Cassius by Stevens, Madison (chromebook ebook reader txt) 📕

crowds standing around the registration desks. They both wandered behind an empty first-aid tent to continue their conversation.

CJ didn’t know what Julius planned to say, but there was nothing that would make him not worry about his Vestal. He should have sent her to the hotel right away. He’d screwed up.

“You’re overthinking this,” Julius said. “I get that it can be overwhelming when you’ve just bonded, but the best thing you can do for us, her, and any other hybrids is complete this mission.”

“How am I overthinking this?” CJ growled. “We know they’re here, and suddenly she goes missing. I don’t have to be some master detective to put two and two together.”

“Are we sure she’s missing?” Julius gave him a questioning look.

“What the hell do you call her not being around?” CJ snapped. “That’s the damned definition of missing.”

“I call it running.” Julius shrugged. “She’s an athlete. She’s good at that. You should consider the possibility.”

CJ grabbed Julius’s shirt. “What the hell are you trying to say?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m saying that she told you what you wanted to hear to get away when you dropped a bunch of Vestal crap on her and freaked her out.” Julius brushed CJ’s hands off. “Because no one’s going to tell some huge hybrid they don’t want to be with him to his face.”

CJ shook his head. “That’s crap. She’s my Vestal. We’re meant for one another. I know she feels what I feel.”

Julius scoffed. “You dipped your wick and now your brain fell out. It’s pathetic.”

CJ brought back his fist. Julius didn’t react, other than a disappointed look. After a moment of quiet, intense growling, CJ lowered his arm. No matter what happened, he couldn’t brawl with a hybrid in a public area when the enemy was lurking around.

There was something else there in Julius’s eyes that ate away at CJ’s anger. Pity filled the growing void.

“You don’t believe in Vestals, do you?” CJ asked, his voice filled with wonder and surprise. “After everything that’s happened with the Luna hybrids? With what’s happened with Maximus? I thought you did, but now I think you were just humoring me. You just think they’re normal women we happen to be attracted to?”

“I think the mind plays tricks,” Julius replied. “People make up explanations to convince themselves there’s more to it. It’s not like humans haven’t been talking about soulmates for thousands of years, yet suddenly it’s a real thing with us? It’s crap.” He shrugged. “I’ve been trained to take advantage of people’s rationalizations. Soulmates are bullshit.” He scoffed. “It’s naïve to believe in that concept, and it makes us weak. Just like it’s making you weak now. Concentrate on the mission, and worry about your woman later.”

“And how do you explain Maximus’s power, huh?” CJ glared at Julius. “He suddenly develops a special power out of nowhere? How do you explain that other than Selena being something special? What about what Quinen said? That’s all coincidence?”

“You know what I believe?” Julius folded his arms. “What I personally see and experience. Until then it’s just a bunch of people feeding me information that’s biased and self-serving. Just because we’re stronger and faster than humans doesn’t mean we’re smarter. Don’t be a dumbass, CJ.”

Despite his thundering heart, CJ took a deep breath and slowly let it out. Punching Julius through the side of the first aid tent wouldn’t help the mission or Kendra. For now, CJ needed to keep his focus. Panic took strength away.

“I don’t care what you believe,” CJ said, squaring his shoulders. “I know what I feel, and we both know that Ouroboros thinks there’s something special about Vestals. Everyone might be idiots chasing after something that doesn’t exist, but that doesn’t mean Vestals, including Kendra, aren’t in danger.”

“Needing women to breed new hybrids isn’t the same thing as them being mystical soulmates,” Julius replied with a shrug. “That’s the part that’s getting people like you twisted up.”

“How the hell is them being special to hybrids not being different?”

“Because there’s no special damned meaning in it.” Julius grunted. “But, yes, I’m not going to deny that Ouroboros might be interested in targeting Vestals.”

“You said they wouldn’t risk grabbing her at the race, but that was based on an assumption. A self-serving one, to use your own words. You don’t want anything messing up the mission, and don’t care about her.” CJ inclined his head toward the throng of people standing away from the tent. “But we both assumed everybody would be watching her, but right now no one’s watching her. No one’s watching anything. The race hasn’t started yet.”

“And you’re sure she didn’t run?” Julius sounded less sure of himself. “Even if she feels something for you, it’s a lot for a woman to accept at once.”

CJ scoffed. “A woman like that isn’t going to run from a challenge.”

“And that’s what you are? A challenge?”

CJ nodded. “Yes.”

He pulled out his phone and dialed her number. Tapping his foot impatiently, he waited for it to connect, holding onto a desperate hope she’d been swarmed with fans and not that something had happened. All he needed was thirty seconds to know she was all right.

“Hey there!” came Kendra’s voice. His heart sank when the message continued to what he’d heard before. “Welcome to my voicemail. After it beeps, you know what to do!”

CJ’s hand tightened around the phone. He growled and pocketed the device to stop himself from snapping it in half. “We need to find her. It’s not like I’ll be able to concentrate until we do.”

“Fine.” Julius shook his head, looking disappointed. “We’ve got a little bit of time before the race. Why don’t we split up and look for her?”

CJ nodded. “Good plan.”

Julius poked CJ in the chest. “But that doesn’t change anything about the mission. I’m only doing this to help keep you focused. Don’t be a dumbass and don’t do anything that’ll draw extra attention.”

“Okay, but what if they have grabbed her?” CJ asked.

Julius chuckled, a dark undertone