The thin man sat on the side of a tub as Vanessa soaked in bubbles.
Hannah moved to the side and jumped when a nail scraped her arm.
Almost instantly, the thin man stood and looked up to her. Luckily, Vanessa had her eyes closed. Hannah waved at him and hoped that he understood not to say anything.
He gave a short nod and turned on the water.
“Felix, towel,” Vanessa said.
Hannah followed him through the rooms and paused. She watched in almost horror as the man gathered a towel and then traveled into the kitchen area. There, he pulled out a large knife and tucked it into the towel. She doubted he would be able to do much in his state, but the distraction would be enough for her to get away.
“Thank you,” she whispered softly.
He gave a nod and pointed in the direction she was facing. He turned the water on and left it running.
In one day, she had accumulated more debt than she’d ever be able to repay, but she’d gladly spend the rest of her life trying.
Hannah quickly crawled away, not wanting to witness what was most likely his last walk.
Chapter Sixteen
Lucius watched as the Glycon cleaned the floor.
“Better at cleaning than I would have expected,” Lucius said.
“They are specialized for certain tasks,” Rem said and nodded to the men. “Most only have a focus for one thing. Cleaning, killing, whatever.”
“Can they be rehabilitated?”
Rem shook his head. “Not that I’ve seen.”
The buzz of an alarm ripped through the air. The two Glycon jumped to attention, and they rushed out of the room.
“This happen often?” Lucius asked.
“Never,” Rem answered.
Moments later, the door to the room swung open again.
Rem and Justus stared in awe at the door.
Hannah, still in her Venus costume, stood in the door covered in dirt, propping the door open like it was just another day at the job.
“Lucius,” she whispered.
She sprinted to him and tossed her arms around him with all her might. Her mouth came hard on him, and for that one moment, they lived in the now.
Rem cleared his throat, and Lucius pulled away.
“Keys,” he said. “Do you have the keys?”
She shook the keys in her hand. “People are really stupid around here. Titus would be so pissed if we went and just left keys in the door.”
He laughed.
“Not stupidity, really,” he said. “Overconfidence. She always was overconfident.”
Hannah frowned. “Vanessa?”
Lucius grunted.
Hannah snorted. She rushed to the three men and unlocked them. After a moment of stretching, they rushed out of the room into the hall. Lucius pushed Hannah behind him. She had rescued him, and now it was his turn to protect her.
They had to be careful. Three big men and a woman were a target, especially when all hell was breaking loose.
“Everyone follow me,” Lucius said. He glanced between Rem and Justus. “Unless either of you knows how to get out.”
They both shook their heads.
“I’m guessing you have no problem if we have to take anyone out?”
Rem shook his head. Justus snorted. “Payback’s a bitch.”
Lucius put his hands on Hannah’s shoulders. “You stay behind us. I’m not going to let that crazy bitch touch you.”
Hannah nodded. “I know.”
After a quick survey of the area, Lucius started jogging down the hall. “How the hell did you escape and find me, Hannah?”
As they moved through the hallway and then a connecting hallway, Hannah filled them in on her journey.
The revelation that Felix caused the distraction summoned both pain and pride in Lucius. The man had likely traded his life to give them all a chance.
“But this Magnus,” Lucius said. “You trust him?”
“Yes,” she said without hesitation. “I think that’s where Romulus’s winning. We need to figure out who we can trust.”
Justus snorted. “He may have helped you out, but he’s still a guard working for that…woman.”
“It’d been easier for him not to help me at all or turn me in,” Hannah said.
Justus shrugged.
The group fell silent and slipped into a classroom. They crept toward a window.
“Is that east?” she asked.
Lucius nodded.
“So let me get this straight,” Justus said. “We’re going to run through the night, with no weapons, in unknown terrain, at the advice of an enemy guard.”
“That about sums it up,” Rem said with a grin.
“You all are crazy,” Justus said. He narrowed his eyes and surveyed the outside.
Hannah pointed off in the distance. “See that shed over there? It might have some things that we can use.”
Lucius grinned. She was thinking more and more like a warrior. Her escape stunt had proven she had the heart of one already.
They slipped through the window and made their way across the lawn. He kept expecting that something would pop out but that didn’t happen. After a few minutes, Lucius looked over to Hannah. She was having far too easy a time getting through the dark. The three hybrids of course would find it trivial, but she had been groping about in the dark not all that long ago.
“They didn’t do anything, did they?” he whispered to her.
Hannah shook her head. “Rachel,” she panted.
Lucius frowned. What the hell the doctor had to do with anything was anybody’s guess.
They closed on the shed. Lucius found himself unimpressed with the lack of parameter sentries. This had to be all Vanessa. Romulus likely wouldn’t have been as sloppy.
Rem reached over and tried the door.
“Locked,” Rem whispered.
Hannah pushed him out of the way and pulled a bobby pin from her hair. With a few twists, she was through the lock in no time. Lucius stared at her.
Hannah shrugged and handed him the lock.
“Mama used to try and lock her booze away.” She grinned. “Got good at picking a lock to dilute it. Besides, those are the easy ones.”
They pulled open the doors, and Lucius sighed. He doubted they would be able to take down their enemy with cleaning supplies, fertilizer, watering cans, hoses, miscellaneous bottles, and a few work shirts. Another quick look around revealed nothing but crap. Hell. Somebody’s half-eaten ham sandwich sat on a shelf, as if mocking him.
Not what he was hoping. It was too much to think they would keep all the good equipment out in the shed.
“Not bad,” Hannah said with a grin. “There’s quite a bit to use here.”
Lucius frowned.
“Am I missing something? No weapons. Fuck, not even some hatchets or something.”
Hannah stepped into the shed and started to pick things up. “Listen, you all have super everything, but what good is that if it gets knocked down?”
She raised a brow at him. The effects of the fumes at the party suggested it wasn’t hard to knock them down. Something like that could mean the difference between life and death at this point.
“So what do you suggest?” Justus glanced over his shoulder as he spoke.
“How do chemical smells make your nose feel?” Hannah said.
“Depends,” Rem answered.
Hannah grinned. “Well, I can put money on ammonia and bleach.” She pulled the cleaning supplies off the shelf. “I don’t have the smell issue you all have. I’ll place this at the edge of the forest. We hit their scent first thing and throw them off. “
He had to admit, it was a good idea.
“Next.” Rem grinned. “How much more you got?”
Hannah grinned back. “Let’s do this.”
* * *
Hannah paced the treeline. She couldn’t put down the ammonia and bleach too early. Otherwise, it wouldn’t work, and they would just end up right where they star
ted.
“You okay?” Lucius walked over to her side.
She nodded. There was going to be a lot to process when this was all over, but for right now, she just wanted to get away.
“I’m fine,” she said and leaned against him. “How are you?”
She knew being captured by Vanessa had to have been hard, given that he escaped her hell before.
“I’ll live,” he said. “Lot to paint.”
She hoped that he’d find a way to paint for Felix.
A scream ripped through the air.
“This is it,” Justus said on the other side of her.
She turned to the men.
“Get back!” she shouted.
Covering her mouth with a shirt, Hannah raced to the forest edge with the two chemical jugs. She knew that if it bothered her that much, it had to bother them. She reached the end of the treeline and looked out across the way. The Glycon were closing on them in the distance, but her group were still doing well.
Hannah raced to catch up with the men, as they continued jogging.
“How far?” Lucius shouted.
“About five minutes,” she said. “We might not make it out of here, but we’ll have the upper hand.”
“How many?” Rem ran beside her.
“Thirty,” she guessed. “Maybe thirty-five.”
Rem looked over to Lucius. “Think we can do it?”
“Ten each?”
“As long as they don’t come all at one, we should be fine,” Rem said. “They tend to only go hand-to-hand.”
“What about her?” Justus nodded toward Hannah.
“Lucky my nails are long,” Hannah said with a grin.
Lucius grinned back. “You taking the five?”
“Damn right I am.”
Hannah yelped as she crashed into Rem. A woman stood at the edge of the trees. She blinked several times, almost uncertain if her eyes were playing tricks on her.
“Vanessa,” she whispered.
Vanessa stood stark still in the darkness. “You!” she screamed. “You took him from me.”
Her hand outstretched, Vanessa pointed at Hannah. She gasped in surprise as Vanessa stepped into the light.
Blood coated the woman, as if she had taken a bath in it. Dark drops dripped from her as she stepped forward, and Hannah couldn’t help but wonder if it was her own blood or Felix’s. Hannah hoped that he would be able to get in a few good blows before going down.
“First Lucius and now Felix.” Vanessa stepped forward. “How many men do you need, you little worthless whore?”
“Now, Vanessa,” Lucius said gently.
“Don’t you Vanessa me!” she screamed and stepped further toward them. “You were supposed to love me! We were supposed to have babies! And you choose this worthless slut over me?”
The screaming Glycon horde closed in the distance.
“He said you would want me this way,” Vanessa said quietly. “That I would be better after the change.”
Lucius seemed torn, and Hannah wanted to smack him. Vanessa was not the person to pity.
“Love me, Lucius,” she cried.
“I can’t,” he said.
“Love me,” she said again more firmly. Her face contorted in rage. “Love me,” she said again and then glanced at Hannah. “Love me, or she dies. Maybe I should kill her anyway. Once she’s dead, you’ll have to choose me.” She grinned. The silver of a hand gun flashed in the night.
“Vanessa, it doesn’t work like that,” Lucius said, shaking his head.
A shot ran out in the air, and for a second, Hannah didn’t even feel it. For a second. And then it kicked in. She didn’t cry out. Instead, she slumped to the ground and clutched her side, waves of pain radiating out from her wound.
A second shot rang out, and Vanessa fell to the ground. She glanced up from the ground. She blinked. She could have sworn she just saw Jenna gun down Vanessa.
Chapter Seventeen
It could have happened in slow motion as far as Lucius was concerned. One second, Hannah was standing next to him, and the next she was falling down. He heard the second shot rip through the air and turned to find Jenna on top of her uncle’s truck, rifle in hand.
“Get in now!” Major Carter shouted from inside the cab.
The closing howls of the Glycon reinforced the major’s suggestion
Lucius scooped up the bleeding Hannah. He bit back a growl. The group raced for the truck and leapt into the truck bed, as the enemy hybrids broke through the trees. Jenna put a bullet through a Glycon and then slipped into to the passenger side window. The major yanked the wheel and put his foot on the gas.
“How bad is it?” Rem leaned in.
Lucius shook his head. This wasn’t his thing. She was hit on the side, so he knew it couldn’t be a good thing. He ripped off his shirt and placed the fabric over the hole. He moved her for a second to check for an exit wound but didn’t find one.
He signaled for Rem to take over and tapped on the glass.
Jenna slid the glass open.
“She’s been hit,” he said, keeping his voice steady.
“We’re about an hour away,” Jenna said softly.
His heart plummeted. There was no way she’d be able to make it that long.
He glanced back at the rapidly receding hybrids and Vanessa’s body. At least he already had his vengeance.
About a minute later, the truck screech to a halt. Major Carter climbed out.
Though distant, the continued screeches and howls of the Glycon signaled they weren’t safe yet.
“Who can drive?” Major Carter asked. “Because the way I see it, I’m the only one who has any decent experience with gunshot wounds.” He pointed at Jenna. “And she’s about the best shot you’ll find anywhere, so you’ll want her on the rifle.”
Jenna blushed.
“So who can drive?” The major folded his arms.
Rem raised his hand. “I haven’t had much experience, but I have driven a number of times. If I don’t have to do anything like park, it should be fine.”
“Who the hell is he?” Major Carter asked. He eyed Justus. “Or him?”
“This is Rem,” Lucius said. He nodded toward Justus. “Justus. They were torturing them.”
The major grunted, obviously displeased with the unexpected passengers.
“Okay,” the major said. “You drive, Rem.”
Lucius was grateful. Last thing he wanted to do was be up front when he might lose Hannah.
The Glycon shrieked again in the distance.
“No time here,” Major Carter said. “Those things didn’t look like they were going to give up so easy, and we’ve got some ground to cover.”
With Rem in the driver’s seat and Jenna on look-out, he felt confident that Carter would be able to deal with the wound.
“The real problem,” Major Carter said, “is the amount of blood she’s losing.”
He moved the shirt and placed Lucius’s fingers down a little lower.
“Press here,” he said. “It will slow the blood and alleviate some of the pain.”
Lucius pressed hard, and the blood stopped gushing out.
“Good,” Major Carter said. “Now it doesn’t seem to have hit anything vital. All we have to do is keep her going.”
Lucius sat back hard and hoped that they would all hurry.
“How the hell did you know where to find us?” Lucius turned to stare at him.
“Your chip actually,” he said. “Rachel and Marius have been working non-stop trying to crack through the damn thing. Still not perfect, but they were able to triangulate your location off of where the data was being sent, with the help of a few favors I called in.”
Lucius mulled that over, thinking about how Rachel had volunteered for the long-term plan to make the Horatius Group think she was a potential recruit. She was willing to be treated with suspicion and even let them suggest to her own friend she might be a traitor, but her quick-thinking again had helped protect the
m.
Major Carter shifted and pointed to Jenna. “We lived close by, so I said we’d scope things out. Never thought I’d run into you all out there on that hill.”
Lucius nodded.
They drove like this for some time before finally reaching the gate.
“Thank God,” Lucius mumbled. “Call Titus, and tell him to meet us at the clinic.”
Jenna sped through the check points. One thing was certain, they could fast-track things when they wanted.
The clinic came into view, and he gave a shout of joy.
They pulled up, and Rachel was ready to go.
“Get her out and prep her for the OR,” she shouted.
They quickly transferred Hannah to a gurney. Lucius’s heart sank as he looked down at the pale, unresponsive woman he loved.
Rachel held up a hand to him. “You have been great, but now it’s time to let the expert bring you strength.”
Titus pulled up and he went to stand with him.
Rem and Justus followed stiffly behind.
“Is she going to be okay?” Titus asked.
Lucius groaned. “I hope so.”
Titus glanced over at the other hybrids.
Rem was the first to step forward.
“Might as well get this over with,” he said. “My name is Remus.”
Titus and Lucius both froze and stared at him.
“Guards!” Titus shouted. “Arrest these men.”
“What the fuck?” Justus cursed at the two men as a half-dozen hybrids with pistols rushed to surround them.
Lucius watched in shock.
Justus glared at Lucius. “Fuck you. You should have left me, if you were just going to lock me up.”
Several of the hybrid guards raised their pistols, ready to shoot.
“Don’t give them a reason,” Remus said. “Besides, if you want to be pissed. Be pissed at me. My fault.”
Justus snorted. For a moment, it looked like he was going to try and fight off the guards. Instead, he just put his hands in front of him and didn’t resist the zip ties.
Remus just watched them impassively in silence, not putting up any resistance himself.
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