He pointed at the monitor. “That’s not changed. It’s got to be an entrance.”
Tiberius nodded his agreement. “But we’ve not seen any movement otherwise. Maybe it’s the back.”
“Does it matter?” Cornelius asked from the backseat. “They’re obviously waiting for us. They know we’re coming. They probably already spotted all our cars. That’s why we’re not seeing any movement.”
“If they had total coverage of this entire forest from every angle, they would have stopped Selena and me a lot earlier,” Maximus said with a shake of his head. “They wouldn’t have let us wander right up to a door, front or back.”
“We saw nothing on the way here, and we’ve had no movement for twenty minutes since arrival.” Cornelius pointed to the screen. “Unless we’re going to run, we might as well make our move.”
“Agreed.” Maximus closed the screen and stuffed a sat phone into a vest pocket. “Let’s arm up and move out. We wouldn’t want Doctor Quinen to have to wait too long for his reunion.”
* * *
The hybrids traveled along on a quick pace, not sprinting, but not doing much to keep the thuds of twelve large men’s boots hitting the ground combined with the jangle of their equipment from not scaring animals or announcing their arrival. The normally placid night forest became as active during the day as small creatures fled the advance of Alpha Squad.
The night’s shadows were deep even before the squad entered the forest proper. Any normal human would have been blind without a flashlight or night-vision goggles, but Alpha Squad continued along without any concern, their hybrid night vision unencumbered. No contacts. No sunglasses. Just their full potential. True darkness might have been enough to stop them, but the thin strands of star- and moonlight making it through the tree canopy was enough to keep the hybrids moving without trouble..
When they were created from genetic tampering of normal embryos, they’d been intended to be the perfect warriors, stronger and faster than normal humans and able to deal with difficulties such as nighttime assaults. Now the hybrids were using those same abilities to hunt the people who had ripped away their freedom and tried to control their destinies. Maximus enjoyed that realization.
The advancing hybrids traveled in three small teams spaced at least ten yards away from one another. Their smaller groups formed a rough triangle, with Maximus at the front leading CJ, Cornelius, and Tiberius. Every man present wore a bulletproof vest with tactical harness overlay, the pouches filled with extra ammo magazines for their rifles, along with flashbangs and grenades. Knives and backup pistols hung in sheaths and holsters in their belts, but for now, everyone had their rifles out. Hybrid strength was always useful, but a good bullet to the brain was as effective a way of killing a man as kicking him into a tree. If they ended up in a major firefight, they weren’t going to lose from traveling light.
“So, we not going to talk about it at all?” Tiberius asked, glancing over at Maximus.
“Talk about what?” Maximus asked.
“I thought you would say something in the car. The elephant in the hotel room.”
Maximus narrowed his eyes, more confused than annoyed. “Again, about what?”
“The woman,” Tiberius said, an amused undertone to his voice. “That kiss was something, and you should have showered before showing up. We can smell what you were up to.”
Maximus wanted to tell him to shut the hell up and concentrate on the mission, but that would be hypocritical. He’d not been concentrating on the mission when he had sex with Selena. Anything he did as their leader might involve them and risk their safety and freedom. There was no such thing as a private personal life for the Alpha Squad hybrids.
“What about her?” Maximus muttered.
“She’s not your Vestal,” Cornelius said. “You shouldn’t be wasting time with non-Vestals, though I guess this proves we can thanks to whatever they did to us.”
“We don’t know that,” CJ said with a shrug. “That she’s not his Vestal.”
Maximus gritted his teeth. They were charging through the forest to deal with the remnants of their creators and potentially capture their top scientist, and they were all dissecting his personal life. It went well beyond absurd.
“She doesn’t smell like a Vestal,” Cornelius said with a scoff.
“Because we can’t smell Vestals anymore,” CJ said with a grunt. “But if they really are meant for us and us for them, why would smelling them make any difference? It’s not like those guys at Luna Lodge went hunting around for any of them until way later. The original Vestals just ended up around them. That’s got to mean something.”
“Give a break.” Cornelius let out a cruel, harsh laugh. “You actually believe that crap about destiny? Vestals are just about genetic compatibility, nothing more.”
None of the other hybrids in the two other groups offered their opinions, but there was a difference between the light murmur the forward group was doing and shouting from ten yards away in terms of the mission. Running didn’t mean they needed to shout and draw attention.
It might have been simpler than that. Maybe no one else wanted to annoy Maximus by asking him about sleeping with Selena. He appreciated their perceived restraint.
Tiberius gave a thoughtful look. “Whether it’s destiny or genetics, the question comes down to if we’re going to wait for women who might never come.”
“Nothing wrong with a little fun in the meantime if that’s the case,” CJ said. “Now that we know it’ll work.”
“Work?” Cornelius shook his head. “It’s not—"
“Enough,” Maximus snapped. “I fucked up, but this isn’t the time to talk about it. We still have the mission.”
“You did some fucking all right,” Tiberius mumbled. He looked away when Maximus glared at him.
Selena his Vestal? The idea was absurd. Maximus enjoyed the sex, more than enjoyed it, in fact, but that wasn’t the same thing as the woman being his soulmate.
