Page 26 of Monstrous Hunt
Her eyes flared. “Really? I didn’t think you’d be able to tell so early.”
“There are fragments of the embryo’s DNA in your blood that indicate its gender and health. I detect no known diseases or abnormalities at this time.”
“Two hundred beats per minute seems fast.” Frowning, she nibbled on her bottom lip. “Is it a problem that it’s a girl?”
“Our resting heart rates are double yours so that seems reasonable,” I replied slowly, not sure why she would be concerned about the embryo’s gender.
:Human society generally mistreats females,:Rizan said on the grid.:Women are paid lower wages, and in many places are still persecuted and denied basic rights.:
“Our female will be feral as fuck,” Kroktl growled. “Anyone or anything who dares attempt to persecute or deny her will be next on our menu.”
I braced for Natalie’s volatile reaction—she’d strenuously objected to us eating humans before. However, her delicate face hardened, her eyes sparking. She tipped her head way back, rolling her eyes so she could see his face as he loomed over her. “No one will take her from us. No one will try to use her for some Dynosauros breeding program. Promise me.”
Eyes burning red-hot, Kroktl snarled. “I promise to keep you and her safe as long as there’s still life in my body.”
“I swear as well.” I swept my spines out, bristling in all directions. “The squad will die to keep you both safe, Natalie.”
Lohr didn’t shift but his voice took on the ponderous fury of his Nodosaurus DNA. “Rizan and I as well. He’s screeching his eagerness to defend you on the grid.”
Harsh, sardonic laughter made my skin ripple with scales, my beast quivering with murderous anticipation. Gritting my teeth, I fought to contain the creature without fully shifting, though I turned to face the threat.
Shaking his head, Axxol mocked us with raucous laughter. “Fools. That’s exactly what DSC wants.”
“Why?” I retorted. “It’s about fucking time you tell us what you know.”
Laughter dying, he slowly turned to face us. “So they can exterminate this entire fucking planet.”
* * *
NATALIE
My stomach clenched,churning on the food I’d just eaten uncomfortably. Exterminate us? The entire planet?
I didn’t say anything as Axxol came nearer, but I couldn’t help the anxiety ramping up my heart rate. Maybe it was merely the brief past I had with him, but it seemed as if danger hovered all around him. Volatile blue light burned in his eyes, making him look crazed and out of control. Plus, he was just so goddamned big. Bigger than Kroktl, even after he’d bulged up everywhere after our mating. One wrong move, and Axxol would turn into a Godzilla-sized creature stomping on skyscrapers as if they were toys.
It wasn’t just me feeling that underlying thread of distrust. Kroktl didn’t grab me and push me behind him—but he vibrated with tension. He locked his forearm on the opposite arm of the lounge chair, leaning over me. I curled into his side and slipped my arm around his waist. If he needed to get me out of here, I’d have a good grip on him.
“Tell us what you know,” Snryx said. “From the beginning.”
Axxol’s upper lip curled in a twisted, silent snarl. “I don’t know anything. That’s the problem. I suspect—but I don’t have proof.”
Rizan came trotting back out onto the patio with what looked to be a printer and a jumble of cords under one arm. “If you had suspicions, you kept them completely off the grid. The first thing I did when you left was analyze all your files.”
“I deleted them.”
Freezing in place mid-stride, Rizan gaped at him. “That’s… not possible. None of us should be able to permanently delete files. I can prevent uploading by jamming signals, or corrupt a file until it’s basically intelligible, but even I can’t delete the constant surveillance we record.”
Axxol flopped down on the concrete like it was a fluffy king-sized bed. Arms behind his head, he gazed up at the blue sky. “Deletion is easy. It’s just a matter of wiping out the address where the data is stored. Retrieving the address is the hard part.”
“Not possible,” Rizan bit off the words. “I’d know.”
“Would you? Even a CPT can’t possibly monitor all the memory assigned to our squad.”
“I do, though,” Rizan insisted. “That’s my fucking job. I’m constantly analyzing usage and allocating new space as needed for the entire grid. Everything is tagged with a priority status so I know what needs to be automatically uploaded to HQ versus what can be recycled.”
“We’ve been on this fucking planet much longer than a normal mission, correct? So you’ve run out of space.”
Rizan shrugged. “Not exactly. We always recycle space reserved for normal biometrics unless specifically ordered otherwise.”
