Chapter Sixteen
Leah stood at the table pouring drinks absently. More than once someone had said something to her, and she hadn’t even remotely heard them. If the point of being at the party was to make a name for herself and connections with her fellow staff, she wasn’t really doing that great a job.
It was hard to focus on much of anything when Nikon had dropped a bomb like that on her. All this time she’d wanted to go with her friends, and there he was, willing to sacrifice it all to be with her.
She had avoided asking about the nature of their relationship. They obviously were more than friends now, but she couldn’t be sure, especially with the whole Vestal reality. It still seemed too new to ask those sorts of things, despite how long they had been practically living together.
That said, Leah knew how she felt. Nikon was what made her feel at home, and without him, she would be hollow inside. Nothing was going to change that in her mind.
In fact, the last few weeks had been leading up to tonight. She’d wanted to finish up strong in the two-week trial, but she knew she didn’t belong at the school.
Leah looked around at the opulence that surrounded her. This wasn’t where she belonged. She missed the hybrid boys and longed for the days of their small school house. She wanted to be with the people she called family, and she wanted Nikon to have that as well.
“You look deep in thought.”
She nearly jumped out of her skin when Matt came to stand next to her.
Leah smiled at the man. “I’m sorry.” Her cheeks heated. “I was.”
He nodded and handed a woman a glass. The middle-aged woman smiled appreciatively at him then sneered at Leah. She nearly laughed. If only that bitch could see the man she’d really walked in with.
“Did it have something to do with your date?” Matt said.
Leah glanced over at Matt and gave a small nod.
He sighed. “I thought that might be the case,” he said. “I hope it wasn’t anything important that called him away.”
Leah frowned. “You saw Nik—” She stopped herself just in time. “Nick?”
Matt nodded. “He was on the phone and seemed angry. I thought you two must have had some sort of argument.”
Leah couldn’t stop the frown that filled her face.
Had he misunderstood? He’d said he needed to make a call. Maybe he was telling them to move on without him. She couldn’t let that happen.
“I’m sorry,” she said, quickly picking up her evening bag. “Do you think you could take over? I need to find the headmaster right away.”
Matt frowned a little but nodded. “Sure, but I think he’s retired to his office for a bit. Probably with a glass or two of brandy.”
Leah nodded quickly. She’d let the headmaster know that she wouldn’t be taking the job and then go to find Nikon before he did something he might regret.
“Thanks!” she called out to Matt before quickly making her way to the door.
* * *
Nikon paced the floor of the classroom. This was taking far too long. He didn’t like the idea of leaving Leah like that, but she was safe in a room full of witnesses. That was one comfort he had in being at the event.
“It’s not Petrov,” Cato said when he came back on the line. “It’s issued to the Phoenix Corps.”
A knot formed in his stomach. The mercenaries had nearly taken out Servius, and the hybrids had tangled with the group on an island near Indonesia. The mercenaries had been working closely with Russia to capture hybrids for some dark purpose.
It was hard for the Luna hybrids to be certain if the Corps was working for the Horatius Group or another organization doing similar dirty work. Either way meant trouble for his people.
“I’m getting Leah and heading your way,” he said.
He clicked off the phone and didn’t bother to wait for a reply. Above all else, he needed to get her the hell out of there.
Despite his concern these past few weeks, he hadn’t seen the necessity of carrying a gun and found himself at a disadvantage he didn’t normally have.
Not to mention the school full of children that these mercenaries would happily use as cover. When he’d thought it was gangsters, he’d not worried as much. Criminals tended to be sloppy when it came to actually fighting and risk averse about the police.
Mercenaries, though, were well-drilled and could perform breach and clear snatch operations in mere minutes.
He needed to find Leah and get the hell out of there.
Nikon quietly made his way out of the classroom and back to the dimly lit dance hall.
More people had made their way to the dance floor now, and an annoying shiny mirrored ball hung from the ceiling, reflecting lights on the floor as it spun.
Everything in him wanted to take out the stupid contacts he was wearing and search for Leah with his superior hybrid vision unhindered.
Hard as he looked, she wasn’t there. His heart started to hammer in his chest.
Nikon stopped over near the table. A tall, thin woman was working the drinks now.
“I’m looking for my girlfriend,” he said. “Her name is Leah. She was working here before.”
The woman smiled sweetly at first then her face puckered at the mention of a girlfriend.
“You sure she’s your girlfriend? I just saw her leaving with Matt trailing behind. That man goes after anything with a pair of tits.” She rolled her eyes.
The way her face scrunched up when she said it only showed him that Matt had not, in fact, gone after her.
“Which way?”
The woman pointed to the door on the side. Nikon nodded and made his way into the darkened hall. Not caring who saw now, he pulled out his contacts and scanned the area.
No sign of her. He would just have to make his way around until her scent grew strong enough.
Nikon took in a deep breath and frowned at a familiar but unexpected scent. Hybrid, but not his.
Maybe Cato had a man in the area he sent over to help. Nikon found a door leading outside and opened it a crack. In the darkness, he spotted a massive form standing just feet away.
“You?” Nikon said.
Tycho stepped forward. “I thought I told you to get your woman out of here.”
Nikon frowned. “We ran into some complications.”
Tycho sighed. “Grab her now, and let’s go. Things are about to get serious. Heard from a guy they were moving in. Figured your woman might be who they were talking about.”
Nikon tightened his grip on the door. Like hell he was letting that happen.
“She’s gone missing,” he said tightly. “You take the other side. I got this side.”
Tycho nodded. “Okay, let’s do this.”
“And hey,” Nikon called out to the large hybrid. “I thought saving people wasn’t your thing.”
Tycho snorted loudly. “I’m not saving people,” he said. “I’m saving my people.”
Nikon nodded. It would seem the hybrid still had some loyalty buried under all that resentment after all.