Frey (43 page)

Sixx got a location on Abbi’s cell phone,
but it wasn’t static. It had moved, stayed static for about half an
hour, and was on the move again. By that time, several of the Clan
had arrived including Isabelle and Kaya. When they heard a child
was involved, both women came offering their support. Frey was
thankful, because the little girl wanted nothing to do with the
mother who had been holding her. When Frey introduced her to the
two women in his Clan, the little girl finally stopped crying and
allowed them to take care of her. That was one less worry on his
plate.

Lorenzo landed the helicopter in the parking
lot and Frey jumped in, sliding a pair of headphones on. “Sixx has
a lock on her phone. She’s headed north on Guntersville Road.”
Matthew was sitting in the seat next to him, his hands clenched,
knuckles white. Frey reached over and enclosed his big hand over
Matthew’s smaller ones. He didn’t make any promises. Too much time
had passed. He had let Abbi down, again. Even if he got her out of
this alive, she’d never forgive him.

They patched Sixx through to the onboard
communication system so he could give them immediate change in
directions. “Her signal has stopped. She is on the bridge at the
Brockton train yard.”

In less than five minutes, the helicopter
was hovering over the bridge. “Fuck, there they are!” Jasper
pointed to the railing of the bridge. Troy had Abbi over his
shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

“
What the fuck did the
bastard do to her?” Matthew screamed. “Frey you have to stop him;
you can’t let him do this, Frey! He’s going to throw her
over!”

Frey’s heart stopped when Troy laid Abbi’s
lifeless body on the edge of the bridge, and with one flip, sent
her falling to the tracks below.

Frey jerked the cans off his head and dove
out of the helo. He phased in mid-air, begging his body to fly
faster and harder than it ever had before. Frey reached her body
with no time to spare. In one motion, he grabbed her, wrapped her
in his wings, and flipped his body over just as the last grain of
sand hit the bottom of the hourglass. His body smacked the ground,
knocking the wind out of him. Frey hit the side of a rail and
flipped, never loosening his hold on his mate. His body was
battered, but he would heal. He reached out with his senses,
searching for a heartbeat. There was none.

Frey let out a roar. His precious mate was
gone before he’d had a chance to claim her. If she was going to
die, she was going to do it as a fully bonded mate. He knew there
would never be another female for him. With tears flowing down his
face, Geoffrey sank his fangs into Abbi’s neck, sealing the bond
forever.

Chapter
Thirty-Nine

Jasper was out of the helo before Lorenzo
landed. Troy fucking Quinn was not getting away. Jasper had no idea
if Abbi was dead or alive or how badly damaged Frey was. Lorenzo
would check on them. This motherfucker was going to jail. Death was
too good for the bastard. He would sit in a box in the lowest level
of the Pen. Alone. Gregor and Deacon would make sure he never saw
daylight again. Troy had momentarily been stunned at seeing Frey
flying through the air. When the helicopter landed, he saw Jasper
headed toward him, so he took off for the car. Jasper used his
shifter speed and caught up with him before he could get away.

Troy started yelling, “What the hell are
you? Stay away from me you faggot freak! Get your hands off
me.”

Jasper held back on the first punch to his
face, but being a Gargoyle, a pulled punch still packed a lot of
power. “I’m going to do to you what you did to Abbi.” He punched
him in the stomach. Troy doubled over, gasping for breath. Jasper
brought a knee up, snapping Troy’s head back so hard, he landed on
his ass. Jasper picked him up off the ground, holding him by his
collar and the waistband of his pants, so his feet weren’t touching
the ground. His eyes grew wide as Jasper released his fangs. “You
are a worthless piece of shit. You killed Abbi’s parents, you
abused Matthew, you raped Abbi, and now you’ve murdered her, too.
You don’t deserve to live, but death is too easy for a worthless
maggot like you.” Jasper threw him to the ground, his head cracking
on the concrete.

“
He killed our parents?”
Matthew asked from behind Jasper. Matthew glanced at Jasper’s
fangs. Ignoring them, he turned his attention to Troy who was
writhing on the ground in agony. He ran at his brother-in-law and
kicked him in the face. Jasper knew he was damaging his ribs in the
process, but the boy deserved to dole out whatever punishment to
the man he chose. “I hate you! I hate you! You stupid, evil fuck, I
hate you! All I ever wanted was a father. You couldn’t be that. You
were so fucking jealous of Abbi’s love for me that you hated me. I
hate you back, you fucking fuck!” Matthew kicked Troy until his
body gave out. Jasper gently hauled him away, holding him in his
arms while the boy cried.

Red and blue lights flashed in the distance.
Sirens interrupted the sound of sobs coming from the teen in his
arms. Jasper had no idea who all had arrived and were now watching
the interlude between him and his friend. He didn’t care. He would
hold onto the boy as long as he needed.

“
Gun!” When Jasper heard
the warning, he turned his body so he was between Troy and Matthew.
With no thought to who could possibly see, he phased, wrapping the
teen completely in the safety of his wings. The bullets smacked his
back, and the shell casings pinged against the pavement. Troy was
unloading his magazine into Jasper’s body. The sound of another gun
rent the air, this one coming from the opposite direction. Jasper’s
head snapped up at the sound. When he saw who had fired the shot,
his heart stopped. Trevor was holding a service pistol like it was
a part of him. Only one shot was fired. That’s all it took. Trevor
had put a bullet right between Troy’s eyes.

Trevor handed the gun to Dane and headed
straight for Jasper. When he’d closed the distance, Trevor reached
out to touch his wings, but Jasper phased back so he could check on
Matt. A flash of confusion and hurt passed quickly across Trevor’s
face. Still, he knelt down and wrapped his arms around them both.
Jasper searched his eyes, “Trev…”

“
We’ll talk later. Right
now Matt needs us.” Trevor leaned his head against the teen’s and
closed his eyes. Jasper had no idea what to think until he saw
Dante. He gave Jasper a small nod before phasing and diving over
the railing.

“
Frey,” he
whispered.

Abbi never really thought about death
before. She’d heard there would be a white light with your loved
ones waiting for you if you were good. She’d heard the horrific
tales about your soul burning in an eternal flame if you were bad.
She must have been neither. There was no light, only pain. Not the
pain of being burned, but the pain of being hit multiple times. The
pain of your stomach being ripped out through your navel. The pain
of heartache at never seeing those you loved again.

Matty. My sweet Matty. You are why I’m not
seeing the white light. I am so, so sorry, my sunshine. My bean.
What I wouldn’t give to see you bouncing around just one more time.
Eating the last piece of bacon. Singing that heavy metal music at
the top of your lungs when you think nobody is listening. Wearing
my toe shoes and trying to do ballet.

Frey, you beautiful man. You tried to save
me. I know it was my mind playing tricks on me. There’s no way you
could fly. Men don’t have wings. And those fangs. I saw those
before, you know. A couple of times. You thought you were hiding
them, but I saw them. Then I felt them. You bit me! Why did you do
that? Not that it hurt. Well, maybe a little, but when your body’s
already hurting so badly, what’s a little nibble between
lovers?

I love you, Sweetheart.

Yes, you did love me. I know it. I felt it
in the way you held me, the way you looked at me, the way you made
love to me. I loved you, too. I can say it now that I’m dead. Even
if it was only after a week, I love you Geoffrey Hartley…

I love you.

Frey didn’t leave Abbi’s side until he heard
the sad wailing of a little girl- Amelia. Her mother was dead. The
man who brought her into this world was dead, too. Kaya had somehow
kept social services out of it. For now. Debbie Cranston had no
immediate family, and now they were searching for some not so
immediate relatives. Frey kissed Abbi’s forehead, “I love you,
Sweetheart.” He stood and walked into the hall where Isabelle was
having no luck in quieting the child. “Here, give her to me,” he
told Isabelle. As soon as Amelia was in Frey’s arms, she tucked her
head into his neck, and the sobs lessened to quiet tears.

“
Come on, Little One,
let’s go sit with Abbi.” Frey refused to call her Miss Quinn. As
soon as possible, he was going to convince Abbi to change her name.
Whether she went back to Swanson or moved forward to Hartley was
her decision, but one he would allow her to make on her own. Frey
sat back down in the hard hospital chair where he’d been keeping
vigil for the last forty-eight hours. Jonas was monitoring Abbi
closely. She had suffered fractures to the left side of her face
and internal bleeding from a miscarriage. According to the tests,
Abbi had been two months pregnant.

When Frey explained to the doctor that Abbi
hadn’t been breathing, Jonas suspected the bite to her neck was the
only thing that saved her. “I don’t understand,” Frey said. “I
thought the bite only served to seal the bond.”

Jonas rubbed his chin, “I have been testing
a theory. Our Jasper is not the first Gargoyle to prefer men. While
most of the older males have kept their sexual proclivities under
wraps, a few have not. There are two cases I know of where males
have found their mates in other males. Human males. They cannot
procreate, yet their lives have been extended somehow. I do believe
the saliva being released into the bloodstream is the cause.”

“
Since I bit her and she
lived, Abbi is now truly my mate?”

“
Yes. You will want to
have the discussion with her, because it should ultimately be her
choice. But I would have done the same thing had I been in your
shoes.”

Abbi’s injuries weren’t life-threatening.
Jonas explained that her coma was a self-induced defense mechanism.
When her mind was ready, she would wake up. Frey would be there
when that happened. His chair was next to the bed so he could hold
Abbi’s hand. He needed to be touching her constantly. His beast was
howling to be near its mate. Frey stayed in the chair during the
day, but at night, he slid into the bed with her, holding her,
watching over her. When the door was closed and the lights were
off, he reached out with his mind, talking to her, telling her he
loved her and needed her.