Jasper Read online

  Trevor took a seat on the far end of the sofa and did his best not to quote the movie line for line. Sometimes words would slip out, and Connor would laugh. About halfway through the movie, the boy got off the floor and sat next to Trevor. From that point on, Trevor would whisper lines into Connor’s ear just so he could hear the child’s laughter. Trevor hadn’t heard a lot of laughter over the years, and it was a sound he rather enjoyed.

  Jasper texted once, asking if Trevor was having fun. He responded honestly that he was. He had visited Travis a few times over the years, but more often than not, he spent all holidays alone. Spending time with friends like this was something he could get used to. After the movie was over, Connor asked if Trevor could play a video game with him. For someone who’d never played games before, the boy caught on quick. At six years old he could hold his own against the adults. Trevor wondered if Connor used his special abilities in playing the games, or if they even worked that way.

  He and Connor began playing, and the adults stayed in the room, cheering Connor on. Trevor went easy on the boy for the most part. He was too skilled to put all his effort into the game. When Connor missed an easy shot at Trevor’s mutant soldier, Trevor glanced down at the boy. His thumbs weren’t moving the controller. Trevor looked over his shoulder at Dante whose eyes were focused on his son. Trevor paused the game and waited for Connor to come back to them. When he did, he looked up at Trevor.

  “What is it?” Trevor asked softly. Before Connor could answer, Dante’s phone rang.

  “Pax,” he announced. Dante wouldn’t look at Trevor, but he knew. Between Connor’s vision and the stiff way his boss was sitting, he knew something had happened to Travis. “We’ll be there as soon as we can.” Instead of telling Trevor what happened, Dante called someone else. “Frey, I’m sorry to interrupt your Christmas morning, but, Brother, we need the bird. We’ll be there in ten.”

  “Dante, what happened?” Trevor was now on his feet, searching for his jacket.

  “Connor, please go find Maria and tell her what has happened. I am taking Trevor to Uncle Frey’s. Gregor, please drive the women to Athens General. Travis is in pretty bad shape.”

  Everyone did as they were told. Before it had time to register, Trevor found himself sitting in a helicopter. Frey and Dante were in the front, and Matthew was sitting next to Trevor in the back. Matthew held out a set of earphones, and Trevor put them on. Dante had told Trevor on the ride to Frey’s that Pax had heard Travis’s girlfriend scream right before he heard a couple of shots muffled by a silencer. By the time he got inside, the girlfriend was dead, and Travis was unconscious. He saw a man fitting Theron’s description leaving out the back, but instead of going after him, Pax stayed with Travis to try and stop the blood loss. Another member of the Clan worked for the Athens police department. Pax called him to the scene first so he could tell him why he was already there, give him the photo of Theron, and put out an APB on the other Goyle.

  Now, Travis was on his way to the hospital via ambulance, and Trevor was taking his first helicopter ride ever. Too bad he couldn’t enjoy it. Other than the whir of the blades, there was no noise coming through Trevor’s earphones. Dante and Frey were speaking to one another, but they had either turned his cans off or were using their Gargoyle hearing to speak so low he couldn’t hear. Matthew sat silently next to him, holding Trevor’s hand. The teen wasn’t offering words of encouragement nor condolences, so he was either in the dark as much as Trevor or had a really good game face. As the helicopter landed on the helipad atop the hospital, he was about to find out which.

  Chapter Sixteen

  The news wasn’t good. Travis had sustained a gunshot wound to the stomach. Dante used his credentials in the medical field to get as much information for Trevor as he could, but there was no news other than Travis was in surgery, and it was touch and go. Surgery could take hours, so Dante encouraged him to try to relax.

  Trevor wanted to yell at his boss. He balled his fist up and considered hitting him. His brother was probably going to die, and Dante wanted him to relax. What a fucking joke. Until Theron was six feet under, there would be no relaxing. Not for him. Not for Jasper.

  Jasper.

  This was his fault. If he’d been strong all those years ago and not let Theron use him as a boy toy, this wouldn’t be happening. Did Dante and his clan not realize they were toxic? Isabelle and Connor were kidnapped because of Theron’s father. Isabelle’s foster father was dead. Sophia’s parents were kidnapped because of them. Now, Trevor was being followed, and his brother, the only one in his life who’d ever given a good goddamn about him, was on an operating table because of them.

  Matthew must have seen that Trevor was about to blow. He put himself between Dante and Trevor and said, “Uncle D, not now.”

  Dante’s eyebrows shot up, obviously not used to being scolded, especially by a teenager. Frey put his hand around the back of Dante’s neck and directed him away from the younger men. Matthew waited until his dad and Dante were on the other side of the room before turning to Trevor. “It sucks, I know. There’s not a fucking thing you can do but wait. This shit ain’t fair, man. And on fuckin’ Christmas day? Who the fuck does shit like this on Christmas?”

  “Matthew Hartley, language.” Abbi had walked into the room mid-tirade. She must have ridden with Gregor and the other women, because they all came into the waiting area at the same time. Matthew didn’t apologize. Trevor appreciated the teen’s outburst on his behalf. At that moment he realized he had a real friend in Matthew in spite of their age differences. Matt hadn’t liked him at first, because he didn’t want to see Jasper hurt. Ever since the shooting, they had grown closer. Matthew flicked his hand at his sister, and she took the hint.

  “Thank you. I don’t want everyone’s sympathy right now.”

  “Trevor? Where’s Trevor?” Jasper ran into the room and wrapped his arms around Trevor once he spotted him in the corner. When he didn’t return the affection, Jasper pulled back to look at him. “Baby, are you okay?”

  “No, I’m not fucking okay.” He pushed out of Jasper’s grasp. “Just don’t.”

  “Trev…”

  “No, Jasper. Leave him be,” Matthew pled.

  Trevor was suffocating. There was too much emotion in the room and none of it good except for Matthew taking up for him. “I gotta get out of here,” he said and ran out of the room.

  “Trevor, wait,” Jasper called after him, but he didn’t wait. He didn’t bother going for the elevator. He had to get outside into the cold air as quickly as possible. He found the stairwell and ran down the six flights. He jogged down the hallway toward the front entrance and didn’t stop once he was outside. He ran until he couldn’t run any farther. He had no idea how far he’d gone or exactly where he was. Now that he realized what he’d done, he knew it was really stupid to leave the hospital without protection. He turned to go back when he saw Tessa.

  The redhead was leaned against a light post, arms crossed. “Feel better?” she asked.

  “Not really. The only family I have is in there fighting for his life. What are you doing here?”

  “Someone had to follow you, and I figured since I have an idea of what you’re going through, it might as well be me.”

  He started to yell at her and tell her she didn’t have a clue when she held up her hand. “Stop. Don’t even say it. I’ve been chased my whole fucking life because my mother ran off with me after I was cloned. More than one person lost their life on account of me being me. On account of Jonas playing God. One of my uncles died pretending to be Gordon’s brother. All those redheaded women died just because they looked like me. I could have died when Richard Merrick chased me away from the fair. You know what happened to Isabelle’s family. To Connor. To Sophia and her parents. So don’t even think you’ve cornered the market on being a target in this family.”

  “If Jasper…”

  Tessa cut him off again. “If Jasper what? Hadn’t gone to work today? Didn’t have a
past? Wasn’t your mate? If is one of the biggest two letter words there is, and one of the most detrimental used. If you want to blame Jasper’s past for what happened today, you need to blame the Unholy being created on my past, on me being cloned. That’s what started that whole mess. I don’t know what happened between Jasper and Theron all those years ago, but whatever it was didn’t cause what happened today. Theron being an evil bastard caused what happened today.”

  Trevor knew she was right, but it didn’t make it any easier. He knew Tessa was a strong woman, but at that moment, he realized how strong. Even when he helped get her home from the hospital after she wrecked, he hadn’t stopped to think about what all she had endured at the hands of Gordon Flanagan. She’d dodged the man who thought he was her father her whole life, creating aliases and moving from place to place.

  “Do you regret it?”

  “Regret what?”

  “Mating with the warden?”

  “Not for one second. Life is too short for regrets, Trevor. You either live your life to the fullest, surrounding yourself with the ones who care about you, or you simply exist. You go through the motions day after day, doing the same damn thing, and for what? To go home alone at the end of the day, eating cheese puffs and reading romance novels, wishing you were the girl in the book who got the hot as fuck alpha male? Or sitting in your apartment eating Pop-Tarts while playing video games alone? I let my uncle dictate my life for a long time. Jonas told me I couldn’t let the Gargoyles know about the half-bloods. You know what? I said fuck that. When I came out of my coma, the only thing I wanted was for Gregor to bite me. Make me his. I came too fucking close to dying. But it wasn’t about me. I didn’t ever want to put him through that again.”

  “Did you really shoot him?”

  “She damn sure did. Twice,” Gregor said as he walked up behind Tessa. The grin on his face let Trevor know he didn’t hold a grudge against his woman. “Sorry to interrupt, but after what happened to Travis, I would prefer you not have my mate out in the open as an easy target. Can we take this conversation somewhere less visible?”

  “Yeah, sorry. I just needed some space.” Trevor began walking back toward the hospital.

  Their return back inside was done in silence, giving him time to think about what she said. He still wasn’t ready to face Jasper, but he didn’t have a choice. What Tessa said made sense. It wasn’t Jasper’s fault Travis had been shot. He couldn’t be blamed for what happened two hundred years ago. But if Theron was going to try to kill the loved ones of the Clan, it might be better if he and Jasper weren’t romantically involved. Trevor should probably move out of town and get far away from Jasper so he wouldn’t be a target. He wouldn’t make that decision now, not until Travis was out of surgery and Trevor knew what to expect next. He stopped by the desk and filled out the appropriate paperwork for his brother before returning to the waiting area.

  Jasper couldn’t stop blaming himself for Travis being shot. He had been selfish in wanting to move so fast with Trevor. Now, he wasn’t even sure it was a good idea to have Trevor in his life. He didn’t want to be the cause of heartache for anyone, and he was the cause of this. If he hadn’t been such a coward when he was younger, he’d have stood up to Theron, clan or no clan. He should have continued fishing like he wanted. He’d had a good life with his mentor. At the very least he could have left town the moment Theron began abusing him and started a new life in a new country. Greece wasn’t the only place to fish.

  If Travis pulled through, Jasper was going to reconsider having Trevor in his life. He’d lived alone most of the time anyway. He was used to not having a mate. For Trevor’s sake, he could continue living alone. If Travis didn’t pull through the surgery, he doubted he would have to make the choice. Trevor would make it for him. He knew Trevor blamed him for his brother getting shot. Hell, he blamed himself.

  When Trevor came back into the waiting area, Jasper resisted the urge to go to him. He stayed seated next to Matthew who had told him to give Trevor time to chill. The teen was wise beyond his years. Probably because his young life had been marred with its own torture and heartache. Trevor looked their way and, surprisingly, came over to where they were. “Matt, please scoot over.” When he did, Trevor sat down between the two of them and leaned his head back against the wall. Neither one said anything to him. The need to touch his mate was close to unbearable. His beast was roaring for him to comfort Trevor, but he pushed back, explaining silently how Trevor needed time.

  The hours passed by in mostly silence. When the doctor came in several hours later, Trevor jumped from his chair. Everyone stood, and Jasper made his way to Trevor’s side. As the doctor began to speak, Trevor reached for Jasper’s hand. Before the doctor could give much information, the door flew open and a woman asked, “Where’s my son?”

  Trevor tensed beside him, squeezing his hand. “I’m here.”

  If looks could freeze a person, the one she gave Trevor would have sent him to the Arctic. “Where’s Travis?”

  “Who are you?” the doctor asked.

  “I’m his mother. Now, where’s my son?”

  The doctor looked at Trevor, and he nodded once. Instead of letting go of Jasper’s hand in the presence of his parents, Trevor held on even tighter.

  “I was just about to tell your other son that the bullet hit Travis’s spleen, so we removed it. Luckily, no other major organs were affected. With his previous heart condition, we’ll need to monitor him closely. He’ll have to be sure and get regular immunizations since his susceptibility to infection will be higher, but I’m confident Travis will make a full recovery. Your son was lucky. They are waking him up now, and he will be moved to ICU for overnight observation. The nurse will come back down and let you know when visiting hours are.”

  Jasper, along with everyone in the room, was relieved that Travis would be okay, but they all stared at Mrs. McKenzie. She didn’t give Trevor another look. She did take in all the others who were standing around before grabbing her husband’s hand and leading him to a couple of chairs on the far side of the room. Jasper wanted to hug Trevor tight, letting him know there were people who gave a damn about him. All he had to do was look around at the Clan members who were there for him. Then again, Trevor might be silently blaming every single one of them for what happened to his brother.

  Everyone gathered around Trevor, the women hugging him and the men giving him shoulder squeezes. Abbi suggested they try to eat something, so she, Frey, and Matthew went down to the cafeteria. When they returned, they passed out sandwiches, chips, and bottles of water. When Trevor’s mother had the audacity to ask Abbi if she brought enough for her and Mr. McKenzie, Abbi didn’t hold back.

  “Mrs. McKenzie, just because you bring a child into this world does not make you a mother. In less than ten seconds you proved to everyone in this room the type of person you are. Travis might be on the operating table, but Trevor is hurting for his brother. You spared him one look that spoke volumes. You haven’t seen or spoken to Trevor since he left for college, and you didn’t bother to ask him how he is. But you know what? He has a new family now. If you want to pretend he doesn’t exist, that’s okay. We love Trevor. Every single one of us in this room loves him, and we’re glad he’s part of our family. We are honored to know him. He’s smart, funny, brave, and has a lot of love to offer back. We are here for Trevor and Travis, not you. If you want food, I suggest you go get it yourself.” Abbi turned her back on the woman, walking into the open arms of Frey.

  Matthew was trying to hold back his laughter. Trevor’s eyes were misting over. Everyone else grinned at the normally subdued dancer. They all ignored Trevor’s parents and ate their food. Everyone except Trevor. He didn’t even look at his sandwich. Jasper would have to keep an eye on his mate. He wouldn’t let him go too long without nourishment, even if he didn’t feel like eating.

  Trevor’s mother scolded his father for not sticking up for her and stormed out of the room. When she was gone, Mr. McKenzie approac
hed Trevor. “Hi, Son. Can we talk?”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Trevor couldn’t get over Abbi’s words. She said she loved Trevor. Said they all did. He had never heard those words spoken by anyone other than Travis. Ever. His heart was breaking for his brother. Even though the doctor said he would be okay, Travis had just found the woman he wanted to spend his life with. Now she was dead. Travis hadn’t known much love in his life, either. With his girlfriend gone, he still wouldn’t.

  Even though his parents were there, Trevor was holding on to Jasper’s hand, using it as a lifeline. Grounding him. He couldn’t care less if his parents knew he was gay. They didn’t care about him, only Travis. When his mother stormed out of the waiting room, his father approached him. He glanced down at Trevor and Jasper’s joined hands, and Trevor could have sworn he saw a smile. It faded as he spoke. “Hi, Son. Can we talk?”

  Trevor wasn’t sure they had anything to talk about, but he would hear him out. He nodded and stood, motioning for his father to go back to where he’d been sitting. He knew almost everyone in the room would be able to hear their conversation no matter how much space he put between them, but he was okay with that. If what Abbi said was true, they were his family, and he had nothing to hide from them.

  Once they were seated, his dad asked, “How have you been?”

  “Fine,” Trevor responded.

  “How’s the morgue? Do you enjoy what you do? I want you to know how proud I am of you, Son.”

  “How do you know where I work?”

  “I talk to Travis. I should probably call you, too, but you were so angry with us. Trevor, I’m so sorry you felt I didn’t love you. I won’t speak for your mother because she…”