Read Varius: #9 (Luna Lodge) for Free Online Page A

few months, her heart felt like she had known him her whole life, almost like they were meant to be together. They paused their conversation when Ava came to sit at the table, tray in hand.
    Lena smiled at the woman. She hoped she would be able to get to know the sister of her friend.
    Ava looked at her as she sat down. “Titus said he’d like to see you.”
    Lena frowned. The last time the leader wanted to see her, he had sent her to pack up her apartment, and that led to an ambush by a reporter and the mess with Varius.
    “Go ahead and go,” Paige said from beside her. “I’ll pick up something for you and bring it back to the clinic.”
    Lena nodded, not really sure if she’d even be able to eat. It all depended on what Titus had to say to her.
    Not wanting to waste time, Lena quickly made her way through the maze of doors leading to the central office area. Not seeing anyone in the waiting room, she walked to Titus’s office. She knocked on the door and then stepped in.
    He waved for her to come over to his desk where he was on the phone.
    “Thank you for holding, I have her here with me now. Just one moment.”
    He pressed a button and pulled the receiver away from his ear and held it out to her.
    Lena took the phone but frowned a little.
    “Your parents are on the other end,” he said.
    Lena stared at the phone as if it had just sprouted wings.
    “What?”
    “It appears they saw you on the news with Varius and are worried about your safety.”
    Her heart jumped into her throat. She wasn’t ready to deal with this just yet.
    “I just ask that you not talk about the hybrids and anything your might have learned,” he said. “We’ve had problems with this before, but the last time the parents weren’t all that… close to the woman. I understand the situation is probably different with your parents, but you need to appreciate our position here.”
    Lena nodded. “I won’t say anything.” She’d never betray their trust like that.
    Titus nodded to the door. “I’ll be just outside,” he said before hitting the button.
    Lena watched as he walked to the door and closed it behind him as he left.
    “Hello?” she said into the phone.
    “Oh, thank goodness you’re safe!”
    Her mother’s worried voice came rushed over the line.
    “Hi, Mom,” she said and smiled despite the odd situation. She’d been missing their talks. “I’m totally fine.”
    “What’s with all this stuff on the news? Are they holding you there? Should we be calling the police or the military?”
    Lena sighed loudly. She didn’t even need to know all the things that nasty reporter had said. It was the same thing they had been recycling since the hybrids hit the news.
    “No, Mom,” she said and sat in the chair Titus normally used. Comfy. “I’m fine, really. This is the job I was telling you about. I love it here.”
    She could almost hear as her mother pressed her lips together in that firm line she had come to know as a child when she did something her parents didn’t like.
    “Couldn’t you have picked someplace that’s less dangerous?”
    Lena couldn’t go into the details concerning the Reverend or the strange townsfolk mob, or even explain how being at Luna Lodge meant she was safe.
    “It’s not dangerous here at all,” she said easily. “I’ve got friends and—”
    “A boyfriend?”
    She could hear the irritation in her mother’s voice. Not only had Lena not told her the details of her new job, but as far as her mother was concerned, Varius was her boyfriend. There was no way to even deny it since she’d said it to that reporter, who was no doubt running that over and over.
    “Yes, a new boyfriend.”
    “But he’s one of those hybrids.” Her mother whispered hybrid as if it were a dirty word.
    “He is,” Lena said with irritation. Varius might not be her real boyfriend, but there was no way she was going to listen to her mother talk bad about him. She didn’t even know him.
    “Isn’t there