"I need your phone," Val said in a panic. "I forgot mine."
Jenna shook her head. "I don't have one," she nearly cried. "I told him I needed one!"
"You don't have a phone?" Val nearly shouted. How could this be happening?
"It was a risk," Jenna said quietly. "Val, what the hell is going on?"
"The lodge is under attack," she said.
* * *
Apollo glanced back down at the note in his hand and growled. She was in so much trouble. He'd just have to work harder to convince her that he was not giving up.
Rem pulled up beside him, and he groaned.
"You?" he said and scowled. "When did they start letting you drive around?"
Rem gave him a dazzling smile. "When they needed me to go to town to run errands. It takes too long to hoof it, even for me."
Apollo shook his head. This might be the best option.
"Val took off," he said and glanced away. The last thing he wanted was for that guy, of all people, to know about any of his problems.
When he looked back, Rem was staring off into the distance.
"What the hell is that?" Rem said and squinted his eyes.
Apollo shook his head. There wasn't much out that way, just the school and younger hybrid dorms.
The harsh smell of smoke cut through the air.
He turned. A column of black and gray smoke trailed into the night sky. Red and orange played in the distance.
"Fire," Rem said quietly.
Apollo pulled out his phone to get someone on it but froze as a beastly howl cut through the silence.
He turned to Rem.
"Glycons," they said in unison.
Apollo hopped in the car.
"To the babies," Apollo said. "They will go for them first."
His fingers bounced on the phone as Rem raced through the newly paved roads.
He didn't understand why an alarm hadn't already been raised. That meant the enemy had taken them totally by surprise.
"What?" Titus said, clear over the line.
"Sound the alarm," Apollo said quickly. "We've been breached."
"By what?" Titus asked. He could hear him shout to several men and was surprised to hear gunfire from that side of the compound.
"Glycons," he shouted into the line.
"Fuck," Titus growled. "Where are you?"
They stopped outside the family units. Sol stood out front.
"With the women," Apollo said.
Kate and Erica peered out from the window.
"Send someone over to the school," Rem shouted. "It's on fire."
"On it," Titus said, and Apollo nodded back to Rem.
They climbed out and met Sol out front. He had a gun in hand.
"Anything yet?" Rem asked.
Sol nodded to the back of the house. "Killed one of those mutant bastards out back," he said. "What the fuck is going on?"
Apollo shook his head. He couldn't have planned for worse timing.
More gunfire rang through the air. His heart trembled with worry over Val. He could only hope that she was away from all of this.
* * *
The gate stood slightly ajar as Jenna approached. They could hear gunfire on the other side. The only question was, who was doing the shooting?
"What should we do?" Jenna asked.
Val didn't see much choice. They had to get in there. She could feel the tug of Cassia. Her family needed her, and she wasn't about to abandon them now.
"Gun it," she said.
Jenna looked at her like she was crazy.
"Do you want in there?" Val asked. The gunfire grew louder and closer.
Jenna swallowed hard and slammed her foot hard against the gas. The car punched forward and slammed into the gate.
Bullets perforated the car as they raced through the gate.
"Duck!" she shouted.
The windows burst just as she dunked her head down. Jenna bobbed up and down to see the road ahead of them.
The gunfire grew distant, and they sat back up in their seats.
Fire raged in the distance, and she worried about the children.
"Those were my uncle's men," Jenna said in shock. "They know my car."
Val looked in the mirror at the men at the gate. There were some huge weird-looking men, easily the size of the hybrids, standing near men in uniform. They were not attacking each other.
"I have to find my uncle," Jenna said in a near panic.
Val shook her head. "No."
Jenna slowed down and glared at her.
"He's my uncle," she said.
"He's a trained soldier." Val pointed to the road to the right. "We need to get to the family housing. The children can't protect themselves."