The boys watched her as she walked across the room to them. All of them had the same beautiful amber-colored eyes she had seen on the adults. They all also seemed large for their ages, which she mostly judged by their faces.
“Titus said we’re going to have to start going to school,” the oldest boy said.
He had soft brown hair that slipped into his eyes, which made him shake it away from time to time.
“I know you all haven’t had much of an education, but I’m looking forward to helping with that,” she said. “There’s a whole world out there to learn about.”
One of the smaller boys with copper red hair shook his head.
“Lucius says we have to study hard to train both our mind and our body.”
She’d never met this Lucius, but she liked the way he’d phrased it. “He’s very right. I’ll do whatever I can to help with the mind part.” She winked.
Jasmine grabbed a few books from the table and handed them to the eldest boy.
“Maybe you all can help me learn just where you are with your studies.”
The boy handed her back the books. “We’ve already read through this.”
She glanced down at them. The material covered was a broad range of math from long division all the way to some basic calculus.
“Really? And the younger children?”
He shrugged. “We all learn together.”
“And you understand it?”
He shrugged again. “We study until we understand. What’s the point of just reading something and then not going back if you don’t understand?”
“Impressive. Very impressive.”
Jasmine saw all her hard work trying to make up a lesson plan fly out the window as he spoke. She bemoaned all those hours trying to formulate a teaching plan based on their skills.
Still, it was amazing. She’d never seen children so advanced all on their own. Of course, their skills would have to be tested, but she couldn’t help but be a bit astonished.
Her gaze shifted down to the littlest boy. He couldn’t have been more than eight. She certainly couldn’t have handled most of the material in question when she was eight.
“Well,” she said quietly. “Looks like I’ve got my work cut out for me.”
Jasmine set the books on the counter, and when she turned, she found the boys whispering to one another.
She stopped herself from snickering. They might be genetically engineered hybrids, but in the end, kids were kids.
“Ask her.”
“No, you ask her.”
“Ask me what?” she said and smiled at them.
The little red head stepped forward. “Are you bonded?”
Jasmine frowned. “Bonded? Like insurance?”
“No. That’s not it.” The eldest blushed and turned away. “They want to know if you’re married.”
She gave a small laugh and grinned down at the little red head.
“Are you asking?” She winked at him. “I’m not married.”
Children were always curious about the lives of their teachers. Before she’d had to keep a firm distance from her children, but she had already resolved that here things would be different.
These children had already suffered so much, being the prisoners of the cruel Horatius Group. And from what she could tell, there weren’t exactly a huge number of women around. These children needed someone to care for them, and although she was no mother, she could be more than just a teacher.
“I’m happy to answer any questions I can,” she said to the boys.
Instantly she saw the mood shift. As if a weight had been lifted. Six little faces smiled up at her, and she couldn’t help but be filled with joy.
“Now I think you all better enjoy your last night of freedom,” she said and winked at them. “I’ll see you all tomorrow morning at nine.”
She did a little dance in her own head. Nine for a start time was just beautiful. It seemed like school only started earlier and earlier each year at the prep school, and no one functioned that well early in the morning, especially her.
It was stupid anyway. There were piles of studies showing that adolescents didn’t learn as well when they had to get up too early.
She watched as the children skipped out of the room and ran off into the field next to the building. She was making friends already.
She grinned widely. This job was perfect for her.
Chapter Five
It was late. Kyros wasn’t really sure what time it was, but it was well past curfew. Very few military personnel wandered around this time of night. Although they still had the front heavily guarded, aside from a few soldiers running patrol, it was quiet out.
He resisted a chuckle. It’d be a great time to launch an attack. The Horatius Group attacks had mostly been at night.
Though he reminded himself that just because there were few soldiers around, that didn’t mean he couldn’t run into someone. He was inside the walls, and that meant cameras in addition to the guards. Fortunately, he knew where all the cameras were.
He hurried along, staying out of the light as much as possible and slipping between the blind spots of the cameras. The darkness didn’t bother him, his superior night vision serving him well.
Normally he wouldn’t risk coming to the surface like this, but he needed to speak with Titus directly. He couldn’t take the risk of a transmission being intercepted.
After all, even if the Army wasn’t dirty, that didn’t mean Group spies weren’t lingering near the place trying to find out everything they needed to destroy the hybrids.
He tapped quietly against the door, and it opened instantly. Titus quickly ushered him in.
“Something wrong?” his leader asked, concern on his face.
Kyros shook his head. “Lucan just got in. Varius is aware of the situation. The facility is nearly finished. They are working as fast as they can to prepare the living quarters.”
“And the people there?”
He shrugged. “Most think it’s just some eccentric billionaire who moved in.”
Titus snorted. “Not far off thanks to Rem.”
Kyros still wasn’t quite sure how they had worked the money situation, but he suspected that there were a number of offshore accounts involved. And it was probably not remotely what passed for legal in the United States.
It didn’t really bother him. It wasn’t like they weren’t owed it. The money came from the Horatius Group. That was money built on their blood, backs, and very lives.
“Where is Lucan now?” Titus asked.
“He had to immediately leave. Said he needed to get back there. They need all the help they can get in order to get things organized, and he wanted to make sure we have a way out when the time comes.” He shrugged once. “Given the way the military is breathing down our necks, I wonder if that’s going to be sooner than later.”
Titus ran a hand over his face. His bonded, Kate, was just weeks away from giving birth. With everything else that was going on, it was a wonder that he slept at all.
Kyros pitied him. Sure, his own task was stressful, but he only really had to worry about his own safety on a day-to-day basis.
“We’ll be ready,” Titus said quietly. “No matter what it takes. I’m not losing more hybrids because the government wants to deliver us into the Group’s hands.” He let out a grunt. “They are smarter than I thought.”
“Who?”
“The military.”
“What’s going on?”
Titus frowned. “They were going over the personnel list, and wondering about you and the others who don’t seem to be here.”
Kyros tensed. “And?”
“I told Colonel Hall you and the others died during the last major Horatius Group attack.”
“And did she believe you?”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure she did.”
He let out a breath. It’d been hard, living and working away from the compound with most of the hybrids thinking he was dead, but it w
as a sacrifice that he and the others had been willing to make to save their people.
Titus nodded. “I just wonder how many will suffer when things go south.”
Kyros knew what he meant. There was no way things were going to go down without a fight, and at this point, they knew someone was bound to get hurt.
No one wanted to have a fight with the soldiers there. In many ways, they were as much a victim as the hybrids in all this, but that didn’t mean the hybrids would let themselves be enslaved or killed.
“I’ve got to head back before the townspeople make the rounds in the woods,” he said. “I’ll let you know if I hear anything from Rollo.”
Titus nodded. “Be careful.”
Kyros slipped out of the house and then made his way up the side of the hill and down the side of the path. As long as he stayed out of sight, things would be just fine.
He’d delivered his message, and now Titus knew that things were moving along. He just needed to keep himself focused.
Something soft and flowery hit his nose, and he knew instantly she was there. Every part of him screamed with the need to at least see the Vestal teacher whose scent he recognized as if he’d been smelling it every day of his life.
He bit back a growl. Not now. He didn’t need this crap. Fucking bonded Vestal bullshit. Of course he wouldn’t get a pass. Of course she would come to him at the absolute worst moment.
It was driving him crazy, like an itch that he couldn’t quite reach. Kyros forced himself to turn down the side of the school instead of slipping inside like he wanted.
Another time, maybe, when he wasn’t playing the part of a ghost.
A flash of light crossed the path in front of him, and he cursed his hesitation before. There was no choice now. It was either go inside or risk being caught.
* * *
Jasmine blinked several times at the clock on the wall in her office. Twelve-thirty. She’d finally come up with a whole new outline for a lesson plan, along with some accompanying reading, but the night was long gone.
She closed the books on her desk and groaned loudly as she stretched. The way her back muscles pulled, it was a painful sort of release.
When she opened her eyes, she was surprised to see a man standing in front of her. His amber eyes stared back at her from the darkened room.
“Oh!” she yelped.
She jumped from surprise and knocked several of the books off the table. With speed she’d never seen before, he hurried over, reached down, and placed them back on her desk.
“I’m sorry,” he said softly. “I didn’t mean to frighten you.”
His face was so close to hers that if she’d leaned forward, they could have touched. It was strange really. Something about him seemed so familiar, but she knew they had just met. Well, sort of met.
“Thanks,” she said and swallowed. Damn was he handsome. Even his woodsy scent turned her on. She blinked, cursing the fact that she’d not gotten any in a while and was obviously overreacting.
The man stepped back, and she took in a deep breath. Something about his presence was throwing her off, and she wasn’t sure if it was just the fact that he was devastatingly gorgeous.
“I’m Jasmine,” she said and smiled at him. “The new teacher.”
He gave a small nod. “I know.” He glanced to the door.
The front door to the school swung open wide, and she stood at the sound.
“Is anyone here?” a man shouted.
She glanced over to the hybrid and watched as his eyes searched her own.
Jasmine couldn’t quite explain it, but somehow she knew that he didn’t want to make his presence known.
“I am,” she said and stepped over to the door, raising her hands.
Two soldiers hurried into the classroom, rifles at ready.
“What are you doing here?” one of the men shouted. They fidgeted, as if they expected her to jump them at any moment. In any other situation, she would have found it ridiculous.
A flicker of fear passed through her, but for some reason, she felt the hybrid in the room wouldn’t let her come to harm. She had no reason to believe that, but it just felt true.
Jasmine kept her hands up and nodded toward the desk.
“I’m the new teacher,” she said. “I was just going over my lesson plan.”
The soldiers looked to one another and then lowered their guns. Jasmine dropped her hands.
“You’re new here, so we’re going to give you the pass, but you need to understand this entire compound is currently operating under curfew restrictions, and you’re well past curfew,” one said to her. “Is anyone else here with you?”
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the handsome man. Maybe he had been caught out late. Maybe he was drinking with friends. Whatever it was, she didn’t want to see him get into trouble for something so silly.
Curfew? Ridiculous. The hybrids weren’t criminals. It was unjust that they were being treated like this because of crazy townspeople and people letting their fear get the better of them.
She shook her head. “Just me. Sorry about that,” she said quickly. “I was just so busy working, I didn’t even notice the time. Ava did mention the curfew to me earlier. I just forgot about it.”
One soldier sighed loudly. “Don’t let it happen again,” he said. “We’ll escort you back to the dorms.”
She glanced back behind her to where the hybrid stood in her office. “I’ll just grab my books and keys.”
Jasmine turned and picked up two books from her desk and her keys. Before turning off the light, her gaze once again connected with the stranger, and she could feel a flutter deep in her belly. For a moment, she thought she saw something bright flicker behind his eyes but decided it must be exhaustion setting in.
She flicked off the light and followed the two soldiers outside. As they climbed into their patrol car, she pretended to lock the door so the stranger would have a way to escape when they were gone. She’d just have to make sure she was up early and the first there in the morning.
Of course, it wasn’t exactly like a bunch of people were going to burglarize the schoolhouse in the middle of Luna Lodge.
No relief. Not only did she have a hellishly long drive that day and had stayed up late redoing her lesson plan, but now she was planning to get up early the next day. The fates were out to get her.
She made her way over to her shiny new car and loaded in.
The drive back to the dorm was easy, and she waved to the soldiers as she climbed the stairs to the dorm.
It wasn’t until she closed the door behind her that she realized she’d never gotten the hybrid’s name. The handsome stranger would have to remain just that.
Chapter Six
Rough didn’t even begin to describe Jasmine’s night. She’d hoped that sleep would come quickly, but she tossed and turned for ages trying to get the mystery man out of her mind. There was just something about him that drew her in.
Sure, he was ridiculously hot and built like a god, but it was more than that. Even the way he looked at her and his voice turned her on. She’d never felt so drawn to a man so quickly. It’d be silly if it didn’t feel so strong.
She let out a little laugh as she sipped her coffee on her drive to the school. There was no time for tea today. Her nighttime adventure meant she needed a quick and full caffeine pick-me-up as she made her way over to the school at the ass crack of dawn. Just because the students wouldn’t be showing up until later didn’t mean she didn’t have materials to prepare and some reading to do.
No, she supposed it was hard not to think about such a handsome man that she knew absolutely nothing about besides that he was hiding out past curfew and a hybrid.
She stopped the car just outside the school and climbed out into the bright morning sun, grateful that she had her sunglasses on.
Fortunately, no wind blew. After all, a chill still hung over the season even when it wasn’t early in the morning.
Jasmin
e stepped up to the door and was surprised to find it was locked. She unlocked it.
That meant one of two things: someone had stopped by and locked it for her or Mr. Mystery had locked it. If the first case were true, she could likely expect a talking to, and if it were the second, then he must be someone important enough to have the keys to the building.
Jasmine stepped through the door and locked it behind her. She slowly made her way to her office.
On the way, a third possibility occurred to her: maybe someone else had locked it, but Mr. Mystery never left at all.
She turned the corner to her back office, half expecting him to still be there. Her heart picked up. Now that there weren’t soldiers crowding them, and she didn’t expect students for hours, she could actually talk to him.
No mystery hunk greeted her, but the office wasn’t totally empty.
A colorful bouquet of wild flowers lay on her desk. A small hand-written note lay beside them.
Thank you.
-K
She smiled at the pretty flowers despite herself. They had obviously been handpicked, but the gesture was sweet.
Or at least she thought it was sweet. Maybe if it had been any other man, she would have been worried, but there was nothing threatening about this guy.
K.
Jasmine sighed. Before she’d thought he was just busy worrying about being caught, but now it was like he was trying to be mysterious. While there was a certain romantic charm to the idea, a small amount of frustration crept in.
It wasn’t like she could go to every single person in the compound and ask them if their name started with a K without looking crazy, not an idea she wanted to promote on her second day at Luna Lodge.
She chuckled. The little game would be satisfying enough for the moment.
She took the flowers and placed them in a little cup. She then placed them on her desk in the classroom.
* * *
It was hard not to smile as she went about her morning work of getting things ready for school. Thanks to her early morning arrival, she had several hours to set up everything she needed to start implementing the new curriculum.
Kyros: #12 (Luna Lodge) Page 3
