Chapter Seven
The hidden mine was too small today as he paced around, even if it’d proven useful as a hideout and link to the tunnels underneath the Lodge. It let the hybrids enter and exit without attracting the interest of the military.
It didn’t help, though, that the tunnels had obviously never been designed for tall humans, let alone hybrids.
Lucan walked over and kicked a creaky bedframe with an old mattress on top, his bed. It’d been so long since his fake death had been reported, he’d long stopped thinking about the bed as temporary.
He muttered and shook his head. He hadn’t gotten a bit of sleep last night. All he could think about was Jamie’s sweet mouth on him and how fucking good it felt.
Hell, just thinking about it again made him want to take another cold shower.
He imagined being interrupted had left them both frustrated, and his cock already was clamoring for a full night with his Vestal.
Even though he’d come, that wasn’t good enough. He wanted to plant himself inside Jamie and hear her moan his name as he entered her again and again.
Lucan sucked in a breath. This was why he’d been trying to avoid Jamie. He wouldn’t be able to concentrate on his mission if his thoughts were constantly filled with his Vestal. He could only imagine that it’d be ten times worse once he actually fucked her.
A loud knock came at the front door, but he knew who it was before he even opened it.
Nikon stepped into the front room, which served as some sort of dining room when the mine had been in operation years before. He carried two large boxes.
He slammed the heavy load on the old wooden table in the center of the room, and then took a seat.
Nikon looked like hell, but Lucan expected that. His eyes were hollow but still better than he had looked the week before. The hybrid was resilient despite having lost his twin in the bombing. Lucan wasn’t so sure he’d be as put together in the same situation.
“Cato got some of the military personnel to run a check on the name you found,” Nikon said. “That A. J. Kinkaid.”
“And?” Lucan took a seat as well.
Nikon shook his head. “There’s no mention of him in the government files. At least none that Colonel Hall’s people have easy access to.”
Lucan sighed. He had been certain that the name was familiar and would lead them to the Group, or at least some sort of enemy they could strike.
He was just so damn tired of always being three steps behind their foes.
Lucan nodded to the boxes on the table. “What’s that, then?”
“Cato thought we might find something if we searched all the files we were able to get from one of the Horatius Group facility raids. It’s a long shot, but right now, we really don’t have much to go, and staking out the mail box wouldn’t be effective. If anything, people would eventually realize it was a hybrid watching and freak out.”
Lucan sighed. Staking out the mail box had been what he was thinking of doing. It sounded like tedious work, but it was better than sitting on his ass all day, especially when the name and the post office box were the first decent clues they’d gathered in weeks.
He looked at the boxes as Nikon pulled a lid off.
Well, if Lucan was willing to sit around on his ass anyway, it was worth looking through the files. The name was familiar, and there was more than a good chance it was from the dark part of his life that he didn’t want to remember.
Like the others at Luna Lodge, he’d grown up imprisoned by the Horatius Group, thought of as an interesting experiment at best, but more typically treated like a disposable tool. It was only luck that had resulted in the hybrids gaining their freedom, and he’d do everything he could to make sure they didn’t have to go back to that.
“Fuck it,” Lucan grumbled. “Let’s get this over with.”
* * *
Jamie usually loved her days off. They were a time to catch up on much needed sleep, get laundry done, and maybe give herself a little spa time. Well, or at least take a file to her nails.
Today, however, was not shaping up to be that way.
All the ice cream the night before didn’t help with the frustration she was experiencing. Instead, it only made her want more. Even helping herself out in the shower that morning hadn’t even come close to scratching the itch she was feeling.
Jamie didn’t blame Leah for showing up when she did, but she also wished that Leah could have just maybe shown up thirty minutes later, or not at all.
Worst of all, Jamie had a feeling the only one who could satisfy her at this point was the one guy who had high tailed it out of Dodge after she’d finished blowing him.
She licked her lips again as she folded the towel in her hands.
Lucan’s taste had stayed with her. More than anything now, she wanted to have his thick cock inside of her, but now she wondered if he’d actually bother to call her.
A small knock came at the door, and Jamie pressed her fingers to her cheeks to cool the flush that had suddenly appeared.
The damn hybrid had her flustered all the time now.
Jamie opened the door and was surprised to find Leah standing there, hair pulled back in a pony tail and looking more refreshed than she’d seen her in the past week.
That was a good sign at least.
“You have the day off, right?” Leah asked, checking the room.
Jamie held the door open wider. “He’s not here… unfortunately,” she mumbled.
Leah nodded and stepped into the living area. “I just thought we could take a jog and maybe get a coffee by the water.”
Now this behavior was a big surprise. Not only was she a little perkier, but she actually wanted to go out.
Jamie dropped the towel into the basket. “Give me two minutes, and I’ll be ready to go.”
Her own situation didn’t matter. This was the first time since the incident that Leah seemed like her old self. No way in hell Jamie was wasting that sort of positive energy.
She tossed on a black sports bra, black tank with a sassy "Run Like A Girl’ on the front, and some sneakers.
Her hair was just long enough to pull back in a tiny pony tail. She didn’t put on any makeup, but her face was clean, and that was all that mattered.
“Let’s do this,” Jamie said, and grinned.
Leah smiled, and they both headed out.
* * *
They jogged for about forty minutes before reaching the sidewalk that led to a lakefront park.
Jamie breathed in deeply and sighed. She loved this spot. The other day she’d stumbled on it and told Leah all about the spot. At the time, she didn’t expect her to even make it there.
She turned and smiled at her friend as she grabbed two cold lattes from a nearby coffee stand. The irony of the calorie burn for the calorie intake wasn’t lost on Jamie.
“You look good today,” she said to Leah.
Her friend nodded but continued to stare out into the water as they made their way along the shoreline.
“You’re different,” Leah said finally.
Jamie frowned. “I’m not—”
“You are.” She sighed and sat on the bench in the shade. “I could see it last night.”
Jamie was starting to worry she’d triggered something with her display the previous night. It hadn’t really occurred to her that Leah was being quiet about this sort of thing when they hung out, but mostly they’d been watching movies.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—” Jamie began.
Leah held up a hand. “You’re stronger than I am,” she said softly. “And I think that’s a good thing, so I’m going to try to be more like you from now on.”
With that, Leah hopped off the bench. “Let’s just walk back.” She smiled.
Jamie stood and followed her friend. She was stunned by her words. Never once had she thought that way. She was just doing what she needed to do. That’s what she did.
Her friend’s words surprised her so much that she didn’t notice the woman behind her until a firm grip pinched her arm.
“Hybrid slut,” the woman hissed.
“What?” Jamie said.
At first she couldn’t quite process what the woman had said. The pain spreading from the woman’s tight grip was distracting.
“You let him touch you with his filthy body.”
Jamie tried to twist out of the grip, but the other woman seemed determined to keep her in place. Her gaze found the woman. She gasped.
She’d seen those eyes before. Seen that stare. It was the same dead stare Jamie had seen the night of the bombing. Mind control.
It’d been hard to accept, but she’d seen it, and the hybrids explained about what had really happened that night. Ignoring the truth would just get her and Leah killed.
Jamie glanced over at Leah who looked to be on the verge of totally breaking down.
There was no one there they could shout to for help. She swallowed. She’d have to handle this the direct way.
Jamie punched the woman hard in the throat. The other woman’s hand lost hold of her arm, and Jamie grabbed Leah’s hand.
“Run!”
She wasn’t even sure where they were running to, but anywhere else was fine by her.
They turned several times before a crowded Mexican restaurant came into view.
Jamie pulled her friend through the doors and watched through the tinted windows as the woman passed by, glancing around as if searching for them.
Leah shook next to her.
“She’s gone,” Jamie whispered.
A server approached them in the lobby. “Table for two?”
Jamie nodded. Leah stared at her in disbelief but followed her lead.
They made their way to a booth in the back. Once they were seated and alone, she pulled out her phone.
“She was being controlled like the others,” she said. “We can’t call the police. They wouldn’t understand.” She shook her head. “And they might be controlled, too.”
“Wendy?”
Jamie nodded. She hated to bother her friend who was dealing with the mess they had left behind, but it seemed like the mess had followed them.