“I can walk,” I disagreed.
He shushed me gently and kept brushing my hair. I pushed his hand to get him to stop, but I was too weak to put any power behind it.Stop touching me.
Shannon grabbed his wrist with angry eyes and a frown. “Stop being inappropriate.”
He side-eyed her with irritation, but she didn’t stand down.
“You have an opportunity to document this creature while it’s sedated.” Gale’s gaze went to me suggestively.
“That’s not proper protocol. Any study conducted now is tainted.” Observe with minimal impact. I’d obviously impacted this creature too much to do a proper study.
“That one creature gives us the ammunition to fight off development once and for all. You’ll write books and your thesis on this, and you’re caught up on protocol.”
“My presence is antagonizing him. His violence will escalate.”
“You are our wildlife biologist. Do your job or your scholarship will go to someone who will,” Gale hissed softly.
Shannon narrowed her eyes. “As a scientist, her dedication to ethical practice–”
“I don’t want to hear anything about ethical practices from you!” If looks could kill, Shannon would have died on the spot. I’d never heard him yell before, and it made an uneasy feeling run through me.
The sounds of bugs and birds chirping were loud enough to amplify their silence earlier, it was enough to make me think the monster really had retreated. I forced myself to sit up, “I’ll do it.”
“Good.” He smiled at me. I couldn’t figure out his motivations yet, but I knew he would burn us both down if he didn’t get his way. “Lead the way.”
I struggled to get up and stay on my feet. I stumbled like I was drunk.
“How much of her blood did you take?” Gale snapped with disapproval.
“As much as it took to save a life,” I answered for her, considering the amount of blood had nothing to do with it. “I told her to do what she needed to.”
Shannon's eyes met mine. An entire silent conversation happening in a way that wouldn’t have been possible a few days ago. Her eyes narrowed with determination that usually meant a headache for me. “I’ll go with you two.”
“The boy needs you,” Gale said dismissively.
“He’s stable now. There’s nothing more I can do.” She hmphed with her usual snooty tone. “I refuse to miss out on the discovery of the decade playing babysitter.”
That wasn’t it. She wasn’t going to let me stumble away from the public eye with someone we both knew abused power.
She came up, putting an arm around my waist to help me stay steady. A silent, “I’ve got your back.”
I hope she knew how much I appreciated that.
We made decent time, considering how much I wanted to sleep. I went toward the pond where I’d found the opening for the nest. If I were retreating, that was where I suspected he would go.
But as we went around the pond, a strange fear rolled through me. I couldn’t let them see the nest.
I wasn’t sure why the need to get them away, but I suspected it had to do with whatever was linking me to the monster. Snarling anger bubbled deep in my chest that didn’t belong to me, confirming my theory.
So I led them past the water entry. I argued to myself we wouldn’t be able to go that way, anyway. The water bubbled as if to agree, it would make sure no one made it.
Shannon lifted an eyebrow at me, but didn’t say anything.
“How far away from the nest are we?” Gale asked.
My skin crawled with him just talking about it, and another growl echoed in my mind. “I think it’s this way.”
“Think?”
