Kallisto called Hagen’s name four times before the young man looked up from the computer screen. “Is everything okay?” she asked, frustrated with his inattentiveness to her.

“No, it’s not. We… I have something to tell you.”

“Well?”

“It’s about the money,” he started explaining, but quickly looked back at the computer screen. Kallisto had asked Hagen to transfer the money he’d been skimming from Alistair into an account in her name. If he had done as instructed, Kallisto would be able to leave the country and hide out for a while, regardless of whether or not Alistair won the battle with the Stone Society. She couldn’t help Sergei even if she traveled to America, so she wasn’t going to risk it. She would wait for her best friend to get out of prison, and only then would she contact him. Drago, Kavin, and Burk were on their own as far as she was concerned. She had given them the means to start a new life as leaders of the Unholy, and it was up to them to make things work. Cutting ties with the Gargoyles was the only way she saw her future playing out.

“The money… It’s not there.”

“What do you mean, it’s not there?”

“I mean, when I went in to transfer the funds from the offshore account to the new one, the money wasn’t there. At least not all of it.”

“How much is left?” This couldn’t be happening. Not now.

“Half a million.”

“You mean to tell me you’ve lost almost nine million euros?”

Hagen wouldn’t look at her. “I didn’t lose it exactly. I think someone took it.”

“Then find it!” Kallisto yelled. One of the Gargoyles stepped into the room to see if she was okay, but she waved her hand at him. “Sorry. Hagen’s trying to track down the latest order I placed for a pair of shoes,” she said, praying the creature hadn’t used his shifter hearing before he entered the room. She didn’t need the Goyle to call Alistair and alert him to her transgressions. The male inclined his head before leaving them alone.

“Find that money. Now,” she seethed under her breath. Hagen was already tapping away at the keyboard. If he didn’t locate the money, she was screwed. Who would have anything to gain by sabotaging Kallisto? Only two names came to mind: Achilles and Julian Stone. Both were smart enough to hack into her system and figure out what she and Hagen had been up to. Neither one needed the money. Achilles had no reason to steal from Kallisto other than just because he could. Julian, on the other hand, had plenty of reasons, the main one being the way Kallisto interfered with his family.

Hagen looked over his shoulder at her every so often as she paced behind the desk where he was sitting. After an hour, he threw his hands up and groaned. “Nothing is working!”

Kallisto put one hand on his shoulder, her long fingernails digging into his skin. She leaned in and whispered, “Put ten million into my account. I don’t give a rat’s ass where you get it. I’m going upstairs to pack. When I come back down, it better be taken care of.”

Hagen didn’t respond other than to nod as he got busy with her demands. Kallisto had no idea if Alistair had the house wired with security cameras to keep an eye on her, so she had to be discreet in her escape. She had planned on waiting for the shit to hit the fan with the Stone Society, but she no longer had that luxury. She had to get the money and get the hell out of the country.

 

If Hector wasn’t busy helping the Stone Society, Landon would be trying to win his mate back. When he tried to convince Hector to go away with him all those months ago, his mate had done the honorable thing and stayed where he was needed. Landon was going to give him a week. That was plenty of time for the American Clan to dispose of Alistair. Since his mate was busy, Landon was bored, and he found something to occupy his time. He grinned as he countered every keystroke the young hacker made.

Kallisto was probably having a coronary right about then. Hagen had showed his hand too early by opening the browser to the new checking account in Kallisto’s name. If she’d been smart, she would have taken care of getting a new identity before she started her getaway. As it were, her new account was empty, and the offshore account was a few million euro short of what she’d taken from her father. If Landon was truly vindictive, he would have alerted the King to the nefarious goings-on on Poros. That distraction would help Hector and the Americans, but Landon had faith in Rafael’s Clan to handle the Greek King. The Greek’s money was safely waiting for the new King to take over.

After putting a couple of automatic hacks in place to keep Hagen from succeeding at finding where the money had gone, Landon stepped out onto the balcony of the houseboat and leaned his forearms on the railing. His thoughts strayed to the last time he had been docked at the marina and how he’d asked Hector to go away with him. This time, he wasn’t taking no for an answer.

 

 

Rafael and Travis were going over the plans for a new office building Stone, Inc. had been contracted to construct. Rafael’s mind was on the Clan members in Greece, and Travis’s thoughts were on whatever they were on when he got lost for a few minutes. The young human was doing well physically, but there were still days where he mentally got trapped in the moment his girlfriend had been killed and he’d nearly lost his own life.

Rafael was patient with him and steered Travis’s focus back to the task at hand with a kind word, having spoken with the therapist Travis was seeing about the best way to help with his PTSD. Being Gargoyle, Rafael had seen his own share of traumatic events over the years, including the death of his father. He often had nightmares of the day Edmondo Di Pietro’s head was severed, leaving Rafael to either lay down his sword or fight to the death with the Goyle who challenged the throne, so he understood getting lost in a memory.

A familiar voice was speaking with Willow in the lobby, and Rafael felt it was a good time to take a break. “Trevor is here,” he told Travis. Trevor had been through as much as his older brother at the hands of Theron Gianopoulos. He had also taken a human’s life when Abbi’s husband was trying to kill Jasper and Matthew. For whatever reason, Trevor seemed to be doing better than Travis, but that was probably because Trevor had Jasper as a mate to calm the fears and soothe the worries.

Travis looked up from the plans, his eyes coming back into focus. “I’m sorry?”

“Trevor is here. Why don’t you go say hello and save Mason from having a stroke.” Rafael had explained to Travis the situation with Mason and Willow. Rafe was doing his best to get Mason to claim his mate, but the young Goyle was still hesitant. In human years, he was only eighteen, but as a Goyle, he appeared in his twenties. Rafael’s assistant was patiently waiting on Mason to make a move. Rafe and Kaya had told Willow the truth of the Goyles and why Mason acted the way he did. It was a lot for the young woman to accept, but she and Kaya had a special bond, and Kaya was helping Willow as much as Rafael was trying to aid Mason.

“Good idea,” Travis said. “I’d hate for Mason to take out Trevor just because he’s being, well, Trevor.” Travis headed to the lobby where Willow’s desk was. She was the best assistant Rafe ever had, and if Mason would ever seal their bond, Rafe would have Willow around for a long time to come.

Rafe leaned back in his leather chair and closed his eyes. Rarely did he feel anything but pride at being King of the Stone Society, but the past few months had been trying. It was as though the gods wanted to test his mettle in giving him not one thing to worry about, but several. Rafael wondered if his father had been tried during his reign as King. Had he worried about becoming a father? Had he been faced with crazy uncles who tormented mates left and right? Had his faithful human companion suffered from a disease with no known cure but only harsh means to counteract it for a while?

Rafe sighed and ran both hands through his hair. He trusted those he’d sent to Greece to take care of Alistair, one way or another. He trusted his mate to take care of their unborn child until he made his appearance in the world. What he didn’t trust was the cancer spreading through Jonathan. The human had been like a father to Rafael, as well as his brothers and cousins, over the last thirty or so years. He knew it was coming, but Rafael wasn’t ready to let his friend go. Not yet. He’d lost one father, and he didn’t want to mourn another.

Rafael’s cell phone rang, breaking him away from the maudlin thoughts. “Hello, Julian,” he said when he connected the call.

“Rafe, I think I found Kallisto’s buddies,” Julian said, getting right to the point. “I’ve been monitoring the Unholy’s movements, and the south side of the city has been busier than usual. I thought you might want to have Malakai focus on that area during patrols.”

“Absolutely. Just because our attention is in Greece doesn’t mean we can slack off here in our own back yard. If I didn’t know better, I would say Kallisto planned it this way to distract us.”

“From what I’ve gathered, Kallisto is planning an escape, not helping her father. She’s been skimming money from his accounts. It wouldn’t surprise me if she resurfaced here in the States with the hope of getting Sergei out of the Pen.”

“That won’t happen. If she does show up, she will find herself locked up as well. Kallisto caused too much harm as far as I’m concerned. I have no problem with putting her away and losing the key.”

Julian chuckled. “I like the way you think, Brother. Katherine is at the manor with Kaya, and she mentioned something about supper together, so I will see you later.”

“Sounds good.” Rafael hung up and stood from his desk to go make sure Trevor still had all his limbs intact.

 

 

Travis couldn’t believe how much his life had changed in six months. He had recovered physically from being shot – by a Gargoyle, no less – and according to his therapist, he was getting stronger each week mentally. Trevor had stopped going to their sessions, and Travis had to admit he was proud of his brother. Trevor had been through so much, even more so than Travis. Travis still missed Rachel, but the pain lessened each day. He had been ready to spend the rest of his life with her, and as much as he had wanted that, he prayed she wasn’t the only one out there for him. Travis didn’t want to spend his life alone with only Molly to care for.

That was another thing that had changed quickly. Instead of remaining in Trevor’s old apartment, Rafael had insisted Travis have a house where Molly had a fenced-in back yard. None of the Clan had pets, because animals didn’t like the beast inside the Gargoyles, but it didn’t mean the large males didn’t like Molly or want the Lab to be happy. He also found his home to be a weekend retreat for some of the human children, like Amelia and Connor who couldn’t have pets of their own. He didn’t mind having company at all. Travis always wanted children, and being around them made him happy. Even Amelia, as rambunctious as she was, helped soothe Travis’s heart.

Another thing that soothed his pain was seeing Trevor interact with his new family. While Jasper wasn’t related to anyone in the Clan, they were one big family when it came to how they treated each other, and since Trevor was Jasper’s mate, he was considered one of the Clan. Travis had been on the receiving end of their acceptance, and the more time he spent around them, the more he thought of them as family, too.

Trevor was a completely different person than the kid Travis left behind when he took off for college. If he had known how bad things were between Trevor and their parents, Travis would have done things differently. Both his and Trevor’s relationship with their father was getting back on track, but neither one of them could forgive their mother for her blatant disregard for Trevor’s feelings. Abbi was a year younger than Trevor, but she had taken him in and become a surrogate of sorts. More like a sister than a mother, but she’d still latched onto Trevor, and the two of them were close. With Trevor and Matthew spending so much time together, it made sense.

“What are you doing here, and where’s your bodyguard?” Travis asked Trevor. Jasper had made it clear he didn’t want Trevor alone until the threat of Alistair was taken care of.

“I was bored. Today is my day off, and Matthew’s at school. I thought I would come see if you wanted to have supper together.”

Travis almost laughed as Mason visibly relaxed. He didn’t know a lot about Gargoyles other than what Trevor and Jasper had told him, but Travis knew they were overprotective where their mates were concerned. Why Mason thought Trevor – who was admittedly gay and mated to a big male – would be there to flirt with Willow was almost funny. Anyone who’d ever been around his brother could see how in love Trevor and Jasper were. As were all the Goyles and their mates.

Travis often thought about Rachel when observing the mates together, and he realized he hadn’t loved her that much. He had loved her, but the more he analyzed their relationship, the more he thought maybe he had been settling with someone he was compatible with for the sake of not being alone. When those thoughts surfaced, Travis chastised himself and felt like a douche. Rachel had been a wonderful woman whose life had been cut short, and she had deserved someone who loved her more than life itself.

He noticed Trevor didn’t respond to his question of a bodyguard. He was going to ask about that when Rafael spoke up. “You are all welcome at the manor for supper. Julian is meeting Katherine there, and you know Priscilla cooks more than enough for everyone.”

Trevor shuffled from foot to foot with his hands in his pockets. Normally Travis wouldn’t think anything of it, but since his brother had mated with Jasper, he had become much surer of himself. Trevor glanced up at Travis then back down at his feet. Something was up. “I appreciate the offer, but I actually have some hamburger meat I need to grill tonight before the expiration runs out. Trev, burgers and beer sound good to you?”

Trevor nodded, but Rafael interrupted. “The invitation for supper stands nightly, but I do have to insist you not wander around by yourself while Jasper is out of the country. Where is Slade?”

Trevor’s pale skin pinkened. “I…” He stared at his feet until Rafael growled at him.

“Trevor.”

“He’s watching Matthew. I don’t want to get him in trouble, but he’s sitting outside the high school waiting for Matt to get done with his classes.”

“Deacon is supposed to be watching over Frey’s family.”

“Slade convinced him to swap off. Deacon is my shadow for the time being.”

Rafael sighed and looked at the ceiling, probably praying for patience. Sometimes getting to the bottom of things with Trevor could be trying. “So where is Deacon?” Rafael asked.

The front door flew open, and the large male in question stalked in, pointing at Trevor. “Not funny, kid. I won’t have Jasper or Dante kicking my ass because you couldn’t wait five fucking minutes!” Deacon roared. When he noticed Willow in the room, he held up his hands. “My apologies, Miss Willow.”

Willow’s eyes were wide, but the smirk on her face let everyone know she was immune to Gargoyles and their language. Mason, however, moved from his spot behind her to stand beside her. Deacon rolled his eyes at the move, but his attention immediately went back to Trevor.

Trevor shoved his hands back in his pockets and asked Deacon, “How do you feel about burgers and beer?”