Chapter Eleven
Lucan carefully climbed out of bed, smiling down at the sleeping Jamie. The previous night had been everything he’d ever wanted, more really. That didn’t change the harsh reality of his life and mission.
He gathered up his clothes in silence and carried them into the living room before getting dressed. Lucan slipped on his shoes and made his way to the door of Jamie’s apartment.
Lucan stepped outside and closed the door as quietly as he could manage. If he could hide from the military at Luna Lodge, he should be able to get away from Jamie’s place without waking her up.
That didn’t mean he had to like it. He was a piece of shit. If she asked him later, he wouldn’t deny it. There was no doubt in his mind.
They’d shared something wonderful, and now here he was slipping out in the early morning like some sort of criminal ashamed of what he’d done.
Meanwhile, Jamie slept naked and comfortable in her bed. A piece of him ached to go back and snuggle into the warmth of her body. He’d certainly done so over and over the night before.
No. It didn’t matter. He shook himself, trying to keep focused on why he was leaving to begin with.
Now wasn’t the time for a mate. The incident in town only proved how dangerous things had become for anyone connected to the hybrids.
Jamie might have gotten away from the woman, but the next time it could be more than one, or they might have a gun.
Lucan bit back a growl at the thought of Jamie being killed.
Right now, the best way to protect her was to stay away from her. Maybe it was too much to ask for the Group to be destroyed before they could be together, but at least they needed to get the mind-control crap figured out.
Something in the back of his mind kept needling him, telling him that she was strong enough for this, but he pushed that voice back down.
It didn’t matter how strong she was. He could never forgive himself if she was hurt.
As he crept down the stairs, he thought about A.J. Kinkaid. He had no real memories of the man, other than vaguely remembering the name.
It was strange, really, to have someone he barely knew have so much influence over his life, to have someone who had been responsible for causing him so much pain be a mere ghost in his thoughts.
The scientist would pay. The entire damn Horatius Group would pay.
Lucan lingered for a moment at the bottom of the stairs, peering around the area and listening intently. He was leaving to help protect Jamie.
The last thing he wanted to do was leave if some enemy was nearby waiting to snatch her up. A few long moments of searching revealed nothing suspicious.
He sniffed, but didn’t smell anything surprising. Even the unusual scents of Leah and Jamie were familiar by now. Nikon’s scent lingered, but weakly.
Now, more confident in his actions, he headed over to his bike.
Lucan hopped on. He needed to head to his hideout in the old mine. He needed to clean up before he met with Cato and Colonel Hall.
* * *
By the time Lucan showed up, the room held seven people, several hybrids along with Colonel Hall and Sergeant Morris. He was surprised to find Nikon sitting in the corner. A part of him hoped Nikon would drown his sorrows in a night of pleasure.
The other hybrid’s stone face didn’t reveal anything about what happened between him and Leah. Lucan doubted anything really had, though.
He’d heard nothing like a car pulling away when he awoke, and Nikon’s scent was already weak over at the apartment building, suggesting he’d left much earlier, if not the night before.
Light chatting filled the room, but the small size led to it forming a surprising din.
“Okay,” Cato said at the head of the conference table. “Let’s get this started.”
Everyone grew quiet as they stared at the current leader of Luna Lodge.
“This is my elite group,” he said. “You are the only ones to know the truth about Lucan and Rollo. It needs to stay that way for now to protect their safety and the mission. We all know how ruthless our enemy is. They’ve proven it time and time again. The bombing was a bloody reminder.”
Several men turned to him and mumbled their understanding. He wasn’t really one who like having the attention of the room and seemed grateful when Colonel Hall rose.
“Thanks to the intel found by Nikon and Lucan,” she said, “we might have a lead on who caused the explosion. We were able to compare the name with people who moved into the area within the past year. And then those that were of the right age.”
This was all news to Lucan, but maybe he shouldn’t have been surprised. Having the military on their side meant that they had access to their resources as well, something they had only been able to gain temporary access through hacking before.
“The two teachers who left after the bombing seem to have been targeted by another mind-controlled person, but it was two towns over,” Cato said. “We don’t think that this was random. We checked out the people living in that general area and came up with two possible addresses.”
Lucan sat up in his seat. They could catch this bastard. Maybe he could be with Jamie sooner than he thought.
“I’m sending in both soldiers and hybrids too work together as a unit,” the colonel said. “We need to show unity if we’re ever going to change the opinions of anyone higher up.”
Surprise struck Lucan. This wasn’t in direct violation of her orders, but it was clear that she would be hearing about this from her superiors if it didn’t pan out like they hoped, especially given how skeptical the general already was about the whole mind-control story.
“Nikon and Calix will form a squad with myself, Sergeant Morris and one of her men,” Cato said. “Lucan and Colonel Hall with her men will form the other squad.”
Lucan nodded and looked over to the older woman. It seemed she wasn’t above putting herself out on the field with the rest. He could admire that, along with everything else she was risking by helping the hybrids.
“This isn’t an assault mission,” Colonel Hall said. “This is an intel-gathering operation. I know all about your past treatment and how some of you may want vengeance, but if you’re planning to go in there guns blazing and ready for a show down, think again.” She stared down every hybrid in the room. “We need calm heads. We need evidence. We need to take these people alive so they can be interrogated.”
The gathered hybrids nodded.
Despite his thirst for vengeance, the plan made sense to Lucan. If the hybrids were ever going to clear their names, it wasn’t going to be done by busting into places and blowing shit up. Much of the public already thought they were ruthless out-of-control killers.
They needed to show everyone just how far the Horatius Group and even people in the US government were willing to go. Even though the government had done a lot to downplay the Group attacks on Luna Lodge, the part not under the control of the Group would be forced to acknowledge how dangerous the Group was to everyone once the hybrids found their mind-control evidence.
“What about the local authorities?” Lucan asked.
“We can’t be sure they’ve not been compromised,” the colonel said. “It’s better to ask forgiveness than permission. I’ve arranged to have them contacted shortly after the mission starts, that way they can’t come and interfere if they are compromised, but are still informed. I’ll worry about the clean up.” She stared at him. “Let’s just hope that this turns up something. Otherwise I’ll have a lot of explaining to do.”
Lucan nodded, again impressed with her willingness to take chances to help the hybrids.
“Now everyone gear up and be ready in ten,” Colonel Hall barked.
Lucan stood and caught the eye of Nikon. The other hybrid seemed oddly calm after yesterday.
“Looks like we’re going to get this guy,” Nikon said. “I mean if this is the guy behind the mind-control, then he’s directly responsible for a lot.” A muscle in his jaw twitched as he spoke.
Lucan lifted a brow. “You going to be able to do this? The colonel’s right. We need the bastard alive at first.”
Nikon stared at him, his expression calm. “I want to see that bastard pay. If we catch him, we’ll get every last piece of information out of him, and then I’m sure he’ll pay. I have faith that he will.”
Faith. He wasn’t even sure if he knew what that was anymore. It seemed like they had faith that things would get better and kept getting fucked over.
Lucan didn’t truck with faith. He dealt with things that he could put his hands on, and the bastard A.J. Kinkaid was one of them.