Rem: #12 (Luna Lodge: Hunters of Atlas)

by Madison Stevens

  The hybrid stumbled backward, his entire body shaking from the blow. He didn’t have time to think about any broken ribs. If he wanted to stay in the game, he needed to return the favor.

  Rem swung, his fist slamming into Erebus’s cheek, his own speed far faster than normal. He’d not noticed in the earlier fight, but he also wasn’t sure if he was as fast before. Erebus reeled from the blow, staggered. He looked over to Rem with surprise. Clearly, the self-declared god hadn’t expected to be hit at all, which only served to piss Rem off more. This bastard needed to go down.

  “You aren’t totally useless.” Erebus smiled at him and inclined his head toward Jenna. “It’s not going to matter. She will be mine.”

  Rem had heard all he needed. He was sick of letting this piece of shit dictate what happened not only in his life but all of the Atlantean hybrids’ lives. He charged forward through the pouring rain to throw another punch. Erebus blocked it and kicked. Rem caught the foot and tossed it to the side.

  Both men exchanged a flurry of punches and kicks, neither landing a solid blow like earlier. Everything around Rem seemed to slow, even the rain, as he concentrated on keeping up with Erebus. They separated.

  Erebus sneered at Rem. “A brave front, but futile.”

  Rem growled, the pain in his chest spreading. He needed to end this. Without comment, he sprinted again at Erebus, but this time he dropped at the last second and tackled Erebus who started pummeling him in the side of the head.

  Concentrating, Rem ignored the heavy blows and slashed along Erebus’s stomach with his hand, the flaring white light cutting into Erebus. Black ooze seeped from the wounds before Erebus smashed a fist into Rem and sent him sprawling backwards.

  The hybrid hopped to his feet and worked his sore jaw, looking back and forth between Erebus and Jenna. He could finish this. He’d been fighting the wrong way, letting Erebus dictate the terms and not concentrating enough to use the power given to him. But there was something more important than finishing the fight. He needed to get Jenna back inside where it was safe.

  He had only taken two steps toward her when Erebus sprung back on his feet and stayed low. Again, he became a blur. Searing pain shot through Rem’s back, more intense than he’d ever felt before, including when he’d taken the god serum.

  Before Rem could wrap his mind around the pain, he was flying through the air. His body crashed against a nearby tree, and he fell to the ground with a thud. He groaned trying to focus on Jenna in the distance, but the rain and his injuries made her a blurry shadow.

  Rem tried to push himself up, but something was wrong. Whatever Erebus had done had left Rem weak and barely able to move. Reaching out in front, he tried to pull himself toward Jenna. He’d crawl if that’s what he needed to do. No matter what, he had to get to his woman.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Through the haze of pain, Jenna watched as Erebus stood and attacked Rem. She tried to scream out to him, but the sound caught in her throat. She needed to do something.

  She glanced back down at the guns on the ground and picked one up. Something caught her eye at the same time. Little fragments of blue littered the ground. She could almost hear them calling to her. Perhaps because of Erebus’s presence. Pieces of the stone that retained small bits of power. Jenna knew they were important, even if she couldn’t say why. If a gun wouldn’t work by itself, maybe she could use them somehow.

  Gritting her teeth, she tightened her grip around her remaining gun. She grabbed a handful of mud containing the stone fragments. She could only hope there was enough to make a difference. With far more effort than she wanted to admit, Jenna stood and leveled her gun at Erebus.

  He laughed at her display. “You really think a gun can help you? I thought you understood before when you lowered your weapon. Go ahead, then. Shoot me and understand how futile it is.”

  Jenna shrugged. “I figure it sure as hell can’t hurt, and Rem already wounded you. I think you’re vulnerable now.”

  It was partially a bluff, but whatever worked.

  “If it were so simple, don’t you think he would have just shot me?”

  Erebus stepped forward. Black liquid continued to ooze from his chest. Rem had done more damage than Erebus wanted to admit.

  “You should give in,” he said softly. “I know you are in great pain. This could all be over soon. I will be the god I’m meant to be, and you will be my goddess.”

  Jenna’s stomach rolled at the thought, not helping her pain. “There is only one man that comes close to measuring up as a god to me, and it sure as hell isn’t you.”

  With that she slammed the mud into the end of the gun and fired. The crack of the gunshot echoed over the rain only to be swallowed up by piercing screams.

  Jenna watched in horror as Erebus clawed at his chest, huge wide blue glowing holes where the fragments had entered.

  “Futile my ass,” she muttered.

  A muddy arm landed on her shoulder, and she nearly jumped out of her skin as Rem pulled her against his chest. She breathed in deeply and shook so badly that she hated to lean on his battered body but had no choice. The gun dropped to the ground.

  “I swear to God if you make me have this child on a damn battlefield, you’ll never hear the end of it,” Jenna said between pants.

  Rem chuckled after a mild grimace. “Then I think we had better end this.”

  Erebus fell to his knees, coughing up black ooze from his mouth. He pitched forward and lay still, twitching. Blue light suffused his body, seemingly eating away at the shadows and black ooze around him.

  “Now just what should we do with him?” Rem asked quietly.

  Jenna gasped. Clarity cut through the pain and fear. She knew how to make it all as it should have been from the beginning.

  Chapter Twenty

  Rem watched as Jenna stepped outside the compound and thus the protection of the wards. He reached out and grabbed her arm. “What the hell are you doing? He’s still dangerous.”

  Jenna shook her head and placed a hand over his. “Trust me. There’s a better way to end this.”

  Rem followed close behind as she made her way over to Erebus who lay there with shallow and ragged breaths. More than anything, Rem wanted to put himself between his woman and the wounded demigod.

  “I believe this belongs to you,” she said softly. She lifted Erebus’s arm and placed the bangle Lapis had given them over it.

  Erebus pulled his hand slowly to his face with a look of wonder. “Where?”

  “Lapis gave it to Rem to give to me. She was trying to protect me but, I think she was also trying to protect you. You were corrupted by that darkness I think. That’s what was seeping out of you. It doesn’t have to be that way.”

  Rem blinked. He stared down at the amazing woman in front of him. He might have ripped through a whole army of hell to get to her, but in the end, Jenna was the one who found peace.

  “I think there might just be enough with those stones that we can make this right,” Jenna said softly, beckoning him down.

  Rem crouched by her, half-confused and half-impressed. Jenna placed a hand on the bangle and a hand on his brightly glowing white tattoo.

  “If it worked for you, it might work again,” she whispered.

  It wasn’t until that moment he realized just what she was doing. She was bringing Erebus back home to Lapis.

  The world turned white around them. All the rain and mud faded away, the distant shrieks and shouts. The wounds Rem had had on his back and chest healed, and soon so did those on Erebus.

  Still not certain just what to expect, Rem stood and pulled Jenna back against him. “You did it.”

  They turned to see Lapis standing in void the same as she had every other time. Only this time, she was missing the white stone she’d given him.

  “Did you plan this?” Rem asked. “You could have just told me from the beginning.”

  “I didn’t know.” Lapis shook her head, her eyes still on Erebus as he started to s
tir. “My job was to make sure he didn’t get a form. I hadn’t dared hope that he could come here purged of the darkness that took him in the past.”

  “Well, what do you know.” Rem grunted.

  Lapis turned to look directly at Jenna. “I didn’t know until I saw the strength of who she was.” She stepped forward and took Jenna’s hand. “You are the mother and lover I wish I had been.”

  Tears streamed down Jenna’s face. “I’m sorry you couldn’t be,” she whispered.

  Lapis nodded. “There is no time to waste on what was lost. All we have is now.”

  Erebus opened his eyes. Instead of two pale blue eyes, he now had deep blue eyes. Confused, Rem watched as Erebus took in each of them, his gaze finally landing on the only thing that really meant anything to him.

  “Lapis.” Her name came out as a sort of sigh. She rushed into his arms.

  Jenna wrapped her arms around his middle. She shook as they stood there.

  “I can’t hold on much longer,” she whispered. “All this is sweet and magical, but it’s not doing much to stop the baby.”

  Lapis nodded at her. “You must go,” she said with a smile. “Go and have your family.”

  The white world started to fade back to the one they knew.

  Just before the light dwindled away, Jenna spoke. “Your child, what was his name?”

  “Kallen,” Lapis replied.

  The white disappeared entirely. They were back standing in the rain.

  “Are we back?” Jenna moaned.

  Rem nodded and lifted her shaking body into his arms. “We’re back.”

  He spun as forms moved toward the gate. He relaxed when he realized it was Magnus leading the hybrid army.

  “They all just disappeared at once,” Magnus said with a shrug.

  “It’s over,” Rem declared. “Erebus is… gone.”

  Jenna gave a deep sigh before looking him directly in the eye. “Good. Now let’s go have this damn baby.”

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Jenna stared down at the tiny little baby in her arms. She marveled at the light blue lines that twined around his whole body. They were so close to Rem’s, but they baby still had his own special and unique pattern. Perfectly amazing. She still choked up from time to time looking at him.

  “My little Kallen.”

  He cooed in his sleep and turned toward her, his little face nuzzling against her breast, and for her own sake, she hoped he slept just a tad more.

  Motherhood was precious and amazing but also exhausting. Fighting Glycons had been far less exhausting than trying to keep a tiny hybrid alive.

  The bed dipped beside her, and she sighed as Rem wrapped his arm around her.

  “You should be resting,” he mumbled against her ear.

  Jenna sighed and leaned her head back against his shoulder. “If I put him down he cries, I think he’s got a tummy ache. No more Thai for me I guess.”

  Rem ran a hand over their son. His now permanently white tattoos were still strange when she’d been so used to blue, but slowly she was getting used to them. After all, he was still the same man.

  It reminded her that none of the other hybrids’ tattoos had changed. The temporary power Rem had given them had faded. All the unconscious people in the compound had woken up, and the Vestals had no memory of causing trouble. Even the townsfolk seemed satisfied with Rem’s explanation that it was all over.

  Rem stood and made his way around to the other side of the bed. He reached out and took Kallen in his arms. It warmed Jenna’s heart to see the two of them together. He walked her side of the bed, bobbing the baby.

  Rem leaned down and kissed her head. “Get some rest. You’ve earned it.”

  Jenna smiled up at him. He was just as amazing as she knew he would be.

  “I love you.”

  Rem smiled and gave a wink. “Well, I am a god after all. It would be hard not to love me.”

  Jenna rolled her eyes and settled into the bed.

  Just before shutting the door, Rem stopped. “I love you, too.”

  She smiled and settled in for as much sleep as she could get.

  * * *

  Rem walked little Kallen down the stairs and into the living room. He sat carefully down on the couch, the little babe in his arms only stirring slightly. All the pain and violence and darkness didn’t matter anymore. That was the past. Now he had a son and a woman he loved, and for the first time in a long while, no real threats on the horizon.

  He reached down and placed a finger in the baby’s hand. Kallen wrapped it around his father’s finger, half-asleep still.

  “You don’t know this yet, but I’ve gone through hell to be with you,” Rem said quietly.

  The baby snuggled closer His sweet face looked like he was unaware of anything that might threaten him. He was so innocent. Rem wondered if he’d ever been that innocent. He must have, but it had been so long and who knew just what he was like before being frozen.

  “I’m going to make sure you have all the things I never did.”

  The hair on the back of his neck stood on end, and he noticed both of their tattoos were glowing.

  “He will,” said a familiar voice.

  Lapis appeared in front of him, her form far less solid than in their other encounters. Though it was the first time he’d seen her outside her white dream void.

  “This is the last time we’ll meet,” she said, and stepped toward them. “My time here is limited. The link can no longer be sustained.”

  Rem looked down at the baby in his arms. “We named him Kallen.”

  Lapis leaned over and placed a soft kiss on Kallen’s head. “You were right,” she said softly. “Jenna is your balance. She is the key and always was.”

  Rem smiled and nodded. “I knew it all along.”

  Lapis placed hand on Rem’s tattoo. It glowed brightly. A soft warm feeling suffused his body.

  “Just a parting gift,” she whispered. “A little help making sure you give him the life he deserves.”

  She vanished as if she’d never been there at all.

  Rem looked down at the child in his arms and thought of all the other children that would soon fill their little town. He would make sure they all had the life they deserved. Human or hybrid, it didn’t matter. The war was finally over. Their families would finally have the place they deserved.

  He kissed the baby’s forehead. “Thank you for being born.”

  Epilogue

  Maximus offered a polite nod to Sol, the second-in-command of the Luna Lodge hybrids, before stepping into the office and closing the door behind him. The Luna hybrids’ true leader, Titus, sat behind a massive desk, something approaching a smile on his face. This sort of meeting was always so awkward. Two alphas in one room always led to tension, despite neither man desiring it.

  Technically, Titus wasn’t the leader of Maximus or his group of hybrids, but without the help of Luna Lodge, they would have remained prisoners. They’d been paying back the Luna hybrids while also earning their revenge in the months since their release by helping to rescue Vestals and striking at the known enemies of all hybrids.

  Human governments liked to claim they were going all out against the remnants of the Horatius Group and others like them, but it was humans who had helped fund those same organizations. Maximus and his fellow hybrids had been intended as mercenary fodder, a product to be sold off to the highest bidder.

  Maximus sat with a loud grunt. “The mission went well, but like I said in my message, there’s some shit to clean up.”

  Titus gave a nod. “Don’t worry about it. The government already contacted me. I think they were a little pissed that I wasn’t telling them everything, but they don’t want to end up on the news having to explain why a company receiving taxpayer dollars was involved in hybrid research.”

  “Do you think it’s really over? The Group is gone, and the Phoenix Corps is on the run, but…” Maximus shook his head. “It seems too easy.”

  Titus let o
ut a dark chuckle. “That’s always it, isn’t it? We always want to think it’s too easy.” He motioned around the room. “We have Isla Luna now. Yes, it’s not like nobody knows where it is, but it’s secret enough. You and your men are still out there, too.”

  “But what if it doesn’t matter?” Maximus asked. “What if stopping one group just means more trouble comes?”

  Titus reached into his desk and pulled out a thick vanilla folder. He set on his desk and pushed it forward.

  “What’s this?” Maximus asked, eying the folder. “A little old school, isn’t it?”

  “Electronic records can be copied too easily, and in this case, it’s not my information or even your information. It’s some things we’ve been tracking.” Titus glanced over to the door to confirm it was closed. “As you know, we’ve been in contact on and off with Rem and his group of hybrids.”

  Maximus nodded. “What about them? They in trouble?”

  “They were.” Titus growled. “I always figured Rem wasn’t telling us everything, and I still don’t know everything that went down there. I sent some of my people there to check things out, and Rem and his people are doing okay now. There was some sort of trouble with Glycons and some old Horatius Group leftovers, but they won.”

  “Then they didn’t need us.” Maximus shrugged. “All’s well that ends well.”

  “That’s what I figure.” Titus patted the file with his hand. “Read this. Commit it to memory, particular the location and then burn it.”

  Maximus’s brow lifted. “Burn it?”

  “Yes, burn it. It’s not just that Rem took care of his trouble. He’s done something better than even I accomplished.”

  “How so?”

  “He’s got a town with hybrids and humans living together in peace.” Titus smiled. “He has money. We both have money, but I have more contacts in the government. We’ve done what we can, and the town, Eagle Ridge, no longer officially exists. The official story is fires overwhelmed certain areas, and now the area’s heavily contaminated. Government’s going to clean it up.”