Marius (2 page)

Rachel chewed her bottom lip. This was the very reason she was now being more closely watched, but she just didn’t know what else to do. If Hannah’s condition continued like it was, there was a chance she wouldn’t be able to hold on long enough. As it was, her Vestal abilities were likely what was keeping her from totally spiraling out of control. Being a Vestal meant certain things, but being bonded meant even more. Her whole biochemical makeup was now different. During emotional highs and lows, Rachel had found elevated levels of various hormones, metabolites and proteins.

The Vestals were able to almost mimic their partners’ traits, albeit in an obviously reduced capacity. Rachel’s drug just amplified that mimicry.

She looked to Lucius, who was watching her silently. He studied her as if she might vanish before him.

“Will it work?” he asked quietly.

It almost seemed unreal that someone so by the book would even be considering her potentially dangerous plan.

She glanced down the hall and then back.

“I think so,” she said. “You all are able to take far more damage than we are.”

He watched her closely, and she could see the worry in his eyes. It was clear he knew that this might not work. He gave a curt nod.

“Let’s do it,” he said and looked back at Hannah who stirred in her sleep. “If it’s the only choice we’ve got, then we do it.”

“You know what this means?”

Lucius nodded slowly and frowned. “We have no choice.”

She shook her head. “There’s always the hospital she was at,” Rachel said. “It’s not far, and they were giving good care.”

Lucius was already shaking his head before she could even finish talking. “No fucking way,” he said. “Too many crazy people around. I couldn’t keep her safe, and I don’t trust the way it smells. We can’t secure that place the way we can secure this place.”

Rachel wrinkled her nose. That wouldn’t really be how she would call it.

“That’s just the chemicals they use there,” she said. “But I understand. We’re just understaffed here. I worry we won’t be able to keep up.”

Lucius shot her a sharp stare. “I’ll take care of her.”

She sighed. These men could be so pig headed. It wasn’t the first time she had come across this.

“I hope so, but in case you can’t, I’m putting the hospital on standby.” She held up a hand when he started to protest. “It’s a last resort. I know the dangers, but we have to have a plan in place if things start to go bad. I’m not losing her.”

He closed his mouth quickly. Despite his blustering, she wondered if it had ever crossed his mind that they might lose her. Rachel thought that he likely hadn’t. Just caring for someone was new to him, let alone all these more human-like qualities.

“For now, let me see what I can do to at least slow this down,” she said softly.

Lucius nodded and re-entered the room. She watched as he took his post next to Hannah and brushed back her hair from her brow that clung to her damp head.

Rachel turned and headed down the hall to her lab. Not bothering to meet the stares of the hybrid guards, she turned into the room and shut the door. She’d be damned if she let those two make her feel uncomfortable. If they wanted to hate her, so be it. She wasn’t there to be friends, and the hybrids had certainly made it clear that she wasn’t considered a friend from day one.

Rachel slammed her body onto the stool and started the long process of generating a usable dose of the enhancement compound. This was about the science. About the chance to make a difference in the world, and she was willing to put up with whatever she had to in order to continue her work, even if that meant dealing with the occasional asshole. Or a whole damn army of super-assholes.

Hell, if anything, it seemed like they’d managed to up their asshole level. Whether it was from the stress of the Horatius Group or some sort of funky hybrid pseudo-PMS remained unclear.

She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. Despite it all, her job did matter to her. All she wanted to do was help, and it seemed they fought her at every turn. She understood their mistrust of anyone in the medical field, and she understood that she’d cut some corners, perhaps even too closely. Put in their situation, she might have felt the same way, but some of the things she’d dealt with just went too far.

Someone kicked the door, and she tried not to jump. The first few times she’d asked them to be more careful. After that, it only seemed to increase, so she stopped asking. She picked up the beaker sitting next to her and chucked it at the door. It hit the glass window and shattered them both.

Rachel winced. She hadn’t meant for that to happen.

The door flew open, and one of the large hybrids stared at her and then the glass on the floor.

“What the fuck happened?” He glared at her.

Rachel shrugged her shoulders.

“It slipped,” she said.

He pressed his lips together and looked like he had more to say but held back.

“We’re reporting on this,” he said and slammed the door.

“Good,” she called after him. “It will go nicely with the other seventeen you’ve filed.”

She knew his perfect hearing would catch her words.

“Dickhead,” she mumbled and trudged to the closet to get a broom.

She shook herself a little and tried to focus. First, she’d clean up, but after that she needed to shut them out. This feud would have to be put on hold until a later date, or it might be too late for Hannah.

Chapter Two

Marius pushed back from his computer and yawned. It had been a long day, but he was finally making some real progress with the budget. All the new security measures were going to cost them, but he had learned they weren’t going to be able to rely on just manpower alone. It just wasn’t enough against their enemies, and the risk was becoming far too great. They nearly lost both Lucius and Hannah, something he never saw coming.

Given Lucius’s paranoia, his capture was proof enough that they had been looking at all this wrong. Not only that, they had relied too much on outside help. The Horatius Group had already proven they could infiltrate organizations with ease. They all knew this. Hell, it’s what the Luna Lodge hybrids were taught during their own training: look for the holes and exploit them. Being free had given them a taste of freedom none of them ever dreamed of having.

He shook his head and leaned back in the chair. His hands wove behind his head as he thought.

Marius marveled at what freedom could do. At times, it almost felt like more a curse than a blessing.

It seemed like they were always two steps behind the Group, and he didn’t like it. The more they worked to fortify the compound, the less secure they appeared. They needed an edge.

He unfolded his hands and sat up. They needed to talk to the two men Titus had imprisoned. Remus and Justus had been a source of constant debate among the men, but they all knew those men had information that might help the Luna Lodge hybrids. Now, he just needed to convince Titus to talk to them.

He let out a loud sigh. It didn’t seem likely that was going to happen soon. Titus was dead set on not having that talk until Lucius was back at his post, and that would take Hannah getting out of the hospital first. So, for now, they waited.

His phone vibrated on his desk, and he looked at the screen. Titus.

“Yeah,” he said when it was at his ear.

“She’s at it again,” Titus said.

Marius groaned inwardly. “What now?”

“She threw something glass at one of the men and broke the window,” he said tightly. “Things just keep getting worse.”

Marius clenched his fist. He was sick of this conversation. “What am I supposed to do?”

He could hear Titus walking, likely pacing from the stress of everything. “I don’t know,” he said. “She can’t keep doing this. The men already distrust her.”

“Maybe you should talk to her,” he said. If he could just take himself out as the middleman, his life would be so much easier.

Titus responded with a short laugh. “Have you tried to talk to her? I think she’d rather stomp my dick a few times than talk to me.”

Marius ignored the comment and continued on. “What do you want me to do?”

Titus sighed. “Just keep her out of trouble until I can find someone else,” he said.

The hairs on the back of his neck prickled. “You’re going to fire her?”

He could hear the edge in his voice and tried to tell himself that it was just because they might be without a doctor.

“I just don’t know what I’m supposed to do,” Titus said. “She doesn’t get along with the men, and now Erica and Kate are afraid to go to her. She’s a loose cannon, and I can’t trust that she’s going to do the right thing.”

Marius frowned. He hadn’t realized it had gotten that bad. “And you don’t think talking to her might help?”

There was a long pause before Titus spoke. “I think we’re beyond talking.”

He closed his mouth. What did he care? It would mean he didn’t have to live with her anymore, and that would be a positive. Living with Rachel was like its own sort of little hell. He had never met a woman so scatterbrained or messy. If she wasn’t rushing off somewhere, she was busy making a mess and then leaving it for him to clean. To say it made him angry was an understatement.

Despite all this, he’d freely admit she was brilliant. There were times when he wondered what she was doing there with them. It certainly didn’t seem to be mutually beneficial, but maybe he was missing something. Or maybe that was the problem. He couldn’t really say.

“I’ll keep an eye on her,” he said. “I can’t promise she’ll listen, but I’ll try.”

“Is this…” Titus paused before continuing. “Is this going to be a problem for you?”

His heart hammered in his chest. They could smell it on him. With the way his body reacted to her, it was hard for them not to notice. He knew that, but there wasn’t much he could do about his reaction to Rachel. Their bodies called to one another, but their minds battled at every turn. That didn’t seem a very viable match to him.

“I’ll do what’s best for the compound,” he said tightly.

“Marius…” Titus began.

“It’s fine,” he said with more force than he intended.

They fell into silence, waiting for the other to go first. Titus was the first to speak.

“Just get over to the clinic and see what’s going on,” Titus said. “I’ll send Varius and Cato over to relieve Servius and Zeno.”

“I still don’t understand why Servius and Zeno are being used as guards,” Marius said. “You know the two of them don’t want anything to do with non-hybrids and are hot headed.”

Titus sighed. “We don’t have much choice. I’ve got Sol out dealing with the repairs to the compound, and I’m trying to put together another team for missions with Major Carter.”

Marius could hear the frustration in his voice, and he knew the recent abduction of Lucius and Hannah had taken a lot out of him. They were doing everything within their power to finally get ahead of the Group and, more pressingly, Romulus, but it was a daunting task.

Everyone assumed the dangerously mutated hybrid was off licking his wounds from his recent ass kicking by Kate, but he had to be healed by now. It was only a matter of time before he showed up, and when he did, they needed to be at the top of their game.

It just seemed to Marius like they constantly had too many balls, and the act of juggling them all was getting to be a bit hard.

“We’re stretched thin right now,” Titus said. “I’d like to have others on, but some just aren’t ready. When we left the facility, there were too many of us that were lacking training in certain areas. Augustus is working with the younger ones, but Cyrus has the men, and it hasn’t been easy on him. Most are troublesome and don’t like that we’re here with so many non-hybrids.”

Marius shook his head. He had heard growing rumbling that some men weren’t happy with the current situation. It all made little sense to him. Major Carter and his men had been more than helpful. Sure, there were some in the government that had it in for them, but that would happen whether they were working with Carter or not. At least this way, they knew who their allies were.

“Just deal with the woman for the time being,” Titus said wearily.

“Understood,” Marius said and hung up.

There was no point in fighting. They were spread thin, and if Titus said Servius and Zeno were it, then that was likely the case.

He groaned as he stood. This was really not going to be any fun.

* * *

Rachel stood hunkered over the lab bench. So very close. Only a few more steps and she could bring the enhancement to Hannah. She’d checked Hannah’s vitals a few times and found her friend was struggling. She wouldn’t go soon or quickly, but it would be painful. So much so that she might actually wish for death. Once her organs started to fail, there wasn’t much they could do.

Something banged against the door, and she nearly dropped the beaker in her hand. She placed it carefully on the table and stomped over to the door.

“You kick that door one more fucking time…” she said as she flung open the door.

Instead of two very tall mean hybrids, she found Marius. Despite having spent nearly a week living together, she still couldn’t help the reaction she had when he was around.

He stared down at her, a perfect scowl in place. His rich brown hair rested neatly on the top of his head, and she wondered if he ever had a bad hair day. Her eyes landed on his perfect pressed lips, and she sighed. It seemed like no matter what she did, he was always pissed off at her.

“I did not kick the door,” he said stiffly.

She sighed and turned around. Sometimes there just wasn’t a point to even trying.

“Whatever,” she said and took her seat at the lab table. It was a few moments before she realized he had moved up right behind her and now stood very close.

“What are you doing?” he asked. His breath stirred her hair at her neck, and she shivered a little.

Ignoring her reaction to him, she continued on. “Trying to save Hannah.”

Rachel turned when she felt his eyes burning a hole in her back. He stood, arms crossed and frowning at her. Every fiber in her bristled at his behavior, and she wondered just what he thought she was doing.