Rafael (10 page)

Tessa was bent
over a microscope, studying Dane’s blood cells. Isabelle was pacing the floor
behind her. “Well?”

Tessa raised up
and looked at her cousin. She was right; shit was fixing to get real. Was her
cousin ready for the truth? Belle needed to know what she was in for, same as
Dane. If she never met her mate, she would never go through the pain and agony
of the change. If she did though, Tessa wanted her to be prepared.

“Belle, we have
to talk.” Her cousin flinched at the nickname, but she didn’t care. “I know
what this is. It’s the same abnormality that’s in my blood. In your blood. Have
you never tested your own blood before?”

“I’ve never been
sick so no, I’ve never needed to.” Isabelle stopped pacing the floor and was
staring at her. “What do you mean abnormality and how do you know I have it?
What exactly is it?”

“Here, sit
down.” Tessa pulled out the stool beside her and patted it. “You’re really
going to want to.”

Hesitantly,
Isabelle sat next to her. “So spill it, Tessa. What do you know that I don’t?”

She hated it
when Isabelle used her haughty tone of voice. Just because Tessa didn’t have a
medical degree didn’t mean she wasn’t as smart. She had spent more time in the
lab with her uncle than Belle did going to the university. She was blessed with
the one-on-one training of an expert. Therefore, she felt more qualified on
this particular subject than her degreed cousin.

“What I’m going
to tell you will sound absurd, but please just hear me out. Isabelle, we are
not fully human. We are…”  Isabelle jumped up from her stool.

“We are not
Unholy!” The doctor was wringing her hands, pacing back and forth.

Tessa stood and
grabbed her hands. “Stop. Isabelle, no!  I didn’t say that. You have to let me
finish. Of course we’re not Unholy. We come from a line of shapeshifters dating
back thousands of years.”

“Shapeshifters,
you mean like werewolves? Tessa, they are a myth. Purely fiction.”

“I assure you we
are not a myth. But not werewolves, no. We come from the Gargouille line.
Gargoyles to be more modern.”

“You mean we
turn into those stone creatures? You are right; this is absurd.”

“No, you and I
won’t turn into anything. Listen, let me start at the beginning. Full-blooded
Gargoyles date back hundreds of thousands of years, if not longer. Males of the
species have claws, fangs, impenetrable skin, and wings. Females don’t get
wings. Half-bloods like you and I are children of Gargoyle males and human
females.

“Dane is also a
half-blood and, as far as we know, will get the full package when he
transitions. Instead of the change happening as it should, when he matured, it
happened later in life, when he met his mate.”

“So what you are
telling me is that our mothers had sex with some creature that is a
shapeshifter and you and I are part shifter?” Isabelle laughed and shook her
head. “I don’t believe this. Did you drink some tainted water while you were
off on your last adventure? You really are mad.”

“I’m not and I
can prove it.” Tessa waited until she had Isabelle’s full attention. Once she
did, she allowed her fangs to elongate from her gums. Instead of scaring her
cousin with a horror movie growl, she gently touched the tip of one with her
finger. Isabelle’s eyes widened but instead of backing away she reached out and
touched the fang herself.

“Holy shit!”
Isabelle sat back down on the stool, holding on to the lab table for support.

Tessa held up
her hand, and her claws extended. “For some reason, unlike the males, we don’t
get the special skin. The original female shifters lived long lives, but there
are few left that we are aware of. Female half-bloods get an extended life
cycle, enhanced hearing and eyesight, and extra strength. That my dear cousin
is the extent of my parlor tricks. The guys get all the cool stuff.”

“What do you
mean the cool stuff? That right there is beyond believable.” She was pointing
at Tessa’s sharp claws.

Tessa was
waiting on the reality of what she said about their parents to sink in. “Like I
said, the males get special skin and wings. They are almost impossible to kill,
and
they get to fucking fly. How unfair is that?”

“Fly? You mean
like a bird?”

“Yep. Totally
unfair.”

Tessa gave her
cousin time to digest all she had told her. It was a lot to take in, but she
needed to know. “Listen Belle, the reason I told you is twofold. One, you
should be prepared for your own change. I take it you haven’t experienced it
yet, or you would have known what I’m talking about. The second is that we have
to help Dane through his transition.”

Isabelle stopped
and stared at her. “Hold up. You said our human mothers. If our fathers are
these shapeshifters, that means Jonas isn’t my father. If he’s not, then who
is?”

“Jonas Montague
is your father, Belle. His real name is Jonas Victorious Montagnon. In the old
days, he went by Victor. He is one of the original Gargoyles, and he’s alive.”

Nikolas was
excited. He finished reading the novel and began research on the infamous
author. Dr. Jonas Montague, deceased, was survived by one daughter, Isabelle
Montague. After deeper digging, Nikolas found that the daughter had moved to
Greece and married a native. A boating accident claimed the life of her
husband, and Isabelle Sarantos moved back to the states. Now he just had to
find her.

Nik was going to
check out every book ever written by Montague. That required him going to the
library. Sure he could probably download them, but there was the little problem
of one cute librarian he was curious to work through. If she affected him again
like she did last time, he would know she was his mate. What were the odds of
that? Julian could probably tell him without deciphering, but he knew it was a
long shot.

Nik took the
steps to the third floor. He let his senses fill. There it was: that hint of
honeysuckle. Okay, a hint was good. He could handle a hint. He pulled open the
door, and the scent became stronger. Avoiding the desk, he headed in the
opposite direction to a row of computers. So far so good.

The lingering
essence was causing his cock to come alive in his jeans. He sat down at a
computer and pushed his chair under the desk.
Put it out of your mind stud,
you can do this.

“Excuse me.”
There was that heavenly voice, the one that sounded like an angel had descended
upon the earth, if you believed in that sort of thing. Don’t turn around. Do
Not Turn Around. He turned around to see that cute button nose squinched up
like a rabbit.

“How are you
feeling?” She pushed her glasses up only to have them slide back down. She was
dressed in a long, colorful skirt topped with a bright orange t-shirt.  Even
though it was October, she wore sandals.  Nikolas could see the bright orange
nail polish on her toes peeking out from beneath the skirt.

“Fine, thank
you.” He couldn’t stop staring. Was she truly his mate? Could this be the one
he was meant to bond with, live with, have babies with? Love?

“Well, I’m glad.
You really worried me. If you tell me what you’re looking for, I can probably
find it a lot faster than you can.” She didn’t sound cocky, just sure of
herself.

“How long have
you worked here?” Nik was trying to determine her age without being rude. She
appeared to be late twenties.

“I’ve been here
since I was sixteen. Started part-time, then when I graduated college, I got
put on full time. So twelve years.”

Twenty-eight.
Perfect. “I see. Okay then…” he glanced at her name tag… “Sophia, let’s see if
you can help. I am looking for every book ever written by Dr. Jonas Montague.”

The surprise on
her face showed only for a second before the cute grin was back in place. “Oh
my, now there was an interesting man. Not only was he a brilliant scientist but
an excellent writer as well. I so enjoy his fiction. Follow me.”

Nikolas was glad
Sophia was not paying attention to him, but rather the rows of books she was
walking through. The nausea was barely lurking in his throat. He couldn’t say
the same for the hard-on in his pants. “All those stories about shapeshifters
and vampires just seem so real. I’ve only read a couple of authors who could
make you believe in the unbelievable, you know? Here we go.” She reached up to
pull down a thick hardback.  Under the pretense of helping, Nikolas leaned over
her, grabbing the book at the same time. The need to touch her was stronger
than his willpower not to. His body was more alive than any time he could
remember in five hundred years.

 Sophia glanced
over her shoulder, her eyes never leaving his.  Did she just shiver? She
whispered, “This one is my favorite. He writes as if he were alive during the
Renaissance era. I just don’t recall a famous scientist also writing fiction.
Non-fiction, sure, but his stories…”

 “Are you one of
those romantics who wishes she would be swept away by a creature of the night?”
Nikolas was smiling down at the cute librarian, but his synapses were
misfiring. He felt as though he would pass out. Shit, is this what Rafe felt? 
Instead of trying to get himself under control, Nik allowed the feeling to wash
over him, filling him with an intensity like he had never experienced.

“Creature of the
night? Oh my, no! I prefer shifters.” Sophia blushed. Fuck, she was so pretty.

“Shifters huh?
So if I told you I was a shifter and wanted to steal you away, you’d be okay
with that?”

She gave him a
sideways look that was a cross between lust and a mischievous grin. He could
smell her scent; she was feeling the pull too. Sophia took another book off the
shelf. “What do we have here?” She flipped the book over and scanned the blurb
then opened the book to read the inner jacket. “This doesn’t look like
fiction.”

“So what is it?”
Knowing it was only going to make things worse, he leaned over her shoulder and
glanced at the book. Her scent was infiltrating his nose, making its way into
his system. He would be smelling honeysuckle for days. “What the fuck?” He
pulled the journal out of her hands and started flipping through the pages.

“What is it?”
Now she was looking around his arm, leaning against him. The warmth from her
chest was seeping through his shirt. Was that a nipple poking his back?
Concentrate
Nicky boy. Focus!

“I’m not sure;
it looks like a journal. I want to check this out. Sophia, load me up with
every book written by Montague. Please.” She nodded and pulled an armful of
books off the shelf. Nik took the books from her and followed her to the
checkout desk.

“If you’ll just
swipe your card, Mr. Stone, you’ll be all set.”

“How did you…”

“Nikolas Stone,
everyone knows who you are. Now, do you have a card?” She was squinching her
nose as she grinned. He would never look at a rabbit the same way again.

Nik pulled his
wallet out of his back pocket and dug out his fake twenty year old card. “Uh,
not sure this will swipe.” He handed her his paper card that showed a young
boy’s handwriting scrawled on the signature line. Her fingers brushed his as
she took the paper from his hand.  Electricity flowed between them.

If she felt it,
she didn’t let on. “I’ll make you a new one. Hang on a sec.” She pulled out a
new card with a magnetic strip on the back, typed in his name and handed it to
him. “Here you go.”

He swiped the
new card and put it in place of the old one in his wallet. “Thank you, Sophia.
I’ll get these back to you in a couple of days.”

“You’re going to
read all these in a couple of days?”

Nik grinned at
her, “Yep.” His
bunny
grinned back.

Nikolas mentally
patted himself on the back for being around Sophia without dragging her to the
back corner of the library and having his way with her. He opened the car door
and tossed all the books onto the passenger seat with the exception of the
journal. Someone put a fiction jacket on it, maybe to disguise it? This journal
seemed out of place like it had been bought at an estate sale and then donated.
He still found it odd that it was camouflaged. He opened the first page and
began reading.

Italy,
January 1822

If she only
knew the truth. How can I tell my dear Caroline what I am? What would she say?
Never has one so fair come across one of our kind but the pull I feel to her is
unlike anything I’ve ever felt. How can someone so frail be destined to be
mine? I do not understand why the fates would do this to her, to me. Surely we
are not meant to be bonded.

“This isn’t a
journal; this is a diary. Holy shit. 1822? That’s over two hundred years ago.”
Nik continued reading.

March 1822

Caroline
continues to brighten my otherwise dreary existence. Father is getting
suspicious. I tried to tell him there is nothing to our relationship, but the
way she lights up when she sees me and I her, it’s going to be hard to continue
the ruse for much longer. I cannot continue to shirk my duties. The others are
getting suspicious as well. We do not get sick. How do I convince them I’m
lovesick? With a human, no less. I know I need to let her go, but the pull to
her is too strong. I need answers. I have searched the archives, and there is
nothing there about human bonding.

“Well hell.
Looks like we’re in the same boat but Jonas Montague, a shifter? If that’s even
what he was.”

May 1822

I told her. I
told Caroline what I am. She was pressuring me to get married before we make
love. I cannot be around her any longer without succumbing to my desires. I
cannot marry her with her not knowing the truth of who I am. My dear, beautiful
love, she just laughed. Until I phased. And bless her, she laughed again. I
could see the fear in her eyes, smell it on her, but she just grabbed my face
and kissed me. She asked me what I am, and I told her. G
argouilles
are depicted as monsters, dragons even, but we are protectors, warriors. We
have been looking after humans since time began. The chimeras used on building
facades portray us as ugly, evil. It breaks my heart, but my sweet Caroline
explained it away. ‘People have believed in fairy tales for centuries. Look at
Beauty and the Beast,’ she said. ‘I bet the Beast was really a shifter!’ 

Nikolas
thought about Caroline. How lucky Jonas was to find someone so understanding.
His thoughts immediately went to Sophia. She laughed and blushed when talking
about choosing a shifter over a vampire. Would she truly?

A
tapping on his car window found Nik looking at a police officer. He rolled down
his window. “Yes officer, how can I help you?”

“Mr.
Stone, your parking meter expired. Either add more money, or I’ll have to write
you a ticket.”

“Sure,
no problem. Thank you, officer.”

He
rolled his window up and started the engine. Jonas and Caroline would have to
wait.

Kaya had driven
around for half an hour trying to get Rafael Stone out of her head. What a
kiss! Not only had she initiated the kiss, but she had rubbed against his
erection.  Her hands had wanted to grab hold of his cock and stroke him through
his pants.  She barely managed to keep them fisted in his hair.  The magnetism
between them was almost beyond her control.

She pulled into
a parking space at Dane’s apartment complex and shut the engine off. If he was
going to be out for a few days, she was going to put someone else on the case
with Jorgenson. At this point, they should probably have all hands on deck. She
needed leads instead of the dead ends they were hitting.

Kaya knocked
then waited. The door opened, and Dane’s large body was filling the frame. “I
told you I’m contagious. Does that not matter to you?”

“Hello to you
too. Right now? No, it doesn’t matter.” Dane still didn’t move to let her in.
“Are you going to make me stand in the hallway?” He didn’t look contagious, but
he did look, ashen. That was as good a word as any.

He finally
stepped back and allowed her in. “I would offer you something to drink, but I
drank everything in the apartment. I only have water left.”

“I’m fine, but
thanks anyway. I wanted to ask you about the lead you mentioned. Right now we
have absolutely nothing. What did you have?” Dane’s eyes shifted as he
hesitated in answering.

“Spill it,
Abbott.” Dane was now pacing back and forth like a caged animal, apparently
irritated.

“Like I told
you, it didn’t pan out.”

“What was
it
?
If you’re going to be out, I’m putting Craven on the case to help Kyle. We have
eleven murders and a missing delegate. Dane, I need what you have, whether you
think it’s viable or not.”

He ran his hands
through his hair then rubbed his neck to loosen the tension. It was something
he did when he was frustrated. “What’s up with you, Abbott? Is there something
you should tell me?” She didn’t have time to babysit, but she also worried
about him as a friend.

“I’m just not
myself right now. I have this condition that’s making me ache all over. At
first I thought it was the flu, but the doctor says it’s something else. What,
she doesn’t know.”

Dane continued
pacing, seeming more agitated as he wore his carpet out. “Dane, stop. Listen,
I’m sorry you don’t feel well, really. Give me the lead you have and take the
week off. We’ll handle this.”

Dane walked out
of the room then came back holding a piece of paper. “Here. It’s a possible
location for Gordon Flanagan.”

“What
the
fuck? Didn’t pan out? Did you already check the location? And where the hell
did you get this?” This wasn’t just some tip that could be checked out
whenever. This was big.

“I promised I
wouldn’t say, Kaya. Nobody with half a brain would want credit for finding him.
And no, I haven’t had time to check it yet. I’ve been lying on the floor
dying.” He was getting agitated again.

She was ready to
ream his ass for withholding something of this magnitude. “Since when do
doctors make house calls? Just who are you seeing anyway?” Suspicion came with
the territory, even with her own employees.

“Dr. Isabelle
Sarantos. She was referred by a neighbor, so I called her. She specializes in
infectious disease.”

“You really
think you’re contagious? I guess I should get out of here. You’re not off the
hook for withholding this information
and
lying about it, but I’ll cut
you some slack since you’re sick. Don’t come back until the doctor clears you,
hear?”

What if he was
contagious? Could she have already contracted what he had in this short amount
of time? If she had, it was probably too late to do anything about it today.

Dammit Dane.
This shit’s big. You don’t sit on something like this.
Pulling her phone
out of her pocket, she dialed Kyle. “Jorgenson, Kane. Do you have anything new
from the hotel? I still think there had to be inside help there. Listen, I need
you to take over the investigation for Dane. He’s going to be out a few days,
and we don’t have time to wait. I have an address I want you to check out. I
know this is huge, that’s why I’m pulling Craven from the drug sting so he can
assist you. Right, do you have a pen? Okay, here’s the address…”

Kaya hung up,
feeling both excited as well as aggravated. Hopefully, this would turn out to
be a legitimate lead. She got in her car and headed home.

Rafael stood on
the balcony of his apartment, looking out over New Atlanta. He was enjoying a
cigar when Nik’s Audi came speeding around the corner and pulled into the
parking lot. Nikolas was almost yelling for Rafe when he didn’t find him
inside. “Out here,” Rafe said quietly, knowing his cousin’s shifter ears would
pick up his words.

Nik was holding
a book in his hand and talking about Jonas Montague, some woman named Caroline,
and babies as he came through the sliding glass door that led to the patio. “Nikolas,
slow the fuck down. Do you mind repeating that?”

“Which part?”
Nikolas was always high strung, but this was different.

“All of it.
Jesus, start at the beginning.” Rafael gestured to the cushioned chairs, and
they sat down. Nik recounted finding the journal and what it contained. After
leaving the library, he went to the park and read the rest of Montague’s words.

“Rafe, this is
it. What I don’t understand is how Montague,
Victor
, hid the fact that
he’s a shifter and why we didn’t know about it. I have never seen his name, or
any other Victor, listed in the archives.

“That’s a very
good question, one I hope to find the answer to. So, Montague was a shifter,
and he and his human mate were able to produce children?”

“Yes. He was
scared to try because as far as he knew, it had never been done, but Caroline
finally won out. The baby and mother both lived, Rafe. He mentions several
children, both boys and girls, but that’s where this journal ends. I need to
find the next one. If I can find his daughter, it’s possible she would have the
next journal. I
have
to know more.”

Is this about a
woman?” The look in Nikolas’ eyes was the same one that Rafe now saw in the
mirror. Hope.

“Not just one
woman, Rafael, all women. All
our
women.”

Rafe cocked an
eyebrow at his cousin. Nik never could bullshit very well.

“Ok, maybe there
is a girl, woman, whatever. But if we can mate with humans…”

Rafe allowed him
a moment to ponder the possibility. “If he were one of us then he could still
be alive. Did you show this to Jules?”

“No, I came
straight here. I am headed to see him now. Between the two of us, hopefully we
can track down the daughter and get some answers.”

“Great job,
Brother. I am proud of you.”

“Thank you my
King.” Nik stood, bowed ever so slightly and headed for the lab.

Rafe inhaled on
his cigar then blew a smoke ring. He closed his eyes, envisioning Kaya as she
was standing between his legs. Her hands curled in his hair as her hips rubbed
against his. She wanted him whether she knew it or not. Now he just needed to
convince her of the fact. That, however, would have to wait.

He had received
a phone call earlier from the Elders, demanding a meeting in person. The
original Gargouille established a governing body comprised of Kings from each
continent. They had been after Rafael for two hundred years to take his
rightful place among them. He was perfectly content to rule from New Atlanta.
One more plea, one more wasted trip. This time though, he had questions for
them. Questions about his future.