Marius (Luna Lodge, #4)

by Madison Stevens

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Title Page

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Thank You

  Also By

  Author Bio

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, locations, and incidents depicted in this work are of the author’s imagination or have been used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, locations, or events is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved.

  Copyright 2014 Madison Stevens

  No portion of this book may be transmitted or reproduced in any form, or by any means, without the prior written permission of the author.

  Marius (Luna Lodge #4)

  by

  Madison Stevens

  Rachel thought she could make a name for herself in the medical field working with the hybrids of Luna Lodge. She never expected to be trapped between the deadly plans of the Horatius Group and the paranoia of the Luna Lodge hybrids. Even though they now distrust her and want her gone, she can’t leave while her closest friend is at death’s door.

  Marius is tired of the disrespect of the other hybrids and the distracting Rachel. While he can’t deny his strong attraction to the doctor, her sharp personality makes her hard to deal with. Though he knows she wants to help the hybrids, he isn’t sure if the emotional armor she wears makes her a good fit. At the same time, he doesn’t want her to leave and to miss his one chance at a true mate.

  When hybrids start falling ill under mysterious circumstances, Rachel and Marius will be forced to work together and face both their own passions and a deadly new threat to Luna Lodge.

  Chapter One

  Rachel leafed through the lab papers sitting in front of her. She’d run the tests three times now, and the results hadn’t changed. Something wasn’t quite right with Hannah.

  It had only been three days since she had been brought to the Luna Lodge hospital after getting shot during an escape from the Horatius Group, and her health didn’t seem to be improving. Although the initial operation had been performed at the local ER, the care seemed to be solid, and the doctors involved seemed like they knew what they were doing. If things kept up like they were with the wound, there was a serious risk of infection. There just had to be a reason for this.

  Rachel chewed the end of her pen as she thought. It could be an illness. They were entering the height of flu season. That might explain some of the other symptoms she was seeing but still didn’t explain some of Hannah’s test results. Some of the initial immunological results were so high, she’d actually assumed cancer, but then other tests would come back normal. There were just too many unknown variables.

  “Damn hybrid genes,” she cursed and slammed her palm onto the desk. Some of her dark brown hair slipped from her hair tie into her face.

  With the recent developments of some women bonding, as some had taken to calling it, to male hybrids, it had become more and more difficult for Rachel to treat them. The Vestals, otherwise normal women who reacted chemically to the hybrids, signaling a good pairing, added a new element that she hadn’t expected when she signed up to be a doctor for the hybrids. If she had been allowed to perform research like she wanted instead of playing house doctor, they might be in better shape, but that wasn’t really an option at the moment. Instead, she was forced into both roles at the same time. It left her irritated and exhausted most days.

  After pushing her chair away from the desk, Rachel leaned her head back against the rest and closed her eyes. The whole situation was one giant mess, and she really didn’t know how to fix it. At best, all she could do was deal with the symptoms until she figured it out. She only hoped that she could manage that.

  She sighed and opened her eyes. Sitting around wasn’t going to fix anything. Besides, if she closed her eyes for too long, she might be down for the count. It wouldn’t take much.

  Rachel stood and pushed her chair in. She stepped over some files on the floor and walked around the maze of boxes she had collected from Doctor Fisher. When the old doctor had betrayed them all as a spy for the Horatius Group, the foul group that had created the hybrids and kept them prisoners, it wounded the entire group, even more so when Lucius and Hannah were kidnapped, and Doctor Fisher helped to facilitate their captivity. In the end, his punishment and death had come at the very hands of those he betrayed. Rachel felt no pity for him, and after reading the reports about his experiments, she only wished his death had been more painful.

  She kicked one of the boxes out of the way in frustration. In all his notes, there was not one mention concerning how to deal with health of a Vestal. It wasn’t a surprise since it didn’t seem like they had an actual successful bonding during all the Horatius Group breeding trials, but it would have been nice to hear another doctor’s thoughts, even if on a personal level, she’d like to twist his nuts off.

  She shut the door firmly behind her and stared down the hall. Busy defined her life now. Where she used to treat the occasional cut, more and more patients were coming to either see Hannah or to check on the prisoners, Justus and Remus, or Rem as he often liked to be called. She shuddered at the thought.

  A hospital shouldn’t be a prison. She said this many times, but her words fell on deaf ears. They had nowhere to put them, and, according to Titus, the hospital rooms were the best option since they locked on the outside. Rachel managed a dull laugh. It hadn’t even occurred to them that maybe the men shouldn’t be locked up at all.

  She glanced down the corridor to the two doors near her office and lab. Heavily armed hybrids stood outside and watched her warily. They knew how she felt about the imprisonment and because of it, once again, she was the target of suspicion. Well, they could all go to hell. She would do what she felt she needed to, even if that meant telling them to fuck off.

  Rachel shot the guards a stern look and turned back to the lobby area. The rest of the rooms were on the other side of the building and almost equally busy. A few hybrids milled around, likely waiting for good news to bring to their leader. She ignored them as she stepped into the room with Hannah.

  Her eyes fell on her pretty friend lying in the bed, and her heart hurt as it did every time she came in. Lucius looked up from his post at her side and gave a weak smile. He was looking more tired than usual, and she was going to have to force him to get some rest. Maybe if she moved in another bed, he’d listen to her.

  Tucking her feelings deep inside, Rachel put on her doctor face and moved in closer.

  “How are you feeling?” she said to Hannah.

  Rachel watched as Hannah tried to swallow several times. Her hand twitched, and she itched to place it on her friend’s head.

  Lucius pulled a cup with a straw from his side and offered it to Hannah. She wrapped her dry lips around the plastic and took in a few small swallows.

  He pulled the cup away, and she seemed better able to respond.

  Hannah lolled her head to the side. Her long blonde hair was dull and limp against the pillow. It looked as if it had been recently brushed, and she wondered just what all Lucius had taken upon himself. Not having any nurses, Rachel was limited in the services she could offer. She did what was needed, but i
t was nice to know that Lucius had stepped up.

  “I think I feel a little better,” Hannah managed. She followed with a small smile.

  Lucius’s rumble filled the room. Despite knowing that it was harmless, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up, and she shivered. It was clear her body knew the menace, even if her brain didn’t.

  She watched as Hannah gently placed a hand on his. “I do feel a little better,” she said.

  Lucius huffed in irritation. “You don’t look like it.”

  Hannah frowned. “Well, thanks.”

  He sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. Rachel could see the dark circles under his eyes. “I’m just worried for you,” he said. His voice cracked as he spoke.

  Rachel cleared her throat.

  “I’ve got the results,” she said. The both looked at her with expectant eyes. How typical doctors did this on a day-to-day basis, she had no idea, but she hated it. “I’ve run them three times, and all I can say is that something isn’t right.”

  Lucius fumed. “That’s it?”

  She sighed. It was about what she had expected from the large man. It’s not like she expected him to understand the complexities of differential diagnosis. “Several levels are off, but it’s not ticking off anything for me,” she said.

  Lucius stood and glared at her. “Well, what does that mean?”

  Rachel stood her ground and shook her head. She wasn’t going to be intimidated by him. “It means…” she said and looked over to Hannah. She lay quietly on the bed, watching far too passively for Rachel. “We wait and see if this round of treatment works.”

  “And if it doesn’t?”

  She snapped her head over to Lucius. More than once she’d thought about smacking the crap out of him but never more than now. She crossed her arms over her chest and gave him the best shut-the-fuck-up look she could muster.

  “Then we keep trying until we find something that works.”

  They stared intently at one another, and for a millisecond, she seriously considered smacking him on the nose. If he wanted to go pissing on her floor, she might as well treat him like a dog.

  “I trust you,” Hannah said softly.

  They both turned and stared down at her.

  Her face was slightly flushed with fever and beads of sweat dotted her brow.

  Rachel took her hand, not really sure what to do. “You’re going to be fine,” she said softly.

  “You’re my doctor, how could I not be?”

  Rachel squeezed Hannah’s hand before letting go.

  “I just need to talk to Lucius for a few minutes about your care before I go,” Rachel said. “Why don’t you get a little more rest?”

  Hannah nodded, and within a few minutes, her eyes were closed.

  Rachel nodded to the hallway. After exiting the room, she shut the door behind them. Lucius stared at Hannah intently through the window. They stood quietly and watched the shallow rise and fall of her chest.

  “How bad is it?” he asked quietly, never taking his eyes off of her.

  Everything in Rachel said to lie. To tell him what he needed to hear. But that wouldn’t be doing anyone any favors. He needed to know what was coming and be ready to deal with things.

  “Her labs are strange,” she said and crossed her arms. “All the symptoms point to infection, but her labs are saying otherwise. I’m going to try and contact an old mentor of mine and see what he can come up with.”

  Lucius looked away from the window to her. “Are you sure you want to do that? The Group may have already gotten to everybody you know.”

  She couldn’t call him paranoid. The Horatius Group had already demonstrated a far reach. She couldn’t dismiss his concern out of hand, but it didn’t matter. The stakes were too high.

  Rachel nodded. “Without a doubt,” she said. “This is all too big for one person, and he’s the best person to contact over this.”

  Lucius stared hard at her for a moment, the jagged scar down the side of his face a stark reminder of how strong he could be. He nodded. “Do what you have to.”

  She let out a sigh from deep within. Knowing he was on her side was a big relief. He might not like her all the time, but that was fine. As long as he saw reason, she didn’t really care. It was clear she was going to need some of these men on her side if she was going to be able to help Hannah.

  Looking back into the room, she realized things were only going to become tougher. Things were stacked against them, but more importantly, time was stacked against them. If Hannah’s condition continued to worsen, permanent damage to organs, even her brain, was a real possibility even if Rachel managed to find a treatment that worked.

  “Just keep doing what you’re doing,” she said and turned to him. “I’ll be back in a few hours to check on things. I’ve got her linked into the network, so I can monitor how she’s doing.”

  Lucius pressed his lips firmly together, and she knew it was hard for him to deal with all of this.

  “I need to get some time in at the lab,” she said quietly. The identity of the men being held by the hybrids at the end of the hall remained unclear to her. “It’s slightly risky, but maybe if she had something to enhance her Vestal side, she would be better able to fight it.”

  Rachel chewed her bottom lip. This was the very reason she was now being more closely watched, but she just didn’t know what else to do. If Hannah’s condition continued like it was, there was a chance she wouldn’t be able to hold on long enough. As it was, her Vestal abilities were likely what was keeping her from totally spiraling out of control. Being a Vestal meant certain things, but being bonded meant even more. Her whole biochemical makeup was now different. During emotional highs and lows, Rachel had found elevated levels of various hormones, metabolites and proteins.

  The Vestals were able to almost mimic their partners’ traits, albeit in an obviously reduced capacity. Rachel’s drug just amplified that mimicry.

  She looked to Lucius, who was watching her silently. He studied her as if she might vanish before him.

  “Will it work?” he asked quietly.

  It almost seemed unreal that someone so by the book would even be considering her potentially dangerous plan.

  She glanced down the hall and then back.

  “I think so,” she said. “You all are able to take far more damage than we are.”

  He watched her closely, and she could see the worry in his eyes. It was clear he knew that this might not work. He gave a curt nod.

  “Let’s do it,” he said and looked back at Hannah who stirred in her sleep. “If it’s the only choice we’ve got, then we do it.”

  “You know what this means?”

  Lucius nodded slowly and frowned. “We have no choice.”

  She shook her head. “There’s always the hospital she was at,” Rachel said. “It’s not far, and they were giving good care.”

  Lucius was already shaking his head before she could even finish talking. “No fucking way,” he said. “Too many crazy people around. I couldn’t keep her safe, and I don’t trust the way it smells. We can’t secure that place the way we can secure this place.”

  Rachel wrinkled her nose. That wouldn’t really be how she would call it.

  “That’s just the chemicals they use there,” she said. “But I understand. We’re just understaffed here. I worry we won’t be able to keep up.”

  Lucius shot her a sharp stare. “I’ll take care of her.”

  She sighed. These men could be so pig headed. It wasn’t the first time she had come across this.

  “I hope so, but in case you can’t, I’m putting the hospital on standby.” She held up a hand when he started to protest. “It’s a last resort. I know the dangers, but we have to have a plan in place if things start to go bad. I’m not losing her.”

  He closed his mouth quickly. Despite his blustering, she wondered if it had ever crossed his mind that they might lose her. Rachel thought that he likely hadn’t. Just caring for someone was ne
w to him, let alone all these more human-like qualities.

  “For now, let me see what I can do to at least slow this down,” she said softly.

  Lucius nodded and re-entered the room. She watched as he took his post next to Hannah and brushed back her hair from her brow that clung to her damp head.

  Rachel turned and headed down the hall to her lab. Not bothering to meet the stares of the hybrid guards, she turned into the room and shut the door. She’d be damned if she let those two make her feel uncomfortable. If they wanted to hate her, so be it. She wasn’t there to be friends, and the hybrids had certainly made it clear that she wasn’t considered a friend from day one.

  Rachel slammed her body onto the stool and started the long process of generating a usable dose of the enhancement compound. This was about the science. About the chance to make a difference in the world, and she was willing to put up with whatever she had to in order to continue her work, even if that meant dealing with the occasional asshole. Or a whole damn army of super-assholes.

  Hell, if anything, it seemed like they’d managed to up their asshole level. Whether it was from the stress of the Horatius Group or some sort of funky hybrid pseudo-PMS remained unclear.

  She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. Despite it all, her job did matter to her. All she wanted to do was help, and it seemed they fought her at every turn. She understood their mistrust of anyone in the medical field, and she understood that she’d cut some corners, perhaps even too closely. Put in their situation, she might have felt the same way, but some of the things she’d dealt with just went too far.

  Someone kicked the door, and she tried not to jump. The first few times she’d asked them to be more careful. After that, it only seemed to increase, so she stopped asking. She picked up the beaker sitting next to her and chucked it at the door. It hit the glass window and shattered them both.

  Rachel winced. She hadn’t meant for that to happen.

  The door flew open, and one of the large hybrids stared at her and then the glass on the floor.