Sergius: #4 (Luna Lodge: Hunters of Atlas)

by Stevens,Madison

  The tension eased from the room as people turned their questions to those of the goings on of the compound. Complaints about chickens, wood for the winter, or even their meat rations.

  He was glad for the shift. The more they let Jade adjust to her new life, the more they would come to like her. He was just sure of it.

  He stayed quiet as people in the room spoke about their issues and dilemmas. He had no issues really. Or at least none he chose to speak aloud. Soon the number of speakers dwindled. There were fewer questions. The meeting was all but over.

  Rem caught his eye again and nodded to him. After the meeting they needed to talk.

  Sergius stepped over to the side of the wall as the people in the room filtered out once again. He was glad to see them go. Although they were his people, there were times he wished they weren’t, especially when they were being as close-minded like the woman who’d spoken out against Jade.

  When it was just he and Rem left in the room, Sergius stepped over toward the other man.

  “They will get used to her,” Rem said. “The tensions with the Azilians just have people scared.”

  Sergius shook his head. He hoped that was true.

  “They may,” Sergius said. “But it won’t be anytime soon.”

  They both knew their people could be stubborn in many ways and at times somewhat old-fashioned.

  “Watch her,” Rem said. “This is all new to her. And she isn’t receiving the warmest of welcomes.”

  “Always,” Sergius said. “I will always watch her.”

  Rem stared at him for a moment. He didn’t need to hide his feelings for Jade. Rem had been there at one point, experienced the same longing, and he’d had to fight to get his Vestal.

  Rem clapped Sergius on the shoulder and gave him a warm smile.

  “Don’t just watch her,” Rem said. “She needs to know. You need to show her.”

  Sergius nearly laughed. He could barely get close to her, let alone show her his feelings. No, he would do things his way. He would wait, and when she was ready, she would come to him.

  Jace stepped into the room. The younger man reminded him of himself, not that he could remember his younger self, but if he could, Sergius was sure that Jace would be the spitting image.

  He quickly walked over to Rem.

  “Magnus said to report,” Jace said. “Still no movement from the Azilians.”

  Rem scraped a hand along his face. It had been two weeks since they had rescued Jade, and there was nothing. No movement whatsoever. All the trucks that had been coming in previously were at a standstill.

  They had not even seen the van of women traveling to the shed leading to the area where they knew the blue stone was being kept. It was as if the Azilians had gone into hiding.

  It seemed like such a strange thought, that they would even need to go into hiding, given the power of the stone. But something was happening behind the walls of the Azilian compound.

  Rem looked over to Sergius, who really had no help for him. Then he looked back over to Jace.

  “Keep making reports. We know they’re up to something. The question is what.”

  Jace nodded, his orders clear.

  “Who’s on watch now?” Rem asked.

  Jace grimaced for a moment. Sergius could take a guess at who was on watch.

  “Marcus.”

  Despite how reckless the young hybrid was, he was still one of the best for watch patrols. He took his duty damn seriously.

  Plus, having him at the line meant he wasn’t there for the meeting, and Sergius was glad for that. Marcus had been known to express his dislike for humans in general, despite the fact that a certain coffee shop owner in town seemed to have caught his eye.

  Not that Marcus would ever admit that.

  “Ask Magnus to speak to Lara about things in town. Someone has to know something.”

  Jace nodded and turned to exit the room.

  Sergius watched the young man leave and then turned to Rem.

  “And what will we do if we do find something?”

  Rem was up to something. Sergius had become used to the fact that their fearless leader always seemed to have a backup plan, one he liked to keep to himself until they needed to use it.

  “Right now we deal with what is in front of us.” Rem glanced out the window across to where Jade’s cabin stood. Sergius followed his line of sight. He turned back to Sergius and gave a small smile. “I think that’s all we can do for now.”

  Chapter Three

  The entire situation was stupid. Jade didn’t even know why she was waiting outside the meeting house. It wasn’t going to make much difference in the grand scheme of things.

  But she still couldn’t stop herself from wanting to know what was being said about her inside the secretive place. She couldn’t imagine it was that good, given what they were saying where she could hear them.

  This spot, she’d found, was the best to pick up bits of what was happening. They may have blocked her from the meeting, but it wasn’t stopping her from learning about it later.

  Her future was on the line. She deserved to know what might be coming her way.

  Jade hid behind a tree. It didn’t block her from anyone as they passed by, but she felt protected by the branches.

  A few hybrids glanced her way. Their keen senses were able to pick up exactly where she was. Something she had come to find could be both helpful and an annoyance.

  She moved farther behind the tree so she didn’t have to see them as they passed. The hybrids moved on, uninterested in her for the time being.

  Aside from Dea, the one woman who seemed to target all her hate at Jade, most of the hybrids had been fairly nice. They were standoffish and aloof, but so was she. Jade assumed they were reflecting her own behavior.

  Still, it was hard to trust people who had fairly consistently over the past few weeks met to talk about her.

  She peeked out from behind the tree and watched as Sergius stood in the door, watching over people as they left. His large frame took up most of the space. It was hard not to focus on him when he stood there looking amazing.

  A flash of white erupted from behind her eyes. She felt her body floating as warmth swept over her. The sensation was like floating in a giant bath.

  The world slowly around her came back into a sort of hazy focus. The edges of her vision rippled like she was staring at the whole thing through clear gelatin or a pool of water.

  Everything was just as it had been before the light. She was standing in front of the meeting house waiting to hear something. Sergius was standing in the doorframe, watching over people and waiting for Rem to stand next to him.

  She watched, frozen in place, as he stepped forward. Something pulled at her, and she couldn’t really understand the sensation. Like what he was about to do was wrong, but all he was doing was going down the stairs.

  His large boot hit the first step, and a loud crack echoed through the air. She watched as his foot fell through the wood in seeming slow motion. He cried out in pain, and she could see by the way he was holding himself that the fall had badly hurt him.

  Jade lurched forward and found her feet were glued to the spot she was in. She wanted to go to him, to offer some sort of comfort for his pain.

  Nothing she did would allow her to move from where she stood. She opened her mouth to call out to him, but then the world shifted again.

  The edges of her vision blurred. Everything shifted back into focus. Only now Sergius was still standing at the top of the stairs and not injured in any way.

  She leaned hard against the tree as the waves of nausea and dizziness swept over her.

  Rem appeared next to Sergius, and she just knew what would happen next.

  Jade ran despite the wobble in her legs and the pounding in her head. She had to do something. Anything.

  “Wait,” she shouted. “Don’t step down!”

  Sergius glanced around quickly, scanning for whatever the threat might be. He looked b
ack to her, and she knew he must think she was crazy. It didn’t matter what he thought, as long as he didn’t take that step.

  “What are you—”

  “You just have to trust me,” she said, holding up her hands.

  Rem opened the other side of the double doors. He looked down to the second step in front of Sergius and then back to her, before nodding to him.

  Sergius blinked and then held onto the banister as he tested the step below. The wood gave way with a loud crack just like she had heard in her vision.

  He brought his bright blue eyes back to where she stood. She looked down quickly. The danger now averted, her body very near collapsing, she didn’t want to see the disgust in his eyes. This only proved what all those people thought. She was a freak.

  Sergius was confused. How did she know about the step? Maybe she had seen the weakness. It was possible, although he wasn’t sure he really believed that.

  “That was a good call,” Rem said to her.

  Jade looked anywhere but at either of them, fidgeting and nervous. Why would she be so concerned about stopping them from getting hurt?

  She shook her head. “It was nothing really.”

  He watched as Rem took her in for a moment, as if he were seeing everything she was trying to hide like she was an open book.

  “I think if something like this happens again,” Rem said, his tone reassuring. “You should come to me to discuss it.”

  People started gathering around them. Some whispered about what had just happened. Jade glanced among them, fidgeting even more than she had been before.

  Sergius looked over to Rem, who seemed undisturbed by the number of people who had seen what it happened. If they hadn’t been saying witch before, they certainly would be after this little incident.

  Rem looked over to him. “Help her home. And make sure she gets there safely.”

  With the last statement, Rem looked back to the crowd of people who had gathered, a stern expression on his face.

  Sergius recognized the look as a warning to anyone that might think about messing with her. Although Rem might be somewhat easy-going, he wasn’t one to be crossed. By anyone.

  Jade watched the people around her move back towards their lives.

  “Did you see that?” a woman whispered. “She knew what was going to happen before it happened.”

  “How?” another man whispered.

  “Do you think she set a trap? Maybe she felt bad. Even spies can get an attack of conscience.”

  The man shook his head. “You heard what was said in the meeting. She knew. Just like she always knows.”

  Similar conversations occurred among the other people as they walked away.

  Not only was the whole thing strange, she had no explanations for any of it.

  Sure, she was good at guessing a few things here and there lately, but she assumed that was just because she’d gotten better at picking up on small details during her time with the Azilians and could apply it in a less strange, well, relatively less strange anyway, environment.

  She was just applying that skill. That had to be the explanation. She certainly never had some sort of weird predictive daydream before.

  Sergius stepped easily over the broken step and was now standing next to her. Everyone else had moved on.

  “I’m fine,” she said, avoiding looking at him.

  Sergius moved close to her. His warmth settled over her.

  “Either way I’d still like to make sure you get home safely,” he said.

  “No, really,” she said and turned to step away. She didn’t want his help. It was bad enough she’d rushed forward to save him from a step that she had seen break in some sort of vision. It was crazy, and the whole thing made her feel crazy. No wonder no one trusted her.

  She took a step but swayed and stumbled forward.

  Strong arms wrapped around her body as Sergius pulled her against him easily. She breathed heavily against the solid chest that now held her cushioned against him. Jade looked up and found his piercing blue eyes staring back at her.

  She opened her mouth to say something, anything, but the words didn’t come. Instead she felt her world sway slightly again.

  “You don’t seem to be fine,” he said softly to her.

  She took in a deep, shaky breath as his scent surrounded her. The smell of aftershave and fresh grass set her body at ease and gave her an odd sense of comfort that she’d never known.

  “I’m fine,” she said again.

  Her words were much softer now.

  Sergius chuckled. “Lord, you are stubborn.” His voice was gruff, but she could hear the smile in his tone.

  He lifted her into his arms, comfort settling over her just before her body went limp and blackness surrounded her.

  Chapter Four

  Sergius couldn’t help but stare at the beautiful woman who had captivated him for the past two weeks. Now suddenly there she was, laying on his couch like it was totally normal. It was hard for him to focus on anything else, but he pulled his eyes away from her to concentrate on his cooking.

  He returned to stirring the pot of macaroni on the stove. The water boiled, and steam from the pot filled the air. It wasn’t going to be a great meal, but it was better than nothing he supposed. And unlike some of the other hybrids, he had never learned to do much cooking on his own, so this was about as good as it got for him.

  The thought had crossed his mind more than once that maybe he should have just brought Jade back to her own house. In the end he couldn’t bear to part from her. Having her limp in his arms like that had called to the primal side of him, the side that wanted to protect her and keep her safe.

  There also was the question of what he’d witnessed. He still wasn’t completely sure, but after the comments in the meeting, he couldn’t just ignore the truth.

  Something was happening with Jade. Everyone knew it, and even she seemed to know it, given how cagey she’d acted.

  Whatever it was, he couldn’t seem to protect her from, and that thought really frightened him. This wasn’t something he would voice out loud, but he felt the fear deep inside, fear that he would lose the one thing that meant the most to him. She was his chance at finding true happiness.

  He stirred the pasta, as he reminded himself not to force things. Just because they were meant to be together didn’t mean he couldn’t scare her off.

  Jade stirred on the couch. She moaned softly and turned on her side.

  He watched her, not certain if he should step over to where she was. He turned off the heat on the stove and let the pot sit.

  A quick trip to a cabinet netted him some pain killers. He filled a glass with water and then made his way toward Jade.

  His pace was deliberate and cautious. He didn’t want to scare her when she opened her eyes. Having a huge man standing directly over her would probably be shock enough.

  She tossed her arm over her eyes. Her face was far paler than it normally was, which made her lips stand out against her snow white skin.

  Jade moaned softly. Sergius knelt beside her. He tapped her on the arm gently. She pulled back her hand and peeked through her fingers at him. The pain in her head was visible in the tortured expression on her face.

  He held out some pills and glass of water.

  “These will help,” he said.

  Jade stared at the blue pills in his hand and then back at him. She reached out and took the pills from his hand, popping them into her mouth, before following them with a sip from the glass of water.

  “Thank you,” she said quietly.

  Her voice shook slightly as she spoke, and he knew that the toll of what happened earlier was still weighing on her.

  She slowly sat up on the couch. Sergius stepped back to give her some room to move. He watched as she stretched a little and tried to find her bearings.

  “Where am I?” she asked as she looked around the room.

  Sergius turned his back on her and walked back into the kitchen, his hear
t racing. For some reason, having her look at his space made him nervous as hell. It wasn’t like he expected her not to like the place, but he just hoped she did.

  “My house,” he said.

  He pulled the pot of now done noodles off the stove and drained the water into the sink.

  Sergius could hear her moving behind him on the couch but didn’t dare turn around until he was able to calm himself some.

  He set the pan of noodles back on the stove and squeezed the cheese packet in with the hot noodles. Slowly, he stirred the pot.

  She moved directly behind him, and he sensed her before she even spoke. A warm, sweet scent filled the air around him the closer she moved in.

  “Macaroni?” she said.

  Sergius chuckled. He could hear the question in her voice.

  He glanced over his shoulder to her and gave a small smile.

  “It’s about all I can make,” he said. “But I’ve gotten to be pretty good at making it.”

  She laughed softly, and he realized it was the first time he had heard her laugh since coming to their community. The sound of it filled him with warmth. He was so surprised he nearly dropped the pan.

  “Can I help with anything?” she asked.

  “The cabinet to the left,” he said, nodding to the cabinet next to him. “If you want to get bowls out, I’ll dish us some dinner.”

  Jade walked over to the cabinet and pulled out two mismatched bowls. Unlike several of the other hybrids, he hadn’t really cared what he’d purchased. They were an oddball set that he picked up at the local market in town, and it never really bothered him until that moment.

  He took the macaroni and placed it in the bowl. It was late evening at this point, and the smell made his stomach rumble. He glanced over to her to see if she had heard. She gave a knowing smile.

  “A big guy like you must be hungry.”

  Her words filled him with warmth. Somehow being called big by her made him glad that he was large. Usually that was the thing that kept the others away, but his size didn’t seem to be a problem for her.

  They grabbed their bowls and brought them over to the couch where they sat down quietly. The two quietly ate their food, and he watched her from the corner of his eye.