Rafael (12 page)

“I can’t believe
you didn’t throw up.” Julian was listening to Nikolas fill him in on the
information he’d found in Montague’s journal.

“That’s all you
got from what I just told you? We’re still on that? Fuck you, Jules. I bet when
you finally meet your mate you sprout horns or grow warts or something.” After
more than five hundred years, Nik still let Julian push his buttons.

“No, that is not
all I took from it, but it is important. Maybe she isn’t your mate. Maybe it
was chemical and not psychological. There could have been something in the air
such as a chemical used to clean the place.” Nik missed the grin on his brother’s
face as he turned back to his computer.

Nikolas knew
Sophia was his mate. The few journal entries he found in the family archives
described the reactions to mates when they met. Between Rafe’s nearly passing
out and his own nausea, he was certain they were onto something. But why now?
Why after all these years and two within hours of each other? They needed to
find Montague’s other journals.

“You’re not
gonna believe this shit.” Jules was squinting at his monitor.

“Why are you
squinting? We have better than perfect vision. Is something wrong with you?”
Nikolas was not paying attention to the information on the screen.

“Maybe because I
can’t believe my eyes? I found her. Dr. Isabelle Sarantos nee Montague lives
right fucking here in New Atlanta.” Julian was writing down her address on a
piece of paper. “Here, find this location. I’m going to give Ms. Sarantos a
little visit.”

Nik took the
information and began an address search. “Don’t you mean
we
are going to
pay her a visit? I did find her father’s journal after all. I should be the one
to talk to her.”

Jules frowned at
his brother. “You are too high strung for such a conversation, little brother.
I, however, will keep a level head and obtain the information we seek from the
lovely doctor.” Julian was younger than Nik but was a couple inches taller. He
never passed up the opportunity to remind him of the fact.

“Lovely? How do
you know she’s lovely?” He stopped typing and looked at Julian.

Julian angled
his monitor so his brother could see the picture he was looking at. “See,
lovely.”

“She’s all
right.” Nikolas returned to locating her address. “Here it is. Southside, close
to the prison. Are we going tonight?” Once again his brother was frowning at
him.

“
All right
?
She’s beautiful.” Julian turned back to the monitor.

“Yes,
all
right
. I prefer blue eyes over dark. Now, are we going or not?” Nik was
imagining a set of clear blue eyes behind a pair of cute glasses looking back
at him.  A paper wad struck him upside the head. “What the fuck? What was that
for?” He stood, glaring at his brother.

“You have it
bad, man. I’m placing my bet now on that librarian. She’s your mate.” Julian’s
hands were clasped behind his head as he grinned.

“Fuck off. Just
because I don’t think every woman is gorgeous does
not
mean I’m mated.
It just means my tastes are changing. Are we going or not?” Julian was staring at
him.

Fuck
, he’s
right.
Nikolas really loved women. All women. He could appreciate the
beauty that was female no matter her shape or size. Now it seemed his appreciation
was for one particular type: slender, average height, smallish breasts, button
nose, and geeky.
Well shit.

Julian brought
him out of his thoughts, “A visit this late wouldn’t be appropriate. We want to
give a good impression when we meet with the doctor. We should wait until
morning, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, sure. I
will pick you up at eight at your house.” Nikolas placed Montague’s diary on
the desk in front of his brother. “Good night, Julian.”

“Good night. Be
well my brother.” Nikolas’ retreating form caused Julian to sigh. “Be well
indeed.”

Julian shut down
his computer and grabbed the journal Nikolas left with him. He wanted to read
it for himself. After punching in the codes on the alarm, he got in his
Corvette and headed home. Surely it was a fluke. The odds of Rafe finding his
mate were high. Add to that Nikolas finding his, those odds increased. Jules
could calculate the odds in his head given the number of shapeshifters in the
family as well as in the city and surrounding states.

As he was pulling
into his drive, his phone rang. Avenged Sevenfold’s
Hail to the King
let
him know it was Rafe. Something was amiss. “Julian.”

“Hello, Brother.
I want you to drop everything including the search for Montague’s daughter.
Frey was scouting tonight when he found two bodies in the Forest Grove
warehouse. One of them he believes is Magnus Flanagan. The other is one of
Kaya’s detectives.”

“What do you
mean
believes
it is Magnus?”

“His exact words
were, ‘Rafe, in all my years I’ve never seen anything like it. Dante is going
to require dental records for a positive ID’. He did mention seeing security
cameras at this warehouse. Where are you with the rest of the locations?”

“I haven’t put a
camera at that warehouse. It must be leftover from whoever owned the building
previously. We were able to hit most of the buildings today and were going to
finish tomorrow after the visit with the doctor. Rafe, we found Montague’s
daughter, right here in New Atlanta. I will call Nik and let him know he is
flying solo with the doctor, against my better judgment.”

“This is
fortuitous. Maybe one of our problems is becoming less of that, a problem. Yes,
Julian, please finish the install. I’m sure your brother can handle a meeting
with Ms. Montague. If there’s nothing else, I will speak with you tomorrow. Be
well my brother.”

“Be well my
King.”

 Julian called
Nikolas to tell him he was on his own tomorrow and why. He begged his brother
to behave and remember how important the information was. He wasn’t surprised
when Nik hung up on him. He also wasn’t surprised when he realized Rafael
called the chief by her first name.

Trevor stepped
out of the elevator and all but ran into a pretty lady coming down the hall.
“Oh, excuse me there, sweet cheeks.” She didn’t acknowledge him; she just kept
going. He shook his head and continued toward Dane’s apartment. He had checked with
the pharmacy several times, but a prescription was never called in. Maybe the
detective was feeling better, and that hot little number was the cure.

When Dane didn’t
answer his phone, Trevor got worried and left work to check on him. He knocked
then waited. He put his ear to the door and didn’t hear anything coming from
inside. He knocked again a little louder. Still nothing. Trevor pulled out his
cell phone and called Dane’s number. Some random song he didn’t know was coming
from inside the apartment.

He tried the
knob finding it unlocked then stuck his head inside and listened. “Dane, it’s
Trevor.” He stepped further into the room and looked around. Medicine bottles
were lying on the end table beside the sofa. He picked one up and noticed there
was no pharmacy label. Trevor opened the bottle and dumped the pills into his
hand. Upon further examination, there was no imprint on the pills stating what
they were. “What the fuck dude? You’re a cop.”

“Dane!” The
apartment was laid out exactly as his was, so he headed down the hall to the
master bedroom. Either Dane was a slob or something major went down in there.
He looked in all the rooms but didn’t see the detective. “Maybe the black
market dope did the trick. Guess the little lady was out of luck as well.”
Trevor assumed Dane was feeling better and had gone out for fresh air. He left
things as they were and went back to the Morgue.

When he
returned, Dante was talking to the Warden from the Pen. Their conversation
immediately ceased, and Dante asked, “Trevor, you remember Gregor?”

He held out his
hand. “Sure do, how’s it going, Mr. Stone?”

Gregor shook his
hand then narrowed his eyes. “Why the fuck do you smell so good?”

Trevor pulled
his hand back quickly. “Excuse me?”

“You smell like
sunshine, like a woman, that’s what I meant.”

“Sir, no offense
but I think you’ve been around the general population a little too long. I do
not
smell like the fairer sex. I don’t smell like sex at all. I haven’t had sex in
far too long. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going over there with the dead.
They don’t freak me out.”

Kaya was waiting
to hear from Jorgenson and Craven. The drive to the address on the note would
take a while, but they still should have arrived by now. She discarded her
uniform into the dirty clothes hamper and put on a pair of flannel sleep pants
and a worn out UGA t-shirt.  The University of Georgia, like most everything
else, had taken a hit during the bombings but was once again thriving.

A glass of wine
in hand, she sat down on her sofa and turned on the television. Rarely did she
watch anything other than the news. Not tonight. She wanted something to take
her mind off her everyday life. She saw enough of the real world on a daily
basis, so tonight she was going to indulge in good old-fashioned fantasy. The
Underworld
marathon was starting in less than an hour, and she planned on watching them
all. They contained the best of both worlds: vampires and werewolves.  

As a kid, she
loved scary movies and all things that go bump in the night. Werewolves were
her favorite. She drove her mother crazy pretending to be a shapeshifter,
crawling around on all fours, howling at the full moon. Her father would have
indulged her had he lived. She was the son he always wanted. Her mother loved
Kaya but when her father was killed, it changed her. She went from a loving,
sweet woman to a withdrawn introvert. Kaya really should call her. Knowing the
conversation would be the same tired script, she put it off until later.

Her stomach
growled alerting her to the fact that she hadn’t eaten since lunch. Dammit, she
was not going to think about lunch with Rafael. Or the kiss. Did he eat lunch
like that every day or did he bring it in knowing she was going to be there?
Surely he wasn’t interested in her, was he? The way he kissed her said yes. His
erection said hell yes. She was definitely smitten with him.
Smitten
.
Who the hell used that word? Obviously someone who hadn’t dated since college.

Kaya didn’t
think much about dating, not with her job. She took it in stride that she would
be alone the rest of her life, but what if? What if she were to let someone in,
someone like Rafael Stone? He was a complete enigma as far as the public was
concerned. According to him, he would keep it that way if he were seeing
someone. Did that mean he would never take her out in public? Would they only
meet each other under the cover of night?

Maybe he would
take her to eat at Chez Vaison but have her sign a confidentiality agreement
first. She laughed at herself. Surely he wasn’t
that
private. If he
were, did she really care? She was in the spotlight often, and it got tiresome.
She could go for a little privacy now and then.

 She still had a
little time before the movie started so she opened up her laptop and went
through her personal emails. When her mother felt nostalgic, she would send
Kaya messages with old pictures. Then she would go into her rant about needing
grandchildren and Kaya needing a husband. Her computer pinged with a new mail
notification. It was from an unknown sender. The subject was “a little present
for you”. There was a video attached. Her finger hovered over the mouse. She could
be opening a virus, but the subject matter had her curious. If it was a virus,
she would deal with that later. She clicked the paper clip icon to open the
file.

The film was grainy.
Three men were walking toward a warehouse. The film pauses then starts with the
men walking back out of the building. She replayed the video several times. The
taller man looked very familiar, but she still couldn’t make out his features.
The surroundings were undistinguishable since it was filmed at night. If this
was supposed to be a tip, it was a bad one. How had someone get her email
address anyway? She forwarded the clip to Wilkes. Hopefully, he could clean it
up so they could at least identify the men.

 Was someone
trying to point a finger at Rafael again? It would only make sense that this
warehouse belonged to his family as well. She would call him tomorrow and set
up another meeting. This time she would keep her hands and her lips to herself.
Glancing at the television, she noticed the movie was starting. She turned her
mind from Rafael and the video to Selene and the vampires.

Rafael spent
several hours in his old home. When his father moved the family to the
Americas, Rafe talked him into keeping the Italian Villa. The property was
located on the Ionian Sea, and the view was breathtaking. It was where he was
born and raised; where he and his brothers and cousins had grown up together.
Eventually, he paid a hefty sum to purchase the property from his father but it
was worth every penny.

 Even though he
didn’t want to move back, he was glad to have the option of vacationing there.
Rafael was hopeful that one day soon he would be sharing the villa with Kaya.

 Priscilla’s
younger sister, Penelope, and her family lived in the villa, taking care of it
in Rafe’s absence. As far as his mother knew, it no longer belonged to the
family.

Part of
Penelope’s contract included a non-disclosure agreement. She was never to
reveal the true owner’s identity, and nobody except Rafe or his inner circle
were allowed on the property. This included his mother and the Elders.
Penelope’s mother and grandmother before her had cared for the villa. When
Rafael found loyal people to serve him, he paid them well and treated them like
family.

He was
disappointed with his time looking through the library. He hadn’t truly expected
to find any information on bonding, but there had been an inkling of hope. Now
he transferred that hope to Nikolas, who would be meeting with Montague’s
daughter.

The unease of
the day seeped deep into Rafael’s bones. The weather in southern Italy was
still such that humans could take a walk on the coastline and be comfortable.
Being a Goyle, he didn’t have to worry about that, but the sunshine was always
welcome on his skin.

Rafael made his
way to a cliff overlooking the sea. The view reminded him of his vision. He
looked down at his side just to make sure there was no dark-haired boy standing
beside him. The vision had pricked at his soul. He was half a millennium old
and in all his years that part of him had remained dormant. Until now. Until
Kaya Kane. Surely the fates wouldn’t be so cruel as to tease him only to have
it be a deception to his heart. No, he had to believe the bonding was possible.
Just thinking about her now, about her lips touching his, their tongues dancing
together, made him want to be back on the other side of the pond so he could
see her, touch her. He was ready to go home.

The wind blowing
across the land was like a balm to his soul. It gave him clarity when he
thought about how to handle Kaya. If only he could come up with a plan
regarding the murders. As King, he felt the need to handle all matters that
affected the Clan but his brothers often reminded him they were family, and
family had each other’s back. He would be in the line of fire soon enough.

With one last
breath of the sea air, Rafael headed inside to gather his things. He still had
one more place to visit then he would be on his way.