by Faith Gibson
“I’m sorry this has pulled you away from Jonathan,” Tamian said. “How’s he doing?”
“As well as can be expected. I’m sorry to say there isn’t anything we can do except make him comfortable for as long as he has left. As for being pulled away, you are family as much as he is. There are plenty of Clan members who can watch over him in my absence. Not to sound heartless, but being King doesn’t stop just because one of our own is down. You needed me, and here I am. Plus, finding out there’s another species of shifters is something I needed to address. The timing could have been better, but there’s nothing any of us can do about that. Lucy’s your mate, and as such, our Clans are going to be connected. It’s better to get to know them now so we’re all of one accord when we get Lucy away from the lab.”
“Were you able to convince Ryker to get the location of her whereabouts from his brother? He has yet to offer up the coordinates to the building where she’s being kept.”
“He assured me he would get that information from Maveryck and pass it along. Our goals are the same in more ways than one. The Gryphons, like the Gargoyles, are here to protect humans. They’ve known about our kind for quite a while. They’ve watched us without us knowing it, and once they saw we were taking on the Unholy, they left us to that while they’ve been going after the Ministry.”
“The Ministry?” Tessa asked. “I thought there were a bunch of religious psychos.”
“They are, but on a larger scale then most are aware. They were the ones responsible for bombing the clinic when you were cloned. In a word, they are a cult of religious fanatics who’ve taken it upon themselves to purge the world of its sins. The Hounds are a bit more mercenary than the Goyles. While we patrol for Unholy and put them in the Pen when we can, the Hounds’ mission is to go after the leaders of any cult they find and take them out. I’m not sure I agree with their methods, but at this point, I’m not going to stop them from doing what they do. From the way Ryker described things, the Ministry is a larger threat to the human population than the Unholy, if you can believe that.”
“How does Lucy fit into their mission?” Tamian asked.
“Before she was reassigned, Lucy was their computer specialist. She used her skills and the technology of the GIA to help locate the Ministry as best she could. According to Ryker, Lucy is nowhere near as adept with computers as Julian. She only learned how to do a little hacking so she could locate her birth father. She was a genetics major at MIT, so it makes sense she would be working on this secret project. Ryker asked if Julian would be agreeable to aiding in their search of the Ministry. I explained how he’s spread thin as it is, but we’re working on finding another Goyle to help alleviate all the time he spends away from his mate.”
“Do you have any viable prospects?” Tessa asked.
“The only one we know of at this moment is Lachlan, and that’s not happening.”
“Even if it’s a way for him to redeem himself?” Tessa added.
“With everything that happened as a result of his treachery? There’s nothing he could do that would redeem him.”
Tamian’s phone pinged with an incoming text. “Excuse me. I need to read this,” he apologized before opening the message from Vitto. “Shit.”
“What’s wrong?” Tessa asked.
“The Hounds are on the move, and it doesn’t appear they’re taking us with them.”
Chapter Nineteen
Tired of waiting, Lucy went into her apartment and changed out of her street clothes into one of her suits. She didn’t have her government-issued weapon to wear on her hip, but hopefully this late, everyone else would be gone, and she wouldn’t need it. If push came to shove, she’d call on her lion to get past anyone standing between her and the door. Using her claws on humans was a risk she was willing to take. She’d turned off all the lights in the lab, using her eagle to guide her in the darkness.
Placing her ear against the door, Lucy listened for any indication of life outside. When she heard no voices or footsteps, she eased the door open and stepped through. The hallway was dark. The only illumination was the single button on the elevator. Having already decided to take the stairs, Lucy edged down the hall to the only other door she could find. Finding it locked, Lucy pulled a bobby pin from her hair and attempted to pick it in the darkness. It took a couple of minutes and a lot of silent cursing, but the tumblers finally gave way.
Lucy’s heart was beating wildly against her chest, and her lion was gearing for a fight. She’d never fought anyone in either animal form, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t ready. The stairwell was dark, and for that she was grateful. It gave her an added advantage if she were to meet anyone on the way up. When Ramey led her to the basement, she hadn’t paid attention to how many floors they descended. That didn’t really matter; Lucy was in shape, and if she hadn’t been, she was a shifter. Their stamina was enhanced, and climbing the steps quietly was no problem. After ten floors with no doorways, Lucy came to what she assumed was the first floor.
Dim lighting came through the small window, and Lucy peeked through before trying the knob. When she didn’t see signs of life, she twisted the knob, praying it wasn’t locked. It wasn’t, but as soon as she stepped foot into the hallway, sirens blared, alerting anyone in the building of her presence. Not knowing which way to go, Lucy hauled ass to her right. Shouts and footsteps were heading her way, so she did a one-eighty and retreated back toward the staircase. A bank of windows stretched across the far wall, approximately twenty-five yards in the distance. Lucy raced forward, calling on her lion for extra speed.
A gunshot rent the air, and pain exploded in her shoulder. Lucy lost count of the shots fired and the number of voices yelling for someone to stop her. Not hesitating, Lucy dove for the window, praying to any god or goddess who would listen it was regular glass and not some hi-tech polycarbonate she’d bounce off of. Her prayer was answered, and Lucy busted through, not worrying about the cuts to her exposed skin. She had other things to worry about, like not being on the ground floor. Lucy found herself falling through the air. Before she had time to shift into her eagle, her body jolted to a stop as sharp talons grabbed hold of her clothes.
The flap of wings alerted her to her savior. She’d seen Tamian’s wings, and they were gray leather-looking. The ones in her peripheral vision were made of feathers. Whoever had her was a Hound. While she would have preferred it to be Tamian, she was still thankful someone had been close enough to catch her. She’d have to thank him whenever he shifted – whoever he was.
Lucy wanted to shift into her own eagle, but the pain in her shoulder had her hesitant. If the damage matched the pain, she would be hard-pressed to fly well enough to keep from crashing to the ground. When the voices and gunshots subsided, the Hound made his descent and gently set her on her feet. Still, Lucy slumped down on her ass, afraid her legs wouldn’t hold her. Lucy looked over her shoulder in time to see Monk changing from his eagle to his human form. Not trying to hide his nakedness, the Hound knelt by Lucy, running his hands over her, checking for injury. When his fingers touched the bullet wound, Lucy hissed.
Monk signed to her, but his hands moved faster than she could comprehend their meaning. She’d learned a little sign language, but not enough to follow. “I can’t follow that fast. Where’s your phone?” she asked. More often than not, he typed out messages in text. Monk huffed and shook his head. Looking around, he studied the area. Holding up a finger, he took off toward the woods, leaving her alone. Lucy closed her eyes, breathing through the pain. She wasn’t out in the open, but she wasn’t far enough in the woods to consider herself out of sight, either. Twigs snapped, and Lucy knee-crawled to a tree, doing her best to shield herself from anyone heading her way. Monk reappeared, now clothed and holding his phone in his hand.
He held the device out, showing her the message he’d typed. “I have to get you out of here. Can you shift?”
“I can try, but I’m not sure I can fly.” He held out his hand and helped her t
o stand. Lucy took a deep breath and called on her eagle. For a split second, she thought she would be able to pull it off, but nausea overtook her stomach, and her vision dimmed. Pitching forward, everything faded to black.
Ryker took Spyder’s bike, leaving the male at the hotel to wait in case Monk returned. Never before had the silent Hound refused to answer Ryker’s texts, so either something had happened to him, or he’d gone rogue. If that was the case, there would be hell to pay. As he followed his younger brother, Ryker thought over his conversation with the Gargoyle King. Rafael Stone came across as a reasonable male, and if Lucy chose to be with St. Claire, their lives would be entwined, at least on the periphery. Ryker wasn’t so narrow-minded as to not accept help from the Gargoyles when it came to taking down the Ministry.
They both had a common goal – protect humans. There were no rules set in place stating they couldn’t aid each other in doing so. The Gryphons went about things differently, but Rafael had seemed to accept their ways without calling them out for being mercenaries. The Hounds didn’t kill for the sake of killing, but they didn’t hesitate to take the head of the snake when the opportunity presented itself. For the last thirty-two years, the Hounds had searched for the cult far and wide. New ones were forever popping up when one was taken out, but that just made him and his family more determined to seek and destroy.
Instead of taking Ryker directly to the building where Lucy was being held, Maveryck drove to a small park and pulled his bike up alongside an abandoned one. “Why are we here?” Ryker asked.
“Monk’s post is just through those trees. From up there” – Hawke pointed to a clump of tall trees – “you can see the road leading to the building. If you get high enough, you can see the building itself. Since his bike is here, he has to be in the area.” Ryker and Mav followed behind Hawke as he led the way to the tree where they kept watch over the area. Monk was nowhere to be found.
“You don’t think he did something stupid, like going after Lucy—”
“Shhh,” Ryker cut Mav off. “Godsdamnit,” he seethed at the sound of gunfire, and the three of them ran toward the sound. At the edge of the woods, they stopped to try and establish what was going on. They were far enough away to remain hidden from the humans, but their eagle eyes allowed them to see without having to get close. Several men were yelling and looking out a window on the second floor. A broken window. Either someone had been pushed through, or they’d jumped.
“Surely to Zeus Lucy didn’t jump,” Hawke said, staring at the broken glass on the side of the building when they heard yelling.
“I need to call St. Claire,” Maveryck whispered.
“Somebody better find her! You don’t need to worry about losing your jobs, because if she isn’t found, I’ll see to it every one of you ends up on a fucking slab!” A man in a dark suit was pacing the ground where more men were searching the area. Those who had been looking out the window disappeared back inside.
“I can’t imagine there would be more than one she brave enough to jump from a second-story window. Why the fuck didn’t she wait on us?” Mav asked.
Ryker stroked his beard as he scanned the area. “Lucy probably saw an opportunity and took it.”
“I thought the Gargoyle said Lucy was locked in,” Hawke said.
“He did, but Lucy’s a trained agent, plus she’s a Gryphon. She’s not without skills. If she was able to get away, she probably took to her eagle,” Ryker reminded them.
“That still doesn’t explain where Monk is. He must have heard the commotion and took off after her.”
“Then why isn’t he answering my fucking texts? Even if they both shifted, he knows better than to leave his phone and clothes behind. Otherwise, he’s dead in the water when he shifts back.”
“We didn’t plan on shifting and leaving the area. None of us have our packs with us,” Hawke said. Over the years, the Hounds had devised a small pouch with a strap they could carry in their talons or beaks when they needed to store their clothes while in Gryphon form. Walking around naked when they shifted back wasn’t conducive to staying out of trouble.
“I’ve got blood, but the trail ends here,” one of the men called out to the others. These humans weren’t dressed like agents. Some wore street clothes while others dressed in military fatigues.
“Shit! That has to be Lucy’s blood.” Ryker’s own blood boiled at the thought of his niece being injured at the hands of these humans.
“Calm down, Ryot. You know as well as I do that shifting will take care of her injuries.” Maveryck’s use of Ryker’s biker name reminded him of who he was. What his role was. The male who was in charge. The one the Hounds counted on to keep a level head in all situations.
“If there’s enough blood for them to detect in the dark, her injuries aren’t small. What if she was shot?” Ryker began pacing, his lion begging to be turned loose. “Fucking Monk,” Ryker cursed as he pulled out his phone and texted the male again. When the message was delivered but there was no indication it had been read, Ryker told Mav, “Call Spyder and have him track Lucy’s ring.”
“On it.”
While his brother did as instructed, Ryker scanned the area. With the humans spreading out, some of them had started making their way toward the Hounds. “Fuck. We need to get out of here. It won’t do to have to explain why we’re hiding in the shadows. Let’s get back to the bikes, and we’ll come back when the area is clear of —”
“You’re not going anywhere,” a voice barked from behind them. Ryker turned around, coming face-to-face with an average-looking man.
“St. Claire? I was just going to call you. How did you find us?” Mav asked, still holding his phone.
So, this was Lucy’s mate. Her very pissed-off mate. And he wasn’t alone. Standing behind him was Rafael Stone, another man who was larger than both Gargoyles, and a red-headed female. The anger on her face did nothing to detract from her beauty, nor did the clothes she wore. She looked like she belonged on the back of a bike. She reminded him of... Nope. Not going there.
“How I found you doesn’t matter,” Tamian seethed, bringing Ryker’s attention back to the Gargoyle. “What does matter is my mate could be injured, and you have no godsdamn clue where she is.”
“I know you’re upset, my boy, but we do need to get out of the area until the agents clear out,” the tall male urged. Was this his father, the Italian King? They looked nothing alike, so it was possible he took after his mother.
“I’m not going anywhere until I get some answers,” Tamian countered.
The female stepped in front of Tamian and pulled his head down so she could rest their foreheads together. “Tam, we’ll find her,” she whispered. Who was this woman who felt brazen enough to touch St. Claire intimately? If Lucy was supposed to be his mate, shouldn’t he be pushing this woman away? Did he feel it was okay to have other female lovers until he and Lucy were together? If so, that shit wasn’t going to fly.
Tamian gripped her upper arms and kissed her cheek before he stepped away. “You’re godsdamn right I’ll find her,” he vowed as he pulled his T-shirt over his head. She held out her hand and took his shirt, twisting the cotton in her hands. With that, a large set of wings spread out behind the Gargoyle, and he launched himself into the air.
Hawke whistled low. “Well, that was impressive.”
“Come on. Let’s get back to the hotel and come up with a plan,” Rafael encouraged. By the look on his face, he was no less upset than the others, but it appeared being King had taught him how to rein in his emotions better. No one argued with Rafael, and they all followed him to the parking lot where a large SUV was parked by the bikes. The redhead handed the keys to the larger male, with Rafael climbing in back where Kaya, his Queen, sat waiting for him.
The female straddled one of the bikes and said, “We’ll follow you back to the hotel.” Long claws extended from her fingertips, and she pointed one in their direction. “Don’t even think about trying to ditch us, because if you do,
I will follow you to the ends of the earth, and when I catch you, I’ll slice your nuts off.”
After she strapped on the waiting helmet and started the motorcycle, Maveryck mumbled, “I think I’m in love.”
The Hounds mounted their own bikes and rode straight to the hotel with the SUV following at a safe distance. The female rode the large bike like she’d been born to it. When they arrived and had all parked, Ryker waited for Rafael and the others to exit the vehicle.
“Follow me,” the redhead instructed, not bothering to wait for a reply. No one else spoke until they were in a suite similar to the one where Ryker had met his brother and the other Hounds.
As soon as the door was closed, Rafael led Kaya to the sofa where they sat next to one another. The larger male stood next to the door with his arms crossed over his chest. The female headed to the counter where several bottles of liquor were stored. She didn’t offer them a drink. Instead, she took a long swig then wiped her mouth on the back of her hand. “Why the fuck didn’t you call us?” she asked.
Ryker narrowed his eyes at her, but instead of being intimidated, she glared back at him.
“Gentlemen, would you care to fill us in on what you know?” Rafael asked, attempting to break the tension.
Ryker smoothed his beard before settling in the armchair opposite Rafael and his mate. “I swear to you, we didn’t know what we were walking up on in the woods. When I got to the hotel, Monk wasn’t answering my texts. I honestly thought he was being an ass and ignoring me, so I went to deal with it in person. Not long after we arrived, we heard the last gunshot and the shouting began. The plan was to return here with him in tow, and that’s when you walked up. If Monk sensed Lucy was in danger, he would have done whatever he needed to get her out of the area. Beyond that, you know as much as we do.”