The happy mood usually present during breakfast at the manor was overshadowed by Jonathan’s declining health. Priscilla tried her best to smile, but her heartbreak at the inevitability of losing her brother was palpable. Instead of fussing over everyone and making sure they all had enough to eat, she excused herself to take her brother a plate. Julian could only imagine how the woman was feeling. Being a Gargoyle, death wasn’t something they had to worry about unless they were at war. Only when the beloved housekeeper was in her and Jonathan’s part of the manor did Rafael bring up the topic of Katherine.

“Tell us everything, Jules.”

“Tessa and I are going to impersonate a couple of FBI agents who have been in and out of FSM the last week. Sophia is having Jonas fabricate prosthetics to that end. Gregor and Tessa have already flown out this morning to begin recon on the female agent. As soon as we are finished here, I will head back to Texas. I have blueprints of the prison, but I haven’t been able to find out where they are keeping Katherine. Once we have enough intel, Tessa and I will incapacitate the agents, go in posing as them, find my mate, and bring her home.”

“Surely it won’t be as easy as all that,” Kaya said.

“Of course not, but I am confident with Tessa’s help, we will be successful.” Julian admired his Queen. As former chief of police, the human was smart and not afraid to speak her mind. She also had no qualms about expressing her dislike for Katherine. Having had run-ins with each other over the last few years at crime scenes, Julian could understand Kaya’s reluctance to accept Kat as easily as she had the other mates. No one really knew anything about Katherine other than the little interaction they’d had with her in a professional setting. Julian didn’t know the real Katherine Fox, either, but he was looking forward to finding out all about his mate. He wasn’t going to worry about how the others felt about her.

Since he and Tessa didn’t have a definitive plan in place, there wasn’t much more discussion about it. After breakfast, Julian asked Nik and Sophia to follow him outside. The three of them sat on the patio sipping coffee as Julian told Sophia, “I need a favor from you. If you would, please find a way into Katherine’s home and get some of her clothes and her toiletries. I want to be able to make her comfortable as soon as I have her home, and I think having those things will help.”

Grinning, she said, “Looks like I get to have a little adventure too, even if it is in town. I’ll get JoJo to make a Katherine mask, and I’ll wear it while I’m there. If anyone asks, I’ll tell them I’m her twin.”

Nikolas groaned, but he didn’t disagree. “And I’ll be close by. Just in case.”

“Of course you will, Gorgeous.” Sophia grabbed his free hand and clasped their fingers together.

Julian had initially planned to talk to Rafe about Landon. After Sophia mentioned not trusting the Goyle, Julian had thought back to everything the male had done and accomplished since arriving in New Atlanta. Julian had been so caught up in Katherine and what she was going through it only made sense he turn over the day-to-day tasks of the lab to Landon. Having done so, Julian directed his focus to his mate without paying much attention to how Landon was accomplishing the things Julian hadn’t been able to. Now, instead of trusting him, Julian felt an unease where the Goyle was concerned.

Instead of going to the lab to check up on the other male, Julian had logged onto the mainframe as soon as he woke and spied on Landon. After three hours of nothing that raised a red flag, Julian decided his unease was unsupported. He didn’t mention Landon to Nik or Sophia since he had found nothing alarming earlier.

With everything in place on this end of things, Julian stood. “I need to hit the road. I will call you as soon as I arrive in Texas and get settled. Tessa will have already secured a place for us to stay, and she will give you the address where you can ship the prosthetics. Please let me know if Jonas has an issue with helping us or if the masks will be delayed for any reason.”

“He’s already working on them. Well, the two for you and Tessa. Once he’s finished with those, I’ll have him fabricate the one for me. He has no issue helping us, Julian. My grandfather wants nothing more than for all the Gargoyles to be as happy as he is with Caroline. He realizes trying to keep us apart was a fool’s endeavor.”

“Good. I am going to visit with Jonathan for a few minutes before I take off. I cannot thank you both enough for–”

“Stop it. Were you not in Egypt when I was looking for this one?” Nik asked, holding up Sophia’s hand. “It’s what we do, Jules. I would go to the deepest pits of the vilest realms to rescue Sophia so she and I can be together, and I would go with you to ensure you have the same happiness with your mate. I want you to know this level of love. I want our daughter to have cousins to grow up with.”

“Do you not plan on having more than one child?”

“I don’t know that I can afford Sophia being pregnant more than once. Our grocery bill has doubled in the past couple of months.”  Nik didn’t duck quickly enough. Sophia clipped him on the back of the head, but the smile on her face told the real story. Julian hadn’t missed the fact that she ate three platefuls of food for breakfast. She was carrying a Gargoyle after all. With her being a half-blood, they were all interested to see if the baby was going to transition early like a full-blood, or wait until later in life when she found her mate like her mother had. He was looking forward to having his own children with Katherine.

Julian smiled down at his brother and sister-in-law. They hadn’t needed a human wedding to know they were bonded for life. However, Sophia had legally changed her last name to Stone. A piece of paper didn’t make her family. The love she had for his brother did. Julian wanted to have that kind of love returned to him. He was eager to get to Texas and get his mate so they could begin their life together. Nikolas stood, pulling Sophia to her feet. Julian gave her a quick kiss on her cheek before bending over and talking to her belly.

“You take good care of your mommy, and don’t forget your uncle Jules loves you.” When he rose back up, Nik had a funny look on his face. Instead of saying anything, he pulled Julian in for a tight embrace. He could tell through their own bond his brother wasn’t upset with him. If anything, Nikolas was over-the-moon happy.

“I love you, Jules.”

“I love you too, Nik. I’ll be in touch.” He set his forehead against his older brother’s briefly before leaving the couple outside. He found his way to Jonathan and Priscilla’s wing and paused outside the door, reaching out with his senses to gauge the mood in the room. He sighed to himself at the conversation going on in the older human’s bedroom.

“Seriously, Prissy. You need to go back and take care of the family. Spoon feeding me isn’t helping me get better. If anything, you’re making me feel like I have one foot in the grave. I’m not dead yet.”

“I know that, but you need to keep up your strength. If I don’t feed you, you don’t clean your plate.”

“Because this, my dear sister, is not a plate. It’s a platter filled with more food than Frey can eat. I couldn’t eat this much food when I was twenty. Now, go on with you, and dry your tears. We’re human. Death is part of our lives, and I’ve had the best life I could possibly have. Between caring for Rafael and having you by my side all these years, I couldn’t ask for more.”

“But–”

Julian knocked on the door and interrupted. He knew if he didn’t, Priscilla would worry her brother to death. “Sorry to interrupt…” He wasn’t sorry, but he didn’t need the housekeeper to know that.

“Julian, please, come in.” Jonathan pushed the tray away from his chest, and Priscilla took it, shaking her head. Jonathan grinned at his sister before turning an even larger smile to Julian.

Once Priscilla was gone, Julian sat with the older man who’d been much like a father to all the Gargoyles over the years. Julian didn’t ask him how he was feeling. He made small talk before telling Jonathan about Katherine. Being in the lab more often than not didn’t allow Julian to interact with others frequently, but he wanted Jonathan to know how he felt about him. Life for humans was short, and Julian was afraid he might not get another opportunity to express his gratitude for Jonathan’s service to the family over the last forty years.

Julian stood, pausing by the bed before he took his leave. “I don’t know how long my trip will take. Hopefully, not long. I am ready to get Katherine away from the Feds and home where she belongs. Before I do that, I wanted to say thank you. You’ve been a bright light in my life, and for that I am grateful.”

Jonathan smiled again. “My dear Julian, it has been my privilege serving your family. I know I’m not long for this world, and the hardest part is watching my sister fall apart. When you live your life surrounded by immortals, you forget how fragile that life is. How short it is. But I have no regrets. Not one. Now, enough with the maudlin talk. You go get your mate and bring her home. I’ll do my best to still be here when you get back.” The older man winked at him, and Julian placed his hand on Jonathan’s shoulder and gave a small squeeze.

He sent a prayer to the gods that Jonathan would be able to hang on but only as long as was comfortable for him. He didn’t ask for anything beyond that, because it would be selfish. After making his way back to the front of the manor, Julian said his goodbyes and drove to the airport.

With the Gargoyles finding mates one after another, Sixx suggested to Rafael that the Stone Society invest in more than one company jet. He readily agreed considering all the miles they were racking up on commercial flights. Julian stretched out on one of the leather sofas and did his best to relax on his way to Texas, but he couldn’t shake the feeling something was wrong with Katherine. If they had completed the mate bond, he would better be able to reach her through that bond, but since they hadn’t, his mind was fabricating all types of scenarios and none of them good. By the time he landed, his beast was ready to jump out of the plane and go rip the FSM apart.

After securing a rental car, Julian typed in the address for the house Tessa had found for them into the GPS and set out. Instead of arriving at a house in a neighborhood, Julian found himself pulling down a long drive leading to a ranch. The house was situated on three hundred acres, roughly twenty miles away from FSM. Being in the middle of nowhere, it allowed Julian, Gregor, and Tessa all the privacy they would need. The land surrounding the house and barns had been neglected for quite a while by the looks of things. Even though Julian had lived in New Atlanta for over thirty years, he was more suited to a quiet area such as this one, but without the extreme heat. Even in April, the air was thick and stifling.

As Julian was putting the rental car in park, Gregor and Tessa stepped out onto the front porch. He grabbed his bags out of the trunk and strode through the gravel to the sidewalk. “This is a nice surprise,” he said, indicating the land surrounding them.

“Sixx found it for us. He’s itching to get back into the mix of things now that he and Rae have settled in,” Gregor said.

“I guess there is only so much surfing one Goyle can do,” Julian replied. He followed his cousin and Tessa inside, looking around at the cavernous space. The great room, kitchen, and dining room were all open, forming one large area.

“The bedrooms are down the hallway to your left. They aren’t very big, but they’re clean,” Tessa explained.

“No problem. Let me put my things in one of them, and we will get busy.” Julian set one bag down and took the others to the first bedroom he came to. He doubted he would get much sleep until he had Katherine safely out of the hands of the Feds. When he returned, he picked up the bag and took it to the large farmhouse table. Julian could imagine several rough cowboys sitting around, eating a big meal, and shooting the shit.

“Are you hungry?” Gregor asked as Julian removed a black box and laptop from the bag.

“I could eat,” he admitted. Julian glanced up to where Gregor was moving around the kitchen putting sandwiches together. They’d been around each other enough for his cousin to know he wasn’t picky. While Julian continued setting up his equipment, Tessa brought her own laptop to the table to connect wirelessly to the portable satellite receiver. By the time they both connected, Gregor had lunch on the table.

“We drove by FSM on the way here,” Gregor said. “Are you sure you and Tessa can get in and get Katherine out by yourselves? That place is fucking huge.”

“It will be tough, but I don’t want to risk too many of their agents missing at one time. I have a rough plan put together, but I want Tessa to observe Agent Rayaz and get a feel for her schedule. I am hoping she can monitor her closer up than I was able to get to Agent Everhart. I am going to have to tap into his phone to record his voice. I know we will do the same with Rayaz, but Tessa will need to study the woman’s mannerisms.”

“Do you want me to set up a live feed from Everhart’s home? How secure is his house?” Tessa asked.

“He has a standard alarm system, nothing special. I would rather you tail Rayaz. Gregor and I can handle Everhart’s house; that is, if you are okay with breaking and entering,” Julian said to his cousin.

“I’m fine with whatever it takes to get Katherine out of that place. I know I swore to uphold the law, but this is a mate we’re doing this for. The way I see it, they went above and beyond by putting Katherine in FSM. Even if she were guilty of what she has been accused of, there’s no reason for her to be in that facility. Hell, she’s what, a hundred pounds soaking wet?”

“Something like that. As far as I know, she has no martial arts training, so she poses no threat. I agree; putting her there was overkill. Besides, if they are worth their own weight, it won’t take them long to figure out she has no knowledge about weapons and selling government secrets. Even the deepest form of mind probing will come up with absolutely nothing.” Julian couldn’t bear the thought of the types of manipulation, either mental or physical, Katherine was being subjected to. Now that he was back in Texas, Julian was going to meditate as often as possible. He needed to reach his mate and let her know he was close by.

“Tessa, if you leave as soon as you’re finished eating, you will have time to get to the facility so you can follow Rayaz home or wherever it is she goes, that is, if she keeps to a similar schedule as Everhart. Gregor, if you want to take my car and follow Tessa, you can tail Everhart. He never deterred from his routine while I was watching him, but there is a first time for everything.”

“What are you going to do?” Tessa asked.

“I am going to study the layout of the facility in depth by cross-referencing the blueprints with the schematics to see if anything was modified. I would hate to get inside and get locked in because we hadn’t looked at every angle. I am also going to meditate. I need to try to reach Kat. Call me when you’re on your way back, and I will cook supper.”

“Ten-four,” Tessa said, grabbing her backpack. Julian didn’t want to know what the half-blood kept with her, but he didn’t need to. He’d learned early on that Gregor’s mate was smart and more than capable of accomplishing whatever task was set out before her. He often wondered if Jonas somehow knew that Tessa was special when he cloned her, thus using her cells when he cloned the others over the years. He also wondered about Tamian, Tessa’s cloned brother. With both Tessa’s and Jonas’s DNA making up the male’s anatomy, surely he was something special. Julian wished Tamian had stuck around instead of hiding out after Tessa mated with Gregor.

“We’ll be back soon,” Gregor said, pulling Julian from his musings. Once the two of them were headed out the long driveway, Julian decided to take a look around. He wanted to get familiar with the house as well as the grounds surrounding them. Gregor had probably already scoped the perimeter, but it never hurt to be familiar with where things were, such as places someone could hide. Julian wasn’t worried about Gregor or himself, but Tessa wasn’t bulletproof. Neither was Kat. Not that they would be bringing her back to the ranch for long. As soon as he had his hands on his mate, Julian wanted to go straight to the airfield and put her on a plane back to Georgia.

When he opened the back door, the oppressive Texas heat smacked Julian in the face. He took a deep breath of the thick air and walked outside. Using his Gargoyle sight, he scanned the area past the empty barn all the way to the tree line. Other than an occasional bird, nothing stirred. He walked to the barn and pulled open the large door. The building was dark and dank. The lingering scent of horses met his sensitive nose. Flipping the switch, a couple of lights illuminated the middle of the barn. Julian checked out each stall as well as the tack room and loft. The overhead area was a good place for someone to hide and watch the back of the house without being noticed.

Julian jumped from the loft to the floor below and sought out a hammer and nails. Various tools and supplies were strewn in what appeared to have been used as an office at one time. Finding what he was looking for, Julian wrenched a piece of wood from one of the stall walls and took it back up to the door of the loft. Someone could easily remove the barricade, but it would at least deter them a few minutes.

After returning the hammer to the office, Julian headed back inside. His loafers as well as his skin were covered in dust. He loved the outdoors, but he preferred the quiet solitude his property offered, with its vivid green lawn and water fountain surrounded by large trees. Texas could keep its wide-open dustbowl. Wanting to wash the grit away, Julian made his way to the room he’d chosen and retrieved clean clothes from his bag. He grabbed his toiletries and entered the bathroom. It was small, even by today’s human home standards. The house must have been built at least a hundred years before.

Julian found the water pressure to be adequate, and he stood under the steady spray, allowing it to beat down over his shoulders. While he was enjoying the water, he closed his eyes and reached out to Kat. He doubted she’d be able to receive him, but he had to try.