Chapter Six
More than once Nikon thought about calling Leah or leaving a message. Maybe she was sitting around worried about him, and all he needed to do was send her a message to let her know her was all right. He didn’t like the idea he might contribute to her being upset. He pulled out his phone.
Never before had Nikon ever thought to do something like call her to let her know where he was, but after their encounter that morning, Nikon had a hard time pushing the pretty woman out of his mind, even though he knew he should.
Lucan cleared his throat as the hybrids sat at a little table in the back of the room. The table was worn and cracked. It’d seen better days, just like the rest of the hole-in-the-wall honky-tonk bar. Loud country music played somewhere near the front, and about every other light was missing a bulb, making the place dim for normal humans, not so much for hybrids.
Nikon wasn’t sure if the owners were trying to create a mood with the lighting situation, or if they were just too lazy to change the bulbs.
“Jamie said she was going to check on Leah,” Lucan said as he shifted his beer on the table.
They weren’t there to relax, but they had to order beers, or they would have been kicked out pretty quickly.
Nikon frowned and shoved the phone back in his pocket. He didn’t need to call her. Leah was a grown woman. Besides, it wasn’t like he owed her any sort of explanation.
They weren’t mates. They hadn’t bonded. They were friends, that was all, and he needed to remember that if he didn’t want to have serious trouble.
He glanced at Rollo, who was sitting next to Lucan. The two large men seemed strange in the brown contacts. It didn’t matter how many times he’d seen them or himself that way, the concealment of their natural amber eyes unnerved him.
“Where’s your man with his information?” Nikon asked. “He’s over an hour late.” He glanced around, frowning. A late contact might be a dead contact, or the whole thing might be an ambush.
Rollo shook his head and glanced at the time on his phone. “He’ll be here. He wouldn’t be late unless it were necessary.”
Nikon shrugged and shook his head. He didn’t trust Rollo’s contact, the mysterious hybrid Tycho. The Luna Lodge hybrids he knew and trusted. They’d suffered the same way at the hands of the Horatius Group, but outsider hybrids, which seemed to be more common than they knew, given discoveries in the past couple of years, were all wildcards.
None of the Luna Lodge hybrids really knew Tycho well enough to understand his reasoning or his long-term plans. From what Rollo had told them, he was helpful in bringing down Woods, but there was just something wrong about a hybrid working for the other side, which was exactly what Tycho had been doing in his time with the Russian groups who seemed just as interested as the Horatius Group in collecting hybrids and Vestals.
The air in the room shifted as a large man stepped inside. Large even by hybrid standards. Several of the people on stools by the door scooted away a little. The large man’s gait was menacing, and only Nikon, Rollo, and Lucan were near his size.
“That’s Tycho,” Rollo said.
Nikon snorted. The hybrid might as well have been carrying a large ass sign he stuck out like such a sore thumb. “You don’t say.”
Lucan cut him with a glare.
Nikon grunted. His friend was right. Cracking jokes wasn’t a good way to start.
The large man made his way over to the table and looked around suspiciously as he did so, eyeing each of the men in the room until they looked away. Well, all but the other hybrids.
“I’m being followed,” Tycho said quietly as he took a seat.
Nikon’s muscles tightened as his whole body went on high alert. “Are they here?”
Tycho shook his head. “I was able to lose them while still in town, but I’m sure Dmitry doesn’t trust me.” His face tightened, and he scowled.
It was clear the hybrid was angry, but Nikon could hear the worry in his voice. Rollo had mentioned that the Russian crime boss had taken a Vestal as his soon-to-be bride. The woman was clearly meant for Tycho. Nikon couldn’t think of a greater blow to a hybrid.
A middle-age waitress stopped by their table and smiled expectantly at Tycho. The annoyed hybrid barely even acknowledged her existence.
“Can I get you something?” she asked, her voice laced with honey.
Tycho turned and stared at her. Her eyes widened.
“No, now leave,” the hybrid barked.
Her mouth fell open before she stomped off. Once she was gone, Tycho pulled out a ream of paper from underneath his jacket and placed it on the table.
“It took a lot for Mia to get this, and because of it, she’s currently not allowed to leave her suite. But she wanted you to have it.” The last part was clearly said begrudgingly.
Rollo took the list and scanned over the contents then passed it over to Lucan.
“Women?” Rollo asked.
Tycho nodded. “Vestals,” he said. “They’ve started rounding them up now that Woods is soon to be behind bars. I’ve heard rumors that Dmitry is looking to wind down their work here in the States and move it offshore. They are apparently using some sort of mercenaries that are used to dealing with our kind.”
The three Luna hybrids exchanged looks. They had heard of these men. When Servius had been at sea trying to bring home Maximus and his newly discovered group of hybrids, they had run into the mercenary group the Phoenix Corps.
They were well organized and knew how to handle themselves. Two things that didn’t bode well for the hybrids.
“I think you need to see this,” Lucan said, and placed the papers in front of Nikon.
There, near the top of the page, was her name. Clear as day.
Leah Perkins. Nikon let out a low growl.
“I need to get home,” he said firmly, already starting to stand.
Lucan placed a hand on his arm, and Nikon sat back down. He was already starting to draw the attention of the locals. That was the last thing they needed.
“We need to know more,” Lucan said. “She’s safe with Jamie.”
Tycho nodded to the sheet. “Your woman on the list?”
Nikon opened his mouth, half-ready to tell him Leah was his woman but stopped. She wasn’t his woman and for a good reason. She needed to get clear the hell away from his sort of life, which was all the more reason for her to get away from the hybrids.
“If she’s at the top, it means they are in the process of dealing with her,” Tycho said.
A lump formed in Nikon’s throat as his mouth went dry. He’d wanted to protect her from having to deal with this sort of crap, but it was already too late.
“You have a place to take all your people?” Tycho said to Rollo. The other hybrid nodded back. “You need to get your women and get as far away from this area as you can. This is going to start moving fast now.”
Nikon’s hands curled into fists.
“We’re in the process,” Rollo said. “And what about you and Mia?”
It was clear Tycho wanted to say yes but instead shook his head. “She won’t leave without her sister, and I can’t leave without her.”
Rollo nodded. “I understand. Let us know how we can help.”
Tycho looked around at them. For the first time, Nikon could see the man staring back, the one trying to find a way to be both a hybrid and save his woman.
Nikon nodded, and something in that seemed to please Tycho, judging by the expression on his face.
“Save your woman,” Tycho said quietly. “No one deserves the life they have planned. I can guarantee that.”
Nikon stood again and stretched his hand out to the other hybrid. “Thank you.”
Tycho nodded with a grunt and shook his hand.
Nikon turned to Lucan. “We need to go.”