Sergius: #4 (Luna Lodge: Hunters of Atlas) by Madison Stevens Read Free Book Online Page B

approval. Better to get her away from all of this than to expose her to more ridicule.
    Her body shook against his, and he gave a small squeeze. He leaned over and placed his mouth against her ear.
    “You’ll be right next door,” he said. “If you need me, I’ll be here for you.”
    Jade looked up to him, her pale green eyes staring deep into his own. She gave a small nod, and he squeezed her hand for comfort.
    “You let me help,” Jenna said.
    Sergius watched as Jenna looped her arm under Jade and let her shift her weight onto her body. The men watched as the two women moved quietly out of the room.
    Rem looked down to Dea’s sleeping form and nodded to the side office where they could speak quietly.
     
    * * *
     
    Jade winced as she sat down in the edge of the bathtub in the second bath. Now that she had a chance to think about the cut on her arm, it hurt ten times worse than it did before.
    Jenna dabbed a little alcohol on the wound.
    “Son of a bitch,” Jade said and hissed.
    Jenna grimaced as she stared at her from behind her overly large glasses. “I’m sorry. I know that hurt.”
    Jade shook her head. It hurt like hell, but it was better than it getting infected.
    “I’ll be fine,” she said quietly. “It’s just been a long time since I’ve had to deal with a wound like this.”
    Jenna stopped what she was doing with the cotton ball and stared openly at Jade.
    She hadn’t meant to say that. Letting people in was just more trouble she didn’t need. It led to caring about people, or worse having them care about you. Still the information was out there now.
    “My dad wasn’t the best,” she said and looked away. “Use to end up with all sorts of bruises and cuts.”
    It had been a long time since she thought about her father. It wasn’t like he beat her all the time. He was a drunk. Half the time she wasn’t so certain that he even knew she existed. Most times he was so far gone that it didn’t really matter, and then she got old enough that he couldn’t really do that anymore.
    There were so many things to hate her father for. This was just one of the things that she hadn’t thought about for some time. The best revenge was just forgetting he existed.
    “I’m sorry,” Jenna said quietly.
    She wouldn’t meet her eyes, and Jade knew that she’d made her feel uncomfortable. It hadn’t been her intention, but that always seemed to happen when people knew.
    “Do you think it was a monster that got you?” Jenna asked.
    Jade opened her mouth to say something and then closed it again. She wasn’t entirely sure what she should say. It was a monster because nothing less could have done that, but for some reason she was having a hard time calling it that.
    Blasé acceptance gave way to shock. Her noticing of a few things here and there had turned into waking visions and now sharing of dreams. The truth was undeniable. Sergius had been in the dream with her.
    Heat assaulted her cheeks. Not just sharing of dreams with Sergius, but very, very sexy dreams.
    She sucked in a breath. A monster hunting her almost seemed like the least freaky thing about the entire situation, but she could worry about Sergius later.
    Whatever had hurt her had meant to hurt her and intended to show her Dea being stalked. The damn thing had been toying with her. But how could she explain about a dream tormentor without sounding crazy? The community already didn’t trust her because of milder odd behavior.
    It was pretty impressive, she thought, being a human and managing to freak out a whole group of hybrids, instead of the opposite.
    Jenna stared at her for a moment, and she knew the other woman didn’t really know what to think of her.
    Jenna went back to cleaning the wound. She put on a little antibiotic ointment and then started bandaging it.
    “We’re here for you,” she said to her once she had finished. “We’re like a family. Whatever you need, we’ll be there for you.” Jenna gave a little grin. “And