Page 69 of Monstrous Baby
No. Scratch that. I knew exactly what we needed to do.
We needed to move.
DSC knew where we were, and while the KORE had returned to the ocean for now, none of us liked knowing such a massive creature had been on our beach. Not to mention Snyder knew too much about our location and how the squad operated here. We didn’t know if he had another human body in the area to use. How many squads he might have access to. Or if he was too busy defending himself to the syndicate to worry about us.
I’d rather be safe than sorry and get the fuck out of here while we could.
Rizan gave a light tap on the bedroom door and stuck his head in. “I’ve got some sites to show you if you’re up to it.”
“Sure.” I sat up and shifted around so I could lean back against Kroktl’s broad chest as he lounged behind me. His stomach gurgled, reminding me that he’d been denying himself time to hunt because he had to stay and protect me and the baby.
I tapped into the grid and found his stats, checking his hunger and strength levels. Not as quickly and efficiently as Snryx could do, but I was figuring my way around the grid better every day without getting too overwhelmed by the constant stimuli.
Kroktl rumbled, a deep low vibration that rolled up my spine. “I fed last night before the attack.”
“Just checking. You also burned a lot of energy, so you should probably hunt again tonight.”
I started to grab one of the pillows for a makeshift lap desk, but Rizan set a padded half-moon-shaped desk across my lap along with my laptop.
Aw. I hadn’t ever used this lap desk before, so it was new. He must have seen me using a pillow before and decided to look for something that might make my life easier. “Thank you, Rizan. I love it.”
He let out a happy chirp. “Purple, of course, because is there any other acceptable color?”
“I love other colors too,” I protested, laughing.
Kroktl trailed his fingers along my outer thigh to my knee. “Like red.”
“I hear green is nice too.” Rizan fluffed his iridescent teal feathers as he opened my laptop. “I created a slideshow of all the possible sites, both in this general area as well as across your planet, narrowed down to places remote enough we can still hunt without human witnesses yet still close enough to more urban areas for food and delivery services. Most of these houses are located in the Americas, ranging from Patagonia to Saskatchewan, but there are some interesting possibilities in South Africa and Mongolia as well.”
“No oceans,” Kroktl said.
“Check. All have good hunting and wilderness areas to roam at will. Some are more mountainous. Climate rangessignificantly as well. Are you interested in tropical regions or are you open to more extreme temperatures?”
“I don’t know.” I watched the images flick past one by one. “Wouldn’t dinosaurs prefer a more tropical climate?”
Rizan clacked softly. “We can live anywhere. There’s good hunting even in deserts if you know where to look.”
“And I guarantee we’ll always know where to look for prey.” Kroktl sat up, wrapping his arms around me, settling me back fully against his chest. “Let’s play a game. Close your eyes, baby.”
Sighing, I did so.
“What do you remember best about this place?”
I couldn’t help but snort. “I’ve mostly been in this bed.”
He huffed out a warm breath against my ear. “Oh, trust me, this bed is coming along with us. How about sitting outside on the patio, either here or at the other house by the lake? Sitting outside with the breeze fluttering over your hair. Sunny and warm but not miserably hot. Crystal blue water as far as you can see or rolling hills of lush green jungle.”
I’d only sat outside a couple of times but yeah. That’d been nice.
“Okay, now imagine we’re somewhere else. We’re sitting outside enjoying the view. What do you see?”
“I like water,” I admitted, cracking my eyes open. “It doesn’t have to be an ocean, and not close enough for something like Axxol to surge up out of the water and snatch me again.”
Rizan blinked and some of the pictures disappeared. “Got it. What else?”
“Something pretty to look at. Mountains, maybe? Forests, jungles, lots of interesting animals and sounds at night.”
The images shuffled again.
