Sol: Luna Lodge #1 (17 page)

She pulled up her pants and made her way to him. The blood dropped slowly, and she dug her fingers into the wound to help keep it going.

They walked back in silence, a trail of blood her only hope.

* * *

Sol could smell her in the wind, and had been for the past twenty minutes with no luck. It was driving him insane.

“I think I’ve got something,” Apollo shouted.

Sol and Lucius ran to where he was. He could smell her fear, and it bit through him. She had been here but how long ago?

“Looks like she made a trail for us.” Lucius held up the bloody twig, and they spotted the droplets of blood leading away from the area.

They swiftly followed through the trees, fear working its way through Sol. If she was hurt, he didn’t know if he’d be able to come back from that. The men who hurt her certainly wouldn’t. He’d see to that.

The path wound through the woods and stopped just at the opening of a cave. Her scent was strong in the air.

Lucius put a hand on his shoulder to stop him from moving in. Anger coursed through him. He was right, of course, but that didn’t mean he had to like it.

Apollo and Lucius pulled out their guns. It had been decided earlier that Sol wouldn’t be given a gun this time. He was far more likely to use it, not that it would stop him from ripping a man apart.

Lucius and Apollo flanked the opening and peeked around the corner. They waved him in after a moment.

“They’ve already moved on,” Apollo said softly.

This was their move. He could feel it in his bones. If they didn’t find her soon, they might never find her. He roared with everything in him.

Faint, off in the distance, he heard her reply.

Chapter Nineteen

The leader of the thugs back-handed Erica, sending her to the ground. “Yell again, bitch, and you’ll regret it even more.”

She had heard Sol, and she could only hope he heard her back. Erica spit the blood out of her mouth and scrambled off of the ground.

“Oh you can’t do that.” The doctor stepped in front of her. “You’ll hurt the baby.”

“I don’t give a shit. I’m not getting locked up or worse for this bitch,” the lead thug said. His two followers closed on her.

She scrambled backwards.

“They won’t pay if she doesn’t make it,” the doctor said desperately.

“Well I don’t think they’ll pay if none of us make it,” he snarled at the doctor. “Tell me, Doc, what do you think those freaks are going to do with you when they get a hold of you?”

The doctor paled.

“Think they’ll kill you quick or stretch it out?” the man said. “Maybe they fuck you before they kill you.”

Another roar made the doctor shake with fear.

“What’s the verdict, Doc?” The man sneered at him.

A flash and bang rang through the air. Erica screamed when she saw the thug lying on the ground, blood pooling around him, a look of shock on his face as he gasped for breath. Another thug stood over him.

“The Group needed a little extra assurance that people would do their jobs.” He chuckled. “Looks like it came in handy.”

The doctor looked from the man on the ground to the one with the gun.

“Doctor?” The gun-toting thug raised an eyebrow.

The doctor looked at her and nodded. The thug held out a hand and helped her up. “No more out of you, or I knock you out.”

She nodded and stood.

It didn’t matter. Sol was close and would save her.

* * *

Sol raced toward the sound of the gunshot. They wouldn’t hurt her, he kept telling himself. She was worth far too much, and they needed her, but her scream kept echoing in his head. He came to the clearing and stopped in his tracks.

A man dressed in black lay on the ground, still bleeding from the shot. Sol breathed a sigh of relief. She was safe or at least hadn’t been shot.

Next to the man was some blood on the ground. He could smell her there. Her fear. They had hurt her.

Sol stopped and listened closely. He could hear them up ahead. She was so close to him now. He had to get her back. Onward he pushed further into the woods. Lucius and Apollo followed.

They had called for him to slow down at first but didn’t bother now. He would do what he had to in order to reach her.

The closer he got, the more aware he was of the sound he made. He let his feet only barely touch the ground as he ran, avoiding the loud brush that they seemed to favor.

He approached from the side as they came into view. Two men with guns, the doctor and Erica. He watched as they moved. Neither of the guards seemed particularly aware. Maybe they assumed they would have the upper hand with guns. He smiled grimly. There was nothing that would save them now.

Sol glanced around, but the others were nowhere in sight. If he didn’t go in now, there was no telling when he would have a chance again or if he even would.

“You’re going to like the room we’ve got made up for you. Everything a mother could ever want. You’ll even get to raise the baby.” The doctor nodded his approval. “A very big honor.”

Erica shivered. The Horatius Group was so mechanical in everything.

Before she could even think to respond, someone picked up the guard standing next to her and tossed him into the next. She screamed loudly as they crashed into a tree and crumpled to the ground. An arm snaked around her body, and she felt a prick on her neck.

“I never had the chance to work with you, Sol,” the doctor said from behind her. “But you are famous around the Horatius Group recently. Congratulations are in order.”

Erica felt a sob escape as Sol stood in front of her. His clothes torn and dirty, he was the best thing she ever saw. His growl cut through the air.

“Take it out!” he roared.

“Can’t do that.” The doctor held the syringe higher. “It won’t kill her, but you might wish it had by the time it works its way through.”

“What do you want?” Sol said after some time. His shoulders hung forward in acceptance.

“Well her of course,” the doctor laughed. “You could always come with us. Be the loving little family raising the first second-generation hybrid. You’ll go down in history.”

“No,” she shrieked. “I won’t let you.”

Her eyes held his. Sol broke the contact to look back to the doctor. “Fine.”

She shook as the word came out. He would go back to that life all to be near her. It was too much. The syringe came away from her neck but lingered near her head.

“Great,” the doctor laughed. “Oh this was such a good trip. I knew something was going to happen.”

Gunfire rang through the air. At first she thought Sol had been shot and screamed for him. He raced forward and yanked her to him as the doctor fell forward, the syringe just missing her back.

Erica turned. A scarred hybrid with black hair emerged from the trees, Lucius. His gun was raised. He had a clear shot to the doctor and had taken it. She nodded and turned back to Sol. Finally, safe in his arms, she let out a sigh.

* * *

Sol watched her in the back of the ambulance. They had called in an emergency crew from the local hospital in case she needed more care than could be provided with their limited medical resources. Rachel led the crew in examining her, but at the moment, things looked normal.

Major Carter was overseeing his men as they dealt with the two thugs. After all the warnings, in the end, it was Lucius who killed someone. Sol wasn’t surprised though. Lucius was a predator through and through. He was also the man he wanted to have at his back just about any day.

“Thanks for taking the shot,” he said.

Titus sighed as he looked between the two. “You know this means a world of trouble, right?”

Apollo came over and winked at him. “Seems to me as if you’ll be needing a PR person.”

Titus frowned. “Shit. I really am going to have to hire her aren’t I?”

“Only if you want to get through this,” Apollo said.

Titus groaned.

“Why are you so against her?” Lucius asked.

“She just rubs me the wrong way,” Titus huffed.

“Or maybe you just want her to rub you the right way.” Apollo grinned.

Sol rolled his eyes. “If that’s all, I’m going to go see about Erica.”

Titus nodded. “Go see to your woman.”

Erica sat in the back of the ambulance surrounded by instruments. There was so much to think about and not a place to actually do it. She glared at the paramedic that kept coming over to poke, push, twist and hydrate her. If they tried to push one more sports drink on her, she was going to shove it where the sun didn’t shine.

She looked up as Sol came into view. His strong sure strides gave her comfort. There was no way he would allow them to make an experiment out of her. The excited way the doctors and nurses had been talking hadn’t been much different from the Horatius doctor. She was no science experiment, and her child certainly wouldn’t be either.

Sol came to stand in front of her. Tired and weary, she held her arms out for him.

“Get me out of here,” she said quietly.

He nodded and began removing all the attachments.

It was a flurry of activity for all of five seconds. Everyone flocked to make sure she was doing fine. They stopped when Sol stood in front of her and prevented their intrusions.

“You really should let us check you out more,” Rachel said from around Sol.

Erica kept removing the pieces. “I want to go home.”

Dr. Fisher came out from the side. “We really can’t release you.”

Erica stopped and looked at the man. “I’d like to see you try and stop me.” Everyone around them stilled.

She felt Sol rumble in front of her, and several other hybrids tensed, readying for what might come.

“Let me make this perfectly clear to all of you.” She stood on shaky feet and leaned on Sol for support. “This is not some experiment. This is my life.” She looked up to Sol and smiled. “Our life,” she said quietly. “And we’re going to do whatever we see as best for this child. But if you think you’re going to keep me in some hospital bed, so you can monitor me like I’m so specimen in a jar, well, fuck off.”

She was certain she heard a few of the hybrids snort at her statement. If anyone could understand, it would be them.

“Erica,” Rachel said. “That’s really not the intent. This is just new, and we don’t know how things are going to go with you.”

“We’ll deal with things as they come.” She squeezed Sol’s hand. “Until then, I’ll see you Monday for the appointment.”

Sol led her off to a waiting car. She watched as he signaled to Titus, who nodded. Somehow she understood. He’d deal with it. That was good because she was at her limit. At this point she wanted a long bath and sleep. Everything else could wait.

* * *

They drove in silence. She was so tired her eyes drooped as she climbed out of the car. Within seconds, she was being lifted in the air and carried into the house. She smiled at the sexy man whose arms she was wrapped in.

“Off to bed with you,” he said quietly.

She shook her head. “I want to wash this filth off of me and be clean of this day.”

Sol paused when they got to the bathroom. He opened the door and turned on the water. Warm steam helped heat her aching body. He stripped off her clothes. She gasped when his warm shirtless body came up behind her.

“You’ll drown. Just let me wash you,” he whispered. “Let me love you.”

Tears leaked from the corner of her eyes, and she cursed the pregnancy hormones, although she wasn’t all that sure it wouldn’t have moved her to tears otherwise.

She sighed as she sank into the warm water with his solid form behind her.

“You’ve got scratches on you,” he said tightly.

Erica held up her arm. “Just from branches. I’ll be fine.”

His strong arms wrapped around her. “I want you to be more than fine,” he whispered in her ear.

“I will be,” she said. “They didn’t break me.” She turned her head to look at him. “Pissed me off though."

They sat in the warmth of the water and listened to the early morning sounds outside.

“It was so close,” he said after some time. “Things could have gone so wrong.”

“Could have, but they didn’t.” She leaned her head back on his chest and kissed his jaw. “I’m one smart cookie. I would have found a way.”

He shook his head, and she reached up to cup his face in her hands.

“I knew you would come. No matter what happened, I knew you would come.”

“Always,” he whispered. “I will always come for you.” His hand snaked around to her stomach. “Both of you.”

Erica leaned back and sighed. She really didn’t know if she was up for this conversation, but there really was no great time to do this.

“I thought you said you couldn’t have kids,” she said.

“We can’t,” he said. “Or we couldn’t. They tried so many times without any success. We just assumed.”

Sol looked up to the ceiling and sighed.

“The scientist mentioned that there was some thought about not being in captivity might have played a role.”

She leaned her head on him and sighed.

“So what are we going to do?”

His hand danced back and forth across her stomach.

“We’re going to have a baby,” he said in awe.

Erica smiled at his sweet words. “I meant about us,” she said.

His arm tightened around her. “I thought you were staying here. With me.”

She moved her hand up and down his arm in soothing motions. “I am, but I mean, we can’t just live like this.”

Erica nearly laughed at how silly it sounded. She knew being unwed when they had the baby was the most practical thing to do, but there was nothing about their relationship that was practical.

She turned to look at his frowning face and turned completely around. “I want a family for this baby,” she said, her hand involuntarily rubbing her tummy.

“That’s what I’m offering.” Sol grabbed her and pulled until she was straddling his lap.

She put her hands around his neck and smiled. “I need more.”

Sol frowned again, and she couldn’t help but laugh. He just didn’t seem to understand.