“Humanity didn’t do such a great job, did they? Or rather, we.” She gestured at the land. “We wiped out half or more of the animals on this planet—lions, tigers, elephants, all gone. We’re a sad fucking race to be talking about this being ours. It isn’t ours. It belongs to everything alive on Earth. There has to be something better than us being the masters of the world.”
“Except, not the Ghoul Lords,” Tom pointed out. “No fucking way is it theirs.” And spoken by such an angelic-looking man. His fair locks curled stiffly against the bluish light, as if he’d used far too much hairspray. She could see him in a museum—a sculpture by Michelangelo.
“Not them,” she agreed.
Millions of innocent children had died too, not just adults, even if one lumped all the adults together in their guilt. Of course, she’d have to throw herself in with the humans who’d fucked over the environment.
“So. To the future and the end of those above.” She raised her glass. After everyone drank, another question came to her. “Did everyone here who joined the beast horde experiment come from the army? What was your past? I am really curious.”
“You first.” Rutger nudged her.
“Me…” She tapped the glass with a fingernail, listening to the quiet tings. It was getting very quiet. Dawn approached, sketching in the far range of hills with pale light. This was why the threads were showing. She must take care. “Me, I barely recall anything. Maura seemed to know me. Once?”
Maura nodded. “I still don’t remember where or how I met you. I’m sorry.”
As if on cue, Little Mo crept in closer to her butt. His tiny claws bent the grass. He’d been lurking, as she wanted him to. Wasn’t safe away from her and Vargr. He was a little library of info, if only they could coax him to reveal it.
“All I know is, I was in that last experiment after yours—Maelstrom. And I have an octopus tattoo on my ass, and red eyes, and I can push away the Lure, if I try.” She really should be practicing that. “I’m stronger than normal, can fight well, move fast, and I heal from wounds like no one else can.”
An array of gasps and mild swearing added a full stop to her statement. She checked Vargr, and he nodded. Yes, it was time. Felt right to tell this crew even if she’d only known some of them for a day.
“Like me?” The god-monster was startled too.
She clicked her tongue. “No, better than you. No scarring. I had a piece of steel through me here.” She lifted the edge of her shirt and poked her stomach. “It healed up in a day.”
His eyes danced with amusement.
“I got to kiss it better is why.” That declaration came from Vargr.
She eyerolled.
“All this, all the more reason for us to have this meeting,” Willow leaned back onto the grass beside where Toother had decided to lie. Her hand brushed through his soft fur. “You’re a sign or something, girl. We are going nowhere. Time to put a spanner in the works of the Ghoul Lords.”
“You want to know who I was?” Rutger said quietly. “I was a master sergeant in the army. Willow, I think you were in the air force?” His hand slipped off Cyn’s thigh and he lay on his side, propped up on his elbow. His great horns looked stranger than ever. Puck on steroids. A very large sexy Puck.
“Nah, I was a hairdresser.”
The laughter gave the lie to that.
The others followed with their stories. Locke had been in the army. Maura in research, of course. Tom had been a security guard for Dr Nietz’s company. That left Vargr.
He finally shrugged. “A spy. A low-echelon, data-mining spy. I lurked and spied.”
“Wow. I’m dating James Bond.”
“I was not quite him, but it’s way more than dating, female.” His stern look made her smile.
Then she glanced down at Rutger on her other side and found him contemplating her.Ohhh my.The slow swallow she tried to conceal was noticed.
Pink threads moved in the air between them. The Lure intensified.
Conversation continued around her while she thought and simply enjoyed sitting with people who were, sort of, almost normal. If it wasn’t for the whole nanites and beast-horde thing, and them sitting in the dark yet seeing as well as a SWAT team with night vision goggles, and the apocalypse around the corner. It was still rather… peaceful. Muted voices, loud laughter, friends, wine, and a picnic under the stars.
She listened to Maura talking to Locke. The wistfulness in her voice almost made her tear up.
“If I ever get the chance to see the research, if I could get equipment, supplies, I’d duplicate it. I’d make more nanites and inject myself. I envy you, all of you. You have freedom, sight, and a life.”
Locke said something in reply, and she could tell he was empathizing and being kind, even if she barely caught the gist.
