Exhausted didn't even begin to cover how tired he was. They had been talking all night about the details. Each time he told it, the story only became more firm in his memory.
There's no way what he encountered could have been anything other than human. Not that it had helped his case. No one believed him. He ground his teeth in irritation. What the hell good was it to catch someone in the act if no one was going to believe him?
Overworked they said. He could have laughed if it didn't piss him off so much. Like he'd been given much work recently. No, he'd been assigned the babysitting job. Not really high on his list.
If only they had seen something. But there was nothing. He'd been over the scene several times himself. No footsteps but his own. No forced entry. Hell, Sol hadn't even heard anything, and yet he'd heard Apollo.
This only meant one thing in his mind: whoever had been there was a professional. What that meant, he wasn't really certain, but he was going to find out. If they had chosen to go toward the family housing, they probably worked for the Horatius Group.
Apollo glared back at the clinic. The last thing he'd wanted to do this morning was have a scan. And yet he went anyway. Mostly because he knew if he didn't, Rachel wouldn't have any problem calling out his ass. He didn't need his shit to start making the rounds. Who knew what the men would think of it?
He revved the engine of his car, the test results weighing heavily on his mind. There was so little they would be able to do for him. If they ended up trying to take it out, it seemed the least of his worries was losing his sight. What that meant concerning how they proceeded was something he struggled with, especially since he might pose the biggest threat in the compound, just from one little chip.
The car jerked a little as he pulled out of the lot and on to the smooth road. He didn't know what he would do if they actually said he was a hazard to everyone around him. Apollo gripped the steering wheel. Maybe if he just found the scumbag who was lurking around?
He gave a harsh laugh.
It seemed like he was always ending up in the same spot, trying to prove to the rest of the men who he was. Never quite enough and always the kid. He kind of realized how Marius had felt. He was sick of this shit. He came to a halt outside the cabin and frowned.
"Goddamn kids," he grumbled and climbed out of the car.
Val sat on the porch with two of the hybrid teens. The teens were scarfing down large pieces of chocolate cake.
"What the hell are you two doing here?" he barked at them.
The smaller one shot him a dirty look, and he remembered him from their fall festival.
"Ms. Hannah said you might need help," he said and wiped his chocolate covered face on his hand.
Apollo stood tall and tried to be as imposing as he could.
"The hell you-"
Val stepped in front of him and smiled brightly at the two teens.
"I'm sure Dean and Peter will be very helpful," she said.
The older of the two stared hard at her chest, and when Apollo cleared his throat, he at least had the decency to blush and turn away at being caught. Dean, the smaller of the two, didn't seem to notice and grinned widely at her.
His face suddenly got serious.
"I think I might need another slice though if we're going to work very hard," he said.
Peter jabbed him in the ribs, and the whole exchange only pissed Apollo off more.
"Why don't you two go get another slice each and a big glass of milk?" Val said.
Neither waited around for additional invites.
"We don't need their help," Apollo said.
Val turned and glared at him. She swiped at her short pale hair and pinned him with her crystal blue eyes.
"Those boys are just trying to be useful," she whispered. "Don't you dare turn them away."
This wasn't fair. He hadn't done anything.
She leaned in a little closer, and he couldn't help but inhale deeply.
"Besides, I'll need the help taking down cameras," she said.
He questioned how much help she really needed but whatever. This wasn't something he was going to fight her on.
"Besides, it will go much faster, and I can get ready for tonight," she said.
Apollo frowned and looked down at the pretty woman before him.
"Tonight?" he asked, nearly caught up in her beauty.
"Jenna is having a girl's night," she said excitedly. "Although I think she's mostly doing it to piss off Rem. I think she might have a hard time with that. Last night at dinner, he-"
"Dinner?"
She blinked a few times.
"Dinner," she said. "Jenna had him over. Kinda seemed like she had to."