Page 49 of Monstrous Hunt
I hadn’t been completely alone like this since the last time Axxol had stashed me in a cave. At least I had the large window to look out onto an alien purple world. Sparkling rainbow fish swam by occasionally, but no mermaids. I didn’t think I’d be able to sleep, but I closed my eyes. Trying not to worry.
The universe’s best assassin squad would be perfectly fine. They’d investigate the crash site, hopefully verify that no alien threat had started to invade Earth, and be back to get me in a jiffy. While I was daydreaming in a perfect world, no other Dynosauros squad would mark their jump or try to intercept them. Dr. Snyder’s head would end up getting tossed around like a football, and they’d rescue Holly. Rizan would work his magic and get her a plane ticket back to the States. She’d write a paper about the famed archeologist’s drug ring and secure herself a position at the university of her choosing.
She’d have the life I used to dream about.
Smiling, I curled on my side, cradling my stomach. As if she could feel my hand, the baby pushed back. She didn’t have a lot of room to move around any longer, and her kicks were down to nudges. In a few days, I would be a mother.
Me. Who’d given up on dating and men long ago to dedicate myself to my research. I’d been so driven, desperate to leave my mark in some way. To make a discovery that would put my name at the top of the list ofWho’s Whoin archeology.
Now, none of that mattered. I could easily put my name into every major news article across the globe with details about my alien lovers and our baby. But that wasn’t the kind of life I wanted.
I wanted this. A quiet, special place where we could be together. My baby girl in my arms.
I must have dozed off for a while. Or maybe I was still asleep. There was something rustling outside the room. Something brittle. Like sticks rubbing against a rock.
Heart pounding, I stared at the door that must connect back to the cave. From this side, it looked like polished silver, but I remembered all too well what the tunnel had looked and smelled like. The thick, wet, endless darkness. The heavy scent of rock and dirt in my nose, rank with mold.
Though this smelled sickly sweet, almost like vanilla but stronger. Burning my nose, giving me an instant headache.
The rustling came closer. Darkness seemed to inch toward me, the silver walls wavering back toward the rough stone of the cave. A black shape filled the doorway. Hunched, rounded shoulders. It could be Lohr’s shell—if he walked upright on his hind legs. But it couldn’t be him. He wouldn’t linger just outside without calling out to me.
Another squad? Maybe. Trying not to move, I inhaled deeply. No ozone or feral predator scent that I associated with dyni. Just the strong vanilla-slash-rotten-fruit smell. A vanilla pod smashed into a blackened, ripe banana.
The dark shape stretched out a bony-looking arm, though it had to many joints. It hovered over my head, slowly moving down over my chest to my stomach. Terror clutched my heart, and I couldn’t lie still any longer.
Scrambling away, I backed against the pillows, knees curled up protectively in front of me. “Go away!”
“Complete. Mother.” The voice was scratchy and rough like sandpaper and stainless-steel wool, sending shivers down my spine. “Stop the killing.”
Pushing down my fear, I focused on my breathing. It hadn’t hurt me. I was going to be a mother, and I was all for stopping anyone from being killed. “We’re trying to stop the invasion.”
A harsh, snapping click made me jump. “No Myrm. No invasion.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t understand.” It knew the term Myrm, though. I’d never heard that word until the guys spoke of the other aliens. “Do you mean there aren’t any Myrm invading Earth? That’s great, then. There won’t be any killing.”
The long stick-like arm stretched back out toward me. “Touch. Show.”
It didn’t grab me, but waited, its limb stretched out like an offering. I hesitated, wishing for the millionth time that I was on the grid with the guys so I could ask them what the hell was going on. It wasn’t hurting me, but maybe it needed to touch me to spread mrions? Though I’d gotten the impression that the microscopic version of Myrm would spread without me even knowing. If so, I was already fucked. Right?
Bracing myself, I stretched out my hand and closed my fingers around the limb. Some kind of hard shell, but it was surprisingly rough, like a cat’s tongue. Or like the scratchy legs of a grasshopper. Shuddering, I almost let go.
Something popped inside my head, lighting up like a firefly and then spidering through my entire brain with tiny lightning bolts. Whispers rose from inside my head, rustling like the creature, but the more I listened, the more I understood. It wasn’t a single voice, but many. A multitude of identities all whispering to me while scenes flashed through my mind like a movie.
:We are Myrm. We are one. We are hunted across the universe. They kill us non-stop. We are not the enemy. We are not the destroyers of planets they say we are.:
Infinite space stretched in my mind, filled with millions of stars and planets whizzing past at astonishing speed.
:Millennia ago, we spread new colonies to new worlds. Infiltrating but not destroying. Changing. Merging new pathways.:
Cities spreading, gorgeous buildings with architecture that I’d never seen before. Shining white walls that rose like cliffs over a cerulean sea. People swam below—and then in a flash of blue, soared through the sky. Disappearing in a ring only to walk out of a blue archway into blowing sands.
Traveling—jumping—through space.
:The technology is ours. Warped beyond recognition but ours. They stole our cells.:
I wasn’t sure if they could hear my thoughts or not, so I asked out loud, “They who?”
:Draco. Sirius. Galactic. Syndicate. Command.:
