Page 37

NATALIE

I n less than twenty-four hours, the squad managed to move all our most crucial necessities to the new house overlooking Lake Atitlán.

Our food stores—though of course they’d already arranged for food service from a nearby village—some of my favorite clothes, and most important of all, our huge bed.

I was a little nervous about living on an actual volcano with two more so close, but the views from every window in the sprawling ranch-style house were incredible.

I couldn’t wait to explore some of the archeological sites in the area, and I planned to re-read my tattered, beloved copy of Popol Vuh that had somehow managed to survive without any further damage in my backpack despite how many times I’d lost it in the jungle.

The vegetation in the Sierra Madre highlands wasn’t as tropical but still lush and wild, at least to me.

Coffee and avocado trees lined the lower slopes of the volcanoes, thriving on the rich acidic soil.

At our elevation, tall pine and oak mixed with ferns and other bushes I couldn’t identify.

If I ever got tired of looking at the lake—never—I could always step into the backyard for stunning views of the taller Volcán Atitlán.

Bonus, behind the house we had a rocky crevice that made for a tempting natural hot tub.

The previous owners had chiseled and shaped some of the flatter rocks into built-in seats in the steamy water.

Orchids spouted all around the pool with lush ferns and vines dangling like curtains into the water.

My only complaint was the pool wasn’t big enough for all of us to enjoy at the same time.

Lucky for me, Kroktl and Akylla had gone out to explore the new territory.

Rizan circled overhead, mapping out any human activity.

Lohr and Snryx were inside arguing over which cabinets to use for each type of food.

Leaving Axxol to play guard duty while I soaked.

Arms crossed, he glowered at me. He wasn’t mad. Grumpy asshole was his default personality.

“I heard that,” he growled.

One corner of my lips quirked but I didn’t acknowledge him.

Eyes closed, head tipped back, I pretended to be asleep.

Though shutting down my external senses made my internal changes more obvious.

The squad’s red glow brightened on our private grid, lightning fast and responsive to my slightest query.

I could still see the glittering expanse of other networks like a clear, midnight sky filled with stars. Only instead of scattered and dim purple fragments sprinkled across the universe, an ultraviolet black hole spun around my squad’s grid.

Before we left the old house, I’d pulled all the surviving mrion fragments together so nothing had been left behind.

Even trillions of cells compressed down to something I could hold in the palm of my hand.

After brainstorming with the guys, we’d decided to contain the mrions in a decorative wooden box along with the Sirian crystal.

I wasn’t sure what we were going to do with it, either, but it was evidently worth more than all of Earth’s combined natural resources.

Holly sparked on my internal universe now like an amethyst chip against black velvet. Without opening my eyes, I could point directly toward her location on the other side of the house, further down the winding driveway that led to the village at the base of the volcano.

Over coffee before we jumped to the new location, she admitted being disappointed that the magic hadn’t happened for her yet. As if within minutes of contamination, she expected her very own dyni squad to pop out of the jungle.

She might not be aware, but I could feel exactly what was happening inside her. The mrions spread rapidly through her system. Repairing damaged cells. Sheering up her bones and spine, making her muscular structure stronger. Increasing her stamina. Building new synapses in her brain.

She was already one of the smartest women I knew. With mrions multiplying rapidly, she was becoming the equivalent of a supercomputer. I could probably communicate with her now with only our minds, which opened a whole new can of worms for me to consider.

How did I keep her connected—but separate from my squad’s grid? She was my friend, but no offense, I didn’t need her feeling and knowing everything we did. Especially in the bedroom.

How would I know when to “contaminate” other people with mrions? Did I even want to do so? What would that mean to the world as a whole?

Terrifying. Such power.

I didn’t want to make a mistake.

“So fucking don’t,” Axxol said, blunt as ever.

I scowled in his general direction but didn’t crack my eyes open. “It’s not that easy.”

“Of course it’s that fucking easy. You don’t have to do anything. That many mrions could have contaminated the entire Hercules-Corona Borealis system before HQ could get its head out of its ass, but instead, they came to you.”

The Mother.

But what was I supposed to do ?

I’m just a graduate student, for fuck’s sake, trying to land a research position at the university. Though that felt like eons ago. Natalie Whit who’d hiked into the jungle with starry eyes to discover her own forgotten ruins wasn’t me any longer.

The young woman who’d bitten her tongue and stayed silent when her professor displayed creepy intentions toward another female student.

Who’d never stood up for herself when he deliberately gave her grunt work in the field.

I’d risked everything to come to Guatemala, never realizing that my “everything” meant nothing at all.

Those dreams seemed so superficial and sad now. Though I never would’ve realized it without getting lost in the jungle and running for my life…

Axxol let out a low warning rumble.

Goosebumps raced down my arms, and my nape prickled with alarm. That was the sound of a very hungry T-rex on the prowl.

“I’m fucking tired of listening to you worry and stress about being so fucking powerful. Fuck yeah, our mate’s powerful. She has to be to deal with us.”

“Damned straight,” I snapped, sitting up to glare at him. “Especially you.”

“There’s our baby,” He purred out as scales exploded outward, blue ozone burning in his eyes as he shifted to his BGR+. :You’d better fucking run.: