The light cast shadows from the chair near the window. He cocked his head and listened. What had woken him? He didn’t hear anything.
“Someone’s inside the house.” Naomi put her hand on his arm.
He glanced over at her. She clutched at the blue blanket, holding onto it. He didn’t know how she sounded certain of that when he wasn’t sure. He had better hearing than she did.
He stood. “Stay here. Neil will protect you.”
He saw Neil rush around the wooden four poster bed and take the side that was closest to the door. Isaac approved of the action. It put Neil in harm’s way if someone got past him and came through the door. On the other hand, he’d do his damnedest to make sure that didn’t happen.
He opened the door and slipped out into the hallway. He closed the door behind him, but made sure it made as little noise as possible. His eyes did well in the dark, but in the hallway little light filtered in to pick up in the first place. He could make out shadows as he moved down the carpeted corridor.
Isaac moved to the staircase. Light from the window near the front door gave enough illumination that he could make out the gleam of the wood on the banister rail and the steps. He looked down into the foyer, but didn’t see any sign of movement or hear any noise yet.
Could Naomi have been dreaming, and maybe her movement woke them as she thrashed in the bed? She usually didn’t have room to roll. Most of the time, either he or Neil held her against him. If she wriggled, the movement would wake one of them. If it had been her moving, he’d know. He wouldn’t bolt up wondering what jarred him out of sleep.
He crept down the staircase. An inhale as he neared the bottom of the staircase drew him up short. He smelled the scent of a human. They hadn’t had anyone in to fix anything, or a delivered pizza in a while. There shouldn’t be a hint of human in his home.
A low growl built in the back of Isaac’s throat. He also smelled fresh air flowing into his home. He liked the breeze and especially the cool night air, but they hadn’t left a window open. Naomi snuggled better when the air was chilly. Every night, they lowered the thermostat to a temperature that would have her seeking their warmth.
Isaac moved into the shadows. In this area, he could pick up more than shadows. Light streaming in from windows gave ample light for his night vision to be used with full effect. Someone had broken into the house and they would pay.
He ghosted into the living room. With a single sweep of his gaze, he looked for the television and along the shelves with the accessories. None of the electronics had been taken. Nothing was even disconnected. He glided into the room, looking around for a person first and anything out of place second.
Isaac prowled toward the kitchen, intending to work his way around the lower level of the house. He’d need to clear every room of the house. After he made sure the intruder had left the house, he would call Dante and get an investigation started.
They needed to discover why some human would break into his house. How the human got into the community and managed to get to this point was also a question. While they weren’t that far from one of the walls, their home wasn’t near the road.
He stopped outside of the kitchen door, inhaling. The human had been this way. The odor lingered here, far more recent than the scent from the living room. Staying close to the door jam, he stepped into the kitchen.
At first, he didn’t see anything out of place. The light gray marble counters remained clear. His eyes stopped at the end of the counter. One of the drawers hung partially open. He frowned. Everything had been put up after their last meal. They hadn’t left that open.
Something slammed into his head. A bright light flashed in front of his eyes, and his legs gave way. He struggled to remain on his feet, but couldn’t will the strength into suddenly boneless limbs.
A pair of boots moved into his line of vision. One of them drew back and slammed into his gut. The boots stepped back, but one foot flashed out, slamming into his head. He heard words as his mind swam. He caught something about leader, but couldn’t make sense of it in his muddled senses. The boots left as darkness began to creep into the corners of his vision. He rolled, trying to get to his feet, but the oblivion overwhelmed him.
* * * *
Neil gritted his teeth. He didn’t know if Isaac had managed to clear the house. They hadn’t heard anything from him or any noise at all. That lack of noise had driven him from the room. They should have heard something from Isaac by now.
Naomi’s hands pressed against his back. He crept down the stairs. The warm evidence of her safety and presence nearby soothed him somewhat, but he knew they could face danger. He didn’t like the fact that she came downstairs with him.
On the other hand, he couldn’t leave her up in the room. Not with someone possibly in the house. He wouldn’t take the chance that they might get past him.
He sniffed, drawing Isaac’s scent in. When he neared the base of the stairs, the distinct essence of a human filtered in along with his friend’s known smell. He stiffened.
Fuck. Someone had been in the house. Might still be here.
“Stay behind me. There’s a human here. If anything happens and I tell you to run, you run, straight to Dante’s house. You remember where it is? Isaac took you there.” He whispered the words, barely glancing back at her, but he stopped walking. He needed to know she understood.
“Yes, I remember. I’ll go for help.” She slid her hand up to his shoulder and squeezed.
He didn’t want her to run so much for help as to get her out of danger. Some of the tension in his shoulders loosened. He followed Isaac’s scent through the living room. He had no idea what the human had been doing in their house. Nothing appeared ransacked or moved. If he’d been after money, the house had plenty of high-end electronics that could be sold easily.
As the trail led him to the kitchen, he stopped before they neared the door. A dark shape on the kitchen floor drew his eyes. He turned and stalked over to the fireplace. If anything happened to him, he couldn’t leave her vulnerable. He grabbed the poker.
“Here, if anyone other than Isaac or me comes near you, swing, but don’t swing blindly. I need to check who this is.” Neil pressed the metal rod into her hands. She clutched the handle like she would a baseball bat.
Her eyes locked on the form on the floor. He guessed the light was bright enough for her to see the shape or perhaps her vision had improved from the effects of the change beginning within her. She glanced back to the entrance to the living room and half-turned to face it as if she expected someone to come at them from behind.
He felt certain that Isaac was sprawled in front of them. The person on the floor wore only pants. Isaac had pulled them on before he left, but hadn’t grabbed a shirt.
Neil stepped over the form to get a better look at the form. From this angle, he could see the shoulders. The cabinet blocked the head. The long blond hair caught his eyes. Fuck, it is Isaac.
Neil pulled the phone from his pocket and dialed Dante’s number before handing it to her. “Tell Dante we need him over here now. There’s been a break in and Isaac’s hurt. I’ll follow the human’s scent. I want you to listen for me though. If I yell, it’s because there’s danger. Run.”
Neil eased away from her. He heard her whispering a moment later. “Isaac’s hurt. Neil’s looking around the house. He said we need you over here now. He’s following a human’s scent.”
She didn’t say much more, but Neil focused on his search of the house. He tracked the human’s scent to a window. It was small and near the back of the house. The lock had been jimmied.
He wondered why the alarm hadn’t gone off. The backyard light wasn’t even on. It should come on with movement. He couldn’t remember the last time that he’d seen it though.
The urge to follow that fresh scent right out of the house pulsed through him, but he didn’t. He couldn’t leave Naomi in the house while Isaac wasn’t in any shape to take care of her. Neil closed the window. They wouldn
’t be calling the police for this. Things such as prints didn’t concern him.
Most of the humans that knew of them and chose to come after them tended to come in groups. He couldn’t discount the idea that perhaps this human did suspect the people here were something more than normal people living in a gated community. If that was true, they didn’t want any link to what would soon be a dead man.
Neil locked the window and then continued through the house. He wanted to make sure that the intruders had left their house. Once he did that, he needed to get back and check Naomi and Isaac. Hopefully, Isaac was all right. Neil hadn’t seen any open wounds on him, but that didn’t mean that he’d come through unharmed.
He returned to the kitchen in time to see Naomi edging closer to Isaac. She glanced down at him.
“Something wrong, Naomi?” Neil asked.
“I think he’s waking up. He moaned and his hand moved up before he clutched at his stomach.” She tensed and glanced over at him.
“Let me check him. Dante and the others should be here soon. I’ll leave you here with them when they do. I need to follow the man’s scent while it’s fresh enough for me to do that.” Neil strode across the kitchen and knelt beside Isaac.
Neil touched his friend on the shoulder. Isaac tensed. Neil saw Isaac’s skin ripple. His friend tried to shift into a Gargoyle. It would help with the injuries and pain, but on the down side, it would also enhance the emotions engendered by the attack. He’d want to hunt and rip apart. He could lash out blindly if he felt threatened.
“Isaac, we’re here.” Neil hoped to reassure his friend. He knew that the transition would need to happen at some point. Now Isaac might be too hurt and weak.
“Naomi.” Isaac’s eyes popped open. The word burst from him, his voice tight and higher than normal. He could hear the tension and emotion in that tone.
“She’s right here.” Neil waved Naomi over to them. If Isaac thought she was in danger, he’d search for her. Not good in a panicked Gargoyle with injuries. He probably felt cornered.
“I’m here, Isaac. Neil’s been with me,” Naomi whispered. She glanced to the door and then back to the doorway.
Not entirely true, but in this case, the lie was a good idea.
“Need to get her out of here. Not safe. Human here.” Isaac tried to push up into a sitting position, but ended up curled on his side, clutching at his stomach.
“No one’s here. I checked. I made sure she’s secure here.” Neil helped his friend sit up and guided him back against one of the counters. This way, his battered body didn’t have to take the weight.
“He’s not here now.” Dante’s voice came from the kitchen doorway. “He’s left your house and one man entered your home. He wasn’t the only human in the community though. There were two others.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Were any of the others caught?” Neil tried to hide the tensing of his body. He hadn’t heard Dante enter the house or approach the kitchen. With the tension thrumming through his body, no one should have been able to sneak up on him, but somehow, the beta had done it.
“No, but Isaac’s injuries aren’t the worst.” Dante’s voice turned quiet. “How did he get in?”
“I tracked his scent to a window. It’s the one entrance or exit point I can find him near.” Neil said. “I want to go look for him. Can you stay with them while I do that?”
“Cael will stay with them. I’m going with you. I want to find them, as well. Before we leave, show me how he got in.” Dante gave a slow nod. “Hold off on the transformation for a little while, Isaac. We’ll get you some help with that and I don’t want you doing it when we have no idea what kind of condition you’re in.”
“Ribs, stomach, and head. Nothing life threatening,” Isaac said from between clenched teeth.
Cael stepped out from behind Dante. “We’ll get someone here to give Isaac a shot to help with the pain. After that, he can transform. That will help with his injuries and calm him down a little.”
“It will help? Will he need to go to the hospital?” Naomi asked.
“We’ll have to see what condition he’s in after he’s transformed, but the fact that he’s awake and talking is a good indication that he’ll be nearly fully healed by the time he transforms back to his human form.” Neil smiled at Naomi, hoping it reassured her.
“Let’s go.” Dante said.
Neil nodded. “Stay with Cael and Isaac.”
He waited long enough to see her nod before heading toward the door. He led Dante to the window and explained how he’d tracked the odor of a human. Dante nodded and they went outside. Once they left the house, Neil lifted his head scenting the air, hunting for the human’s trail. They would face more questions later about what had happened. Neil had questions, as well, about what happened and why. Definitely why.
They trailed the human’s scent to the closest wall. He frowned as he scented the other two men Dante had mentioned. They all went over the wall at around the same point that they’d come over.
Neil went over the wall right after Dante. He didn’t think the men would hang around. Too much time had passed for that to be viable. From what he knew, the attacks had happened around the same time.
Calls had started coming in to Dante at about the same time. He lived in the community. The Cim would be called in. Had probably already been alerted to it. They’d check the homes in their community to make sure no one tried to do the same there, and then come here to see what needed to be done and get an update with the latest information. If this attack focused on their people, Neil doubted the humans would keep it to one of the communities.
After landing on the grass on the other side, they followed the trail to the road and then away from the community. The scent stopped around a bend before the community’s wall started. They found the odor of a vehicle and the faint odor of a Gobel. If there’d been any wind at all the light trace would have blown away or be too mixed with the salty sea air to be found.
“Do you smell that?” he asked, wanting the scent confirmed.
Dante moved over and sniffed. He scowled.
“That’s Gobel. It’s mixed with the car’s interior smell. The creature sat in the car at some time.” He sniffed again.
What was a Gobel doing with humans? That didn’t bode well. Could it be chance that there a Gobel happened to be in the vehicle of three humans who staged an attack on one of their communities?
“Let’s go back now. There’s nothing we can do here. They’re gone. We did learn something though. There’s a good chance that a Gobel’s involved in this somehow.” Dante exhaled and turned back to the wall.
Learning that did not relieve him. This smacked of an organization that the Gobel didn’t use in their previous attacks. The assaults before this latest bunch happened with individuals or seemed random. This showed a focus that hadn’t been present in the corrupted Gobel they’d come across.
Neil shook his head. This had come close to home. He wondered how bad Isaac’s injuries were. If the Gobel planned this, what was his next step? What was his goal? The questions floated through his mind as he leapt over the wall.
“This isn’t the first time a Gobel has used others and posed more than the normal threat we’re accustomed to facing from them.” Dante said as they walked back down the street.
He didn’t ask how Dante knew what thoughts ran through his mind. His worry probably came through in every expression. It helped some to know that they didn’t face something unknown.
“What did the Gobel want in the past?” Neil glanced over at the beta. The motive would lead them closer to stopping the Gobel.
“Greed, but not for money. The Gobel in that case had masqueraded as a human and managed to become powerful in the region. To satisfy his other desires, he murdered at night, but no one connected the businessman to them. The arrival of the Gargoyle in the region threatened him. He tried to keep them out, but failing that made it as difficult as he could to succeed. Ultimately,
his machinations to keep them out of power and away from him led them straight to him. They knew from first sight what he was. It took a few months to get to him. He still pushed and tried to avoid what waited for him.” Neil led the way up the drive to his home.
Greed in all its different forms offered a good starting point as a motivator for this Gobel in question, but he couldn’t think of what the Gobel thought to accomplish with the attacks. This gained their attention. Now, they’d be searching for him. They already looked for a Gobel after the attack on Isaac and Naomi in the parking lot. Neil didn’t know if anything connected the events, but they could be.
Neil opened the door and walked into the foyer. A couple more people had arrived while they had followed the trail. He looked upstairs, but knew that Isaac wouldn’t go to bed without learning what had happened. He’d wait even if he had some lingering pain.
Neil headed for the living room. They’d wait in there for medical assistance. He saw Naomi sitting on the couch, but didn’t see Isaac. Then he saw Naomi’s hand moving.
He walked closer and saw Isaac’s head pillowed in her lap. Her hands stroked over his temple and combed the hair back from his face. Pure contentment curved Isaac’s lips upward in a small smile. His muscles looked relaxed.
Neil shook his head and smiled down at his friend. Isaac might not be at full strength, but if he felt well enough to look as blissful as he currently did, then he was on his way to full health. Apparently he’d changed forms and decided to enjoy a little TLC from their woman.
“Did your transition heal most of your injuries Isaac?” Neil stood behind the couch and waited for his friend to answer. He wondered if he’d been milking his injuries for that extra attention.
“Oh, yeah, I’m good.” Isaac opened his eyes, but then closed them as her fingertips circled on his temple.
“He’s been enjoying her touch since he put back on his clothes after the transition.” Cael shook his head. “I don’t blame him at all. I’d take any chance I could get to savor that kind of attention.”
Capturing Their Flame [Stone Passions 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 17