Gregor (Stone Society Book 2)
Read Gregor (Stone Society Book 2) Online
Authors: Faith Gibson
Gregor
Stone Society Book 2
Faith Gibson
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rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the
scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without
the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s
intellectual property. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
This
book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the
product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance
to actual events, locations, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
The
author acknowledges the copyrighted or trademarked status and trademark owners
of the wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction.
Copyright
© 2015 by Faith Gibson
Published
by Faith Gibson
Editor:
Jagged Rose Wordsmithing
First
e-book edition: February 2015
First
print edition: February 2015
Cover
design by KPG, photos from Shutterstock and
Natalya Sidorova /
123RF
ISBN:
978-1-4951-4056-3
This
book is intended for mature audiences only.
Dedication
Kendall – Without your
dedication, the series wouldn’t be off to such a stellar start. Thank you for
all you do, and just basically being my sunshine.
The man – Thank you for each and
every woohoo when I sell a book. I love you, babe.
Acknowledgements
My
writing posse: Kendall, Jen, and Nikki – we did it. Again.
My
beta readers: Alex B, Sharon B, Tanya R, Candy R, and Shannon P, thank you for
your invaluable input.
KPG
– Another stellar cover. Your talent just grows.
All
the ladies at TaSTy WordGasms, thank you for blogging, pimping, Gregor’s Cover
Reveal and Release, and just basic stellarness.
Pam Brooks – the ultimate Rock
chick. Thank you for the shout outs, my rock and roll hoochie koo.
Ashley Westphall-Carr – I like
having a shadow. Thank you for following me around.
JAG – you are there every single
day, rooting me on. Dude.
2044
A
sleek, black Harley pulled up to an open gas pump. Gregor Stone eyeballed the
bike, comparing it to the one he was currently filling up. His was a couple of years
newer, but the other one had more chrome. Sharp. The driver pulled their helmet
off and hung it over the mirror on the handlebar. Long red hair cascaded down
the back of the rider, as a black leather boot swung over the seat. A blue jean
clad ass sashayed into the store.
Fuck me.
Gregor
put the nozzle in the holder and waited. “Please see cashier for receipt.” He
strode inside the store, stepping up behind the redhead. While he was waiting
his turn, Red pulled several bills out of her pocket to prepay, and one floated
to the floor. Sandalwood and leather filled his nostrils, making him
lightheaded. Red bent over to retrieve the wayward cash, and her divine ass
landed firmly in Gregor’s crotch. A groan escaped his throat as the biker stood
up and glanced over her shoulder. “If you’re gonna ride, Stud, make sure you
pull my hair.”
With
a wink, she turned around and paid the cashier then strolled out the door, not looking
back. Gregor just stared, mouth agape. His body was humming.
“She’s
feisty, that one,” the cashier said with a chuckle.
“I
need my receipt, Peg. When are you going to add paper to the pumps?” Gregor’s
eyes never left the redhead as she put high octane into her ride.
“Now,
Warden, if I put paper out there, you wouldn’t have a reason to come in and see
me. Here you go.” Gregor turned to the woman behind the counter. If Peggy was
a day younger than sixty, he’d put the paper out there himself.
“Thanks,
Beautiful.” Gregor leaned across the counter and kissed her cheek.
By
the time he was done flirting with his old friend, the back end of that hot
piece was rolling out of the lot.
What
the hell is wrong with me?
Tessa
Blackmore rode her bike hard. She felt fine until she stopped to get gas and
bumped into the warden, literally. Gregor Stone. What an ass. Too bad his nice
backside was attached to the rest of him. Fucking full-blood. Gods, she ached
all over. Just how fast can the flu come on? Pretty damn fast.
She
parked behind her house, not bothering to garage her Harley, then climbed off
and made her way into the kitchen. She stripped out of her clothes and headed
to the shower. The ache was so much more than the flu. Pain shot through her
hands, and her gums felt like they were going to explode. She dropped to her
knees and grabbed her head. “Aggggggg! NO, this is impossible!” Tessa had
helped several of her kind through the change, so she knew what to expect. “He
CANNOT be my MATE!” She yelled to the cosmos.
Tessa’s
job within the family was to watch over the offspring of human women and
full-blood Gargoyle shifters, helping them through their transitions. Half-bloods
didn’t come into their powers until they met their mate. This was an unknown
fact within her community. She stumbled on the information when she found her Uncle
Jonas’ journal. A journal that was now in her possession, locked in her safe. He
didn’t know Tessa knew nor that she had the journal.
Her
fangs elongated nipping her lip. “Shit!” She reached up to wipe the blood and
nicked her chin with a claw. “Dammit!” This was easier when she was watching
someone else go through it. She held her hands out in front of her.
Imagine
going in for a manicure with these suckers.
Laughing at her sick joke, she poked
her mouth again. Concentrating, she thought about her human hands, and her
claws retracted. She did the same with her fangs.
Collapsing
on the floor, she was really glad she didn’t get wings.
Present
Day 2047
The
first time Tessa had been followed, she found it exhilarating. The second and
third, annoying. This time it was just downright pissing her off. Once again, a
Mustang got on her tail and began a chase through the side streets and back
roads of New Atlanta. Once again, she lost her pursuer. When she felt the coast
was clear, she looped back around the way she had been traveling and headed to
her cousin’s house. Isabelle refused to answer her calls. Ever since Tessa told
her the truth about who and what they are, the doctor had been keeping to
herself.
Tessa
hadn’t seen her cousin since she accompanied Isabelle to the Penitentiary. The
Pen’s previous doctor was killed in a riot, and for some reason the warden felt
Isabelle would make a good prison doctor. If he knew about her background, that
would make sense. Isabelle was the daughter of Jonas Montague, the famous
scientist and doctor who created the first cloned human. Being the largest
prison in the south that contained the Unholy, they needed a doctor who was
capable of dealing with non-humans.
Isabelle
was a half-blood Gargoyle shapeshifter who hadn’t yet gone through the change
herself. She had, however, watched one of her older brothers go through his
transition recently. Tessa needed to visit Dane and see how he was faring now
that he was back at work as a detective with the New Atlanta Police Force. Being
a half-blood shifter would give him an advantage when hunting the bad guys.
When
Isabelle had been approached by Gregor Stone about the position at the Pen, Tessa
knew in her heart her cousin would take the job. Her feelings were hurt, her
pride wounded. Tessa really couldn’t blame her, though. If she were the one
with the medical degree and her father chose to share his secrets with her
rebel cousin, she, too, would feel slighted. Arriving at Isabelle’s home, she drove
her Harley around back. Isabelle’s car wasn’t in the drive, but she could have
parked in the garage.
She
shut the bike off, put the kickstand down, pulled her helmet off, and hung it over
the handlebar. Tessa threw her leg over the bike and walked to the backdoor. She
knocked then used her key to let herself in. “Isabelle,” she shouted to her
cousin. She stopped in the kitchen when she noticed a stack of papers on the
table. Leafing through what appeared to be a new-hire packet, Tessa figured
Isabelle had indeed accepted the job. “This might not be a bad thing,” she
muttered to herself.
Tessa’s
cloned brother, Tamian, was sitting in the Pen. When she visited the massive
structure with Isabelle, she had seen him, mind spoke with him, told him she
would get him out of there. For some ungodly reason, he thought he belonged in
there. She knew better. She had looked after her brother over the years, and
there was no better person on this planet. He was a giver, and she was going to
get him out.
Tessa
didn’t know if all cloned siblings could hear each other’s thoughts. She needed
to teach Tam how to shield his from her when he was on the outside. There were
just some things you really didn’t want to know about your brother.
Now
that Isabelle was working as the Pen’s resident physician, Tessa could visit
and scope the layout of the place. She knew breaking her brother out was going
to be difficult, but she was up for the challenge. As long as she could avoid
the warden, all would be well.
Fucking
Gregor Stone. Why couldn’t she have mated with a nice young Irishman? A nice
human
Irishman? But
no
, she must have pissed off the fates somewhere along the
way for them to stick her with the hardass who ran the prison.
Isabelle
Sarantos had been at her new job less than a week and was already wondering if
she had made a mistake. For the last three days she worked non-stop to clean out
her office. The previous doctor had been a slob. Now, she could finally see the
surface of the desk. She sorted the abandoned paperwork into stacks. Some were
inmate notes, some were random scribblings, and others were items that would
more than likely end up in the trash.
She
decided to take a break from sorting and started shuffling through the files. The
first thing she did was put them in alphabetical order. Since these files were
open and on the desk, the inmates could need immediate care. The phone on her
desk rang causing her to jump. She hesitantly picked it up, “Hello?”
“Doctor
Sarantos, there’s a call for you on line one.” The male voice disconnected. Who
would be calling her here? She pressed the “line 1” button. “Dr. Sarantos
speaking.”
“So
you took the job. I guess I should have known you would.” Tessa must have
invaded her home again. The papers detailing her new position were on the
kitchen table, and the snoop would no doubt have read them.
“What
do you want, Tessa? And please stop breaking into my home. As a matter of fact,
leave the key on your way out.”
“I
don’t need a key to get in the door, but that’s beside the point. When were you
going to tell me, or were you? It’s going to be difficult to watch over you
there.”
“I
have done well on my own all these years dear cousin. I have a feeling I can
manage without you a few more. Besides, the warden is here. I can think of a
lot worse men to look out for me.” Isabelle heard Tessa choking. “Are you all right?”
“Fine.
Freaking fine. You might want to watch him, and I don’t mean stare at his ass. I
do
mean be leery of the man. He’s been known to have a bad temper.”
“How
do you know so much about Gregor?” On the other end of the phone, Tessa coughed
again. “What is wrong with you? Are you coming down with something?”
“You
know we don’t get sick, and now it’s
Gregor
? What happened to Warden or
Mr. Stone? You aren’t actually interested in him, are you?” Tessa asked, not
sounding like herself. She sounded…jealous.
“No,
I’m not interested, but he is hot. The way his pants stretch over his tight ass.
Yum.”
“Yum?
Did you just say yum? Who are you, and what have you done with my cousin?”
“I
can appreciate a nice male physique. I was married to someone built just like
him you know.” Isabelle tried really hard not to think of Alexi. She had
fallen quickly for the Greek god, and theirs had been a whirlwind romance. She
had been young when she met him, and he talked her into moving to Greece to
practice medicine there.
On
one hand, she had been scared out of her wits. After seven years of studying,
she deserved a nice long vacation; but still, she was too young to pick up and
move to a foreign land. On the other hand, she really had nobody at home she
needed to get back to. Once she started college, her foster family was out of
her life, and she was basically alone. Having Alexi and his family was a huge
incentive to stay. She mistakenly read their acceptance as love. What they were
really after was her knowledge of her father’s findings.
“Belle,
did I lose you? Are you there?” She was brought out of the past by the one
relative who stayed in touch over the years.
“I’m
here. Now, why did you call, or are you just being nosy about Gregor?”
“I
couldn’t care less about him. Just so you are aware, he’s a full-blood. You
need to keep that in mind. And no, I don’t need anything; I was just confirming
that you did indeed turn your back on the family when we need you most.”
“I
will not have this conversation with you again. Don’t call me at work; it’s
unprofessional and unnecessary.” Isabelle hung up on Tessa. God she was so
frustrating. “I turned
my
back?” As far as Isabelle was concerned the
family turned their back on her a long time ago. She had sixteen brothers and
sisters she hadn’t known about until Dane,
and
she was a shifter. How in
the holy hell do you let your child go their whole life not knowing what and
who they are? Somehow she was going to find all of her siblings.
Gregor
Stone is a full-blood? Why did Tessa wait until now to spring that on her?
Crap.
Is he related to Nikolas Stone? That would make sense. Sort of.
Returning
to the inmate files, she read through several, noticing a pattern in the
diagnosis and treatment. Holy crap! What the previous doctor had been doing was
not only dangerous, but unethical. She opened another file, and what she read
had her head spinning.
Oh my god.
She picked up her cell phone and
dialed her cousin. Hopefully Tessa was still snooping at her house.