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The monster jerked and shrieked. Its tentacles opened and I fell.

Shit, that was a long way down.

I hit the ground hard and rolled onto my stomach. I blew out a breath, pushed through the aches, and got to my feet.

There was another largerthumpand the monster flew apart.

As bits of oily, black skin flew around me, I ran toward the trees and dove. One more to go.

Thump.

A piece of tentacle flew past me and hit the ground. Gore sprayed dozens of feet in every direction.

I rose and looked back, grinning. The monster was in bits, black blood soaking the grass.

And I’d managed not to contaminate Greer’s lake.

“Greer, it’s dead.”

I turned toward her. The first thing I wanted to do was kiss her.

Then I froze, every muscle in my body locking.

Two scaly humanoid monsters held Greer between them. There was something lizard-like about them. Her gaze was on mine. I could tell she was scared, but her chin was up, and her mouth was set in a flat line.

One of the monsters grunted, and a canine creature skulked forward out of the trees. It likely had dingo DNA. It had shaggy, matted fur, enormous claws on its feet, and long fangs. It growled.

Greer

Well,this sucked.

I’d survived drowning, and a giant, scary, aquatic monster. Not just one, but two of them. Now I was tied up with my back pressed to Jameson’s.

The two monsters who’d caught me walked upright, but were definitely not human. They had legs like tree trunks, and thick, scaly, brown skin. They looked like lizards crossed with humans. They had flat faces, but large mouths filled with sharp teeth. I had no idea what DNA had been spliced together to create them, but they were ugly and menacing. They were several inches taller than Jameson, and bulkier.

They’d stripped us of our armor and weapons. We were tied back to back, sitting on the ground.

“You okay?” Jameson asked.

“Fine. Having a great time.”

His fingers brushed mine and squeezed.

I sighed. “I’m all right.”

Night had fallen. The two monsters had a small fire going, and were cooking some sort of animal. Maybe a wallaby.

Every now and then, they grunted to each other.

“Jameson, are they…talking?”

“No fucking clue.” His tone was not happy. “But it seems that way.”

I’d always thought of the monsters as dangerous, slavering beasts that didn’t really think. These two seemed to be communicating, cooking over a fire, working together, taking us prisoner.

Why?What was the plan? Did they even have one?

“I think it’s worse than these two working together,” Jameson said. “I think the aquatic monster brought us here.”