Find—
A familiar shape moves through the dust and chaos.
Tall.
Broad shoulders.
Golden scales catching the light.
Relief hits so hard it almost knocks me off my feet.
“Bron!”
He turns at the sound of my voice.
Our eyes lock across the wreckage.
For a moment, everything else fades.
Then the world crashes back in.
The beast roars again.
Closer.
Too close.
I run toward him.
He meets me halfway.
“You okay?” he demands, grabbing my arms.
“I’m fine,” I say breathlessly. “You?”
“Still alive.”
“Good.”
We both glance toward the outer edge of the arena.
The direction the proto-beast is heading.
His expression hardens.
“You see it?”
“Yeah,” I say. “It’s moving toward the compound.”
“The daycare,” he says.
I nod.
“We need to?—”
“Go,” he finishes.
There’s no hesitation.
