Chapter One
The weather was cooler here. Magnus had expected that, but he still couldn’t stop thinking about the difference, minor as it was compared to so many others. Though, it wasn’t like he’d been outside much when he was with the Horatius Group.
The hybrids had been living in the cave complex for a year prior to its destruction, and he suspected that some of the others had been stored there longer in cryonic suspension. Likely they had all started the same way, as frozen blocks of flesh, waiting to be freed from their icy prison, only to be held captive in a different way.
Freedom was new to his kind. The word still filled him with an odd sense of dread. They all knew the risks of running. They knew it’d be a life in hiding. Were they just signing up for a different sort of prison? He hated to think that was the case, but it was hard thinking differently after all they had faced. The shadow of the Group loomed large over them.
He turned his dark head up and stared at the overcast sky. Rays of sunlight poked through, and it seemed it’d be clear soon.
He tried to remember something from before the freeze. Anything. Each time his mind drew a blank. It was as if he and his people had just come into being from thin air. The Horatius Group scientists and Council members didn’t tell them much, but they knew they were different than the other hybrids.
Magnus knew how ridiculous it sounded, but he still had no real guesses. There was no true way of knowing. The only people that might have been able to tell them were either dead or the enemy. And he certainly didn’t expect to get answers from them.
There was always the book. The Luna Lodge hybrids were still trying their darnedest with the thing.
Magnus let out a harsh laugh.
So far that damned book had been no help at all. Trying to decipher it was near impossible. Whatever language it was written in had long since been forgotten.
Or should have never existed.
The words poked at the back of his mind, reminding him of the truth they had learned. He still wasn’t sold on it. Gods? Atlanteans? They might as well have told him they were related to Santa. It was more believable.
Before they’d mainly thought they were just part of some twisted genetic experiments to produce super-soldiers, perhaps specimens taken for analysis. That was hard to take, but it was something he could at least wrap his mind around.
He looked down at his dark skin, the bright blue tattoo the only true sign he was more than human. He wasn’t sure what he was, but considering himself a god was just a bit too far.
A firm, weathered hand clapped him on the shoulder, and he turned to look at the man.
“How are you adjusting to the Pacific Northwest?” Carter asked.
Magnus was surprised the older man had made the move with them. From his understanding, he’d left his position with the Army in order to follow his niece, Jenna, out west. He suspected it was more to keep an eye on the newly formed group rather than his niece.
They didn’t have the open history of the hybrids of Luna Lodge. Magnus didn’t expect Carter to trust them as much immediately. Though, admittedly, the man didn’t seem openly suspicious either.
Given that his niece was bonded to Rem, the leader of their group, she was more than capable of dealing with whatever came at them. She’d already more than proved that. After all, she had been the one to lead the charge to rescue Rem. Without her, it was likely he wouldn’t have survived.
Still, having Carter wasn’t such a bad thing. Most of their group didn’t know the first thing about securing an area, unlike the retired Army major. His years in the military made him a good leader, but more than that, he was a good teacher. The hybrids that had moved with them respected the man and listened to his advice. Oddly, the government man had become the sage of their group.
“It’s a good move,” Magnus said quietly and looked past Carter to Rem.
Their cocky leader gave a nod in agreement. Magnus looked back to the woods surrounding them. One hundred and fifty acres had seemed like more than they would need, but it also meant they were away from any sort of trouble or prying eyes. The Horatius Group would eventually want to reclaim their property after all.
“It’s quiet,” Magnus said.
Rem gave a sly smile. “I suppose men of your age like their quiet.”
Magnus frowned. He wasn’t old. Well, not that he knew at least. The best he could guess was that he was in his mid-thirties, if that.
“What age would that be?” Carter said, raising a brow. “I seem to remember a man of my age saving your ass a time or two.”
Rem barked out a laugh and smiled at the two men. They had all noticed a change in him. It might seem subtle to most, but not to those that knew him. He was at ease with himself in a way he’d never been.
Magnus had always felt that when he was talking with Rem, the man was plotting five steps ahead. Now, it was more like he had those steps plotted, and the path he had to take to get there was sure, and he didn’t need to dwell on it as much. He counted on the people in their group and shared a part of himself that he never had before.
Jenna, his bonded, was part of that ease. She gave him the will to live and through her, he found the comfort he needed.
Despite himself, Magnus longed for that and envied what his leader had found. A part of all of them wanted to have that. It was ingrained into their very souls.
“Well played, Major,” Rem said and grinned at Carter.
The older man stood stiffly. “I’ve told you not to call me that. When I left, I gave up my rank as well,” he said. “They can keep it all,” the man said, bitterness in his voice.
The twinkle didn’t leave Rem’s eye as he nodded. They all knew the former major had been betrayed by a few of his men who helped the Horatius Group launch a surprise attack on the Luna Lodge compound, something the major took deeply personally.
It didn’t help that the corruption seemed to go right up the chain to a certain Senator Woods. Of course, no one could prove the connection, but that didn’t make it any less the case.
Rem scanned the area and nodded as if he were answering his own question. He turned to Magnus.
“Where are we on the fence?” he asked and turned to walk toward the community.
“The system was already wired in, so all we need to do is set the boundary,” Magnus said. “You sure you don’t want to have a real fence? Seems sorta risky to just have sensors.”
Rem shook his head and glanced over to Carter.
“I think we know all too well that fences like that don’t work,” he said. “At least not for us, and if the Group comes, they’re going to send Glycons in, so why waste the time?”
Magnus nodded. He’d heard about the many attacks at Luna Lodge, but they had been so well known and public, it was no surprise that things had gone down like that.
In his time with the Horatius Group, he’d also witnessed the activities of the Glycons, the modified hybrids that had been stripped of any real humanity, turning them into bestial and remorseless killers.
“I think it’s still risky not putting in a new system,” Carter said. “There’s no telling what was going on here before you bought the land. You all might not be the only ones who want some land to hide in.”
Rem let out a deep laugh.
“Not much of anything was going on here,” Rem said as they continued to follow the beaten path back to the settlement. “The place was owned by some eccentric businessman who wanted to create the perfect place for people like himself.”
Magnus frowned. He hadn’t known much about the buying process other than it had been done through channels and intermediaries, so it couldn’t be easily traced to them.
“Like himself?” he said. “What does that mean?”
Rem nodded just as they came in sight of his house.
“He had some big dream of having a bunch of wealthy elites all gathered in one spot, so they could set the rules.” He snorted loudly as they stopped at the bottom of the stairs. “I guess he didn’t think it through much. The whole thing fell apart pretty quickly. Too many people wanting to have a hand in those rules, plus a number weren’t thrilled to learn they were near a cult.”
This time it was Magnus’s turn to snort. “I don’t really know if I’d go so far as to call the Azilians that.”
Rem shrugged. “They seem harmless enough. They stay to themselves and are a good cover for us.”
Carter cleared his through and stepped up onto the stairs.
“So what’s the deal with them? They worship the Atlanteans? What if they find out? It seems like such a risk.”
Rem leaned against the rail on the stairs.
“Not really,” he said. “I talked with a few people in town, and they just think they are weird. No one is ready to bust down the gates, unlike at Luna Lodge. That’s a good thing for us.”
Carter shrugged. “You’re the boss.”
“Don’t go telling him that,” Magnus said. “He’s already got a big enough head.”
The group turned to look as Jenna, Rem’s bonded, opened the screen door.
Magnus looked over to Rem. A giant smile spread across his face.
“Did you miss me?” he asked and followed her into the house.
Magnus and Carter followed behind, both feeling like an extra wheel.
Jenna rolled her eyes. “Are we going to town or what?”
Rem looked over his shoulder to Magnus.
“Want to pick up the receivers for the fence?”
He nodded. Better to get that taken care of right away. Their security was pointless if it wasn’t even active.
Rem turned to Carter. The older man shook his head.
“I’m meeting with some of the men to talk about their needs,” he said.
Rem gave a curt nod. They all had a purpose, and he was fine with the role Carter had picked.
Following the two out of the house, Magnus made his way over to the truck and offered a hand as Jenna climbed in next to Rem. Just as he was getting ready to climb in, a familiar man with dark brown hair stepped up to his side of the truck.
“Marcus, what do you need?” Magnus asked.
“Where you going? Trouble?” Marcus said, his voice a bit too eager.
Nearly all of them had been on high alert, but Marcus perhaps more than others.
Before Magnus could answer, Rem called out from inside the car. “Just making a run into town for supplies. Climb in.”
Marcus frowned. “I’ll pass,” he said and wrinkled his nose. “I don’t know why you’d want to be around those people.”
Magnus sighed. He’d heard this over and over. Marcus was starting to sound like a broken record, and he could tell the younger man was pulling in a few others to his side.
“These aren’t the same people who locked us up,” he said. “And how do you suggest we get anything?” Magnus glowered at the man, already tired of the conversation.
Marcus pushed his shoulders back and stood tall, trying to impose some sort of intimidating strength over him. Wouldn’t likely happen. Magnus wasn’t the tallest hybrid, but he was still the largest among them. He certainly wasn’t scared.
“Doesn’t matter, they are all the same,” Marcus said.
Magnus sighed. This wasn’t going to get them anywhere.
Before he knew what was happening, Rem slammed into Marcus and pinned him against the truck. Rem’s bright green eyes glowed with anger.
“Watch yourself,” he ground out. Marcus struggled under his hold, but he was no match for their leader. “My woman is one of them and, if you’re lucky enough, you’ll know the same.”
Rem pushed him hard away from the truck, and Marcus stumbled. He glared at Magnus and Rem them as he straightened his shirt.
“That might work for you, but I’ll never have one as my bonded,” he spat out. “We’re better than humans.”
Before either of them could respond, Marcus was gone.
Magnus shook his head as he climbed into the truck, and Rem circled to the other side. When they were both in, Jenna sandwiched in between, she sighed loudly.
“Do you think that was wise?” she asked.
Rem started the truck and turned to look at her.
“They have to know where they stand with me,” he said. “Unchecked, they may take out their anger on people who just don’t deserve it.”
Jenna gasped and looked over to Rem. A ball of worry settled into Magnus’s stomach.
“They wouldn’t,” she said, not quite certain of her own words.
Rem shrugged. “They could. Their life wasn’t the easiest.”
She pushed her glasses up her nose and then went back to twisting her fingers in her lap.
“Still, they wouldn’t go that far.”
Rem shook his head and patted her knee.
“No,” he said firmly. “We’ll make sure that doesn’t happen. The more they know the world, the better it will be. Most people aren’t like the people who worked for the Horatius Group.”
He cleared his throat and looked back to the road ahead. Magnus wondered how much of his own words he believed or if they were mostly just hope.
“Well,” Rem said, cutting into his thoughts. “Let’s get into town before anything else happens. Looks like there’s going to be rain later.”
Magnus looked up at the clouds rolling in. The chance of the sky clearing now seemed a distant memory. The weather seemed to fit the mood.
Unstable.