Page 23

NATALIE

O ne second, everything was fine. The next, complete silence echoed in my head.

The grid was gone. My squad…

Terror tightened my throat. Please, please be okay. My baby’s out there somewhere. My loves. If they’re hurt…

An image bloomed in my mind. Kroktl, crouched in the shadow of a large tree. A wave of comfort flooded me, though I couldn’t hear his words in my head. The grid was still down, so I wasn’t sure how I could still feel him. But I instantly knew he was still alive, unharmed, and above all, pissed.

Lohr shifted slightly above me, likely stunned by the unnerving absence of the grid. I’d only had access for a few weeks, though I felt the loss keenly. The constant sense of knowing and understanding without words. Feeling exactly where everyone was and what emotions they were dealing with.

I reached up and stroked the under-plating of his shell. “Kroktl’s okay,” I whispered. “I’m sure the others are too. What was that?”

“The drone released an electromagnetic pulse to disable us.” Snryx didn’t move away from his guarding position at the door, but one of his implements reached inside the tub to lightly touch me. “The grid’s gone but I can still feel you. Is that how you know Kroktl’s unharmed?”

“Yeah, I guess so.” I closed my eyes, trying to get a sense of Rizan or Axxol’s location, but I couldn’t feel them anywhere. “Why can’t I…” My words fell off into silence as realization dawned.

The marks. I bore Kroktl’s and Snryx’s bite marks on my body. I carried their blood, and they carried mine. Our cells were even more tightly coupled now. Even without the grid, we were still connected.

I focused on Kroktl, concentrating on my mark in his chest. Willing the mrion and Sirian cells inside him to come together quicker. Repair the grid. Get us back online with the others. Protect our baby girl.

He sent me an image of Akylla crawling around on Axxol, and some of my worry eased. The only person I’d feel even more assured of her safety with than the alpha was her father. They were both out there. As long as they remained free, we had a fighting chance.

“Rizan said there were only two humans in the vehicle,” I whispered. “Even with the grid down, they don’t have a chance against even one of you, let alone the whole squad.”

“It’s possible they expected the EMP to disrupt all Sirian technology,” Snryx replied. “Rizan, especially. He was in the air. I’m not sure if his echolocation or Axxol’s jumps will function without repairs to the cells themselves.”

My chest spasmed, my heart aching at the thought of Rizan tumbling from the sky. He’d been so high. If he fell from that height… “Will you be able to heal him?”

“I can heal most anything as long as I get to him as quickly as possible.”

Which was a problem. We didn’t know where any of the others were or what other threats might be out there.

Only two humans, and Rizan hadn’t detected anything unusual in the vehicle.

I’d seen Kroktl take out an entire camp of well-armed mercenaries before.

What did Snyder think he’d gain with only two other people?

“I should have let you snack on that rat bastard,” I muttered.

“Your compassion and empathy are two of your most endearing traits, though in this case, I fully agree the human should have been terminated.”

Nothing I could do about it now but deal with the fallout.

A ship out in the bay. What kind of ship?

Military? A fishing vessel? I knew Snyder had money to buy mercenaries.

He’d said he knew people who could keep me from fleeing the country—not that I had any intention of trying to use an airport or passport anyway.

But he knew that now. He knew the guys wouldn’t be able to pass as human, which limited the routes I’d be willing to use for escape. He knew more about the squad. How they operated. My baby girl. What did he hope to gain? Evidence of monsters? Or something more sinister?

Damn it all to hell. I should have let them play volleyball with his head.

A hair-raising screech echoed through the night. My eyes watered with relief. “Rizan’s okay.”

“But that was a warning,” Snryx replied grimly. “My guess is the humans are now approaching the nest.”

“Only two humans? They must think you’re all incapacitated.”

Pretty sure I heard footsteps in the hallway. The bedroom door creaked open.

Thinking quickly, I whispered fiercely, “Play dead. It’ll buy us some time.”

Snryx’s eyes narrowed but he nodded and quietly eased himself down to the ground, his back to the wall, his implements splayed out around him.

Lohr allowed his weight to settle more firmly over the tub’s frame, easily trapping me inside.

It’d take a crane to get him off me. A thin crack between his shell and the tub’s edge allowed me to watch the bathroom door slowly swing open.

“Natalie?” Dr. Snyder called softly. A flashlight in his hand flicked over Snryx propped against the wall. “Are you okay? Are you in here?”

He must think we’re all idiots, but especially me.

I kept low in the tub, hiding my eyes. Maybe he’d just leave.

“Holly’s with me. We came to get you out of here.”

Rizan screeched again in the night. A long, fierce bellow of what I could only call rage.

Something else was happening. My heart slammed against my ribcage with urgency.

Kroktl still felt solid and unharmed in my mind.

I felt him running, slipping silently through the trees.

On the hunt. His specialized eyesight wasn’t working, but he was a natural predator.

He didn’t need to see through objects to find his quarry.

“Nat, are you okay?” Holly’s voice quivered. Real fear because of the attack? Or was Snyder using her to bait me? He’d done it before.

“We need to hurry,” Snyder said. “Please, if you’re here, we need to get out. Now.”

Fury sharpened my voice, but I tried to sound fearful instead. “What’s going on? What happened to the lights?”

A crash made the house shake. Or maybe that was something ripping off the front door. At least that’s what it sounded like.

Snyder rushed closer and dropped to his knees beside the tub. Eyes wild, he whispered furiously, “It’s too late. They’re here. I tried to minimize?—”

“Who’s here?” I retorted, though I kept my voice low. Behind him, Snryx readied his implement into a blade, silently lifting it into the air. Holly ducked down at the door, hugging the frame, her face pale. “Who’d you sell us out to?”

“My backers know people who know people who know… aliens.”

“Which aliens? DSC?”

“Yeah and more dangerous ones.”

I couldn’t help but laugh, bitterly shaking my head. “There’s no one more dangerous than them.”

“Then you’re a fool. There’re aliens in the oceans that even DSC is scared of. That’s why they’re here. They’re supposed to help us against them.”

I met Snryx’s gaze, wishing we had the grid so I could ask if he knew what Snyder was talking about. I hadn’t known anything about extraterrestrials until Kroktl found me. I carried alien fragments and hadn’t even known. Though I couldn’t imagine anything worse than DSC.

Though a pod of space whales was rushing toward Earth with other aliens inside. Why not ocean aliens too? Sure, that I could imagine.

But aliens more dangerous than DSC…?

Snryx tipped his head forward in a slight nod. There must be some truth to Snyder’s claims.

I focused on the space whales bringing the remaining Myrm drones and mrions to me.

They were surprisingly close now, flying so fast the stars blurred.

I recognized Earth’s blue waters straight ahead.

Distances were hard for me to estimate, especially at their speed, but my gut insisted they’d arrive in the next hour, maybe even less.

I could feel an excited hum building in my mrion cells at the prospect of being reunited with all the surviving Myrm.

But the danger was greater than ever. :At least one DSC squad is here.:

:Which is why we’re coming as quickly as possible. All Sirian cells are derived from mrion fragments. Use us, Mother.:

“Do you have her?” A male voice called.

A look flickered over Snyder’s face that made my blood run cold. “I’ll do what I can to keep the baby safe,” he whispered gravely. Then he stood, smoothing his face back into the familiar Hollywood-style confident charm. “I found the mother, but I’ll need some help getting her out.”