Ariki raised an eyebrow at Josie. “It’s a long story.”
“Well, we have several hours before my son gets here, so let’s hear it.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Isabelle didn’t say anything as she padded closer to where Connor was concentrating on his drawing. When she saw the object of this particular vision, her breath caught. “Rebekah,” she whispered. Not a day went by where Isabelle didn’t think about Gabriel or his mate. In her task in recreating the antiserum, Isabelle hadn’t visited her brother as often as she would’ve liked. Gabriel was no worse than when he’d been imprisoned, but his recovery wasn’t as improved as she’d hoped. Maybe…
“Connor?”
“Hmm?”
“Do you know who this is?” Connor had never met Gabriel, but he did know of his uncle. Isabelle talked to Dante about her brother often, and she never shied away from doing so in front of her son.
“She’s someone important to Gabriel.”
“Do you know where she is?”
“Somewhere sunny. I need my colored pencils.” In their haste to pack, Isabelle had only grabbed the sketchbook.
“I’ll get you some today.”
“Thank you.” Connor continued filling in the picture with only the lead pencil at his disposal. The woman in the drawing was as beautiful as Isabelle remembered, but there was a deep sadness in her eyes. Isabelle knew in her heart the cause of her pain. Rebekah needed her mate. She needed Gabriel, and Gabriel needed Rebekah. If Isabelle could find the woman, maybe, just maybe, she could heal both their hearts.
Drago sucked in a breath when he saw the text come through. This wasn’t what he had planned. Something this drastic would have the Stone Society coming for him before he was ready. Yes, he had put Kaya in the hospital. Maybe he had intended to kill her, but this? It was too much.
“What’s wrong?” Hagen asked. Drago handed his phone over.
“That’s…” Hagen shook his head. “You never mentioned something of this magnitude.”
“Because I had nothing to do with this. Whoever is on the other end of that message is fucking everything up. He said he had a plan to keep the Stone Society busy. That is not what I imagined.”
“What are we going to do about it? Is there anything we can do?”
Drago appreciated Hagen’s willingness to help, but Drago knew his boy was no match for the sender of the message. There was only one other who could pull that off, and Julian Stone would never go against his own family.
There is one other
Who?
Achilles
But he’s in prison
Wasn’t he?
“Drago?”
“We have two options. We can continue with our plan and go after Craven. With this recent development, the Stone Society is going to be even more hellbent on coming after me, so I need to figure out a way to get to Rafael soon. That means more Unholy.”
“And the other option?”
“We run. We leave New Atlanta. We can continue working for Mr. Collins, and use the money to create new identities and live off the grid.”
“What about being King?”
“It’s hard to be King without your head. But you’re right. That has been the goal all along, so I will figure out a way to get to Rafael. If I’m not successful, and he or one of his Clan doesn’t kill me first, I will reevaluate the situation at that time.”
“There’s a third option,” Hagen said.
“And what’s that?”
“Use this to your advantage,” Hagen said, pointing to the phone.
“That’s…” Drago was going to say suicide, but if he played his cards right and came up with the correct strategy, it could work to his advantage. Hagen remained quiet while Drago contemplated the logistics as well as the risk. They could make it work. He knew he would be risking more than just his life, but Hagen knew the danger. Drago would somehow have to keep his assistant out of the line of fire. “Okay. Third option it is.”
Kai’s beast was getting anxious. It knew Josie was fine. His father and Pono were there with her. Josie had informed him as soon as they arrived. She gave Kai a play-by-play of everything she experienced, so it felt like he was with her. Almost. Now, he and the others were minutes away from the resort, and he couldn’t wait to hold his mate. Touch her. Kiss her. The jet they were on was large enough to take all the mates on to Manono, but Kai hoped to convince Josie to fly back with his father and brother. He missed his family, so the more time he got with them, the better.
The Big Island was stunning in its lack of progress. There were resorts spread out, but for the most part, it reminded him of home. All thoughts of natural habitats fled his mind when Frey turned their rental into the parking lot. He drove around back where Karson was waiting to let them in a side door. They followed the male up two flights of steps to the third floor where the mates were waiting. The door opened, and Sophia pushed her way through to Nikolas. The two didn’t hang around. Kai assumed they were going to one of the other rooms for privacy. Abbi and Amelia were next, rushing into Frey’s arms. Willow and Mason embraced while Kai and Jasper found Josie and Trevor. Out of all the mates to get emotional, it was Trevor who cried freely. Jasper gently led his mate from the room.
When Josie was in his arms, Kai buried his nose in her long hair and inhaled deeply. She smelled of sunshine and sunscreen. She and some of the others had taken the kids down to the pool after breakfast, and Josie
