Sergius: #4 (Luna Lodge: Hunters of Atlas)

by Stevens,Madison

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Title

  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

  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 © 2016 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.

  Cover designed by Najla Qamber Designs

  Sergius (Luna Lodge: Hunters of Atlas #4)

  by

  Madison Stevens

  Life’s been a tough road for Jade. Drunk and abusive parents made her childhood hell, and her adult life’s been a long, tiring struggle against debt.

  When she joined the Azilian cult, she mostly wanted a little money to help her financial situation, but after witnessing the horrors of the group, she risked her own life to help the mate of a hybrid.

  Now living with the hybrids, she’s unsure of her place in the world. It doesn’t help that many of them don’t trust her and think she’s an Azilian spy.

  Sergius knows that Jade is the one for him, the woman that completes him, but nothing in the life of a hybrid is easy. The woman is resistant to the idea of a relationship, and evidence she has strange powers is beginning to make some of the other hybrids nervous about the outsider.

  Pursuing Jade might be challenge enough, but when her unusual abilities open her to a deadly risk, even the strength of a hybrid might not be enough to save her.

  Chapter One

  Jade sat on the small porch of the cabin. She watched as people moved all around her in the small little community they had built, many with their blue tattoos visible.

  The whole experience remained strange, being in a place she knew nothing about with people she knew even less about. And yet there she was, sitting there among them, as if she were one of them.

  The situation would have been odd enough if the people around her weren’t hybrids, more than human.

  Part of her wanted to fit in, hybrid or not. To be one of them, to have people to count on. It was more than she ever thought she could have.

  It was something she believed she'd found with the Azilians. Despite their strange ways and talk of Atlantis mysticism, she still felt a connection with the women she lived with at the compound.

  She’d felt like they were all a part of something more important than themselves, greater. No matter how strange it sounded, she couldn’t deny she’d felt it.

  But Jade had watched as the strange blue stone warped the minds of several of the women, and by the end, she was left wondering if she would be the next, if she’d be left a shell of the person she used to be.

  When she’d handled the stone to help Taylor, it was a big risk, but it didn’t, from what she could tell, affect her.

  Whatever it was doing, she didn’t want any part of it and that was all she needed to know. She wanted to be part of something greater, but that didn’t mean she wanted to be a tool to be used, broken, and discarded.

  The wind rustled through the trees, ruffling her short black hair. She shivered a little in her shorts and t-shirt. The weather had already turned chilly. Fall was coming soon.

  She needed to make a choice. Would she stay where she was, with the hybrids, or make her own way?

  The question seemed simple on the surface, but in truth, it wasn’t. Here, she faced the dark world of the hybrids.

  The Azilian cult had promised her a connection, but under their own terms. Now, though, being free of their control meant being free of their protection.

  She wasn’t sure she wanted to face the hybrids given everything she’d heard about them in the media. The hybrids had killed people on live television and put people around them in danger.

  She’d even heard they might be snatching women off the street to use for their own twisted fun. The fact the Azilians seemed interested in hybrids only made them seem more dangerous.

  They may have rescued her from the Azilians, but that was in the process of a violent raid on the cult, and it wasn’t the first one. They offered their excuses, but the violence was undeniable.

  Admittedly, the group that had rescued her seemed all right, so far. They were far away from the hybrids of Luna Lodge. Maybe the members of the other group were worse behaved. She didn’t know.

  What other choice did she have? On her own, she wasn't sure she would be much better off. The world had proved to be harsh and unrelenting.

  On her own. She frowned at the thought.

  She knew the life of solitude quite well. Early on, she learned that in most cases, she was better off away from others, somewhere far away from her boozing father and his many women who had no problem stealing from his teen daughter.

  When she’d gotten smart enough to start hiding every last bit of money she earned from working, it still hadn’t stopped him and his floozies from screwing her over one final time.

  Nothing like a fun Vegas getaway with your latest skank after taking out cash advances on a credit card in your daughter’s name, a card she didn’t sign up for.

  She could still remember the look on that asshole’s face when she’d confronted him about the card and how little he’d cared that it had gone into collections or that she was going to have to use all the money from her school savings to partially pay the debt in order to keep it out of the courts.

  That had been the final straw for her. She’d packed everything she owned and left that night. He hadn’t tried to call once in the last four years.

  Not that it mattered. Each time she paid on the damn bill, the sting of his actions still burned deep in her.

  She’d been so close to breaking free of that life, just a bit longer with the Azilians, and she would have had it all paid off. Now she was right back where she started.

  Jade gave a small laugh as she watched several men pass by with blue eyes and striking blue tattoos. Maybe not exactly where she started.

  A pair of women passed by. One of them sneered at her. She recognized the woman, Dea. Not exactly her biggest fan. Her piercing blue eyes stared right through Jade.

  "They will let anyone in here," Dea said to her friend. "I suppose we have that crazy cult to blame for this. How can we trust her? She’s probably an Azilian spy.”

  The woman’s friend huffed loudly, either annoyed by what her friend said or that it even needed to be said. Jade wasn't really sure if she wanted to know the truth.

  She glared back at the woman and her friend as they walked away. The sound of their snickers carried over to her.

  In truth, she had no friends. Taylor was the only woman she truly counted as a friend, but she lived with Lucas and her father on the ranch and away from the hybrid community. Even then, it wasn't exactly like she had developed a true friendship with Taylor.

  Being forced to stay with one another at the Azilian compound had made them friends by default. Still, she hoped to dee
pen those bonds with her, or find someone to connect with.

  Her thoughts drifted to Sergius. The hulking man with a shaved head always seemed to be just where she was. Always there checking on her and making sure that she had what she needed.

  Although she knew it was his duty to do so, it still made her wonder about him. Wonder about if there was more between them.

  She didn’t know what to believe about some of the things the Azilians had said, but they claimed some women would be able to be with special hybrids.

  Some of the brainwashed women even mentioned it, but she’d not been told directly she was meant for such a thing.

  It was probably just garbage they told lonely women to manipulate them, and the ones who believed it already seemed pretty far gone anyway.

  She didn’t care as much about that, initially just being more interested in some of the payments the Azilians offered for participation.

  When Sergius was near, her heart thumped hard in her chest. Never in her life had she felt this way about another person. The very fact that he made her feel something at all scared her. And despite her standoffish ways, the larger part of her wanted to see if there could be more between them. Never had she even thought about a relationship seriously, but he made her want to know what it might be like.

  Jade shook her head. It was a silly thought. She needed to keep her head in the game, especially since her time there at the compound might be short. She didn’t have a special destiny or any nonsense like that.

  The hybrids had helped her out because she helped them out. That was it. She couldn’t let Azilian brainwashing convince her anything more was going on.

  She watched from her porch as people filtered into a building across the way. A meeting place, or so she’d been told.

  They had been doing it for days. Meeting. Talking about her. Spy? Problem? Both?

  It infuriated her to no end that anyone there even saw her as a threat. She was who she was just as they were, but that didn’t seem to make much a difference to some there. Right now they held her life in their hands, and there was nothing she could do about it.

  Once again Jade was in the position of depending on other people, and she was sure it would turn out as well as it had the first time.

  A funny feeling spread through her, and she knew Sergius was there without even looking up.

  Slowly, she brought her eyes up and found his bright blue eyes staring back at her. Just like always, her heart thumped hard in her chest. He stared at her with such intensity she wasn't sure she could handle him.

  He was watching her from across the way. He didn't wave, or smile. He looked at her as if she were the most fascinating thing on the planet and under his stare, she almost believed it.

  Jade’s heart sank as more people walked into the meeting house. He might be watching her, but that didn't mean that he was on her side or that he could even do anything about the situation.

  Just like always, she was on her own.

  Jade stood, tired of watching the people around her ignore her existence or, when they didn’t, dealing with their distrust. She dusted off a bit of dirt from the porch that had gotten onto her shorts and stretched her legs a little after sitting so long. Her eyes once again found his across the courtyard.

  Yes, it was time to move on.

  Chapter Two

  Sergius watched Jade from afar.

  Keeping himself away from her tore him up inside, but he knew it was for the best. She was his, his Vestal, his destined mate. She called to every fiber of his being.

  He inhaled deeply. Her sweet Vestal scent filled his nose, calling to him.

  He grunted. He had to bide his time. She seemed skittish and didn’t understand their hybrid ways.

  Even if the Azilians had been collecting Vestals, she hadn’t been raised knowing that there was one person made to be with her. Even if she felt it as he suspected, feeling and knowing were two separate things.

  Circumstance had tossed Jade into the hybrid life all at once and not under the best of circumstances. Telling her about her Vestal background would only complicate the situation, assuming she even believed it. They hadn’t talked much, but the Azilians could have spread all sorts of misinformation.

  Jade stood. His breath caught in the back of his throat.

  Beautiful. So beautiful. Painfully so.

  Her short dark jet black hair floated softly against her head. Even from the distance he could spot her sweet red Cupid’s bow mouth. Her lush curves made him ache.

  Sergius took in a deep breath. He again let the floral scent of her fill his nose.

  Once again, her pale green eyes met his. He could feel the weight of her stare, and it tore him to pieces. Every part of him told him to go to her.

  She dropped her gaze and turned to walk inside. His mind returned to the problem at hand.

  He stepped back from the door as more people filtered into the meeting room. More people were coming to the meetings, but for all the wrong reasons. He didn’t want to go to another meeting. He was sick of fucking meetings.

  Talking. Too much painful talking.

  The last two weeks had been nothing but meetings. Meetings about the Azilians. Meetings about Jade. Meetings just for the sake of meetings as best he could tell.

  Lately, it seemed like sitting around and babbling about crap was the only thing they could accomplish.

  The last of the people coming stepped into the room, and Sergius followed behind. He stood a good head taller than anyone else in the room. A few of the other hybrids moved away from him slightly. Their unease around him was clear.

  Sergius knew he scared them. He was large, even for a hybrid. Their reactions didn’t offend him.

  It was just the nature of things. Complaining was pointless.

  He stepped back toward the corner of the room to make them feel more comfortable. A small sacrifice, but a necessary one.

  “If I could have your attention,” said Rem, their leader. “I’d like to get this shit over with so we can move on to the good stuff.”

  Sergius stifled a snicker. Rem was never one to mince words.

  “I know we’ve been over the issue with Jade a number of times, and I’d like to just put this all to rest.”

  “She doesn’t belong here,” a woman said from nearby, Dea. “We can’t trust her. She’s probably a spy for the Azilians. We have to think of our safety.”

  Rem stared hard at the woman. She shrank back a bit, knowing that her leader disapproved of what she’d said. After all, Jade wouldn’t have been allowed to join them without his permission. A criticism of Jade was, in a sense, a criticism of their leader.

  “Jade belongs here as much as any of us do,” Rem said sternly. “She is a Vestal. She’s meant to be with us, and her home belongs with us. We share the same past, present, and future.”

  Sergius nodded. His heart swelled at his leader’s words. She did belong with them. Or more aptly, she belonged with him. If he was a part of the community, then she was as well.

  “But she knows things,” Dea said, shaking her head. “This isn’t just about her being a Vestal. She knows things that shouldn’t be known. If she is a spy, she’s using that against us. The Azilians are dangerous, and the Horatius Group is still out there.”

  Murmurs swept through the room.

  Rem glanced over to Sergius. They had heard this before from several people now. Jade had a gift. A gift that none of them had seen before.

  It wasn’t unprecedented. There was a Vestal at Luna Lodge who had an unusual, if not unique, gift. She could sense the emotions of others around her. Even though they were far from Luna Lodge, the mere existence of such a Vestal suggested that it wasn’t impossible for Jade, or any other Vestal, to have special powers.

  In truth, their knowledge about Vestals was very limited. The Horatius Group had spent less time learning about the women they were using than the hybrids they held, and they hadn’t exactly been eager to share what they knew with either t
he hybrids or the Vestals.

  Because of that, for all Sergius, or any other hybrid, knew, the Vestals might have unlimited potential, maybe even more than the hybrids.

  And although he would never voice it out loud, Sergius believed the tale they had been told concerning their ancestry being linked to the lost city of Atlantis. To him, the idea of being Atlantean didn’t really seem so far-fetched.

  Either way it didn’t really matter. They weren’t human. At least not totally. And even their known gifts had far surpassed what the Horatius Group had originally anticipated from their experiments.

  He shifted his feet side to side, uncomfortable with the path the conversation had taken. All it would take is one person to decide to do something about Jade, and the tide would shift. The hybrids didn’t exactly specialize in handling their problems with diplomacy and talk.

  It didn’t matter. He didn’t care if Rem himself turned on Jade.

  He would fight for her. He would die for her if needed. But it still might not be enough to save her.

  “I’m just saying,” the woman continued, “that this woman… well, we can’t trust someone who came from an enemy with strange powers. Maybe even evil powers.”

  Rem laughed loudly, startling a few in the room. “Are you calling her a witch?”

  Several people looked away from their leader, unable to hold his gaze while he mocked them without mercy.

  “Whatever gifts Jade possesses,” he said, “are gifts that are of benefit to our people.” He stared each person in the room down, not breaking eye contact as he did so. “Right now, you’re acting no better than the humans who have attacked Luna Lodge. There is no such thing as normal.” He shook his head. “None of us would meet the standards of normal, especially given our heritage. And I will never look down on someone who is extraordinary.”

  Extraordinary. It wasn’t a word Sergius would associate with their people, but he knew Rem was right. They were extraordinary. Possessing something no one else could was useful.