Arrival (The Kyron Invasion Book 1) by Jasper T. Scott

Author:Jasper T. Scott [Scott, Jasper T.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Anthem Press
Published: 2021-08-18T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20

Niles comes running over to me, out of breath, his eyes wide and gleaming with moonlight behind his glasses.

“What the hell was that?” he breathes, his gaze darting frantically between the treetops to check if it might be coming back.

I can still feel adrenaline sparking along my nerves. A nonsensical croak escapes my lips. I try again. “Let’s go inside.” Then I’m taking the first wobbly steps in that direction, walking backward to keep us covered. We stumble through the open door of the house, and Niles slams it shut and locks it behind us. It takes a few seconds for my eyes to adjust to the dim light inside. The tac-light of my shotgun is still on and shining brightly at the floor, but I don’t want to go waving it around carelessly and lighting up the windows. Who knows if more of those flying demons are out there.

“This is bad.” Niles breathes a shaky sigh and goes to the windows to check if something is creeping up on us. I join him there. No signs of anything.

“There are definitely two different species,” Niles says slowly. “The bear-things and the flying ones.”

“Behemoths and Demons,” I suggest.

Turning to Niles, I see him studying me curiously, as if waiting for an explanation. “It fled after you shot it,” he says, prompting me.

“Yeah. They have some kind of energy shield.” It sounds like something out of a holovid. That tech is science fiction, not real. And yet, recent experience proves otherwise. “Its shield is probably only strong enough to absorb one shot.”

“It didn’t even try to shoot you?” Niles asks.

“No,” I confirm, shaking my head.

“Maybe that means they’re not after us? Just the military.”

“How would they know the difference? Besides, they promised reprisals against anyone who doesn’t lay down their arms. I shot it. And I killed three of those Behemoths. For all we know, it left to get reinforcements. Or to order an air strike on this house. We need to get our families and leave.”

“And Bret?” he asks.

I shake my head as I move away from the windows. “He’s been useless so far. He can stay.”

Niles nods quickly and rushes ahead, leading the way down the entry hall. My tac-light illuminates our path as we hurry past the den, then the dining room and the kitchen. Angling to the left, I check the windows facing the lake and the deck outside for signs of any Demons lurking there. Nothing that I can see.

We enter the games room, stepping over the disabled CDU, and run to the bathroom where I told everyone to hide.

Knocking lightly on the door with my knuckles, I whisper, “Bree?”

No answer.

Then I try the door. It pops open with a soft wooden creak. It’s not even properly shut, let alone locked.

My guts heave in a sickening lurch. I push the door all the way open. My tac-light is pointed at the floor, but it radiates far enough through the five-piece bathroom to reveal tangled human shadows lying on the floor.

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