Chapter Four
Nikon was still thinking about Leah when Lucan knocked on the door. He swung it wide open and stepped into the hall.
“You ready?” Lucan asked.
Nikon was just about to answer when Jamie swung their door open and stuck her head into the hallway.
“Did you ask him?” she said.
Lucan sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “I was going to do it later.”
Jamie’s mouth puckered into a small frown. She narrowed her eyes on Lucan.
Nikon glanced between the two trying to figure out what the hell was going on.
“But I need a headcount,” she said. “Otherwise it’s just going to make things difficult, and I don’t want things more difficult than they already are.”
The lines on Lucan’s face started to tense as he turned to Nikon. “We’re throwing a little going-away party Saturday. A few people from Jamie’s work and some of the guys. We’d be happy if you and Leah could come as well.”
Nikon shrugged. He assumed that Leah would go considering Jamie was her best friend. He wasn’t even sure why they were asking him.
“I’m sure Leah will want to.”
Jamie grinned widely. “I know she will.” She winked. “But what about you?”
Nikon looked between Lucan and his woman. Something else was going on beyond a party, but he wasn’t entirely sure.
Whatever it was, he wasn’t sure he was going to like it in the end. He’d had enough surprises to last him a long time. Still, he saw no reason to cause trouble.
The hybrid shrugged. “If Leah comes, I’ll be there. Not like I have a bunch of other crap going on.”
Jamie grinned at him then turned to look at Lucan.
“Don’t forget the takeout,” she said, and smiled. “I’m going to try and get more stuff packed today.”
Lucan grunted until she walked over and placed a kiss on his cheek. The tough façade vanished immediately.
“I won’t forget,” he murmured.
Jamie nodded and stepped back into the apartment.
“Let’s go,” Lucan said, his voice practically a grunt. He was back to his tough self.
Nikon marveled at the transformation a Vestal bond could have on a hybrid. Even if a hybrid didn’t want to believe in the idea their perfect other half was out there, it was hard to doubt it after seeing so many hybrids pair off and change.
It didn’t matter though. Not for him. Leah wasn’t his. He had to always remember that, no matter how tough and painful it could be at times.
Nikon and Lucan made their way to the car and headed back to Luna Lodge, or what was left of it that was. Things had been changing these past few months, mostly due to the willingness of the military to aid the hybrids instead of watching over them like they were terrorists. The hybrid never thought he’d be grateful to the military, but that was the strange situation he now was in.
They had been a great help in nabbing some of the bad guys targeting them, and Nikon was glad to have gotten to know Colonel Hall. Still, it would be nice to have the military not breathing down their necks anymore, possibly one step away from locking them up if the orders came down.
“Have you talked to her about the move?” Lucan said after they had been driving for some time.
They had avoided talking about Nikon’s strange relationship with Leah. If anyone could understand, it was Lucan. Nothing about their lives was really all that conventional to begin with.
“No,” Nikon said simply. “She knows about it, but we haven’t talked about it, really.”
Lucan looked over at him from the driver’s seat. “You just going to leave it like that? Seriously?” He shook his head. “Jamie tells me that she’s starting a job an hour away.”
Nikon shifted in his seat and looked out the window at the passing road, still damp from the spring rain they had been getting. “She started today.”
He tried to keep the irritation out of his voice. There was no reason to add fuel to this fire. It was best for everyone if Leah got the job, and they never saw each other again.
“So that’s it,” Lucan said. “You’re going to just let her move on with your life and leave without even a second thought? Don’t be such a pussy.”
Nikon could feel his temper rising as he turned to glare at the other man. “What the fuck should I do? We’re leaving Luna Lodge, and she’s got to find something normal at some point. Is she going to move with us? Hide out with us?”
Lucan sighed. “Yes. You can’t ignore instinct, anymore than she can.”
Nikon huffed loudly and turned away again. “There’s no instinct. She’s not my Vestal. She was for my brother, and he’s dead.”
Silence passed over them, and the hybrid was glad for it. This wasn’t a conversation he wanted to have.
* * *
When the hybrids stopped just outside the gates of Luna Lodge, Lucan motioned to the guards to open up. Not a single person stood outside the gates.
It used to be that they needed tight security because of the constant protests, not to mention the mind-controlled townspeople responsible for attacks and bombings or risk of Glycon attack.
But for all the trouble the hybrids had been put through, they’d racked up an impressive series of victories, including the destruction of the closest Horatius Group facility, stopping the local mind control signal, and proving that the hybrid-hating Senator Woods was a tool of the Horatius Group.
Between the elimination of the mind control and Senator Woods’s arrest, almost all of the protests had stopped. The local people seemed confused as to why they had even been there protesting to begin with, and many of the other outside groups didn’t really seem all that interested anymore, given the association with Woods’s corruption. Taking down the most vocal leader had been really all the hybrids needed to earn a reprieve.
Not that it changed anything long-term. Luna Lodge was too well-known, too open. They’d already sent off most of the bonded pairs and the younger hybrids. They would need to start over and find their own place where they wouldn’t be under the eye of the government or the Horatius Group.
Of course, the Group would always be lurking in dark corners, but maybe the hybrids could just get a small break.
Lucan drove the car to the main office building and pulled into a parking spot. They spotted Cato, Wendy, and Colonel Hall standing outside.
The hybrid put the car in park and turned to Nikon before getting out. “We all miss, Alair.” Nikon opened his mouth to reply but stopped when Lucan held up a hand. “But he’s gone, and I know he would have wanted for you to be happy. Not saying you have to immediately do anything, but you should at least think about that.”
Without another word, Lucan stepped out of the car, leaving Nikon to digest what had just been said. No one understood what his brother wanted more than him.
Nikon climbed out slowly, Lucan’s words still knocking around inside his skull as he stepped up to the gathered group of people.
Each were frowning with concern.
“What’s up?” Nikon said, looking between them.
Cato glanced down at his phone. “The contact Rollo worked with has just said he needs to meet. Seems like there’s some concerning movement going on, and he has no way to send out the information without it being traced back to him.”
Nikon frowned. “What sort of information are we talking about here?”
Cato shook his head. “Whatever it is must be important, since he wants to meet later.” He blew out a breath. “You’ll need to pick up Rollo.”
Nikon glanced at his watch. If they left now, they were looking at a very long day.
Despite how much he tried to tell himself it didn’t matter, he would have preferred to be back before Leah got home from her job.
Lucan sighed. “I’m going to get an earful for this,” he mumbled.
Nikon snorted. Better his friend than him.
“I’ll drive. You let your woman know.”
The other hybrid pulled out his phone and texted his woman. Nikon chuckled. The man was too afraid to call her directly and deal with her wrath.
They had just pulled up to the gates of the Lodge when Lucan’s phone rang. The hybrid cringed before answering the phone.
Jamie was shouting before he’d even placed the phone to his ear. It was going to be a long drive for someone. Nikon turned up the music a little and smiled.