Chapter Three
Wendy walked brusquely beside the colonel along the road to the main offices where the hybrids worked. The older woman, just as sure with her walk as she was with everything else in her life, strolled with ease down the road.
Wendy glanced down at her clipboard as they moved. The list of items there was easy enough to read, but that didn’t give her any insight into their meaning. The items seemed very random and not related at all to the needs of their current mission.
“I’m confused,” she said, and glanced over to the colonel.
Colonel Hall wasn’t a woman to keep unnecessary secrets from her subordinates, but it felt like Wendy was suddenly out of the loop.
Without missing a beat, the colonel stepped out of the way of an oncoming military vehicle.
“We’re having a party,” she said. The utter lack of enthusiasm in her voice didn’t quite match the words she’d just spoken.
That was not remotely the response Wendy had been expecting.
“Ma’am?”
Colonel Hall stopped on the other side of the road to look at her.
“Tensions are high right now,” she said. “Too high. We’re supposed to be here to defuse the situation, not make it worse. The hybrids don’t trust us, and we don’t trust them. I need to find a way to ease things, and a party is the best way I know how.”
Okay. Things were getting weirder by the second.
Wendy stared at her for a moment, blinking and processing what she’d just heard. They were going from watching the hybrids like hawks to having a party?
As if reading her thoughts, the colonel continued.
“That’s not to say I’ve forgotten about the missing school teacher,” she said with a stern look. “This also has practical implications. They are up to something, and if I’m ever going to find out what that is, I’ve got to open the door.” She shook her head. “We need to get to the bottom of this before things get out of hand and someone gets hurt.”
Wendy stared at her superior. Although she might not have agreed with how things were being handled with the hybrids, she knew Colonel Hall meant well for everyone involved, even if it didn’t always seem like it.
The colonel had rules and expected those rules to be followed. It was what propelled her so far in her career. If she had given just an inch at any point, the male-dominated culture she was in would have eaten her up. So she had to be tough.
Wendy also knew her to be fiercely loyal to her troops. The colonel wasn’t a woman to just give an order for no reason. She didn’t give a task she wasn’t willing to do herself and always had an open door if someone needed to talk. More than once she’d seen the colonel go to bat for her troops, even when it might have been better for her career to use them as a scape goat.
In the end, it was that loyalty that made Wendy want to serve with her. She knew that she would always be judged on her merits and not her gender.
“Do you really think they had something to do with the teacher? She could have just as easily run off,” Wendy said. “These hybrids can be pretty intense. And the protests from the town don’t make it any more comfortable.”
The colonel frowned, and Wendy knew she’d overstepped her bounds. Although Colonel Hall had never limited her about what she could comment on, Wendy knew there was a line. After all, it was the military.
“This party is going to be as inclusive as we can manage,” she said. “That’s why I’ve spoken with Titus to make sure we have all the help we can get.”
They were clearly done talking about the teacher. The colonel couldn’t have surprised Wendy more by saying that she had been talking with Titus about the party.
Colonel Hall turned and headed to the offices. Wendy scrambled to keep up. Her mind was still dazed a little by how easily the colonel had mentioned talking with Titus.
“He’s got a man to help with the whole affair,” Colonel Hall said. “Said he was the perfect guy for a party like this.” She chuckled. “Didn’t expect it from them, but maybe they have a specialty for everything. How very military of them.”
Wendy followed down the hall and through the door to where the Lodge secretary was seated. She gave a small smile to Ava, but wasn’t surprised when the other woman didn’t return it.
Other than the new teachers, there were several other women at the Lodge, but none were very friendly with Wendy. Not that she blamed them. After all, the Army had sort of invaded their home.
Colonel Hall rapped on the door.
“Come in,” Titus called.
The colonel entered, followed by Wendy.
Wendy was always a little awestruck at the sight of the hybrids up close. As much as she never wanted to admit it to Jamie or Leah, they were something else to look at. Drool-worthy even, and she had spent years surrounded by fit battle-ready men, so that was saying something.
Titus stood from behind his desk, but her gaze instantly went to the man in the chair. His dark brown hair was slightly curled and dipped just to his eyes.
She stared at him, unable to turn away from his beautiful amber eyes. They seemed to swirl the more she stared, and for a moment, she felt herself sway hard. Wendy reached out to steady herself and closed her eyes in hopes that the dizzy spell would pass.
Large, warm hands gripped her arms as she struggled to find her footing.
Wendy opened her eyes and was surprised to find two bright amber eyes very close to her.
“Careful,” the hybrid said.
His voice was low and came out as a sort of growly command. As much as she might hate herself for it later, she could feel her body respond to him. This was pathetic. Had she seriously just swooned over a hot guy?
No. It had to be something else. Maybe she’d gotten a bad bite of burger or something.
“Sergeant Morris,” Colonel Hall said. “Are you unwell?”
Wendy tore her eyes from the man to glance at her superior. “Sorry,” she said. “I just got a little dizzy for a moment.” She turned back to the man still holding her. “Really,” she said with a small smile. “I’m fine now. Thank you.”
His hypnotic eyes roved over her face before he nodded and let her go. Instantly she felt the absence and wanted to throw herself back into his arms. As crazy as it sounded, it just felt right to have this stranger hold her.
Wendy swallowed. It probably wasn’t a bad burger.
It was crazy. She hadn’t even met this man, and she was already willing to throw herself at him. Maybe she had been spending a little too much time with her vibrator. At least Jamie and Leah hadn’t been there to see it. It likely would have made Jamie’s year to see Wendy swooped up by some mystery hybrid.
“I see you’ve picked the right man for the job,” Colonel Hall said to Titus. “I think he will work quite well with Sergeant Morris on the party.”
Wendy snapped her head over to the Colonel. She hadn’t realized at all that she would be the one setting this affair up. That was well outside her wheelhouse and MOS, not that she was sure what military occupational specialty covered party planning. Some sort of logistics, maybe.
“Party?” the mystery hybrid said.
Cato glared at Titus. Of course they had failed to mention that the damn mission would mean that he’d have to put together a party. That was about the last thing he wanted to do.
Putting the friendly-challenged hybrid in charge of party planning seemed about the stupidest thing he could imagine. Besides, it didn’t make any sense for a reason that had nothing to do with him.
“Isn’t this Hannah’s thing?” he said to them.
Sol frowned at him. “She’s got morning sickness and is in no shape to handle something like this,” he said. “Besides, you want Lucius breathing down your neck?”
Cato frowned. The large hybrid was the last person just about anyone wanted breathing down their neck.
He glanced over to the pretty blond soldier. Several hairs had escaped her braid and framed her pink cheeks.
He felt himself harden and cursed them all. The minute she stepped into the room, his nose had told her she was a Vestal, not just any Vestal, but his own. Just when he’d gotten into a good headspace about that.
And now they wanted him to work closely with his Vestal.
What the fuck was he supposed to do? She was in the military. She was part of the very group holding his people there and subjecting them to humiliations like curfews. It’d be hilarious if the whole thing wasn’t so frustrating.
“We’ll hammer out some of the final details,” Colonel Hall said.
He hated the way she talked, as if she had any authority over him.
Cato turned to Titus, the person he took his orders from.
Titus nodded once. “Maybe you and Sergeant Morris can talk later about how to get started.”
Titus smiled at him, but he could see the underlying mission sitting right there. He needed this to happen, and Cato was a means to that end.
Titus and Sol probably already knew that Wendy Morris was a Vestal. They’d been around her enough to smell it.
Even if they hadn’t expected that she would be his Vestal, every hybrid in the room could sense how they were reacting to each other. Titus had probably already put the pieces together. If anything, he was probably happy at the “luck.”
Cato sighed and nodded. He turned back to the woman and groaned inwardly.
Nothing like torturing himself for the next couple weeks. Sounded like loads of fun.
“I have some stuff to take care of, but I’ll be in touch soon,” he mumbled.
As quickly as he could, he fled from the room, glad to have a small break before the real hell began.
He’d wait a little bit, then stop by Wendy’s house to see what he needed to do. He hoped that wouldn’t be too much trouble.