Jace: #6 (Luna Lodge: Hunters of Atlas)

by Madison Stevens

  She rolled her eyes as she fixed the poles. She was so over men thinking they could talk over her head. She was the one with the damn degrees and years of knowledge. Her specialty was wild animals, and she’d logged plenty of hours in the woods by herself.

  Just because Jace was some backwoods hillbilly who probably thought he was the second coming of Davy Crockett didn’t mean jack diddly squat at that moment.

  He didn’t have fancy directional sonic transmitters. That was for sure.

  She switched the machine on and waited for the green light to flick on. A small smile played on her lips when the dim green light bounced off the snow around it. Now all she needed to do was come back tomorrow evening to see if the meat remained untouched.

  Jace twitched for a moment and stared at the ring of poles. He sucked in a breath. She rolled her eyes at his reaction. The way he was acting, it was like he could hear it. Maybe he just didn’t really like technology.

  She furrowed her brow. Maybe the test wasn’t the best for this investigation. She’d made a very small circle, and maybe something bigger would be better.

  After a second thought, she decided against that. The small circle would be good for at least proof of concept, as it’d mean there was more of a chance of an animal getting close before being repelled by the transmitter.

  Veronica stood and tucked her coat around her. With the equipment online, the only remaining order of business was to deal with the smug, yet distractingly hot, mountain man.

  “And just exactly what were you checking on?” she said and raised a brow. “In the middle of an ice storm and all?”

  Veronica stared at him for a moment, certain that he wouldn’t answer, and if he did, she was ready to just be more pissed. Instead, he did something wholly unexpected.

  He turned and stared past her into the forest, tension lining his face. At least he finally had the balls to face her directly.

  She tilted her head, watching him. Something was wrong about him. She couldn’t quite figure it out.

  No. Something was right and wrong at the same time.

  She gasped as her brain finally caught up with what her eyes were seeing.

  His eyes shone like two blue orbs in the darkness. Unnatural, yet beautiful. Certainly not brown.

  “Your eyes…”

  Chapter Eleven

  Jace held up a hand to silence her. It wasn’t exactly how he hoped to show her the truth, but there wasn’t a choice.

  They weren’t alone in the woods. Something moved almost silently around them, only the barest hints of the movement managing to reach his ears through the din of the rain in the woods all around and the distracting buzz of Veronica’s device.

  The damn weather wouldn’t let him catch a decent scent, but he doubted some random mountain lion was prowling around the clearing in the middle of the storm. He also doubted that a normal animal would be spending so much time trying to close on two humans in stealth.

  It also didn’t help that the annoying buzzing from her machine was interfering with his hearing. The sound was just on the edge of his hearing, but it was more than enough to distract him and help his enemy hide.

  He only hoped his enemy was affected as well. But the truth was, he was closer to the device.

  “Damn it,” he muttered.

  He’d hoped the Glycon might be arrogant, but now it was stalking them with dangerous cunning.

  He supposed he shouldn’t have been so surprised. Given how it’d toyed with Marcus, it was obvious the creature was far from the barely conscious living weapons they’d dealt with before.

  His gaze darted to the meat in the center of the circle. The Glycon might be smarter than normal, but it still was a beast in the end. Veronica’s small morsel had led the Glycon to an even bigger meal.

  He stopped himself from growling. There was no way he was going to let that filthy creature touch Veronica.

  “It’s smelled the meat,” he said quietly, keeping his attention on the shifting shadows in the woods.

  “What has?” Veronica looked wildly around the woods, trying as she might to see whatever might be there. He knew she wouldn’t be able to spot anything in the darkness and the storm with her normal human vision.

  “Bear? Mountain lion? Bobcat? We need to get away from the meat, so it can try and close,” she said, a look of determination on her face. “It’s a great test.”

  “You don’t get it.”

  “I understa—”

  He shot up his hand again. He didn’t have the time or attention to spare to argue with her about it.

  She frowned and crossed her arms but didn’t say anything more.

  Good enough for now. He’d take her being mad at him if it meant he could keep her safe.

  Jace continued to stare out into the woods. He needed to find the Glycon. There was no way he’d be able to take that thing on with Veronica around.

  The best choice of action would be to get around it and make it to one of the cars, maybe they could even lead it back to the other hybrids, so they could overwhelm it.

  One way or another, they needed to get out of there before it decided to stop playing with its food and dig in.

  “I want you to slowly step toward me,” Jace said. “Don’t look at the woods, just step toward me. This isn’t a normal animal, and you’re in danger.”

  Veronica looked like she wanted to protest but instead stepped over to where he was. Her hand fumbled with something on her belt, and he noticed when she brought her hand back up with a little red canister.

  He winced. “Only use that spray as a last resort,” he said firmly. “We’re going to need all my senses if we’re going to get out of here in one piece.”

  Her face scrunched up in confusion, and, again, she seemed like she wanted to say something but pressed her pretty lips together instead and nodded. At least she was trusting him for the moment.

  Jace ignored all the questions in her eyes and instead focused on the woods.

  Where was it? He knew it was near but where?

  From the left, something red flashed in the woods.

  “Gotcha,” he mumbled then glanced down to Veronica. “Just hold on tight.”

  Veronica frowned. “Hold on to—”

  A loud roar ripped through the air. Without further thought, Jace lifted her into his arms and burst into a sprint.

  A few low-hanging branches, some ice-covered and some not, slapped at his face and arms as he ran. He was more concerned about speed than avoiding every scratch at that moment. He kept Veronica low, cradling her and doing his best to ensure that he took every hit and scratch instead of her.

  A bellow erupted behind them as the Glycon crashed through the woods. The thing might have been slower than the smaller ones he’d dealt with before, but he knew it was about ten times as deadly. One wrong move, and the creature would shred them to pieces.

  Veronica’s heavy breathing filled the air as she peeked around him to stare at the monster hunting them.

  “It’s getting closer,” she said over the snapping of branches. “Whatever the hell it is!”

  He pushed harder. The sound of crashing branches and growling was growing closer, and if he didn’t get ahead somehow, they would find out just how well he would measure up in a fight against a creature that had already taken on a hybrid one-on-one.

  Jace was no coward, but he also wasn’t an idiot. He wanted to take the thing on with a few more of his people at his side. Still, if he could take on the creature now, he might save someone.

  He glanced down at the small scared woman in his arms, her presence pulling at him.

  Not just a woman. His Vestal. If something happened to Veronica, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to deal.

  No. He couldn’t take the chance of Veronica being injured. Escape was the only choice.

  The ground sloped hard, and Jace needed to take advantage of the opportunity.

  “Hold on tight,” he said to Veronica.

  Her arms wrapped
tightly around his neck. They sailed into the air. He might not have the speed that some of the other hybrids did, but he did have powerful legs and was great at judging distances.

  They landed farther down the slope, but he didn’t stop running. The leap would be pointless if he didn’t use his new distance to his advantage.

  The growl and breathing of the Glycon faded behind them. He pushed out of the treeline, just on the other side of his truck. Jace chanced a look behind him as he lowered Veronica to the ground and urged her into the truck.

  He spotted the Glycon watching him from the distance, its red eyes a beacon in the darkness. The shadows provided a chilling outline: a humanoid shape with fingers ending in claws. The stuff of nightmares.

  The Glycon let out a loud roar.

  The roar almost summoned a growl from Jace. The Glycon might be pure beast, but the animal part of the hybrid wanted to come out and challenge the bastard. The Glycon needed to pay for threatening his woman.

  Instead, Jace grunted and shook his head. Reinforcements and reports. He’d protect his Vestal.

  She jumped into the truck, watching through the window, her eyes wide with fear as Jace hurried to the driver’s side.

  The Glycon let out another loud roar, but didn’t move from its spot, as if challenging Jace.

  He hopped in and slammed the door shut. He turned the key, bringing the engine to life. A second later, they peeled away down the slick road.

  They might have gotten away, but it was clear that their fight with the Glycon was far from over.

  Chapter Twelve

  Veronica wasn’t sure how much time had passed. The only thing she knew was that they were far away from the woods near the attack site. The panic clouding her brain slowly drained as Jace pulled his truck into a dirt lot off a long dirt road.

  “What the fuck was that?” she said. She gestured with her hand. “That thing?”

  Jace didn’t reply, though worry remained on his face. He turned off the engine, pulled the parking break, and then hopped out of the truck. She followed after a second of hesitation.

  She’d run into a lot of wild animals in her job, including a lot of aggressive and diseased ones. In her entire time doing field research, she’d never run into something with glowing red eyes that moved and sounded like the creature after them.

  Her scientific knowledge didn’t give her any explanations for what she’d seen and heard. Maybe if she’d been closer, it wouldn’t have seemed frightening or she could have come up with some sort of comforting explanation. Instead, the horrific roar of the red-eyed monster kept repeating in her mind.

  She sucked in a breath and let it out slowly. They’d sped along the main roads and then the dirt side roads probably far too fast given how much ice there was, but at least they were far away from the red-eyed monster.

  The entire trip, she kept looking behind her, expecting the thing to leap on the back of the truck at any moment and kill them. The only good thing was that the rainfall had lessened for the moment.

  She looked around her as she followed Jace away from the truck. She had been so terrified when they were driving that she hadn’t even noticed where they were until she stepped outside.

  Glancing over her shoulder, she recognized the dirt road. They were at land owned by Jace’s group. Before, when she’d visited, she’d run into Rem and Jace up the road and hadn’t really had a chance to look at where they actually lived. It didn’t seem all that important at the time.

  A bit of surprise settled over her. The area wasn’t quite how she pictured it. When Ms. Lewis had talked about the other group of people living outside town, Veronica had expected them to be more like the Azilians and living in some foreboding walled-off compound, maybe even a few creepy guys in robes. Maybe more obvious guns.

  Jace and Rem’s huge size made her think that they might be some sort of ex-military survivalists or something like that. The eastern part of the state was known for having more than a few of those types living in rural areas.

  Instead of a compound or a bunker, she spotted small houses nicely situated in the middle of trees. All very rustic and cozy. Nothing remotely military. It was like a sort of resort, or a cute little village.

  As they continued walking, the normal appearance of the place rekindled some of her earlier suspicions.

  A lot of things weren’t adding up. For one thing, it was obvious that Jace had expected to run into the monster and at least had some idea of what it was. He’d been concerned, but he didn’t seem surprised.

  There were also his strange blue eyes. They were beautiful, but also unnatural. She’d never seen anyone with eyes like that. She was sure they’d been glowing earlier.

  His speed was incredible. If he’d been a normal man, the creature would have caught them. An inkling of an idea of what he might be entered her thoughts, but she just couldn’t be sure. She needed the truth, and she needed it sooner than later.

  Jace continued walking, not even looking her way. It was as if she hadn’t even asked about the creature.

  Her residual fear fueled the anger building inside her.

  “Hey,” she said and grabbed ahold of his arm so he had to look at her. “I want some answers.” She frowned at him. “And I deserve some answers.”

  He turned to stare at her, and for a moment, she saw his eyes once again flare bright blue like before. There was no way anyone could claim that was natural.

  She gasped and stepped back. After staring for a long moment, she whispered, “What are you? Are you even human? What was that thing? Don’t tell me you don’t know, because you obviously know what’s going on.” She shook her head. “You knew before I even got here. You were searching for that thing the night we met, weren’t you?”

  He sighed and nodded. “I’ll explain it all, but not right now. I’ve got to talk to Rem about what just happened,” he said firmly. “There are too many lives at stake. And time isn’t on our side.”

  Veronica glanced at the houses around them. For the first time, she could see they were being watched. Many pairs of bright blue eyes peered at her from behind windows.

  Whatever Jace was, he wasn’t unique. Apparently, this was a family of sorts, a family of huge guys with blue eyes that sometimes glowed. A female face with blue eyes caught her attention from a window. Not just men, apparently.

  Surprisingly, she found the idea didn’t freak her out. Really, it just filled her with more curiosity. She was more annoyed that she didn’t know what was going on than scared.

  She followed as Jace made his way up some stairs and into a large building. Inside, she could see it was some sort of group center with places for people to sit and enjoy the large fireplace in the room. In the middle of the room, she spotted Rem and a few other huge bright blue-eyed men seated near the fire in chairs and couches.

  They didn’t really look alike and had different hair and skin tones. Maybe not a family, or maybe just a very diverse family. She figured she’d learn soon enough.

  She couldn’t help but notice that Rem lacked blue eyes, including a black man who had striking blue eyes just like the others. Instead, Rem possessed green eyes.

  Not really certain why, her hand slipped into Jace’s larger one, and her cheeks heated when he glanced over to her. He gave her a gentle squeeze and a tug as they made their way to where the men sat. The gesture calmed her.

  “I see you got my text,” Jace said, glancing between several of the men.

  “Why did you bring her here?” said another large man. He glared at her.

  “Marcus, that’s enough,” Rem said sternly.

  The man named Marcus huffed loudly but didn’t say anything else.

  “Marcus, like your dog?” she whispered. Despite the serious situation, it took a lot of effort to stifle a laugh.

  “Did she say dog?” Marcus said with a hint of a growl. He switched the target of his glare from her to Jace.

  She blinked, surprised he could hear her.

  Jace
coughed loudly, and she wondered if she’d said something wrong. They closed on the table.

  Rem grinned at her. “I see you have an adventurous spirit.”

  “Not if I can help it.”

  Veronica failed to see what was so funny. Something about Rem just rubbed her the wrong way. If Jace had texted them, he knew what had just happened, and here he was grinning like an idiot. There wasn’t a thing about tonight she found remotely funny.

  Rem nodded this time, seeming to understand she was in no mood for his jokes. He waved a hand to the couch, and she sat quietly next to Jace, not really sure what else there was to do.

  She couldn’t begin to even figure out what to do until she had some small clue about what the hell was going on and who these men even were and what that creature was.

  The black man she’d noticed earlier on the couch asked, “So it showed itself?”

  Jace nodded. “Magnus, she was setting up something. There was some sort of meat bait, and I think it must have smelled the meat.”

  All eyes turned to her, and for a moment it felt like she might have just sprouted a second head.

  Marcus turned his baleful blue gaze on her and pointed. “Why the hell would you be setting out meat for the damn thing? Are you controlling it?” His voice had more than a hint of a growl. “Don’t think you can fuck with us and get away with it.”

  Her heart pounded, and her eyes widened.

  Jace jumped up and rushed over to the table. He towered over Marcus. A deep low rumble filled the room. “I’d watch what you fucking say.”

  “I’ll say what I need to say.” Marcus stood and squared his shoulders.

  Although he was slightly taller, Jace still matched him in bulk, and Veronica was fairly certain that if they came to blows it would be an even fight. She hoped they would just stop and sit back down.

  A low growl escaped Jace. It was so low it was more like she could feel it than hear it. Something about the sound Jace was making sent a tickle through her. She felt her insides heat, and her center respond as if he were stroking her with his fingers.

  She let out a little puff of air and felt his gaze flick over to her. Instantly, his eyes flared to bright blue, and the act only seemed to turn her on more.