Marius (Luna Lodge, #4)

by Madison Stevens

  “What the fuck happened?” He glared at her.

  Rachel shrugged her shoulders.

  “It slipped,” she said.

  He pressed his lips together and looked like he had more to say but held back.

  “We’re reporting on this,” he said and slammed the door.

  “Good,” she called after him. “It will go nicely with the other seventeen you’ve filed.”

  She knew his perfect hearing would catch her words.

  “Dickhead,” she mumbled and trudged to the closet to get a broom.

  She shook herself a little and tried to focus. First, she’d clean up, but after that she needed to shut them out. This feud would have to be put on hold until a later date, or it might be too late for Hannah.

  Chapter Two

  Marius pushed back from his computer and yawned. It had been a long day, but he was finally making some real progress with the budget. All the new security measures were going to cost them, but he had learned they weren’t going to be able to rely on just manpower alone. It just wasn’t enough against their enemies, and the risk was becoming far too great. They nearly lost both Lucius and Hannah, something he never saw coming.

  Given Lucius’s paranoia, his capture was proof enough that they had been looking at all this wrong. Not only that, they had relied too much on outside help. The Horatius Group had already proven they could infiltrate organizations with ease. They all knew this. Hell, it’s what the Luna Lodge hybrids were taught during their own training: look for the holes and exploit them. Being free had given them a taste of freedom none of them ever dreamed of having.

  He shook his head and leaned back in the chair. His hands wove behind his head as he thought.

  Marius marveled at what freedom could do. At times, it almost felt like more a curse than a blessing.

  It seemed like they were always two steps behind the Group, and he didn’t like it. The more they worked to fortify the compound, the less secure they appeared. They needed an edge.

  He unfolded his hands and sat up. They needed to talk to the two men Titus had imprisoned. Remus and Justus had been a source of constant debate among the men, but they all knew those men had information that might help the Luna Lodge hybrids. Now, he just needed to convince Titus to talk to them.

  He let out a loud sigh. It didn’t seem likely that was going to happen soon. Titus was dead set on not having that talk until Lucius was back at his post, and that would take Hannah getting out of the hospital first. So, for now, they waited.

  His phone vibrated on his desk, and he looked at the screen. Titus.

  “Yeah,” he said when it was at his ear.

  “She’s at it again,” Titus said.

  Marius groaned inwardly. “What now?”

  “She threw something glass at one of the men and broke the window,” he said tightly. “Things just keep getting worse.”

  Marius clenched his fist. He was sick of this conversation. “What am I supposed to do?”

  He could hear Titus walking, likely pacing from the stress of everything. “I don’t know,” he said. “She can’t keep doing this. The men already distrust her.”

  “Maybe you should talk to her,” he said. If he could just take himself out as the middleman, his life would be so much easier.

  Titus responded with a short laugh. “Have you tried to talk to her? I think she’d rather stomp my dick a few times than talk to me.”

  Marius ignored the comment and continued on. “What do you want me to do?”

  Titus sighed. “Just keep her out of trouble until I can find someone else,” he said.

  The hairs on the back of his neck prickled. “You’re going to fire her?”

  He could hear the edge in his voice and tried to tell himself that it was just because they might be without a doctor.

  “I just don’t know what I’m supposed to do,” Titus said. “She doesn’t get along with the men, and now Erica and Kate are afraid to go to her. She’s a loose cannon, and I can’t trust that she’s going to do the right thing.”

  Marius frowned. He hadn’t realized it had gotten that bad. “And you don’t think talking to her might help?”

  There was a long pause before Titus spoke. “I think we’re beyond talking.”

  He closed his mouth. What did he care? It would mean he didn’t have to live with her anymore, and that would be a positive. Living with Rachel was like its own sort of little hell. He had never met a woman so scatterbrained or messy. If she wasn’t rushing off somewhere, she was busy making a mess and then leaving it for him to clean. To say it made him angry was an understatement.

  Despite all this, he’d freely admit she was brilliant. There were times when he wondered what she was doing there with them. It certainly didn’t seem to be mutually beneficial, but maybe he was missing something. Or maybe that was the problem. He couldn’t really say.

  “I’ll keep an eye on her,” he said. “I can’t promise she’ll listen, but I’ll try.”

  “Is this…” Titus paused before continuing. “Is this going to be a problem for you?”

  His heart hammered in his chest. They could smell it on him. With the way his body reacted to her, it was hard for them not to notice. He knew that, but there wasn’t much he could do about his reaction to Rachel. Their bodies called to one another, but their minds battled at every turn. That didn’t seem a very viable match to him.

  “I’ll do what’s best for the compound,” he said tightly.

  “Marius…” Titus began.

  “It’s fine,” he said with more force than he intended.

  They fell into silence, waiting for the other to go first. Titus was the first to speak.

  “Just get over to the clinic and see what’s going on,” Titus said. “I’ll send Varius and Cato over to relieve Servius and Zeno.”

  “I still don’t understand why Servius and Zeno are being used as guards,” Marius said. “You know the two of them don’t want anything to do with non-hybrids and are hot headed.”

  Titus sighed. “We don’t have much choice. I’ve got Sol out dealing with the repairs to the compound, and I’m trying to put together another team for missions with Major Carter.”

  Marius could hear the frustration in his voice, and he knew the recent abduction of Lucius and Hannah had taken a lot out of him. They were doing everything within their power to finally get ahead of the Group and, more pressingly, Romulus, but it was a daunting task.

  Everyone assumed the dangerously mutated hybrid was off licking his wounds from his recent ass kicking by Kate, but he had to be healed by now. It was only a matter of time before he showed up, and when he did, they needed to be at the top of their game.

  It just seemed to Marius like they constantly had too many balls, and the act of juggling them all was getting to be a bit hard.

  “We’re stretched thin right now,” Titus said. “I’d like to have others on, but some just aren’t ready. When we left the facility, there were too many of us that were lacking training in certain areas. Augustus is working with the younger ones, but Cyrus has the men, and it hasn’t been easy on him. Most are troublesome and don’t like that we’re here with so many non-hybrids.”

  Marius shook his head. He had heard growing rumbling that some men weren’t happy with the current situation. It all made little sense to him. Major Carter and his men had been more than helpful. Sure, there were some in the government that had it in for them, but that would happen whether they were working with Carter or not. At least this way, they knew who their allies were.

  “Just deal with the woman for the time being,” Titus said wearily.

  “Understood,” Marius said and hung up.

  There was no point in fighting. They were spread thin, and if Titus said Servius and Zeno were it, then that was likely the case.

  He groaned as he stood. This was really not going to be any fun.

  * * *

  Rachel stood hunkered over the lab bench. So very close. Only a fe
w more steps and she could bring the enhancement to Hannah. She’d checked Hannah’s vitals a few times and found her friend was struggling. She wouldn’t go soon or quickly, but it would be painful. So much so that she might actually wish for death. Once her organs started to fail, there wasn’t much they could do.

  Something banged against the door, and she nearly dropped the beaker in her hand. She placed it carefully on the table and stomped over to the door.

  “You kick that door one more fucking time…” she said as she flung open the door.

  Instead of two very tall mean hybrids, she found Marius. Despite having spent nearly a week living together, she still couldn’t help the reaction she had when he was around.

  He stared down at her, a perfect scowl in place. His rich brown hair rested neatly on the top of his head, and she wondered if he ever had a bad hair day. Her eyes landed on his perfect pressed lips, and she sighed. It seemed like no matter what she did, he was always pissed off at her.

  “I did not kick the door,” he said stiffly.

  She sighed and turned around. Sometimes there just wasn’t a point to even trying.

  “Whatever,” she said and took her seat at the lab table. It was a few moments before she realized he had moved up right behind her and now stood very close.

  “What are you doing?” he asked. His breath stirred her hair at her neck, and she shivered a little.

  Ignoring her reaction to him, she continued on. “Trying to save Hannah.”

  Rachel turned when she felt his eyes burning a hole in her back. He stood, arms crossed and frowning at her. Every fiber in her bristled at his behavior, and she wondered just what he thought she was doing.

  “And what are you trying to save her with?” he asked.

  She glanced to the door and knew they were listening in the hall. It didn’t matter who. They were always listening.

  Rachel turned back to the table. “I’m saving her with the only thing I can.”

  She breathed steadily out her nose as she made the last few alterations to the liquid. The color changed to the expected clear blue, and she smiled.

  “I hope that’s not what I think it is,” Marius hissed in her ear. She was surprised he had been able to get so close to her without her even noticing.

  She turned her head to let him have it but stopped. The mistake of the movement wasn’t obvious until her nose brushed across his soft lips. Rachel jerked her head back quickly and stared up at him. Pure shock stretched across his face as they stared at one another.

  Her nipples tightened when he continued to stare. There was something in that look that she’d never seen before in a man. It made her ache deep inside and called to her. The feeling unsettled her. His expression suggested he felt the same.

  “You know what Titus wants,” he said quietly. His gaze fell on the clear blue liquid, and she gripped it a little tighter.

  “I know he can’t have it,” she said. She met his stare and held it. A flash of gold she’d seen before flickered in his eyes as he spoke.

  “Why do you have to be so defiant all the time?” His lips curled, and she knew how much it annoyed him that she broke the rules from time to time.

  “Why do you have to be so obedient all the time?” she fired back.

  His face turned red at her comment, and before she could even register the offense, he was storming to the door.

  “Marius,” she said quickly. “I didn’t mean it like—”

  “You know,” he said, his back to her. She could see it was tense and hard beneath the white button-up he always wore. A lump worked its way into her throat when he turned to look at her. “Just once, you might want to consider others’ needs and wants over your own wants.”

  She watched in stunned silence as he opened the door and slammed it behind him.

  * * *

  Marius sat in the front waiting room near the door, fuming. How one woman could piss him off so much was just beyond him. All she had to do was give one good poke as to their pseudo-canine heritage, and he was livid.

  He sucked in slow breaths as he waited for her to emerge from her cave. He’d had enough of her shit today. There was no way he was going back in there.

  His ears perked up at the quiet click of the door and her muffled footsteps.

  She glanced his way as she passed by but hurried toward the patient rooms down the other end of the hall. Marius sighed and stood. If she was going to go injecting people with random substances, he needed to be there to make sure this wasn’t going to come back and bite them in the ass. Mainly bite him in the ass. Not to mention how eager Titus was to get his hands on Rachel’s discovery. Personally, Marius thought the whole thing was a bad idea, but it wasn’t like anyone was going to ask his opinion.

  Slowly, Marius made his way down the hall. Rachel had already turned into one of the rooms, and he could hear her moving quietly around. He stopped at the door and watched through the window as she approached the bed. Even through the thick glass, he could hear Hannah’s labored breathing. It was hard knowing she was suffering like that. Everyone there really liked the sweet little party planner. Even if he wasn’t a big fan of the activities himself, they were good for them as a group.

  Not that he would let any of them know that. Give them an inch, and they would be having parties every week, something they could hardly afford now.

  Rachel sat on the bed. She lovingly placed a hand on Hannah’s forehead. He could see the little beads of sweat that had formed there and wondered just how bad her condition had become. He was no doctor, but it seemed to him that she was getting worse by the second.

  “How are you feeling?” Rachel asked.

  Hannah struggled to swallow and gave a weak smile.

  “Tired,” she said, almost so faint that he couldn’t hear her. Her eyes fluttered for a moment and then shut. He watched in horror as her body stiffened, and she started to convulse.

  Marius pushed open the door and stopped just inside. He could see Lucius, who had been pacing the floor, race to Hannah’s side.

  Rachel pulled out the vial containing the blue liquid but was pushed back hard by Lucius. Marius rushed forward to brace her fall with his body. Her head slammed hard into his chest, but she held on firmly to the vial. Not even bothering to stop, Rachel turned, still in his arms and walked back toward the bed.

  Lucius growled loudly when she stepped closer.

  “Rachel,” Marius said calmly. “You need to back away from him. He’s protecting her.”

  “We discussed this earlier, though,” she replied. “He agreed.”

  Marius shook his head. “He’s not entirely rational at the moment.”

  She turned to look at him. Marius could see that the impact from her fall had busted open her lip. Something in him flickered in irritation at the sight.

  “She’s having a seizure,” she said. “I need to give her this.”

  Rachel held up the vial. Her hands shook, and he wondered if she was really as tough as she acted.

  “Will it work?”

  Rachel stared at him and then lowered the vial to her side. Her shoulders slumped forward, and for the first time, she looked almost defeated. It wasn’t a look that he liked seeing on her.

  “It’s the best we’ve got,” she said quietly.

  Marius looked over to Lucius and sighed.

  “Okay,” he said. “Just be ready to give her that stuff.”

  Rachel pulled out a needle and sucked up the liquid into a syringe she had capped in her pocket.

  “If I can inject it into her, it should start working faster,” she said to him as he watched.

  She held up the full needle and nodded. Marius took in a deep breath and sized up Lucius. Although the other hybrid was bigger, Marius figured he should be able to hold him off long enough, at least until she had finished her job. Granted, fighting hadn’t been his prime concern, but it wasn’t like he was without his skill. They had all been trained under the same guidelines.

  Not gi
ving himself or Lucius much time to think, he raced forward and grabbed the large hybrid around the middle. With far less effort than he expected, Marius yanked him back from the bed and swung him around so he faced the opposite direction. Lucius let a roar loose that shook the walls.

  “Now!” Marius shouted over to Rachel.

  She watched briefly as the two men wrestled on the side of the room, surprised Marius was able to hold off the massive hybrid. She’d never really thought of Marius as a fighter, but he wasn’t really any smaller than the other hybrids. Maybe it was the job he had. Being the accountant didn’t really bring to mind those kinds of things. Not that she really cared either way.

  Rachel tore her eyes from the threat to her right and looked to her friend. Luckily, Hannah’s seizures seemed to have passed for now, and she rested with her eyes closed, but she had a growing concern that something else was at play that she just couldn’t see. Syringe in hand, she dropped hard on the bed and tried to ignore the sounds of flesh hitting flesh. She could only hope at this point that she would be able to do her job, and Marius wouldn’t be too badly hurt.

  Hannah’s fingers were like ice when Rachel lifted them to find a vein on the inside of her arm. Just another thing to note in her charts.

  Heart hammering in her chest, Rachel swallowed when she found the vein she would use. There weren’t going to be a lot of chances with this. If the enhancement didn’t work, it was likely Hannah wouldn’t make it. Tears burned her eyes, and she tried to blink them away. This was no time to be sentimental.

  Rachel took a deep breath and pulled the cap off the needle. A few swipes of her swab, and she had the needle lined up with the vein. It slipped in with ease, and she let out the breath she had been holding. She pulled a little blood inside the syringe.

  The door burst open.

  “What the fuck is going on?”

  She turned to see Varius and Cato standing angrily in the door, glaring directly at her. Not bothering to stop, she pressed firmly on the syringe, emptying the entire amount into Hannah.