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I lifted my chin. No one intimidated me. I didn’t know what his problem was, but I had the skills and experience to be here.

We had a little stare-off until our pilot spoke again.

“I’ve seen some ugly monsters before, but these ones might win the prize,” Colbie said.

I wasn’t the lone female on the squad. Our pilot was the best quadcopter pilot I’d ever flown with. Our comms officer—who was currently sitting back at base in the control room—was female, too. Sasha Rahia was Kai’s cousin. They were both the children of other famous soldiers from the invasion.

All the people on this squad were the sons and daughters of legends. It was a privilege to be here.

Jameson rose and moved toward the cockpit. He grunted. “Ugly fuckers.”

“All right, Hunter Squad—” Sasha’s voice came through my earpiece clearly “—you’re approaching the inhabited town of Swanhaven. The town guards spotted a small pack of monsters outside the walls today. They called us in.”

I looked out the side window of the Talon. Six dark creatures were running up the beach. They looked misshapen, their gait off, but they were still fast. They reminded me of dogs…sort of.

I wished I had time to snap some images and take some notes. I had a huge database of monster types and characteristics.

Later, Jess. For now, stop the nasty monsters, then you can study them.

“Hunter Squad,” Jameson said. “Let’s do our thing.”

Marc tapped his carbine. “Let’s put down some monsters.”

I glanced at North one more time and found his cool gaze on me. Then I looked away and gripped my carbine as the Talon lowered toward the beach.

I had monsters to kill.

North

I double checkedmy medical backpack.

When we were in the field, if someone was injured—I was it. Next, I checked my weapons. My carbine was fully charged, and my combat knife was in place in the sheath on my thigh. I tapped my fist against the armor plating on my chest. We all wore lightweight, protective armor.

Time to go monster hunting.

Jameson slid the side door of the Talon open. I watched Jessica Ramos leap out. She was short and curvy, but all toned muscle. And she knew how to use her carbine.

You shouldn’t be looking at her ass, Connors. She’s your squad mate.

Gritting my teeth, I jumped out of the Talon. The sand shifted under my boots. Lifting my head, I spotted the monster pack ahead. They were making low, throaty noises.

“Form up,” Jameson ordered.

We jogged up the beach in a tight group. Despite the warm, yellow sand, no one frolicked on the beach, or swam in the ocean anymore. I shot a quick glance at the waves. A second later, the shadow of a large, sharklike shape moved through the water. The Gizzida had left monsters in the ocean too. It was no longer safe to swim.

In New Sydney, at the famous Bondi Beach, they’d created a seawall to form an ocean pool. It was mostly safe to swim there, but the monsters still occasionally tried to climb or jump the wall.

I refocused on the monsters ahead of me. They turned and saw us coming. They made some weird, grunting noises.

They were ugly things. They moved on four legs, and had bulbous backs, with bumpy, brown, scaly skin. One of them skittered around, kicking up sand, and the skin on its back was almost translucent. Through it, I could see an ugly, greenish-yellow glow.

I frowned. I wasn’t sure what it was, but I was certain that it wasn’t good. “They have some sort of fluid in that back bulge. Be careful.”

My squad all murmured their acknowledgment.

We’d learned the hard way that the monsters were often poisonous.

One of the pack, the largest creature, let out a grunt. As a group, they rushed toward us.