Kane, I really should've paid more attention in biology classes. He hadn't spoken in a while, but I didn't mind. It was all the better to hear my teammates argue on our communication line.
"No bullets," I said firmly. "Not yet. If we need an especially good shot, I trust Colin on that." He was the only one being blissfully quiet and reliable, as usual. I would have to give him massive compliments when I talked to Hindley… provided that we all returned to Chicago in one piece.
"What if the creature is female and only goes after males, like the neighbor? All the disappearances were men," Jordan added. "I mean, the captain has a stocky build, so maybe it will still work." I rolled my eyes. Trust a sibling to tease you while you were in mortal peril.
"Don't be silly." Jessie laughed. "The fact that more male residents vanished is probably due to men's naturally riskier behaviors. That’s why men die earlier than women."
"Quiet on the comm," I commanded. We needed to focus. Although the twins had some interesting theories, I was still bait. “Only mission-critical communications from here on out.”
I could see my team in the periphery of my vision. They spread out, hiding behind trees and boulders or whatever they could find. With Holt and the twins on my left, closer to the trees, I prayed the creature didn't decide to target my siblings. On the right, I had Jones and Evans nearer to the lake. Colin would have left them by now, as we’d planned earlier, and found himself a makeshift sniper's nest somewhere behind me.
"Everyone in position?" I asked. A resounding yes greeted me. "Good. Don't move until I tell you to." The latter command was mostly for the twins and Jones. Funny how a grown man had to be grouped in with my young siblings.
The cold air stilled around me. I heard nothing but the passing wind and my own teeth grinding.
Where was this thing?
"It can't be," Kane whispered. His sudden reappearance made me start. "I thought I heard her voice… No. It's impossible. It can't work like that."
My pulse spiked wildly. Kane had heard me. One of my communication methods must have worked. Somehow, someway, I had gotten through to him.
Kane, I'm here. I shouted in my mind wildly, hoping to catch his attention again. His voice sounded softer when he spoke, but I wasn’t sure why. My attention split down the middle. Part of me was with the mission, listening to the sudden intake of breath from Holt as the steam in the air shifted abruptly… but another part of me was with Kane. We did have a connection; I’d known it all along.
"Captain," Evans shouted on the line. "It's headed right toward you. The scanner—"
She broke off as a strange wailing howl filled the air. We no longer needed the scanners.
"It's coming," I blurted. The monster's breath streaked toward me, the puffs disappearing in the wind. I snatched my knife in one hand and my pistol in the other. If it wanted to take me in its jaws, I was going to shoot it right in the mouth.
Someone near the lake fired at the steam cloud coming toward me. It had to be Jones; Evans wasn't stupid enough to ignore my commands. His bullets sailed straight through the beast. I gasped as the air changed around me. Suddenly, I felt the telltale sign of an impact coming toward me. It was going to hurt.
"Don't shoot," I yelled into the comm just as the creature swiped at me. Its breath and the displaced air of its movement were the only things enabling me to locate it. I dodged out of the way, but my foot caught on a tiny pothole in the road. I stumbled back into the grassy ditch, closer to the trees. "The bullets aren't working, and this thing is fast. It’s getting in too close. If anyone is going to shoot, it’s Colin."
The beast let out another low moan. Its breath puffed in and out, shimmering in the sun, a beautiful, subtle sign of its horrific life. Crystals from the heat meeting the winter air created a dazzling display.
And then, the invisibility dropped away. Milky albino scales and three red eyes stared at me. I tried to move in time, but the creature was a blur. It was too fast with its jaw, which unhinged, spiked with teeth, and easily scooped me up like dinner. I fired a shot, but it ricocheted off the teeth. The world became a blur as the beast turned and bounded forward into the forest. My sturdy armor underneath my uniform protected me even from the sharpest points of the teeth, but the creature’s bite was surprisingly light.
"Roxy!" Jessie screamed, panicked now.
I smacked my head on the dense shrubbery as the monster ran into the trees. Thorns caught at my clothes, tugging on them harshly, and pain jolted up my leg as my foot collided with the thick bark of a tree. The monster had my torso and pelvis in its mouth, carrying me like a bone. My head and legs were fair game for it to smack around. I tried to slash at its lips with my knife, since aiming with my gun was impossible with the jostling, but the sides of its jaws tightened on me. I couldn’t attack it.
The creature jumped through a narrow opening in the trees. A bushel of wet leaves hit my face, and my comm tumbled right out of my ear. My team, the world, and everything else was lost to me.
17
Dorian
“I guess we aren’t in Kansas anymore,” Cam said, shaking his head in disbelief. I stared at him, and he flushed. “Oh, sorry, I keep forgetting you’re a vampire. It just means that we’re a long way from home.”
He was right. Somehow, we’d stumbled across the remnants of an Immortal Plane city. Where and when this place
