Remus (4 page)

“I’m sure we will,” he said then frowned. “Where is he?”

Rem felt a chill run down his spine at the question and moved toward the door.

“Ah, my dear brother,” Romulus said to the man. “Yes, brother.” His voice echoed in the hall. “Why don’t you come out and greet our special guests? After all, they came all this way to see you.”

Rem glanced back to Magnus, who shook his head and nodded toward the door. He was torn. If he ran, he could make it out. He was sure of that, but Magnus and his people would be doomed. They would never know how they came to be.

His fists clenched at his side. The decision was already made. It had been made the moment he came back with them. Rem knew what he had to do and everything that might require.

He stepped out into view of the Council and ignored Magnus. If he looked back now, it would only hurt the man, and he’d already seen his share of hurt.

“To what do we owe the honor?” Rem said, plastering his smile on, and made his way down to the group.

Nero caught his eyes and gave him a harsh smile.

“The Council came to see my beloved brother,” Romulus said, his smile matching that of his second-in-command.

“Oh?” Rem said and raised a brow. “Surely they came to see what an effective leader they have invested in.”

The smile on Romulus’s face slid a degree or two at the slight, but he quickly recovered.

“I think they’d rather see their prodigal child and all the things he can do.”

Rem stared hard at the man he’d grown up with. They had not been so different as children. Tested, prodded, and manipulated. Every adult around them had used them for their own purposes. And yet it still came to this.

He should have known. From the start, they had been forced to fight one another. They’d been compared, and whatever the other lacked, it was made known to them both.

This had been what the Horatius Group wanted. To see how far they could push them before either of them cracked. Unfortunately, Romulus hadn’t been as strong as him.

Or maybe it was fortunate for him. Rem couldn’t really say. Romulus might have cracked, but his torture had ended, whereas for himself, it was a never ending battle. The battle for his sanity. The battle of control. He’d be damned if he’d give that up to the Horatius Group. If they knew his true nature, they would weaponize him, and his chances of ever escaping would come to an end.

They would lock him away until he was needed.

It was no life.

But then, neither was the one he was currently living.

“I would think they had all the information needed from me,” Rem said, smiling at the robed seven. “I’m just a lowly hybrid with little talent.”

The portly Council member stared at him with open interest. It chilled him.

All the times of being tested, never once had the Council shown themselves. Sure, they had been there, hidden behind two-way glass, likely laughing at him, but they never actually talked to him.

His jaw clenched involuntarily, and he tried to maintain the cool he had worked so hard for. At this moment, he was finding it more difficult than ever. All he had to do was get his hands on these bastards, and it would stop. At least for a bit.

Rem’s hands shook as he forced them out of the fists he had made. It wouldn’t matter. If he took out this Council, there were always more to take their place. Making sure the Group was taken down would take more than killing the seven in front of him.

No, he’d have to set a fire from within and watch as it spread to all who had a hand in this. Hell would have nothing on his vengeance. He would make sure of that.

“Does he have the marking like the others?” said one of the Council, the voice feminine, but her face hidden.

“Try picking up a file, Agatha,” the portly Council member said, his voice a nasally whine as he frowned at the woman. “He’s not like them.”

The woman seemed flustered and turned around. Several of the other members attended to the wounded pride of the woman. Whatever her place, it was such that they felt the need to coddle her, a sure sign of some power.

Rem stared at the squat man. He was middle age, with a round belly, thin wire glasses and receding hairline that had long since turned gray. From the look of it, he seemed to know his stuff.

“And what exactly am I like?” Rem challenged the man.

For a moment, he seemed almost stunned that Rem would address him directly. It was clear that there was a firm line between himself and the hybrids.

“You are…” the man began, “about as close to the old ways as we can get.”

Rem frowned. It hadn’t been the response he was expecting. Most times, the Horatius Group higher-ups just told him he was a warrior, if they even bothered to respond. This, though, was as close to an answer as he’d been able to get, and it still made no sense at all.

Romulus snorted loudly.

“He certainly acts old,” Nero said, joining in.

“Why don’t we step outside, and I show you how old I really act?” Rem said, giving a predatory smile to the warped hybrid.

Nero snarled and stepped forward as if he might actually take him up on the offer.

“Enough!” Romulus said.

Nero stilled in his place at the command of his boss.

Agatha, the female Council member from before, waved her well-manicured hand dismissively.

“We don’t have time for this,” she said firmly, her face still blocked by the long hood of the cloak. “Escort him to the testing room.”

Rem found himself looking back to the portly man again. His head was bowed, studying the floor with interest.

Nero came behind him and clamped a hand on Rem’s arm. He leaned in close to his ear.

“I’ve been looking forward to this for some time,” he said. “Let’s see what you’re really made of.”

Chapter Four

Jenna pulled her jacket around her, mainly concerned about concealing her gun.

She sat in a park near her truck and down the road from her usual coffee shop, sipping some of the hot brew and watching the strange waitress as she kept looking out the front picture window at her. It was odd behavior for sure. Though Jenna suspected that the people of the small town had figured out her association with the lodge and were just responding to that.

From day one, she’d been getting her coffee there. It was quiet, and no one seemed to notice her. Of course, all that was done now. Everyone seemed to have some idea as to who she was and where she worked. The locals didn’t seem so happy with that.

Small-minded. They couldn’t stand anything that wasn’t just like them. She’d seen it over and over with these small-town people. Growing up, she’d lived it.

As a child it didn’t seem like such a big deal, but the older she got, the less she wanted to tolerate the ignorance.

She sighed and stared at her hands wrapped around the cup. It looked like she’d have to find another place to go for coffee. And maybe agreeing to meet Titus there hadn’t been such a great idea, not that there were many other places to go. Aside from her uncle’s house, there wasn’t much between the house and the lodge.

Her thoughts drifted back to Rem. Despite herself, she had been glad to see him and to know he was still alive. There was so much he kept from the people around him. Even now, most members of the lodge despised him for being a traitor.

Jenna’s heart tugged a little at the thought. If only they knew what he was sacrificing for them.

He and Titus had decided it was for the best that only they should know. It would create fewer issues and keep Rem as safe as they could manage. With all the recent breaches in security, the fewer people who knew the better. That included those they might normally trust.

The hybrids needed this. She knew that as much as anyone. Their lack of knowledge about where they came from was already causing problems. What would they do if some virus took hold of the community? There was only so much Rachel could do without truly knowing what she was dealing with.

Still, Jenna had never much gotten the feeling that was Rem’s sole reason for going back. At first she had wondered if he really was a double-agent. He seemed to play the part so well, but then she wasn’t so sure he wasn’t always playing a part.

After seeing him though, and the way he acted, it was clear that he was not a favorite in his new community. The dark circles had been as good an indication as any.

A black sedan pulled up in front of her bench. She was surprised to see Titus alone and had half-expected that he would be driven around by one of the men. It only showed his dedication to keeping Rem safe.

She rose and walked down the street a bit, the sedan trailing behind. She stopped when she arrived at another bench and her truck.

To most on the block, it would look like she was meeting a huge Native American man. With sunglasses on his eyes, it was hard to pick him apart from a non-hybrid. Though it did occur to her that despite their more low-profile media approach in recent months and a haircut, Titus might still be recognizable from earlier TV appearances. There weren’t many men who could measure up to his size.

He sat down next to her and placed a large sack between them.

“You wouldn’t believe the looks I got when I asked for his bedding and clothes,” he said quietly and looked over to her. “It’s to mask your scent you know.”

She nodded and took a sip of her coffee to hide the surfacing blush. It hadn’t exactly been the easiest text to send, but Rem seemed so serious about the scent thing, and he was rarely serious like that.

“How did he look?” Titus asked. He watched up and down the street, likely looking out for anyone that might take note of them there.

Jenna opened her mouth to say fine but stopped. He hadn’t really looked fine.

“Tired,” she said finally. It was the best description she had.

Titus nodded and seemed to understand.

She set her coffee to the side and pulled out the slip of paper Rem had given her. Jenna placed it in Titus’s hand. She hadn’t read it despite wanting to. Rem hadn’t intended for her to see the paper, and she wouldn’t break that trust.

Titus opened the paper and read what was on it. He gave a short nod and then placed it in his pocket.

Jenna tried to get some sort of reading off of his face, but it was like stone.

“How is your uncle doing?” he asked.

Jenna glanced away. She couldn’t let on about his retirement until he was ready to make it known. Maybe he would still change his mind. It wasn’t like he had much else to be doing.

“Getting better every day,” she said and looked over to him. “Well enough to fight me for his cup of coffee.”

Titus chuckled. “He’s got a lot of spirit.”

She nodded. He did have spirit, and everything in her believed that he would be himself soon.

“We believe we’ve sniffed out anyone that might not have our best interest at heart,” Titus ground out as he continued to watch around them. “At least the government is being cooperative this time, especially since they were the ones to fuck this all up.”

“And Woods?” she said.

His fists tightened in his lap, anger radiating off of him.

“So far, Woods has been able to wiggle out of any proof that would find him on the wrong side of all this,” Titus said. “But he’ll slip up one of these times, and when he does, we’ll be there to catch him.”

“I told Rem about the repaired fence. He says that you need to make sure everyone is combat ready,” she said and looked over to him. Titus ceased his scouting to look over at her. “He didn’t say, but I got the feeling there were more than a few Glycons there with him.”

Titus sighed and stared straight ahead. She could see through the corner of his glasses as he closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them again.

“We’re stretched so thin right now. With half of your uncle’s men gone, we’re down even more,” he said tightly. “We’re counting on Rem more than ever.”

Jenna frowned. That didn’t make sense. Rem had returned to get information about the history of the hybrids, some book in particular. How was he going to help by getting a book about their past? Unless there was some super-secret weapon none of them were aware of, it didn’t seem like much use in combat.

She opened her mouth to say as much when a truck full of men drove by slowly.

“That’s the third time,” Titus said tightly.

Jenna gasped in alarm and reached inside her jacket to unholster her weapon. She stopped when Titus placed a hand over her own.

“Leave it,” he said quietly and continued to watch the men as they drove around the corner.

“It’s not safe here,” Jenna said, more to herself than anyone.

Titus nodded. “When do you meet him again?”

“Three days,” she said quickly.

“I think it would be best if we met at your house,” he said.

Jenna shook her head. “How would I explain it to my uncle?”

Titus glanced over to her. “You don’t. I’ll just pay a visit to him.”

She nodded, not quite certain if he would buy that. Her uncle was quick to pick up on things. Never once had she been able to get away with lying to him. Jenna doubted this time was much different.

“Oh, Rem didn’t seem all that surprised about Justus,” she said before standing and picking up the bag at her feet.

Titus stood as well and sighed. “After the way he was treated, I don’t think anyone was much surprised.”

She had to agree. Being locked up because of association was crap in her book. She likely would have ran at the first opportunity as well.

“Jenna,” Titus said, cutting into her thoughts as she started loading the bag Titus had brought into the truck. She turned back to look at him. “Thank you for doing this. I didn’t know if you could, but he insisted that it be you from the start.”

Jenna blinked a few times. “Rem?”

Titus nodded. “I think you made an impression on him when you took out Vanessa.”

A chill ran down her spine at the mention of the evil woman who had imprisoned Lucius and Hannah, as well as Rem and Justus. Crazed with her lust to have a natural-born hybrid baby, Vanessa was the poster child for the Horatius Group.

The rumble of the truck caught her ears.