Chapter Seven

 

Lucy had expected more of an uproar from her grandfather over Tamian St. Claire. What set him off, though, was whoever it was at work messing with her. The Gargoyle they would deal with, whatever that meant. But how could they protect her from the unknown? After a couple hours of back and forth, Lucy changed the subject and filled them in on the little information she’d gleaned about the Ministry since their last meeting. After that was taken care of, she told them she needed to get home. It wasn’t often she had a weekend to herself where she wasn’t traveling, and she wanted to enjoy what was left of it.

Without permission, Monk stood from his seat and pulled Lucy’s chair out for her. At that point, the meeting was obviously deemed adjourned, and Lucy promised her family she’d keep them apprised of any new developments. She’d never ridden on the back of the quiet male’s bike, but Lucy didn’t hesitate to climb behind him. She loved riding, and being behind a male as handsome as Monk wasn’t a hardship. On the way back to her house, instead of heading in the most direct route, Monk took the long way, winding through back roads for almost two hours. Somehow, he knew she’d needed the peace you could only get from riding the wind.

When they arrived at her home, Lucy eased off the back of the bike, squeezing Monk’s shoulders in the process. “Thank you,” she said. He tipped his chin in response and set off to do a perimeter check. Lucy left the alarm off, knowing he would reset it once he was inside. All the Hounds had been to her home, and they all knew her code. She didn’t wait around for him, because he would do whatever it was he wanted regardless of her plans.

The house was too large for one person. It had been too vast for three people, but it was hers outright, and she couldn’t find it in herself to move to something smaller. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Lucy imagined the house one day being filled with a husband and children. Any time she got those wistful thoughts, she wondered what her forever man looked like, but now…? Now it was Tamian St. Claire whose face she imagined.

Could Gryphons and Gargoyles mate? What would their offspring be? Special. That’s what. Lucy wasn’t worried about whether they’d be mostly Gryphon, because she’d always been in awe of the Gargoyles as a species. Having learned bits and pieces about them from Lucius had taught her about their kind, and she wasn’t one to discriminate. The more she thought about it, the more excited she became. Why was he following her? That was the question she pondered more than who at work had it out for her. If she had someone like Tamian as her mate, the two of them would no doubt be a force to be reckoned with.

Lucy had no way of finding him; she tried. A basic computer search came up empty, so maybe he’d find her again. If that happened, she was just going to ask him what he wanted with her. The direct route was often the easiest. Her family would no doubt yell at her for putting herself at risk, but she didn’t feel danger when she was around him. She felt an undeniable pull. Lucy knew about their genetic makeup, but she didn’t know about their societal norms.

After pouring herself a glass of tea, Lucy stepped out onto the back deck and sat down, relaxing in the quiet of her surroundings. The estate was a haven of sorts, even if she had security cameras monitoring the grounds for intruders and a quiet biker checking for sneaky Gargoyles. With Monk there, Lucy doubted Tamian would return, but she could hope.

 

 

Tamian returned to the hotel suite with enough Italian food to feed half their family, but both he and Tessa could put the lasagna and toast away like nobody’s business. “Anything happen while I was out?” He knew she would have called if anything worth speaking of had come up, but he still asked.

“Not since they returned a few minutes ago. I’ve rewound the feed so you can see for yourself.” Tamian watched as Harlow slid off the bike naturally, so it was something she was accustomed to. The biker followed Harlow, but neither of them spoke. While she went inside, the male remained outside and looked around. He strode around the perimeter of the large, stone house before entering through the door on the patio. Once inside, he punched in the code on her alarm panel before helping himself to a bottle of water out of the fridge. Harlow said something to him at that point before disappearing farther into her home. The male sat down at the island in the kitchen, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Since then, Harlow has been sitting outside relaxing, and the biker has checked the exterior and perimeter several times. The two of them haven’t spoken to each other since they got off the bike. By the looks of it, he’s there as a bodyguard and nothing more.”

Just because the biker wasn’t her boyfriend didn’t mean she didn’t have one. Still, Tamian was glad to hear that bit of news. It would make things easier going forward. After opening one of the little plastic cups of garlic sauce and setting it beside the bread, Tamian took his plate over to the sofa and watched the monitor. Skillfully, he dipped his bread into the sauce and shoved it into his mouth without dropping a speck.

“Why would a government agent need a bodyguard?” Tamian muttered.

“Why did you feel the need to follow me all over the world? I could take care of myself, probably better than your Harlow can.”

“Because you’re my sister.”

“So maybe they feel just as protective of Harlow as you do me.”

Tessa had a valid point, but until he knew for certain, he couldn’t help but imagine all sorts of scenarios, both good and bad. “She’s an agent for the GIA, lives on a large estate, and has a lot of money. What if her family isn’t watching out for her but using her? I know they’re family, but it hasn’t been that long since she found out she was adopted. Has Julian looked into the Hounds’ financial records?”

“Not that I’m aware of, but I can ask him to if it will make you feel better.”

“It would.” Tamian would be the first one to step in and defend his mate if her family was taking advantage of her in any way.

“I’ll email him now, but she didn’t seem threatened. Never once did she flinch or scowl at her grandmother and uncles earlier. Not even when they found the cameras.”

“Okay, so they aren’t a threat to her, but if they feel the need to have protection on her, something is going on.”

Tessa swallowed a bite of lasagna and pointed her fork at him. “Maybe they’re protecting her from you.” When Tamian started to protest, Tessa talked over him. “Hear me out. She was home alone and then she saw you in the trees, yeah?” Tamian nodded, and she continued. “If she saw you phase, she has to know you’re something besides human. Just because her uncle is also non-human doesn’t mean she doesn’t feel threatened by the handsome male spying on her from the trees. Her family arrived, they all had breakfast together, and then she more than likely told them about seeing you. Why else would they have suddenly gone looking around the estate? The cameras should have shown anything out of the ordinary. Since they hadn’t, the uncles searched until they found our cameras.”

“I hate it when you make sense. But she has to know I’m not a threat. I mean, if I wanted to harm her, wouldn’t I have done that in Norway?”

“Uh, no, because you couldn’t catch her in Norway. Your female is smart and elusive. She lost you before you even knew what was happening. She figured out your name probably using the government’s facial recognition technology. There’s not a lot of information about you on the internet; I checked. So, she knows your name, but that’s about all she knows other than you’re a shifter. I bet she’s sitting there on the patio waiting for you to return so she can find out more. If she’s truly your mate, she had to feel the pull when you were close to her. I guarantee she’s curious. Her note did say ‘better luck next time,’ so maybe she’s counting on there being a next time.”

Tamian was confused on how to approach Harlow. “Do you think I should approach her without a disguise? Or should I continue with my plan to get close to her tomorrow pretending to be someone else? I don’t want to have to fight the biker, so I should probably just go ahead with the previous plan.”

“I think that’s your best bet for now. If it works, you’ll get close to her and can talk to her without confrontation.” Tessa pushed back her empty plate. “Try to get a bead on her emotions. If that doesn’t work, at least you’ll be close enough to listen in on her conversation with the biker, if they ever speak to one another. I can’t imagine being in the same house with someone and never speaking a word to them.”

“Maybe he can’t speak.” Tamian couldn’t imagine being mute. He was quiet by nature, but not being able to communicate whenever he wanted to would have to suck for the male.

“Anything is possible.” Tessa tapped a few keys and said, “I’ve asked Julian to dig into the Hounds financials. If you’re okay for now, I’m going to go for a walk and call Stone. I kind of miss my mate.”

“Kind of?” Tamian smirked at his sister. “I’m surprised you’ve gone this long without calling him. You forget I’ve seen the two of you together.”

“Don’t get smart with me, little brother. You have your own mate, and when the two of you get together, you’re going to understand why Gregor and I act the way we do.”

Tamian held his hands up. “Fair enough. Go on. I’ve got this.” He stood and cleaned up the remains of their dinner before grabbing a beer out of the fridge. Once Tessa was out of the hotel room, he leaned his head back and briefly closed his eyes. He could only pray he and Harlow would have with each other half of what Tessa and Gregor had. Or all the Gargoyles who’d found their mates, for that matter. Even Jonas and Caroline were still inseparable after all their years together. He wanted that with Harlow.

The hours dragged on as Tamian stared at the monitor. His impatience was almost too much for Tessa, but she eventually went to bed, leaving him to his grumbling. When morning came, he showered and dressed so that when the disguises arrived, all he had to do was apply the prosthetic. Tessa wanted him to also alter his voice, so she took a trip to the hotel restaurant where guests were eating breakfast. While sipping a cup of coffee, Tessa recorded a conversation between two men. Once she returned to the suite, it didn’t take her long to transfer one of the random voices into the recorder and program the nearly invisible device Tamian would place against his throat.

“It’s a good thing I’m prepared,” Tessa said as she pressed the small disc against his skin.

While she’d been downstairs, the package from Jonas arrived, and Tamian had transformed his appearance. Using a dab of black hair gel, he slicked back his hair to match the character he’d chosen to portray. At the last moment, he opted to forego the colored contacts. Tamian secretly wanted for Harlow to recognize some part of him.

“How do I look?” he asked, testing his new voice.

“Like you walked off the set of a soap opera.” When Tessa didn’t mention the contacts, Tamian took it as a good sign.

“Good. Let’s go.”

Tessa had dressed in her normal attire, looking every bit the biker chick she was. She’d even checked on renting a bike in case she needed to get closer to the Hounds for any reason. Tamian had argued about his sister infiltrating a motorcycle club, but once she’d put Gregor on speaker and he’d given his blessing, Tamian just shook his head. He didn’t completely understand their dynamic. Gregor was completely protective of Tessa, but when she put her mind to something, he never tried to persuade her to back off. The male had her back, even from hundreds of miles away.

After dropping Tamian off close to Harlow’s neighborhood, she drove to the opposite side of the lake where she would wait on him. Tamian strode with purpose until he got three houses down from his mate’s estate. As he got closer, he slowed his steps and put his plan into motion and began calling out for a puppy that belonged to the child from the park.

“Stormy! Where are you, girl?” Tamian pretended to look for the wayward dog, calling out every so often until he got to Harlow’s gate. “Stormy! Here, girl!” Tamian continued moving down the sidewalk, back and forth in front of the tall hedges separating the estate from the road, making sure to step in the path of the cameras. “Stormy.” Tamian whistled a few times for good measure. He fully expected the biker to come see what was going on, considering it looked like he was there to protect Harlow. His stomach clenched, and he knew before he saw her Harlow was the one coming to see what was going on.

“Excuse me?” she called out.

As Tamian jogged back toward the gate, he reached out, trying to gain access to Harlow’s mind. Instead of getting her thoughts, he was bombarded with loud cursing coming from the biker who was standing at the gate with Harlow.

“Hi,” Tamian panted as if he were out of breath. It wasn’t a stretch considering Harlow was a few feet away looking splendid in the morning sun. Once again, her hair was in a messy knot atop her head, and she was wearing cropped yoga pants and a T-shirt which left nothing to the imagination. She had on no makeup he could detect, but she didn’t need it. Realizing he was staring, he cleared his throat.

“Did you happen to see a puppy? She came this way, and if I don’t get her back, my daughter’s going to be devastated.” Tamian closed his mind off to the man’s thoughts and tried to get something from his mate other than the pull. Standing less than five feet from her, he had no doubt she was his. It was all he could do to keep from phasing and going over the gate, grabbing her, and flying off, biker be damned.

Her smile faltered at the mention of his daughter. Or maybe she just didn’t believe him. He opened his phone, tapped the photos, and held it up for her to see a picture of the real Stormy. “She’s little, but the bugger’s fast.”

“Why wasn’t she on a leash?” Harlow asked, looking from the picture to his face, her head cocked to one side as she intently studied him.

“Amelia – that’s my daughter – was trying to put the leash on the puppy when she took off. I apologize for disturbing you, it’s just… have you seen her? I really need to find her.”

The biker stood taller, crossing his arms over his chest. If Tamian was a human, he would be intimidated, so he pretended to be leery of the huge male. Harlow didn’t miss the way Tamian took a step back, and she placed a hand on the male’s arm and whispered, “It’s okay, Monk. I have a good feeling about the man.” Monk narrowed his eyes at Tamian but still didn’t say anything as he walked over to a small gatehouse and pushed the button to open the gate.

“Please, come inside,” Harlow offered. Tamian didn’t want to get too close for fear of passing out, but this was the reason he was looking for a nonexistent dog, to get close to her. He’d just hoped to do it without an audience. Tamian reached out with his senses while the man was preoccupied. His thoughts were loud inside his head, and Tamian came close to chastising him for even thinking Harlow was being foolish. He also sensed something within Monk that wasn’t human. Not knowing what he would be up against, Tamian didn’t attempt to control Monk in case he had his own abilities. Tamian had to play this one safe and let things happen naturally.

 

 

Lucy’s sleep had been fractured with dreams, alternating between meeting Tamian in the trees where he unfurled his massive wings and took her for a midnight flight across the sky and being chased by an unknown creature through the streets of New York. After waking up the third time, she climbed out of bed and made her way downstairs for some tea. It wasn’t often she indulged in Vera’s favorite drink, but Lucy found it soothing in the early morning hours.

Monk silently made breakfast without Lucy asking him to, and instead of eating at the table with her, he stood by the stove and shoveled his food in before cleaning the dishes. An alarm sounded, and they both headed toward the office where the camera monitors were housed. A man was walking back and forth in front of the gate. “I’ll go see what he wants,” Lucy said, but Monk placed a heavy hand on her arm and shook his head. Narrowing her eyes, she asked, “Are you going to ask him what he needs?” Monk shook his head again, and Lucy sighed. “Well then, I’m going with you. You can’t just go around intimidating the neighbors by glaring at them.”

As she and Monk stepped outside, the man whistled then called out, “Here, Stormy.” Lucy did a double-take when she got a good look at the man. There was no way he was the actor he resembled, but the likeness was uncanny. She’d never seen him before, so she didn’t think he was a neighbor, but then again, Lucy was rarely home, and someone new could have moved into the area. As they closed in on the gate, Lucy’s stomach clenched. She didn’t think it was from breakfast. No, this reminded her of the same feeling she had whenever she was around Tamian St. Claire. He had the same build, but the man looking for an animal was not Tamian. So why did she feel the pull?

“Hi,” the man said, panting. “Did you happen to see a puppy? She came this way, and if I don’t get her back, my daughter’s going to be devastated.” Definitely not the actor. His voice wasn’t raspy enough.

Lucy couldn’t help the disappointment from hearing the man was a father. But why? Why would that affect her in any way? Was she so hard up for a man’s affection she was going to start hitting on strangers at her gate? While he fiddled with his phone, she watched him. There was something vaguely familiar about his mannerisms, but when she studied his face, she knew she’d never seen him before. Part of her job was to pay attention to those around her. Be aware of anyone she came in contact with. She had never seen this man before, even though…

After convincing Monk to open the gate, the stranger stepped closer, though he did keep his distance. “Let’s split up. Monk, you go that way, and Mr. …?” Lucy looked at the stranger, waiting for his name.

“Oh, uh, John. John Black.” John held his hand out for Lucy to shake, but she was stunned at his name. John Black was the fictional husband of Marlena Evans, one of her aliases. Surely it had to be coincidence. She placed her hand in his, and when their skin made contact, she felt an inexplicable urge to never let go.

“Lucy Ball. Nice to meet you.”

John narrowed his eyes at her introduction, but he quickly turned his frown into a brilliant smile. “The pleasure is surely mine.”

With a blush, Lucy released his hand and told Monk, “Mr. Black and I will go this way, if you want to check around the other side.”

Monk glared at Lucy in a silent warning, but she ignored him. He ignored her as well when, instead of retreating to the opposite side of the property, Monk followed behind Lucy and Mr. Black. It was just as well. Lucy had no room in her life for a man, much less one with a daughter. If he had a daughter, there was more than likely a Mrs. Black in the picture, and that most certainly was something Lucy wouldn’t get involved with. As they walked, the both called out for the puppy, and Lucy caught John sneaking glances her way.

After half an hour of walking the grounds and arriving back at the gate, it was apparent they weren’t going to locate the wayward dog. John’s shoulders slumped, and he said, “I’m sorry to have wasted your morning.” He pulled a piece of folded paper from his pocket and handed it to Lucy, holding onto her fingers longer than was appropriate. “If you happen to see her, please give me a call.”

“It was no problem. I needed the exercise,” Lucy responded softly. She didn’t want to let go. Lucy wanted to hold on even tighter and take the man into her home and get to know him. What the hell was wrong with her? Monk was still lingering, but not as close. John walked through the gate, and as it closed behind him, he winked at Lucy before striding off down the sidewalk. When she unfolded the paper, a phone number had been scribbled above a note. When she glanced at the words, it took her a second to realize what he’d written.

 

Maybe I’ll have better luck next time

 

Tamian. Lucy sputtered, racing to get the gate open again so she could chase after him. She should have gone over the fence, because by the time she had the gate reopened, he had vanished.