.

  “In this line of work nothing is safe. We never know when something unforeseen will happen. It is drilled into us to expect the unexpected. There could be a whole host of dangers, someone, or something. Then here in the mountains, conditions and weather are problems all on their own. We manage risks, but we can’t take them away completely. There are too many variables in life to ensure safety,” Flyer protested as he grabbed Ireland’s hand tight.

  “Okay, I get that, and I hear you. I promise to be extra careful. I won’t take any risks, just look around. There is a small path, well not really a path, but a cut out over to the right. It looks big enough for us to make it through, but there’s a sheer wall and I can’t see around it. I will cautiously walk that path until I can see where it goes, but that’s it. Then I’ll come back. If that way doesn’t work, then I’ll go to the left and see if there is a passable way there, okay?”

  Flyer sighed heavily, then replied, “I don’t like it, but fine. What other choice do we have?”

  “That’s the spirit,” Ireland said with false excitement.

  He released Flyer’s hand, then turned and made his way down the path. As he reached the edge of the rock wall, Ireland found that there was nothing there but a deadly drop-off that would plummet them what looked like a mile down and into a jagged field of rock below. “Shit,” he hissed before turning back.

  Once he reached the spot where Flyer was still sitting, Ireland told him what he had found, then made his way to the left. He had to climb over boulders and slink through a few tight spaces, and with a lot of exertion, he finally made it to a spot where it opened up and he could see the summit.

  It was going to take a lot of time and sweat to get Flyer to this point, but Ireland was sure once they made it back here, they would have no further problems making it to the top. There were nice cutouts for hands and feet, almost like a ladder, that went up about sixty feet or so. Ireland just wanted to go back and get Flyer and get them moving, but something told him to check it out first. Flyer’s words about risk and safety ran through his mind and he questioned whether he should attempt it alone, but he didn’t want them to do all that work, just to find that what was up there was no good, then he would have to help Flyer descend backwards and doing it blind scared the ever-loving shit out of him. So as Flyer also said, ‘What other choice do we have?’

  Ireland grabbed hold of a small ledge and pulled himself up, then stuck his foot in another space. Slowly he looked for his next place to grab as he made his way up. As the minutes ticked by and sweat rolled down his face, some getting into his eyes and stinging, Ireland was getting worried about the time. He was sure he had left Flyer almost two hours ago and knew the man would be worried.

  Just as he was about to give up and slowly make his way back down, Ireland noticed the sun beginning to lower, which meant they didn’t have much time to do this if they were going to do it, before night fell. Even though that thought worried him, he needed to see what was up there and if it were safe for them to spend the night.

  Steeling his resolve, Ireland moved on. Right hand stretc
hed, then right foot up. Once secure, left hand reached out for a place, then left foot secure and push up. He continued that mantra in his head, keeping himself completely focused on what he was doing. The situation was too dire for his mind to wander.

  Suddenly his right hand reached up and there was nothing to grab. Ireland looked up and noticed he had made it and a bright smile came to his lips. Never before in his life did he ever think he would do something like this, but fear and survival were great motivators.

  Placing his hand on the top edge, Ireland placed his right foot into a cutout, then placed his left hand on the edge and pushed himself up. Once his head and chest made it past the ledge, Ireland looked around and was thrilled to see that the summit was basically flat.

  Lifting himself up and over, Ireland rolled to his knees, then to his feet and his stomach dropped. Yes, while the summit was flat, it was only about four feet wide, which meant there would be no safe place to maybe get some sleep. And he sure could use some right about now.

  With all the physical activity and exertion, along with worrying about their survival, as well as the emotional turmoil that was churning inside him, Ireland was exhausted and in need of a good night’s sleep. Preferably in a nice soft bed, but right now that wasn’t an option.

  Just as he was about to make his way down to get back to Flyer, the view caught his attention and Ireland was speechless. As far as he could see, and it looked like miles in all directions, there were huge, majestic mountain ranges. Some were still capped with snow, while others not. Millions of trees covered the region and there were some absolutely stunning rock formations. Way off to the left was a large canyon with a river running through it. Then off to the right was a plateau, with buttes pushing up out of the earth, looking to be reaching for the sky. The sun shone on the tips as if kissing the outcropping. The moment was breathtaking and something Ireland would never forget.

  Looking down as he made to turn, Ireland smiled as he saw a ridge about two feet below him that went out a good twelve feet or more and many trees filled the space. Beyond that, was the thick forest and there was a slight slope going down. There were no more rock walls or drop offs. It looked like it would be smooth sailing after they rested a while.