Remus (3 page)

“Why?” she asked and picked the pack up from the floor.

He smiled as he spoke, and she knew he was enjoying this just a little too much.

“The more you smell like me, the better,” he said. His mouth was a firm line. “You have to know that as you are right now, you’re pretty much calling out to all of them.”

She frowned and narrowed her eyes. “What exactly are you trying to say?”

He gave a sinister grin and made her ache inside.

“I’m saying that right now, you smell like a tasty little Jenna snack.”

His eyes flashed again, and she blinked several times. For a moment, they were an odd color. Maybe it was the light from the sun as it peeked through.

The last thing she wanted to be was a snack to anyone.

“We’re supposed to be exchanging information,” she said stiffly.

All the sexual tension from earlier dried up as Rem watched her carefully.

“What’s the news?” he asked and paced the opening of the cave.

She’d gone over the information she was supposed to deliver with Titus.

“They’ve patched the door,” she said. “They are sealed tight now.”

Rem shook his dark hair. “There’s no such thing. The best thing they can do is be ready.”

She actually agreed with this. They had spent so much time trying to make sure the walls weren’t going to be broken when the people they let in were the real danger.

“They can’t find Justus,” she said quickly and twisted her hands, trying to remember all the information.

His laughter surprised her. Maybe this had been his plan all along.

“He finally did it,” Rem said with a grin. “Can’t say I blame him.”

She frowned. “Did you know he would run?”

Rem shook his head. “Just a good guess.”

Jenna stared at him skeptically but didn’t press the issue.

It grew quiet as he slowed his pacing. He turned his handsome face to hers. A light cover of stubble made him seem far more rugged than she remembered.

“And the dead?” he asked quietly.

This was something she’d talked about with Titus. It was something they differed on. Titus didn’t see a reason to tell Rem, but she couldn’t find a reason not to.

Their plan had hurt people. Their plan had killed people. She didn’t want to hurt him, but Rem had the right to know the truth.

“A half-dozen military men and one hybrid,” she answered.

He nodded. There was no need for him to ask about the hybrid. They had all seen the young hybrid, Dean, dead at the hands of the Glycons.

“And you?” she asked.

He shrugged and glanced back to the lights that filled the back of the hall.

“Right now I’m being watched too closely,” Rem said and ran a hand through his hair in frustration. “I just need a few more days.”

Jenna pushed her glasses back up her nose. She’d been expecting as much.

“My uncle is retiring,” she said suddenly. There was no reason for her to share that information, but it was out before she could stop herself.

To her surprise, Rem paled at her revelation. He moved over to her quickly and gripped her arms.

“And you?” he asked, searching her face.

That hadn’t been the reaction she was expecting. Not that she knew just what to expect.

“I…” She glanced away. “I don’t plan to leave.”

She could hear him exhale and was oddly comforted. There was no way that she wanted him, but still, it was nice to know that he didn’t want her to quit.

“Good,” he breathed out. When he looked at her again, he seemed more in control. “Does Titus know?”

She shook her head. “I’ll let my uncle tell him. It’s not my place to say.”

Rem nodded. His thumbs absently rubbed her arms, and she shivered at the feeling.

He looked down at her movement and opened his mouth as if to say something. They stared at one another for a moment before he stepped away yet again.

She shouldn’t be irritated. Starting something with him was more than a bad idea. It was the worst idea she could have, considering the situation they were in. And yet, she wanted to feel him next to her again.

“Tell Titus the process has been slow,” Rem said and stared down the dimly lit hallway. “I’m watched closely, which makes it hard to find my way to the library without drawing attention. However…” He turned back to her. “I’ve got help looking for me, and they have found a way.”

Jenna frowned. “Help?”

Rem nodded. “It’s best if you don’t know more than you already do.”

Jenna raised a brow but didn’t push. If he wanted to keep his secrets, what did she care? As long as it didn’t end up getting her killed.

“What about another attack?” she asked. Her heart kicked up at the thought of the lodge being hit again so soon. They were all still reeling from the last attack.

Rem shook his head. His dark hair fell onto his forehead, and she resisted the urge to brush it back.

“Romulus is making plans for something, but it doesn’t look like there’s anything in the works to launch another attack,” he said and glanced around quickly. “I think they didn’t expect as many casualties on their end from the last attack.”

He glanced down the hall as if he was hearing something she couldn’t.

He looked back to her, his eyes sharp and alert.

“I can’t stay much longer without putting us both at risk.”

Jenna felt her blood run cold at the thought of being found. There would only be so much Rem would be able to do to protect her.

“Take this,” he said and shoved a paper from his pocket into her hand. “Give it to Titus.”

She nodded. Her hand trembled a little as she shoved the paper into her pocket.

“Jenna,” Rem said. Her name on his lips made her stomach flip. She watched as he stepped toward the back of the cave. “Meet me in three days.”

She nodded and quickly made her way to the sun.

“And Jenna,” he called back to her.

She turned from the doorway and saw the playful twinkle in his eye.

“Next time, bring chocolate cake.”

Chapter Three

Rem chuckled to himself as he listened to Jenna huff loudly out the door. Luckily, the guards had decided to get some breakfast, or they both would have been caught.

He made his way back to his current prison through the dimly lit passageway. Seemed like one way or another, he was always being held somewhere. It didn’t matter though. What the hell else was he going to do?

Something tugged at his heart, and he pushed it down a little further. Thinking about things that would never happen wasn’t going to help the situation at hand. It certainly wasn’t going to help Jenna at all.

There hadn’t been a day that went by in which he didn’t think about her, about how this was going to be far more dangerous than he’d ever thought. He didn’t anticipate that Romulus would be keeping him so close to his side. It only showed how little trust the other hybrid had.

Rem gave a wicked smile.

In the end, that mistrust hadn’t been totally misplaced. He’d get the information needed and then deal with every last one of them. They had it coming.

His hands clenched as he tried to suppress the rage that boiled inside him. For years these bastards had been unchecked. It was time someone did something. The Horatius Group might have created him, but they had no idea of the true depth of his abilities.

Rem had learned from an early age never to give up everything. Romulus had and, in the end, was paying the price. But then, Romulus had always sought power just as his father had. He made sure that his prized son was first in line for anything that might enhance him further until he could barely be called a man anymore.

Not that Rem could really call himself much of a man either. The irony of their positions was not lost on him.

It didn’t matter. That would all be rectified soon.

Rem stopped outside the entrance to the inner cave. He glanced down at his shirtless chest. It wasn’t like it would be that hard to explain, but still, it wasn’t something he normally did, and if Romulus caught him, there would be questions that he really didn’t want being asked.

“What? Did you wrestle her?” a female voice called from behind.

Nyx stood just behind him, grinning up at his shirtless chest. Her long black hair was pulled back from her face, forming a stark contrast to the silver streak down the middle of her head. She was dressed in all black and looked just as deadly as she was.

Rem glanced around quickly, hoping no one had heard her.

“Relax,” she said. “Those dumbasses wouldn’t miss the opportunity to eat.” She grinned.

He let out a sigh but had trouble relaxing. Jenna would need a good thirty minutes to get to safety. Knowing that she was being watched by one of his people only slightly helped alleviate the worry.

Rem nodded down the hall.

“Any sign of Romulus?”

Nyx folded her arms over her black tank and raised a brow at him.

“He’s talking with Nero in the war room,” she said. “And don’t think I’ve forgotten your lack of shirt. She so excited to see you that she ripped it off?”

Rem laughed and made his way to his quarters. They had placed him in the inner-most part of the sleeping area. He had to assume it was in hopes of keeping him under control. Instead, it had put him right in the position he wanted to be in, a place where he could see and hear everything he needed.

“She’d be more likely to rip it off from anger than anything else,” he said and pushed open the door to his room. It was just as plain as every other room he’d ever had throughout his life. That was fine by him. There was nothing to tie him to the place when he was ready to leave.

Nyx snorted loudly and dropped hard on his bed. “Lust and anger have a thin line between them for women.”

His smiled faded. He turned to a small dresser and pulled out another black t-shirt.

“Not just women,” he mumbled to himself and slipped the cotton shirt over his head.

When he turned back, all the laughter from before was wiped from her face.

“Something is happening,” she said to him and jumped nimbly to her feet.

Rem listened. He could hear the sounds of men, or mostly men that is, deeper in the cave. Nyx was right. Something was happening.

“Shit,” he said, scrubbing a hand on the back of his neck.

They had found her. Or maybe they had found them all. Something.

Rem raced down the hall, not even thinking of the others he might meet along the way. None of it mattered if she had been found.

A hand slapped against his chest just before he reached the upper entrance to the great room, a sort of auditorium carved out of the rock.

“Magnus,” Rem said quickly and slipped to the side of the overhang. “Did they find her?”

Magnus shook his head and stared at him with his bright blue eyes, which contrasted with his dark skin. “She is out of reach.”

Rem shook his head and ran a hand over his facial stubble. “She’s never out of reach as long as this place exists.”

They stared at one another for a long moment. Each of them was on a mission for their own reasons, and he’d be damned if he wasn’t going to use that in his favor.

“What’s going on?” Rem said and looked over the edge of the balcony into the great room below.

Mindless Glycons moved the furniture around the room and seemed to be cleaning up the place. Their skin was ragged with the change, and it was rare to see them out roaming freely. The stench of them was enough for Romulus to keep them out of sight.

Romulus had been sloppy recently, not keeping the mindless, vicious killers under tight supervision. Having them roam so freely didn’t just put Jenna at risk, but all of them. One flip decision by the Glycons, and they could all be facing an army of bloodthirsty hybrids. Not something he wanted to face down and not something Romulus could explain.

“Nero has been barking orders all morning,” Magnus said quietly, his deep voice an advantage in this situation.

Rem spotted Nero, the bestial man at the center of the whole mess.

He watched as the Glycons did his bidding. The whole situation signaled the direction the Horatius Group had taken. They no longer planned to hide.

Nero, unlike the Glycons, had been no accident. He was made to be as savage as his animal counterparts.

At a glance, he might seem like a man. He wasn’t pale like Romulus or as haggard as a Glycon, but still, he was not quite a man.

His face made that clear with his thicker and more elongated nose. His teeth were sharp, and he’d been known to rip a man’s throat with them. But it was his eyes that stood out most, being deeply set into his face and glowing bright yellow.

Rem didn’t really know how they went about making such a hybrid, but whatever they had done had worked and only spurred on further creations. He didn’t really know how many existed out there, but he suspected that there were more. It seemed the Group never did things half-assed, and they certainly never left it to chance. No, there were assuredly more like Nero out there. Rem could only hope that they had a different temperament.

The only thing he knew for certain was that there was only one hybrid like himself, and his uniqueness was to his detriment.

The dim florescent lights that lined the walls of the common area cast an eerie shadow over Nero. Rem could almost feel the pending trouble.

“Anyone heard anything?” Rem said and looked back to Magnus.

Magnus pressed his lips together as if he didn’t want to reveal what was truly coming. He opened his mouth to speak but stopped to listen.

His eyes widened with fear. Rem’s heart kicked up. If the large man was afraid, it could only be one thing.

“They are here,” Magnus said.

Rem looked over the side in time to see seven people in brown robes as they entered the great room. At the head, Romulus smiled proudly.

“The Council,” Rem whispered.

His palms started to sweat, and he had to take in deep breaths to keep himself still.

“I hope you will find everything as you expected,” Romulus said to the Council.

A portly man pulled his hood down and surveyed the area with disgust when his sight landed on a Glycon.