by Faith Gibson
As soon as she left Gregor’s, she made the mistake of calling her mother while she was driving around. What started off as a bitch session on her part soon turned into a crying fest. Tessa wasn’t normally overly emotional, but now that Gregor was in the picture and she had tasted how good life would be living as his mate, her hormones had kicked into overdrive. Before they hung up, Elizabeth shocked her by telling her to follow her heart. Elizabeth thought by telling Xavier that Gregor was her mate, he would back off with the secrecy. She should have known better. Xavier was being overly cautious as he always was when it came to Tessa. Her mother reminded her she was a grown woman and should make her own choices, especially where affairs of the heart were concerned. Her father would just have to deal with her decision. Tessa thought back to the tarot reader. Follow your heart.
If only it were that easy. All her life, Jonas had drilled into her the importance of secrecy. When she stopped and thought about it, was he right in having her hide her existence? From Flanagan, yes. But to keep herself away from her mate when Jonas had forsaken his whole Clan to be with Caroline? Why was he any better than she?
Tessa pulled into the gas station to refuel. She walked into the store to see a smiling Peggy. She laid two twenties on the counter and told her fill-up on four. She hadn’t driven the Camaro in so long she didn’t know if forty bucks would fill up the tank or not, but it would be enough to get her where she needed to go. After chatting with the cashier for a beat, she went back outside. An advertisement for the Fall Festival caught her eye. She had never been to one of those festivals when she was little. She and her mom had been holed up in their huge house, hiding out from Flanagan.
She leaned a hip against the back quarter panel while the gas pumped. A family-themed Halloween function wasn’t exactly how she wanted to spend her afternoon, but it might be better than going home alone and moping. The pump clicked off, and she returned the nozzle to its slot. After resetting the mileage counter, she headed her hotrod toward the festival.
The gravel parking lot was filled with SUV’s and mini-vans. Tessa found a spot as far away from the other vehicles as possible. She backed into a spot close to the carnival ride trailers. She beeped the locks and set the alarm, cringing at the dust that was already settling on the hood. While she had spent a lot of money customizing her ride, she was very envious of the hot little number Gregor had stored in his garage. That had to have set him back a bit.
Tessa paid for an armband and ambled through the throngs of people already enjoying sugary treats on sticks and carrying stuffed animals under their arms. The food lines were ten deep. Carnival workers called out as she passed by, tempting her to try her luck at some silly game. Little kids were fishing for plastic ducks, older kids were throwing baseballs. The sounds and lights could cause a lesser woman to have a headache.
A very sad child ran into Tessa’s legs. The tears must have clouded her vision because she looked up, startled. The little girl’s mother grabbed her hand and apologized to Tessa. “I’m so sorry. She didn’t win the duck.” Tessa studied the booth behind the woman where the child had been playing.
“That duck over there?” Tessa asked the mother. When she nodded, Tessa told her to hang on. She walked up to the carnival worker and asked, “What do I have to do to win the duck?”
The teenager looked on the wall at the toy then told her, “Hit at least ten targets.”
Tessa laid a five down and picked up the toy looking rifle. “Let’s do this.” The little girl had stepped up beside Tessa, her eyes wide. Tessa grinned at her. Raising the gun to her shoulder and aiming, shot after shot hit the target. Without counting, Tessa figured she had hit around thirty. She put the rifle back where she got it and asked the little girl, “What color do you want?”
“Purple, please.” The little girl was smiling from ear to ear.
A fucking purple duck. Tessa told the worker, “The purple duck it is.”
When the child held the stuffed toy securely in her arms, she wrapped herself around Tessa’s legs. “Thank you, lady.”
Tessa laughed out loud and ran her hand down the little girl’s hair. “You’re welcome, little lady.” The mother also thanked her before she took the little girl’s hand and walked off.
“That was really nice of you,” the teenager working the booth said to her back.
Tessa looked at him and shrugged. “It was fun.” She watched the mother and daughter wistfully then convinced her feet to move. Gregor had said he wanted kids. A houseful. She figured with the few Gargoyle offspring who had been born lately, all the males would want kids to carry on the species. The question was, did he want to be a father? Not just a sperm donor who relegated the parental responsibilities to the mother or a nanny, but a real dad who doted on his kids and taught them things like how to throw a football or how to ride a bike. All the things Tessa’s own father hadn’t had time for.
Tessa wasn’t one to complain about her childhood. She had experienced things no other kid would even dream of. Sure, she played dress-up with her mother and had tea parties with dolls, but more importantly, Tessa had sat on a stool watching her uncle in the lab. He would teach her and quiz her about formulas and theories. Tamian had grown up the same way, learning from Jonas. Between the two of them, they could probably make their own clone.
Seeing a short line at one of the food shacks, Tessa decided she needed to try at least one treat that would probably cause instant cavities. The people moved up as the orders were taken, and the man in front of her turned right into her, spilling some powdered sugar covered waffle thing all over her. She attempted to wipe the white powder off her shirt. The man apologized profusely, trying to hand her a napkin. Tessa started to tell him she was fine and his assistance wasn’t necessary until their eyes met. Some sort of recognition registered in her brain. The tall, well-built, very handsome stranger stopped talking. His mouth opened to say something then closed again. “Excuse me,” he muttered as he abruptly brushed by her shoulder.
Tessa was no longer in the mood for food. What she longed for was something cold to drink. She doubted the family function would have a liquor bar. Whether it was female intuition or something more spiritual, the feeling in her gut told her the man she ran into was bad news. For her.
Not wasting any time, Tessa headed toward the nearest exit. She opened her senses, reaching, searching. Adults arguing, children laughing, separate it. Dissect it all. There, faintly. “I think I’ve found her, Sir. At the fairground. Yes, Sir, she looks just like the picture. Okay, I’ll get her.”
Tessa didn’t wait around for tall, dark, and dangerous to catch up with her. She hurried through the masses. As soon as she reached the exit she took off as fast as her booted feet would carry her. Before she left Gregor’s house earlier, she had changed out of her yoga pants into jeans and boots. Her shifter hearing alerted her to the sound of feet gaining on her. She pulled her keys out of her front pocket and thumbed the key fob, hitting the remote start. She unlocked the car and practically dove into the driver’s seat. She threw the gearshift into drive and shoved the gas pedal to the floorboard. The forward momentum closed the door just as she passed her pursuer.
Fortunately, he was still running behind her. Unfortunately, his vehicle happened to be within a few feet of him. Tessa dodged cars and festival goers as best she could without slinging too much gravel. The cloud of dust behind her blocked her view of the other vehicle. Dammit! Why couldn’t she be closer to home? Closer to Gregor. When the dust settled, a black Mustang was visible in her review mirror. Unless the driver had modified his car, there was no way he would catch her. She took the car out of automatic and slid the shifter over to manual. The black car was keeping up with her but just barely. “Shit. SHIT! You’re the son of a bitch who’s been chasing me,” she said to the image in her mirror.
Several miles down the road, an odd sound infiltrated Tessa’s senses. She shifted her sight between the curvy road in front of her and the car in her mirror. She r
olled down her window and the unmistakable sound of a helicopter floated through the air. “Fuck me.” She could probably outrun the Mustang, but there was no way she could get away from a helicopter. She needed a bird of her own. She pressed a button on her steering wheel. When it beeped, she said, “Call Gregor.”
It wasn’t Gregor’s night to patrol, but there was no way he could return home with Tessa’s scent embedded in every room, every piece of furniture. He would have to burn the bear rug as well as his bedding. Fuck, he’d probably have to rip out the carpet and chop up the kitchen table, too. He and Tessa had made good use of every room in the house with the exception of the spare bedrooms. They would probably have gotten to those, too, but eventually she had worn down and fallen asleep.
Her red hair spilling over his chest was a vision that would forever be burned into his mind. Her sandalwood scent had permeated his nostrils. The way she moved her body, the smiles she gave him, the groans she released when they fucked, gods those things had taken purchase in his soul. Gregor had never made love to any woman in his five hundred years. Until last night. Until Tessa. He didn’t even know he had it in him to be slow and gentle. Only once had his mate asked for slow. The other times his heart just told him he needed it. They needed it. Fuck his heart. It had lied. He opened his senses. The sun would be going down soon, and he would take to the air, find some Unholy bastards to shred.
The other Clan members had gone about their own lives. Some were getting ready to patrol, some were back at their jobs. Gregor just wanted to go. Anywhere away from where he was. Where Tessa was. He walked down the corridor to the men’s room and took a piss. He was washing his hands when his phone rang. Fuck it. He didn’t want to talk to anyone. He dried his hands then tossed the paper towels in the trash can. His phone stopped ringing but immediately rang again. Sighing, he pulled it out of its holder and answered it.
“Stone.”
“Gregor! I need you.” Tessa was breathing heavily.
Gregor’s heart skipped about five beats. “What made you change your mind?”
“No, I fucking need you. I’m being chased, and there’s a fucking helicopter after me, too. Godsdamnit! I don’t know who the fucker is on my tail, but I’m pretty sure the asshole in the bird is Flanagan.”
“Shit, where are you?” Gregor was running through the corridors. He tagged Deacon’s shirt and dragged him along putting Tessa on speakerphone.
“I’m headed north on Forty-One. Dammit, I know these roads better than anyone, but with a chopper tagging my every move, I can’t get away.”
“Okay, Baby, stay on the line. I’m getting Frey on Deacon’s phone.” Deacon handed him his cell and he barked into the mouthpiece, “Frey, I need the bird. The big one. Now. Tessa’s being chased and she thinks it’s Flanagan. I’m headed her direction. She’s driving north on Forty-One. We need to intercept her before something happens.”
Gregor realized he had ridden his bike to work. “Deacon! Keys!” Deacon tossed him the keys to his truck and told him to go. He would call the rest of the Clan to help.
Gregor climbed into the tall four-wheel drive and told Tessa, “Baby, just hang on. I’m coming to get you.”
Thirty-Six
Gregor was banking on Jasper and Dane giving him a police escort so any state troopers in the area wouldn’t slow his mission. And he was definitely on a mission. How could Tessa have found so much fucking trouble in the few hours since he had seen her? Was this the danger she had been talking about? Deacon’s four-wheel drive truck moaned under the strain of being pushed so hard. Sirens blared in the distance. The scene in the rearview mirror was two unmarked cars weaving around other vehicles that didn’t have time to move out of the way.
When the vehicles pulled up alongside him, he was relieved to see Dane and Jasper in one car, Kaya and Rafael in the other. Rafael gave him a thumbs up, and he once more turned his attention to the voice on the phone. Gregor was glad Tessa had hands free calling. She continued to give him play by plays of what was happening and where she was. If it weren’t for the helicopter, he was sure she could outdrive her opponent. For some reason, the helicopter wasn’t pursuing her, it was just tracking her movements. Probably to keep whoever was in the Mustang from losing her. If it was Flanagan, he would want her alive.
Speaking of helicopters, the unmistakable whir of blades came into earshot, and Gregor knew Frey was closing in. Now for the hard part. To communicate with his cousin, Gregor was going to have to disconnect from his call with Tessa. As soon as he got a break in her cursing, he interrupted, “Tessa, I need to hang up for a minute. I have to tell Frey exactly where you and the other bird are, okay?”
“Fine, just hurry the fuck up. And Gregor, when you get here and you catch this motherfucker on my tail, I get first crack at him, you hear me?”
“I hear you, Red. I will call you right back.” He disconnected and called Frey.
“Gregor, Julian has radar on the screen. I have the other bird’s coordinates locked in. I’m about 15 minutes out.”
“Roger that. Frey, I don’t have to tell you to do whatever you have to do to keep Flanagan or whoever it is in the sky away from my mate.”
“No, you don’t. I see the Chief has chosen to take her role as Queen very seriously. We are getting out of her jurisdiction, and things could get ugly.”
Gregor gripped the wheel tighter. He didn’t care how ugly things got as long as Tessa came out of this unscathed. “You just do what you have to. I’m hanging up and calling Tessa back for an update.”
The helicopter went on ahead and Gregor took the exit off the interstate that led to the smaller two-lane road. Dammit! He wished he were in the helicopter with Frey. Fuck it, he was going to get there quicker. He hit redial, and when Frey picked up, he told him to circle back around. Gregor found a pullover and shut the truck off. When the others pulled up beside him, he told them to go ahead and he would meet them there, wherever there was. He would call them if Tessa turned off this road.
When the Blackhawk was closing in, Gregor removed his shirt and phased, flying up to meet Frey so he didn’t have to land. Lorenzo was in the co-pilot seat and pointed to his headphones. Instead of grabbing a set of cans and putting them over his ears, he shook his head and dialed Tessa. “Baby, are you still on Forty-One?”
“Yes, but the helicopter is trying to get me to pull over. He keeps dipping down in front of me. I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up.”
“Just hang on, Red. I’m in the bird with Frey and we should have the other helo in our sights very soon. Please, Baby, hang on.”
Lorenzo pointed to the headset again and this time Gregor put his on. “I need to keep talking to Tessa, what is it?”
“Julian has confirmed the other bird is an Apache, and it’s loaded with an arsenal.”
“And he knows this how?” Gregor pulled one side of the cans off and put the cell phone to his ear so he could listen to Tessa.
“Beats the hell out of me. He’s Julian. We need to be ready to phase and bail if necessary.”
“Gregor, oh shit, Gregor I...” The sounds of glass breaking, metal crunching, and Tessa screaming were coming through the phone. Frey cursing came through the cans, and the sight that came into view stopped Gregor’s heart. The other helicopter was hovering over one of the worst crashes Gregor had ever seen, and his woman was down there somewhere. Both cars had flipped and rolled down an embankment. The Camaro was on its top, jagged sheet metal jutting out at odd angles. The Mustang was wrapped around a tree. Once again, with no thought for humans in the area, Gregor dove out of the Blackhawk, phasing on the fly, to get to his woman.
As soon as his feet hit the pavement, Gregor retracted his wings and yelled, “Tessa! TESSA!” He ran down the embankment to the front of her car. Upon first glance he didn’t see her anywhere. Sirens screamed behind him and artillery fire was going off in the sky. “TESSA!”
Both cars screeched to a stop beside the wreckage. Rafael took over, tellin
g Dane and Jasper to secure whoever was in the other vehicle. Kaya called for an ambulance. Rafael climbed down to Tessa’s Camaro and scanned the area behind the car. Red hair was spread on the ground, barely visible. “Over here!” Rafael called for Gregor.
The sight of Tessa’s body pinned underneath the wreckage had Gregor roaring. He lifted the car off his mate’s lifeless body, flipping it onto its tires. “NO, NO, NOOOOOOOOOO!”
“Greg, don’t move her,” Rafael advised as they knelt down next to Tessa. It had been a long time since anyone called him that. He had insisted on everyone using his full name when he transitioned. Greg was the little boy he left behind. Now it was appropriate. He felt like a helpless child as he softly pushed Tessa’s long red hair off of her face. Cuts crisscrossed her skin. Bruises were already forming. The femur of her left leg was visible. Her right arm was at an odd angle and the left was beneath her body. If she had been wearing her seatbelt she probably wouldn’t be all cut up. Then again, she might have been crushed to death. He had no idea of the internal damage done by the car landing on her. Rafael cursed as a fireball lit up the sky. Even the possibility of his cousin being shot down couldn’t drag Gregor’s tear-filled eyes away from his mate.
Frey had flown combat missions in more than one war. He had never lost a chopper, and he wasn’t about to lose this one. The Clan owned a commercial helicopter that was registered in the family’s name. This bird, however, was not on anyone’s list. Frey happened to have commandeered it several years ago and just forgot to return it.
Even though Lorenzo was a Gargoyle, he wasn’t combat trained. Very few of the Stone Clan were. Still, it was good to have a co-pilot to be his eyes on the ground so he could keep his own eyes on the enemy. Whoever was flying the other helo had skills, but none that compared to Geoffrey’s.
