Page 10 of Monstrous Rampage
“I’m here without my consent. You could sedate me like you did her.”
“If I wanted you dead, I would have dropped your unconscious body into the holding cell with a rabid dynos and skipped the demonstration.” His tone sharpened slightly with frustration. Snyder was running out of patience trying to convince me. Then what?
I was under no illusion that he’d simply drop me back at Lake Atitlán and let me return to tell Natalie about everything I’d seen here.
No, if I wanted to get out of here, I’d have to beat him at his own game.
I wanted a squad of my own. Evidently, he had dyni here. Ready.
If I had the courage to try.
I turned to face him, holding his gaze. “I decide the level of risk I’m willing to take.”
His eyes flashed silver. “Agreed.”
“I choose which dynos to meet first. I control how it happens. How long. If I decide he’s too dangerous, you’ll have to find another way.”
“Agreed.”
I inhaled deeply and held the breath for a long count. “How can I possibly have any assurances that you’ll keep your word? I don’t have leverage in this arrangement.”
“You do. You have all the power, Miss Price.”
I scowled at him and crossed my arms over my chest. “That’s not true, or I wouldn’t even be here. As you said, you could have simply dropped me into a holding cell with one of them already.”
“That’s true, of course, but I suspect there were other factors in Miss Whit’s success. Especially when it came to mating the entire squad and carrying their young.” He paused, letting me think about it.
Her willingness—no, her love—was the secret to winning Axxol over. For each member to feel wanted and appreciatedrather than excluded. It wasn’t just the mrion fragments that made it all possible.
But her.
“Suppose I am successful,” I said slowly, watching his face. Trying to read his expressions. How much of Snyder’s ticks did this construct still have? “Then what? I refuse to stay on this ship bearing little dyni babies for you to continue experimenting on.”
“Let’s get a successful mating accomplished first, yes?” He lightly slapped at his thigh. Something Snyder would’ve done with his ridiculous Indy hat.When he was lying his ass off.“Then we’ll renegotiate your terms on how you wish to go forward.”
My spine tingled. Nerves fired up and down the length of my back, my scalp prickling, goose bumps rising on my arms. There would be no renegotiating.
If I wanted off this ship—with my squad—it’d be up to me to figure out how to break them out.
“Show me who you’ve got locked up on this ship, and I’ll think about it.”
6
HOLLY
Snyder tipped his head toward the large view screen. “We have an interesting array of dyni for you to choose from on this ship.”
Video snapshots popped up on the screen, three squares to a row, five rows total. Most of the videos were so dark I couldn’t really see anything but vague dark shadows. Slithers of movement. A flash of red—like Kroktl’s eyes. Orange. White. Teeth. Lots of teeth.
I tightened my grip on my crossed arms, hugging myself. Resisting the urge to curl up in a ball and throw my arms over my head.What the fuck are you doing? Are you nuts? There’s no way you’re going to be able to “tame” any of these creatures long enough to escape.
“Does DSC know you have so many?”
His lips quirked, one eyebrow arching with a smug, confident very human look. “As far as DSC’s concerned, these dyni were terminated. They were deemed experimental failures and were never officially put into service. I intercepted them one by one and brought them here for further testing.”
“What does that mean, exactly? Were they unable to form squads? Did they have health issues…?”
He shook his head. “Dyni genetics are impervious to just about everything. They’re all perfectly healthy. In fact, I’d argue they’re too healthy for DSC use because they’re too difficult to control. Our scientists have been pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. Giving our dyni formidable strength and power. Bigger teeth, more technology, more vicious instincts. However, there’s a delicate balance that must be maintained. The most vicious, terrifying killer does HQ no good if they can’t control him enough to send him on a mission. If he kills his own squad. If he refuses to follow the simplest directions. Each of these dyni have some kind of behavioral issue that made them undesirable for deployment.”
