by Faith Gibson
“Yes, and this is the right decision. I have a feeling once I get her home, she will improve to the point of waking up. She’s a free spirit, and this place is anything but free.” Gregor was being selfish. He wanted to be able to sleep in his bed with Tessa. He wanted to be the one to give her a bath, wash her hair. He needed to take care of her, not sit in a chair and watch others do what he should be doing.
“Okay, Dante you get an ambulance ready, and Gregor you come with me. We will gather Tessa’s things and get her ready to meet Dante on the lower level. Tamian, I guess I will see you around.” Joseph shook hands with Tessa’s brother. Gregor had the feeling there was more going on with those two, but he would have to wait until later to find out what.
“Gregor, text me your address, and I will see you soon.” Tamian shook hands with both him and Dante then jogged toward the door. Dante headed toward the morgue, and Gregor followed Joseph to get his woman. He was taking his mate home.
Forty
Gregor spent the rest of the day getting Tessa home and into his bed. He grabbed a spare comforter off one of the guest beds since Tessa had shredded his. He cleaned up the broken glass in his bathroom while Dante and Trevor worked fluidly to hook up the equipment and get Tessa settled. With her arms in splints, she couldn’t easily lie on her side, so they brought in pillows from the other bedrooms and propped her up. Trevor had been unusually quiet on the ride to the cabin and hadn’t said a word once they were inside.
“Trevor, I want to thank you for your help today.” Gregor knew he could be intimidating, but there was no reason for Dante’s assistant to fear him.
“I’ve seen her before, coming from Dane Abbott’s apartment right before he disappeared.” Trevor was staring at Tessa.
Gregor and Dante looked at each other. Dante was the one to speak up. “They are cousins.” That was the truth, just not the whole truth.
Trevor finally looked at Gregor. “I’m just glad she’s alive, you know? After seeing all the look-alikes come across our tables, well I’m glad to see her like this instead of... dead.” The kid could be morbid, but he had a point.
“Trevor, please take the bus back to the hospital. I will remain here with Gregor and Tessa for a while.” Dante was still adjusting monitors, fussing over Tessa’s pillows, checking and rechecking her I.V.
“Do you need a ride later? I can always come back after my shift is over.”
“It’s very kind of you to offer, but I will have a ride. I, too, appreciate your assistance today, and once I can put all my focus back on the morgue, you will be getting a well-deserved vacation.”
“Wow, that’s not necessary, but thanks! Okay, then, I will just be going.” Instead of leaving, Trevor walked closer to the bed and Tessa. He touched her arm with his fingertip and whispered, “I’m glad you’re here and not there.”
Dante walked Trevor to the door. Even though they were downstairs, Gregor’s shifter ears picked up the conversation. “I really appreciate all you do, and I trust your judgment in keeping our family business private.”
“Absolutely. Besides, who am I going to tell? The corpses? It’s not like I have any friends.”
“You do have friends, Trevor. Gregor and I are your friends, your family. You just have to let us in.”
Gregor was shocked at the gentleness with which Dante handled his assistant. Normally his brother was not the touchy-feely type, but his softer side was showing itself more and more. It was possible Isabelle had something to do with it. Up until about a week ago, Gregor’s life had consisted of patrolling for Unholy and running the prison. He hadn’t thought of either in the last few days unless it was mentioned to him. Finding one’s mate changed a Goyle.
Gregor lay down next to Tessa on the bed, careful to not disturb her healing bones. “Hey, Red. It’s just you and me for a few minutes. I brought you home, to my home. I hope someday this is our home. I understand now why you said it wasn’t safe, but Baby, we’re Gargoyles. Our lives have never been truly safe and never will be. It won’t matter if you and I are together or apart. Someone will be after one of us whether it’s my crazy uncle, or Flanagan, or Unholy, or ex-lovers.
“We were designed for one another. If the fates deem us mates, who are we to argue? All I know is I want you with me, by my side as my partner in life, for eternity. I have spent the last five hundred years alone, and I am ready to fill my days with someone other than ugly inmates and ugly brothers.” Dante coughed downstairs. He was listening to Gregor talk to Tessa.
“Okay, maybe not ugly brothers, just ones who need to smile more often.” That got an hmph from downstairs. “Like I told you before, I will give you all the time you need. Right now, I want you to concentrate on getting better, on waking up. Even if you decide to carry on with your life without me in it, I want you to open those pretty green eyes. I need to hear your sassy mouth telling me to fuck off. Tessa, I just need you.” Gregor settled in beside her, closing his eyes, and concentrated on the sound of her breathing.
The sound of voices woke Gregor from a deep sleep. Having slept in a hospital chair the last few nights had been brutal. Glancing at the clock, he noticed the lateness of the day. Once he sat up, he could feel the pull of the moon. The shifter inside warred between the need to fly and to stay by Tessa’s side. He brushed her hair away from her face and placed a soft kiss on her lips.
Tamian appeared in the door, “I thought I’d come give you a break. If you want to go talk to your Clan, I can sit with Andi.” One of the monitors started beeping. Within seconds, both Dante and Isabelle appeared in the doorway.
“What happened?” Isabelle pressed a button, and the beeping stopped.
“St. Claire here called his sister Andi. She fucking hates that name, man,” Gregor admonished him.
Tamian shrugged, “Hey, it’s her name. Maybe when she wakes up she can legally change her name to Tessa since she’s so fond of it. Out of all her aliases, she prefers that one.”
Hmm, had Tessa not shared her choice of names with her brother? “She has a reason for choosing Tessa. Maybe one day she’ll tell you why,” Gregor told Tamian as Isabelle fussed over her cousin. Dante’s eyes rarely left his own mate.
“Who all’s downstairs?” Gregor stood and stretched. His large bedroom was getting crowded. As badly as he wanted to stay with his mate constantly, he needed to eat. He would only be a few steps away from her, and she would be in good hands while he took a break.
“Rafe and Kaya, Frey, Julian, Sixx, Jasper, and Dane.” Dante rattled off the Clan who had come to check on him and Tessa.
“Tamian, please don’t upset your sister again. I’m going downstairs for a little bit.”
“Yes, Boss.” Tamian gave him a smartass salute and settled into the chair next to the bed. Dante and Isabelle headed down the stairs, but Gregor stopped in the doorway to observe Tessa and her brother. Tamian gently took her hand in his and kissed her knuckles. He didn’t say a word, so Gregor figured Tamian was attempting to mind speak with his sister.
Tamian was aware of Gregor standing at the door, but it didn’t bother him. If the roles were reversed, Tamian doubted he would leave Andi’s side for one second. As her clone, he needed the connection. Once he was old enough, Tamian had followed his sister all over the world, watching her back and basically just being near her. Andi. Shit. He would have to get used to calling her Tessa. He had felt a twinge of jealousy that Gregor knew the meaning behind Tessa’s favored moniker when he didn’t.
Ever since Tessa had figured out Gregor Stone was her mate, she had become obsessed with the man. Tamian eventually tired of listening in on her thoughts about her warden and started tuning her out. Now he would give anything for her to drone on and on about living happily ever after with the Gargoyle of her dreams. On the outside, she had rebuked their mating bond. On the inside though, her thoughts rarely strayed from the man, even when she had been dating Jacques.
“Tessa, it’s me, Tam. I’m going to sit with you for a bit while Gregor g
ets something to eat.”
“Awesome. Please do me a favor, and tell him to stop being so mopey, or I’m going to shoot him.”
“Oh gods, you can hear me!”
“Of course I can, I just haven’t been able to respond. I’ve heard everything everyone has said since I woke up. What’s wrong with me?”
“This is great! At least I know you’re in there. We don’t know what’s wrong. The MRI didn’t show any blockage or swelling that would cause your continued condition. I guess since you can talk to me, you aren’t actually in a coma. I should tell Dante and Isabelle so they can check you out.”
“No, not yet. Just sit with me for a few minutes. The poking and prodding gets old.”
“Of course. Do you need anything?”
“Yes, take these fucking splints off. They’re driving me crazy. My skin is itching, and my claws are ready to rip through the bandages.”
”You will just have to tough it out; I’m not taking them off. Don’t you want your bones to heal properly?”
“Of course, but shouldn’t they already be healed? We’re fucking Gargoyles after all.”
“Half Gargoyles, and that’s a question for your doctor. Speaking of which…” Tamian didn’t get a chance to finish his thought. A commotion downstairs had both him and Tessa thinking, “Oh fuck.”
“I should probably go downstairs and play referee. Will you be okay until someone gets back?”
“Yep. Please don’t let Dad kill my mate before we have a chance to actually become mates.”
“So you plan to go through with it?” Tamian had no right to deny his sister her happiness, but the green-eyed monster was ever present.
“I do. Before I was chased by a fucking lunatic, I had time to think about it. A purple duck made my decision for me.”
“A purple duck?” His sister always had wild ideas and stories. This one he had to hear.
“Yes, but that’s a story for another time. I think you need to go rescue my mate and the King from our father.”
“Okay, I’ll send Mom up as soon as the smoke clears.”
“Tamian, I love you. You know that, right?”
His heart tightened in his chest. It was wrong, the feelings he had for his sister. He didn’t understand them, never had. He was attracted to other women and had bedded plenty of them. It had always been a quick fuck, a means to an end. Emotions were never involved. He attributed his deep need for his sister to the clone bond. It was a burden he had to bear. For the rest of his life, he would endure it. Alone. “I love you, too.”
Tamian placed a kiss on his sister’s forehead and made his way downstairs to intervene. He didn’t need shifter hearing as the shouting could be heard in the next county over. He paused at the bottom of the steps, taking in the chaos.
Forty-One
The scene in Gregor’s home warmed his heart. Kaya and Priscilla were working side by side in the kitchen preparing a meal. Gregor would later find out they had fixed enough food to freeze so he wouldn’t have to cook for weeks. The men were refereeing an argument between Dane and Julian.
“I am telling you, she is not your mate!” Julian was in Dane’s face, but the newbie wasn’t backing down.
“Then why did I transition immediately after meeting with her?” Dane had his hands on his hips.
“I don’t know. What I do know is Katherine Fox is my mate.” Julian had vowed to stay away from the reporter, but Gregor knew once the mate bond hit, you couldn’t let it go that easily.
Gregor’s doorbell rang, and he left the arguing men to their own defenses. He opened the door, and his breath caught. Standing in front of him was a woman who was the spitting image of his own mate. Directly behind her was Xavier Montagnon, one of the Original Elders. The arguing in the room ceased as Rafael seethed, “What in the fuck are you doing here?”
Gregor felt the heat at his back as Rafael now stood behind him. He knew Elizabeth would not have aged, but she could pass for Tessa’s twin. “I invited them, although when I did, I wasn’t aware of exactly who Tessa’s father is.” He was speaking to Rafael but looking at Elizabeth.
“Do you mind letting us in? And while you’re at it, stop staring at my mate.” Xavier was not happy about the situation. That much was clear.
Gregor stepped back, opening the door wider. “Please, come in.” When Rafe didn’t move, Gregor nudged him with his shoulder. “I can explain.”
“Yeah, this I’m ready to hear.” Rafael backed up and allowed them to pass.
Most of the Clan had met Xavier at some point in their lives. They had not met Elizabeth. The mother of the first cloned baby who disappeared off the face of the earth was a legend. A gasp escaped Kaya and something inhuman came from Isabelle.
Dante’s mate walked right up to Tessa’s mother. “Hello Elizabeth. You’re looking…young.” She didn’t bother with niceties. The sting of being kept away from her own mother with no knowledge of being a shifter was still not sitting well with her.
“Isabelle, I…” Elizabeth was cut off by Xavier.
“You can have your reunion later. Where is Tessa? I want to see my girl.”
“She’s upstairs resting.” Gregor worked hard to calm himself. The conversation between Rafael and Xavier regarding human bonding came to mind.
“And you left her alone? In her condition?” Xavier was headed toward the staircase when Rafael stepped in front of him.
“Of course she isn’t alone. Her brother is with her,” Rafael confirmed angrily. He obviously hadn’t forgotten the conversation either. Gregor knew his brother, and he was about two seconds away from phasing. Xavier may be Tessa’s father, but he was in Rafael’s territory now.
“Tamian’s here?” Elizabeth’s eyes lit up. “I thought he was in jail?”
“He was, undercover, until Tessa’s accident. Now he’s not.” Rafael wasn’t playing nice. Gregor needed to diffuse the situation before it escalated to a minor war. The men began arguing and the Clan circled, taking up for their King.
About that time, a loud whistle ceased the quarreling momentarily. From the staircase, Tamian called out to his parents, “Hello Mom, Dad.”
Elizabeth ran to her son and wrapped her arms around him. The arguments continued but lessened as Elizabeth’s crying could be heard by all.
Tamian pulled back from his mother’s embrace. “Let’s all have a seat and discuss why you were invited other than the obvious reason.”
Neither Rafael nor Xavier moved to sit. Kaya closed the gap between her and Rafael, placing a hand on his arm. “My King.”
Elizabeth eased in to Xavier’s side and grabbed his hand. “Honey.”
The instant change that came over both men was amazing. Kings may rule the world, but the Queens ruled the Kings. The Clan members stepped back, giving the couples room to sit on the opposing sofas. Frey took a spot directly behind Rafael and Kaya, standing sentry. The others moved off to the side of the room looking less menacing. Gregor stood in front of the fireplace between the two sofas, hopefully appearing neutral.
Gregor asked Isabelle to go sit with Tessa while he spoke with Xavier. Once he knew his mate was being looked after, he addressed the room.
“Tessa is not critical, she just needs time to recover from her injuries. Her doctor assured us she will wake up on her own, when she’s ready. You both know how stubborn your daughter is. I think she’s milking the attention.” Gregor smiled at Elizabeth, trying to ease her anxiety.
“I feel it’s best to lay all our cards on the table, however painful they may be. First, Gordon Flanagan may or may not be dead.” Elizabeth closed her eyes and sighed. Xavier reached for her hand.
“Richard Merrick, the man who was chasing Tessa, has been identified as the Redhead Killer. If you weren’t aware, women in New Atlanta who could pass for Tessa’s sisters were being strangled. The last body had a message carved into her skin. This message was supposed to get Tessa’s attention and flush her out of hiding. We haven’t been able to ask Tessa how Me
rrick found her, but he did. When he began chasing Tessa, a helicopter joined in the pursuit. Tessa thought it was Flanagan, and Geoffrey later confirmed it.
“Now, we know how people can change their appearance, just like the decoy who lost his life at the warehouse a few weeks ago. The man most likely was Flanagan, but as of now, a body has not been recovered. We will not assume he is dead until we see a corpse. We’ve made that mistake before.” Rafael opened his mouth to add something but Kaya squeezed his arm, effectively silencing him.
“For now, we are going to hope he is dead, and we have one less pain in our ass. Next, we need to discuss the fact we have been kept in the dark about mating with humans. Xavier, we know why this has been hidden from us. Jonas being ostracized was not our fault. Furthermore, we are not afraid of Alistair. As far as we’re concerned, he can sit on his throne in Greece and rot. He has no authority over our Clan, and we will not put our lives on hold because one bigoted Gargoyle has a problem with our lifestyle. As you can see, Rafael and Kaya are mated. Kaya is our Queen, and now we have proof humans have carried Goyle babies to term with no trouble.
“I intend to live a long and happy life with your daughter. I would prefer to do that without our families at war. If what you feel about Alistair is true, we are going to need to work together on a united front, not opposing sides.”
Xavier stood. “Rafael, I need to apologize for lying to you. Athena and I only want what’s best for our children, and we agreed the longer you were kept in the dark, the longer you could avoid Alistair’s misplaced ideas.”
Rafael stood facing Xavier. “I guess this is why my mother refuses to take my calls.”
Xavier nodded. He met the eyes of every member of the Clan. “I am apologizing to you all, to your King, your Clan. I have watched you rule, Rafael, and you are the best King I have ever known. I pledge my Clan’s allegiance to yours.” Xavier fisted his hand over his heart and bowed his head. Likewise, Rafael bowed his head to Xavier.
