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The ploy had worked. Even though I lacked a certain outrageous loudness like our vlogger had, my presence had drawn the creature out. Something was coming for me, but why had it taken so long? I had been here for hours in the cold winter air.

I studied the landscape in front of me for any sign of trouble. The nauseatinggreen color of the lake on the side of the Leftovers was the worst thing in my vision. There was no sign of movement from where I stood, but then again, I did actually believe the neighbors when they said it was invisible. Holt and the rest of them had spotted something on the scanners, but it could”ve been another creature.

”Make your way toward me, but stay hidden,” I told my team. ”There”s no sign of the creature yet, and I don”t want to scare it off if it sees I”m not alone. We have no idea how this thing perceives its environment. It might rely on senses other than sight.”

“Other senses?” Jones asked with a snort. I ignored him. My focus needed to be on the monster, no matter how much he was annoying me.

”Copy that,” Holt said. ”Left side is moving in.”

”We”re coming, too,” Colin said evenly.He was partnered with Jones, who probably didn’t know him well enough to pick up on his strained tone. Apparently, he wasn’t enjoying the company.

I winced. Sorry, Colin. Personality-wise, he and Holt would probably work best together, but as the only two stabilizing forces on my team, they wouldn’t be paired often. I’d try to remember to give him the twins next time, but I had bigger problems at the moment.

I tried to root myself confidently in the road. My team had spread out before our operation to get a better view of the place, while occasionally spotting me in their scopes, but I needed their scanners the most. The closer they were, the more accurately we could see what we were dealing with. I couldn”t hold a scanner in my hand if I hoped the creature would come up to me.We couldn’t risk any electronic interference spooking it with a high-pitched sound. It was common with these devices, or so the techs told me.

”The creature looks like it”s hanging out a few yards off the road. It was charging, but it”s lying in wait now, probably taking a good look at you,” Evans said. I raised my brows. What a lovely thought that was. ”Look northwest. That”s what my scanner is telling me.”

I followed her directions, seeing nothing but a collapsed house with a sad broken mailbox out front. Someone or something had torn the little red flag off.

”I don”t see anything,” I reported.Surely, even if it was invisible, the grass would crumple underneath the monster or its body would disturb the undergrowth.

A pinprick of fear hit me. Unless it was already much closer than I thought…

Jessie groaned. ”It might not be there at all. Couldn”t this just be a fluctuation?”

”Our scanners can differentiate those,” Holt said, on the line despite the fact that he was with the twins, providing his opinion to the entire team. Bless Holt for his steady competence. If Jones could copy his teaching moments, that would be great. ”Captain, are you sure you don”t see anything when you look toward the trees? Our scanners could be getting some interference.”

The opinions volleying back and forth made my head hurt. A tiny arrow of fear landed dead in my chest. I missed having vampires at my side. We had good technology in the Bureau, but the Leftovers messed things up sometimes. I wished I had Kane here for real, to tell me where the aura was.There was nothing like having a team member who could innatelysense danger.

”The scanners show no sign of malfunctioning,” Jones argued, sounding a touch heated. ”The creature is out there, and it”s close to Roxy. It”s just… waiting.”

”Why would the beast charge and then stop?” Holt countered.A better question might be, why couldn”t they have discussed their opinions on the technology before all this? I was like a sitting duck on the water so an immortal beast could come get me.Part of being on a small squad, in my past experience, was eventually learning to work together. Lyra and Bryce kept us in line, but I’d found their rigid lines hard to follow. Surely, there was a way to keep things in place without completely deflating the team.

“I watched this on a nature documentary about wild cats,” Colin suddenly jumped in. “It’s called stalking. I’m not sure we can expect that behavior from a creature like this, though.”

It’s a lot harder to find that happy middle path with everyone’s opinions than I thought it would be.

”I”m not sure this speculation is productive,” I cut in. ”Let”s assume that the scanners are working, and that the monster has the capacity to plot and wait for its victims like any large predator. Everyone, try to stay covered as much as possible, since we”renot sure what attracts this thing. This creature will have tricks up its sleeves beyond the average redbill.” A sour taste of worry entered my mouth. The creatures from the Leftovers were even worse than the ones I was used to from the Immortal Plane. Ash wraiths and shrieking decays, I could handle, but this creature was a complete mystery. It was invisible and had already killed three civilians. If we managed to capture its body, it would be a big win for our intelligence team. The scientists told me that they’d had a field day in the lab after we’d brought them the gator monster we had taken out on Valentine”s Day.

And what do I live for but to make mad scientists at the Bureau happy?

Something shimmered in the air near the collapsed house. I stared forward at the rotting wood. The structure used to be a cozy house, from the looks of it. Snow had fallen all around the cottage, occasionally plopping off the deterioratingroof. Perhaps I had seen the flash of tumbling icicles… I studied the area, resisting the urge to pull out my scope even though it was significantly better for vision. The monster might have great eyesight, and any use of technology could be a trigger for it. I stared as a puff of hot air floated next to the house. My skin pricked with goosebumps as I recalled Ms. Rodriguez explaining that the creature”s breath had misted in the cold air, but she”d also casually thrown out that they had natural hot springs all over this fair landscape that often emitted random spots of steam.

Natural steam, or disgusting mutated creature? Only one of them was incredibly likely to kill me. There were no sounds. The home was near enough that I would have to fight for myself until the others arrived. It could be nothing, though… Jones would love that.

Silence permeated the landscape. Kane was gone. I hadn”t noticed until this moment. I inhaled the frozen air, feeling my nose complain against the chill. I should”ve worn face protection.

The steamy cloud expanded. If it was the beast, it was breathing… and waiting.

”I may have something,” I said quietly into the comm, not wanting to startle the creature if it was there. ”Ensure you’re in a defensive position around me as you come up. Do not go offensive. If it”s the monster, it”s not attacking yet… Don”t fire until my signal. We don”t know anything about it, and bullets could provoke a worse result, especially with the locals down the road.”

”Are you sure you see it?” Holt asked.

I paused. Holt was a good soldier, but he was doubtful about our technology. ”I think I can see it breathing.”

Jones grunted on the line. ”We need to move in before it charges you. A redbill wouldn”t wait for you to attack first. You shouldn”t do this monster any favors.”

”It”s not about favors,” I said, gritting my teeth to calm myself. He had plenty of experience with redbills, but this was a completely different beast with a different set of behaviors, and invisibility thrown into the mix. ”If we startle it, it could freak out and deploy an aggressive attack that we can’t handle. Follow the plan.”

Note to self: Managing group politics significantly harder when playing as live bait for a monster. As if sensing my frustration, the twins joined the fray.

”We don”t need to charge if it can try to snatch Roxy up first and she can make it fall back with an attack,” Jessie argued proudly. Holt must’ve given her a look, because next I heard, ”I mean, Captain Taylor can handle herself. Maybe the monster will become visible if we do long-ranged attacks with guns, but we’ll have to ensure Roxy is far enough away. If the monster has a cloaking device built into its genetic makeup, then it makes sense that it might change when under duress. I say we hit it hard.” I raised an eyebrow at that line of reasoning. It was an interesting thought, but, again, I could”ve done with that theory earlier.

Kane, I really should”ve paid more attention in biology classes. He hadn”t spoken in a while, but I didn”t mind. It was all the better to hear my teammates argue on our communication line.

”No bullets,” I said firmly. ”Not yet. If we need an especially good shot, I trust Colin on that.” He was the only one being blissfully quiet and reliable, as usual. I would have to give him massive compliments when I talked to Hindley… provided that we all returned to Chicago in one piece.

”What if the creature is female and only goes after males, like the neighbor? All the disappearances were men,” Jordan added. ”I mean, the captain has a stocky build, so maybe it will still work.” I rolled my eyes. Trust a sibling to tease you while you were in mortal peril.

”Don”t be silly.” Jessie laughed. ”The fact that more male residents vanished is probably due to men”s naturally riskier behaviors. That’s why men die earlier than women.”

”Quiet on the comm,” I commanded. We needed to focus. Although the twins had some interesting theories, I was still bait.“Only mission-critical communications from here on out.”

I could see my team in the periphery of my vision. They spread out, hiding behind trees and boulders or whatever they could find. With Holt and the twins on my left, closer to the trees, I prayed the creature didn”t decide to target my siblings. On the right, I had Jones and Evans nearer to the lake. Colin would have left them by now, as we’d planned earlier, and found himself a makeshift sniper”s nest somewhere behind me.

”Everyone in position?” I asked. A resounding yes greeted me. ”Good. Don”t move until I tell you to.” The latter command was mostly for the twins and Jones. Funny how a grown man had to be grouped in with my young siblings.

The cold air stilled around me. I heard nothing but the passing wind and my own teeth grinding.

Where was this thing?

”It can”t be,” Kane whispered. His sudden reappearance made me start. ”I thought I heard her voice… No. It”s impossible. It can”t work like that.”

My pulse spiked wildly. Kane had heard me. One of my communicationmethods must have worked. Somehow, someway, I had gotten through to him.

Kane, I”m here. I shouted in my mind wildly, hoping to catch his attention again. His voice sounded softer when he spoke, but I wasn’t sure why. My attention split down the middle. Part of me was with the mission, listening to the sudden intake of breath from Holt as the steam in the air shifted abruptly… but another part of me was with Kane.We did have a connection; I’d known it all along.

”Captain,” Evans shouted on the line. ”It”s headed right toward you. The scanner—”

She broke off as a strange wailing howl filled the air. We no longer needed the scanners.

”It”s coming,” I blurted. The monster”s breath streaked toward me, the puffs disappearing in the wind. I snatched my knife in one hand and my pistol in the other. If it wanted to take me in its jaws, I was going to shoot it right in the mouth.

Someone near the lake fired at the steam cloud coming toward me. It had to be Jones; Evans wasn”t stupid enough to ignore my commands. His bullets sailed straight through the beast. I gasped as the air changed around me. Suddenly, I felt the telltale sign of an impact coming toward me. It was going to hurt.

”Don”t shoot,” I yelled into the comm just as the creature swiped at me. Its breath and the displaced air of its movement were the only things enabling me to locate it. I dodged out of the way, but my foot caught on a tiny pothole in the road. I stumbled back into the grassy ditch, closer to the trees. ”The bullets aren”t working, and this thing is fast. It’s getting in too close. If anyone is going to shoot, it’s Colin.”

The beast let out another low moan. Its breath puffed in and out, shimmering in the sun, a beautiful, subtle sign of its horrific life. Crystals from the heat meeting the winter air created a dazzling display.

And then, the invisibility dropped away. Milky albino scales and three red eyes stared at me. I tried to move in time, but the creature was a blur. It was too fast with its jaw, which unhinged, spiked with teeth, and easily scooped me up like dinner. I fired a shot, but it ricocheted off the teeth. The world became a blur as the beast turned and bounded forward into the forest.My sturdy armor underneath my uniform protected me even from the sharpest points of the teeth, but the creature’s bite was surprisingly light.

”Roxy!” Jessie screamed, panicked now.

I smacked my head on the dense shrubbery as the monster ran into the trees. Thorns caught at my clothes, tugging on them harshly, and pain jolted up my leg as my foot collided with the thick bark of a tree. The monster had my torso and pelvis in its mouth, carrying me like a bone. My head and legs were fair game for it to smack around. I tried to slash at its lips with my knife, since aiming with my gun was impossible with the jostling, but the sides of its jaws tightened on me. I couldn’t attack it.

The creature jumped through a narrow opening in the trees. A bushel of wet leaves hit my face, and my comm tumbled right out of my ear. My team, the world, and everything else was lost to me.