The Rogues Who Went Rogue
Chapter 102

After Toby left the beach, Gerella ran as fast as her legs could carry her back to Neptune's hideout. She was still amazed by how close the two rogues were that Neptune was allowed to set up his own hiding place on Klementine's land. Gerella began cracking her head on a plausible excuse for them to evacuate as soon as possible. She came to an abandoned hut, went to the back where there was a worn out truck, slipped underneath the vehicle and slid open the metal casing covered by dirt and dried leaves before sliding into the hideout. Her eyes scanned the significantly smaller space, looking for Saxum.

Neptune saw her frantic look, so his head gestured to a room behind a tattered curtain as he uttered calmly, "There. One of your friends has fallen ill." Fallen ill? Now?

She barged into the room without an invitation, and she saw Delancy, who Saxum dated on and off, lying flat on the rubber mattress on the floor with her eyes closed. Her face was pale, as were her lips. Regina and Chong were there, as well as the only hybrid with medical knowledg - Zepine.

Before Gerella could ask what happened, everyone felt their napes sting before it turned into a burn. The anguish spread from their napes to the rest of their bodies. It felt like their organs and vessels were being squeezed before the pain found its way to their hearts, and that was excruciating enough to bring them to their knees.

Gerella could hear the hybrid children screaming in pain, but she couldn't even get up to go help comfort them. She was drenching in cold sweat by enduring the pain herself.

Only when the papilio marks vanished entirely from their napes did the torment come to an end. The kids were still crying and screaming while the adults took heavy breaths. Normally, Gerella placed the children first, but since she was still struggling to stand from the burn and internal constriction, her eyes locked with Regina and Chong when she asked between breaths, "What...happened?"

Chong recovered first, so he began explaining, "Delancy was creating an inventory of food supplies with me, and she just fainted all of a sudden. I brought her here and linked Zepine and Saxum before we realized that...the mark on her nape was already gone." "She didn't scream, sweat, or shiver? Nothing?"

With a shake of his head, Chong muttered, "Nothing."

Gerella's panicked sights went to Saxum, who was holding onto Delancy's lifeless hand as he held back tears. No one had ever seen Saxum cry, and only Delancy had ever made him smile.

Although Gerella knew Saxum wanted space and silence, the fact that the authorities would be coming for them soon made her forget about being empathetic. If they didn't leave soon, they'd all wished they ended up like Delancy.

Her mouth opened and she lied beautifully through her teeth after the ten times she practiced in her head before she reached the hideout, "Saxum, we need to evacuate. I smelled something when I was in the forest, and tracked it to the beach. There wasn't anyone but there were fresh footprints on the sand."

Saxum was still staring at the only woman he loved, but he heard every word that Gerella was saying. Regina and Chong were scowling at Gerella at first, but when they heard what she said, they too knew that this was not the time to mourn the death of a dear friend. Regina asked Chong in a worry whisper, "Where do we go next? Even Neptune has been a risky creature to contact."

Chong muttered, "Klementine probably has another friend or something. Maybe we can seek refuge in the triplets' lab.”

Regina was practically panicking by now when she whisper-yelled, "That place isn't big enough! They made that clear! We can't just leave half of our own behind." Saxum's voice came out in a low murmur, "We won't. Neptune has another place that's kept off the radar. We'll go there, and stay about a week."

Gerella didn't like the ambiguity of what came after, so she pressed, "And then what?"

Saxum reluctantly tore his eye away from Delancy and sighed in impatience before he declared in a flat tone, "The tentative Plan B is to hide in lycan territory, but we'll have to reach out to Klementine for a few trustworthy associates before we decide on the exact location. If that doesn't work, then Rudolpho has someone in wolf territory, so we have that option as well. Anymore questions?"

Out of the hundreds Gerella had ever since Toby planted the seed of doubt in her head, she decided to pick the top one. "Is this even right, Saxum? Should we be doing this?"

Saxum's impatience turned into shock before it was replaced with anger. He slowly stood, and Gerella followed suit, as the leader growled, "Is it right to protect ourselves? What do you think, Ella?"

Gerella swallowed the lump in her throat and uttered, "Kosh is dead, Saxum."

"The people he worked with are still alive, Ella! His daughter is alive! She's ruling the empire with the same iron fist that she inherited from that bastard who killed my family! Do you want to end up like them?"

At that moment, Gerella didn't know how to tell Saxum that he might be wrong without telling him about Toby. Then, doubt entered her mind - how was she so sure that Toby was telling the truth, that even if the vampire rulers didn't want hybrids in their territory the lycan rulers would gladly take them in? He wasn't even a member of the royal family. He mentioned the queen was his best friend but was there even a friendship strong enough for one to make a guarantee on the other's behalf?

Gerella felt like a complete monster for pressing Saxum one more time but she just needed the answer to one last question for the time being. "Apart from them, did the administrators of the empire slaughter another hybrid or the couple who produced them?" Saxum took a heavy breath to avoid losing his temper before he murmured, "Only another six infants that he came across when he was hunting me down, and I hope the numbers stay there. Go help the mothers and children pack, and send Neptune in on your way to their rooms." They packed up and left within the next hour, using scent sprays that matched the forest trees (custom-made by Klementine in cases of 'emergencies') to cover their tracks. No one dared mention anything based on suspicion yet but it was worrying the parents that their children seemed to be coughing a little too much for a normal child. Regina and Chong were worried about their own toddler too, and hoped that it was just the result of fatigue.