Sol: Luna Lodge #1 (7 page)

She closed her eyes. The lower lids were puffy from crying, and red paths traced her face. She threw an arm over her eyes and drew in a shaky breath.

“It was Mark. It was all to get to me,” she said.

“I know,” he said.

She pulled off her arm to look at him. “You know? Do you have the place bugged or something?”

Sol shook his head. “We have very good hearing.”

She groaned and threw her arm back over her eyes. “Great,” she mumbled. “Well that doesn’t really explain how you knew who he was.”

Sol ran a hand through his hair, and she watched his face tighten in irritation.

“Mark has done work for the government for some time,” he said. “Much like you know him to shut down businesses, he’s been the guy to step into government projects and help gather information to defund projects, like some of the help the government’s been giving us.”

Erica frowned at this. She knew Mark did some work for the government, but this meant he knew about the hybrids.

“We needed to offer enough evidence as to why we deserved funding.” He placed a hand on the couch and seemed drained. “In the end, we had enough proof, but certain senators weren’t happy with this decision. Well, a certain senator at least. We knew he was on the war path from the decision made by the committee but didn’t realize he would go this far. If we had…” He shook his head. “Well this never would have happened.”

Erica groaned as she thought over everything. This was all one giant clusterfuck.

“Are you…” Sol paused, not quite certain if he wanted to ask the next question. He sighed. “Are you going back with me?”

He watched as she looked around the room and then back to him.

“Yes,” she said softly. “I need to finish packing, but…” She stopped and twisted her fingers in her lap. “Will you go in the room with me?”

Sol nodded and got up to follow her into the room. It wasn’t quite what he expected. Everything about her seemed so wound up. Seeing the light and breezy room, it felt more like a tropical get away than the bedroom of an accountant: light aqua blues and white with hints of lemon yellows. In the middle of the room lay a large dark wood four-poster bed. The panels of flowing white fabric seemed to beg for a sea breeze.

“Have a seat on the bed while I pack,” she said. She gestured to the side of the bed near the suitcase.

He watched as she folded and placed various pieces of clothing in. When she finished with her closet, she opened up a drawer and tossed several pieces of frilly garments onto the floor.

“He touched them,” she said quietly.

Anger surged through him at the thought of the creep touching her things. A rumble came from low in his chest the more he thought about it.

When she turned around, her hands were filled with more frilly things, and a blush tinted her cheeks. The rumble turned into something else as he watched her fill the suitcase. He looked from the garments to her and wondered what she was wearing beneath her very proper skirt and blouse.

Still blushing, she closed the lid and went for the handle.

As they walked into the living room, she stopped to stare at the gaping hole where the door should have been.

“What should I do?” She looked up to him as he walked past.

“I’ll have some men out here to fix both doors. It will be fine.”

Sol waited in the hall, listening intently for the slightest sound. He was relieved when she finally followed him down to the car. Secured and on their way, he was glad to have her safe with him once again.

Chapter Seven

Erica watched the outside once again turn from city to bare winter landscape. Snow was starting to build in some areas on the ground, and patches of ice littered the landscape. Soon there would be nearly too much snow for easy travel.

She didn’t mind. There was nothing she liked more than helping an underdog, and the hybrids were like the ultimate underdog. It would be an interesting career move, but it wouldn’t be the first time she worked a high-profile position. Her internship with then Assistant Attorney General Anthony Hest had taught her all she needed to know about public profiles.

She glanced over and studied Sol’s profile as he drove. Everything about him gave off a feeling of strength, even the line of his jaw.

“What?” He turned to look at her.

“You have super hearing, you can see in the dark, and have crazy strength. What else?” She turned in her seat.

His jaw clenched, and she wondered if she crossed the line.

“We can run fast.” He sighed. “Other than that, we all have different strengths.”

“Like what?” she asked.

Sol sighed and seemed very tired. Erica wondered if he had gotten any sleep the night before with everything that had happened.

“For us, it’s a very personal thing,” he said.

Erica blushed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

Sol waved a hand. “It’s fine, and nothing we haven’t been asked before. When we first started to work with Major Carter’s men, they had all sorts of questions.” He glanced over. “I’m a tracker. That’s my specialty.”

Erica fell silent as she thought about this. Did it mean something, him telling her this? She had a hard time believing that it didn’t. Asking him more seemed out of the question, so she settled in for the rest of the ride.

It was surprising how comfortable it was, sitting in silence with him. In many ways he seemed menacing and scary, but here, with her, he offered a feeling of safety that she had been missing the last few days.

She smiled and looked out the window.

* * *

After some time, she recognized the path to the lodge. In the distance, Erica could see people gathering at the front gate.

“Are those all reporters?” she asked.

“Some,” Sol replied and turned down a road to the left. “Some are protesters, and some just want to see the freaks.”

Erica gasped. “You aren’t freaks!”

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” he replied. “We had to go through a number of tests before we could even get to the point where we are. If we were normal, we would have never had to go through all this. They would have rescued us, and we would have been able to lead a normal life outside of these walls.”

“That’s a reflection on society, not you,” Erica said softly.

She wanted to badly to soothe the aches the hybrids’ continued rejection had caused. These men had been the subject of so much and treated so poorly.

“What about the protesters? How could they have some sort of problem with you? It’s not like you all asked to be altered.” She could feel the irritation rising.

Sol shrugged. “Who knows? Some think we are an abomination to God. Some think we go against nature, and some just hate anything that might be threatening to them.”

She snorted. “Threat. These people are idiots and bigots.”

Sol nodded. “Maybe, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t a danger. If enough people get it in their head that they want us gone, the government could decide to pull our funding. Titus is trying to prevent this from even being an option, but it’s still there.”

“That’s terrible,” she shouted.

“That’s life,” he said.

Erica glanced out the window at the wilderness around them. They had been driving away from the front of the lodge, but there was still no sign of the back.

She frowned. “Where are we going?”

Sol chuckled at her question. “Near the lodge we have the offices and training facilities. This is also where we keep guests and live. We’ve tried to keep the lodge and the community as separate as we can.” He looked over at her, and her heart picked up at his lopsided smile. “This is where most of us live, and we didn’t want anyone finding us out. Now it’s more a worry they might sneak in and take pictures of us naked.”

“They’d get a lot for those,” she mumbled and then blushed at his chuckle. This super hearing was going to be hard to get used to.

Gates camouflaged by vines swung open, and she was surprised to find a whole new area. Sol nodded at the guards, mostly hybrids judging by their size and eyes, and drove through. A decent-sized building that looked like some sort of hospital stood to the right. A creek ran to the left and veered off farther into the woods.

She had wondered before how many men lived at the compound. Now, it was clear there were far more than she had anticipated. Not only that, but their ages astounded her. Most were fully grown, but there were several that were just barely teens. More boys than men.

“They are so young,” she whispered to herself.

“These were the ones at our facility,” Sol said quietly. “We know the Horatius Group have some sort of birthing center. Only a few of us can remember it, and even then it’s broken memories. Just something else they took from us.”

His muscles tensed on the steering wheel. She could hear the cheap plastic groan with the pressure.

“So there’s a place somewhere, with just mothers and young children like you?” She stared back at the young faces.

“It’s the best guess we have,” Sol said. “We can’t be certain, but we think that the older ones from our facility are the first.” He paused, and she looked back at him from the window. “Or at least the first successful ones.”

Erica stared at him in horror. “But that would mean…” She was too sickened to even say it out loud. It was understood though. It was clear, if they were altered in the womb, just who the unsuccessful would be. She closed her eyes to keep down the bile that rose up.

When she opened her eyes, she found his steady gaze on her. “You said before that I put off a pheromone. What does that mean? Do I smell?”

Sol shifted in his seat and stared out the front. He cleared his throat a few times. “It means that you put out a nice smell to some of my kind.”

“Some? Why not all?” She turned to lean her back on the door, her leg propped up on the seat. She watched his gaze as it traveled up her bare leg to her exposed thigh. Shifting, she covered it more.

Sol moved in his seat again. “We don’t really know why, but we think it’s more a matter of taste.”

She leaned in toward him slightly, the fabric on her thigh slipping up again. “What does my pheromone smell like?” she whispered to him.

His lips pressed together in a firm line. She rocked forward when they came to a stop and was surprised to see him looking directly at her, his eyes a bright amber.

“You smell like honeysuckle and sex,” he growled. His eyes flared before he leapt out of the car.

Her face flamed at this words. That hadn’t been what she had expected him to say at all, but it sent a zing down to her center.

Erica watched him in the window as she pulled her suitcase from the trunk and looked around. They were surrounded mostly by trees. She could barely see the next cabin through the trees. She looked up at the cabin in front of her. Two stories high, it seemed larger than most cabins she’d ever seen.

She stepped out and sucked in the crisp air.

“So big,” she whispered.

“We’ve built a number of homes out here for the men,” he said and moved past her with her suitcase.

Erica cursed his super hearing.

“We still have a number of homes to build. The younger ones stay at several buildings near the center.” He opened the door and went in.

Erica followed close behind, shutting the door when she came in.

Inside, the building was less cabin and more home. She wondered if the cabins were used to disguise their location from the air. The living room was warm and inviting. A large comfortable couch sat in front of a fireplace. The TV was wedged in the corner, so both could be enjoyed at the same time. A small table stood in the dining room, which opened up to the kitchen.

After passing through, in what she assumed was the grand tour, Sol led her up the narrow stairs. The upstairs was only made up of three rooms, two bedrooms and a bathroom. She peeked into one as she passed and noticed the rich tones. The other room, slightly smaller, was clean and plain. It was a pale blue with little on the walls.

“Will I have a roommate?” she asked, looking at the other bedroom.

Sol set the suitcase on the bed and moved to the door. He paused before leaving and glanced over his shoulder.

“Yes,” he said. “This is my house.”

Erica watched his retreating back as she dropped hard to the bed.

“Don’t leave the house,” he called back. “Make yourself at home, and I’ll be back later.”

She listened to his feet on the steps and the sound of the door closing.

Erica sighed and lay back on the bed. This wasn’t going to be difficult at all.

Chapter Eight

Deep in thought, Sol drove to the main lodge, where the offices were located. He’d already radioed Titus that they should have a meeting about the incident at Erica’s apartment. Sol squeezed the wheel. He also wanted to have a talk with Apollo about leaving her open.

His thoughts strayed to Erica. Her sweet scent lingered from their ride, and he sucked in a deep breath. There was more than something about her. She could spell trouble for him in more than one way. Seeing Titus lose it earlier still weighed heavy on him, and he wondered if they were all prone to that sort of behavior.

It seemed as hard as they tried, their genetic roots would show regardless, and being out of control wasn’t an option for him. It wasn’t really an option for any of them now. The world was watching, probably just waiting for the freaks to mess up.

He pulled into his spot around back and hopped out.

Two guards opened the door for him, and he cursed the lack of security measures he’d been able to see to while dealing with everything else.

He groaned as he passed more soldiers he didn’t recognize. Carter had doubled his staff at Luna Lodge. Though he didn’t have anything against the major, this was supposed to be their operation and home.

Sol stormed into Titus’s office at the center of the L-shaped office building attached to the main lodge.

“Take it easy,” Titus said from his seat. The room looked as if nothing had happened earlier. He leaned in a little closer.