Lucius lunged in between them and squared his shoulders. For the first time, she realized they were nearly the same size and swallowed.
“Right here, big boy,” Lucius said. “You want her, you got to finish me first.”
The enemy’s beady red eyes darted back and forth between them, settling on Lucius.
“That’s right you bastard,” he said and crouched down.
She shook, watching the two of them take position to fight.
The mutated hybrid was the first to move. Faster than her eyes could follow, he sprinted to Lucius who was ready for the attack. Hands outstretched, he avoided the gnashing teeth and used the momentum to slam the man into the wall. Hannah winced at the crunch and howl of pain that followed.
Not wasting time, the creature was back up. One arm hung limp at its side now, likely broken from the impact.
She shivered at the cold grin and beckoning motion Lucius gave the mutant hybrid.
“That it?” he taunted.
The hybrid charged. A shrill screech echoed through the hall. She covered her ears and clamped her eyes shut. It was all too much.
Two arms pulled her against a hard warm chest, and after a moment, she stopped pinching her eyes shut quite as hard.
“It’s okay,” Lucius whispered to the top of her head.
She shivered thinking about the hybrid.
“Is he gone?” she asked, knowing what lay on the other side of the room.
“Just don’t look,” Lucius said quietly. His arms pulled her even closer to his chest.
They sat like that for some time, her listening to his steady heartbeat and trying to measure her own pulse against his before she spoke.
“Why are they like that?” she asked quietly.
Lucius sighed. “Because something went wrong. They might not see it that way, but those aren’t men. They function on instinct and orders alone.”
Hannah looked up to him. Seeing his face made her feel like things would be better.
“How did he get in?” she asked.
He frowned. “I can only think he slipped in when the alarm was off.” He grunted. “Maybe they planned the power outage. Maybe they just took advantage of it.” He shrugged.
Soldiers and hybrids with guns shuffled in behind them, but she was glad when Lucius didn’t bother to move. The last thing she wanted to see was them removing the body.
Hannah looked up when a pair of feet came to stand next to them and frowned. Titus. She was still angry with him for earlier.
“I want her to stay with Jenna starting immediately,” he said with authority, refusing to look in her direction.
Hannah frowned.
“Why would I stay with Jenna?” She struggled to stand but found Lucius’s arms holding her firmly in place. If she hadn’t been sitting, she might have kicked him.
“That won’t be necessary,” Lucius said. “She’ll be staying with me.”
“Like hell I will!”
Hannah ripped free of his arms and stood. Her eyes landed on the dead hybrid attacker as they zipped up a body bag, and her stomach lurched forward. She swallowed hard and turned to look at the two men.
“Somebody want to tell me what’s going on here?” Lucius and Titus looked at each other.
Titus spoke first.
“Who had access to your keys besides you?” Titus said. He stepped forward and stared hard at her.
Hannah thought. No one. She was the only one who had access.
“Who lives with you Hannah?” Titus said after some time.
Her eyes snapped up to his and then over to Lucius, who refused to meet her look.
“Rachel wouldn’t,” Hannah said in shock. “There’s no way. She’d have no reason.”
“You aren’t thinking about things clearly,” he said firmly. “There’s no one else it could be.”
Hannah shook her head hard. “You’re wrong.”
Lucius stepped forward and tried to comfort her, but the idea of his hands on her now chilled her.
“You’re both wrong,” she nearly sobbed. Her heart ached for the betrayal poor Rachel was suffering. “You’re so busy with your head shoved up your asses, you can’t even see that you’re playing into whatever game this is.” She shook as she spoke and tears leaked from her eyes. “Well, to hell with all of you.”
Without bothering to look, she raced from the room and into the evening air.
Lucius nodded for one of the men to follow after her. The sounds of her sobs sliced through him and cut him to the core.
“Do you think she’ll forgive you?” Titus said quietly to him.
Lucius scrubbed a hand across his face and shrugged.
“Maybe,” he said. “Maybe not after we get to her house. I don’t see what choice we have though.”
Lucius turned to look at Titus. It wasn’t often they operated like this, but Romulus was better than they ever expected with his knocking out parts of the grid, use of scent blockers and even infiltration so none of them ever truly knew who could be trusted. It was all well planned. If they weren’t careful, Romulus was going to be beating down their doors before they even got their pants up.
Admittedly, he hadn’t been thrilled with the plan to implicate Rachel as a potential traitor who might be recruiting material for the Horatius Group, even if it was part of an effort to smoke out Romulus and his men. Lucius and Marius had been the ones to fight it for the most for obvious reasons. Now whether those reasons were because of the way Rachel would be treated or because he would be put on guard duty was anyone’s guess. Kate and Erica hadn’t liked the idea, but thought it the best plan. That just left him, and no other plans came to mind.
In truth, the only one that really seemed to think it was a good idea was Rachel, knowing that Hannah was in danger and she could do something to help. She was the first to suggest the plan and the best at hiding it.
“Now the real question in all of this is why is Hannah being targeted?” Titus asked quietly.
“Are you sure you didn’t…” Titus trailed off and raised a brow.
Lucius snorted. “Think I’d know if we had.”
“So why her then?” he asked. “Family connections?”
Lucius shook his head and thought of what Hannah had told him. “Doubtful.”
“Do you think she’s one of them?”
“I have to ask,” he said quietly.
Lucius glared at him, a deep rumble filled the room. “No, you don’t.”
The two men stared at each other for a moment, not daring to give in on either side.
“You’re right, but we need to figure this out. He had the opportunity to come for one of the babies and didn’t. What is it about her?”
Something snapped in Lucius. They were after her and no matter what, he was going to protect her.
Titus gave a short nod. “You should go to her. We’ll work this out later.”
Lucius sighed and nodded before hurrying after her. Knowing the danger that lurked out there, he wasn’t going to let her far outside of his sight. She might hate him right now, but he wasn’t going to just stand by and watch her get taken.
* * *
Hannah stormed into the women’s housing. The place that had been her home for the last year was suddenly going to be ripped away from her, and it was crap. Rachel hadn’t done anything, and she wasn’t about to let them just accuse her of something like this.
She could hear voices upstairs and made her way up, stomping most of the way.
When she reached the top, she found Rachel’s door wide open. She gaped at what she saw. Pink. The whole damn room was about as pink as you could get. Never in her life had she seen so much pink in one room. Hannah had to blink a few times just to make sure she hadn’t gone blind somehow during the walk up the stairs.
She turned to find Marius and Rachel off in the room next to Rachel’s. It was bare except for a few suitcases that had been brought in, which she suspected were his.
“They are almost don
e,” Marius said to Rachel. He had her pulled to the side, and it was clear that she was upset.
“No one said anything about this,” Rachel said, staring at Marius. A single tear slid down her cheek.
There was a lot Hannah could handle, but this wasn’t it. She wasn’t going to just sit by while they treated her friend this way.
Hannah went to the room and slammed the door against the back of the wall.
“Out!” she shouted at the men in the room.
The two men sorting stopped to stare at her for a moment and then went back to work. She huffed and grabbed the closest thing. The vibrant pink lamp sailed across the room and smashed into the wall next to one of the military men. The two jumped and turned to stare at her. She grabbed the cupcake bank and lifted it in her hand.
“I said get the fuck out.” She stared the two men down and nearly gagged when one of them went for the gun at his side.
When he froze, she nearly clapped her hands but pointed to the door instead. Her hand hit a wall of solid chest, and she groaned inwardly. She knew that chest.
Lucius growled loudly at the two men who jumped at the menacing man in the door.
“You better not even fucking think about it,” he said. “You’re done.”
Hannah turned to protest when she realized it wasn’t her he was talking to but the men.
She stepped to the side as they raced through the door and stared up at a very angry Lucius. Well two could play at that. He wasn’t the only one who was angry at the moment.
“What they hell were you thinking taking on two men like that?” he shouted at her.
Hannah stood tall and squared her shoulders. She might be short, but she could use the most of her space. Besides, she knew that her well thought-out dress wasn’t doing her any favors now. It wasn’t really combat material. Not that it mattered to her.
“I was thinking they had better get out of here,” she said loudly. “This is crap, and you know it.”
“It is crap, but sometimes we’ve got to follow orders.” He stepped forward and leaned down a little.
Hannah snorted. “Well aren’t you a good little soldier?”
Lucius sighed. “It’s not like that,” he said. “It’s part of the—”
“Listen,” Rachel said from the door. “I’d just really like to get back into my room.”
Hannah looked up to Lucius. “You need to pack,” he said.
She noticed he left off where she’d be going, but no way in hell was she going to his place.
“Just give us a few minutes,” she said and set the bank back down.
Rachel walked in and sat calmly down on the bed. She could hear the muffled voices in the hall and knew the men weren’t far if needed.
“So…” Hannah searched for something to say to break the ice. “Pink, huh?”
Rachel laughed loudly. “You found my secret,” she said. “Here I was thinking I might be able to take that one to my grave.”
Hannah picked up a pink bunny from the bed and smiled. “That’s so silly. Why would you want to hide this?”
Rachel shot her a skeptical look. “Seriously? Have you seen the way people look at me? I know I’m the dragon lady.”
Hannah opened her mouth to protest but stopped.
“I’m good with that, but this,” she sighed. “I just don’t know how I’m going to live this down.”
Hannah walked around the very pink room and tried to think. “Well Marius didn’t seem to mind that you had a pink room.” She shrugged and sat hard next her. “You know, I think it might actually do you some good to remind people that you’re actually a girl under all that snark. If Marius can see that, so can some of the other men.”
She jumped slightly when something hit the floor next door and wondered if someone with superhearing heard a little more than they were supposed to.
A knock came at the door. “We should really get going soon,” Lucius said from outside.
Hannah stuck her tongue out.
“You leaving me?” Rachel said with a sad smile.
Hannah huffed. “Not by choice.”
“Try not to be too hard on him,” Rachel said to her surprise. “He really is looking out for you. He’ll keep you safe and that’s all that matters to me.”
Rachel pulled her into a hard hug, slipping a tiny vial into the palm of her hand. She pressed her mouth against her ear and whispered very quietly.
“And if the shit hits the fan, drink this,” she said.
Hannah looked down at the shimmery blue liquid with trepidation. She opened her mouth to speak but found a hand over her lips. Rachel frowned and shook her head vigorously.
Not really knowing what else to do, she slipped the vial into her bra just as the door opened. Lucius eyed them suspiciously.
“We need to get packing,” he said gruffly.
Hannah looked over at him and frowned.
He sighed, and for the first time she saw what the stress of the day had done to him. “We don’t know how many more are out there. Staying here, in the middle of the compound, we put everyone in danger. My place is secluded and fortified. We would be safe, and so would everyone else.”
It annoyed her to no end that he might be right.
She trudged to the door and stopped at the frame.
“Don’t let them get to you,” Hannah said to Rachel.
She nodded, looked around her room and shrugged her shoulders.
“I’ve got nothing left to hide,” she said.
Her heart hurt as she closed the door. Seeing her friend so defeated was the last thing she wanted.
There was only one thing to do now. Pack.
* * *
Hannah hadn’t been certain what the inside of Lucius’s house would look like. She certainly loved the cute country charm of the outside, but that didn’t seem to fit the hulking man standing next to her. Inside she found deep rich tones throughout. It still had its country charm but seeped in more masculine tones. An over-sized leather couch sat in the living room. It was slightly too large for the space, but she realized that he likely needed the space to spread out.
“Go ahead and sit down if you want,” he said. Of course, watching her just seemed to come natural to him. Memories of the things he said earlier flashed into her head.
She shook her head and set her handbag on the end of the couch.
“I’m good.”
She moved around the room, fully aware that he was watching everything that she was doing. Occasionally, she would see him shift from foot to foot and know she was getting close to something he didn’t want her messing with or was worried she would ask about. Being careful not to touch anything, Hannah just looked. It was interesting really. The more she looked, the more he fidgeted. Really, she hadn’t noticed anything strange that would spark something in her.
A few rocks shaped as hearts, a collection of military books that was not totally surprising, and a few paintings she found slightly haunting but still very nice. She stood in front of a particular one that caught her eye. It was off in the corner of the room, hidden on a shelf. No bigger than a picture frame, the colors called to her at first, with deep orange being the most prominent.
She bent down and pulled the painting off the shelf without thinking. Hidden among the swirls of oranges, reds, yellows and purples was a faint shadow of a man. She leaned in a little more. The shadow was hunched in a ball. Like it was fending off something.
There, in the back, she could just make out a thin black line.
Lucius placed a hand on hers and pulled the frame out of her hand.
“It’s been a long day,” he said and placed the painting back on the shelf.
Hannah took one last look at the haunting shadow before letting him shuffle her out of the living room.
Down the short hall, she passed a small bathroom and groaned inwardly. It wasn’t going to be easy sharing that little space. She liked her products, and Hannah was just certain that he wouldn’t be a fan of having her
stuff strewn all around.
He stopped with her bag outside the door across from the bathroom. Hannah glanced to the door at the end of the hall, just next to her own. Looked like he wouldn’t be all that far away.
Lucius opened the door. She was surprised to find a very sweet-looking room, not quite feminine but less robust. The deep blue actually reminded her of the sky and made her smile.
He set down her bags by the door as she walked in and looked around. When she turned to look at him, he stepped back into the hall.
“Goodnight, Hannah,” he said curtly and shut the door before she could even respond.
Once again, she was left alone with her thoughts.
Chapter Eleven
For hours Hannah had lain in her bed, trying to get to sleep with no luck at all. All she could see was that haunting shadow from Lucius’s painting. Something about it ate away at her, and she just couldn’t seem to leave it behind. She groaned and tossed the sheet to the side. Cool air rushed over her legs and despite this, she welcomed the chill.
She sat up and swung her legs over the side to listen. Lucius had gone to his room not long after her, and ever since, the house had been silent. The only hope she had was that he didn’t startle easily and would remember she was in the house.
She crept out of bed to the door. Maybe just a quick drink of water would be enough.
She turned the knob and stepped into the hall. The bathroom light had been left on for her benefit she assumed. She moved down the hall in silence. The light at her back made it a little easier to see, and she sighed when she made it to the kitchen. Hannah opened the fridge and was relieved to find cold water bottles inside.
She pulled back and took a long drink. The cool liquid felt good going down and she sighed. Maybe now she’d be able to get to sleep.
Hannah switched off the light and made her way to the living room. She stopped next to the shelf. The painting called to her, and she swerved toward it.
She picked it up and brought the picture close to her face. Everything about it made her ache inside. The shadow just seemed so helpless. Again, she followed the thin black line and wondered what it could be. A rope? It was all so strange.
Lucius (Luna Lodge #3) Page 9
