Her ears perked up. Fights about women were always interesting to her. The male ego was always a fascinating little spectacle.
“Then don’t get involved,” another man said.
“She doesn’t mean anything,” the first man roared.
“What the fuck is going on around here?” Titus yelled from behind her. “We’re on goddamn lockdown for a reason. Why the fuck has discipline fallen apart lately?”
Rachel struggled to keep a hold of the coffee mug in her hand.
The men slowly turned to look their way and parted to reveal the culprits.
Long forgotten, the coffee mug slipped from her hand and splattered on the ground.
Marius, the last person she would have ever have suspected, stood between Apollo and Varius. Covered in blood and dirt, the three looked like they had been spending most of their time rolling around on the ground than exchanging punches. Still, the presence of more than a few wounds indicated they'd each managed to get in some good blows.
Her eyes clouded with tears. Titus put his hand on her shoulder. It seemed like even he felt a bit sorry for her.
“Rachel?” Marius struggled to get out.
She turned and walked away, as fast as she could without running. She didn’t need to have super-hearing to know he had tried to call after her and that Titus had stopped him. She also didn’t need to have a second guess at who the unimportant person was.
Rachel kept walking all the way until she reached the clinic's double doors. She flung the doors open and made her way down the hall to her patients. Hannah was sitting up in her bed and gave a little wave when she saw Rachel in the window. Lucius was sleeping soundly in the bed next to her, but Hannah waved her in.
Trying not to make much noise, she made her way through the room and knelt down beside the bed. Hannah was sick. The man she cared for was an ass, and her dream job was slipping through her fingers. If this didn’t deserve a good cry, she didn’t know what did.
She buried her head in the covers and let all the tears she’d been holding onto out.
* * *
“Just what the fuck were you three thinking?” Titus yelled from his desk. “I’m trying to keep order, and you three are fighting?” He punctuated his sentence with a loud slap of his hand against the wood of his desk.
Marius stared at the door. This wasn’t where he wanted to be. He had to get out of here to go fix the situation with Rachel. He hadn't meant what he said. Well, he had, but the words hadn't come out the way he intended. All he needed was to get to her. She had been so hurt. Seeing her face had nearly torn him in half, much more than he ever expected to feel.
“And you,” Titus said, pulling Marius from his thoughts. “You of all people should know better. The situation we’ve got is serious, and we need to have all the men on the same page. How the hell am I supposed to do that now?”
Marius stared at him and then looked away. He really didn’t have any idea.
“This is a big goddamn mess,” Titus said and slammed into his seat.
Jenna stepped into the room and slid some papers onto the desk. Marius eyed her suspiciously and watched as she exited the room.
“Now someone better tell me how this fucking started,” Titus said. His voice was a little more calm, and Marius noticed that he didn’t bother to look at him as he spoke. Instead, Titus had assumed that Apollo and Varius were totally to blame. That only pissed Marius off further.
“Uh,” Apollo began, running a hand through his hair. He glanced at Varius.
“You see,” Varius started. He shrugged.
As Apollo and Varius struggled to explain, Titus went back to looking at the papers he’d picked up from the desk.
“I had to prove a point,” Marius said, breaking in.
Titus set down the papers to stare in disbelief at him. Apollo and Varius both looked at him, surprise on their features.
“People keep discounting me as a part of this team because I work with the numbers side,” he said. “I trained the same way as the rest of these men, and I’m just as strong.” He glanced over at Apollo and Varius. “Maybe stronger.” He grinned when the two snorted. “I needed to prove this. I'm not going to take the disrespect anymore.”
Titus set the papers face down on the desk, and he scrubbed a hand over his face.
“You mean to tell me this was a fucking pissing contest?” he asked.
“Yes,” Marius said simply.
“And did you win?” Titus said.
Marius stared at him. He knew what he was asking. They all did. The signal she was sending out was clear as day. It might as well have been a big sign with his name on it.
“No,” he said slowly.
Titus nodded. “I thought so. Well, it’s a good thing in the end. She wasn’t lying about her credentials. She’s the best out there.”
Marius shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. She doesn’t want to stay.”
“Are you dense?” Varius said. “Give her a reason.”
“But the men,” Marius said.
“The men are stubborn and can be dicks,” Titus said. “Give them time. Give us all time. Maybe we’ve been a bit unfair with her.”
Marius nodded.
He didn’t really know what to make of it.
He turned to Apollo. The other hybrid lacked his normal easy-going manner. His narrowed eyes and tense posture made it clear there would still be issues with some of the men.
“If you’re looking for the all clear from me, it’s not going to happen,” Apollo said. “Times are different. The Group probably hasn't completely wiped us out because it'd expose them too much. We can’t trust people.”
Marius shook his head. He didn’t want to be that way.
“Are you going to be trouble for us?” he asked.
Apollo stared at him for a moment. “Not unless she gives me a reason.”
Marius nodded. “Fair enough.”
He turned to Titus, who held up his hands. “You have enough troubles without my adding to them. Just no more fighting. We can't have this shit, especially right now.”
Marius nodded.
“Can we get off all this mush bullshit and get to real problems?” Apollo said from beside him.
Marius ached to race out of the room, but he was right, the investigation had to come first.
* * *
After a good cry and a cup of coffee, Rachel was feeling much better. She’d spent some time with Hannah, and although they hadn’t talked specifically about what happened, Hannah seemed to understand things perfectly. Men. Hybrid or regular, all damned assholes.
She looked up from the data sheet she had been looking at yesterday. Damn data sheet, starting all the problems and giving her hope for something that just wasn’t going to happen. Rachel tossed it back on the desk and got ready for her time to review papers with Rem. She kept glancing at the door thinking, partially hoping, Marius would show up, but he hadn’t, and in the end, it was really best that he didn’t. After this morning, she didn’t know if she could hold it together.
Rachel stood and made her way into the hall. She was glad she didn’t have to face down Varius this time since he was one of the men Marius had been fighting. It was clear it had been about her, and it was also clear it hadn’t been nice.
Zeno stepped to the side and held the door. She slipped in and found Rem on his cot in thought.
“Bad time?” she asked.
He offered her a sort of sad smile and shook his head. It reminded her that she wasn’t the only one with problems. At least she wasn’t imprisoned.
“No,” he said and scooted over. “Just thinking.”
“Anything good?” she asked and sat down next to him.
He shook his head. “Afraid not,” he said. “Seeing the future and knowing what it means.”
Rachel frowned.
“They can’t keep you in here forever,” she said. “I won’t allow it.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.”
&nbs
p; Rachel nodded. She could understand. They all felt that way from the records they had read. When the hybrids’ facility was raided, they were all scared to go outside. In the end, they had still chosen to enclose themselves at the lodge. For all of their macho bravado, they had a powerful enemy that had no problem killing them or subjecting them to inhumane experiments.
She patted his leg. “You’ll be fine,” she said. “You’ve got us.”
Rachel offered the most reassuring smile she could muster.
Rem stared at her for a long moment before laughing.
“Does that actually work?” he asked.
She frowned. “No.”
He laughed even harder.
“Next time you do that, try saying it in front of a mirror,” he said between laughs. “The face you make is priceless. You can’t fake anything.”
She wrinkled her nose and then smiled. In the end, it was actually a nice thing to not be able to fake something she thought.
He picked up a research journal.
“You know,” he said as they settled into their reading. “People think a lot of things about me, but none of that matters.”
Rachel looked over at him and his piercing green eyes. It was as if he were staring right into her.
“You keep being you.” He nodded. “They are lucky to have you. They’ll see it soon. If not, they are even more foolish than I thought.”
Rachel nodded and settled in with her book. As strange as it was, knowing he saw that in her made her feel special.
Chapter Eleven
Rachel jumped awake as something swept across her face. It was the second occurrence, and this time she was sure it wasn’t the fan blowing her hair. Her body ached a little as she moved out of the odd position she was in on the couch and looked around the room. The moment her eyes met his, she could feel her heart start to thump wildly in her chest.
“Get enough sleep?” Marius asked from beside her.
She tried to put more space between them, but her back bumped the edge of the couch and pressed painfully into her side.
“Shit,” she said and started to gather her things. All she had wanted to do was get in a little more reading downstairs. It was her space after all. Hell, she had been here first. But of course it couldn’t go like she planned.
“Shit, shit, shit,” she mumbled, more in panic than anything else.
“Rachel,” Marius said quietly.
She ignored him. Maybe if she just pretended like he wasn’t there, he would just disappear. Rachel continued to stack the pages that had spilled from her lap onto the floor back onto the table.
“Rachel, please,” he said and placed a hand onto hers to still her.
She stopped to look at him. This was not fair. There was no way in hell that this was fair. Not after what he had said in front of everyone.
“You don’t get to do this,” she said, shaking. It was taking every last ounce of self-control to keep it all in. “You don’t get to humiliate me like this and then have it be okay. It’s not, Marius.”
She pulled her hands from him and turned her back to him, just in case she started to cry.
“Just, please.” His hand came back to her shoulder. He didn’t pull. Instead, he just rested it there. “Please listen.”
She sat, Not quite certain. There was a part that wanted to get up and walk away. That wanted her to go upstairs, run a bath and say to hell with this whole damn thing. But her heart thumped at the thought she might be wrong. What if? It was such a big question for so few letters.
Rachel took a deep breath and turned around.
He sat, just as anxious as she was, and it made her even more nervous.
“I am a dick,” he said.
She blinked. Whatever she thought he was going to say, it certainly wasn’t that. Before she could stop herself, a laugh escaped.
Marius frowned.
She held up a hand to stop him from going on.
“Of all the lines, that’s the one you want to lead with?” she laughed.
Her laughter was cut short as his lips covered hers. Marius kissed her. His tongue delved deeply into her mouth, and she sighed against him, forgetting the previous problem. When he pulled back, she stared into his eyes, slightly dazed.
“I wanted to lead with that, but I thought you might hit me,” he said, his voice still husky from their intimacy.
She smiled and nodded. “I would have.”
Marius frowned. “And now?”
Rachel shrugged. “Verdict’s still out. Depends on what you say.”
He nodded and pulled back a bit. She smiled when he pulled her hand into his and rubbed her fingers between his own.
“Today was…” He sighed, and she almost felt sorry for him. Almost. He looked up at her from her hand. “I smell him on you.”
Rachel frowned. “What?”
“Rem,” he said. His hand tightened. “Do you have feelings for him?”
Rachel laughed. “For Rem?”
He waited, but the urge to laugh overwhelmed her. This was the most insane apology she had ever received.
“You know,” she stood and slipped had hand out of his, “I think I should just go to bed. It’s been a long day, and I—”
She stopped at the loud footsteps on the porch.
Marius tensed, and she knew that with that many feet, it couldn’t be good.
“Maybe going to bed is a good idea,” he said.
Rachel crossed her arms. “Do I look stupid?”
Marius shook his head and stood in front of her. He placed his hands on her shoulders, and she was reminded just how tall he was.
“No,” he said slowly. “You look anything but stupid. But I need to deal with this, and I know you’re mad at me right now, but I’ve got to make sure you’re safe.” He slid his hands down to her hands and brought them to his mouth. He kissed one palm, and she shivered at the intimate action. “Please, Rachel, go upstairs and don’t come down. No matter what you hear.”
Worry kicked in. Something could happen to him, and it would be because of her. This wasn’t a game. This was serious.
She nodded and pulled her hands from his. A knock came from the door, and her heart thumped in time with it. Marius pushed her toward the stairs and went to face whatever was beyond the door.
Marius knew. It was only a matter of time before someone decided to do something about Rachel. Tensions had been high since Doctor Fisher had betrayed them, and they had been itching to find someone to blame. She was good enough.
He turned and waved for her to finish making her way up the stairs. If they saw her, it would be all over. There would be no hope of getting them under control. All he hoped was that he could fight off anyone that tried to make it in. He pitied them if they did because he didn’t know what he would do. At this point he was ready to beat the living shit out of anyone that came between him and the chance for sex, but it wasn’t like he could exactly say that.
He could already hear the mumbling of several of the men outside. It was exactly as he suspected. They wanted her gone, and they didn’t really care if it was accomplished via diplomatic means or not.
Marius opened the door and stepped onto the porch. Ten hybrids stood there. The group was diverse, though several were quite young, including some in their teens.
“What can I do for you?” he asked.
“I think you know what we want,” a young hybrid said.
He wasn’t surprised that one of the younger hybrids spoke first. They tended to be the most outspoken and also seemed to have the most trouble adjusting to things. He didn’t really know why that was, but he wasn’t ready to get bossed around by a kid.
Marius looked at the others in the group. Most had trouble even meeting his eyes.
“Maybe but, if you’re man enough to come here, you should be man enough to fucking say it to my face,” he said.
He stared down at the young hybrid, who gave up and looked to the side.
“She’s a danger to us
,” someone said from the back.
Marius glared at them. “By treating our people? By making sure our women and children are well? Without her, Hannah wouldn’t even be alive. Twice over. You’re ready to toss her over the fence when you should be ready to give her a medal. Ingrates.”
A few men murmured in the crowd, and he knew they had forgotten about how she saved Hannah just a week ago. He could have laughed if it wasn’t so serious.
“You’d say that since she’s your woman.”
His hands clenched in rage. “I’d say that if I was lucky enough to have her as my woman.”
“That’s not what you were saying this morning.” Several men laughed, and he knew they were right.
Marius hung his head. “I did say that, thinking there was no way I’d ever be able to have her in my life.”
The young hybrid wrinkled his nose. “And that’s changed?”
Marius opened his mouth to respond but jumped when the door behind him opened instead.
“Yes,” Rachel said. “That’s changed.”
She threaded her fingers with his and faced down the angry men before her like no one else he’d ever seen.
“I’m not Doctor Fisher,” she said loudly for them all to hear. “I didn’t come here hoping to betray you. This is the job I wanted. Something different. Something challenging and unique. It’s far more than I could have ever guessed, but it’s amazing. I love the work I do. And when you aren’t being difficult, I even love the people.” She smiled at the way they shifted uncomfortably. “But most of all I want to be here with him. Whatever that means, I’m in.”
Marius stared down at her with awe, the most amazing woman ever.
The men stood defiantly for a moment.
Rachel stared them all down.
“Now get the hell out of here,” she said firmly. “I’ve got six hours before I’ve got to be back at the clinic to care for all of your people, unless one of you suddenly has a medical degree and can take on the care. If I can't get this figured out, people are going to die. If you want me gone, wait until I've saved everyone's asses, and then come back here.”
She scanned the crowd, and each hybrid averted his eyes.
Marius (Luna Lodge, #4) Page 10
