Maximus walked over to a table and ran his finger along it. Barely any dust.
CJ leaned over and grabbed something off the ground. He held it between his fingers, a thin black piece of plastic.
Maximus narrowed his eyes. “Looks like a stripper clip.”
CJ nodded. “Then someone was loading a lot of rifle mags before we got here.”
“Where the hell are they?” Cornelius growled.
“Each team will take an exit tunnel.” Maximus gestured with his rifle toward the tunnels in question. “Call out if you see anything, but I’m not convinced we’re going to get any sort of comms in these tunnels. Yell if you need to. Let’s move.”
* * *
Fifteen minutes later, all three teams stood back in the central room. They’d all found tunnels leading to other smaller rooms, all empty except for a stray chair or piece of utilitarian metal furniture.
Cornelius shrugged. “They must have bolted.”
“How?” Maximus asked. “The lag between me taking out the guards and the drones getting here wasn’t that long. I can see some people getting out, but it’s obvious this was a decent-sized operation. We’ve had continuous drone coverage other than that small window. Even if the people got out, what about all their equipment? Let’s sweep one last time. There’s something we’re missing. Everyone together this time.”
They traveled back down the tunnels, but this time, when hitting a dead-end in the second tunnel, a stray scent hit Maximus’s nose. He didn’t know what the harsh acrid scent was, but it was familiar, very familiar. With a growl, he advanced toward the wall, kneeling and sniffing more.
“I remember this smell,” he offered through gritted teeth. “It was something I always smelled before some of their tests back when they still controlled us.”
The other hybrids nodded before walking forward to inspect the wall. After a minute of feeling around and sniffing, CJ grinned.
“Gotcha.” He yanked back a hidden panel, revealing a gray metal lever.
“Everybody, form up and get ready,” Maximus ordered. He waited until the hybrids were all positioned back a few yards, their rifles at the ready, before nodding to CJ.
The younger hybrid pulled the level and joined the firing line. With a loud rumble, the wall retracted, kicking up a small amount of dust and revealing another wider hidden tunnel. There was no train tracks in this one, but there were obvious tire marks leading away.
“I think we found how they got out without us seeing.” Maximus walked forward. “Let’s harry our prey.”
Chapter Twenty
Selena paced the hotel room, nibbling on her lip and trying to push a particular large and sexy man out of her thoughts. She shouldn’t be so obsessed with Maximus. They’d just met, but she couldn’t deny the strong pull she felt toward him.
Ignoring that, he was out on a dangerous mission. That should have worried her, but somehow she’d convinced herself there was no danger. Yes, he was a genetically supersoldier who could toss a wild boar around like nothing, but that didn’t make him a superhero. Mostly. He definitely was a superhero in bed. She couldn’t deny that.
Selena fell back onto the bed, her arms outstretched. Damn it. She couldn’t pretend anymore and had to face the truth. She was in love with Maximus. Could it just be the mind-blowing sex? She’d never, ever had sex like that, sure, but good sex didn’t make people fall in love, not really. She wasn’t some college girl on her first relationship.
“Would it be so bad?” she murmured.
While Selena couldn’t claim she’d been in all that many relationships, she wasn’t some kid who’d never dealt with men before. She might not be a Vestal, but that didn’t mean it’d be wrong to pursue a relationship with Maximus. He was everything she ever wanted in a man, and a lot she hadn’t realized she wanted before meeting him.
The man was literally superhuman. Setting everything else aside, what woman wouldn’t want to be part of that? What woman wouldn’t at least take the shot, especially when that man had proven thoughtful, considerate, and concerned about her safety even in situations that were her own fault?
Selena placed the back of her hand against her forehead and sighed. And the kiss. She couldn’t forget the kiss. That final bit of passion was almost better than the sex. It proved something. It had to. A man couldn’t drop a kiss on a woman like that before wandering off to do something dangerous and not have it mean something.
Her stomach tightened. She couldn’t ignore the possibility Maximus slept with her as a control method. It might be arrogance on his part, but he might have reasoned that a little roll in the sack with him would be enough to push her toward infatuation if not love, especially since the rest of her life was falling part. She was a good target for a pickup.
“This isn’t that,” Selena murmured. “It can’t be.”
She refused to believe that. Especially since she had been the one to initiate it. If the hybrids were that good at manipulating people, then there wouldn’t have been all the trouble at Luna Lodge, and the hybrids would have never become public knowledge. Maximus hadn’t suggested there was any major differences between his group and the other hybrids other than his people’s inability to smell their Vestals.
Vestal. Selena groaned. Some other woman was supposed to be with Maximus. He knew it, and he’d been all but made for it. He’d been resistant to Selena because of the Vestal, even though he also knew he might never be able to find the woman.
Selena sighed. She might not be some special destined woman, but she already let the hybrid into her heart, and she didn’t want to face the idea of life without him before they even took a chance at making it work. That might not be destiny,
