Dante (Stone Society Book 3) (4 page)

“I
will admit, it is suspect. Were they looking to get into the clone business? Or
is it possible they were aware of him being a Gargoyle?” Dante asked, musing
aloud.

“I
believe the cloning. They never mentioned anything about shifters. If they had,
I wouldn’t have been so surprised when Tessa shared that knowledge with me.”

“Speaking
of Tessa, have you talked to her? Gregor says she is healing nicely, but she is
getting stir crazy at the cabin.”

Isabelle
and her wild-spirited cousin had never really been close. When Tessa sprung the
news of being a shifter on her, Isabelle had been beyond surprised. When she
found out Tessa knew Jonas was still alive, and Tessa had spent time with both
him and Caroline, Isabelle had been hurt. She had assumed her father was dead.
Her mother walked out of her life when she was young. Why could she spend time
with Tessa over the years but not reach out to her own daughter? Even though it
had been explained, it still didn’t make the hurt any less.

“I
talked to her this morning. She is trying to convince Gregor to go with her to
Egypt. Sophia is in over her head. Until he agrees, she wants to at least come
to work with him and help me look over the files of the inmates. In other
words, she’s bored.”

“I
have a feeling Gregor will be giving in to the trip. As for Tessa helping with
the files, it’s not a bad idea. It will free me up to focus on the morgue and
allow you time to work on the antidote. You and I have made a huge dent in
finding all the inmates who were being injected with Unholy blood. If Tessa can
continue looking at the files, it will make the process go faster.” She and
Dante had been like passing strangers the last couple of weeks. She would work
at the Pen during the day, and he would relieve her after his shift at the
hospital was over. They would spend about an hour together, and Isabelle would
go home. Even though he was a Gargoyle, the double duty had to be wearing on
him.

“I
agree. I’m not sure how much of Tessa I can stand, though. If Gregor doesn’t
object, I will have Tessa look through the files while I continue working at my
own office. If an inmate needs care, I can be there in a short amount of time.”
Her cousin was a firecracker, a redheaded biker who played by her own rules.
Where Isabelle tried to be a little more refined, it was as if Tessa tried hard
to be anything but. The motion of the car ceased, and Isabelle noticed they had
arrived at her home. Enough about work and her cousin. Isabelle was ready to
get Dante inside and get to know him better, on a different level.

Dante
helped her out of the low car and offered his arm as they walked together to
her front door. She pulled her key out of her purse and asked, “Would you like
to come inside?” If she had to label the look on his face, it would be nervous.

“I
think it’s probably best if I tell you goodnight now. Even with the small
interruption of your parents, this has been one of the most enjoyable evenings
I have ever had. As I said before, I hope this is the beginning of a beautiful
relationship.”  

Even
though his words were encouraging, his unwillingness to stay left Isabelle
wanting. She had such hopes for the rest of the evening. “I understand,” she
told Dante, even though she didn’t. Dante hesitantly leaned forward and placed
a soft kiss on her lips.

“Goodnight,
Isabelle. I will see you tomorrow.”

“Goodnight,
Dante.” Isabelle was disappointed. And frustrated. Maybe he was just old
fashioned; he was from a different era, after all. Or maybe the mess with her
parents had changed his mind about wanting her for a mate. As she inserted the
key in the lock, she turned to watch him as he walked to his car. Sighing, she
let herself into her home.

Needing
another drink, she headed to the kitchen. Remembering her text messages, she
pulled her phone from her purse. Isabelle poured a large glass of wine, taking
a long sip before reading the first message. Scrolling through, she noticed she’d
missed several messages as well as a call from Maria. This was odd considering
she had spoken to Maria earlier in the evening. She read all texts and listened
to the voice message. A chill ran down her spine. Even though the last message
from Maria was to set her mind at ease by letting her know Rico was home,
Isabelle was anything but relieved. Thinking back to the restaurant, Dante had
told her she needed to check her messages. His sixth sense seemed to be more
powerful than he alluded to. Surely if he knew something was wrong, he would
have been more adamant about her checking her phone, wouldn’t he? Maybe he
didn’t know it was important. He could possibly have wanted to distract her
while he spoke to Jonas.

Dammit!
Would the lies with her parents ever cease? Why did they feel the need to hide
the truth from her, their own daughter? Isabelle still didn’t understand how
they abandoned her yet included Tessa in all their affairs. It had taken her a
while, but she finally came to the conclusion this was on her parents and not
her cousin. Tessa wasn’t to blame for her parents’ deceit. Tessa had been a
teenager when the lies began. No, this was definitely on them. She planned to spend
more time with Tessa. She had brothers and sisters out there she was ready to
get to know.

Isabelle
thought back to what Dante said with regards to
Joseph
hiring her and
setting her up in her own practice. It didn’t surprise her when she was hired
to work at the hospital. After all, she was top in her class, having graduated
Summa Cum Laude. Okay, so maybe she had been a little surprised when he
suggested she start her own practice. She should have been suspicious when
Tessa showed up with boxes of Jonas’ old journals and notebooks. Her cousin
explained she had kept his entire collection of information safe until such a
time as Isabelle could use it. Had Tessa really appropriated the journals? Or
had Jonas given them to her to pass on to Isabelle?

Jonas
had been ostracized from his family for mating with her mother, a human.
Dante’s uncle, Alistair, was the man behind the ousting. Alistair Giannopoulos
was of the Original Gargoyle bloodline, as was Jonas. Where Jonas had no
problem with humans, Alistair was a purist. Tessa said Jonas and Caroline only
wanted to protect Isabelle and her siblings, but at what cost? Isabelle now
knew she had sixteen brothers and sisters somewhere in the world. She had met
Dane, watched him go through his transition. Tessa had recently visited a
sister, Lilly. If her parents had been having children since they mated, the
other fourteen could be anywhere in the world.

Less
than two months ago, the biggest problem Isabelle had was making time to go
visit her son. Now her list had grown exponentially. Sighing, she finished her
wine and readied for bed. Alone. She removed her dress and the sexy underwear
she had bought just for tonight. Even if Dante had come in, would they have
gotten to the point of removing their clothes?  Isabelle would have settled for
a kiss, one that involved more than just a brief touch of the lips. She chose
one of her toys to relieve the ache. She was already conjuring an image of Dante
and his Aston, one where he was James Bond and she was the heroine he bent over
the hood of his car as he took her from behind.

Dante
felt like a fool. A horny, unsatisfied fool. He could smell the arousal on
Isabelle as they stood on her porch. Her heart had been racing as she waited
for him to come inside. Instead of going in and possibly having an excellent
end to a nice evening, he had to ruin it by being the coward he was. His beast
had been demanding all night for Dante to remove Isabelle from the public place
and drag her to the nearest dark corner. That just wasn’t Dante’s style. He was
much more passive. Before, it hadn’t been a problem. There were plenty of
dominant women in the world. Women who relished taking control. He wasn’t into
the BDSM lifestyle; he just preferred to let the female lead in the bedroom.

While
he wasn’t certain Isabelle was as submissive as he was, he only assumed by her
demure manner she would expect him to be in charge. Trying to get the image of
her disappointed face out of his mind, he took to the freeway so he could allow
the Aston a little freedom. After an hour of driving like he was above the law,
Dante turned toward his home on the east side of town. Like his Clan, Dante’s
home was away from the city; his estate boasting a couple hundred acres. The
property was surrounded with trees for privacy, but for the most part, it was open,
spacious grounds. Like Rafael’s home, Dante’s house could also be described as
a manor. The architecture was different, but the size was just as impressive as
the design. Rafael had built it to Dante’s specifications; full of stark angles
and windows. Like his Clan, Dante built his home large in the hope it would one
day be filled with a family.

He
had an indoor/outdoor swimming pool that he utilized almost daily. Each of the
Gargoyles worked out in their own capacity. Julian was the runner while Gregor
and Frey were boxers and martial artists. Rafael preferred lifting weights.
Dante hated running but loved gliding through the water. It was like a balm to
his soul, even if he was getting a strenuous workout. Dante was already
planning on hitting the pool, hoping to relieve some pent-up tension. As he was
pulling into his garage, his cell phone rang. Seeing it was Jasper, he truly
hoped it was not a crime scene. His heart couldn’t stand seeing an innocent
body tonight. “Hello, Jasper.”

“Dante,
I hope I didn’t catch you in the middle of something. I’m on patrol, and you are
the closest one to me. I could use your assistance with some Unholy.” The
newest member of their Clan had been settling in really well since he
transferred from the West coast.

“Give
me your location, and I’ll be right there.” Dante could use a little action;
release a little tension of the Isabelle kind. He got the location from Jasper
and quickly changed out of his suit into the customary black fatigues the
Society wore to fight in. Not bothering to put on a shirt, he ran up the stairs
to his rooftop balcony and phased, launching himself into the sky.

The
Unholy had been restless these last few weeks. When Tessa had been chased by a
serial killer, Gordon Flanagan had been involved. He had been in a helicopter,
attempting to get Tessa to pull over. The man had been after Tessa ever since
her mother disappeared with her when she was an infant. Geoffrey had ended up
in an air assault with the other chopper and blown them out of the sky. As of
now, Flanagan’s body had not been recovered. One body had come across Dante’s
slab. Dental records confirmed the identity was that of the pilot, not Gordon
Flanagan. If the man was still alive, he was no doubt in hiding, recovering
from burn wounds.

His
absence was lending to the madness of the Unholy. Obviously, whoever was second
in command had no control over the army of monsters. Or maybe, Flanagan was
alive, in charge, and pissed he had come so close to his daughter, only to
watch her car flip and her life nearly end. It was not beyond the realm of
possibility he was alive and knew Tessa was as well. The man had more money
than the gods, so it only made sense he had eyes and ears everywhere.

The
fighting was close to the hospital. It took a couple of hours, but with Mason,
Urijah, and Lorenzo fighting with them, they eventually corralled most of the
Unholy. The others offered to take the captives to the Pen where Deacon was
waiting for them. With it being so late, Dante suggested he and Jasper clean up
in the morgue.

Dante
walked into the lower level of the hospital with Jasper on his heels. They
didn’t need enhanced shifter senses to hear the music coming from behind the
closed door. Even though it was late, it was apparent Trevor was still working.
The boy had no life. Dante entered the room to find Trevor bent over a cadaver.
All of the required safety equipment - face shield, gloves, and plastic apron
were in place. Trevor was sawing into the chest as he nodded his head in time
to the music. Dante used the remote to lower the volume on the stereo. Trevor
looked up, startled.

“What
in the gods’ name was that?” Dante asked his assistant, shaking his head.

“Cyanide
Sweetness,” Trevor and Jasper answered at the same time.

“Dude!”
Trevor looked at Jasper as though someone told him he had won the lottery.

“I
know, right?” Jasper was grinning at Trevor.

Dante
was thinking they’d both lost their minds. The hard rock Gregor made him endure
when they rode together was bad enough. Why anyone would want to listen to
someone screaming instead of singing was beyond him. Trevor raised the shield
to rest on top of his head and pointed at both of them with his saw. “Why are
you here at this time of night looking like you’ve been in a slasher flick? And
where are your shirts?”

Thinking
the morgue would be unattended, Dante had not counted on being seen with blood
all over him. He hated lying to Trevor. One day he was going to sit him down
and tell him the truth.

 “We
ran into a little trouble taking down a perp, and we came in here to clean up,”
Jasper told him. It was basically the truth, except for the trouble part. They
had no trouble with the Unholy. “Listen, Trevor, I have tickets to see Cyanide
Sweetness in a couple of months. You wanna go with?” Jasper was washing the
blood off his face, chest, and arms at the sink while talking. Dante didn’t
miss the look on Trevor’s face. It was somewhere between
are you really
talking to me
and
holy shit I’ve died and gone to metal heaven.

Dante
didn’t interrupt. Whether Jasper was using this as a diversion or if he truly
wanted Trevor to go to the concert with him, Dante wanted to see how this
played out. When Trevor didn’t respond, Jasper turned and looked at him with
raised eyebrows. “So, you wanna go?”

“Are
you asking me to a concert?” Trevor’s voice was barely above a whisper. Dante
felt a knife through his heart. How could he have missed the loneliness in his
assistant? Jasper was giving him the world with this one conversation.

“Yeah,
I mean, it’s not like a date or anything. You’re the only one I know besides
Sixx who  likes metal music.” Jasper finished rinsing then grabbed the towel
Dante handed him. Dante noticed Trevor’s eyes were having a hard time focusing
on Jasper’s face. He didn’t know Trevor’s sexual preference; he had always
assumed the younger man liked women. Now, he wasn’t so sure.

“Yeah,
sure, thanks.” Trevor was blushing, his eyes now focused on the corpse.

Dante
grabbed two clean t-shirts out of his locker, throwing one to Jasper. They would
have to settle for wearing bloody pants. At least they were both wearing dark
fatigues. If Trevor thought their similar attire odd, he didn’t mention it.

“Okay,
we’ll talk more about it later. Right now, I have to get out of here. I’m
feeling a little nauseous. Dante, I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Trevor, take it
easy.” Jasper grinned at them and breezed out the door.