Page 114 of Interion

All her fur and feathers stood on end, and a leonine roar tore from her throat, making the house vibrate. I dropped the book on the sofa and ran to the kitchen, remembering all the plans my paranoid mind had drawn up in case of an attack. A board with ten collectible knives sat on the counter—I grabbed five and positioned myself behind a wall.

The chimera stood before the entrance door and roared once more as I reviewed all my training. Whatever was out there, she'd recognized it as an enemy, and I trusted her intuition. My heart raced. I tried to calm myself—we were in a military neighborhood, someone would come help if there was a threat, and there was the shield around the house.

I'd almost convinced myself nothing bad would happen when I heard a heavy thud in the living room—it sounded like a large animal falling. With my heart in my throat, I dared a glance toward the door. There was Kiara, sprawled on the floor. I ducked back behind the wall. What was happening? Had the chimera fainted?

I listened, but heard nothing dangerous, so I crawled to the chimera and dragged her by her hind legs back to the wall. A hundred kilos moved with surprising ease thanks to my academy training. Frantic with worry, I checked her vital signs: her breathing was stable, her heartbeat normal.

“No need to worry, she's just sleeping.”

I nearly screamed at the voice in my mind.

I looked around, terrified, but there was no one in the house. My eyes widened—maybe it was the sonar's presence.

“I am extremely insulted that you would confuse me with such a primitive creature.”

“By the gods,” was all I could manage when I understood. That voice. I knew that voice—it wasn't something anyone would easily forget. Serguei was here.

“Ah, finally I've been recognized. It's a pleasure to see you again,” he said. There was a note of amusement in his words.

I recognized the timbre of his voice because Serguei had rifled through my thoughts when I arrived in Interion, and I remembered him trying to make conversation while he investigated. Now, the only thought in my head was that I was done for—I was certain of it. They knew what I had discovered.

“Kyller, why don't you open the door and unlock the barrier so we can chat? I have some questions for you.”

I forced myself to breathe slowly, in and out—I needed to keep the fear at bay so I could think clearly.

“We can talk like this. You don't need to come in,” I called out loudly enough for him to hear.

“Yes, I do. I don't want to be seen out here. A public figure like me shouldn't expose himself this way.”

“Then leave! I'm not opening it. I know what you're going to do, and if you really just want to talk, we'll talk like this,” I shot back, terrified.

Silence fell over the house. Then Kiara began to whimper softly.

“What are you doing?” I shouted, horrified. A tear slid from the animal's eye.

“I'm convincing you to open the door. You have five seconds before I apply pressure that will cause damage.”

The chimera trembled in my arms.

“Five.”

If I lowered the shield, he would kill me.

“Four.”

Zion. I gasped, thinking about how Zion would be hunted for what my mind had exposed.

“Three.”

I wouldn’t even have time to say goodbye.

“Two.”

The chimera began to thrash, and I stood up, snapping my fingers.

“Serguei is welcome in this house.”

The doorknob turned and the door opened slowly. Then a tall, smiling man stepped into the living room. He adjusted the collar of his dark gray tuxedo, surveying the interior as if he owned every object his eyes could see.