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“Hold us steady, Colbie.” I met Greer’s gaze. “Stay back.”

She stepped back and gripped one of the seats.

Suddenly, a massive monster, far larger than the first one we’d just killed, reared up out of the water. Multiple tentacles broke the surface, waving wildly.

“Fuck me,” Marc yelled, opening fire.

The rest of the squad fired their carbines. I jerked my weapon up and pressed the trigger.

The creature let out a low rumbling sound. Like we were just pissing it off.

“Kai, turret,” I barked.

A flash of movement out of the corner of my eye as Kai jumped into the turret seat. The large gun swiveled and aimed.

Heavy laser fire hit the creature. It shuddered and let out a loud roar.

More tentacles speared upward, heading for the Talon. The quadcopter jerked quickly to the side.

I stumbled, gripping the door frame hard. I swallowed a curse.

Greer stumbled into one of the seats.

“Keep firing,” I yelled.

There was no time to worry about water contamination now. Another tentacle flew up, narrowly missing Marc.

“Get Marc aboard, Colbie,” I said.

But before the pilot could retract the cable, another tentacle splashed out of the water.How many did this thing have?

Greer staggered to my side and looked out. “Oh, God,” she breathed in horror.

The tentacle circled Marc. I saw him drop his carbine and kick his legs. The tentacle tightened its grip on him, then the monster pulled.

The entire Talon dipped down toward the water. The guys started cursing. I wrapped one arm around Greer and gripped the doorframe even harder to keep my balance.

The engines droned.

“Full power, Colbie,” I yelled.

The Talon straightened and the monster rose out of the water.

Then we were pulled down again, tipping to the side.

We were caught in a deadly game of tug-of-war, and Marc was trapped in the middle. I saw that he was stabbing at the tentacle. But it wasn’t letting him go.

“Marc, hold on.”

“Not…giving up…yet.”

Dammit, he sounded in a lot of pain. The damn creature was crushing him.

“Colbie, tell me you can get us free,” I barked.

“That’s everything I’ve got,” she yelled back.

My mind whirled. I needed options.