Chapter Thirteen
The two raid squads stood just outside the target house near their vehicles, checking their weapons. The humans wore full tactical gear, including helmets. Other than communications equipment, the hybrids kept to just their weapons.
Lucan’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He frowned and pulled it out, worried that Jamie might be being tailed by some other mind-control townsperson, if not worse.
It wasn’t a call or a panicked text. It was a picture.
“Damn,” he mumbled, staring down at his phone.
Yeah, Jamie was about far from trouble as possible, though damn close to being trouble herself. The little vixen had sent him a damned photo of her looking hot as sin. He could already feel himself grow hard at the sight of her. A raid against a possible Horatius Group scientist was definitely not the time to be looking at pictures of your woman in lingerie.
He pocketed his phone and looked around to see who might have noticed.
Colonel Hall raised a brow. “Don’t remember her putting that on her resume when she applied for the job at the Lodge.”
Lucan frowned. He had a job to do. He needed to focus on the mission if he wanted to have any chance of actually being with his Vestal.
The colonel spoke to the men in hushed tones. “Surround the building. Look for anything strange,” she said. “If you find it, we go in unison. That way we make sure no one runs. Remember, this is an intel mission, not search and destroy.”
Everyone nodded and performed a final check on their weapons.
Lucan took a deep breath. There was a good chance they’d capture a Horatius Group scientist, if not the man behind the mind control. His inner beast called for vengeance, but he pushed it down. He’d settle just for a good win against the Group. They’d been few and far between.
Weapons ready, the hybrids and soldiers hurried away from their vehicles to quickly surround the house. Lucan moved toward the side of the house, flattening himself against the wall next to a window.
After a few moments without gunfire, he peered into the window. He scanned the room as best he could from his vantage point. It didn’t take long before he spotted something that marked it as a Horatius Group house.
His heart started pounding. He had found two photos pinned to a corkboard hanging slightly above a large desk. Photos of Jamie and Leah.
Lucan keyed his throat mic. “I’ve got a visual of the teachers’ pictures on a desk.”
He waited a moment for confirmation.
“We’ve got visual,” Colonel Hall transmitted. “Move in on my mark. Three, two, one, mark.”
Heart pounding over the chance to catch A.J. Kinkaid, Lucan crashed through the window and then leveled his gun, searching the room for hostiles. There were no enemies in the room.
He could hear doors being kicked in, and the rushing of the other soldiers and hybrids, but he remained focus on his immediate environment.
“We’ve got civilians here,” a soldier reported over his mic. “They are being mind controlled.” No gun shots rang out. A few seconds passed. “They have been neutralized.”
Lucan smiled. The Group, even if it was just a small team, had been taken by surprise. He doubted they would have met so little resistance otherwise. Honestly, he’d half-expected something like a monstrous Glycon to be released from a hidden basement or something.
He quickly walked over to the desk where he’d spotted the pictures. A quick search revealed thick files containing pictures and piles of notes and reports concerning Jamie and Leah.
He let out a low growl. The Group obviously knew they were Vestals.
Lucan flipped through Jamie’s file. Several numbers and sentences had been circled, but a lot of it didn’t mean much to him. Near the end, a large photo of him had been added with a huge X drawn over his face. Apparently whoever had prepared the file didn’t care for him much or planned to kill him soon.
He snorted to himself. He’d love to see them try, especially Kinkaid.
Nearby footsteps caught his attention. The door opened, revealing Colonel Hall.
“Anything of use?” she asked.
Lucan shrugged. “Maybe,” he said. “It will take some sorting.” He handed her the pictures.
“Seems he was watching them.” The colonel pressed her lips together. “It just doesn’t make sense,” she said. “Neither of them have ties to the Lodge anymore.”
Lucan groaned a little over what he was going to have to tell her.
“That’s not totally true,” he said. “Since Leah was Alair’s Vestal, she could also be the Vestal of Nikon.”
Her brows shot up in surprise. “Vestal?”
“It’s… hard to explain. It’s kind of like a hybrid’s destined mate.”
“Well, I don’t put much stock in destiny, but I do understand male and female relationships, and I suppose they aren’t so different for your kind. What about Jamie?”
“Jamie is my mate.”
A small smile played on her lips. “Well, that would explain the photo.”
He shifted his feet, uncomfortable. “This isn’t good.”
“On the contrary.” Colonel Hall shook her head. “Now we know the enemy’s target. This should be easy,” she said. “We can just bring them in for protection at the Lodge.”
Lucan winced. “Maybe not so easy,” he said. “Leah left the Lodge because of the bombings. As for me, I think it might not be the best time to have a person like that in my life openly. I’m still dead for crying out loud.”
She seemed to think it over for a moment then nodded. “You’re right,” she said. “If we can’t bring them to a defensible location, the next best thing is to give them protection.”
“How so?”
“You and Nikon should go and stay with your mates or Vestals or whatever. Then it isn’t open, and it won’t involve having to stay at Luna Lodge.”
“You don’t quite understand. It’s more complicated than that. I’m not so sure—”
She held up a hand to cut him off. “You want them to get hurt?”
He shook his head.
“We both know just how far these people will go. I can’t protect them unless they are at the Lodge. Even bringing soldiers here is going to cause a huge stink. You have freedom of movement.”
Lucan nodded slowly. “I understand.”
Colonel Hall “Good,” she said. “Then go protect them. The government sure as hell won’t.”