Maximus wrote it off as her being stubborn and worried about her job. With few options, she took the only one available, despite it being dangerous. She wasn’t completely unarmed as proven by her offer of a Taser and pepper spray.
That might explain her, but it didn’t explain him completely, even if all his earlier rationalizations still applied. She provided a convenient excuse and cover if he ran into someone. They couldn’t be certain they would even encounter Quinen or the Corps. If this whole scouting mission turned out to have nothing to do with hybrids, he was far more likely to be able to escape with some well-placed lies. Brutal murders of tourists weren’t the kind of thing local criminals liked. They drew too much attention.
Maximus eschewed a weapon to eliminate any suspicion, but three other hybrids with hidden pistols trailed them. They were far enough away to avoid anyone, especially Selena, from noticing, but not so far that a dead sprint wouldn’t get them into engagement range pretty damned quickly. Sometimes even the hybrids’ enemies underestimated how fast they could be when needed.
His concern over potential Phoenix Corps traps was a little offset by a palpable sense of relief. He wasn’t sure what he’d expected when he admitted he was a hybrid. Just because the public and media weren’t passing around false stories of evil hybrid kidnappings anymore didn’t mean that every human suddenly trusted them.
Maximus couldn’t even convince himself that it would be wrong of her to be afraid of him for a more fundamental reason. She’d given nothing but the truth from their first meeting whereas he’d lied repeatedly about who he was and why he was interested in the area. Women didn’t like liars.
Selena shot him a playful grin. “I keep wondering if more wild boars will show up. Now I almost feel sorry for the poor pig. I mean think about his bad luck. The one person he runs into in this forest is a hybrid.”
“Hey, I didn’t kill him.” Maximus shrugged. “I just showed him who was boss.”
“He picked the wrong fight.”
“That he did.”
Selena laughed, the sound light and merry. There was no hint she was worried about traveling through the forest with a lying hybrid. The ease of her step, near perpetual smile, and wide-eyed interest in the trees and birds around her made it come off like a tourist trip and not an investigation into a ruthless organization. It was as if she could sense the lies before and was more on guard because of them, but now that the truth was out, she could relax.
Light beads of perspiration dotted her forehead, and a slight brush of red covered her cheeks, signs of her effort on their hike, but her breathing was easy and regular, her pace confident but casual. Another few miles wouldn’t hurt.
A comfortable lull in the conversation arose. The call of birds and scurry of small animals denied true silence, but left it easy for Maximus to listen for anything unusual, but not so effortless for him to keep out stray thoughts that didn’t have anything to do with the mission. He would have almost welcomed another wild animal attack.
The mission was supposed to lead them to Doctor Quinen. The scientist might have answers about what had happened to the twelve members of Alpha Squad. If anyone knew, he did. The specificity of the affliction bothered Maximus. Why hadn’t all the hybrids from his group been affected?
Rachel claimed it wasn’t a disease or contagious. The fact it was only the twelve supported that, but it might simply take longer with the others to manifest.
A second possibility was more disturbing. Something special might have been done to the twelve hybrids, something that set them even farther apart from the rest of their kind. There might be something to that. The fact that the top elites from his group were the ones with this particular issue had crossed his mind more than one. The lack of ability to smell their Vestals might be a side-effect with something far more terrible coming for them.
Maximus had fought Glycons before. They vaguely resembled men, but most of them lacked intelligence and lived for nothing but death. Did becoming a mindless beast await the twelve hybrids in the future?
He didn’t fear death. He’d faced it many times since before and after he’d earned his freedom. The only thing he feared was dying before he had the chance to take down the bastards who had stripped the hybrids’ freedom away for decades. The bastards who thought they could treat living men like they were nothing more than equipment.
“Can I ask you something?” Selena asked, kicking a small rock out of her way.
“Sure.” Maximus took a moment to survey the area. He didn’t find anything more suspicious than a small lizard. “No guarantees that I’ll answer, though.”
Selena coughed into her hand, her cheeks far redder than before. “I’m curious about something. I know it’s kind of private, but I can’t help myself. I’ve wondered about it since I first heard about it.”
Maximus didn’t like where this line of questioning was going, but he couldn’t object to her question if he didn’t know what it was.
“Okay,” he said slowly. “Like I said no guarantees.”
“Well, you see…” She rubbed the back of her neck. “Vestals.”
The word startled Maximus so much he almost tripped over a fallen log. He righted himself and resumed his normal stride, his jaw tight. It was like the damned woman had been reading his mind during their earlier meetings.
“What about them?” he asked gruffly.
“Is it true?” Selena asked.
“You’ll have to be more specific than that.” Maximus tried to keep
