moment.'
'That's good enough for me.' Julia smiled. Despite the pressure of the current situation, she felt even more at ease with Mick now that he'd shared something of himself with her. She felt even more attracted to him.
She just hoped he felt the same way.
She risked another look at him.
But something had changed.
His face wasn't soft and relaxed any more. The edge of his jaw seemed tight.
Firm.
'Mick-'
He held up a hand to silence her.
His eyes closed and she could tell he'd stopped breathing. What was he doing? Concentrating?
Listening…
He opened his eyes.
And pointed.
Then Julia heard it.
A noise.
From the greenhouse.
Faint at first.
It was growing louder.
7
Julia looked at Mick but his eyes had hardened.
Quickly.
In his right hand, he gripped the remote transmitter that would cue the spotlights. But would they be enough to stop whatever was trying to get back into the greenhouse?
She hoped so.
Mick brought his left hand up to his mouth, urging Julia to remain quiet. The sound grew louder now. It sounded like something scratching at the glass, a fingernail down the transparent pane perhaps.
It sounded long.
Drawn out.
From their position in the hallway, neither Julia nor Mick could see into the greenhouse. Mick had positioned them out here deliberately. When they'd set up the watch position earlier, he'd told Julia it didn't make sense for them to actually be in the room itself.
'We don't know what we're dealing with. I'd rather not have something drop down on me once it realizes it might be walking into a trap. We'll wait in the hallway and see what happens.'
The only place Julia wanted to be right then was back home in the United States. Safe under the flannel striped comforter that she'd had for five years, the kind where the stuffing had pooled to one edge, regardless of the waffle design. She didn't love the comforter any less for it; she loved it all the more. And curling up under it on winter days made everything in the world seem…safe.
Instead, she thought, I'm thousands of miles from home. Down at the bottom of the world. All around me is ice. Snow. Cold.
And to top it off, some kind of creature was trying to break into the only piece of sanctuary they had.
There was an abrupt change in the sound from the greenhouse. The scratching stopped.
And a trickle of cold air issued out of the greenhouse door, tickling Julia's hair, making shivers run up her spine.
It was inside.
She glanced again at Mick but he remained absolutely still.
Listening.
Why doesn't he flip the switch now? Do it!
Another noise from beyond the door.
A scrape?
Another.
And another.
Julia remembered the scaffolding Mick had had to climb today to see the opening in the greenhouse roof. Was the creature climbing down it?
She stared at Mick. Flip the lights on!
Now!
But Mick stayed still. She wondered if he was breathing.
Julia tried to steady herself. Her heart sounded like thunder in her ears. The air in the hallway had grown colder now. Even with her jacket on, she still felt it.
All that Mick had on was a heavy turtleneck. How could he stand the cold?
There was a sudden thud in the greenhouse.
Whatever was in there, it had found its way to the floor.
Julia peered into the darkness of the greenhouse door. She wanted to cower in the recessed wall where she stood. She couldn't see anything.
But she heard it now.
Moving.
Toward the door.
Toward them.
Mick never moved.
Julia stared at the blackness beyond the opening of the door. Could it see her? Could it feel them outside? Did it know it was walking into a trap?
When she finally saw the first glimpse of movement, she thought her eyes were playing tricks on her because she'd been staring so hard.
It was no trick.
And gradually the head emerged from the gloom beyond the door.
That was when Mick flipped the lights.
The entire hallway and greenhouse lit up like an mushroom cloud had just detonated. The next sensation Julia had was one of abject terror as she winced at the sudden bright light and the simultaneous exposure to the creature.
She saw it full on.
Bathed in the intense light.
It screeched.
Wailed.
The noise filled the hallway. The creature reeled back into the greenhouse, still screaming. One of its misshapen claws came up as if shielding it from the light.
Mick grabbed her by the arm. 'Come on!'
Were they going back to the kitchen area?
No.
Mick was dragging them into the greenhouse.
Chasing the creature?
They ducked through the opening. Mick pointed. Thirty feet away, she could make out the creature scaling the scaffolding as easily as a spider. Its long limbs gripped exposed girders and moved its girth up toward the skylight.
And still it screeched.
At the top of the girders, it cast one final look back and wailed once more. Julia closed her eyes and saw a
