Page 60 of Monstrous Baby
:Fine.:The NSTG heaved out a rumbling sigh as his scorpion tail curled up over his back. Higher. Taking direct aim at Akylla. I wasn’t sure how accurate he’d be at that distance, but I didn’t want to find out.
:I’ve got him,:Axxol retorted.:You take the ISPD.:
:Those nets will dice you up as easily as the Balaenoptera,:I warned him.
:Only if it actually hits me. Which it won’t.:
:Run faster,:I urged Akylla.:I want you under cover in the trees.:
:Okay, Daddy.:She put on another burst of speed, hitting a gear that surprised even me. Maybe it was a trick with the purple haze floating over the ground, but she seemed to blur as she raced beneath my tree with the much larger Sauropod only a few paces behind her.
The NSTG fired a glowing net into the air. I heard the incoming crackle but didn’t turn my head to track its trajectory. Axxol said he had it. I trusted my squad, my alpha, implicitly. My job was to leap onto the ISPD’s broad chest and start ripping my way straight to his heart. I could see it pumping beneath his flesh, deep in his chest cavity behind his sternum and thick, protective ribs. Not enough to keep a raptor from eating the juicy muscle in one tasty gulp.
I leaped free of his body as his legs started to fold. Akylla stared transfixed. Not at the ISPD. But at me in all my bloody glory.
Gore coated my face and talons. For a moment, I imagined how I might look through Natalie’s eyes. If she’d seen me slaughter our enemies before we mated, would she look at me and see a monster and not her lover?
:I want some, Daddy,:Akylla whispered reverently.
Before the long neck crashed through the trees and hit the ground, my baby girl had her first taste of liver.
:When we get your mother back, let’s not use so many bad words in front of her just yet.:
Happily munching, she let out a rattling cough.:Okay, Daddy. I’ll try to remember and use only good words.:
26
NATALIE
Sudden silence filled my head. Lohr’s tongue dangled down his chest. Limp. Snryx’s coils slipped away from my body. For a moment, not going to lie, I was fucking terrified.
My bare skin crawled. Eyes on me. Exposed. Naked. Vulnerable. All the men in the room stared at me—with not-so great thoughts. Dirty, disgusting thoughts. Eyeing my heavy milk-filled breasts. My rounded stomach, skin lax from carrying my baby. My hair was crazy and unkempt. I probably looked like a wild woman living off green bananas in the jungle.
Iama fucking wild woman living in the jungle.
My chin tipped up, my jaws tight. Rage crackled inside me, a fire that burned away my momentary fear. How dare they lay hands on me, my daughter, or my squad? How dare they even look at me?
The marks twinged, still connecting me to my mates.
I could still feel the mrions.
Because they’re mine. My squad. My cells. Mine.
Don’t fuck around with the Mother.
:Don’t move yet,:I told Lohr and Snryx.:Pretend you’re still incapacitated.:
Snryx blinked, so I was sure he heard me. Then I focused on the mrions—the Sirian cells—inside of them. :Return all function. Destroy and ignore all DSC commands and programming.:
Beyond this fake silver room, I pictured the yard. Those poor chopped up space whales. The destroyed drones. All glowing purple with mrion power.
My power.
:Combine,:I willed them.:I need you. Rise. Find my squad. Protect them. Heal them, if necessary. Protect my daughter. Broken fragments and damaged alike. I need you all.:
I couldn’t see outside of the silver walls. Not exactly. But I could feel everything through the mrions. Waves of particles flowed together, first thin tendrils and wisps, then thicker vines like tentacles. Reaching up into the sky.
Rizan, I thought. He’d be in the air, scouting for the squad. An easy target.:Shield him. Give him whatever power he needs.:
