Dante (Stone Society Book 3) (30 page)

 The
drive into town was quick. Gregor found a parking spot out of the way, and they
all exited the SUV. Gregor pulled out his phone to call Donovan while Dante
opened the back hatch and pulled his suitcase out. Isabelle had added her new
clothes to his since they only had the one piece of luggage.

Isabelle
was surprised when Tessa pulled her in for a hug. “I’m so proud of you, Belle.
You may not realize this, but you are the strongest woman I know. Let us get
the girls out of there safely, and Gregor and I will come help you.” Tessa
leaned back and smiled at Isabelle, tears in both their eyes. Isabelle had been
mad at Tessa for a while. Now she was glad they were getting closer. Isabelle
had never had a real friend before. They had their arms around each other when
Isabelle felt Tessa tense up. “Tessa what is it?”

Tessa
was staring hard in the direction of the market. “I thought I saw…”

“Who?
Gordon’s dead. You don’t have to worry about him any longer.”

Tessa
shook her head, “No. I thought it was Tamian.”

Isabelle
squeezed her a little tighter. Tessa had to be missing her brother. The bond
they shared was as strong as any she’d had ever seen. Speaking of bonds,
Isabelle hadn’t missed the closeness between Dante and Gregor. She had been a bit
jealous at first. Envious they could finish each other’s sentences. Could know
what the other was thinking without speaking. Isabelle knew it was something
deeper than just Dante’s special abilities. Theirs was a closeness that defied
any relationship Isabelle had ever encountered. Now, she wasn’t jealous. She
was happy for Dante as well as for Gregor. She longed for a connection that
deep. Gregor and Tessa had it. Now that she and Dante were true mates, she felt
it in her soul they would have it, too.

The men touched their foreheads
together, whispered their farewells, and broke apart. Both their eyes were
shining with unshed tears. It did something to Isabelle’s heart, seeing these
two alpha Gargoyles openly showing their emotions for each other. These were
the type of men who would be raising her son, and maybe someday soon, her other
children. She knew as close as the Clan was, all the Gargoyles would have an
influence over Connor. Taking him under their wings, figuratively and
literally. She didn’t know if her child would remain human, or if he would
become a shifter. Either way, he would be taught and nurtured by these alpha
males who weren’t afraid to openly love with everything they had. How had she
gotten so lucky?

Dante
hailed a taxi, tossing their suitcase in the trunk. He and Isabelle settled
into the back seat for the hour-long drive to the airport. Gregor and Tessa
were going to search the villa. If there was any evidence Stavros was there
with the girls, Gregor was going to alert the authorities and let them handle
the situation. Gregor and Tessa would remain until that happened. If he wasn’t
there, they would switch to plan B. Donovan’s computer hacker had sent them a
list of every known, as well as a few unknown, properties the Sarantos family owned.
If Stavros didn’t arrive by noon, Donovan and some of his Clan would split the
list with Gregor and Tessa. They would search each one until the girls were
found.

Dante
had no idea what would happen once they arrived on Zakynthos. He didn’t want to
worry Isabelle any more than she already was. Connor had surprised him when he
sought their connection. What he kept from Isabelle was Connor was scared. He
believed the boy had been able to reach him out of fear. Neither one said much
on the drive. Isabelle was lost in thought, and Dante wanted to keep his mind
clear in case Connor tried to reach him again.

Once
they arrived at the airport, Dante paid the driver and took their suitcase. The
plane was prepped and ready. When they were seated, the pilot put them in line
for take-off. The airport was busy, but they were soon in the air. The flight
from Athens to Zakynthos would take less than an hour. Once on the island, they
had a rental car waiting. They were going directly to the boat and prayed it
was still docked.

Dante
led Isabelle to the bedroom in the back of the jet. “Let’s relax, Beautiful.”
Dante stretched out on the bed, and Isabelle snuggled in next to him. With her
head on his shoulder and an arm around his waist, Dante wrapped her up tightly,
pouring every bit of peace into her he could. His beast understood his need to
just
be
with his mate. The bond pull was there, but it wasn’t a sexual
need.

The
silence was disrupted when Isabelle whispered, “He raped me.”

Dante’s
body tensed, his beast howled inside. His mind was murderous. He was going to
kill the motherfucker as soon as he saw him. “Isabelle, you don’t have to…”

“Yes,
I do. The villa back there, when I freaked out? I was remembering. I was sick
with the flu. For some reason, he wanted to get away from his father, so we
went to that particular villa. He accused me of ignoring his needs because I
was sick. I was too weak to fight him off. I kept telling him no, that I didn’t
want it, but he was too strong. That’s the night I conceived Connor. I never
thought about an abortion, even though my baby was the product of anger, not
love.”

“You
are so precious, Isabelle. I admire you. You kept your baby even though he
served as a reminder of a tremendous wrong that had been done to you. How
strong you are. I haven’t seen you with Connor, but I’m sure he loves you as
much as you love him. I cannot wait to get you both home and start our lives
together. I’ve always wanted a son.” He kissed her hair, stroked her arm,
continued to allow his energy to flow from his fingertips into her skin.

“He
does love me. I hate everything that’s happened, but just like his conception,
all the bad is leading up to the good. I have a feeling he already loves you. I
don’t understand how he knows about you though. I know he’s special, with his
artistic abilities, and his intelligence is off the charts. I had no idea he
had any kind of other gifts. I wish I knew if he was going to be a shifter. I
don’t think we can hide that part of you from him.”

“I
don’t want to hide what we are from him. Remember, you’re a shifter, too. He is
going to be around Gargoyles the rest of his life. Whether he transitions or
not, he needs to be aware of us, learn about our ways. I want to train him as
if he will be a shifter, if that’s okay with you.”

“What
type of training?” Isabelle leaned up on an elbow, looking down into his face.

He
couldn’t help the smile forming at his lips. He could see Connor with his small
sword running among the large Gargoyles. “Frey has begun sword training. I am
letting him use my property since it is secluded yet open. I hope that won’t be
a problem.”

“You
want Connor to learn to use a sword?” she asked incredulously.

“I
want you to learn as well. I will have Uri make you a special sword, a lighter
version of the one we use so you will be able to wield it. If a war is coming,
we all need to be prepared. Unless you plan on poisoning our foes, you will
need to be able to protect yourself should I happen to be elsewhere.”

“You
and I both know I’m much better with a syringe than I would be with a weapon,
but I think it would be interesting to learn.”

“Will
it bother you to have Gargoyles coming and going on a regular basis?”

“Why
would it bother me? It’s your home.” Isabelle’s words cut him. Deep. Did she
not want to be together?

“We
are mates now. I want you in my home. Our home. If you don’t like the house I
have, we can build one together, more to your liking. But regardless, I don’t
want you and Connor living anywhere but with me. I’ve been thinking.” He
continued before she could say no, “Jonas is looking after Maria, and she’s
expected to make a full recovery. I think it wise for her to move in with us as
well. Connor is used to having her around, and she is going to need her family
now Rico is gone.”

“How
did I get so lucky?” Isabelle asked before she pressed their lips together.

“Is
that a yes?”

Isabelle
kissed him again and breathed “yes” into his mouth. Before they could turn the
kiss into something heated, the pilot alerted them they would be landing soon.
Dante’s heart was nearly full. One small hurdle, getting Connor back, and it
would be overflowing.

As
soon as the plane landed, Dante and Isabelle got in the waiting SUV and headed
toward the marina. He could feel the nervous energy rolling off his mate as
they closed in on their destination. The two sides to his psyche were warring
against the other. The side that contained his special abilities was fighting
hard to remain calm, keep his mind open in case Connor reached out. The other
side, the beast, was tearing at his insides to be let loose. As soon as
Isabelle had confessed what Alexi had done to her, the beast within had ravaged
to get revenge for his mate. The closer to Alexi and Connor they got, the
stronger the beast was.

The
marina came into view, and Isabelle began shaking. Dante couldn’t imagine the
strength needed to live her life as she had. Thinking back to all the bad she
had been through, Dante wanted to give her the good. The best. After finding a
parking spot, he grabbed her hand, squeezing it. “Let’s go get our son.”

What
the fuck kind of kid didn’t like fishing? Stavros had insisted the kid had a
name. Connor. Where the hell had she gotten the name? After someone she fucked,
probably. He refused to call him by his stupid name. Why he thought taking the
bitch’s spawn out on the boat was a good idea was beyond reason. All the brat
wanted to do was draw. Sure, he had some talent, but sitting with your head
down had to get boring.

The
waters were calm, unlike Alexi’s mood. He had dropped anchor half an hour ago.
From the time they had left the villa to now, the kid had yet to say a word.
Fine by him. Silence made for better fishing anyway. Alexi was now rethinking
sending the crew away. When he did it, he had been thinking he didn’t need an
audience if he lost his temper. Had he let the crew remain on board, he would
have had a babysitter. Now he was stuck taking care of the kid by himself.

 As
he walked by where the kid was sitting, he noticed what he was drawing.
Fuck.
Alexi couldn’t believe his eyes. Even a bastard like him could appreciate the
talent it took to draw an exact replica of
The Magdalena
. Not only were
the boat’s details precise, but the kid had captured the blue of the sea, the
depth of the water, the horizon, everything. Alexi didn’t need to look around
to know the picture could have been taken with a camera. The kid was adding
something else to the picture, but he didn’t stick around to find out what.

Isabelle
led Dante to the slip where
The Magdalena
used to be docked. Her heart
caught when she found the space was empty. “Here, this is the spot,” she told
him, gesturing with her hand.

“That’s
quite a large slip. Just exactly how big is their boat?” Dante asked.

“It’s
not their biggest, but probably around one hundred feet?” All she knew was it
wasn’t big enough. Had it been larger, she may have been able to hide from
Alexi that night.

“We
need a boat of our own. Let’s go see if there are any rentals available.” Dante
gently took her hand and was headed for the office when a familiar face came
toward them.

“Carter,
what are you doing here?” Isabelle asked. The closer he got, though, she realized
something was off.

“Dante,
Isabelle?” he asked as if he didn’t know who they were. Isabelle found herself
behind Dante. Obviously, he felt something was off as well.

The
man held his hands up defensively. “My name’s Hunter. I’m Carter’s brother. Donovan
called and told me to be on the lookout for you. I’m here to assist, should you
need my services.”

Isabelle
stepped from around Dante and took in Hunter’s features as the two males shook
hands. She could see no physical differences in Hunter and his brother, only
his voice was different. Deeper. Their looks were identical, yet Hunter carried
himself differently. Where Carter had been serious yet relaxed, there was
something cautious, more rigid about his brother. His eyes weren’t soft.
Hunter’s eyes held the look of someone battle scarred, hardened. “Are you and
Carter twins?” She couldn’t help her curiosity. Why she was surprised there
were Gargoyle twins, she didn’t know.

“Yes,
he and I are an anomaly. As far as we know, we are the only twins of our kind.”
Hunter barely looked at Isabelle. Instead, he kept his eyes on Dante when
speaking.

“Hunter
and Carter aren’t your average Greek names,” Isabelle said, more as a thought
than expecting a response.

“My
brother and I have reinvented ourselves several times over the years. Our given
names are Castor and Hector. We wanted modern names to fit in with our modern
lives.” Hunter’s attention was still on Dante when he spoke, “Donovan filled me
in as much as he could on your situation. Is there anything I can do to help?”

Dante
pulled Isabelle close to his side, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. “We
believe our son is on
The Magdalena
. Isabelle hasn’t been here in six
years, so they may have moved the boat from this marina. The slip it was kept
in back then is now empty.”

“Let’s
go back to the office, and I will look that up.” Hunter walked away from the
empty slip, and she and Dante followed.

“So
you work here, Hunter?” Isabelle knew Gargoyle’s had all kinds of jobs; it just
seemed a little menial for someone with his temperament.

“You
could say that. I own the marina.” He didn’t elaborate. He said nothing else
until they reached his office. Isabelle had been in the office before, a long
time ago. She didn’t remember seeing Hunter there. She would definitely have
remembered someone like him. “Please, have a seat. Can I get you anything, coffee
or water perhaps?” Both she and Dante asked for water. Hunter produced two
bottles out of a refrigerator and passed them out. He poured himself a cup of
coffee and sat behind his computer. He tapped on the computer keys.