Varius: #9 (Luna Lodge)

by Madison Stevens

  Another blow hit her cheek, and this time she let go. Her head spun with the impact, and her stomach lurched.

  “Fucking bitch!” Reverend John screamed. “Did your abomination lover teach you that?”

  Lena slumped to the floor, her eyes not quite able to focus on the man standing over her.

  “We end this now,” he said, his voice just loud enough for her to hear. “You will be cleansed by fire.”

  She heard the click of the lighter. A small flame drifted in and out as she tried to not pass out.

  This was it.

  “No!”

  Two loud cracks rang out in quick succession. Two red spots blossomed against Reverend John’s white shirt. She blinked, her head still trying to catch up with what just happened.

  In an instant, Varius appeared and pulled her close to him. Lena could feel the flames nearby, likely the floor where they had tossed the gas on her.

  “Need to get you out of here,” he grunted.

  Lena placed her hand on his chest and was shocked to find there was blood.

  “You’re hurt,” she said.

  Varius scanned the room and ignored her concern. “I’ll be fine.”

  Then he ran. He grunted as he moved through the church, the impact of something else hitting him. Once outside, he sprinted over to where several police stood.

  “Take her,” he said.

  One of the men had her sit in the grass behind the car. She opened her mouth to say something to Varius, but he ran again, back to the church that was now engulfed in flames.

  Jill and her cameraman stumbled out the front door, and they walked until they not far from her.

  “Tell me you got all that,” Jill said, coughing.

  The cameraman nodded.

  “Good, keep recording.” Jill fluffed her hair with her hands.

  Varius raced through the room. The heat scorched his skin, but he had to help them. There were too many of them that didn’t make it out, people now trapped by the fire.

  He passed by Reverend John’s body, which now lay there consumed by the flames he created, a fitting end.

  This time he wouldn’t pop back up to threaten Luna Lodge or innocent people. Varius found no pity in his heart for the evil man.

  A man lay on the ground coughing. It was one of the men who had been holding Lena. There was a part of Varius that just wanted to leave the man, but burning to death wasn’t a way to go.

  Besides, they need any intel they could get from him. With John dead, they were no closer to identifying his allies. He hoisted the man up over his shoulders and carried him like a sack of potatoes.

  The lectern was nearly engulfed in flames, but a file there sat nearly untouched. Varius shifted his weight and tucked the file inside his vest.

  He rushed outside. The building was starting to creak now. It wouldn’t be long.

  Running out of time, he tossed the man as carefully as he could a safe distance. He knew the sheriff was still in the church somewhere.

  The man had his back when the gunfire broke out. If it weren’t for him, there was no way he would have been able to get Lena out of there safely.

  “Sam!” he shouted.

  He heard someone cough from under a few pews.

  Varius tossed them out of the way. He found the sheriff underneath, blood pooled beneath his thigh.

  “You save her?” Sam said.

  Varius gave a nod and helped the man to his feet.

  “You’re a damned fool,” Sam said and coughed loudly. He covered his mouth and nose with his arm.

  “A damned fool that’s about to save your ass,” he said with a smile.

  Sam grimaced as he walked. “Well, I think you better hurry.”

  The church gave a deep groan. A rafter nearby crashed to the ground. He could see the roof weaken. A bit longer and the whole thing would come crashing down.

  Varius pushed them to the door. His own wounds burned as he did so.

  Nearly five feet from the door, he felt it. The ground shook and with one final leap, they sailed through the open door as the building crashed behind them.

  He rolled over onto his back. It was hard to breathe. Pain spiked through his chest. The bullet that he had taken in the chest must have hit his lung.

  A small hand pressed against his cheek. Varius turned his head to find Lena there beside him.

  “You’re going to be just fine,” she said. Soot streaked tears streamed down her face as she spoke. “You shouldn’t have come! It was too dangerous!”

  Varius smiled up at her. She was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. Angry and worried, crying over him. Being loved by such a wonderful person was more than he could have ever hoped for.

  “I will always come for you,” he said. Each word and breath was a struggle. He didn’t have much longer. He could feel it. “You are my love.”

  The world faded around him until her voice was the only thing left.

  “Just hold on.”

  It sounded as if he were underwater, her voice the only thing getting through to him.

  “Fight damn it!”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Breathing hurt. His lungs burned a little as he sucked in more air.

  Varius cracked open his eyes. The bland panel ceiling didn’t really tell him much, but the beeping certainly did.

  He turned his head to the side a bit and found just the slight movement made his whole right side ache.

  The first thing the noticed was the soft chestnut hair spread out next to his hand. Lena slumbered, head resting against the bed as she slept.

  He moved his hand a little and found hers wrapped tightly around his.

  Her eyes blinked open a few times before she really focused in on him. She sat up and stared at him in awe.

  “You’re awake,” she whispered.

  He moved a little but stopped when she placed a hand on his shoulder.

  “Don’t move,” she said sternly.

  He chucked and felt the tug of the muscles on his back.

  “How long have I been out?” he asked.

  Lena scooted forward in the chair she had been sitting in.

  “A week,” she said quietly. “It was touch and go for the first few days. Rachel had to operate to remove the blood in your lung, extract the bullet and sew up the hole. Plus, you’d inhaled a bunch of smoke, and…” She sighed.

  Varius stared at her as if she were speaking a different language.

  A week? How the hell had he been out a whole damn week?

  “After that we had to sedate you so your lung would have time to heal. Luckily the bullet you took in the back didn’t hit anything. Rachel thinks it might have gone through someone else before it hit you.”

  “Sedate?” This was all starting to sound like a massive joke.

  Lena nodded. “Your blood pressure kept bottoming out. You would wake up and try to move. It was the only thing we could think of.”

  He didn’t remember any of that. The last thing he remembered was lying on the ground dying.

  When he looked back over to Lena, she was shaking.

  “You can’t do that,” she said. “Tell someone you love them and then try to die.”

  “I wasn’t really trying—”

  She pressed her lips together and pointed a finger at him.

  “Next time you try to die you better be sure to let me have a say as well,” she said.

  He tried not to laugh at the ridiculousness of her statement. It wasn’t exactly like he wanted that to be the end, but when he looked into her eyes, he saw the worry that had been building up the last week.

  “What would you have said?” he prodded her. “What would you have said before I tried to die?”

  She huffed loudly. “I would have told you not to, obviously.”

  He chuckled again and groaned at the strain it caused.

  Lena leaned over him to check on the wound. Having her close enough that he could smell her soft tropical scent made him feel like he was
home. Varius reached up and stilled her hand against his chest. She turned her pretty doe eyes to him.

  “Is that all?” he said, his voice husky with want.

  “I love you,” she whispered. “I love you more than I ever thought possible to love another person. When Rachel and Paige explained the whole Vestal thing, I thought they had lost their minds, but the more I thought about it, the more I knew. You were the other half me. Two parts that make a whole.”

  She carefully brought her lips to his. The kiss was soft and perfect in every way. Varius pulled back to look at her. His woman. He opened his mouth to tell her everything he’d held in his heart until then but stopped when the door to the room opened.

  “Oh, good, Sleeping Beauty decided to wake up with a kiss.”

  Rachel grinned at them both as she stepped into the room, Titus close behind.

  “You know it took a horse tranq to knock your ass out. Thought we were going to have order some elephant tranquilizers.”

  Varius frowned. He didn’t much like the idea of them knocking him out.

  Lena walked over to Rachel, and they conferred over his charts.

  Titus stepped up to his side of the bed and patted him on the shoulder. Varius winced at the jarring movement.

  “Glad to see you awake,” Titus said and sat in the chair Lena had been in. “Thought we might lose you for a bit.”

  “So I hear,” Varius said. His eyes drifted over to Lena and lingered.

  “Well, the footage from the whole thing is all over the news.”

  Varius clenched his hands. “Jill Hope.”

  Titus shook his head. “Actually, Jill sent us everything she had on us and even a few leads. I think you have a new fan with her, especially after your dramatic rescue of the sheriff and Lena, and even John’s man.”

  Varius raised a brow. “So we’re all friends now?”

  Titus laughed. “Not a chance, but it doesn’t hurt to have a little media on our side. Especially now.”

  Varius frowned. “Especially now?”

  “Everyone is talking about it. You shooting Reverend John. And although the police have ruled it justified, some of the public doesn’t see it that way.”

  Varius shook his head. “How could they see it any other way?”

  Titus shrugged. “Some have been waiting for a moment like this. There is talk from all sides to get a new military presence back within the walls.”

  Varius sighed and leaned his head back on the pillow.

  “After everything that happened before, they think that’s a good idea?”

  “They are either trying to protect us or protect the public. Reverend John’s message spoke to some people.”

  Varius glanced back over to Lena as she filled the vase of flowers with water.

  “From you?” he said and smiled at her.

  Lena shook her head. “Sheriff Sam. He’s called several times. They released him the next day. The bullet that hit his leg missed anything really important, it seems. He’s been real anxious for you to wake up.”

  As if it just struck him, Varius sat up a little in bed. “Your parents?”

  Lena placed a hand on him to force him back against the bed. “Fine.” She smiled. “Mom wanted to know when you were awake so she could bring you your own pineapple upside down cake.”

  Varius smiled, glad that they still wanted him around.

  He looked back over to Titus as he stood from the chair.

  “Right now you focus on getting better. When you’re out, come see me. I’m working with the sheriff on something that I’d like you to oversee. Also, we’re looking into that file you recovered, but that can wait until you’re better.”

  “Did you get anything out of John’s man?”

  “We weren’t exactly allowed to interrogate any of John’s people, but from what the police say, it seems like John was the brains of the operation and the only one who really knew anything.”

  “Do they know about the file?”

  “Let’s just say I didn’t mention it, and it seems like Jill Hope’s cameraman didn’t catch you grabbing that file.” Titus nodded over to Lena. “Your new position might put you in a position to be near her parents.”

  Varius looked over to Lena, who seemed to just be hearing about this for the first time as well.

  “We’ll talk more later,” Titus said and nodded to Lena. “Make sure he heals up before he tries to go play hero again.”

  Lena pinned Varius with a stare. “You can count on it.”

  He watched as his leader gave a laugh and strolled out the door.

  Rachel came over to his side of the bed and turned on an IV drip. The pain vanished almost instantly. “Thank you for finishing Reverend John,” she said quietly. “In part I wanted to see him tried for his crimes, but if he had to be taken out, I’m glad you were the one to do it. That son of a bitch hurt a lot of people.”

  Varius nodded. Rachel had also suffered at the hands of Reverend John. She was entitled to some peace. They all were.

  She patted him on the arm lightly and walked out the door, shutting it behind her.

  Lena came back to her chair next to him. Varius patted the bed and moved over slightly.

  She shook her head. “That’s not a good idea. You just woke up.”

  Varius frowned and closed his eyes so the room would stop spinning, the drugs fully taking effect now.

  “Exactly. I just woke up, and all I want is to hold the woman I love.”

  She huffed loudly. He smiled when he felt the bed dip as she climbed on next to him.

  “You know you don’t fight fair,” she said softly as she laid her head against the non-injured side of his chest.

  Varius wrapped his arm around her and inhaled deeply, glad to have the sweet smell of home surround him.

  “Never,” he said. “I will never fight fair when it comes to you.”

  A Note from Madison

  Thank you for reading Varius. If you enjoyed this book, please consider reviewing it. We authors live and die by reviews.

  Please keep an eye out for the next book in the series, Servius.

  You can join my mailing list at http://eepurl.com/OX9r5

  ALSO BY MADISON STEVENS

  Allen Securities (Romantic Suspense)

  Reed (Allen Securities #1)

  Kace (Allen Securities #2)

  Liam (Allen Securities #3)

  Ryder (Allen Securities #4)

  Cage (Allen Securities #5)

  Mason (Allen Securities #6)

  Kelly Clan (Romantic Suspense)

  Finn (Kelly Clan #1)

  Conor (Kelly Clan #2)

  Noel (Kelly Clan #3)

  Luna Lodge (Paranormal Romance)

  Sol (Luna Lodge #1)

  Titus (Luna Lodge #2)

  Lucius (Luna Lodge #3)

  Marius (Luna Lodge #4)

  Apollo (Luna Lodge #5)

  Apollo and Val (Luna Lodge #5.5)

  Remus (Luna Lodge #6)

  Justus (Luna Lodge #7)

  Zeno (Luna Lodge #8)

  Luna Lodge: Hunters of Atlas

  Magnus (Hunters #1)

  Nero (Hunters #2)

  Lucas (Hunters #3)

  Shadow Series

  Shadow’s Embrace (Paranormal Romance)

  Special Forces (Romantic Suspense)

  Trent (Special Forces #1)

  Road House (Contemporary Short Stories)

  Letting Go (Road House #1)

  Holding On (Road House #2)

  Standing By (Road House #3)

  Privileged (New Adult Romance)

  Privileged (Privileged #1)

  Elite (Privileged #2)

  Author Bio

  Madison currently lives with her husband and two children in the Valley of the Sun in Arizona. After leaving the frozen tundra of the north, she was more surprised than anyone with how much she has enjoyed living in the desert. Seeing as she stated on more than one occasion before moving to Arizona how much she hated heat,
it was an odd move, but it seems her hatred for sub-zero temperatures and ice has won out in the end.

  When she’s not writing, she’s enjoying time with her family. Madison and her family frequent festivals in the area, as well as local cultural events, and spend time with family in the area. In the summer, she is most likely to be found in the pool with the family and in the winter by the fireplace. Since both her children are autistic, days can be a little chaotic, but with her husband beside her, there’s nothing she can’t handle.

  Her webpage is http://madisonstevensauthor.com/

  She can be contacted at madisonstevensauthor@gmail.com