The godson growled and leapt to his feet, his eyes darting back and forth. Nero and the godson circled each other as Alec stood. The godson narrowed his eyes at them both and glanced over to the meeting house.
Alec frowned. He’d clearly been caught, but the godson was hell-bent on getting to the meeting house. There had to be something more to this. Why would they care so much?
The stone.
They had hidden it there for safekeeping and assumed that putting it in the middle of their old compound would misdirect the godsons, especially with all the moves. The enemy must have discovered that.
“You’ll never get it,” Alec rasped out.
The godson whipped his head in Alec’s direction before glancing into the woods. There was no way they could let him go. They needed to take him down way or another. Alive would be preferable, but dead worked, too.
Without exchanging a word, the two hybrids rushed the godson at the same time. They pummeled him with a series of fierce blows. The impact of the hits echoed in the night, hard hits that would have brought down a human quickly.
Alec jumped and slammed his knee into the godson’s gut. The man grunted in response. Nero caught him doubled over and nailed him in the face with a powerful punch. Blood dripped from the enemy’s nose as he looked up at them.
“You’re just a toy,” the godson said before spitting the blood from his mouth onto the ground. “You can’t defeat someone real.”
Nero slammed his knee into the man’s back, taking them both to the ground. He pinned the man there.
“Right now, we’re not really looking like the toy,” Nero ground out.
The godson turned his head to stare over at Alec. Something in the way that he stared at the hybrid made Alec’s insides twist a little.
“You can’t save her,” the godson said with a wicked smile. “Just like you couldn’t save them.”
Alec’s nostrils flared. It was almost like the bastard knew something. Something that no one should really know.
“I think we’ve heard enough,” came another voice. Rem stepped forward, rifle in hand, and leaned down toward the godson. “Time for a nap.”
With one swift knock to the side of his head from the butt of Rem’s rifle, the godson was out, no longer a threat.
Chapter Ten
Hope stretched out on the bed, her body sore from the previous night’s activities. A smile crept onto her face as she buried herself farther into the covers. Still nude, she relished the feel of everything at that moment. She had never felt so alive.
There was nothing she could say other than it had been a great night and not at all what she had been expecting. In fact, she wasn’t really sure what she had been expecting. Alec was a wild card. With most men, she could see ten steps in front of where they were headed in their little games, but with him, it wasn’t just some game he was playing. Alec was exactly as he came off.
An honest man.
Hope didn’t even know what to think about all that. He was the sort of man who cooked dinner and shared real emotions like people in the movies. It all seemed too far out there. If he was that sort of man, then she certainly needed to be that sort of woman. They were from such different worlds, both of them hardened by life and yet he had somehow turned out well-adjusted rather than embittered like her.
A loud knock came at the door. Hope sat up quickly in the bed, her stomach knotting. Maybe something had happened to him. Without a thought, she tossed on a t-shirt and the pants from the previous night, then wrapped the blanket around her body and raced to the front door. Once there she tossed aside the lock and pulled open the heavy door.
On the other side, she was surprised to find Anassa flanked brown-robed brothers.
The woman stepped forward, the men close behind. A thin bony hand waved back at them. “Wait here.”
The two men stopped in their tracks and went back to their posts beside the door.
“I’m sorry.” Hope fumbled with words as the woman stepped into her private living space.
In all Hope’s time at the compound, she’d never even seen Anassa in the Vestal quarters.
“Did we have a—” Hope began. The words dropped from her mouth as Anassa turned her cloaked hood toward her. This time Hope was certain two sharp red eyes beamed back at her.
“You haven’t gotten the stone,” Anassa rasped. It might have been intended as a question, but came out more as an accusation.
“I haven’t really had the opportunity—”
“I see you’ve fully bonded.”
Hope’s mouth snapped shut. Things were always a little strange when it came to Anassa, but this line of questioning went over the line. How could Hope even respond to that?
“Now that you’ve gained his trust,” Anassa continued, “it is imperative you find out where the stone is. Time is short.” Her voice raised an octave or two as she spoke, the desperation seeping out of every word.
Hope took a step back from the woman. Everything about this felt wrong. How could she repay Alec’s honesty by taking advantage of him? If she wanted to have any sort of future with him, she couldn’t lie to him.
“Alec is a good man,” Hope said quietly. “Maybe if I just explain to him that we need the stone—”
“No!”
Anassa’s voice echoed in the small space as she rushed forward. Hope’s heart thumped in her chest, and for a moment, she wondered if the other woman was going to strike her.
“They wouldn’t understand what is best,” Anassa said quickly, stopping right in front of Hope. She was standing close enough Hope could glimpse the woman under the cloak. Stark white skin stretched tautly over the bones of her face. It was angular in the most unnatural of ways.
Hope must have gasped because Anassa quickly took a step back and shrouded herself once again in her cloak. A thin, bony hand reached out to grasp Hope’s. It was cold as ice, and she half-expected it to be frail.
But Anassa radiated a power from her hand, her grip firm. The hand seemed to hum with energy, and Hope couldn’t help but wonder just what the stone had done to make the leader of the Azilians so powerful.
“We all want what’s best for our Atlanteans,” Anassa said. “But sometimes we must deceive to keep the people we love safe, even from themselves. There is so much they don’t understand yet.”
Anassa’s words resonated in Hope. She wanted to keep Alec safe and assure their children would live in a world without this sort of mayhem. Heat spread across her face. She was jumping ahead, but it felt so right.
Children hadn’t been something she’d ever even thought about before. After her own terrible upbringing, she’d always assumed she’d never want to risk doing that to another person, but meeting Alec changed everything. He made her dream about having more.
Anassa pulled her hand from Hope’s and placed it on her stomach. “Protecting our families is all that matters. And she is depending on us all.”
Hope gasped. Holy shit.
Hope raised a hand to her mouth. She hadn’t even considered protection the night before. Birth control wasn’t something she had to worry about normally. It wasn’t like she was against sex, but it had been a long time since she last slept with anyone. She questioned how Anassa would even know something like that, but chalked it up to the influence of the stone.
“She?” Hope murmured.
Anassa gave Hope’s stomach a little pat before pulling away. “We need the stone if I’m going to keep you all safe.” She turned toward the door. “The stone is the key. Get it before time runs out for us all.”
She strolled out of the apartment, letting the door close behind her. Hope sank into the chair at the table. Her hand rested on her stomach, gently caressing the area. She glanced down half-expecting to see a difference, but it was just the same as it had always been, slight rounded but toned. Very much not pregnant.
Pregnant. Could she really have a baby?
The more the concept settled into her, the more comfortable sh
e grew with the idea of a new sort of life. There were so many things she could do with her daughter, a whole different life that she’d never experienced. She could be the mother her own had never been, and she knew Alec would be an amazing father, loving if not doting. He would likely spoil them both. How could he not? She was his Vestal. Their souls felt connected.
Hope chuckled to herself. The world was falling apart around her, but for some reason, her own life was finally starting to make sense. Of course that was how it would go down.
She stood. First, she needed to make sure they all made it to that point, and if the stone was the way to do that, then she would get it. She glanced at the door.
Hope couldn’t say she totally trusted Anassa. The one person she did trust without reservation was Alec, and no matter what the older woman said, there was no way she was making a move on anything without him.
Alec had trusted her last night with his story about his family, or at least what little he knew about his past. Hope had placed trust in him about her parents. Breaking that trust and risking the bond they had created didn’t seem like something she could come back from, and it wasn’t something she was willing to risk. Even if Anassa had good reason to be concerned, that didn’t mean it was okay.
Hope’s first move would need to be to find Alec. Together they could figure out what to do about the stone.
Chapter Eleven
“Think that will hold him?” Nero finished securing the chains around the unconscious godson’s legs and arms.
Despite his closed eyes and the dried blood staining the side of his head, the godson didn’t appear any less dangerous than before.
Rem shrugged. “It’s going to have to work. We don’t have much in the way of options right now.”
It was true. Nearly everything had been moved over to the Azilian compound. The chains were about as good as they could manage at the moment, and even they had been a lucky find. Now all they could do was hope he stayed put. Their strategy of misdirection concerning the stone had failed. They’d hoped the godsons would think it was secured at their new, temporary home, and that was supposed to buy them more time. The hybrids might not be so lucky during the next raid.
“Wake him up,” Rem said quietly, a pensive look on his face.
Alec backed away from the prisoner as Magnus stepped forward, a syringe in hand.
“What’s that about?” Alec asked Rem.
It was Magnus who spoke as he pressed the needle into the arm of the godson. “We don’t have time for him to wake naturally. It’s just a little cocktail to help wake him up, but it’ll also make sure he’s not at full capacity. We can’t have him getting away.”
Using the drug didn’t sit well with Alec. The godsons might be monsters, and he’d have no problem killing all of them if given the chance, but this wasn’t how men handled their fights. He frowned.
Rem’s hand landed on his shoulder. “We need all the information we can get. The lives of our people depend on this.” He lowered his hand and crossed his arms. “This isn’t the way any of us want things to proceed, but right now, our chances aren’t looking so good. The best way to win is by knowing more about what they’re planning. We need this information.”
It was the first time he’d heard Rem voice what they had all been thinking. There was no question the hybrids would fight right down to the last man and woman, but it still wasn’t certain that they would even win. The godsons weren’t like the other Glycons. They were faster, smarter, and well-trained. Rem was right. They needed anything they could get at this time. Alec shook his head.
The godson awoke with a start, gasping for air as if he’d been held under water. He struggled against his chains. If they didn’t hold, the interrogation would end, and the hybrids would be no better off than they were before.
“Let me go,” the godson ground out.
Rem stepped forward. “What’s your name?”
The prisoner’s gaze snapped over to Rem. He stared at the hybrid’s leader. The mutant Glycon sneered at him.
“We have no name. We need no name.”
His muscles strained against the chains. Alec could see the true effort the godson was putting in to freeing himself. Beads of sweat dripped down his face after a moment before he sank back into the chair, his breathing hard.
“You’ve drugged me,” the godson said. “I would be free otherwise.”
Rem nodded. “We need answers, and we intend to get them.”
The godson laughed harshly. “It will do you no good. We will come, and we will win. The father will become the son. Such is destiny.”
Alec glanced over to Nero who frowned. Maybe it was the drugs, but given who their ultimate enemy was, it was hard to be sure.
“When are you moving?” Rem asked. “What does Agatha plan on doing with the stone?”
The godson’s head sank against his chest. For a moment, Alec wondered if their prisoner had dozed off until he could hear a soft chuckle. The godson’s laughter grew louder until it was so hard he tossed his head back against the chair.
“Agatha is the least of your worries,” the prisoner muttered.
Rem stepped forward and leaned over until his face was level with the prisoner. He glowered. “When do your people move?”
“You don’t understand.” The godson raised a brow and smiled. “They are already moving.”
As if on cue, Lucas burst through the door. His sandy blond hair was tousled all over his head likely from running. “They’re attacking the town,” he shouted.
Rem straightened and looked around the room. It was here. The fight was finally here, and they knew less than ever. They’d been outmaneuvered.
“Get everyone to the Azilian compound.” Rem frowned. “I need to find Jenna and make sure she’s safe. Meet me at the compound once you’ve confirmed everything is clear here.”
“And him?” Nero nodded at the godson.
“Leave him.” Rem shook his head. “He’s secure. If we start killing bound men, we’ll be no better than the Horatius Group.”
Nero grunted, but he didn’t contest the order. Alec could tell Nero thought differently, but he was glad their leader had made the call. The whole idea of killing a helpless, drugged prisoner went against the men they strove to be. This was as good a solution as they could manage under the circumstances.
“We don’t have time to debate this,” Alec said. “Let’s move before they come.” He spared the godson one last look before making his way to the door.
“Go save your women,” the godson said. “If you can.”
Rem took a deep breath. “Alec, you make sure the last few of our people get back to the compound. Nero and Magnus, you come with me.”
Alec frowned but didn’t bother looking back again. If he didn’t get everyone moved, all of their fates would be sealed.
Chapter Twelve
Hope hurried through the woods, the night deep. Her flashlight cut through the darkness, but it made things worse, producing the occasional strange shadow. Despite that, she tried not to worry. She knew the way well enough. They all did at this point. The path to the hybrids’ village was a direct route, and all of the Azilians had traveled it back and forth since the two groups joined forces.
Something rustled in the nearby leaves. Hope froze with fear and listened, trying to ignore her hammering heart. Before she might have been afraid of a wild animal, but now she knew there were more frightening things waiting in the night. She just hoped that it wasn’t something she didn’t want to meet. She shined a light to the side and watched as a little lizard scurried through the brush.
Hope let out a giant sigh. She was so close. Just a little longer and she’d be on the outskirts of the hybrid compound. She shut out all her fears and pushed forward. Finding Alec was the most important thing. After that they would figure out what to do.
Lights grew from pinpricks in the distance to a soft glow. She was closing in. More sounds reached her ears from the dark woods, the rustlin
g of leaves, the shaking of the occasional branch. Whatever it was, it wasn’t going out of its way to hide itself. Something was moving in the woods, and it was hard to pretend it was all just lizards moving in the leaves.
When she finally broke through the clearing, Hope sighed. The hybrids’ large meeting house was just up ahead. She knew they tended to gather there. It was her best bet of finding Alec or someone who might know where he was. Besides, she wasn’t sure what was in the woods, and she would be safer around hybrids.
Hope raced up the steps and opened the door. She skidded to a halt. A large man sat chained to a chair. Man wasn’t really the word to use, though. He was huge, even larger than a hybrid. The man lifted his head and stared at her. His red eyes followed her with interest.
Her heart hammered hard in her chest. Red eyes. The same red eyes that she’d seen staring at her from Anassa. Her mind tried to process what she was seeing. Was Anassa the same type of being as this man? Was that why she always kept herself closed off away from the others?
“You came,” the man said, his voice low and deep.
Hope stepped farther into the room. She swallowed and looked around. “Was I supposed to come?”
The man watched her. The chains around his arms and legs rattled as he shifted in his seat. “You are where the fates have sent you.”
Hope frowned. He shared more with Anassa than red eyes. Why was it everyone seemed to speak in riddles at the most inopportune times?
“Clearly,” Hope said, and turned away from the man. She didn’t have time for nonsense. She needed to find Alec, and she doubted this obvious prisoner knew where he was.
“Your child will make a fine bride for him,” the man said.
Hope spun on her heel to glare at the man. “What did you say?”
“She will suit him nicely.” His mouth twitched into a smile. “We’re close now. So close.”
Hope stomped forward until she was standing nearly nose to nose with the huge man, her jaw tight. “Listen here, you piece of shit. I don’t know what you’re getting at, but if you ever talk about my child again, you won’t live to regret it. I don’t care who or what you are.”
Alec: #11 (Luna Lodge: Hunters of Atlas) Page 6