“Get out of here, baby,” he grunted, his words so reminiscent of what she’d told Luke. But just like Luke had lingered, so would she. Caleb had made a vow to never let her down, to always protect her, and she loved him enough to do the same.
Since Luke had tucked himself out of sight around the corner, she didn’t waste time looking for him. She hit the ground on hands and knees, the faint illumination from an electrical lantern causing more shadows than revelations. She looked for the gun she’d lost as grunts and thuds sounded, the battle between man and lizard happening in earnest.
But a man couldn’t hope to hold against a monster.
“Argh.”
She turned her head in time to see the injury. A swipe of a claw across Caleb’s shoulder saw blood streaming, bright red against his skin, the coppery tang filling the air.
The monster gurgled in triumph, and Caleb stumbled back, head shaking as if dazed. “Don’t let is scratch you,” he warned, his words slurred. “Poison on its claws and saliva.”
Dropping to his knees, Caleb blinked as he tried to fight the effects of the drug. The creature let out a warble, took a step forward, and lifted its arm, claws extended, ready to swipe.
“Caleb!” she cried. No. This couldn’t be happening. They’d just found each other again.
I can’t lose him.
Cold metal met her fingers, and she spared a quick glance down to see Luke had found the gun and placed it in her hand. She didn’t need his solemn gaze to know what had to be done.
“Die!” Renny screamed the word as she fired the weapon, this time holding it with both hands, but even then, the recoil screwed with her, and she hit the lizard in the shoulder. Missed. Fire again. Hit. The lower belly.
Then it was on her, and it was all she could do to avoid its wide-open jaws. Luckily, it wasn’t drooling hard enough to poison her. On the contrary, it seemed to be most careful that she remained conscious for its pleasure.
“Eat you alive.” The sibilant words brought her level of terror to a whole new level.
Renny heard screaming—hers, Luke’s, hers again. And then she went silent, her cry lost at the sight of Caleb, but a Caleb like she’d never seen. Half-man, half-croc, big, muscled and oh so very pissed. Caleb loomed, and in this hybrid shape, in fury and size, he was more than a match for the monster.
With webbed fingers, tipped in claws, Caleb grabbed the thing and lifted it. Tossed it. It hit the wall and rose, just like before. However, this time, her half-shifted lover was there to greet it.
“Don’t. Hurt. My Family!” Caleb managed to spit the words out of a less-than-human mouth filled with teeth as he grappled the thing into submission.
He wrapped a thickly muscled forearm around its neck and squeezed. Squeezed tight enough that those blue eyes widened. The mouth, lined with venomous teeth, gaped as it gasped for air.
But Caleb didn’t relent. He kept applying pressure until the light in those uncanny blue eyes faded. The body went limp. He held on a while longer, but there wasn’t a single twitch.
Caleb released the creature, but when Renny would have run to him, he held up a scaled hand and said, “Don’t. I’m not myself. I don’t want to hurt you.” While more guttural than usual, she had no problem understanding his words. She just didn’t agree with them.
What a load of… “Bullshit.” Renny said the word and smiled at the shock in his eyes. No matter what shape he wore, she knew those eyes. Just like she knew him. “You would never hurt me. Never hurt us,” she amended as Luke threw himself at Caleb.
Still in his half-shape, Caleb caught the little body and held his son gently against him.
Renny approached and placed a hand on his chest, not caring if it was covered in scales. Not caring if, right now, Caleb was caught between two worlds, man and beast. This was who he was, and he needed to know that.
“I love you, Caleb.”
“Me, too!” Luke piped in. “Daddy killed the dinosaur.”
Or not. Renny screamed as a hand closed around her ankle, the sharp points of the claws digging into her boots.
Bang.
“Stubborn fucker. Heal from that,” Wes snapped. Turning his gaze on Caleb, Wes smirked. “Dude, put some fucking clothes on. No one needs to see your shriveled green lizard.”
Caleb glared, and Renny probably didn’t help the situation by bursting into giggles.
Chapter Nineteen
The burning scowl Caleb turned Wes’s way didn’t deter the other man from giving a sneered, “You’re welcome. Looks like I got here just in time.”
“I had things under control,” Caleb managed to say through his strangely shaped jaw. Weird didn’t begin to describe his partial shift, a shift he was losing his hold on as his adrenaline dissipated.
Renny stepped away, Luke cradled in her arms, a situation his son was not happy about it.
“Put me down. I’m not a baby,” Luke protested.
If his jaw wasn’t in the process of realigning itself, Caleb might have laughed at her indignant look.