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“Shit,” Jameson said.

“I don’t like the look of this,” Jess murmured. “I saw something similar to this back home. Mutated prairie dogs with alien DNA. They burrowed in and liked to pop up and attack anyone walking over them.”

“Nice.” Jameson kicked the dirt.

But nothing popped up to attack us.

“Let’s skirt around it.” A muscle ticked in Jameson’s jaw. “We don’t have time to investigate right now. Not while the kid is in danger.”

We headed around the churned-up area. I scanned ahead of us, but saw no movement, no sign of any monsters.

We’d also lost the trail.

“Kai?” Jameson said.

Our tracker pulled a face. “Nothing. No sign of the monster.”

Damn. I looked around. Maybe we’d gone in the wrong direction.

My throat tightened. I couldn’t face Joe and tell him that we hadn’t found his best friend. My gaze shifted to the hill, then I frowned. “Jameson, look.” I pointed.

The others swiveled and stared up at the hill.

Jameson drew in a breath. “A cave.”

There was a large dark entrance set in the side of the hill.

“The ground is rocky leading up to it,” Kai said. “It could’ve obscured the monster’s tracks.”

“Let’s check it out.” Jameson headed up the hill.

I waved at Jess. “After you.”

She spared me a sharp look, then stomped ahead.

I sighed and followed.

Jess

So North really was just anotherdick.

I picked my way up the rocky hillside toward the cave mouth. I remembered the men from my first squad who’d doubted myabilities, or felt the need to protect me. It had come with a lot of condescending and belittling remarks. It hadn’t taken me long to teach them the error of their ways.

My gaze flicked to North, then away again. Honestly, this time, I was disappointed.

I continued on to the top of the slope, then stopped.

There was an intricate old buttress wall that had been built inside of the hill. A flat path cut across the other side of the hill, away from the cave. “Look at that.” The brickwork was immaculate and neat. And old. It was coated in moss.

North stopped beside me. “It’s part of the old convict trail.”

“The what?”

“When the English set up a colony here in Australia, hundreds of years ago, they used convicts to build the Old Great North Road. It was a pretty amazing feat of engineering that linked Sydney with the northern Hunter region.”

“Oh.” I honestly didn’t know a lot about Australia’s pre-invasion history.

“We’re nearly there,” Jameson said.