Dante (Stone Society Book 3) (23 page)

When
they topped the stairs, Isabelle faintly heard loud voices coming from
somewhere down the hall. She continued walking as if she weren’t eavesdropping,
but she shut off all other noise and zoned in on the irate voice. “I do not
have time to drop everything because King Rafael decides a meeting is in order.
Fine, I’ll be there, but he better be serious about this.”

Rafael
was calling a meeting? Did that mean he was here in Greece? He had told
Isabelle she was family, and he would take care of her and Connor. Just hearing
his name brought a sense of relief to Isabelle. For the first time since
leaving the States, Isabelle felt a little bit of hope at being found. She had
expected Carter to lead her back to her room. Instead she found herself being
led outside, back to the garden and her book.

A
helicopter flew overhead, coming in low. Isabelle watched its decent as it
landed on the roof of the house. Within a minute, the helicopter lifted off and
eventually disappeared. She was curious about a lot of things. One of them was
whether or not Carter was a Gargoyle. She decided to test that theory. Looking
at her guard who was reclining under a tree she whispered, “Was that the King?”

 If
she didn’t have exceptional hearing herself, she wouldn’t have heard him
respond in his own whisper, “Yes.”

One
mystery solved. Isabelle thought of the King and shuddered. The man was pure
evil. Was Rafael meeting with him and demanding Isabelle’s release? That was
preposterous, really. How could Rafael know where she was? What if Dante was
with him? She knew from being around him and the other full-bloods they were
badasses in their own right, but the King exuded badass in an evil way. His
sort of alpha made her cringe. What if her stupidity got Dante hurt? Or worse.

She
heard Carter mutter, “Oh, shit”. Another guard, one Isabelle hadn’t seen
before, strode to stand beside the tree Carter was lounging under. He stood to
face the other guard and asked, “What are you doing here? It’s not your shift.”

The
guard responded, “It is now.” Carter glanced her way, his face was almost
sorrowful. He didn’t linger, though. He left the garden and Isabelle. The
replacement was a miniature version of the evil man. She could feel his intense
gaze, so she looked at his face. His eyes were cold and calculating. Now that
she thought about it, Carter couldn’t watch her around the clock. He would have
to sleep at some point. Her hands began to tremble as she read the next
sentence in her book. Her mind couldn’t focus on the words. The man standing
fifteen feet away, doing nothing more than being in her vicinity, was
instilling dread in her gut.

Connor
sat at a patio table that was filled with more food than he had ever seen in
his life. He was looking out over the water and remembering everything around
him: the buildings in the distance, the beach below. He was storing it all in
his brain so he could draw it later. The big man had visited him in his mind,
and Connor knew he would come rescue him. The man, who called himself
Grandfather, was sitting across from him reading a newspaper. He seemed nice
enough, except when the Alexi man came in. Grandfather had said Alexi was
Connor’s father. He didn’t believe him. Alexi was mean and said bad things
about his momma. Connor wanted the big man to be his father. He knew his Papi
and Mimi were dead. That made him sad. They had told him his father was dead,
too, but Alexi was here, in this place. Maybe Papi and Mimi weren’t really dead
either.

Grandfather
asked, “Do you not like the food, Connor? You aren’t eating.”

“It’s
fine.” He bit off a piece of toast, thinking about the four girls who were
somewhere in the house. “What are the girls eating? Why can’t they help me eat
all this?” Connor knew there was way too much food on the table, and it would
go in the garbage. The door opened and Alexi stuck his head in and scowled at
Connor before stating, “One more then we need to move.” He disappeared into the
house.

“Don’t
you worry about them. They are eating in their rooms, sort of like a tea
party,” Grandfather answered. “What would you like to do today? Do you like to
fish? I can take you out on the boat. Would you like that?”

Connor
had never been on a boat, never been out of his neighborhood really. “I want to
draw. Can I have some pencils?”

“I
gave you a pencil, besides, you have the largest box of crayons there is,” his
grandfather said with a frown.

“Crayons
are for babies. I prefer to draw with real pencils. Colored ones,” he said,
almost pleading.

The
older man looked at him from around his newspaper. “Babies, huh? Is there
anything else you would like?”

“I
would like a pad of drawing paper, please. And some canvases and paints and
brushes,” Connor answered honestly. If he had to be stuck here, he wanted to be
able to paint. He looked out at the blue water, and memorized the depth of the
color.

“So,
we have an artist in the family. I tell you what. I will take you shopping
myself, and you can pick out whatever you would like. How does that sound?”

“I’d
like that very much.” Connor would get to see his surroundings. He would
memorize them, too. Anything to help the big man find him. Connor knew he would
find him. For the first time since being taken from his bedroom at home, Connor
wasn’t so scared.

After
a restless night’s sleep, Dante was pouring over the map of Poros. The plan was
solid. The Gargoyles’ contact on the inside assured them Alistair was no longer
at the compound. The only point they all hadn’t agreed on was the timing. Dante
and Gregor were used to patrolling at night when they could fly unseen. Donovan
insisted it would be best to hit the compound during the day when his man on
the inside was watching Isabelle.

Dante’s
heart skipped a beat. Tessa walked out of the bedroom she shared with Gregor,
only she wasn’t Tessa; she was Isabelle. Once again, she had applied the
prosthetic and wig. How she got all her red hair tucked under the shorter brown
wig was a mystery, but the look was flawless. “Good morning, Dante.”

“Holy
gods, you even sound like her.” Dante had to sit down. For a five hundred year
old being who had seen a lot of changes over the years, he still couldn’t wrap
his head around the technology before him. “How did you accomplish that?”

“I
was able to tap into her landline and copy a recording of Belle talking to
Maria. I programmed it into my computer then transferred it into the micro
transmitter at my throat. It’s more about the vibrations than the actual tone
really.” Dante looked closely at Tessa’s throat. Even knowing there was
something there, he couldn’t see it.

Gregor
was leaning against the door post, arms crossed over his chest. Instead of
freaking out over the fact his mate was disguised as her cousin, getting ready
to go into possible battle, Gregor was grinning at her, eyes full of love and
admiration. “And here I thought you and Julian were the smart ones,” he said to
Dante.

“I
really don’t understand how you are so calm about this. She’s
your
mate,
yet I’m the one ready to call the whole thing off. Tessa, I appreciate you
doing this. Honestly, you have no idea how much this means to me, but are you
certain you want to go in there?” Dante would never forgive himself if
something happened to Gregor’s mate.

“She’s
my cousin, Dante. I have failed Belle enough. It’s time she was shown her
family, at least some of us, really have her back. Let’s just say this is for
my own selfish reasons.” Tessa placed her hand over Gregor’s heart while still
looking at Dante. “This right here…” She patted Gregor’s chest, “His heart is my
heart. The beating within his chest is the same rhythm pounding through my
body. I want that for her. For you. You both deserve happiness. Now, let’s go
get your woman.” Tessa didn’t hesitate. She grabbed her canvas bag off the
table that contained transmitters, communicators, and other items she affectionately
referred to as spy gear.

Gregor
pushed off the door frame and stood before Dante. “She’ll be fine, Brother.”

Dante
had been working on keeping the frown off his face, but he knew if he looked in
the mirror what he’d see. “How can you be sure?” he whispered to Gregor.

“Because,
you and I have her back.” Gregor pulled Dante’s head down, touching their
foreheads together. “As Tessa said, let’s go get your woman.”

Before
the sun rose in the sky, the three of them traveled to Athena’s. Donovan and
his Clan were already there. To say they were impressed with Tessa’s
transformation was an understatement. “Does the King know you are doing this,
Princess?” one of the Gargoyles asked.

“No,
but he knows the job I lead as watcher. I have plenty of experience in covert
missions.” Digging in the bag, she pulled out equipment and passed it around. “All
coms are set to the same frequency as the transmitter at my throat. You will be
able to hear everything I say as well as be able to talk to me and each other.
The technology is such that the depth of the tunnels should not be an issue.”

Donovan
took point, going over the plan one more time. “Gregor and Dante will follow
Tessa to the bank with the rest of us taking the other four tunnels. Team One
will hit the tunnel by the pier. Team Two, you will take the postal center.
Team Three, you will head to the cathedral, and Team Four, we will hit the
arena. As previously discussed, the tranquilizer darts should be all we need
this time of day. Shoot to disable, not to kill, unless it’s absolutely necessary.
Bloodshed will surely accelerate a Clan war. There should only be one Gargoyle
on site, and that’s our inside guy. You all have a picture of him, so if you
see him, you’ll know it. Any questions?” When nobody spoke up, Donovan said,
“Let’s do this.”

Each
team took a vehicle to their designated location. If they had executed the
rescue during the night, they could have worn fatigues and camouflage. As it
were, they were dressed much the same way as the other tourists. They all
carried a backpack containing their equipment. The drive took a little less
than three hours. Once on the island, the vehicles split up.

Gregor
stopped the SUV and let Tessa out before he parked down the street. Dante and
Gregor made their way down the sidewalk, keeping a good distance between them
and Tessa. Gregor tested the equipment one more time. He softly whistled a
short tune, and Tessa whistled back to him. That was the cue for the other
teams to check in.

“Team
One’s in place.”

“Two’s
here.”

“Team
Three is good.”

Donovan
came through, “Team Four is set. Gregor, when your team is in place, let me
know."

“Copy
that,” Gregor said as he walked beside his brother.

“Isabelle,
what are you doing out here?” A male voice was loud and clear through Tessa’s
transmitter. She didn’t respond. Dante could see Tessa stopped on the sidewalk
less than ten feet in front of them. The man who stopped her was as large as
Dante, but he didn’t look menacing, only concerned. As a matter of fact, he
looked like the Gargoyle who was supposed to be inside watching Isabelle.

“I
needed some fresh air. What are you doing out here? You’re supposed to be
guarding my door.”

“What?
You know I’m not guarding your door right now. How the fuck did you get out of
the compound?”

Donovan’s
voice broke through, “Tessa, is that Carter?”

“Yes,”
Tessa answered Donovan.

Carter
replied, “Yes, what?” at the same time Donovan responded, “Son of a bitch.
Tessa tell Carter I said to get his ass back to the compound. Stat.”

Dante
and Gregor closed the distance so they were standing close enough to help Tessa
if she needed it.

“Donovan
said to get back to the compound, stat,” Tessa told him.

“Tell
him our timeline moved up when the King left the building. Tell him you are her
cousin.”

“How
do you know Donovan?” Carter eyed Tessa suspiciously.

“Because,
I’m not Isabelle; I’m her cousin, Tessa. We’re going in to get her.” Tessa
looked around, making sure they weren’t causing a scene. Carter grabbed her
upper arm, pulling her away from the foot traffic of pedestrians on the
sidewalk. Dante heard the growl both through the earpiece and from his brother
beside him. Tessa heard it as well. “Carter, my mate is about five feet behind
me and about five seconds from removing your hand physically.” Carter let go
quickly. “Thank you. We don’t have time to stand here and argue. If you don’t
believe what I’m saying is true, call Donovan. Or better yet, call your King
and ask him who his daughter is.”

Carter
must have seen something in her eyes that caused him to believe her. “Where is
your mate?”

“Here.”
Gregor and Dante made their presence known.

“Where
is Donovan?” Carter asked, but Tessa was listening to her ear piece.

“We
are wasting time. Bring Carter with you and tell him what’s going on while you
walk,” Donovan instructed.

“Ten-four.
Come on Carter. I will take you to Donovan.”

“Where
are we going?”

“To
the bank.”

Dante
had to give props to Tessa. She was on her game, and even the glitch of having
an extra player thrown in the mix hadn’t shaken her. She pulled her backpack
off her shoulder as she walked. Unzipping a side pocket, she reached in and
pulled out an extra communicator. “Here, put this on.”

Carter
did as Tessa instructed. “Donovan, Carter has you in his ear now. You can say
hello to your little friend.” Several laughs came through the transmitter.

Donovan
came through their coms, “Carter, why are you out here and not inside?”

Carter
explained how he was relieved of guard duty and left the villa to call Donovan.
While they made their way to the tunnel entrance, Carter listened as Donovan went
over their plan on getting Isabelle out. They reached the bank, but before
showing them the entrance, Carter responded, “That would be a solid plan except
for one thing.”

“What’s
that?” Donovan asked.

“Theron
is guarding Isabelle,” Carter said as if they would know what that meant.

Dante
asked, “Who is Theron?”

Carter
pushed back the brush that was covering the opening to the tunnel. “The King’s
son.” He stepped through the opening as Dante listened to the multitude of
voices coming through his ear piece. All the words ran together, but they all
said the same thing: trouble.

As
they walked deeper underground, Carter explained how Theron unexpectedly showed
up in the garden, and how he’d had no choice in leaving Isabelle.

“Is
he a threat to Isabelle?” Dante asked, not liking the implications.