CHAPTER ONE

 

Evelyn didn’t want to wake because that meant feeling again. Her body was one whole vibrant throb of brain-numbing pain. Blue and purple bruises dotted her skin. She was sure she had them on her back as well, but she couldn’t turn her head over her shoulder to see. The bruises were lined with cuts and grazes, all of which she had no idea how they came to be.

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The outside of her fists were bruised as well, but she knew how she got those—banging against cold, steel bars. It had made little difference except to add to the bank of soreness pulsating through her body with every wretched heartbeat.

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She was pretty sure her right wrist was broken. Those Reptiles—monsters—had come to her cage and thrust a large purple crystal at her, trying to get her to take it. The cage was so small, she couldn’t get away. She’d pushed her back against the wall, but one of them reached through the cage and grabbed her wrist hard enough to shatter bone. White-hot pain had flashed through her body. They’d tugged her closer and held the crystal against her palm. A mist of purple magenta had glowed around her, so intense it had blocked everything from her vision and in that instant, she felt no pain, as though it had taken it all away. Then, they’d wrenched the crystal from her grip and the pain had returned in a fresh wave of agony. She had collapsed on the floor.

The Reptiles had gone to the other girls, all in separate cages, and done the same thing. The others had complied willingly after they’d seen them break her wrist. Through the haze of agony, Evelyn had recognized that the crystal didn’t light up for any of the other girls.

 

Next, a second Reptile had appeared, carrying a blue crystal. He had thrust it at the girls in turn, until it lit up with Lucie Jackson, in the cell next to Evelyn. The crystal illuminated with beautiful tones of aqua greens and blues, reminding Evelyn of the Aurora Borealis. The glow floated around Lucie, twisting and ever-changing.

 

She also remembered thinking how strange it was for such an event to happen. Now, she’d seen some pretty funky things. She used to like putting herself in the line of fire—literally—to get the latest story, and had been to warzones to report on frontlines.

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She now knew there were more horrors than even terrorists could conjure. The existence of aliens had been the first of a number of hard shocks she wasn’t even getting close to coming to terms with.

 

The first had been seeing a bright light descend in the middle of the desert on the strip of road called the Nullarbor Plain where she’d been investigating the latest in a spate of disappearances. She stopped her car, got out her camera from next to her on the front seat, and then… then she’d come face to face with the vilest creature she’d ever had the misfortune to see.

 

Something like a cross between an iguana and a dinosaur from Jurassic Park, the creature had snatched her before she could even scream. She’d then woken trapped inside of some type of goo. She’d ripped through a skin-like membrane behind the goo to find the Reptiles scattering like flies beneath the onslaught of golden-skinned fighters in some sort of space-age costume event.

 

But they weren’t costumes. They’d been real. Before she could take two steps from that disgusting cell, more of the Reptiles had appeared from a black hole behind her, sank their claws into her shoulders, and pulled her through.

 

There was a series of moments when she didn’t know if up was down before her mind cleared enough to discover she was imprisoned behind cold steel bars, in a cage so small she couldn’t even stand up straight. Her back would probably be rounded for the rest of her life. Not that she had the energy, or the motivation to move at all.

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She didn’t properly know how much time had passed. Days. A week. A month. Time blended with no daylight to pass the day, and food and water were in scarce supply.

 

She and the other women were held in a cargo hold, with steel walls surrounding them. The only entrance and exit was through a large steel door that froze her blood whenever it opened, because that meant the monsters had returned. And when that happened, it was never good.

 

Apart from the never-ending cold that cut through to her bones, there was a vibration in the floor she thought might be an engine of some kind. In truth, she had no idea where they were. She could be in the back of a cargo truck, or the hull of a boat. All she knew was that she was in some kind of transport and they’d kept on moving since she’d been thrown in here with all the other women.

 

Each time the monsters returned, they would remove one of the women, then return her later more bruised and bloodier than before.

 

Then they had taken her. She had been strapped to a table, and the monsters had set to work cutting her skin with scalpels and collecting her blood. A strange drug had been tapped into a vein in her arm, shooting fire through her bloodstream.

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Her mind had seemed to bend and expand, and she was sure she’d seen the ends of the galaxy. If that was death, she would have gladly taken it. She’d enjoyed skimming through nebula clouds, until she reached a distance that grew colder and more foreboding.

 

A black fog frothed at the edge. The clouds were filled with ominous intent. They reached for her, as though she was able to open some sort of invisible door for it, and she instinctively knew if she touched the fog, it would be nothing good.

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She’d wrestled her way back into her mind and catapulted into her body on the cold slab of metal. Agony shattered her. She’d blacked out again and then woken back up in the horrific cage.

 

That was when they’d come in with the crystals. Their black eyes gleamed, their hissing and clacking loud, their short arms waving about in excited animation. She’d curled in on herself, nauseated and exhausted. She would have thrown up, but there was nothing in her stomach. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d eaten or drunk. God, what she wouldn’t do for some water. She’d even drink her own urine at this stage.

 

Bear Grylls, eat your heart out.

 

She was so dehydrated, she hadn’t peed in days. Neither had any of the other girls. In one way that was good, as there were no buckets to use. They’d held off until they couldn’t anymore and had been forced to use the floor. The inside of the cargo hold smelt like a sewer. So did her skin and the rags she wore that had once been clothing.

 

She refused to be embarrassed about that. Then again, she was too sick to be worried about anything at all. What she was more worried about was that Susie hadn’t moved for a very, very long time.

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Evelyn wound her fingers around a bar. “Lucie.” Her whisper was too quiet even for her own ears. She desperately tried to work some saliva into her mouth. “Lucie!”

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Lucie slowly turned her head to look at her. Her brown hair was matted to the side of her head, her skin covered in god only knew what, but it was her eyes that worried Evelyn. They were blank and dull. Lifeless. She blinked slowly. So slowly that Evelyn thought she’d never open them again.

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Anger poured through Evelyn. How dared those reptiles treat them like this! As though they were no more than test animals. As though they were nothing.

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She worked her dry tongue on her lips. “Lucie. Can you see Susie? Is she… is she breathing?”

 

Lucie slowly turned her head toward Susie’s cage on the other side of her. She dragged in a slow breath and her top slid to the side. Her ribs stood out like fingers, her skin stretched as tight as parchment paper over a carcass left out in the desert.

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Evelyn had to face the fact that if they weren’t fed or given water anytime soon, none of them were going to last much longer.

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Excruciatingly slow, Lucie turned back. The poor girl barely had enough energy to do that. One look at her expression told Evelyn the truth and the reality of their situation.

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They would all end up like Susie.

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Evelyn had barely enough fluid to cry. Their situation was totally hopeless.

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“We’re all going to die,” Lucie whispered.

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When she breathed, Evelyn detected a slight wheeze. She had enough experience with death to know that wasn’t a good sound. She’d seen soldiers taken down next to her. Heard enough final breaths to know that if they didn’t get out of here soon, they never would.

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All the other women were too quiet, caught in their own version of hell. Maybe even others had died, slipping away while she’d been sleeping.

Her blood boiled with rage. Just give her a weapon and she would show those overgrown lizards exactly what they deserved. She didn’t have much in the way of sympathy for them at all right about now.

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A massive boom rattled the hold, smashing the cages into each other. Evelyn was tossed against the bars, her body erupting in a fresh round of pain. Her heart thudded like a jackhammer, pounding so hard it might crack ribs.

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A red light above the closed metal doorway flashed on and off. Several more booms sounded closer. Shockwaves vibrated through the room. Banging erupted at the door, and the metal clanked open. Evelyn gripped the bars, her knuckles turning white.

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Several Reptiles stood framed by the doorway. In their hands was a mean-looking weapon that resembled a semi-automatic. Some of the women cried out. Someone sobbed.

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One of the Reptiles aimed the weapon at the last cage and let off a round.

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There was a quiet click-click-click and Sally’s body erupted in a spray of red. She was flung to the back of the cage and fell motionless to the ground. The creature aimed the end of the weapon to the next cage.

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“No! Stop! Don’t kill her!” Evelyn cried out, reaching through the cage at Dorothy.

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The poor girl clutched the cage. A stream of urine ran down her thigh.

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Two reptiles marched into the room. One opened Lucie’s cage, reached in, and pulled her out. Lucie was so weak all she could do was groan as their claws dug into her arm. The Reptile slung her over its shoulder and scurried back through the door.

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Another Reptile opened the door on her cage. Evelyn scrambled to the back of the cage, hitting the bars with her spine, her hands and feet slipping against the metal floor. The Reptile hissed as it reached in. Evelyn barely recognized the panicked sound she made as she kicked at it. Its claws sunk into her calf, hooking into muscle.

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She tried to cling to the bars, but the creature yanked her so hard her fingers slipped. She was dragged across the floor of the cage, the bars smashing into her hips and ribs.

 

Her world tilted as the Reptile hauled her to her feet. She kicked at the Reptile, screaming for all she was worth. Her toes struck scales and the creature hissed at her. She formed claws with her fingers and swiped at its face. One finger gouged into its eye. It sank into soft mushiness and she ripped the eye out. It dangled from the socket from a wet arterial tube.

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Another boom rocked the room, followed by the screeching sound of metal against metal. Shouting sounded from outside the room. Male voices. She didn’t understand the language. It didn’t matter. All she was concerned about was getting away from the Reptile. There was no thought. Only instinct. She thrashed in a desperate attempt to get away.

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She had to run. Had to save Dorothy. Had to escape. Had to—

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Something hard thumped into her skull. White light exploded through her head. Her mind went numb. There was no sound. No sight. She flew through the air and slammed into the hard metal ground. Time hung suspended. Then pain exploded through her body.

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She fought to scramble away, to think, to breathe, but she wasn’t sure she even twitched a finger. A roar erupted above the pandemonium. Shouting, bodies thumping against metal, a squealing hiss fought to be the loudest. The chorus of male voices grew louder. Heavy footfalls pounded and she sensed massive bodies hurtling toward her.

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This was it. She couldn’t fight anymore. There wasn’t a damn thing she could do about it, but accept her fate. She just hoped her death would be quick. She tensed, ready for claws to rip through her skin.

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Instead, large hands scooped her up with great care. Gentle words whispered in her ear and as her vision cleared, she looked up into three male faces looking down at her as though they’d just found the rainbow and she was the pot of gold.

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