Frey (4 page)

“
I had to pee,” she
lied.

“
Whatever.” He didn’t say
anything else as he jerked her panties down her legs. With no
foreplay to get her at least a little wet, her husband shoved her
knees to her chest and thrust himself into her body. Abbi closed
her eyes tight, willing the tears to stay put. She lay still, her
hands clutching the sheet below her, as Troy used her body for his
own pleasure. Not once since they’d been married had he given her
an orgasm. He’d never even tried. He pushed her knees higher
against her chest and pounded relentlessly until his orgasm came.
He didn’t call out her name, just grunted a couple of times as his
seed spilled into her core. When he was sated, he pulled out,
turned over, and went back to sleep.

Abbi sent a silent prayer
to every deity who might be listening.
Please don’t let me get pregnant.

Chapter Three

Knowing Julian would still be at the lab,
Frey went there after leaving the manor. He let himself into the
locked building and found his younger brother in front of the bank
of computers where he spent most of his time. Frey didn’t know how
Julian and Nikolas could sit so long and stare at the screens.
Unless he was meditating, he hated sitting still. He needed to be
moving. It was one reason he’d opened a gym. He ran a business that
allowed him to spar and work out while making money. Not that he
needed the money. Like the other Gargoyles, he had more money than
he could spend in his long lifetime. Sixx made sure of that.

“
Hey, Little Brother. What
the fuck is going on? I went by the manor to talk to Kaya, and
nobody was home. I called Rafe, and he asked me to rearrange all
the patrol schedules. Said you’d fill me in on what’s going down.”
He sat down in Nikolas’ empty chair and assessed his brother’s
mood. Julian and Nikolas were as close as siblings could be without
being twins. Julian had to be missing Nik badly.

Jules stopped typing and ran his hands down
his face. “How much time do you have?” Julian picked up something
that resembled a transmitter and twirled it between his fingers as
he spoke. “Talk about a mess. I guess I should start at the
beginning. Isabelle has a child, Connor, who has been living with
Isabelle’s foster family for the last six years. She has been
hiding the kid, because she didn’t want her former father-in-law to
get his hands on his dead son’s heir. Someone found out about
Connor and sent Isabelle a note. She panicked and called Dane.
Having experience in kidnappings, he wanted her to allow him and
Kaya to handle the situation.

“
Dane has a contact in New
Nashville. Corey, the contact, called in a favor with the sheriff’s
department where the foster family lives. They went to the home and
found the foster father, Rico, dead. There was evidence of Maria,
the foster mother, being dragged through the house, and her body
was found a few blocks away. She is in a coma in a hospital in New
Nashville. That is where Rafael is now. There was no sign of
Connor.” There was a notification on one of the computers, and
Julian turned to check it out. Frey kept quiet, clasping his hands
behind his head.

Julian returned his attention to Frey.
“Somehow, the kidnappers got Isabelle’s cell phone information and
texted her, telling her to head to the airport. Tessa was going to
go in her place, but Isabelle gave us the slip. Long story short,
Isabelle is on a plane, and Dante is on the Clan jet going after
her.”

“
So, Isabelle called Dane
instead of Dante. I bet he was upset.” Frey would be if his mate
called someone else for help, even if that someone was her brother.
Technically, they weren’t mates since they hadn’t officially
bonded. Still, it had to hurt.

“
You could say that. Tessa
had a plan, a good one, to disguise herself as Isabelle. Before she
could get back with the supplies she needed, Isabelle snuck out and
headed to the airport.”

“
What a clusterfuck. Why
can’t one of us find a mate that doesn’t have a target on their
back? Speaking of women, what’s going on with yours?”

“
Nothing is going on with
mine. I am too busy trying to keep everyone else’s alive.” Julian
had one of the most important jobs in the Clan, whether he realized
it or not. Frey was often envious of how smart his little brother
was. Julian’s I.Q. was off the charts. His mind was a weapon all
its own, and if the government ever found out what Julian was
capable of, he would become a wanted man.

“
Truth, Brother. Truth.
And Isabelle has a kid? How did Dante take the news?”

“
Same way we all did.
Shocked at first, but then we all realized we don’t know her. Why
would we have known she has a kid? I know nothing about Katherine
that I haven’t read in a file online. I’m sure she has secrets like
the rest of us. Dante has already accepted Isabelle, and he’s ready
for a family. He will do the honorable thing and accept Connor
without hesitation. Wouldn’t you?”

“
Of course I would. We all
have pasts, good and bad. We cannot judge others without judging
ourselves. I would hate to have stones cast my way for the shit
I’ve done. Besides, I’m ready for a rugrat or ten myself.” And that
was the truth of it. Frey kept his past to himself. He never wanted
his Clan to know the things he’d done during war, the atrocities
he’d seen. Meditation helped, but his nightmares sometimes got the
best of him. If he was ever lucky enough to find a mate, she’d have
to be a strong woman who could put up with his thrashing about
during the night.

“
Do you ever think about
him?” Julian stopped typing long enough to look at his brother.
Frey didn’t have to ask who Jules was talking about.

“
All the time. At least
now I can think about the good times and what a good father he
was.” Roberto Di Pietro, the younger brother of Edmondo, had been a
good father, and a great fighter. He blamed himself for Edmondo
getting killed, even though he hadn’t been around when it happened.
He was the reason Frey had joined the military so often, following
in his father’s footsteps.

When the female Goyles started becoming
extinct, Frey had all but given up the dream of having a family.
Now that he knew it was possible, it was almost all he could think
about. As much as he wanted children of his own, Frey knew he’d
never be half the dad his own had been.

“
I need to adjust the
patrolling schedule, now that Gregor and Dante are out of the
country. We are going to continue with sword training. Rafe doesn’t
want me to postpone working with the rest of the Clan. I am meeting
Uri in the morning at the armory, and we will proceed as planned.
Dante has already spoken to Oksana and given her an extended
vacation. Even though she is in the know about us being Goyles, I
don’t want her around when we’re all half naked and swinging
swords. I’d hate to give the old girl a heart attack.” Frey grinned
at his brother.

Julian barked out a laugh. “Hell, you’re
enough to give someone a heart attack just by walking into a room.
Have you seen yourself?”

Frey knew he was intimidating. Even if he
weren’t a full-blooded Gargoyle, he would make most anyone stop and
take notice. Wanting to turn the attention away from himself he
asked, “Heard anything from Nik?” Frey had wanted to go with his
brother to help look for Sophia. It had been a long time since he’d
been on a mission. Search and rescue was one of his many talents.
Rafael suggested Gregor be the one to go since his mate was bound
and determined to help find her cousin.

“
I talked to him this
morning to put him in touch with Ezekiel. Since they’re both
searching for Sophia, we figure it’s better if they work together.
Now that Gregor has gone to help Dante, his plan to help Nik has
been delayed. Hopefully both outcomes will be positive, and we can
get Nik home soon.” It was evident by his voice that Julian missed
their brother.

They talked about the half-bloods, and how
so many of their lives had been connected without them knowing it.
Frey mentioned mating with humans which brought the conversation to
Kaya. Julian asked, “If you don’t mind me asking, what did you want
to speak to Kaya about?”

Frey sat up in the chair, leaning his arms
on his thighs. “One of her cops. Apparently he’s a douchebag that
likes to beat on his wife and her younger brother. The kid came
into the gym wanting to learn how to fight. I want more intel
before I go to bat for him.”

“
Why don’t you just kick
the cop’s ass and scare the shit out of him?” Julian cocked his
head to the side and smiled. Being a shifter, Julian could hold his
own in a fight, but he didn’t have the extensive training Frey did.
If he wanted, Frey could subdue a person just by gripping their
shoulder. He could also kill a man with a quick blow to the
chest.

“
I wish it were that
simple. This is something I’ve got to tread carefully with. Now, I
will leave you to your monitors. I’ve got to hit the skies. Maybe
I’ll get to kick some Unholy ass instead,” Frey said with a
grin.

“
Here.” Julian tossed the
item he’d been fiddling with to his brother. “New technology. Tessa
got it from Jonas, and I want to test it out before I attempt to
duplicate it. It’s a transmitter that will allow you to speak to me
from wherever you are. No more cell phones while we’re
flying.”

As Julian explained how it worked, Frey
turned the plastic over looking at both sides before sliding it
over his ear. He pulled a cigar out of his pocket and bit the end
off. Pointing the unlit stick at his brother he said, “Call me if
you need me. I’ll be here.”

Julian nodded and turned back to the
screens. Unease was rolling off his brother. Maybe he was tired of
sitting still after all.

Even though his patrolling had been free of
Unholy, Frey hadn’t slept well. His thoughts strayed to the young
man with the bruised face. Hopefully the sister would sign the
permission slip, and Matthew could begin his training soon. Frey
opened the gym as he did every morning. He had a couple of hours
before he was to meet Urijah at the armory. There were a handful of
people that liked to work out before they went to their jobs, but
nobody needed a sparring partner this early. So, instead of hitting
the boxing ring, Frey hit the speed bag. Even though he didn’t need
to, he wrapped his hands. If he punched a bag for hours on end with
no protection, someone might get suspicious. He began working on
the small bag that was located close to the front door, taking care
to keep his shifter speed in check.

About twenty minutes into his warm-up, Frey
started feeling light headed. He grabbed the bag, stopping its
motion, when a woman walked into the gym. His stomach churned as he
took in her features - mousy brown hair, dull blue eyes, and frumpy
clothes. The same hair and eyes he had seen on Matthew. This was
Matthew’s sister, Abigail Quinn.

“
Excuse me. Do you know
where I can find Mr. Hartley?” she asked quietly, her eyes not
meeting his longer than necessary.

Frey found his feet and
forced them to close the distance between him and this broken
creature. “I’m Mr. Hartley. Geoffrey Hartley. You must be Abigail.”
He quickly removed the tape from his right hand so he could shake
hers, skin to skin. Dumb move. When she placed her small hand in
his, he about fell to his knees.
What the
hell?
Frey never got sick, never felt
faint.

When she took her hand
from his, he felt the loss. As Frey stood frozen in place, he
realized he was looking at his mate.
Fuck
me. I find my mate, and she’s married to an abusive
motherfucker.

“
Please call me Abbi. My
brother asked me to come by and sign a consent form. May I ask what
he’s signing up for?” Her voice was soft and musical. Frey wanted
to hear it again.

“
I’ll call you Abbi if you
call me Frey.” He waited, but she didn’t speak; only nodded. Frey
was ready to throttle the man who had taken the life out of both
Abbi and her brother.

“
Matthew wants to take a
self-defense class. After seeing his face yesterday, I’d say that
is a wise decision. Do you know where he got the bruises?” Frey
begged her silently to be honest with him as he stared at her
swollen bottom lip.

Abbi shifted from one foot to the other. Not
in the bouncy way her brother did. Her movements were timid. She
clasped her hands together when she answered, “He’s always getting
into fights. The bigger boys pick on him. Can you help him, Mr.
Hartley?” Her pleading eyes found his. She was afraid for her
brother, and she wanted Frey to help.

He couldn’t stop himself.
The need to be near her was overwhelming. Frey moved a step closer
and took Abbi’s hand in his, running his thumb across the soft skin
of her knuckles. “Yes, Abbi, I can help him.”
And you.
Her small fingers curled
tight against his, as if she knew instinctively Frey was her
lifeline. They fixed their gazes on each other, and he took the
opportunity to search her soul. Those beautiful blue orbs staring
at him should be filled with love and happiness, not fear and
wariness. Abbi blushed and looked down.

“
I’m sorry, that was…” She
backed away.

“
No, I apologize, Abbi.
You’re stunning. Please forgive me for staring.” Frey didn’t miss
the breath she sucked in when he complimented her. He had seen too
many battered women over the centuries to not recognize what he was
seeing. Underneath the ugly duckling façade her husband had
convinced her of over the years was a beautiful swan just waiting
to break through. Right then and there, Frey vowed to break through
to the swan.