Chapter Six
People shouted around her.
The throbbing pain made hard to even think, let alone open her eyes.
“You nearly killed her, Marcus.”
He was angry. She recognized the voice. It was the handsome blue-eyed tattooed man from before.
“Yeah, well, I didn’t,” another man said. She could hear the indifference in his tone, and maybe at another time she’d be angry, but right then, she just wanted them to shut up and let her head pound in peace.
Lara strained to open her eyes. They were heavy, and she wondered for a moment if maybe she’d blinded herself.
After a moment, they blinked open only slightly. Jenna leaned down to her and then looked across the room.
“She’s awake,” she said softly.
The room grew painfully quiet as Lara tried to make the sight of Jenna focus a little.
A look of concern crossed Jenna’s face, and then the small woman smiled and placed a cool rag against Lara’s forehead.
“You took a fall,” she said softly. “And hit your head.”
Lara tried to remember. Her head hurt to even try, but still she did.
A hazy fog settled in, and she moved her way through it.
A fall. Pain. Darkness.
“I fell,” she said weakly. Her voice shook a little as she spoke.
Someone spoke to her, but it faded as she continued to focus. There was something before the fall she needed to remember.
“Lara.” Rem stepped beside Jenna. His face was also full of concern. “How do you feel?”
She tried to focus on him, but her memories called her back.
“Like shit,” she said.
Rem gave her a warm smile. “I think you’ll be fine. You got a little bump on the back of your head you might want to have looked at though. Nothing serious from what we can see, but can never be too careful.”
Lara frowned and ran her fingers along the back of her head. She hissed when she came in contact with the large bump.
As if she’d called him, the man from before raced to her side. She suddenly found herself wondering what his name was.
He didn’t speak, but she knew he was worried. She could see it etched in his face.
All at once she gasped and scrambled to move away from him, as a memory of glowing blue eyes invaded her clouded mind.
“Blue eyes,” she whispered. Given everything else about him, she doubted it was a coincidence.
For a moment she felt a twinge of guilt at the pain her actions seemed to cause him, but she let it go. They had attacked her. She didn’t just fall. She fell while fleeing.
“Stay away,” she said and tried to make herself as small as she could. Maybe if she was lucky, she’d be able to make it to the door.
Lara jumped when the man glared across the room and pointed his finger in that direction.
“This your fault, Marcus,” he said with a deadly, low voice. “Because you acted without thinking.”
She glanced behind her at another handsome man in the doorway. Though he also had the same striking blue eyes, he had dark brown hair and tan skin, so he didn’t seem to be directly related to the man talking to him. She glanced over at Rem. He had green eyes, not blue. If the other man hadn’t reacted like he had, she’d might have just thought she’d made a mistake.
Marcus leaned against the doorframe as if he really didn’t care who was mad. His gaze flicked down to her, and she could see the hate and disgust in his eyes.
“Say what you will, Magnus. She ran,” he said. “It’s her own damn fault.”
So that was his name. Magnus.
“No,” Magnus said and marched over to stand in front of the other man. “You scared her. She had no choice but to run. How the hell did you think she’d react?”
The other man leaned forward, his eyes the same haunting orbs she’d seen before.
“When did you become such a human lover?” Marcus spit out.
It was Rem who marched over to answer the question.
“Wanna say that shit to my face?” Rem said and forced himself between the two men. “Go ahead. Try me.”
Marcus glared at them both. It was clear he was no match, but giving up didn’t seem to be sitting right with him. He glared at her.
“I hope she’s worth it,” he said and pushed away from them both. “She’s going to get us right back where we started. It’s not like we can just up and move again so easily.”
The man stormed out of the house and slammed the door behind him.
Magnus narrowed his eyes and stepped toward the door.
Rem put a hand his chest.
“It’s not worth it,” he said quietly and stared intently at the other large man.
“He’s getting worse,” Magnus said. “He’s turned a few of the others to his way of thinking. We need to deal with him before it gets out of control. He could have killed her.”
Rem nodded. “We do.” His attention flicked over to Lara. “But right now we have more pressing matters.”
The two men turned to look at her, and she swallowed. A lone shoe flashed in her mind, and she straightened up. No way in hell was she letting Peter run a bad photo of her on the missing persons page. And she knew the bastard would.
“You’re damn right you do,” she said far more calmly than she felt inside. “Now who’s going to explain what the hell is going on? Glowing eyes and tattoos are not normal.”
* * *
Magnus watched her from across the room as she sipped hot tea. The more he stayed out of her sight, the better it would be. He was probably unsettling her as much as she was unsettling him. Right now, everyone just needed to concentrate on the immediate situation.
Pain filled him just thinking about the way she had looked. Huddled up on the couch, trying to get as far away from him as she could. It wasn’t what he wanted.
Hell at this point, he wasn’t sure what he wanted, but it wasn’t his plan to scare helpless women. He wasn’t like that prick Marcus.
Just the thought of the other hybrid made him red with anger. He’d hurt Lara. The lump on the back of her head was worrisome. She could have lasting issues from it, and that bastard hadn’t even cared what he caused. Just another human he found disposable.
Magnus hated to think what would have happened if he hadn’t been there to get her out. As she lay limply in his arms, the other man hadn’t even spared a thought for her. Instead he’d gone right to her phone and smashed it with a rock. All he cared about was tying up loose ends.
They all knew that a few of them had held on to the anger. Hell, it wasn’t exactly like he was going to be forgiving the Horatius Group for treating them like they had, but this was more than just that. Marcus was angry toward anyone that wasn’t a hybrid.
It wasn’t healthy and the truth was, they were going to have to rely on outside help at some point. There weren’t enough of them to do this on their own, and with the growing number of people that pestered the Luna group, it was clear they needed more people on their side.
Besides, that kind of hatred just wouldn’t work in a world of billions of humans and maybe only hundreds of hybrids at most.
Magnus looked over to where Lara sat. She was listening as Rem talked about their history and situation. It was a risk telling her. They all knew it. This was someone who actually had the power to make things very bad and push them out in the open.
They didn’t have the numbers and established compound the Luna hybrids had. The Horatius Group could wipe them out with one surprise Glycon attack or, even worse, recapture them.
Still, there was something about her. She was honest if anything, and she seemed fair. It was what they needed. If just one person in the town trusted them, they might not have to worry as much. It wasn’t like they wanted to come out to anyone, but they needed allies in their new home.
“So you’re like those other hybrid super-soldier guys,” Lara said slowly. “The Luna Lodge guys that pretended to be some new tribe at first, until that big Viking-looking one jumped off a balcony with a woman in his arms like some sort of superhero.” She snickered. “Very low profile.”
Jenna nodded. “I used to work with them before coming here,” she said and took Rem’s hand. “Only the people here are living in secret.”
Lara furrowed her brow as if she were in deep thought. She looked over to Rem, worry in her eyes.
“Are we in danger? They’ve attacked those Luna guys, right? The Horatius Group, the one with the terrorist ties?”
Rem glanced over to him and sighed. He could understand his leader’s dilemma. If he were honest, she could decide not to help. However, if he wasn’t honest, she would likely sense it. This was a woman who was trained in reading people, even tricky men like Rem.
“Yes,” he said simply.
She sat very still, and for a moment, Magnus wondered if she might bolt.
“But we if we can keep it a secret, we should be able to keep everyone safe,” he said. “We don’t want anyone to be hurt.”
“What would they do to you if they caught you?” she asked. “The Horatius Group.”
Rem shook his head. It was something none of them wanted to think about.
“I can’t describe the horrors some have witnessed,” he said and looked pointedly at Magnus. “We’d prefer not to talk about it.”
Lara turned her pretty face his way. Her soft green eyes fixed him in place.
He jumped slightly when Carter and Nyx came into the room. He frowned at the hybrid woman.
“You shouldn’t be here,” he said firmly.
Nyx rolled her eyes and sauntered into the room, the silver strip in her black hair standing out.
“I came to have girl talk,” she huffed and sat down hard in a chair at the table near Lara. “Besides,” she winked at him, “I had to meet the new girl.”
Magnus glared at her. The woman was such a pain in the ass sometimes.
Rem stood and nodded to Nyx.
“I’ll just be a moment,” he said and walked over to where he and Carter stood.
Rem swept past and stepped into the hall. They followed him out of the room.
“Did you find Marcus?” Rem asked.
Carter nodded. “He’s skulking in his house with two others. None of them looked pleased.”
Rem sighed and scrubbed a hand down his face.
Magnus could understand. This business with Marcus was going to spell real trouble at some point. When it came to a head, they could just hope that it didn’t ruin them all. The last thing they could afford was some sort of serious internal struggle.
“You’re spending time with the people here,” Rem said and clapped Carter on the shoulder. “Remind them that there are good people out there just like them.”
Carter nodded and then looked through the room at Lara. “And her?”
Magnus followed his line of sight to where she sat with the other women.
“We watch her,” Rem said quietly and then glanced over to Magnus. “And we trust her. We have no choice, really. We’re not the Group. We’re not cold-hearted bastards.”
Rem wasn’t saying it this time, but it was clear that her Vestal status was a factor. She’d been just as attracted to Magnus as he was to her. That had to help, even if Magnus had a hard time imagining Rem wanting to harm an innocent woman.
Magnus turned to watch Lara again, his heart thumping hard in his chest.
Trust.
That wasn’t something he did often.