Marius (6 page)

She stepped out onto the darkened front porch and smiled. This was a good morning to run. The air was crisp and dry, and she didn’t have some asshat trailing behind her. Rachel plugged her headphones into her ears and clicked on some music. Loud and rhythmic. Best way to run.

Chapter Five

Rachel watched the steady numbers on her computer screen and was thankful for the hybrid-Vestal relationship. Without that bond, Hannah would already have died. The enhancement formula helped, but the bond between Lucius and Hannah was the key to her continuing survival. She was lucky. They all were. Rachel could only guess what would happen if she ended up in that situation.

She frowned. Not that anyone at the compound would care. They all seemed to forget that she had always played a major role in maintaining their health. Even if they didn’t care, she did and had risked her own safety to ensure the quality of their medical treatment, and she wasn't even supposed to be a practicing clinician at the compound.

The thoughts were painful, no matter how much she tried to trick herself, and she pushed them down to the deepest parts of her heart. Just another thing to lock away. Another place she didn’t belong. It wasn’t the first time and likely wouldn’t be the last. She thought she had been earning their trust, but their attitude had obviously soured past the point of salvage in recent days. She only hoped they'd let her save Hannah.

Something banged against her door, and she jumped. The movement in the hall likely meant that they were changing the guard back to her least favorite of the men.

It quieted, and she let out a breath. Maybe Titus had talked to them, and they had accidentally brushed the door. She went back to looking at the screen and making note of her observations.

Again, something hit the door, and she was out of her seat before she could stop herself. Rachel tore through her office and ripped open the door. The men stood diagonal to her door, and it was clear who had done it by the smirk on his face.

“Zeno,” she spit out with venom. The smug hybrid had been a dick almost from the moment they had met, and everything about him rubbed her the wrong way. He was a bit younger than many of the senior hybrids, in his mid-twenties, and so maybe that had something to do with it.

Rachel stepped out into the hall.

“Problem?” Zeno said and raised a blond eyebrow.

“Stop,” she ordered. She was tired. It had been a long week, and she didn’t have time for this garbage.

He produced a frown that just barely passed as one. She could see Servius turn in irritation, at least she wasn’t the only one growing tired of this juvenile shit.

“I can’t stop guarding the prisoners,” he said firmly. “I’m sure that’s what you’d like.”

He nudged Servius, who sighed in response.

“You know,” she said and stepped forward. All the pressure from the last few weeks welled up all at once. Tears pooled in her eyes, and she struggled to maintain some control. The last thing she needed was a total breakdown in front of them. “I know none of you give a shit, but I do have important work here that I need to get done to help you. I just need you to leave me alone for the next few weeks until they find my replacement.” She choked out the last word and could already feel the lump forming in her throat, which she tried to work down.

“Replacement?” Zeno said and stood up straight.

Rachel let out a hollow laugh. “You win,” she said, holding up her hands. “I’ll be leaving soon. So if you could just leave me alone…” She trailed off, not really certain where she was going with this.

Tears burned her eyes, and she turned her back on them. “I just want to save my friend,” she said softly and walked into the office. “After that, my bitch ass is gone.”

She turned. If she said anything else, she didn’t know if she could hold her emotions in check for much longer.

The door clicked softly, and she let the tears fall. Why did the job she loved have to hate her so much?

* * *

Marius paced back and forth in Titus’s office. He had been agitated all morning since his run in with Rachel, and then, he had to come into this mess.

“I just don’t understand how we could have four secret gaps in our outer walls,” he said and rubbed the bridge of his nose. This was far more than they had ever expected. He turned to Major Carter. “How could the government have missed this?”

The major seemed just as baffled as he was. “I just don’t know,” he said to the group. “We’ve contracted with these men before and never had any issues.”

“It’s the Horatius Group,” Titus said and stood from his desk. “They have deep pockets and are willing to do what they have to in order to get to us.”

“I just don’t understand,” the major said. “Why wouldn’t they just utilize the holes, and take you all back? Isn’t that what they want?”

Titus shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

Marius moved next to Apollo, who was sitting on the couch.

“What are they after then?” he said.

Apollo looked up at him. “A kid. One born naturally.”

The hairs on the back of his neck stood up at the idea of one of the children being taken.

“Well,” Major Carter said. He walked to the desk and turned to face them. “We won’t let that happen. We caused this, so we’ll fix the damage.”

Marius felt a bit of relief. Keeping the children safe wasn’t as much a concern. They would do that with their lives if needed, but finding the money to patch the gaps was going to be far more difficult. Even with a number of the men contracting out through Carter on missions in the last few days, they were just squeaking by with all the recent upgrades. Of course, he had to agree. Maybe if he had earlier, Lucius and Hannah would have never been kidnapped.

“I want my men watching the whole time,” Titus said. “I’m not leaving anything to chance.” He turned to Apollo. “Where are we at with the other repairs?”

“The new gate should arrive in a few weeks. It’s steel, and we’ve got some sort of computer wizard coming in to finish rigging the place up. He says he can rewire everything from the preexisting model to fit with the new system.” Apollo shifted a little in his seat.

“And he’s been checked out?” Titus asked.

Apollo shrugged. “He’s clean from what I can tell. No record and nothing but positive recommendations.” He leaned forward. “I figure we don’t have many options with this, and I’m going to make it so if this guy takes a shit here, I know about it.”

Titus nodded. “Do what you have to. We need it done. Maybe he can also check out the chip from Lucius.”

Apollo nodded.

Titus glanced out the window. “Looks like they are just about done laying the roads.”

Marius looked out the window. A clean black road snaked around outside, and despite his frustration over the cost, it had been worthwhile. It was easier to get around, and when snow came, they wouldn’t have issues scraping a path. It didn’t hurt that he’d run some figures and found that with better roads, they would likely be able to keep the cars in better repair for longer and save money, which was a good thing since all this equipment was adding up.

He opened his mouth to say that, but closed it. This was part of the problem. He liked doing these sorts of calculations, and yet they tended to view him as weak, overly concerned with minutiae. Damn it. He had a job to do, and he was trying to do it to the best of his ability, even if it didn't involve being on the front lines.

Marius flexed his muscles in irritation. Even Rachel seemed oblivious to him. Not that he wanted to start anything with her, but still. He was a man. Sort of.

“When’s the next mission?” Marius turned from the window to Titus and Major Carter.

The major rubbed his face. “We’ve got some of your men coming back here in a day from a site in South America. The lead about a few American shipping companies being involved with the Horatius Group seems to have fizzled out. Your men aren’t coming up with much, and the company is checking out.”

Marius frowned. It seemed odd they would get a bad lead, especially considering the amount of information that was given by the informant.

“Does that happen often?” Marius asked.

The men in the room looked at him as if he’d grown a new head, and he frowned. It was a reasonable question.

“Well,” Major Carter said hesitantly. “It does from time to time. We've been looking into the Group for quite a while now, and they are slippery.”

“With that much information initially given? The informant seemed to know an awful lot, and yet the men can find nothing,” Marius said and crossed his arms. He turned to look at Titus, who had lost the previous smile and stared directly at him. When he raised a brow, Titus frowned and turned back to Major Carter.

“He’s right,” Titus said. His jaw was pinched on the side as he kept his cool. “Who is this person that they would know so much?”

Carter shook his head. “We’re not given all of that info. The intel is analyzed and processed, and we're given the necessary operational information. It's classified intelligence. It's compartmentalized by design.”

“Wait,” Apollo said, standing from the couch, his slouched easy demeanor gone. “You mean to tell me we don’t even know who sent our men down there?”

Carter shook his silver head. “It’s not like that,” he said. “We don’t talk to informants to keep them safe.”

“Who the fuck makes sure we aren’t walking into a trap?” Apollo yelled. “The Group directly replaced sentries on the gate before. You all sure as hell haven’t done your part.”

Carter's face went red. “I believe it was Jenna and I who saved Lucius and Hannah. Not to mention those other hybrids.”

Apollo snorted. “Don’t lump us in with them. They are with Romulus. If it were up to me, we would have taken care of business already with two bullets.”

“Enough!” Titus slammed his hands on the table. He stared hard at Apollo. “It is not up to you, and you will show Major Carter some respect. He’s the only person we’ve got on our side.”

Marius stepped back as the two men sized each other up. Apollo’s eyes flashed brightly and then dimmed. He looked to the side away from them all. His back muscles twitched in irritation.

Titus ignored the insolence and turned back to the major. “You have to see that this might be a trap. He's being an ass, but Apollo's right about the reach the Group has already demonstrated.”

Carter nodded. His face was a little pale, and Marius wondered if the incident had been a bit much for him. It wasn’t like he was a young man and dealing with all the recent events had to have taken a toll on him.

“I’m seeing that now,” the major said and pulled out his phone. “I’ll pull the men back, and we’ll explore just who the informant is.”

Titus held up a hand. “Let’s hold off on that,” he said and moved around to the other side of the desk. “We tip our hand on this, and they will know.” He turned to Apollo, who had decided to rejoin the conversation. “Let’s just be ready for action. I want everyone equipped with their UV lights. Make sure to remind them about the potential to burn skin and blind.”

Marius frowned. He knew the military had been working on a few new things for them but didn’t realize that they might be dangerous.

“Is that a possibility?” he asked.

Carter nodded. “This is a pretty intense dose of UV at once. The light won’t last long because the battery can’t handle it, but because of that, there’s a risk.”

“Are the grenades ready?” Titus asked.

It was Apollo’s turn to be confused, judging by his face. “Grenades? Don’t we have enough?”

Major Carter shook his head. “These are special. They emit a bright light. Flash-bang grenades is what they are usually called, but these emit a pulse of UV rays. If you get it close enough, it just might blind the Glycons from the Horatius Group.”

Marius folded his arms across his chest and nodded. Not bad. He was starting to wonder if the older man could even come through on anything, but this was apparently it.

“How many do we have?” Titus said and leaned against the desk. His sharp features were even more prominent as he frowned.

“Not nearly enough,” Carter said and took a seat back at the desk. “We’ve had our people working on it night and day since Lucius and Hannah got back, but so far we’ve only got a handful ready. It's amazing they could turn them around that quickly.”

“When can we get more?” Apollo said. He crossed his arms, and Marius wondered if he might have something against the major in the end.

“A week,” Carter said and turned back to Titus. “Maybe less, depending on how much red tape we hit.”

Marius sighed. There was always red tape it seemed. He hated the way the government ran things. The process to get things done was slow, and there were too many chances for corruption, which gave the Horatius Group potential advantages.

“I’ll talk with Erica,” Titus said. “Maybe she can help with some of that red tape.”

Carter nodded. “Appreciate that,” he said. “Been running into more and more these days.”

The two stood silently staring at one another. It was clear. They all knew that the Horatius Group was already working from the inside. Senator Woods had made it perfectly clear whose side he was on and to what lengths he’d go to get what he wanted. In the end, it was their word against his. It hadn’t made much a difference when they lodged a complaint that Woods was involved in Kate being put in harm's way. Even knowing that Kate and Titus were a pair didn’t seem to have much pull.