“Hey, Apollo?” Fitz asked as he backpedaled, not looking at the man while he spoke. “How ‘bout you scout ahead and see where exactly we’re going?”

  “On it.” The operator hustled away, moving as quickly as he could. With any luck, he’d return with good news and be able to lead the rest of them to safety.

  “Down!” Fitz shouted, diving on top of CJ. She had just turned to watch Apollo when the Nsanga made its move.

  Snapping her head around, she watched as it whipped its thick tail at them, just missing their ducking forms. Ares was slow to move and took the blow in the chest and was tossed into the wall. He hit and fell halfway up, slumping over. His moaning and cussing caused CJ to relax some. At least he was alive and conscious. After mumbling a string of incoherent words, Ares tried to stand, but failed in his first attempt. Shaking his head hard, the dazed operator finally got to his feet and wobbled a little. CJ saw his wide-eyed expression, like he was looking straight through them. It was a telltale sign of a head injury—a concussion maybe. Other than that, he looked to be okay. His tactical helmet had saved his life, as did his Kevlar vest. It took the hard but blunt strike of the creature’s tail like a champ.

  Frightened, CJ glanced up, expecting to see the brim of her hat. But she sighed when it wasn’t there, remembering she too was wearing a similar helmet and not their team’s normal baseball cap. The hats were standard attire for the SDF for years, helping with the brutal African sun. Even the Americans wore them, dressing like full-fledged SDF agents now.

  “Up!” Zeus shouted, pulling on CJ’s vest. Fitz had rolled them when he tackled her, ending up underneath her after the creature’s tail passed overhead. She leapt to her feet and went to help Fitz, but couldn’t. Instead, the Nsanga sprang on her friend, jaws agape, ready to bite him in half.

  “Damnit, no!” she shouted as she watched the monster’s mouth slam shut on…nothing. It had missed. They only thing she could see was a body scurrying underneath the belly of the beast as it moved on. It quickly trampled Fitz under its girth, not even slowing for a second to see what it was beneath it. Hopefully, with any luck, he survived and didn’t get crushed to death or impaled on one of its large talons as it stepped over him.

  “Move!” Zeus shouted, pushing her away. They took off running, leaving Fitz to fend for himself. She tried to watch to see if he was still moving but couldn’t as she was forced to turn and put on some more speed. They rounded a bend and continued deeper into the widening bowl-like cavern. As they did, they lost sight of him.

  “He’ll be fine,” Ares said, running next to her as he fired blindly over his shoulder. “Knowing Gray, he’s already getting to his feet and cursing up a storm.”

  CJ hoped Ares was right. She again glanced behind her and watched as the much larger Nsanga tried to navigate the worn, slightly narrowing path. Like a lot of lizards, its legs stuck out to its sides, making its width that much greater. Its left claws, both forward and rear, barely had purchase now. She doubted the beast had ever needed to rush through here before. Walking would be an easier way to traverse the deepening gorge to her left.

  “Shit…” Ares said as he fell back behind CJ and Zeus, away from the now seven story drop.

  From CJ’s position in the middle of the path, she couldn’t see the bottom, but from Ares reaction, it must have looked treacherous.

  Logan…

  12

  Ares was wrong about one thing… Fitz wasn’t already up on his feet, but at least he was alive…sort of. He felt like he’d been run over by a bus, though—maybe even a cracked rib or two.

  “Fuuuh,” he grumbled, rolling onto his back, face smeared in the grime of the stone floor. He wanted no part in knowing what he was covered in. Though, he didn’t recall seeing a litter box around for what it was worth.

  He’d barely dodged the Nsanga’s fang-filled maw, going the only place he could. He rolled and tucked himself into a protective ball, closing his eyes and covering his face. Then, he prayed.

  If even one of those claws got him, he’d be done for with no medical attention around. He doubted his bulletproof vest would do much either. What most regular joes didn’t know is that your standard tactical vest couldn’t stop a knife blade worth shit. Some, if the mission called for it, were fitted with metal plates to act as a blade blocker, but not theirs.

  Should probably reconsider that for next time, he thought, cringing as he tried to move. The cave around him was as still as death, telling him two things. He was alone and his team was gone. But so was the monster. He at least had that going for him.

  “Ugh,” he grunted as he sat up, feeling his left side protest as he moved. His ribs were bruised for sure, making him flinch as he breathed. He gingerly poked and prodded beneath his vest, feeling one of them bite. It was maybe a small crack but thankfully not a full-blown break. Action movies had that part wrong. Broken ribs were definitely a game changer when in a fight. If the hero, or villain for that matter, couldn’t breathe, they couldn’t fight.

  It took everything for Fitz to stand, but he did, slightly hunching to the left. “Ain’t that the truth.”

  He slowly bent down to retrieve his fallen rifle and activated his comms. “Anyone read me?”

  No answer.

  “Great…”

  He stepped forward but stopped as he heard a voice calling out.

  Logan?

  Instead of following the others, Fitz made a decision and headed back towards the cavern’s waterless waterfall entrance. If he could get to Logan and Kiani and then pursue the lizard with them, maybe—just maybe—they could save the day. Either way, he knew he couldn’t do much alone when healthy, let alone injured.

  As he walked he felt something touch his shoulder, making him jump. Growling as he aggravated his side, he lashed out and grabbed at whatever spooked him only to come back with a broken piece of his headset. He looked down at the earpiece and sighed.

  “Right then, no comms…” He cupped his hands around his mouth. “Logan, you there?”

  A muffled voice could be heard as could a strange rubbing sound. Remembering the water below and having just taken a good shot to the head, Fitz disregarded it and kept moving, rounding the front of the Y-shaped cliff-side path.

  As he headed around in pursuit of Logan and Kiani, he stopped when he saw something moving along the wall. Then he saw three such somethings, all crawling, all headed his way. It took him a second to figure out what they were and when he did…he saw six more.

  “Fuck me.” He glanced towards the right path, visualizing the large female Nsanga. “Been busy, I see.”

  Then, the Nsanga brood launched themselves at him.

  He raised his rifle but stopped. “Nope.” Instead, he did the smart thing and turned, taking off at whatever top speed he could muster, seeing a dozen more join in the chase for his life. Shooting would do nothing except alert more.

  One landed on his back and crawled up to his head, clawing and hissing at the sides of his face. He quickly unbuckled his headgear and chucked it and the baby away, tripping up a few more of his pursuers.

  Then, he pointed his SCAR over his shoulder and emptied the mag into the growing horde, making them think twice about chasing him further. He made it another thirty feet before he realized that they started to thin out.

  He stopped. “What the…”

  Curious, he headed back down the slope but stopped when he saw a couple larger ones waiting for him. He stood still and calmly expelled the empty mag. When it hit the ground the two Nsanga charged him, sending him running again.

  Buggers are just protecting their den. Maybe even scared to leave it.

  He wasn’t sure if he could use that intel in a positive way. But once he eventually exited the cave and rolled down its slight entrance ramp, he knew he was boned again.

  Breathing hard against the pain in his side, Fitz lay on the jungle floor, looking straight up into the dark sky again. With his helmet gone, so was his night vision. He was all sorts of screwed now. The sun had only recently fallen, but it was already darker than a pachyderm’s asshole—of which he’d only seen one of. On accident.

  He sat up and quickly, but silently, and loaded in a fresh magazine. Hearing nothing, which literally meant bupkis right then, Fitz stood and took in his surroundings. He turned in a full 360-degree circle, his eyes taking in every square inch of jungle encompassing him.

  He again held his breath and listened. Nothing.

  “Out of the frying pan,” he said, looking back and forth between worlds, “and into the bloody fire.”

  Right… Let’s find out where this thing ends.

  He took off into the trees and made his way around the mouth of the cave, trying his best to follow its somewhat northern route. He’d look for other entrances along the way and hope to find his team ASAP.

  “Alone in the Congo at night,” he said, shaking his head, laughing a little, “what could go wrong?”

  As soon as he uttered the words, something struck him from behind, slamming him into a nearby tree trunk. Through his dancing vision, he saw a face.

  No, that’s not right. ‘Something’ didn’t strike me…it was someone.

  * * *

  Kiani attempted to catch Logan as he fell but his weight was too much for her to handle. She was easily yanked down with him, falling into god-knows-where. All she knew was anywhere was better than on a rocky ledge full of the dragon’s litter.

  “Hang on!” Logan shouted as they clipped the wall. Well, Logan mostly, as he did his best to shield her from the rougher cliff walls as they continued their plunge. Kiani tried to kick away from it for fear of injuring themselves worse but was stopped. Instead, Logan wrapped his arms around her, locking his wrists. Kiani looked between their feet and saw why.

  Rushing up at them was a junction where the wall met the ground, only it wasn’t a flat drop like she feared. She hadn’t taken the time to look like Logan did. It slowly started to curve, forming what could only be described as a moss-slide. They hit hard and tumbled, eventually turning that roll into a more controlled foot-first descent. Each used their hands and splayed legs to steer themselves as they moved.

  In the end, they leveled out and tumbled again, Kiani landing on top of Logan’s chest. They slid a few more feet and finally came to a rest, breathing hard. Kiani took a couple more long, much-needed breaths and instantly noticed Logan wasn’t moving. Confused, she lifted her head from his sweaty neck and noticed he was unconscious.

  Did he hit his head?

  She scrambled off of him and knelt beside his head, ripping his helmet off. Next, she slapped his face, hoping the jolt would wake him. It didn’t.

  “Damnit, Logan,” she said, checking for a pulse, sighing with relief when she found it. Strong and steady. If she checked hers, it would no doubt be racing. Logan had kept his cool the entire time.

  Out cold, but alive, she thought, looking up. She half-expected to see a swarm of the smaller Nsanga descending upon them but was relieved to see nothing at all. Either they couldn’t follow or knew not too.

  She remembered Zeus and Ares account of seeing something down here.

  Needing to find cover, she dragged Logan behind a nearby shrub and set to work on his body. She’d seen one of them bite his arm just before they fell and she wasn’t sure whether they were poisonous or not. Most lizards weren’t but some did pack a disgusting punch when it came to infections.

  She tried to roll up his sleeve but stopped when she saw it was soaked with blood. So instead of disturbing the wound further, she unsheathed her large hunting knife and began to cut his sleeve off at the shoulder. They all wore long sleeves and pants to help combat the insects and scrapes while navigating the jungle.

  When she finished with Logan’s sleeve, a hand shot up and pushed the knife back, pressing it against her throat. She glanced down and saw a very awake and extremely on edge Logan Reed staring at her, but not actually seeing her. It was like he was looking through a window.

  “Logan.”

  He blinked and met her eyes. Then, he looked at his hand, staring at the blade and where it was positioned. His eyebrows knit, confused at what was transpiring. As understanding set in, they softened and he slowly pulled the weapon away, realizing that he’d almost killed her. She was in awe over his reactions, a result of being a professional soldier.

  “You…hit your head,” she said, swallowing hard.

  He nodded but winced in pain, reaching around to the back of his head. It came away with blood—not a lot—but enough. He attempted to sit up but couldn’t manage to do so on his own. It wasn’t until Kiani helped him that he sat upright, blinking the blow to his head away. As the seconds passed, he felt himself getting stronger. She had to give it to him, Logan was a tough guy to keep down.

  She guided him to the nearest tree and propped him up at its base. “You okay?” she asked, pouring some of her bottled water on his arm. Before he could protest, she did the same to his head. The cool water woke him up some more but it also stung like hell.

  “Thanks,” he said, looking at her. “Are you hurt?”

  She shook her head. “Not at all thanks to you.”

  Skeptical, he raised a questioning eyebrow.

  “Okay, maybe a couple of minor scrapes and bruises, but nothing that needs attention now.”

  He smiled as she did. “Where are we?”

  “Bottom of the cavern.”

  The tree Logan was leaning against looked like one you’d find topside, except it grew underground. How exactly, she had no idea.

  “It’s like cave moss,” Logan explained, seeing her interest in the tree. “They grow without sunlight. It’s plenty humid down here and the soil apparently is nutritious enough to support life.”

  She nodded. “Thought so.” Then, she eyed him. “No offense, but how do you know that?”

  “Planet Earth documentaries on the BBC,” he said, smiling. “Fitz and I binge-watched the entire series on DVD one weekend.”

  Her smile matched his. “I know them well.”

  “Did you see what happened to the others?”

  “No, I lost sight of them just before we fell.”

  “Last I saw was the Nsanga moving in on them,” Logan said. “Lost track of them behind the trees.”

  He watched as she looked over his arm. The bite marks didn’t look too bad but they burned terribly. Kiani shrugged off her pack and went through it, quickly finding what she needed. Wasting no time, she slathered a heavy dose of ointment on the puncture marks and wrapped it in a beige medical bandage. Logan cringed with every circumference the dressing made.

  Once finished, she pointed to his head. “Let me see that.” As she leaned in for a closer look, her face slid by Logan’s and he watched as she bit her lip once more. It was cute in a way, showing the world when she was deep in thought. He still wasn’t sure why he was so captivated by the simple expression but nevertheless, he was.

  He wanted to see what her interest was in him if any, but he also wanted to keep everything between them professional. Puppy love horse blinders weren’t going to help them right now. He leaned forward and felt her comb through his hair, unafraid of the blood. Why he focused on that, he didn’t know. Maybe it was a way of telling him that she trusted him. Or…he was just looking too deeply into things. He closed his eyes as her fingers continued to massage his sweat-soaked scalp. She kneaded the skin and commented on the blood draining down his neck, but he didn’t hear any of it.

  Instead, he reached up and stopped her, getting a surprised reaction out of her.

  “What are you—”

  He turned and knelt in front of her, only inches from her face. Their eyes locked onto one another’s and the world instantly went dark as they fell into each other’s arms. Locking lips, they embraced. Their primal urges took over and Logan experienced something he hadn’t felt in a long time… Affection from another. Possibly even love. Either way, he now had one more person he’d protect with his life.

  He’d always been okay with his eventual death in battle, Fitz too. They’d talked about going down with the ship while fighting the Nach and fighting till the end when in the service. Their friendship was joked about as being tighter than Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes’ even.

  Logan had sacrificed himself countless times before that as well. Yet, he’d always come out on top, living to tell the tale. As he and Kiani’s bodies hit the soft moss-covered earth, tearing at each other’s clothes, he mentally promised himself, and Kiani, that he’d continue to fight with the wanting to survive the day.

  Logan Reed was no longer okay with dying.

  He would survive.

  13

  CJ and the others ran like triathletes, doing whatever they could to stay ahead of the still pursuing Nsanga beast. Her mind had kicked into overdrive as her subconscious dissected everything they knew about it—which was still close to nothing.

  “We need to find a way off this ledge!” Zeus shouted.

  “No shit!” Ares replied. “Been doing that since it showed up!”

  So far, they’d slowly started to descend. The path was still winding in and out but they’d yet to see another tunnel back to the jungles above. They’d even thought about trying to find a way down and lose the creature long enough to backtrack and look for Logan and Kiani.

  Maybe even Gray.

  CJ was worried more for Fitz than her brother. While Logan was her flesh and blood, Fitz was alone, something she wouldn’t wish on anyone right now.

  “What about grenades?” Apollo asked.

  “No,” Zeus said, “we can’t risk damaging the path.”

  “Flashbangs?” Poseidon asked.

  “Nope, too close.”

  “Then what?” CJ heard herself ask.

  No one answered her. They were completely out of their element and from the sound of it, out of options. But CJ still had an ace up her sleeve. Deception.