Cato: #13 (Luna Lodge)

by Madison Stevens

  Plus, of course Cato would be talking to Jill and not her. Wendy had spent the entire day doing her best to avoid talking to him, or even being close to him. It wasn’t like she could expect him to sit in a corner crying and waiting for her.

  Nope. There was no way in hell she was jealous. If only she could convince the pain in her heart that was the case.

  Wendy let out a long sigh. She couldn’t complain that she’d made a choice and now had to deal with the consequences. After the colonel’s little talk, she’d made the conscious decision to distance herself from Cato, at least for a while. If anything to help sort out what the hell she actually wanted.

  Why did things have to be so complicated? All she wanted to do was keep the career and the man she had wished for. It seemed unfair that because she was a woman she would have to give up one or the other.

  She wasn’t even sure if that was the case, even if she wanted to advance higher. It wasn’t exactly like married senior female NCOs unfindable unicorns.

  Sure, it could be harder for women, but that didn’t make it impossible. Maybe the colonel had to make that choice because of her particular career situation, but that didn’t mean the same thing would apply to Wendy.

  As a waiter brushed past her, Wendy realized that Colonel Hall wasn’t wrong. Cato wasn’t just some man, after all. He was a hybrid.

  She couldn’t ask him to turn his back on his people if she was assigned elsewhere, and that was assuming things didn’t get messier for whatever reason.

  No matter the problem, she couldn’t get Cato out of her head. They were a part of one another. What he had said about souls made sense because she was certain he held a piece of hers.

  This wasn’t as simple as just passing on a nice boyfriend. The wrong choice might haunt her for the rest of her life.

  “Wendy.”

  The sound of his voice brought her back to just where she was, a busy party.

  “I need to talk to you,” Cato said.

  She turned to glare at him.

  He looked so good in his button-down shirt with just a hint of that magnificent chest peeking through. It was no wonder that the reporter had been attracted to him. She was half surprised all the women in the room weren’t hitting on him.

  The thought soured her mood even more.

  “Maybe you should just go talk with your reporter friend again,” Wendy snipped.

  It was childish and petty and totally not something she meant to say, but the words came out nonetheless.

  He moved in quickly. She could smell the aftershave he’d used, and it made her want to move in closer for a better smell. Cato gripped her upper arm in a firm hold.

  A grim expression covered his face. “We can talk later about Jill, but right now, we’ve got a serious problem.”

  All her jealousy drained away. This wasn’t something minor. In the time they had spent with one another, not once had she seen him look so worried.

  Wendy scanned the room. She’d been so wrapped up in her pity that she hadn’t noticed. A lot of the conversations had quieted. Every hybrid she saw looked worried.

  “What’s going on?”

  Cato shook his head as a waitress passed by with a silver tray full of hors d'oeuvres. “We need to find Colonel Hall. Now.”

  Wendy nodded. She didn’t know what was going on, but she trusted Cato.

  They both looked around the room and found the colonel talking with several people.

  “Don’t raise an alarm,” Cato whispered in her ear. “Get her to follow you in the hall. I’ll be there with Titus. He can explain.”

  Wendy nodded and watched as he made his way to the door.

  She could do this. The only really issue was how her commander would feel being deceived. There wasn’t time to think on that. She either acted on trust or not.

  Wendy made her way over to Colonel Hall.

  “Sorry to interrupt, ma’am,” she said with a bright smile. “I was hoping I might get your opinion on something.”

  Colonel Hall stared at her for a moment and then turned to the men. “If you’ll excuse me for a moment.” The took several steps away before Colonel Hall spoke. “What’s wrong?”

  Wendy looked over to her, surprised that she could even guess.

  “Don’t be so surprised,” the other woman said. “You don’t spent years commanding troops and not pick up a thing or two about reading people.”

  Wendy shook her head as they made their way to the hall. “I’m not sure, but Titus is waiting in the hall.”

  Colonel Hall nodded. “Understood.”

  They stepped through the door, and both were surprised to find about a dozen hybrids standing there.

  “What’s the meaning of all this?” Colonel Hall snapped, a frown appearing on her face.

  “I’m sorry, Maria,” Titus said. “We were just informed that there is a possibility that a bomb has been planted in this building.”

  Wendy looked over to where Cato stood next to the reporter. He nodded for Jill to speak.

  “I got a tip that there was a bomb,” Jill said.

  Colonel Hall narrowed her eyes on the woman. “From who?”

  Jill stood a little taller. “I’m not at liberty to say. But I know this is coming from inside the government.”

  “Our government? The tip?”

  “You don’t understand.” Jill shook her head slowly. “No. The bombing.”

  Colonel Hall snorted. “That makes no sense. Why the hell would our government want to bomb their own people?”

  Titus raised a brow. “Why indeed?” He stared at Colonel Hall. “You’re a soldier, you already have to know the truth. Sometimes all it’s takes is one ambitious politician, maybe a senator with a grudge, for example, and soon innocent people are getting hurt, and that’s not even when a hybrid might be involved.”

  “You expect me to believe that someone in the US government is coordinating a terrorist bombing on US soil that might get US Army soldiers killed?”

  “I expect you to believe that if someone believed the hybrids are a serious enough threat, that a little collateral damage would be considered acceptable losses if they could take us out.”

  The colonel’s face tightened.

  Wendy watched as the colonel processed everything she had just heard. She could tell that the whole thing bothered her, but she wasn’t going to let that affect how she dealt with the situation.

  “If we disrupt this party, and say there’s a bomb, the facility will never recover,” Colonel Hall said. “If what you say is true, then whoever is pulling the strings will use it as an excuse to try and put more pressure on this place not less.” Titus started to say something but stopped when she held up her hand. “We need to assess if there is actually a threat.”

  Titus nodded. “I’m on it. My men can move silently and smell if there is anything off.”

  Wendy thought for a moment that the colonel might protest.

  “Then we’ll rely on your skills,” she said. “I’ll quietly send a few men to guard the children.”

  Titus nodded. “Thank you.”

  Colonel Hall turned to head back inside but stopped just outside the door. “When this is all over, I think you and I should have a talk.”

  Titus nodded. “Agreed.”

  She nodded again and walked toward the door. “I need your help, Sergeant.”

  Wendy chanced a look at Cato. His eyes were following her as she made her way to the door.

  “I’ll find you,” he said.

  His words were low, but she still heard them as clear as if he were standing next to her.

  She nodded. Her heart beat painfully in her chest as she stepped through the doors.

  Danger and uncertainty came with being a solider. She knew this. They all had a job to do, and they would just have to trust that they would see one another at the end.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Titus assigned Cato, Alair, and Nikon to check the back of the building. It was one of the mos
t likely areas for an entry point, as it wasn’t as well-lit and the easiest spot to slip in an attacker or bomb.

  Clouds covered the sky, leaving dark shadows in the area. The hybrids’ superior night vision prevented the night from being too much of a handicap, but it didn’t push away the eerie feeling settling over Cato.

  It still wasn’t clear how the bomb would have gotten in. Getting into the building was one thing and easy, but getting into the Lodge was another.

  Ever since the hybrids were made aware of the tunnels running under the Lodge, Titus had made sure they were watched at all times. Lucan was outside the fence, and it was easiest for him seeing as the military still wasn’t aware of his presence.

  If one of the townspeople had managed to enter the tunnels with a bomb, he should have been able to tell, given his superior smell and the unusual scents involved. But Titus and Sol hadn’t received any report from Lucan about unusual traffic in the tunnels. He was checking again, but no one held much hope he’d found anything.

  There was always the risk the terrorists were using a spray the hybrids had seen encountered before when dealing with the Horatius group. It prevented hybrids from picking up on normal scent trails. Even then, it left an odd scent that most of them were now familiar with.

  The military was watching the fence. It’d make sense if a traitor let in a bomber to kill hybrids, but he doubted they’d be willing to let someone in who might kill hundreds of humans.

  Whatever had happened, it wasn’t good. Someone would have to pay for a bomb killing human soldiers. The country would want revenge, and scum like the hybrid-hating Senator Woods would be able to deflect the blame from the government or the Group and on to the hybrids.

  No matter what, the hybrids would be blamed for this and would likely end up being locked away for good. It would be easy after the hatred they had endured these past few months.

  Cato grunted. He still couldn’t believe whoever was targeting the party was willing to sacrifice so many humans, but like Titus had told the colonel, they probably considered it an acceptable loss.

  Fucking bastards. They acted like hybrids were the monsters, but hybrids would never casually kill their own kind just to take out some of the enemy.

  The whole fucking thing just pissed him off. He was sick and fucking tired of people playing with their lives like god, especially such ruthless pricks.

  “Nothing over here,” Alair said.

  Cato nodded. They had swept the area several times but hadn’t found anything. They were running out of time.

  Something moved in the distance. He clenched his fist and looked that way. If needed, he’d take down a bomber rather than let them get near the building, even if it cost him his own life.

  He took in a deep breath and relaxed as the familiar scent of a fellow hybrid reached him. The distant dark shape closed until he could clearly see Lucan.

  Lucan sprinted toward him, almost charging, before stopping just a few feet in front of him. He was likely the fastest runner they had at the Lodge.

  “Anything at the tunnels?” Cato asked.

  Lucan shook his head. “Titus just came by with some of the other men. Things are quiet tonight at the mill. Entirely too quiet. I made my way inside the gate to just check on things. I don’t trust them. Quiet always means trouble.”

  Cato scrubbed a hand over his face. There was something they were missing. If the townspeople weren’t at the mill and weren’t in the tunnels, then where in the hell were they?

  “Son of a bitch,” he muttered.

  He turned to the men to explain but stopped when a loud explosion rocked the building around them. It tossed them to the ground, but they quickly got back up to their feet.

  “It came from inside,” Lucan said.

  Cato nodded as they raced toward the back door. They had the best chance of getting in there before any of the other hybrids. It would all rest on them to make sure things were handled.

  “The townspeople are the waitstaff!” he shouted to them as they entered. “Get as many out as you can.”

  The military had screened all the employees, but military screening wouldn’t mean shit if their enemy were using their mind-control signal, which they’d done a good job of refining in recent months.

  Even if the townspeople were dangerous, they were just as much pawns in the game as anyone else. Poor mind-controlled bastards. From what the hybrids had seen, some of the even had to deal with the horror of realizing the evil they were doing during a mind-control session, but were helpless to stop it.

  And for that matter, it might only be a single person in the whole group who was involved in the attack. The rest were just innocent people trying to earn a living.

  “Leah,” Alair said quietly.

  Cato’s first thoughts were of Wendy, but he had to trust that she would be all right. She was trained for combat. Wendy would be fine. She had to be.

  Red lights flashed as they raced through the kitchen. Nikon stayed behind to help pull the staff outside to safety. Many people rested against the wall or lay on the ground, dazed and couching.

  Water from sprinklers rained down on them and didn’t help with the traction on the floor, but Cato pushed through. It was better they sprinklers did their job than people died from a fire.

  Shouts and screams sounded from the ballroom. The sounds sent chills to his bones.

  He fought to keep his emotions under control as he and Alair stepped into the room. Smoke, water, and debris made it hard to see far in front of them, even with their keen sight.

  Chaos reigned. The explosion had ripped a corner completely from the room. Red stains streaked the walls around them, and he tried not the think who had been near when it had gone off. That was no way to die.

  In the middle of it all, he spotted Wendy and Colonel Hall shouting orders to the soldiers they came across. The men and women may have been at a party, but they were still members of the Army, and knew their way around tense situations.

  The were concentrating on trying to clear out the windows and free people trapped under debris.

  He nodded to Alair and then both sprinted to separate rubble piles, yanking wood and metal off trapped people and hybrids.

  “Damn cowardly bombing bastards,” Cato growled as he freed two trapped soldiers and helped them up.

  Rubble covered the closest door leading outside. They were having to send people through the halls, which caused its own issues.

  As he took in more of the horror, a man nearby caught his eye. The vacant stare that met his made his blood run cold. It was one of them. He was sure of it.

  “Wait,” he shouted to the man.

  Cato ran toward the open door the man was slipping though. Maybe he could get to the bomb before it went off.

  The man raised something in his hand, some sort of trigger.

  “Shit,” Cato said. He slammed the door shut. A thunderous boom shook the other side. Another explosion burst from another part of the room.

  The combined force slammed into Cato and sent him flying from the scene. The heavy metal door slammed into him as he fell hard to the ground. The wall crumbled around the empty hole.

  He’d saved the people in the room, but that did little for the fire and structural damage. If they didn’t get out of there, the building would collapse and kill them anyway.

  “Cato!” Wendy shouted over the carnage around him.

  His mind focused on her voice as he forced himself back from nearly passing out.

  He lifted the door off and grunted when he sat up. Nothing he couldn’t recover from.

  “Man up, Cato,” Colonel Hall shouted down at him.

  Cato wanted to laugh, but damned if she wasn’t right. There wasn’t any time to waste. If they were going to get out of there, he needed to get up. Moving was everything.

  Wendy wrapped her arms around him. “Thank God you’re safe.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Wendy knew they didn’t have time for her to hug h
im, but she couldn’t stop. She had been so worried since the explosion. It had come from nowhere when the bomb went off. The sound deafened her and threw her off balance.

  Immediately, Colonel Hall swung into action telling the men to start clearing out the wounded and seeing to those that were able to move. She’d dealt with this sort of situation before in Afghanistan.

  Wendy stood, and all her training kicked in. She knew she couldn’t think about if Cato was alive. All she could do was focus on the people in front of her and keep them alive.

  When he’d entered the room, a sigh of relief slipped out. She’d never been so relieved to see another person.

  Even now, battered by the latest explosion, he was still alive. His warm body pressed to her own.

  She glanced over to the floor nearby. Leah sat with Jamie’s head in her lap. Jamie was still unconscious from the first explosion. They’d had to dig her out, and Wendy worried for her friend, though she was still breathing.

  “Sergeant,” Colonel Hall said sharply. “We need to move.”

  Wendy pulled back from Cato and helped him to his feet. His hand was firmly in hers as they made their way toward the others.

  She could see several casualties lying dead on the floor. Both hybrids and humans had been unable to escape the first explosion. The attack was too sudden.

  Alair and a hybrid she’d didn’t know were pulling the rubble away from the door that lead directly outside. They had been sealed in. The hall was closed off now, and the second explosion had closed off the way the hybrids had come.

  The other hybrid looked over at Cato. “You okay?”

  “Well enough, Lucan,” Cato said.

  Lucan? Something about that name rang a bell, but Wendy set it to the side for a moment. She didn’t have time to worry about it.

  “Nikon is on the other side,” Lucan shouted. “If we can make enough room, we might be able to squeeze some of them out.”

  Cato nodded. Wendy watched as he grimaced in pain from his injuries but still pulled the heavy blocks away.