He pulled back as pain shot through his lip. A bit of his blood was on the corner of her mouth.
"You don't get to do this," she whispered.
"What do you want?" he shouted, anger fueling him now. "Do you think he's just going to leave his woman for you?"
"I don't want Sol," she shouted back at him. Her arms strained as she tried to lean up to yell at him. "I came because of my niece."
The air grew quiet around them. And although he heard footfalls near, all he saw was her piercing eyes.
"The children? You're working with them?" Sol said from the side. It was more a statement than a question.
She turned and stared at the other hybrid.
"It's not like that," she whispered.
"Then what is it like?" Apollo yelled. His hands tightened on her, willing her to look back at him, to look away from Sol, but she ignored him.
"I'm your sister," she said and looked back to Apollo. "Sol is my brother."
His hands went slack, and the words slipped through his mind.
"Take her in," Titus shouted from somewhere nearby.
Apollo stood and turned as they pulled her from the ground. Her eyes stayed pinned on him as they pulled her away.
Whatever he had thought she'd reveal, that was not it.
* * *
She sat in the chair and stared at Apollo from across the room. His face was hard and showed little emotion. Even the air around him was shrouded in a veil that she couldn't quite break through. Apollo had built a wall around him, and she had helped put it there. His feelings were his alone, and she doubted he would ever express them to her again.
"Why are we even listening to this?" Sol said and paced around Titus's office. The air around him was just as muddled but with clear lines. Anger. Worry. "We know this can't be true. Right?"
Uncertainty.
He looked to Rachel, who stood near the door. She's been called at the start of the interrogation and, despite the late hour, didn't seem a bit frazzled.
She shrugged her shoulders.
"It could be the truth." She stepped closer and stopped in front of Val. "You need to tell us exactly what's going on here. Why were you trying to see Sol?"
Val shook her head. "Not Sol. I was trying to see my niece."
"See?" Sol growled and charged at her. Rachel stepped in front, and Val was grateful someone was willing to step in. Things weren't looking so great for her. The men looked like they wanted to tear her apart.
Movement behind Sol drew her eye, and she found Apollo had positioned himself behind the hulking man.
Maybe she still had some chance here.
Titus held up a hand to Sol and looked down at her. His face was hard.
"What makes you so certain you have a niece?"
She crossed her arms over her chest and sighed.
"She called to me," she said simply.
There wasn't an easy way to explain, and no matter what she did, it sounded crazy.
"What did she say?" Rachel asked. Her tone was more clinical and detached than anything.
She glanced over to Apollo, who was still just as unreadable.
"She didn't say anything." She grappled for the right words. It was so hard to explain the feelings she was getting. "It's more like a pull. Over and over. I can feel her now, searching. Sad."
The room grew quiet, and she wondered if they could understand.
A baby cried from out in the hall, and she turned her head toward the sound.
"She's here," she said.
Sol tore across the room and ripped open the door.
"I told you it's not safe," he said and tried to step into the hall.
"If she's your sister, then maybe she knows why Cassia won't stop crying," Erica nearly shouted.
She pushed through her husband and into the room.
Upon the sight of Val, Cassia stopped crying.
Her heart filled with all the things she'd felt for the last few months.
Erica stood in front of her with the chubby little child. Her eyes were fixed on her, and, for a moment, Val thought she might hit her. When she placed Cassia in her arms, Val gave a sigh of relief.
"She's got your eyes," Erica said quietly.
Val looked down at her sweet little niece. Ringlets of pale blond hair curled around her face and made her ice blue eyes stand out. She leaned down and placed her forehead against Cassia. It was as if a weight had been lifted.
Cassia cooed in her arm, and she smiled.
"What did she say?" Sol asked gruffly.
She looked over to her brother, who held another baby in his arms. This one slightly larger and very much like the other hybrids in the room, male.