Nikon: #16 (Luna Lodge)

by Madison Stevens

  Another low, deep growl echoed through the air as Nikon watched the bastard manhandle his woman.

  Matt laughed. “Don’t like that do ya, pal?”

  The faint sound of sirens in the far distance reached Nikon’s eyes. They were still too far away to get there in time.

  Matt glanced at his smart watch. “Looks like we’re going to have to make this quick,” he said. “Looks like we have about ten minutes before the police arrive. So here’s what going to happen.” He dropped Leah’s arm but kept his gun pointed directly at her. Tycho was closer now. A bit farther and he would have Leah safely away. “First, I’m going to have your girlfriend here get into the car. Then, if your smart, you’ll get in as well.”

  Nikon raised a brow. “And if I don’t?”

  Matt gave a sick smile as he stepped forward. “I’ll take your part of the payment out of her before dropping her off with my pal Dmitry.”

  The hybrid took a step forward. His gaze remained forward, but he still watched in the distance as Tycho finished moving into position. He took two more steps and watched as Matt did exactly as he expected: took the gun off Leah and pointed it at him.

  “If you don’t like my terms,” Matt said, “you’re welcome to renegotiate with my gun. I’ll make more money with both of you. That’s the only reason I haven’t killed you already, but if you have a death wish, I’ll gladly grant it.”

  Tycho silently closed on the pair. Matt was several yards in front of her now. The hybrid reached out and placed a hand over her mouth. She was nearly in the clear.

  “Maybe I will,” Nikon said.

  Matt snorted and turned his head, the one thing Nikon didn’t expect the pompous prick to do. His gun swung around and fired once. Nikon watched as Tycho stepped in front of the bullet, taking it directly into his arm.

  The hybrid fell with a thud. His body shook as he did so in an unnatural way, unlike Nikon had never seen before. Hybrids might not be immune to bullets, but most of them would be able to take a shot in the arm without having what looked like a seizure.

  Nikon didn’t know just what was happening to the other hybrid, but whatever it was couldn’t be good. He lunged for his gun on the ground as Leah screamed nearby. He could only hope that she’d taken cover before bullets peppered the ground.

  He reached his gun just in time to squeeze off a few rounds before a bullet pierced his leg.

  Agony shot through his body. It was unlike anything he’d ever felt before, and that included being shot several other times. Something was wrong with him.

  He collapsed to his knee, growling and shaking.

  “Motherfucker!” Matt screamed at him. “Don’t fucking like that, do you? You think I wasn’t going to come prepared, you stupid hybrid piece of shit?”

  Nikon looked up and found the red-faced man hunched over slightly. Blood dripped freely from his hand. The hybrid’s intent hadn’t been to hit his hand, but he’d take it.

  Soft hands slid across his face.

  “Oh, Nikon,” Leah whispered.

  Somewhere nearby he could hear the wail of sirens. If they didn’t get out of there soon, they would have to deal with questions that they didn’t really want to answer.

  The world around him started to fade as he tried to focus on the woman leaning over him, his beautiful angel.

  Leah didn’t know what was happening to him. The way Nikon was shaking, it seemed like he’d been poisoned.

  She could hear sirens far off as the police closed on the school, but she knew how it would look. Two hybrids and two people dead. This wasn’t something the hybrids could have against them. Things had just started to go in the right direction. This had the potential to be a giant mess.

  “Leah,” Matt said sweetly. “You need to help me get these animals in the car. You do that, and I’ll make sure nothing happens to you.” He’d pulled the other hybrid who Leah didn’t recognize halfway to his car with some obvious effort.

  She stared at the man in front of her. His right-hand bled badly through the shirt he now had wrapped around it. Part of her was curious to know if the asshole would lose a few fingers. She hoped so since it seemed to be the hand he favored for shooting.

  He took a step forward. “Did you hear me? I’m offering your freedom. I can promise none of my people will come after you as long as you help me. Look, two hybrids is worth the same money as I would have gotten with you. I have nothing against you, so we can both win in this.”

  Leah glanced down at the gun still held in Nikon’s hand. She smiled nicely at him as she leaned forward. “I’d rather not.”

  She lifted the gun with her good arm and just hopped that she wasn’t actually shaking as much as she felt she was.

  Matt’s face contorted into rage as he stared at her. “Are you fucking stupid, you bitch? I can make sure your life is a living hell.”

  Leah managed to force herself to her feet. “And I’m telling you that you can take your offer and shove it right up your ass.”

  With that, she squeezed the trigger. The bullet whizzed past Matt but bounced off the car behind him. Leah squeezed the trigger several more times, trying to hit Matt while avoiding the hybrid he was dragging with him. She wouldn’t let him get away with one of Nikon’s friends.

  It didn’t matter. The pain from her injuries, the drug, and her fear of hitting the hybrid made all her shots go wide, and her bullets didn’t seem to be damaging the car, like it was armored or something.

  Matt scrambled into the car, pulling the other hybrid the rest of the way in as she peppered the car with gunfire. The tires spun out as he tore out away from the school.

  She could hear the police sirens clearly now. They were close.

  With all the strength she could muster, Leah went over to Nikon and shook him hard.

  “Put your arm around me,” she said.

  He blinked several times before moving. She wasn’t even certain if he had heard what she had said when he moved into sitting position. He growled loudly as she hoisted him up onto his feet. Leah knew the pain in his leg had to be off the charts based on his reaction.

  “Just hold on to me,” Leah said softly. “I’ll get us to help.”

  Nikon was heavy. He leaned on her as he dragged his injured leg behind him. All she knew was that she needed to get him out of there and to Luna Lodge as quickly as she could.

  When they finally made their way to the car, she helped him ease into the seat. She grabbed an old shirt from the back and wrapped it around the injured leg, trying to ignore the intense pain in her dislocated arm.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered before tying the cloth around his leg as well she could with one hand.

  She hurried to the other side and hopped into the driver’s seat. She’d just made it to the road when the headlights from the police cars rounded the corner.

  Leah turned off her lights and drove away in the cloak of darkness.

  Behind her, she could see the police cars pulling into the school. There would be questions, and she knew someone would have to pay. She only hoped that whoever that was, wouldn’t Nikon or his people.

  Williams had survived. He’d probably take the brunt of it. She didn’t mind that at all.

  When they had driven a decent distance from the school, Leah turned back on her lights and made her way back to the main road. By the reflected light of the highway, she could see just how pale Nikon had gotten. There was so much blood lost, she wouldn’t have been surprised if he went into shock.

  Leah pressed the gas on the car and shot down the empty highway. The faster she got to the Lodge, the better for both of them.

  “Hang on, Nikon,” she whispered. “Just hang on.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Nikon opened his eyes and frowned. The bright white ceiling wasn’t at all what he had been expecting.

  He turned his head looked around at the room. A machine next to him beeped, and he guessed he must be in a hospital, not that he could remember just how he got there.


  The last thing he remembered was staring up at Leah as she stared down at him.

  His heart kicked up.

  Leah.

  Nikon forced himself up. His muscles were a little sore, but it was nothing he couldn’t live with. It was his leg that he worried about. The bullet had burned like nothing he’d ever felt before. Maybe it had broken the bone.

  He flipped the covers and was surprised to only find a bandage around his thigh. He pulled it back to reveal a row of stitches there. The skin still looked slightly puckered and red, so he hadn’t been there long, but the wound was still healing nicely.

  That was all he needed to know.

  Nikon slipped out of bed and tested some weight on the leg.

  It hurt but was manageable. Next came off the stupid suction cups against his chest. The machine beeped loudly until he flipped the switch.

  Likely the whole system was linked to the nurses’ station, and it wouldn’t be long before they rushed in. Ideally, he would be gone long before then.

  Nikon looked around the corner. The halls were mostly empty, but a few people milled around. He watched as a nurse stopped in the room next to his before slipping out the door the opposite direction.

  His thigh burned as he moved, and he was certain the stitches were pulling a little, but whoever had done the work seemed to know what they were doing.

  Voices from up ahead murmured about a gunshot victim. Probably talking about him.

  Nikon slipped into the room next to him. Inside he found himself in the break room. Fresh scrubs sat neatly in a rack.

  The hybrid pulled off the thin gown he had been holding together and slipped on the pants and shirt. He imagined it was lucky they had his size, considering.

  The voices passed by and after a moment, he stepped back into the hall.

  Out of all the hospitals he had been in, this was the strangest layout yet. No windows. No exits. Only an elevator.

  Nikon climbed in and stared at the buttons. Again, nothing was making sense. Barracks, Central, Garage, Armory, and other odd and very military-sounding floor names. More voices were nearby. He needed to make a choice and fast. He might have captured by the Phoenix Corps.

  First floor. It seemed like the best place to start.

  The doors closed, and he frowned as the elevator began to move up instead of down.

  Nikon looked around to see if there was something he might use to defend himself. Something was going on, and he didn’t want to end up in a fight empty-handed.

  The elevator dinged loudly and slid open. He stepped outside and couldn’t have been more confused.

  “What the fuck is going on here?”

  Nikon was in a home, smack dab in the library of some home. Behind him two shelves closed and sealed off the way he had just come. Nikon went over and pulled a book on the shelf.

  Maybe he was dead. It was starting to seem like the only explanation.

  “Looks like we’re going to need better security around here.”

  Nikon spun around and was surprised to find a large hybrid standing near the door. He could only tell he was a hybrid by his smell. Everything else about him smell like some sort of rich human businessman.

  “Nikon,” said a familiar female voice.

  His heart kicked up at the sight of Leah just behind the hybrid.

  Nikon frowned at him. Had this prick been holding her hostage? If so, he would tear the bastard apart.

  His frown vanished as Leah raced past the man and into his arms. His arms wrapped instantly around her, and he held her close.

  “You’re going to hurt your leg,” she mumbled against his chest.

  “Fuck my leg,” he said against her hair then straightened. “More importantly, who the fuck is that?”

  “Nikon, this is Maximus. Max, meet Nikon.”

  Maximus. He knew the name. He was the leader of the hybrids Servius had helped rescue.

  Cato and Wendy stepped out from the other side of the hall.

  “Okay, now I’m really confused,” Nikon said.

  * * *

  They moved him back to the hospital ward. Leah sat with him on the bed as Cato explained, just happy that he was awake.

  “It was Leah who brought you to the Lodge. It was clear something was wrong, and there was no way a local hospital could handle you. We did the only thing we could. We had a chopper on standby and sent it here to Max.”

  Nikon frowned. “But where is here?”

  “This is base here in the States,” Cato said. “Max has been working with his men and some of ours as a sort of special ops team. Thankfully they had the foresight to have a hospital put in as well.”

  She watched as Nikon looked around. “Who’s the doctor then?”

  Leah watched as Rachel, the Luna Lodge doctor stepped into the room.

  “Me,” she said with a grin. “They brought your dumb ass to me.”

  Nikon grunted but continued to hold Leah’s hand, occasionally rubbing it from time to time. “You still giving shots with glee?”

  Rachel laughed. “You bet your ass I am.”

  Leah snorted as she watched the exchange. From the start, she’d liked the doctor. Her no- nonsense way of deal with the hybrids reminded her of Jamie.

  “That bullet contained quite the drug,” Rachel said. “We’re still running it through testing, but preliminary findings suggest it had some sort of neurotoxin meant to be administered in small doses to keep the person immobilized.”

  The men exchanged looks, and Leah could only guess what they were thinking. Matt and his people were well-equipped and dangerous.

  “He took Tycho,” Leah said quietly.

  Cato nodded. “We’ve got a few men looking into it,” he said. “This sort of thing is what Max is trained for.”

  Nikon nodded to Maximus before turning back to Leah.

  “Okay, you lugs,” Rachel said quietly. “It’s clear my patient needs some rest. Everyone not mated to him needs to get the hell out.”

  Leah watched as the doctor winked at him before closing the door to the room.

  She turned and was surprised when Nikon’s mouth crashed down on her own.

  “I thought they had gotten you,” he said after thoroughly exploring her mouth.

  Leah shook her head and laid her forehead against his. “Never,” she said quietly. “I thought he’d killed you.”

  Nikon smiled back at her. “Never.”

  She leaned forward and kissed him softly. “I think you’re stuck with me.”

  Leah laughed and pulled away. “We’ll get Tycho back. We have to.”

  Nikon nodded. She knew he would want to help save the man that had saved them both.

  “And when we do, we’ll go on to Isla Luna,” she said.

  Nikon frowned. She had been waiting to tell him what Wendy had told her. It had all been so secret for so long.

  “There’s an island for the hybrids,” she said. “A place for us to call home.” Just the idea of it made her heart swell. “Home.”

  Nikon repeated the word as if he were foreign to him. He reached out and held her hand. Their fingers laced, and she could hardly tell see him through the tears in her eyes.

  “A home together,” he said.

  Finally, they would a chance for them both to have a free life denied the hybrids.

  Leah leaned in and pressed a kiss against his lips. “I love you,” she whispered.

  Nikon placed one hand against her cheek.

  “My heart has always been yours,” he said. “Now and forever.”

  Leah sighed as he pulled her into his arms, the safe embrace that would always be home.

  A Note from Madison

  Thank you for reading Nikon. 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, Tycho.

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

  ALSO BY MADISON STEVENS

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  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)

  Varius (Luna Lodge #9)

  Servius (Luna Lodge #10)

  Cyrus (Luna Lodge #11)

  Kyros (Luna Lodge #12)

  Cato (Luna Lodge #13)

  Lucan (Luna Lodge #14)

  Rollo (Luna Lodge #15)

  Luna Lodge: Hunters of Atlas

  Magnus (Hunters #1)

  Nero (Hunters #2)

  Lucas (Hunters #3)

  Sergius (Hunters #4)

  Marcus (Hunters #5)

  Jace (Hunters #6)

  Quintus (Hunters #7)

  Atticus (Hunters #8)

  Vitus (Hunters #9)

  Berserk Series

  Dog Fight (Berserk #1)

  Devil’s Den (with Willow Hazel)

  Caleb (Devil’s Den #1)

  Shadow Series

  Shadow’s Embrace (Paranormal Romance)

  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)

  Zane (Allen Securities #7)

  Bryce (Allen Securities #8)

  Kelly Clan (Romantic Suspense)

  Finn (Kelly Clan #1)

  Conor (Kelly Clan #2)

  Noel (Kelly Clan #3)

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  Braden (Kelly Clan #5)

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  Special Forces (Romantic Suspense)

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