Lucas: #3 (Luna Lodge: Hunters of Atlas) by Madison Stevens Page B

cursed.
    “What the—” she began. She stopped when her eyes landed on him. “Lucas.”
    He loved the way she said his name. Always like the breath had been knocked out of her. The sound of it made parts of him want to stand up and take notice.
    He offered a relaxed smile. “Out on delivery?”
    She looked back over to the bed. “Last one.” She hoisted herself back up. “Just securing everything.”
    Lucas frowned as he noticed the paper sticking out of her pocket. The symbol was what really caught his eye. It couldn’t be a coincidence. Azilians?
    “What’s this?” he asked and pulled the paper out without asking.
    Taylor frowned at him, her arms crossed over her chest.
    “You can’t just take things from my pocket,” she said.
    Lucas ignored her and flipped through the folded paper. Much like they’d heard about the Azilians, the pamphlet expressed their passion for the lost city of Atlantis. The Atlantean gods were meant to rule the Earth they claimed. The cult offered spots for select few, and many people willingly paid for those positions.
    He looked up from the pamphlet to her in shock.
    “What the hell is this?” he asked, shaking the paper. “You seriously are interested in talking with those people?”
    Taylor snatched it back from his hand.
    “I’m not converting. They just want to buy some meat from us,” she said and folded the paper back into her pocket.
    Fear lanced through him. The hybrids had witnessed first-hand what happened to people who worked with the Azilians. People hadn’t just been killed, but liquefied into puddles. His heart pounded.
    “You can’t,” he said quickly. “It’s too dangerous to work with them. You can’t trust them.”
    Taylor froze, hand still in her back pocket as she stared at him. “Dangerous?”
    He glanced around. There were too many people to expose secrets here. From what he’d seen, the townspeople turned on their own easily, let alone strangers. They obviously couldn’t be trusted yet.
    “I can’t tell you more, but they are dangerous,” he said quickly and took her hands into his.
    Taylor stared at him for a moment before shaking her head. “Don’t be so closeminded. They can’t be that dangerous if they are living here.” She pulled her hands from his. “Besides, it’s just business.”
    Lucas frowned. She had to listen to him. “I won’t let you deal with them.”
    Anger flashed in her eyes the moment the words were out of his mouth, and he knew he’d said the wrong thing.
    “Listen here.” She stepped a little closer to him. “No one tells me what to do with my family business, especially someone I’m not even dating.” She poked a finger into his chest. “I don’t answer to anyone and especially not you.”
    She spun on her heel and stomped her way over to the driver’s seat.
    “Taylor, I’m—” he started.
    It was too late. She was in her truck. It kicked up gravel as she peeled out of the lot.
    The sound of carts being slammed into one another pulled him from his thoughts as he turned to see the small woman Grace gathering the few shopping carts in the lot.
    She paused when she got close to him and stared up into his face.
    “Take it from me,” she said quietly. “No one likes to be told what to do.”
    She glanced over to a stern-looking man near the front door. He glanced down at his watch and pressed his lips into a thin line.
    Grace she made her way in without another glance at him.
    Lucas sighed loudly. She was right. Taylor was an adult, and he was asking her to trust him when he hadn’t even been upfront with her about who he really was. If she was going to believe him, he was going to have to tell her everything about himself. No matter how hard it might be.

Chapter Ten
     
     
    Taylor’s arms ached from scrubbing the counter. One damned spot refused to come up.
    All she did was indulge with a little cherry-flavored drink, and this was her punishment. The rest of her cleaning hadn’t been nearly as