by Faith Gibson
“Things went okay for the next fifty or so years, and we planned on keeping the rest of our children until…” Jonas glanced over at Gabriel. He had made remarkable improvements over the last ten years with the help of Isabelle. Gabriel had come to terms with what happened to him at the hands of Gordon Flanagan and his team of scientists. When Gabriel was taken during his transition, Jonas was certain Flanagan would let the world know about the Gargoyles. He used Gabriel’s blood to create his army of Unholy. By the time Gabriel was released, his mind was already too far gone to remain with his family when they’d been reunited. Isabelle had been a toddler when it happened.
“It’s okay, Jonas. I’m not going to lose it if you continue with what happened next,” his son said quietly from his chair in the corner. The children had no idea why their uncle’s features closely resembled that of an albino. So much was taken from Gabriel during his time as a lab experiment.
As much as he believed Gabriel’s words, Jonas didn’t want to continue. His heart was growing heavy with the memories of Lucian and Marcella. He and Caroline had not seen any of the others since leaving Africa, but knowing his oldest son was out there and didn’t want anything to do with him still hurt. The refusal to forgive them cut Caroline to the quick. Jonas felt her pain as though it was his own. The mood had been somber for the last half hour, so Jonas decided it was time for a little holiday cheer. “I don’t think this is the story the kids wanted to hear. Besides, it’s getting late. I think we should open presents and enjoy the rest of the evening with happy thoughts.” At the mention of presents, all the kids jumped up and ran to the tree in the corner.
Chapter Four
Anthony
Thank goodness Grandpa declared it was time to open presents. I wasn’t enjoying his story, and I don’t think the others were either by the mood in the room. I hadn’t transitioned yet, but my senses were extra keen, as my mom put it. I could already tell when others were upset. I’d been feeling my twin’s moods since forever.
Tabby and I raced over to the tree with Deklan and Christina. Lydia, being older, strolled to the tree like she wasn’t excited. Whatever. Amber Marie wiggled down from Aunt Marley’s lap where she’d been taking a nap and waddled over to Lydia’s lap. Connor reappeared now that Grandpa had stopped talking. For some reason, our older cousin didn’t hang around much when the adults were being serious. I figured it had to do with everything in his head. Connor was super smart, but instead of talking about the stuff inside, he drew these crazy pictures. Some of them were freakin’ scary. That’s probably why I wasn’t supposed to see them. But I was known for getting into stuff I wasn’t supposed to.
I never realized Grandpa Jonas had so many kids. I knew what being adopted meant, because Uncle Frey had adopted both Matthew and Amelia, and Uncle Sin had adopted Chelle and Robbie. But they were taking kids in, not giving them away. I really couldn’t blame that Lucian guy for being mad. I think I’d have been mad, too. I mean, Grandpa explained why they gave their kids away, but if I ever had kids, I’d do whatever it took to make them feel loved like my parents did for me and Tabby.
Christmas was awesome when you had a big family. We were celebrating at Uncle Dante’s that night, and after we opened presents at home on Christmas morning, we would go to Uncle Rafe’s house. That’s where we really hit the jackpot. Mom and Dad didn’t believe in spoiling us, but Uncle Rafe had no problem with it. The family room at the manor looked like Santa had puked presents everywhere. Plus, we got Priscilla’s cookies. When Tabby asked her what made them taste so good, Priscilla said she made them with love. I believed her.
Deklan handed the presents to me and Tabby, and we handed them to whoever they belonged to. It didn’t take long for everyone to rip into the bright paper, tossing it all over the floor. Grandma came around with a garbage bag, and Deklan and I tried to see who could make the most baskets with her moving. Instead of joining in, Tabby cheered us on. Sometimes she was such a girl. Dek won by a couple of shots, but that was okay. He was older than me, so I figured he should win.
The adults broke out the “grown-up drinks” and sent us upstairs to play with our new stuff. I hated when they sent us away, because then I couldn’t hear what was going on. How was I going to learn anything new if they wouldn’t let me listen in? I grabbed my stuff and followed the others upstairs to the game room, but I didn’t intend to stay there. I knew the perfect place I could hide out and listen to whatever the grown-ups talked about.
Jonas
With the children upstairs, Jonas was free to talk about things best left to the adults. He didn’t bother going into what happened to Gabriel, because everyone already knew that story. It had come out when he was working for Gordon Flanagan and had attacked Kaya. He was serving a life sentence in the Pen, but having a brother-in-law as the warden, his life wasn’t as bad as it could be. Gregor snuck him out for weekend stays with Isabelle, and his cell had been modified for his comfort. He was also allowed to go outside and smoke several times a day.
The one thing Jonas never talked about was why he had cloned Tessa. One reason was he didn’t feel his explanation came close to making up for the near-apocalypse that happened because of his actions. He never could understand how a handful of small-minded people could cause so much destruction, and one day several years ago, he’d found out who had really been behind the world falling apart – Alistair. The Greek had bided his time, and when he exacted his revenge on Jonas for betraying his Clan, he did it in such a way that Jonas had to disappear. Alistair didn’t care about humans; therefore, he didn’t care that so many were decimated during his revenge.
Sophia, with one hand cradling her belly, came to stand alongside Jonas and grabbed his hand. “What’s up, JoJo? What are you thinking so hard about?”
“I was thinking about cloning Tessa.”
“Again? You’ve already managed that several times,” Tessa huffed as she took a seat on the floor next to the fireplace, stretching her long legs out in front of her and crossing her ankles.
“No, my dear. I was thinking about the first time.” Jonas looked around. When he didn’t see Isabelle, he asked, “Where’s Isabelle? I don’t want to have this conversation without her.”
“She’s on the phone,” Dante said as he entered the room. “She’ll only be a moment.”
Isabelle had received several phone calls during the afternoon and one while they were eating. “Is everything okay?” he asked his son-in-law.
“Fine. Just –”
“Everything’s fine, Dad,” Isabelle said, cutting off her mate. Her face was flushed and her heartbeat was erratic. Something was going on with his daughter. As she walked over to where Dante was standing, she gave Jonas the briefest of smiles before stopping in front of her mate so he could pull her back to his front. Dante kissed her hair and slid his arms around her waist, protectively holding her stomach. Jonas reached out with his shifter senses, and when he concentrated hard enough on Isabelle, he heard the faint heartbeat of a baby within.
Dante narrowed his eyes at Jonas, and he received the message loud and clear. They weren’t ready to announce they were pregnant. Jonas inclined his head to Dante and turned his attention back to Tessa. Even though he was explaining himself to everyone, he focused on her. “I had selfish reasons for what I did. Sure, I was trying to find the cure for cancer, but I also wanted to figure out if I could create a full-blooded Gargoyle using your DNA as well as my own. Don’t get me wrong. I am not ashamed of my half-blood children, but I wanted to know if there was a way to engineer the cells so the child would be full-blooded.” What he hadn’t admitted to any of them was with Tamian, he succeeded. Tessa’s brother was a full-blood Gargoyle. Everyone knew he was special, they just didn’t know how much so.
“But why Tessa?” Gregor asked from behind his mate.
“She was available,” Jonas said, shrugging. “Xavier was putting a plan in motion to get Elizabeth and Tessa away from Flanagan. While he was doing that, Elizabeth came
to visit Caroline and me often. I had promised my nephew to watch over his mate while he was in Italy doing what he had to. He was King, after all.”
“What about all those women you cloned later. What was your endgame there?” Tessa asked. Gordon Flanagan never knew he wasn’t Tessa’s biological father. He spent his time and money trying to track both her and her mother down after they disappeared from Jonas’s clinic. When he finally managed to get close, he had hired someone to draw Tessa out by killing women who looked similar. Women who Trevor figured out had been cloned from Tessa’s DNA.
“I knew you were something special, my dear girl, so why shouldn’t there be more of you in the world? There was always a lack of healthy female babies to adopt. The demand was great, but the supply was not, so I created more of you. Isabelle had yet to come along, or I’d have cloned her.”
“Is Tamian a full-blood?” Tessa asked.
Jonas hesitated to speak about his nephew without him being present. They had many talks about the truth coming out, but at this point, Jonas didn’t see what it would hurt. “Yes, he is.”
“Is he the only one of his kind, or did you manage to clone more full-bloods?” Nikolas asked.
“I–” Jonas was interrupted by a knock on the front door. “Are you expecting someone?” he asked Isabelle. If it had been family, they’d have come in without knocking.
“As a matter of fact, I am,” she replied as she went to the door. “It’s your Christmas present. You might want to sit down.”
Dante followed his mate, but he stopped in front of Jonas. “You really should sit down.”
Jonas ignored their advice and turned to Caroline. “Do you know what’s going on?”
“No, darling. I don’t.” She reached for his hand, and together, they waited for whatever surprise Isabelle felt they were going to receive. When his daughter returned, Jonas stood frozen in his spot. Caroline, however, sat down hard, covering her mouth with both hands.
“Mom, Dad, I have a surprise for you.” Standing alongside Isabelle was… Lucian and Marcella.
Anthony
“Anthony, are you okay? Did you fall in?” Tabitha called through the bathroom door. I crawled over and slung the door open, grabbed my twin’s hand, and pulled her inside. Closing the door behind her, I locked it back.
“Shh. Come here and listen.” Tabitha lay down on her belly beside me and placed her ear to the vent. The vent that happened to be directly over the family room. There was a lot of talking going on at once, but I’d heard enough to know that Grandpa’s kids, the two he’d left behind, were downstairs.
“Whose voice is that?” Tabby whispered.
“That Lucian guy,” I told her. “Him and Marcella are here because Aunt Izzy went to Egypt to see them during Thanksgiving.”
“But I thought they didn’t like Grandpa and Grandma.”
“I know, but you know how convincing Aunt Izzy can be. Remember the time she got you to eat spinach?”
“How can I forget? That crap’s nasty.”
“Exactly.”
Jonas
The unease rolling off his oldest son had Jonas backing up a step.
“Don’t worry. I’m not here to cause trouble,” Lucian offered in a deep, rumbling voice. While most of the male children had received Jonas’s blond hair, Lucian’s was dark like Caroline’s. With Jonas’s blue eyes, Lucian was almost too beautiful to look at. At least he would be if he smiled. He was striking in a broody way.
Caroline rose to her feet and stood next to Jonas. “I don’t understand.”
Marcella, an almost exact replica of Isabelle, said, “It’s Isabelle’s fault, really. She traveled to Cairo last month and begged us to come for a visit.” Her accent was thick, but her smile was true when she looked at her youngest sister. Marcella’s hair was cut in a short bob that accentuated her prominent cheekbones. She spoke waving her hands in the air, cocking her head to the side, the same way Isabelle did. Jonas didn’t know if it was from being around each other, or if their mannerisms were a coincidence.
Isabelle stepped between Lucian and Marcella. “You both know I’ve been in contact with my siblings over the past few years. Marcella and I hit it off immediately. We’ve stayed in touch, and I decided if she wouldn’t come to us, I’d go to her. So, that’s where Dante and I were during Thanksgiving. While we were there, I convinced Marcella to come visit us.”
“And I don’t travel anywhere without Lucian to watch my back.”
“Why would he need to watch your back? Has something happened?” Jonas asked.
“Oh, nothing like that. Let’s just say he keeps me out of trouble.”
Lucian shoved his hands in his pockets and narrowed his eyes at his father. It was all Jonas could do not to grab his son and hug him. Instead, he continued to hold onto Caroline.
“We were just talking about y’all. Why don’t you come on in and have a seat. Would you like a drink? I’m Tessa, your cousin, by the way.” Tessa began wrangling the newcomers into the room, and those who were seated stood to greet them. “Belle, make the introductions while I fix them a drink. Looks like this one could use it,” she said, indicating Lucian.
At that, Lucian actually cracked a smile, and his mood seemed to lighten, if just a bit. “I’ll have a Scotch, neat. She’ll have water,” he said, speaking for his sister.
“Where’s the fun in that?” Tessa asked, hands on her hips.
“It’s okay, Tessa. I’ll explain later,” Marcella said, smiling somewhat sadly. Jonas didn’t have to use his senses to know something major was going on with his oldest daughter. The way Lucian stayed close to her as if she could fall down at any moment was a clear indication. Still, he did use his shifter’s powers and focused on the beautiful woman he didn’t know, but should have. Jonas’s heart sank. If he was correct, and most of the time he was, his daughter was very ill. He wanted to ask her what was wrong so he could fix her.
“Dad, stop it.” Isabelle whispered, stepping into his line of sight. “For now, be glad she’s here. Okay?”
“But…”
“No buts. Let her get settled in before you go all mad scientist on her.”
“You’re right,” he agreed with Isabelle aloud. Mad scientist,my ass. Jonas was an excellent scientist and physician. Just because he’d cloned a few Tessas in his time did not make him mad.
“Don’t listen to her. You’re a brilliant scientist,” Caroline whispered against his ear. If they were in any other situation, he would have picked her up and carried her to an empty room where he could show her exactly how brilliant he could be. His mate never ceased to amaze him. The sound of feet running overhead reminded him exactly where he was and who was in the house.
Jonas and Caroline stood quietly holding each other as their oldest children were introduced to their family. Lucian was charming as long as his focus wasn’t on Jonas. He remained close by his sister’s side, even when Tessa brought his drink. Marcella’s smile stayed in place until she met Sophia. The sadness in her eyes when she noticed the baby cut Jonas to the core. Here he had numerous children he’d given up, and his daughter had never been afforded the gift of a child. Since he didn’t know what triggered the transition in the half-bloods so long ago, he didn’t know to tell them to be on the lookout for their own mate.
Not only did the older children go through life without a child of their own, they did so without knowing their mate. What a sad existence it must be for them all. Until that moment, Jonas had never contemplated the mental well-being of his older children. Now, he understood the sacrifice he’d caused them to endure by giving them up for adoption. Had he and Caroline kept them, they could have figured it out and maybe offered them a much happier life. Never had his heart hurt so deeply.
“Stop, my love. What’s done is done, and we can’t change it. All we can do is pray they forgive us and allow us into their lives going forward.” Caroline swiped at the tears escaping the corners of her eyes.
Jonas found his voice a
nd asked Marcella, “So, you went back to Cairo?”
“Oh, we never left, actually. That’s where our home is. Where it’s always been. Luc and I travelled around when we needed to, but our families are there.”
“Families?” Caroline asked.
“Yes. Both our mates and our children remained home while we watched over our brothers and sisters.”
“You have mates?” Jonas asked after bringing his eyebrows back down to a normal level. There was no way his older children had found their mates. Was there?
“Of course, we do. It took us both a long time to realize why we were so drawn to the area. We would go out of town, but there was always this inexplicable urge to return home. When Luc was young, he overheard you telling our parents the story of how you met.”
Jonas’s heart skipped a beat when Marcella referred to the Mansours as their parents, but if he was honest with himself, she wasn’t wrong. Tarek and Sarah raised Lucian and Marcella. He and Caroline had no claim on them. Not really. “But he was only six when you were born. How is that possible?”
Lucian answered for himself. “Bits and pieces of your conversation came to me over the years until one day it all made sense. I kept a journal and wrote down the phrases as they came to me. It took over ten years, but I finally deciphered the words and figured out the strong pull we were feeling was more than likely for our mates, the same way you couldn’t avoid Caroline. After much searching, we found the two individuals who kept our hearts pumping and our thoughts scattered.”