Cassius

by Stevens, Madison

  Kind, perhaps, but not always safe, given what CJ had told her about Ouroboros, but the mysterious organization didn’t worry her. She wouldn’t let fear take away from this moment. She didn’t need to. She had CJ.

  Hybrids were superhuman, and whatever scheme some lurker scumbags had in store, CJ and his partner could handle it. They had already sniffed out the problem, and she wouldn’t have been surprised if Ouroboros packed up and went home now that they realized the hybrids were on to them. They would go down just like the Horatius Group.

  Kendra wanted to call up Graham and tell him she’d been right, but she wasn’t sure if CJ would like her spreading his true identity. After everything she’d heard about the hybrids being mistreated, she could understand why they’d want to keep a low profile, and as much as she trusted Graham, she didn’t want to start off her new relationship with her soulmate on the wrong foot. For now, she had a simple task, withdrawing from the race.

  She sighed, small hints of disappointment finally creeping in as she continued her final tour of the course. She’d trained long and hard for the race, and not being able to run it hurt, but the last thing she wanted to do was give CJ more reasons to worry.

  He might be wrong about anything suspicious going on, but that didn’t mean his feelings weren’t real. She needed to prove to him she’d respect him.

  Kendra eyed the closest obstacle. It was an uneven pyramid climbing challenge that turned into a difficult rope-swinging transfer after the summit. While she hadn’t done this exact type of obstacle before, her climbing experience and arm strength were well-suited for it. When she’d seen it the day before, she’d become excited.

  It wasn’t that she thought it’d be easy. Instead, it’d push her to her limits. She’d have to dynamically adjust her strategy while relying on her physical conditioning. The obstacle would have tested her body and mind.

  Kendra sighed. Sometimes in life a woman couldn’t have it all.

  There were a lot of good obstacles on the course. It was a shame she wouldn’t be able to run it.

  She kept reminding herself that it was one race, and skipping it didn’t mean she was giving up the sport. Everything would work out, just like it had with her dating situation. She’d concentrate on what she needed to do and the fact she’d found a great guy.

  Plenty of OCR athletes suffered injuries that kept them off courses and out of races for months if not years and came back to the sport. All she needed to do was not look like she was afraid to her fans. She couldn’t ignore all the hype leading up to the event.

  An obvious solution presented itself. All she would need to do was go with a cover story about a minor injury to justify why she had to pull out of the race. Lying to her fans didn’t make her feel good, but it’s not like she could announce an evil organization might be there looking for hybrids and Vestals. It might even make things worse for the hybrids.

  It was a strange feeling, being both elated at realizing who CJ was and unsure about what would happen that day, let alone the next. Kendra had always tried to take her life day-by-day, but she tried to have a direction to point herself, and now she found herself questioning that direction.

  Was she meant to be the Roving Champion? Would that even be possible if she went off with CJ?

  From what she knew, the hybrids didn’t even live in America anymore. She wasn’t ready to give up everything, but she also didn’t want to let CJ go. Her heart and very soul told her she would regret it for the rest of her life, and she would never, ever find a man like him again.

  “It’s okay,” she murmured to herself after taking a deep breath. “I’ll figure it out going forward. First things first, I need to get out of this race.”

  Kendra pushed against the stream of fans and athletes walking the circuit to explore the obstacles. She apologized along the way, worried about getting recognized and getting slowed further. Soaking in fan praise on her way to drop out under false pretenses didn’t feel right, even if she had good reasons for the deception.

  It was hard to push against the massive ocean of people threatening to sweep her along. She understood their desire to inspect everything as closely as they could before the event started.

  A good obstacle looked different up-close than it did on the TV from the comfort of one’s own home. Seeing the heights and sizes involved could communicate how difficult the sport could be. That made it even more exciting for fans and deepened their appreciation.

  A teen girl stepped in front of her. “No way. It’s you! You’re the Roving Champion.”

  Kendra smiled and slowed, almost overwhelmed by the enthusiasm in the girl’s eyes. “Hi.”

  “You competing today?” the girl asked.

  Kendra sighed and shook her head. “I’m sorry. Something came up, and it’s not safe for me to compete. A little overtraining can go a long way toward ruining your day.”

  The girl’s face scrunched up. “I missed half my long-distance season last year because I screwed up my knee. I feel your pain.” She smiled and pulled out her phone. “Could I get a selfie with you?”

  “Sure.”

  It wasn’t like the world was going to end because she spent a couple more minutes getting through the crowd. The more she thought about it, the more her hurry felt misplaced. She had plenty of time before the event started.

  Kendra moved behind the girl and put up her V sign. The girl snapped the picture and waved, a huge smile on her face. The expression lightened Kendra’s heart.

  Fans were always fun. It’d taken Kendra a while to get used to the idea of people being her fans, but now that she was at peace with it, she always strived to make sure they left with a positive experience, regardless of what was going on with her. It was the least she can do for all the people who had supported her and allowed her to have an independent sports career.

  “Have fun,” Kendra said before waving and heading away from the girl.

  Kendra wasn’t the center of the OCR universe. There were plenty of other strong competitors, men and women. Her absence wasn’t going to ruin anyone’s day.

  She continued through the masses, getting more recognition and approving looks before the crowd began to grow sparser. She hadn’t spotted Graham, but she wasn’t going to text him until she was done with pulling out of the race. Some things were best presented without options.

  What was she even worried about?

  Graham would understand. He’d made it clear she should do what was best for her even if it required him to go find a new way to make a living. He was the kind of man who didn’t worry about things he couldn’t change.

  The crowd thinned a little more as she passed by the main sportsplex building. Kendra tried not to glare at it, now suspecting some sort of secret lab inside.

  She scoffed. Letting her imagination run wild wouldn’t help. They obviously didn’t have a lab in the middle of a major sporting event, even if they had some people in security looking for hybrids.

  The evil Ouroboros jerks were messing with the wrong Vestal. She wasn’t sure how she could help CJ after this, but she didn’t like bullies and would do everything he thought might help her, including using her show if necessary.

  It didn’t matter if the hybrids were superhuman. They were the underdogs against organizations like the Horatius Group and Ouroboros. They were victims, robbed of their freedom.

  Kendra drifted away from the crowd lost in thought. The more she thought about it, the more she concluded taking some time off from the channel might be a good thing. Having a hunky hybrid as an excuse made it easy to justify.

  “Oof,” she let out after crashing into a large man.

  Kendra blinked and stepped back, waving her hands in front of her. Her cheeks heated. She’d been relying too much on her instincts. “Sorry. I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

  The man in front of her was a good size, though not as big as CJ. His eyes were hidden behind dark sunglasses. He frowned for a second, but it quickly changed into a smil
e, though there was something cold about it.

  “Miss Champion,” the man said, sounding slightly amused.

  Kendra cringed. She’d not just run into anyone. She’d run into a fan.

  What was the weird smile about? Was he angry that the Roving Champion was such an airhead she couldn’t avoid bumping into someone?

  “I’m really sorry,” she replied. “I wasn’t paying attention. I know that’s no excuse, but… are you all right? I didn’t make you spill something, did I?”

  “I’m fine. Even better now that I’ve run into you.” He inclined his head toward the building. “Can I talk to you in there for a moment? I was actually hoping to find you at some point.”

  “You were?” Kendra asked, trying not to frown. It wouldn’t be the first fan who thought all he needed to do to get a date from her was find her.

  “My company’s here looking for sponsorship opportunities.” The man chuckled. “And I think it means something that the Roving Champion herself ran right into me. Call it fate, or at least a marketing opportunity.”

  “Oh.” Kendra chuckled. “This might be a bad time to talk to me.” She sighed and gestured to her leg. “I think I pulled something in training. I was making my way to registration to resign. I’m going to have to take a couple of weeks, maybe even months before I can compete again.”

  He shook his head. “That’s not a problem. We’re looking for a long-term relationship, and we understand this kind of thing comes with the sport.”

  “I really don’t have a lot of time right now.” Kendra gestured in the vague direction of the registration desks on the other side of the course. Obstacles and the thick crowd hid them from view. Her sense of hurry resurfaced. It was one thing when she was wandering along, another to have impromptu business meetings. “I need to pull out before things begin. It makes things run less smoothly when they’re expecting people, and then they find out the athlete can’t run at the last minute.”

  “I understand all that, but it’ll just take a couple of minutes, and then you can be on your way.” He extended his hand. “Michael.”

  Kendra gave his hand a firm shake, wondering if she should blow him off. Burning bridges when so many things were up in the air wasn’t the best idea.

  “Well, you already know who I am,” she said. “I suppose it’s not going to kill me to spend a few minutes talking.”

  “Exactly.” Michael headed toward the door. “This is a great opportunity. It’ll allow me to make a much better case than an email.”

  Kendra hesitated for a moment before following him. CJ’s warnings lingered in the back of her mind, but she’d passed by the building several times and saw normal staffers moving in and out despite her earlier paranoia. Whatever it was, it couldn’t be some bad guy headquarters unless the entire event was controlled by Ouroboros, and if that were the case, they wouldn’t have had to sneak equipment onto the obstacles at night.

  Whatever happened with CJ, she still needed a career in the future. Graham said her current sponsors were soft, and so lining up new, more thoughtful ones wasn’t a bad idea until she was sure she was done being the Roving Champion. Besides, if this ended up a trap, all she needed to do was kick him in the balls and scream her head off and wait as hundreds of people and two hybrids rushed to her aid. This wasn’t some nighttime sneak attack where the bad guys could do whatever they wanted without people noticing.

  Kendra jogged after Michael. He opened the door, and they entered the front lobby, which was currently empty. She shivered as the cool air hit her face. It was a big contrast from the smothering heat from the weather and bodies outside.

  “So, what company do you represent?” she asked. “I want to say upfront that I only accept sponsorships from products I believe in. It doesn’t matter if I haven’t used them before. I’m willing to test things out, but if they don’t get the Champion seal of approval, I can’t have them on the show.”

  “Of course.” Michael nodded slowly, his smile still there, but tighter. “We wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  She wasn’t surprised he might be a little annoyed. Not everyone cared as much about their integrity as they did money, but there were certain things she wouldn’t budge on. She’d earned her reputation, and she wasn’t about to throw it away for a temporary payday.

  Michael rubbed his chin. “I suppose you’d also understand if I said the company wants to be careful about who we associate with. We need to make sure we’re only sponsoring athletes of good moral character. We’ve been burned before by people.”

  “Sure.” Kendra nodded. “That’s fine, but what do you mean by good moral character?”

  “You were talking to a big guy earlier.” Michael’s grin turned a little too hungry for Kendra’s taste, and he stepped in front of the door. “And he was a damned big guy because he was even bigger than I am.”

  “What about him?” Kendra asked. “He’s a… friend.”

  “You know him well?” Michael asked.

  “Well enough.” Kendra sighed. “I understand you wanting to be careful about who you do business with, but my personal life is still my personal business. It’s not something I stress or talk about on my channel at all. If submitting to micromanagement of my personal life is a requirement for your sponsorship, I’ll have to turn you down.”

  Michael chuckled. “It’s okay. I was just testing you.”

  “Testing me?”

  He nodded. “I wanted to see if you’d give up the fact he was a hybrid the minute someone mentioned money. That speaks well to your character and means you’re trustworthy.”

  “H-hybrid?” Kendra swallowed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. It’d be big news if there was a hybrid here.” She let out a panicked laugh. “I think everyone would love to see them run the course. They might be huge, but they have the speed and agility to pull it off. I know I’d love to see it.”

  Michael clapped. “Good job. It’s okay. I know he’s a hybrid. I’m one, too. I’m his backup.”

  “Backup?” Kendra narrowed her eyes. None of this seemed right. CJ wouldn’t send his partner to randomly pull her out of the crowd without warning her first, and he’d only mentioned having one partner, not two guys. Michael didn’t look like the man she’d seen CJ walk in with. “You’re a hybrid?”

  Michael shrugged. “It’s always nice to run into a person who doesn’t freak out. I know the news is better about our kind these days, but they spent a lot of time telling lies about us before. There’s a reason we still hide.”

  “Show me your eyes,” Kendra said.

  “What?” Michael sounded surprised.

  “If you’re hybrid, you should have amber eyes.” She backed away from him slowly. He blocked the door, but she could run down the hallway. “Isn’t that why you’re wearing the sunglasses?”

  Michael grinned. “Not just a pretty face, are you? I was hoping you were a bimbo and wouldn’t question things.” He sighed. “Unfortunately for you, I don’t have a lot of patience. You’re going to make this hard, aren’t you?”

  Kendra’s heart kicked up. She took slow, deep breaths. She was great on a course, but she didn’t know much about fighting and self-defense. It was time to go for her best bet.

  She kicked toward his crotch, but the man grabbed her leg and yanked it back. With a yelp, she fell backward. Her head slammed against the hard hallway floor. Pain shot through her skull, and she groaned, her vision swimming.

  Michael crouched beside her and grabbed her throat, squeezing enough to hurt, but not enough to cut off her air supply. “Asking questions is a good way to get hurt, girl. It’s too bad for you that you’re not dumber.”

  “He’ll find you,” Kendra wheezed. “You stand no chance against a hybrid.”

  “You don’t get it. You were halfway right.” Michael grinned. He reached up with his free hand and yanked off his glasses to reveal bright purple eyes.

  “W-what?” Kendra wasn’t sure what she was seeing. She’d never h
eard of hybrids having anything other than amber eyes. “What are you?”

  Grinning, Michael tightened his grip around her throat. Kendra clawed at his hand, the throbbing in her head intensifying as she gasped for air. She was going to die in some stupid hallway after finally finding her soulmate.

  “Don’t worry,” Michael said. “I won’t kill you. I saw the kiss earlier. You must be his Vestal. My superiors have need of your kind. You’ll be a nice little bonus, but don’t think this means I’m above hurting you.”

  Darkness crept into the edges of Kendra’s vision. Her head swam between confusion, terror, and pain. Her phone chimed, and the last thing she saw was Michael crushing it underneath his heel.

  Chapter Nineteen

  CJ passed by the registration tables, searching the crowd for any hint of his Vestal. Trying to track Kendra by smell was pointless in the seething mass of humanity.

  He stared at his phone. Three messages and plenty of time. She should have responded.

  He tightened his hand around the phone. “Something’s wrong,” he growled.

  Julius leaned close to him. “Damn it. You don’t know that. You’re letting your feelings get in the way of the mission. I don’t care that you told her, but I’ll care a lot if you let it screw up this mission.”

  “There is no future without her.” CJ gritted his teeth and turned toward Julius. “How can I not care?”

  Frowning, Julius narrowed his eyes and inclined his head away from the thicker crowds standing around the registration desks. They both wandered behind an empty first-aid tent to continue their conversation.

  CJ didn’t know what Julius planned to say, but there was nothing that would make him not worry about his Vestal. He should have sent her to the hotel right away. He’d screwed up.

  “You’re overthinking this,” Julius said. “I get that it can be overwhelming when you’ve just bonded, but the best thing you can do for us, her, and any other hybrids is complete this mission.”

  “How am I overthinking this?” CJ growled. “We know they’re here, and suddenly she goes missing. I don’t have to be some master detective to put two and two together.”