Page 31 of Monstrous Baby
Holly’s shoulders slumped and she nodded. “I figured as much. When you need to make a run for it, we’ll just slow you down. Maybe you can use us as a decoy to lead them in the wrong direction."
Use us.I nodded slowly, replaying the Myrm’s cryptic message in my head. “Maybe. We’ve got a little time to come up with a plan.”
Though I couldn’t help but wonder how much DSC already knew. Would they fall for such a trick if Holly pretended to be me? I didn’t want her to end up in even more danger just to save my own skin. Besides, they surely had an image of me from my brief jump into the strange laboratory to free Axxol. With super-soldier alien technology, they had to have captured all kinds of information about me in those few minutes.
They knew I was pregnant. In the brief interaction, the scientist portrayed as a jovial grandfather had studied my every move. Enough to sense that Kroktl was more important to me than the BGR+ he’d captured.
:Well fuck me I guess,:Axxol retorted in my head.:I don’t know why you even bothered to come and get me.:
He glared at me, hands fisted at his sides, eyes blazing, nostrils flaring, chest heaving. Furious. No. Hurt.
Because he wanted to be as important to me.
I held my hand up toward him, even though Kroktl was closer, silently asking for a hand up off the floor.:Don’t you remember what I told him?:
Lips twisted in a vicious snarl, Axxol stomped closer and seized my hand, jerking me up to my feet so fast I lost contact with the floor.:No. I was a little occupied at the time.:
I allowed myself to stagger against him. Then I stayed there. My head on his chest, listening to the frantic thudding of his heart. I spoke aloud so everyone could hear, even the other humans. “I never said I didn’t love you too.”
AXXOL
I’d never been injuredby mere words before. Pain lanced through me, stilling my breath. The rex swelled inside me, responding to my erratic emotions. Almost slipping free. An unforgivable loss of control for an alpha.
I wanted to swallow her whole again. Just to have her inside me.
:I’m already inside you,:she whispered in my head.
“Well.” Snyder cleared his throat roughly. “I’ll head into town in the morning and see if any new local sightings have been reported. Do you want to go, Holly?”
“No thanks. It creeps me out knowing that they’re actively looking for women our age in the area. I’ll stay inside and do some brainstorming with Nat.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Natalie replied. “I know you’re an early riser, but I probably won’t be up until eight or nine.”
“Oh, that’s totally fine. Is there anything you want me to start looking into beforehand?”
Natalie still touched me, her arms loosely around my waist. Her cheek pressed to my chest. What did that mean?
Her warm, lithe body against mine was so damned tempting. I couldn’t help but lower my head toward hers so I could smell the lush scent of her hair and skin. Though I was careful not to even breathe on Red’s mark through the thin cloth she wore.
“The Myrm said that DSC has destroyed Earth before, only they implied it would be even worse this time. Maybe look for cataclysmic natural disasters.”
“How far back? Like Cretaceous Period asteroids?”
Her head popped up so fast she almost snapped my teeth together like the youngling had done to her earlier. “That’s it! Yes!”
The other woman grinned at her. “Asteroids, of course! I’ll get started on mapping out some locations and basic research.”
“Perfect. Thanks.”
From the way the woman raced toward the door, I didn’t expect her to wait until morning to begin her research. “Goodnight, everyone.”
“Goodnight.” Natalie waited a few moments and then turned to Rizan, who immediately had a map on the grid dotted with yellow pins. “Oh wow, there’s one fairly close to us.”
“According to Earth’s scientists, this is most likely the asteroid that’s responsible for wiping out the non-avian dinosaurs on your planet,” Rizan replied. “Its epicenter struck just off the Yucatán Peninsula approximately sixty-six million years ago.”
Lohr’s tongue hung lower, unconsciously preparing to take a sample. “Humans detected high amounts of iridium, shocked quartz, and what your scientists labeled tektites.”
“What’s that?”
