Apollo

by Madison Stevens

  Val thought on that. She couldn’t picture it. He seemed to always have a scowl on his face, irritation radiating off him. The thought of him smiling was almost weird for her. She didn’t know if she even wanted to see him smiling genuinely. It would likely involve him standing over someone he’d just kicked the shit out of.

  “What about you?” Val asked. “I’ve seen you with the dark-haired one.”

  Jenna snorted loudly.

  “Rem? No.” Her body language was snappish and almost hostile, but still, there was something sweet that lingered behind all that. Not love but something. “There’s no way that egotistical, smart ass would ever…” Jenna took in a slow breath. “These men aren’t for me. Besides, I’ve got my uncle to care for.”

  Val nodded, although she didn’t really understand. For someone who didn’t want a relationship, Jenna seemed to be spending a lot of time with one man.

  Jenna stood and walked to the kitchen. Val followed. This was the best opportunity for her to get information without looking too suspicious.

  “What about the other men? Do they have women? I met the doctor,” she said slyly. “Is she with Sol?”

  Jenna laughed loudly. Her eyes twinkled, and Val couldn’t help but smile back. For being a mousy little thing, she sure had her moments.

  “Not even close.” Jenna grinned. “Rachel is with Marius. We were all a bit surprised when you were paired to work with Apollo. He’s not really much of a computer guy, and Marius is usually the one they call.”

  Jenna opened up a few cabinets and pulled out some meat from the fridge. Val watched as Jenna started dinner with a sure hand. She quickly chopped onions on the cutting board and then swept them into the hot pan with oil.

  “I kinda got the feeling that Apollo might be on babysitting duty because he was in trouble,” Val said and sat in the chair at the breakfast nook.

  Jenna glanced at her from the corner of her eye. Despite her appearance, she was a woman who noticed details. All Val could hope was that she didn’t notice too many details about her.

  “He is,” she said and sighed. “Sorta. If he could just control himself a bit more.”

  Val frowned. “He’s known for not keeping his hands to himself? I knew it couldn’t be the first time.”

  Jenna turned fully to face her now. A clear expression of shock on her face.

  “He’s harassing you?”

  Val looked to the side. She could already feel the heat as it flamed her face. “I wouldn’t call it harassing,” she mumbled.

  Jenna shook her head and snickered a bit. “No,” she said and turned back to her pan. “I suppose you wouldn’t.”

  Val could feel her neck turning red from the embarrassment. Of course, Jenna hadn’t been talking about him messing with women. His hot temper was the trouble.

  “Well,” Jenna gave a little laugh as she dropped the ground beef into the pan. “At least we know being assigned to you was the right decision.”

  She turned to look at Val and gave a warm smile. “You are just right for him.”

  Val’s stomach did a little flip. Part of her was happy to hear that, but the other half knew that this wasn’t what she was seeking. She opened her mouth to protest but stopped when Jenna suddenly handed her plates.

  “Set the table,” she said quietly. “Rem will be over soon.”

  Val closed her mouth and raised a brow. Jenna turned back to the stove, clearly not wanting to talk about it, but it didn’t stop the felling of anxiousness from coming across.

  Clearly, she wasn’t the only one with secrets.

  * * *

  “You’re late,” Rachel said and shut the door loudly.

  Apollo frowned and glanced up to the clock on the wall.

  “I’m right on time,” he huffed.

  Rachel crossed the office floor and made her way to the other side of the desk.

  “No, you’re about four days late,” she said. The corner of her mouth turned up a little.

  He cringed a little inside. So he hadn’t come. It wasn’t like he wanted to spend a lot of time talking about the damn chip. There wasn’t much he could do. It was stuck, so whatever.

  “It has to come out,” she said and leaned back in her chair.

  “Why?” He knew it sounded more like a pout, but Apollo didn’t care.

  “Because we don’t know what it’s doing in there,” she said and sat back upright. “You are special, and we need to know why.”

  “So I can play guinea pig for you?” he spat out.

  Immediately he regretted the words. She hadn’t done this to him. Rachel had done so much for them, even when he was being a total dick to her. His hand went to the little lump, and he frowned. She didn’t deserve his venom.

  “What do I need to do?” he asked quietly.

  “Talk with Val about this,” she said. “At some point I’m going to have to talk with the others. I’ve held off because it’s a…” She stared directly at him. “It’s a sensitive issue, but we can’t wait forever.”

  He knew this. The longer they waited, the more trouble they would be in. And after everything Rachel had been through, he didn’t want to be the cause of more trouble for her.

  As much as he didn’t want to show weakness, he was going to have to. “Maybe it’s messing with my nose.”

  Rachel frowned and shook her head. “Doubtful with where it’s located,” she said and stared at him for a moment. “Why would you think that?”

  Apollo sighed. She’d find out one way or another.

  “Something is weird about the way Val smells,” he said finally.

  Rachel watched him for a moment and then grinned. “She’s a Vestal then?”

  “Yes,” he said and then shook his head. “No.”

  The smile slid from her face as she watched him.

  “Well, what is it?”

  He looked down at his hands. This was the worst.

  “Both.”

  “I don’t understand,” she said and leaned forward. Apollo looked to her concerned face. “How can she be both?”

  “She can’t,” he sighed. “But her smell changes.”

  “That can’t be,” she said and stood. He watched as she paced the room, thinking. “We ran a full scan,” she mumbled to herself. “There’s no way it could be linked to the other.”

  She stopped and stared at him. “We need to run another scan.”

  He nodded and had suspected as much. Even Sol had mentioned it. Vestals just didn’t work that way, and they all knew it. Unless she was using something. But more and more he suspected that it would be too difficult to actually do that.

  “Maybe we missed it,” she said and sat back at the desk, flipping through the file there. “We’ll do a segmented scan. If it’s there, we’ll see it.”

  He had no clue what that meant, but if she thought it was the best option, then it was.

  “First thing tomorrow,” she said. “And don’t fight me on this.”

  He nodded. Whatever was going on needed to be addressed. Apollo stood to leave but stopped when she called to him. She glanced up from the papers.

  “You know I’ve got to talk with Val about this,” she said and lowered her voice slightly. “About you.”

  Apollo shook his head but stopped when she held up a hand.

  “We’ll just talk about the chips,” she said. “She’s got to know why it’s so important.”

  He didn’t feel much at ease with that answer, but she wasn’t going to take no considering what he had said.

  Apollo nodded.

  There was nothing left to do but prepare himself for hell.

  * * *

  Rem grinned through most of dinner, and this really only seemed to piss Jenna off more. If she didn’t know any better, Val would say they were in some sort of lovers’ quarrel but neither spoke like they were.

  Jenna was easier to read. A ton of irritation with a bit of sexual tension.

  Rem was another story. He was sly, and maybe because
of this, she was never able to get a true reading from him. Still, it wasn’t often she ran into this situation, and it felt weird not knowing. Like walking in the dark.

  “That was such a great dinner,” Rem said. He smiled and leaned back in his chair. A twinkle lit his eye as he watched Jenna clearing the plates, and when he stood to help, Val couldn’t help but be surprised he would offer. Most of the men seemed so full of themselves, but maybe it wasn’t like that for all of them.

  He moved close to the mousy woman, and Jenna quickly scurried around the table. Rem gave a small laugh.

  “Is there chocolate cake?” he asked.

  Jenna turned to look at him and frowned. “No.”

  He turned to Val and winked. “I bet Val would love to have some of your cake.”

  From her seat, she could hear as Jenna slammed around the kitchen. She wasn’t quite sure what sort of game Rem was playing, but she hoped he would quit before Jenna started launching those plates at him.

  Jenna stomped into the dining area and stood right in front of Rem. Anger radiated off of her.

  “I’ve held up my end,” she huffed. “Time for you to go.”

  Rem held his hands in surrender and walked to the door.

  Val didn’t think she could be any more shocked unless Jenna picked him up and gave him the bum’s rush out the door. He paused just inside the frame. One arm up high on the frame, Rem leaned against it. Val had to give him points for perfecting his cool gene.

  “Tomorrow?” he asked. The corner of his mouth twitched as he stared at her.

  Jenna frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m busy.”

  Rem gave a little chuckle and leaned in. “Don’t be like that. I was only teasing.”

  Jenna huffed a little and then turned to Val with a bright smile.

  “How about getting together with all the girls tomorrow evening?” Jenna asked.

  Val looked between Rem, who was now groaning, and Jenna. Between the two, at the moment, she was more afraid to cross the woman who just cooked her dinner.

  “Yes?” she answered, not quite sure if it was a question or reply.

  Jenna gave a firm nod.

  “Good,” she said and turned back to Rem. “See, I’m busy. Now goodnight.”

  Without missing a beat, she let the door swing shut.

  “Now,” Jenna said loudly. “How about some chocolate cake?”

  The low laugh from the door was not lost on either of them.

  “Remind me never to cross you,” Val mumbled.

  Jenna’s eyes cut to her and narrowed slightly. “Chocolate cake or not?”

  “Cake,” Val said quickly.

  She wasn’t sure what had just happened, but one thing she did know, she wanted some of that damn cake.

  * * *

  Apollo let the sound of the steady beat of concrete and shoes ease his mind. For the second night in a row, he had seen Rem leaving the little cabin where Val was staying.

  He might be working with Jenna on their stupid project to find their ancestry, but there was no need for him to be there that late. He didn’t like it. What was worse, he couldn’t figure out why he didn’t like it.

  Jenna was perfectly capable of dealing with Rem and seemed to have no interest in him. Val, he wasn’t so sure. The way she’d let that slime across the hall touch her, she might be susceptible to someone like Rem. He was an alpha. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind about that. But did that matter to Val?

  Anger pulled at his heart, and he pushed harder in his run.

  He shouldn’t care what she did. It didn’t matter. She had a job to do and so did he. Besides, he didn’t want someone like her. Bossy and too hard to predict. Someone that didn’t bother to fight when they were being manhandled.

  It still pissed him off. He had to be careful. If he thought about it too much, he might end up at Nigel’s house, teaching him a few lessons on what not to do.

  Movement to the right caught his eye, and he stopped dead in his tracks. He was near the family housing, and that always worried him. Of course, they had more than an animal or two wander near the houses.

  His eyes searched the darkness, and he waited. More movement. Movement that was too large and quiet to be an animal.

  He crept near the house. He was going to kill anyone that threatened their lives, Horatius Group or not. His heart picked up as he realized this was Sol’s house. The children.

  He breathed in deeply, but nothing came back. He moved around the house. Nothing. He knew there had been someone there, but now only silence greeted him.

  “What the fuck are you doing?” Sol growled from the window above him.

  Apollo looked into the darkness.

  “Check the children,” he said quickly.

  Sol spun around and raced away. Apollo moved to the front door and waited.

  Erica answered, eyes wide awake and clearly scared.

  “They’re safe,” she said as he came inside.

  Sol walked in with both babies in his arms. They slept peacefully against his large chest.

  “What’s this all about?” he growled softly.

  Apollo ran a hand over his face. “We need to call Titus,” he said and looked between the two. “Someone was outside.”

  Chapter Nine

  Exhausted didn’t even begin to cover how tired he was. They had been talking all night about the details. Each time he told it, the story only became more firm in his memory.

  There’s no way what he encountered could have been anything other than human. Not that it had helped his case. No one believed him. He ground his teeth in irritation. What the hell good was it to catch someone in the act if no one was going to believe him?

  Overworked they said. He could have laughed if it didn’t piss him off so much. Like he’d been given much work recently. No, he’d been assigned the babysitting job. Not really high on his list.

  If only they had seen something. But there was nothing. He’d been over the scene several times himself. No footsteps but his own. No forced entry. Hell, Sol hadn’t even heard anything, and yet he’d heard Apollo.

  This only meant one thing in his mind: whoever had been there was a professional. What that meant, he wasn’t really certain, but he was going to find out. If they had chosen to go toward the family housing, they probably worked for the Horatius Group.

  Apollo glared back at the clinic. The last thing he’d wanted to do this morning was have a scan. And yet he went anyway. Mostly because he knew if he didn’t, Rachel wouldn’t have any problem calling out his ass. He didn’t need his shit to start making the rounds. Who knew what the men would think of it?

  He revved the engine of his car, the test results weighing heavily on his mind. There was so little they would be able to do for him. If they ended up trying to take it out, it seemed the least of his worries was losing his sight. What that meant concerning how they proceeded was something he struggled with, especially since he might pose the biggest threat in the compound, just from one little chip.

  The car jerked a little as he pulled out of the lot and on to the smooth road. He didn’t know what he would do if they actually said he was a hazard to everyone around him. Apollo gripped the steering wheel. Maybe if he just found the scumbag who was lurking around?

  He gave a harsh laugh.

  It seemed like he was always ending up in the same spot, trying to prove to the rest of the men who he was. Never quite enough and always the kid. He kind of realized how Marius had felt. He was sick of this shit. He came to a halt outside the cabin and frowned.

  “Goddamn kids,” he grumbled and climbed out of the car.

  Val sat on the porch with two of the hybrid teens. The teens were scarfing down large pieces of chocolate cake.

  “What the hell are you two doing here?” he barked at them.

  The smaller one shot him a dirty look, and he remembered him from their fall festival.

  “Ms. Hannah said you might need help,” he said and wiped his chocol
ate covered face on his hand.

  Apollo stood tall and tried to be as imposing as he could.

  “The hell you—”

  Val stepped in front of him and smiled brightly at the two teens.

  “I’m sure Dean and Peter will be very helpful,” she said.

  The older of the two stared hard at her chest, and when Apollo cleared his throat, he at least had the decency to blush and turn away at being caught. Dean, the smaller of the two, didn’t seem to notice and grinned widely at her.

  His face suddenly got serious.

  “I think I might need another slice though if we’re going to work very hard,” he said.

  Peter jabbed him in the ribs, and the whole exchange only pissed Apollo off more.

  “Why don’t you two go get another slice each and a big glass of milk?” Val said.

  Neither waited around for additional invites.

  “We don’t need their help,” Apollo said.

  Val turned and glared at him. She swiped at her short pale hair and pinned him with her crystal blue eyes.

  “Those boys are just trying to be useful,” she whispered. “Don’t you dare turn them away.”

  This wasn’t fair. He hadn’t done anything.

  She leaned in a little closer, and he couldn’t help but inhale deeply.

  “Besides, I’ll need the help taking down cameras,” she said.

  He questioned how much help she really needed but whatever. This wasn’t something he was going to fight her on.

  “Besides, it will go much faster, and I can get ready for tonight,” she said.

  Apollo frowned and looked down at the pretty woman before him.

  “Tonight?” he asked, nearly caught up in her beauty.

  “Jenna is having a girl’s night,” she said excitedly. “Although I think she’s mostly doing it to piss off Rem. I think she might have a hard time with that. Last night at dinner, he—”

  “Dinner?”

  She blinked a few times.

  “Dinner,” she said. “Jenna had him over. Kinda seemed like she had to.”

  He felt the blood rush to his face as the thought of Val alone with that man raced through his mind.