A knock sounded, and Alistair called out, “What?”

Demetri opened the door and said, “Your daughter is on the phone for you. Do you wish to speak to her?”

“Why are you answering the phone instead of watching Darian?”

“Darian is on the training field sparring. He never leaves the field while he is instructing the others. He will be on the field for at least another hour. Your daughter?” The Gargoyle sounded bored. When had Alistair lost the upper hand when it came to his Clan?

“I’ll take it, but do not go anywhere,” he grumbled. Demetri remained where he was as Alistair picked up the handset. “Kallisto, I’m rather busy.”

“I have good news, Father. I have found someone to work on the computers until we can locate Achilles.”

“If you have not figured out by now that we will not be able to locate Achilles, you are even dumber than I thought. Who is this male?”

“He’s a human, Father, but he is a capable hacker.”

Alistair groaned, not bothering to hide his disdain from Kallisto. “Fine. But if he fails at any task I set before him, I will take his head and you will watch. Is that clear?”

“Yes, Father. I–”

Alistair hung up the phone. He didn’t need to speak to Kallisto any longer. He had other matters to tend to. More pressing matters than chatting with the human he was growing tired of. Kallisto had lost his respect when she failed him while in the States.

“Demetri, I expected a full report on where you and Darian went last night and who he spoke to. Is it too much to ask to get that now?” he seethed.

“No, Your Highness. We went to the pub and had a few beers. Darian spoke to no one except for me and the waitress. He only spoke to her to place his order. We left there and went to The Drake. Same as with the pub, Darian drank a few beers and spoke to the waitress. He danced with a human female, but they didn’t do much talking. Afterwards, we came back to the Villa.”

“What did he say to the human he danced with?” Alistair didn’t trust anyone, even his first in command.

“He told her how pretty she looked, how good she smelled, and how he would love nothing more than to take her home and fuck her all night long. She took offense to the crassness of his words, slapped him across the face, and left him standing alone on the dance floor.”

Alistair raised his eyebrows. “And he let her get away with the offense?” No human should be allowed to touch a Gargoyle in defiance and get away with it.

“He merely laughed, Sire.”

“And what would you have done if a human slapped you?”

“I’d have followed the bitch and ripped her head off.”

“Do you have any doubts as to Darian’s loyalties to me or this Clan?”

“No, Your Highness. He’s been nothing except diligent in training the warriors for battle. He drills the importance of loyalty into their heads.”

“Very well. You are relieved of following him at all times, but Demetri, should Darian stray for any reason at all, it is you I will come after first.”

“As is your right, Sire.” Demetri inclined his head out of respect and left Alistair alone. The Gargoyle was drab and spoke in a monotone voice, but Alistair believed him to be truthful. He was as large as Darian, but not nearly as handsome. When Darian accused Alistair of wanting to see him naked, he’d been close to correct. It wasn’t that Alistair wanted the male, but he did enjoy watching him in action with the human whores. Too bad Darian wasn’t into being watched. Alistair could demand his presence in the bedroom, but he needed the male focused on training. Now that Athena was dead, it was only a matter of time until Rafael brought war to Ithaca.

 

It was late when Sinclair’s plane landed. He and Rocky arrived at the manor a little before midnight. Kaya had waited up with Rafael to welcome the newest mate back to their home. Since the Goyles didn’t need sleep, Frey and Urijah were also there waiting. After everyone had said their hellos, Kaya took Rocky to the room she would share with Sin while they were in New Atlanta and left the males to talk.

“Brother,” was all Rafael said before Sin pulled him into a tight embrace. They stood for several minutes comforting each other in the loss of their mother. They didn’t have actual confirmation from anyone in Greece of their mother’s passing, but no one doubted the vision Connor had. The boy had yet to be wrong. “I called the twins, and I am waiting to hear back from them,” Rafael said as he and Sin released each other. “Neither has heard from Donovan, but they said that was not unusual.”

“How is Connor?” Sin asked.

“Dante said he is taking this hard. All his other visions have helped the Clan in one way or another, whether helping to find someone or giving a positive insight into the future. This is the first one that has been about death.”

“I can’t imagine having such a burdensome gift being as young as he is.”

“I discussed this with Connor. I told him I appreciate everything he does for our family, but still, he is only seven. Dante and Isabelle will get him through it.”

“Last time I was here, we all agreed to wait until we had more intel before storming Alistair’s compound. Have your thoughts changed?” Sin asked.

“Yes. I am tired of sitting around waiting for him to come to us, and I have no doubt he will if we do not strike first. Besides that, I want to find out what he did with Mother’s body. She needs a proper burial. I have tasked Landon with getting all information he can with regards to the layout of the compound.”

Frey added, “I called Bryce. He has some former military buddies who are now members of a covert group of operatives. The types of missions they go on are exactly what we’ll need guidance with. And before you ask, yes, I trust him as well as the humans he’s working with. Since Alistair owns all of Ithaca, we’ll need the best military resources we can get. Your uncle will have eyes and ears everywhere, so it’s going to be tough to pull off a surprise.”

“How long has it been since Bryce saw these buddies? Won’t they be suspicious of him not aging?” Sin asked.

Frey grinned. “A few years back, Bryce told them he was part of a secret experiment when he was younger that made him stronger and ageless. They wanted to know where they could sign up.”

 “I think one of the first things we need to decide is how many of our Clan we need to take with us and how we’re going to get that many Gargoyles to Greece undetected,” Uri said.

“I agree. If we don’t hear from Donovan soon, someone is going to have to make a trip to the compound one way or another. Hunter offered to go, but since he’s Carter’s twin, Alistair would recognize him. We need someone else.” Rafael stood to pour them all a drink when his phone rang. “It’s Hunter,” he informed the others. “Hunter, I have you on speaker. Sinclair, Frey, and Urijah are here with me.”

“I got a message from Donovan. It was a little cryptic. Seems he got away from the compound and got a message to some female he was dancing with. It took her a while to find me at the marina. Anyway, the message was this – Athena wanted a vacation away from Zeus. The tunnels can be cleared at one twenty.”

“The first part proves our suspicions; she willed herself to cross over. Do you have any idea what he meant about the tunnels?” Sin asked.

“I spoke to Carter about that since he lived at the compound on Poros. He mentioned the tunnels running underneath where they were able to escape when they rescued Isabelle. It probably means there are tunnels on Ithaca as well. We can only guess to the one twenty reference. We believe that’s how many Goyles he has there during training.”

“That’s a lot of males to be housed in one facility,” Frey said.

“They aren’t all housed there. Most of them come and go for training. That much I’ve been able to observe with my own eyes. I’m going to continue monitoring their activities to get their schedules down as well as how many actually live at the villa. If we can get into the compound when the least Clan members are there, we’ll have a better chance of getting to Alistair,” Hunter said.

“We? Hunter, I appreciate you helping us gather the information we need, but this is not your fight, Brother,” Rafe stated.

“I pledged my loyalty to Xavier who in turn pledged his to you. I will be honored to fight alongside your Clan.”

“And we would be honored to have you,” Sin said, sending Rafael a silent message.

“We are putting together our plan to gather our troops and travel to Greece. We should have something in place within a week. We will keep you posted as to our arrangements. In the meantime, please let us know anything else that might be of help.”

“I will be in touch.” 

Rafael disconnected. “One hundred twenty times two. That’s a lot of Gargoyles fighting to hide from humans.”

“We need to wait on Hunter to give us the schedule. If we can ascertain the optimum time for sneaking in, we can do it with only as many Brothers as we need to take out his males and grab him as well. This is the type of plan Bryce is working on – not a full-scale war. We don’t need to run the risk of humans seeing Gargoyles fully phased,” Frey added.

“So all we can do is wait,” Rafael said, not looking too happy about it. “Uri, plan on at least fifty males to begin with. If we need to add to or cut that number, we will. I want those fifty ready to move out at a moment’s notice.” Uri inclined his head. “Frey, as soon as you hear from Bryce, call us and we will gather again. We will give you a call if Hunter gets back in touch with us.”

Urijah and Frey said their goodbyes and left the manor to return to their homes. Rafael and Sin poured another drink and toasted their mother in silent regard before heading to where their mates were waiting for them. As soon as Rafael closed the door, Kaya turned toward him. “How did it go?”

“There are still a lot of variables we do not know, but things are falling in place. If I am correct, my uncle will be joining my mother within the next few weeks,” he said not so cryptically. Kaya pulled back the covers, inviting Rafael to join her in bed. He quickly shed his clothes, not bothering to put them in the laundry hamper in the bathroom. He needed the feel of his Queen’s skin against his. The soothing touch only she could give him. The sound of his son’s heartbeat melding with Kaya’s as he held her close. Rafael was all for making love to his mate, but in that moment, he needed the calm she and their son brought to him more.

 

 

Julian relieved Gregor from studying the monitors so he could stretch his legs. Tessa had watched Agent Rayaz until the woman finally went to bed. Afterwards, she had finished Julian’s voice transmitter and showed him how it worked. Afterwards, Tessa used the living area to practice mimicking the human’s walk with Gregor giving her pointers. They made such a good team, and it made Julian smile. Tessa was a foul-mouthed redhead with a sassy attitude, but when it came time to get serious, she was all business.

Rafael had called Gregor earlier to inquire how things were going and to give them what little bit of information they had regarding their plan to go after Alistair. Neither had much to offer, but Julian felt he was getting closer to rescuing his mate. They had taken turns looking at the maps of the basement, studying the layout of the first floor, and reciting to memory where everything was located. Gregor had practiced with the controls to certain doors. He waited until a guard was close to a door, and he flipped the switch, shutting the man out. When the man tried his keycard again, Gregor reversed the action, and the guard was able to get through, shrugging his shoulders at the glitch.

Tessa eventually excused herself to bed. Since she was a half-blood, she needed more sleep than the males did. Instead of joining her, Gregor continued studying and monitoring alongside Julian. He didn’t offer more words of appreciation to his cousin. They weren’t needed. Up to that point, Julian had played a large part in helping rescue the other mates, so he knew it was time to be repaid. As Tessa said earlier, it’s what family did. Once Tessa mated with Gregor, her father, Xavier, had pledged his Clan’s loyalty and assistance for anything they needed. It’s the way it should be between all Clans, not just those whose mates had bonded.

When morning rolled around, Julian was ready to crawl out of his skin with the need to talk to Katherine. He’d tried to reach out to her a couple of times, but there was too much going on in the room between the monitors at the prison and the cameras in both agents’ houses for him to really concentrate. He took a break and headed outside where the only noise was a random airplane flying overhead. He didn’t bother stepping into the barn. He paused on the back porch and closed his eyes. Julian called out to Katherine several times, but she didn’t respond. The sound of a vehicle coming down the drive interrupted the quietness, so he walked around to the front of the house.

A brown delivery truck pulled up in front of him and stopped. The driver hopped out with a couple of packages. “Good morning. I’m looking for Tessa Stone,” he drawled.

“She is in the house. Can I sign for her?”

“No can do. She has to sign for these herself, I’m afraid.”

Julian nodded and turned to go inside just as the front door opened. “I’m Tessa,” she told the driver. After she signed her name, he handed her the deliveries and bid them a good day. “Sweet. Now we have everything to become Agents Rayaz and Everhart,” she said looking at the items in her hands. Julian followed her inside where she carefully opened both packages. The first contained the brunette wig Tessa ordered the day before, and the second was from Sophia. Tessa carefully retrieved the prosthetics Jonas had made for them.

“These are creepy,” Julian muttered. He had seen both Tessa and Sophia wear them, but it still amazed him how close to perfect the masks were. Julian would never get used to how brilliant Jonas was. He was glad the Gargoyle had come around to the Clan’s side once Tessa mated with Gregor. “I need to get a haircut at some point.”

“I can trim it for you,” Tessa said. Julian raised his eyebrows as she pulled a pair of small scissors out of her bag. Julian cut his eyes to Gregor who was grinning.

“You can trust her, Jules. She cuts mine all the time,” Gregor said, running his hand through his dark hair.

“Come on and sit down,” Tessa instructed, pulling one of the chairs into the kitchen.

“Now?”

“Why not now? You never know when all the pieces are going to fall in place and we’ll be ready to move in. I promise I know what I’m doing.”

Julian shrugged and sat down in the chair. Tessa went to the table and found a photo of Terry Everhart. She placed it on the counter where she could compare it to Julian’s hair. “His is quite a bit shorter than yours, but the good thing is it’ll grow back. Oh, hang on a sec…” Tessa disappeared into the bathroom and returned with a towel she placed around Julian’s neck. Fifteen minutes later, she said, “All done.” Tessa removed the towel, brushing stray hair off his shirt. “Go on, I know you want to see it,” she said, motioning toward the bathroom.

Julian should have known by the way Gregor nodded that his hair looked fine. What surprised him most when he caught his reflection in the mirror was how it now looked exactly like the agent’s hair. He was feeling better about being able to pull off impersonating the human. When he returned to the kitchen, he said, “Thanks, Tessa. It’s perfect.”

Instead of gloating, she smiled and said, “You’re welcome.” She had already swept the floor and was washing her hands when she said, “Has Rayaz left her house yet?”

“No, she’s talking on her phone right now,” Gregor answered.

Julian transferred the feed to Tessa’s laptop and set it on the counter in front of her so she could listen in. He was pulling a soda from the refrigerator when the agent’s words caught his attention.

“I know what the evidence shows, Joe, but I’m telling you, Katherine Fox doesn’t know anything about what she’s been accused of. I’ve seen some strong men break under the pressure of what this woman has been through. She’s a news reporter, for God’s sake. She has been put through the proverbial ringer. If she knew anything, she’d have talked long before now.” Rayaz cradled the phone between her ear and shoulder while she fixed her coffee. “I don’t care what Liza Grant said. The woman is a prison guard, not a trained federal agent. It’s a wonder Miss Fox is still alive after what that bitch did to her.”

Julian’s hands fisted at his side. He committed Liza Grant’s name to memory and would deal with her once this was over. “I’m telling you, Joe… So she said some things that were contradictory. Of course her memory’s distorted. If you saw your mother murdered right in front of you when you were seven, you’d probably have some cognitive issues as well… I understand, but I’m telling you this woman is innocent.”

Julian couldn’t breathe. He was glad to hear the agent was seeing the truth of the matter, but what she said about Kat’s childhood... How could he not know that about her? Her mother had been murdered? Julian needed to do more digging into his mate’s background, but first he was ready to put their plan into action. He wasn’t going to wait any longer.