Selena shook her head. “I don’t understand. What does any of this have to do with me? I’m just a woman who met some hybrids.”
“The hybrids have spent so much time hunting the Corps and the Group, they’ve left themselves blind to other threats. I’m close now, so close.” Doctor Quinen smiled. “It’s hard, though. Vestals end up drawn to hybrids if they’re nearby, but facing the hybrids risked exposing my partners, risked exposing Ouroboros. But I don’t understand.”
“Ouroboros? You replaced one old-fashioned name with a new one?” Selena rolled her eyes.
“It’s more a statement of vision than a reference to a specific mythos in this case.” His smile vanished. “You’re useful because of your Vestal nature. Maximus was the first of the twelve to be modified based on my special research. Those alterations should have eliminated their compatibility with Vestals. You shouldn’t have been drawn to him nor him to you.”
“I-I…” Selena shook her head. It couldn’t be true. Yes, she’d fallen for Maximus quickly, but it’s not like she’d fallen in love with him at first sight. Love and lust weren’t the same thing. “I’m not a Vestal.”
Doctor Quinen wrinkled his nose. “Even that name is something I’ve let the Horatius Group infect my mind with, but yes, my dear, you most certainly are. I had my associate take a blood sample while you were unconscious and run it through a custom test before I woke you up.” He reached into a pocket and pulled out a vial containing a bluish liquid. “This confirms it.” He sighed. “If only I could get my hands on samples from the entire planet, it’d be easy to screen for Vestals. Or at least easier. I can tell you’ve already bonded with him. The reaction might have been too faint otherwise based on my current assay.”
“B-but…” Selena slumped. “I’m a Vestal? Really?”
“Obviously.” Doctor Quinen gave her a condescending look. “Though that doesn’t say much for your intelligence. This is where things become frustrating, despite your potential usefulness.”
“What?”
“I was attempting to maximize the power of individual hybrids without the use of certain rare materials the Group was monopolizing.” Doctor Quinen flung his arms up in disgust. “It’ll be difficult to make hybrids again without those materials. I’m unsure if the government has them, or the hybrids have gotten their hands on them, but it doesn’t matter. Ouroboros understands that relying on limited resources and ancient barely understood lore isn’t the path forward. We’re advancing a different way with different techniques. We’re relying on true science and leaving all superstition and ancient artifacts behind. And that’s what I was doing with Maximus and the others, enhancing their individual power by understanding the usefulness of variability.”
“Huh?” Selena shook her head. “I don’t understand you.”
“Their link to their Vestals limits them, as it limits all hybrids in a way.” The old doctor looked disgusted. “Yes, certain potential can be unlocked after bonding, but it’s limited and unreliable, something seen very rarely. My experiments were about bringing that variability to the surface, partially by removing the necessity of the Vestal, but I’ve been following the progress of my subjects as much as possible given my current woes. Even now as they come for me, they rely on weapons.” He shook his head. “They aren’t living up to their potential. Disappointing.”
“Then you do know they’re here, and you do know they’re probably surrounding this place as we speak.”
The thug holding her loosened his grip. “Uh, Doc, maybe we should get out of here.” He withered under a glare from Doctor Quinen.
He’s just an old man. This guy could knock him out with his pinky. Is he that scary?
“It’s time to end this farce.” Doctor Quinen glanced to the side. “I already know you’re there, Maximus. Come in and disappoint me yet again.”
Loud thumping followed before Maximus, CJ, Cornelius, and Tiberius appeared from behind crates, their rifles pointed at Doctor Quinen and the thug.
Maximus smiled at the doctor. “You’re as arrogant as ever, Quinen, but thanks for the free intel.”
Chapter Twenty-three
Gunfire sounded outside, rattling the walls and windows. Maximus barely noticed, instead staring at Selena. He couldn’t believe what he’d overheard, but Quinen had no reason to lie at this point. A lot of things suddenly made sense.
Maximus and Selena had been drawn to each other from the beginning, and it might not have been the all-consuming connection the Luna Lodge hybrids described, but it was not something he wanted to give up. It was something between human love and hybrid bonding. He didn’t have a word for it, and he didn’t care.
“Taking fire,” Zephyrus reported over comms. “They came out of nowhere.”
“Same here,” Thaddeus sent. “We’re holding them but watch yourself. We won’t be able to reinforce you until we finish locking these guys down.”
Maximus wasn’t too arrogant to ignore the convenient timing. “If you didn’t take my men down immediately after the ambush, you’re not going to win, Quinen.”
The doctor laughed. “Of course not. My men outside are likely going to die, but they are being well-paid for their services and risk. But then again, I don’t think you pity them.”
Maximus growled at the thug. “Let the woman, go. Now.”
The thug squared his shoulders and kept a tight grip on Selena. “You think you’re big shit, mutt?” He pulled out a gun and put it to her head. “You make one move toward me, and I blow her brains out.”
Doctor Quinen frowned. “You will do no such thing. A specimen has fallen into my lap, and
