Page 4 of Monstrous Rampage
There’s no way Dr. Ibarra would be able to recognize me. My image wasn’t included on the initial email I sent, and it wasn’t on the campus website either.
I hadn’t seen a woman with him. He wouldn’t save a random American college student and leave his wife to die in a fire.
Which just so happened to be in the place we’d agreed to meet this morning.
Forcing out another series of coughs, I slipped the backpack strap off my left shoulder, letting all its weight slide down to my right. I locked my fingers around the top loop, mentally preparing to swing the heavy bag straight at his head.
Something shoved me reeling backward. Slammed my back into the stone wall hard enough debris and pebbles rained down on me. My head thumped against the rock, stunning me. I didn’t feel hands on me. Nothing, actually. Just… air. I couldn’t see anything. I tried to raise my hands defensively, but it felt like my brain was completely disengaged from my body. I couldn’t command my muscles to move. Did he paralyze me? Drug me?
Short, frantic breaths only increased my confusion. My fear.Calm down. Breathe. You can’t escape if you’re hyperventilating.
“Now, now, Miss Price, there’s no reason to make this difficult.”
Oh god. I recognized that voice. I couldn’t see his face, but I’d know that overly charming yet sinister tone anywhere.
The memory of Snyder’s death flashed through my mind again. His forearm locked around Natalie’s throat. The satisfying thud of my foot against his balls. I’d kicked him with all my strength, as if I could split him in half and shove his balls up beneath his ribs. Seconds before the T-rex’s jaws snapped closed on him. One big gulp. A lingering bloody stump of an arm still draped on Natalie’s shoulders.
Dr. James Snyder’s human body had been destroyed.
But the DSC agent remained.
I opened my mouth to scream, but no sound would come out. So I screamed inside my head, hoping the mrions might hear.Natalie! Snyder’s back! He’s here! Run!
The darkness spread like a cold, dead weight, and I was gone.
3
HOLLY
Ishot upright, heart pounding, sweat drenching my face. For a moment, I thought it was all a crazy dream. Hearing Dr. Snyder’s voice. Lured by an email from a professor I admired. Paralyzed. Helpless.
Then I realized I’d woke up—into a nightmare.
I was in a small, unfamiliar room. Scratch that, cell. Three walls were steely gray and bare except for the narrow bed and a panel on the right-hand wall. It looked sort of like a microwave without a handle and a small control panel. The fourth wall opposite the bed was an opaque milky color but I could see vague shadows on the other side moving around.
Now that I was sitting up, the lights inside the cell slowly brightened, letting me note more details. My clothes had been replaced with loose, flowy pants and tunic. The white fabric was soft against my skin, but it didn’t feel like cotton. Thicker, more substantial, but extremely light. No bra or underwear.
The thought that someone had touched me while I was unaware, stripped off all of my clothes, and then dressed me again… Ick.
My heart pounded so hard I felt dizzy. Shivering, I drew my knees up to my chest and hugged myself, bracing my forehead against my legs.Breathe. Slow. In and out. Think. What do I remember?
It’d been Snyder. So DSC had me.
Terror shrilled through my mind. Draco Sirius Command was run by a powerful alien syndicate with such advanced technology it might as well be magic. I felt like a Neanderthal cave woman sitting at a computer and wondering what the hell to do.
My father’s annoying voice filled my head.“I told you something like this would happen. You should’ve listened to me.”
I flipped him the mental bird, the same way I’d been ignoring his tedious opinions since I was old enough to have my own. I’d grown up with all the privileges his money and reputation could provide, and for that I truly was grateful. But I’d never bought into his rich-man, misogynist ideals. If I’d listened to him, I’d be bored to tears at some fundraiser gala with a fake smile and a beautiful gown, on some other rich man’s arm. A beautiful yet useless object he’d trade in for a newer, younger, more beautiful model in a few years.
No thank you.
At least thinking about my daddy issues distracted my mind from the current danger long enough to calm my heartbeat. I had friends. Powerful friends. I didn’t fully understand the science behind Natalie’s abilities, but she was more than just human. Plus, she’d shared that technology with me. Rizan promised they wouldn’t leave me behind.
But where am I? Is this even a place the squad can reach?
Even more importantly, why am I here?
Because if Snyder planned to use me as bait to get Natalie and her baby…
