by Faith Gibson
Lucy slipped her terrycloth robe over her short nightgown and padded downstairs. Stopping off in the billiards room, she rolled her eyes and let out a sigh at the sight of Hayden and Kyllian shooting pool at nine a.m. At least someone was using the game room, even if it was way too early. Until Lucy met her uncles and grandparents, she’d never shot pool. Rarely did she bother even going into the billiards room. Both her uncles were dressed in faded jeans and pristine white T-shirts that stretched across wide chests underneath their MC cuts. Worn, black leather boots finished out their biker ensemble. She’d never seen her uncles wearing anything else. “Why didn’t I hear your bikes?” she asked, walking over to peer out the window that overlooked the driveway.
“I drove the truck,” Hayden said with no further explanation. The youngest Lazlo brother lined up another shot, and Lucy left them to their game. The scent of coffee wafted through the house, and Lucy followed her nose. Rory was at the stove making a huge breakfast.
“What’s going on?” Lucy asked her grandmother.
“You called me, remember?”
“I did, but not for you to come cook breakfast and definitely not this early.”
“You sounded like you could use some comfort food.”
Lucy poured her coffee then took one of the stools at the island. When she didn’t respond, Rory turned to look at her. “I think you need to tell War about the Gargoyle.”
Lucy disagreed. Her father wasn’t part of the MC. Rory and Warryck had finally buried the hatchet regarding how he handled Lucy’s upbringing, and that was only because Lucy insisted on it. When Lucy was born, her mother made Warryck promise not to raise her in the MC. War agreed, thus handing the baby over to Harlow’s aunt and uncle. Rory had been hurt, to say the least, and her relationship with her son deteriorated to the point of nonexistent. It took Lucy a while to forgive her father, too, but eventually he convinced her he was granting her mother’s dying wish. When Lucy had a long talk with her grandmother, Rory came around, and she and War put their twenty-one-year feud to rest.
“And tell him what?”
“You have a Gargoyle spying on you, following you around the globe.”
“Dad’s busy with the end of semester. He doesn’t need me to interrupt the last few days of school.”
“At least you’ve talked to him. I’ve been trying to call, but it keeps going to voicemail,” Rory grumbled. Lucy’s grandmother hadn’t given up hope her wayward son would finally join the family in the MC. If Lucy’s instincts were correct, Rory hoped by telling War about the Gargoyle it would entice him to come home. “If you don’t want to bother War, then at least tell Mav or Ryker. Let your uncles do their job and protect you.”
“I don’t need protecting. Is that why you brought backup?”
Rory shook her head. “No, they’re watching my back. Your grandfather has his feathers in a twist because I think someone’s been following me. Now I can’t go anywhere without a couple Hounds along for the ride.”
“Do you have any idea who it is?”
“No. If I did, you think they’d still be breathing?” Lucy had no doubt if someone was bothering Rory, Sutton Lazlo would take care of them. Her grandparents had been together over eighty years, and the bond they shared was stronger now than it had ever been.
“I’m not worried about the Gargoyle. Quite the opposite, as a matter of fact. I feel this pull when I’m around him. Like he’s drawing me to him, and not in a way that’s meant to hurt me.”
“We don’t know everything Gargoyles are capable of. From what we’ve seen, most of them are good, but you know as well as I do, there are good and bad in every species. What if he isn’t one of the good guys? What if he’s fallen in with the Ministry and is following you at their behest?”
“I didn’t get that vibe from him. I didn’t get anything from him, actually, except for that invisible tether pulling me toward him. It was like that the first time I noticed him in Norway. I wanted nothing more than to go to him and crawl onto his lap and wrap him in my arms.”
“That sounds like a mate pull, but we don’t have those.”
“What if they do? Do you think...?” Lucy trailed off, thinking about the gorgeous Gargoyle and what it would mean if they were destined to be together. She’d never thought she’d find someone who could possibly understand what it was like to be a shifter. It was one reason she never let herself date anyone seriously. Sure, plenty of Gryphons fell in love with and married humans. Her parents – Lucius and Vera – were prime examples. But explaining about the animal side of your nature to a human didn’t appeal to Lucy.
“What I think is you need to be careful. At least mention him to your uncle so Mav can back you up. Just in case. I know you can handle yourself; you’re a Lazlo. But Gargoyles are creatures the same as we are, and from everything we know, they’re practically immortal. You might be able to defend yourself against one, but when it comes down to it, you can’t kill one.”
“From living with Lucius, I probably know more about Gargoyles than most of their own kind do. He was driven to find out the differences in our DNA. He never said it aloud, but I think he wanted to figure out what made them immortal and try to come up with a way to introduce that into the Gryphons so we, too, could live longer lives.”
“In other words, he was playing god.”
“If you believe in that sort of thing, but yeah, I guess he was.” The Lazlos, along with most other Gryphons, were followers of the old ways. The Hounds of Zeus wasn’t only the name of their motorcycle club; it was the name attributed to their species going back hundreds of thousands of years. “That’s not why I called you.”
“Then why did you?” Rory pulled a pan of biscuits out of the oven and placed them on the stove next to the skillet of gravy. Lucy never had good Southern cooking, having grown up with Vera whose family migrated down from Canada. Since Rory had lived in Texas for years, she brought all sorts of recipes with her Lucy couldn’t get enough of.
“I think someone in my agency is trying to set me up.”
“Set you up for what?”
“Failure?” Lucy slid off the stool and went to the stove. While she smothered a couple biscuits in gravy then crumbled several pieces of bacon on top, she admitted, “That’s the problem; I don’t honestly know. The last couple of cases I was given were pointless. A waste of the government’s money. I could have easily tapped into the computers of the ones I was sent to spy on. Instead, I was sent across the world, twice, for trips that were pointless.”
“And you have no idea who could be behind it?”
“Not really. I’ve been doing a little tracking inside the system, but I’m not the best hacker we have. There are several within the department who could easily manipulate documents and system information to make it look like anyone was doing something they aren’t. Or aren’t doing something they are. I have a feeling the Ministry has a mole on the inside.”
“Then you should retire.”
“You know I can’t. I had to sign my life away to the GIA in lieu of a jail sentence.”
“But you’ve paid your dues. They can’t hold you accountable forever.”
“Sure they can. They’re the government, and they can basically do whatever they want.”
“Then they’re no better than the factions they spy on. Do you have any information you could use against the higher ups? You need leverage so you can get out of there.”
“That goes back to what I was saying about the tracking. If someone figures out I’m spying on the spies, I’m done for. They’ll toss me in prison or worse.”
“You need to tell the family this.”
“So they can hop on their iron horses and storm the castle? Rory, you know as well as I do that’s only going to bring unwanted attention to the Hounds. What they’re doing is more important than saving my ass.”
“Says you.” Her grandmother scowled, but she knew it was the truth.
Lucy set her fork down and placed both hands on the edg
e of the table. “You can’t sit there and tell me if the roles were reversed you wouldn’t feel the same way. The Hounds are bigger than any one of us, and you know I’m right.”
“Doesn’t mean I have to like it. You’re not just some random Gryphon running around taking chances with her life; you’re my granddaughter.”
“And you’ve taught me well over the last few years. I’m not taking chances without thinking about the consequences. I’m cautious, and I’m trained.”
Rory leaned over and pushed a strand of hair off Lucy’s face. “I know you are, but that doesn’t stop me from worrying about you. I missed out on so much time with you. I could kick myself in the ass for not walking into Lucius’s house demanding equal time.”
“But we’re together now, and you more than make up for what we missed out on. I love you, Rory.”
“I love you too, Little Dove.”
Chapter Five
After breakfast, Tamian still hesitated to go see Harlow. Something about walking up to her fancy house and knocking on the door didn’t sit well with him. Tessa argued for a few minutes that it was the perfect plan, but he reminded her it was the perfect plan for her, not him. She let it go and opened the computer equipment while he took a shower. When he returned to the living area of the suite, Tessa said, “Come look at this. Your female has company.”
Tamian sat next to her on the sofa and stared at the monitor. Two bikers and a woman who looked to be in her forties got out of a blacked-out SUV and walked up to Harlow’s front door. They didn’t knock. Instead, the woman unlocked the door with a key. “How did you get camera footage of Harlow’s house?”
“While you were taking a swim in the lake, I might have done a little recon. And I also might have set up a few cameras around the perimeter.”
“She has cameras of her own. She probably knows what you did.”
“If that were true, she’d have already removed them. Besides, Julian tapped into her security feed and told me where her cameras pointed. I just made sure to stay away from those areas.”
“When was this?” Tamian indicated the scene playing out on the monitor.
“About an hour ago. This” – Tessa tapped a few keys, and the monitor changed to a split screen – “is current.” Thanks to Julian gaining access to Harlow’s cameras, six different squares highlighted six areas of her home. It surprised Tamian the windows weren’t covered with curtains. Instead, he and Tessa had a clear view of the two men shooting pool and the woman cooking breakfast. Tessa zoomed in on the shot of the kitchen. “Your mate’s hot, even with bedhead.”
His sister wasn’t wrong. Harlow’s hair was piled on top of her head in a messy knot, and the bulky robe did little to detract from her elegant features. “Whoever those people are seem right at home.”
“That’s because they’re family. The woman is Aurora Rose Lazlo, and the men are two of her sons,” Tessa informed him, sliding a laptop over in front of him. “We already know Harlow was adopted. Turns out the Balls were her birth mother’s aunt and uncle. Her birth father, Warryck, is a psychology professor, whereas the rest of his family is part of a motorcycle club, The Hounds of Zeus.”
“You’ve been busy.”
“Actually, Julian has. I’m good, but he’s brilliant. Keep reading,” Tessa said, pointing to the screen in front of Tamian. Harlow’s history, as well as that of the Lazlos, was well-documented. The information said nothing about any of them being Gargoyles or even half-bloods.
“There’s nothing about them being shifters, which I didn’t expect, but check this out.” Tamian turned the screen back toward Tessa and pointed at a certain paragraph. “Aurora looks really good for someone her age, don’t you think?”
“They must be shifters if this is right. But why wouldn’t they hide the fact that they’re older than they appear? I’ll call Nikolas and get him to look into their background further.”
Tamian took the computer, placing it on his lap as he went back over the information a second time. While rereading Harlow’s background, he glanced at the monitors to keep an eye on the female. The two males finished up their pool game and joined Harlow and Aurora in the kitchen. Without sound it was impossible to know what they were discussing, but by the looks on the men’s faces, whatever it was wasn’t good. Together, the two men rushed outside, and each took off in different directions.
“Uh oh,” Tessa said. It didn’t take long for the men to find the cameras Tessa had placed around the perimeter. “Did you see that?” Tessa scrambled to press a few buttons on the computer and rewound the feed. “There!” Tamian saw what she was referring to. As one of the males reached for the camera, a set of claws protruded from his fingertips.
“I guess we don’t have to assume they’re shifters any longer.”
“No, but it bothers me they aren’t in the database. Why wouldn’t Nik have record of them?”
Tamian sat back on the sofa and ran a hand down his face. “I guess that’s a question I’ll have to ask when I confront Harlow.”
“So, you’re going to see her?” Tessa tapped the keyboard and zoomed in on the male’s claws.
“I don’t see where I have a choice. Now, more than before, I want to find out why she was in Norway, and Rafael will want to know why the family hasn’t declared their loyalty in all these years.”
When Tessa didn’t respond, Tamian glanced at his sister. Her focus was on the screen, so he followed her eyes. She was staring at the enlarged image of the male’s hand. Tamian allowed his own claws to extend from his fingertips. Comparing his to those on the screen, there was a vast difference. Tessa did the same thing and put her hand next to Tamian’s. Her claws were smaller, and that made sense considering she was a female, but they were the same shape as Tamian’s. Those on the screen were nowhere near identical. Tessa turned and looked at Tamian. “Those aren’t Gargoyle claws.”
“They don’t appear to be, but are we aware of the existence of another type of shifter?” Tamian thought back to the way Harlow was able to disappear in the woods. If she was able to transform into something besides human – or Gargoyle – it would explain how she evaded him. It might also explain why he couldn’t read her mind. He wanted to test his theory. If he could get close to the others in her home, he could figure out if it was only his mate who could block him, or the others as well.
“You didn’t happen to bring any disguises, did you?”
Tessa placed the computer on the table and stood. “I did, but they’re both female. What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking I need to get close to her family and see if I can feel their emotions. She knows my face as well as my identity. There’s no way I can test my theory without hiding who I am.”
“I can call Jonas and have him overnight a couple masks to us. That’ll give you a day to come up with a plan instead of just showing up at her home and bumbling your way through.”
“I’ll call him. I know just the disguise I’m going to use.”
“Yeah? What’s that?”
Tamian’s eyes sparkled. “You’ll see. For now, though, I’d like for you to keep tabs on the males. If they leave, find out where they go.”
“You got it.”
Tamian went back into the bedroom, retrieved his phone, and called his uncle. After that was taken care of, Tamian got on the internet and did a little research. If he was going to get close to Harlow’s family, he needed to transform himself into someone completely different.
Kyllian stormed back into the house and tossed a busted-up camera onto the kitchen table. “This is completely unacceptable, Lucia.” Rarely did one of her family call her anything other than Lucy or Luce, but when they called her Lucia, she knew she was in trouble.
“I agree, Ian.” At breakfast, Lucy had confided in her uncles about her suspicions on being set up. As soon as the words left her mouth, Ian and Denny had stormed from the house to check the perimeter. Lucy was the only one who called them by their childhood names. To the Hounds, the
y were Kayos and Havyk. “It’s why I called Rory over.” Lucy glanced at her grandmother, begging silently for her to remain quiet about Tamian St. Claire.
“So now both of you are being followed,” Kyllian seethed. The brothers had overheard Lucy and Rory talking. They knew which cameras belonged on the property because they installed them. It wouldn’t be hard to figure out if someone had added their own to the mix.
“Lucy’s situation is worse, though, because there’s a Gargoyle after her.”
“Rory!” Lucy couldn’t believe her grandmother betrayed her. Then again, Rory was the matriarch of the Hounds. She was tough and fierce, and she would do anything to keep her family safe, even if it was to “out” Lucy.
“What? I said I wouldn’t tell your father. I said nothing about these two. We’ve not remained hidden from the Gargoyles all these years just to have one stumble upon us now.”
Lucy thumped her head on the table. She wanted to handle Tamian St. Claire herself. In more ways than one. Something about the Gargoyle called to her on a primal level, and if her family went after him, it would get ugly.
“Why is a Gargoyle after you?”
“Because I’m irresistible? Hell, I don’t know. I ran into him in Norway, and I think he was more interested in why I was there, in the shifter town that’s supposed to be a secret, than he was in me personally. When I left the country, he followed.”
“Is it possible he’s responsible for the cameras? Could he be in bed with whoever is after you inside the government?”
“Anything’s possible; we all know that. But I don’t think so. I think Ta— the Gargoyle is just curious. I didn’t feel threatened by him.” Lucy prayed her uncles didn’t catch her almost slip. Just because she knew who he was didn’t mean she was going to share that information with her family. She wasn’t lying when she said she didn’t feel threatened. She also wouldn’t share what she did feel when around the male.
