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Sloane arched an eyebrow and rested her hands on her hips. “Put down the scalpel, wash up, and then you can treat me to my favorite herbal tea.”

Dallin grimaced. “The stuff that smells like weeds?”

“It’s dandelion and fennel tea. It’s amazing for the digestion.” She turned her attention to Georgia. “Ash is on his way. I saw him in the corridor.”

As if on cue, he walked through the door. He nodded at everyone before his attention turned to Georgia. Her heart fluttered and warmth flooded her cheeks as she thought about the last time they’d been together. It had been different. She hadn’t wanted to leave Ash’s bed, but she’d forced herself to.

She never spent the whole night with him. There was no point in getting attached, but he was making it hard not to.

“Let’s get a wiggle on,” Sloane said. “I heard there were brownies, and they never last more than five minutes when word gets around.” She grabbed Dallin’s elbow and tugged him toward the door. “We’ll be back soon. Do you need anything?”

Georgia shook her head. “I’m good.”

“Same here,” Ash said.

Dallin and Sloane left the lab.

“How’s it going in here?” Ash said.

“Slowly. Dallin’s being meticulous and investigating every inch of this creature. I thought we’d have more results by now.”

“No, that’s good. Dallin doesn’t miss a thing. Have you had any trouble with him?”

“You were worrying about nothing. He’s been cool and composed.”

Ash grunted. “Let’s make sure it stays that way. And being around Sloane always keeps him calm.”

“And she’s definitely in charge. He barely protested when she led him out of here.”

“That’s an occupational hazard of being partnered with a human. For such a small alien, you sure are bossy.” He shot her a sly smile.

“And you love it.”

He shrugged. “Maybe I do. So what have you got so far?”

“The animals can reproduce.” Georgia was glad to have a distraction from thinking about being in charge of Ash. “If we don’t stop them from breeding, we’ll soon have a huge army of lethal hybrids.”

“That won’t happen. We’ll stop them.”

“We’d better. Come take a look at how Dallin’s getting on.” Georgia walked to the examination table. “He’s certain this is a combination of genetic experimentation and a chimera. And I’ve figured out three different animals are involved. There could be more. They’re all deadly and venomous. And see the markings on the skin? That’s some kind of lizard. The patchy fur is definitely tiger, and the claws could belong to another reptile. I haven’t pinned that down yet.”

“So it’s someone with advanced technology,” Ash said. “Someone able to keep these animals alive while they meld together the most lethal parts.”

Georgia nodded. “They’re clever, brutal, and lacking anything that resembles a soul if they’re doing this to animals and not feeling bad about it.”

Ash inspected the creature’s teeth. “You wouldn’t want to meet a group of these on your own. They’d rip you to shreds.”

“It gets worse. This creature has venom, claws, dangerously sharp teeth, advanced night vision, and almost impenetrable skin. Dallin nearly blunted a scalpel getting through.”

“But our weapons worked on it,” Ash said. “That shows they aren’t invulnerable.”

“They’ll be easy to deal with while their numbers are low, but if they get a foothold anywhere and get busy reproducing...” She shook her head. The consequences would be devastating for any alien or animal life forms nearby.

Ash placed a hand on her shoulder.

Georgia shrugged it off. “I hate this. What they’re doing is wrong.”

He stepped closer, turned her, and put both hands on her shoulders. “We can deal with this. We’ve dealt with worse.”