Chapter Three

CHAPTER THREE

JONATHAN GREYSON SHRIEKED .

If he hadn't been so very, very horrified, he might have been embarrassed that such a high-pitched sound had come out of his mouth, but as it was, he didn't even think about it.

No!

Not again.

Bub had never done this, never once. It was only the other one, the dead one, who had captured people. Jonathan was entirely certain that neither of the creatures had meant to kill anyone, but the fact that people had died, well, it didn't bode well for Dr. Riley Stine.

Who was very pretty, actually, and even prettier in person.

Not that he should be thinking that at a time like this.

He tore of his glasses and stripped off his shirt and dove into the lagoon. The water was freshwater, but it was a bit murky. It stung his eyes as he descended into the depths.

There.

Bub had her, clutching her against his body as she struggled. He was swimming for the river. There was a hole in the rocks on this side, and it was possible to swim out of the lagoon and into the larger body of water.

Jonathan swam.

Bub swam faster.

Of course Bub swam faster. He lived in the water. He was made for the water. Jonathan didn't really know what Bub was, but he hadn't been surprised to discover that the creature existed. There were all sorts of myths and legends, after all, about similar sorts of creatures—the Loch Ness monster, for instance. Whatever Bub was, he was all that was left of some species that had practically gone extinct, and now Jonathan thought of himself as the protector of that species. Even the savior of that species if his experiments went well.

But if Bub killed the pretty scientist on her first day here, well, that…

How was Jonathan to protect Bub then?

He swam as fast as he could, thinking to himself that he'd simply catch up, wrestle Dr. Stine out of the creature's arms and all would be well. He could picture himself doing it. If he could only get there, he was sure he could do it.

But Bub was too fast.

The creature disappeared through the hole in the rocks, bound for the river, and Jonathan knew he'd be no match for the current. He swam to the surface instead.

RILEY WOKE COUGHING water.

She had struggled and struggled in Bub's arms, but then she'd lost strength, lost focus, lost oxygen.

She must have passed out, sucked water into her lungs.

Now, she was lying on a rock, the river rushing all around her. Bub was kneeling over her, looking her over as she coughed and coughed.

When she was finally done, her lungs empty, she collapsed back on the rock, gasping for air.

"Dr. Stine!"

The voice was distant, far off, hard to hear over the rush of the river around her.

Weakly, she lifted her head. There, on the river bank, she could see Dr. Greyson. He waved both hands at her. "You're alive!"

She gave him a meager wave and then lay her head back down.

Bub moved, leaning toward Dr. Greyson, his posture aggressive. Like I'm a prize, she thought. Like he's protecting me.

Was she dinner? Was Bub about to eat her?

Bub let out a strange, groaning sort of sound, keening and awful. Then he turned back to her and brandished his webbed fingers. Out of the tips of them came long, thin, needle-like claws.

She suddenly had energy. She moved away, trying to get off the rock.

Bub stopped her. He held her down. He stabbed her in the abdomen with all four of those claws on his fingers.

It hurt. She screamed.

Bub pulled the claws out and jumped off the rock, into the river. He swam to the riverbank, climbed out and ran for Dr. Greyson, making that awful groaning noise again. He ran, very fast, over the bank.

"Dr. Greyson!" she cried. "Run!"

Dr. Greyson hesitated for an interminably long time, but eventually, Bub was too close, throwing back his head, showing an array of sharp teeth in his wet, dark mouth, and Dr. Greyson did run.

He tore up the side of the river bank with Bub right on his heels.

She sat up and watched as both of them disappeared.

JONATHAN RACED BACK for the lab.

He made it back to the dirt road that led to the lab, and it was all downhill from there, so he could pick up speed.

But Bub caught up with him and tackled him to the ground. He rolled Jonathan over and held him down and screamed into his face.

Jonathan fought with all his might, not even worried about hurting the creature.

Bub kept screaming.

Then, suddenly, the creature let go, retreating, backing away. It turned around and ran back towards the lagoon and the river.

Then, Jonathan regretted nearly hurting Bub. He needed the tranquilizer gun. Well, he probably needed Nick. Nick was a much better shot than he was.

He got to his feet and raced for the lab.

The guards were all better shots than he was, too, but he didn't trust the guards. They were here only because Anderson Scott didn't want to get implicated in wrongful death lawsuits. The guards didn't get it, though. They didn't understand why Bub was special, and that meant they might hurt him.

Jonathan fumbled at the door with the intercom. "I took off my shirt and I don't have my key card, Nick! Let me in."

"What's wrong?" came Nick's concerned voice.

"No, don't let me in. Just get the dart gun and come right now. I need you."

"What's happened?" said Nick.

"Get it," said Jonathan. "And come to the river. He might already have taken her again." He dashed away from the lab, huffing as he scrambled up over the rocky path to the lagoon. Then he hung a left and went down to the riverbank.

Bub was in the water, swimming back for Dr. Stine, who was perched in the middle of the river on a rock.

"Should I try to swim?" she called to him.

"To get away from Bub? He'll catch you," he called back.

She bit down on her bottom lip.

"Help is coming," he said, feeling stupid and idiotic just standing here on the bank while she was in danger.

Just then, Nick crested over the hill holding up the tranq gun. He skidded to a stop next to Jonathan, took aim, and shot Bub.

The dart burrowed right in the back of the creature, just behind Bub's shoulder blades.

Bub cried out, reaching back to dig out the dart with his webbed hands.

Then the creature went still and the current dragged him downstream.

RILEY HAD BUB'S feet, struggling against the current. They were trying to get him up onto land.

"Stop it, Dr. Stine. Get out of the water," said Dr. Greyson, who had Bub by the shoulders. "Let myself and Dr. White handle this. You've been through quite enough."

"No, you can't do it alone," she wheezed. "I'm all right." She was still shot through with quite a bit of adrenaline, she thought. She couldn't sit still, not yet.

"Let's all work together," said Dr. White, grabbing one of the creature's arms. "On three, we're heading for shore, yes? One. Two. Three ."

Riley strained and yanked.

And together, the three of them half-dragged, half-rolled Bub's lifeless body into the riverbank.

Then, all out of breath, they backed away and surveyed him there. Riley was still fascinated by the creature, regardless of how terrifying it had been to be captured by him.

"He's got to go in the tank," said Dr. Greyson, straightening, running a hand through his hair.

"What happened?" said Dr. White.

"He came right for her," said Dr. Greyson. "Took her away, swam right off with her. And then he pierced her. He has protrusions in his fingers that I didn't even know about. Claws in a way?"

"Claws?" said Dr. White. He went to Riley. "Are you hurt?"

Riley tugged up her shirt, but the little wounds where she'd been penetrated were very small, and they weren't even bleeding anymore. She shook her head. "It was like needles. Very thin, very sharp."

Dr. White looked her stomach over, shaking his head. He turned back to Dr. Greyson. "This doesn't make any sense. He's never behaved that way."

"Well, it has been a long time since we've introduced him to someone new, I suppose," said Dr. Greyson.

Riley lowered her shirt. "Maybe I did something to provoke him?"

"No, no, it wasn't your fault," said Dr. Greyson. "He's dangerous, and we can't have him out here. He's got to go into the tank."

"Yes, of course, you're right," said Dr. White. "Well, I'll go up and contact the lieutenant to have them move him."

Dr. Greyson scratched the back of his head, looking hesitant. "You don't think there's any way we could move him ourselves? If we get the wagon, maybe?"

Dr. White raised his eyebrows.

"It's only I don't want to deal with the guards about it. They'll be frightened if they think he's dangerous. You know the sorts of rumors that run rampant about Bub's brother, and… well, we need to protect him. The last thing we need is frightened, less-than-intelligent men with guns making rash decisions."

Dr. White considered. "I see what you're saying."

"You think they might hurt him?" said Riley. "Well, maybe we should simply leave him here and—"

"No, I'm not leaving all this to chance," said Dr. Greyson. "We can't know what he'll do now that we've tranqed him. He might want to retaliate. We may have made him very angry."

"I can't think he'll be pleased to awaken in the tank," said Dr. White.

"True," said Dr. Greyson. "But if he did hurt anyone, and I left him free, it would be my fault. I'll go for the wagon."

"All right, I'll stay here with him," said Dr. White. "You get Dr. Stine back to the lab, wrapped in towels with a hot drink in her hand."

"I'm not cold," said Riley with a shaky laugh. She was soaking wet, yes, but it was warm and muggy outside.

"No, he's right," said Dr. Greyson. "Come with me." He started to walk up the bank.

She came after him. She stepped on a loose rock and lost her balance.

He backtracked immediately and caught her. He put a hand on her back, steadying her.

She looked up at him, registering the warmth of his hand through the wetness of her clothes in a way that made her remember she'd thought he was attractive. He didn't look better without his glasses—she liked glasses on men—but he looked more vulnerable in some way, and when their gazes met, something went through her.

"Careful," he said, and his voice was very deep.

"I'm fine," she said.

He helped her up the bank, though, and she didn't stop him from helping her. She should have, she thought, but she tried to tell herself he was just helping her out, and that it didn't mean anything, that there wasn't any vaguely romantic tension growing here.

But even as they climbed up the hill, she couldn't help but spin some possible future in her head, the two of them working together, studying Bub together, falling in love, having a life out here together. It seemed, well, nice.

At the top of the hill, he stopped touching her.

They walked together to the lab, where Dr. Greyson hit his hand against the door in disgust. "Fuck, I don't have my keycard," he groaned.

"So, we can't get in?" said Riley.

He backed away from the door, hands up. "I'm going back to get Dr. White's. Or to stay with Bub and send him to you, I don't know. You stay here?"

She might as well, she supposed. "All right."

He sighed heavily, muttering that he couldn't believe he hadn't thought of that, and then he trudged back in the direction of the lagoon.

She watched him.

Time passed.

She sat down in front of the door and waited.

And waited.