I really need a vacation. Or a lobotomy. Anything would be better than what she did right now.

The bright beams of her headlights lit the road where it wound through the forest somewhere in Idaho. A road not on any map. Not on any GPS system. A road that shouldn’t exist.

Yet, there it was, with its fresh pavement leading to a building in the woods. A military building no one seemed to know about. An address she couldn’t find any information on. A secret closely guarded. But she had her suspicions.

Chandra—short for Chandra Mary Kashmir, born in the United States of an American mother and a Pakistani father—noted the cameras watching her arrival, saw the shadows of men pacing the rooftop, their frames made bulky with body armor, holding rifles to their chests.

What do they guard in the middle of nowhere?

The secretive missive Chandra received had alluded to something big. She was here to find out for sure what it was before blowing the whistle.

She pulled her car to a stop on the wide paved drive. There were no other vehicles outside. Nothing to identify this place. She might not have known it existed if not for the message someone had sent her anonymously.

If you’re still looking for answers, then follow this. This being a set of coordinates that, when punched in, showed nothing on any map. Nothing was supposed to be here, which was why she’d decided to go see in person.

From the nondescript building—the exterior a bland, beige siding and lacking windows of any kind—a short and rather rotund fellow wearing a suit, replete with a tie, emerged. He didn’t wear a uniform, and yet he kept his hair military short and his shoulders back. The expression on his jowly face seemed quite stern. It didn’t bode well that he carried a clipboard as he approached. Having met men with clipboards in the past, she found them to be rather pompous and condescending.

“State your business,” he demanded, his words somewhat muffled by the glass.

Time to see if the drama classes she’d taken in high school stuck. She rolled down her window and tilted her lips into a vacuous smile. “Oh, thank goodness. I am so happy to finally find someone. I seem to have lost my way.”

“I’ll say. You’re on restricted property, ma’am.”

Ma’am. So military. “Restricted property? Really? How exciting.” Did she look excited with her batting lashes, or as if she’d caught a bug in her eye?

“You’ll need to turn around and head back.”

“But…” She bit her lower lip. “It’s so far. And I really”—her gaze dropped—“have to, you know,”—she lowered her voice—“go.”

“You’re only thirty minutes or so from town.”

She squirmed in her seat. “I don’t know if I can last that long, and it’s so dark and scary outside.” That time she put her lashes into super-twitch mode.

To her surprise, it worked. Probably because the man with the clipboard needed glasses.

He sighed. “Fine. You may come in and use the washroom. But quickly. You’re not supposed to be here, and that means I’ll have to file a report.”

“What is here, anyhow?” she asked as she exited her car and followed the man into the building—the middle of her back tickled as she imagined more than a few guns training their sights on her. This adventure was more real and frightening than she’d expected when curiosity had brought her out to take a peek. She worked as a scientist. A doctor of biology. Conspiracies and armed men and secret labs were things for the movies. It didn’t happen in real life. She reminded herself of that as fear threatened to swamp her.

How easily they could make her disappear. Without a trace. Gulp.

“We’re nothing important. Just an observation facility.” The man with the clipboard nodded to another fellow armed on the far side of the room, sentinel to a pair of elevator doors.

“Observing what? There’s not much to see out here.” She uttered a giggle that sounded completely false to her. Did he hear the insincerity?

“We have been charged with exploring the migratory tendencies of nearby herds of deer.” He recited it with a straight face, even though he had to know how strange it sounded given the armed guards outside.

Then again, strange seemed to be the norm these days.

And that’s why I’m here. To find out what’s going on. Once she gleaned something, then she could act.

Since she’d arrived in this small town as part of a lucrative contract to work for the up-and-coming Lytropia Institute, she’d done nothing but see strange things. Things she’d never imagined. Things like evidence of a secret lab experimenting on…something. Or someone. Of that part, she wasn’t entirely sure.

Not long after she’d begun working, she received a video, a glimpse really, of a man. At least, she assumed it was a man. The lighting was bad, the video grainy as it tried to see through shadows. The shape was right for a human male, but the eyes… His eyes glowed, the pits of them green with fire.

Those eyes, as much as his plight, called to her. Who was this man who appeared a prisoner? The tiny clip of video and the mystery compelled her to act.

I’m nuts. Investigating the origin of a video, without backup or any kind of experience outside a lab, and all because some eyes captivated her.

Despite the creepy vibe the place instilled, the inside of the building—the one that still made no sense in the middle of nowhere—proved uninteresting. A reception-type desk took pride of place and appeared to be the only visible piece of furniture. It didn’t reveal anything. Built of simple pine, no logo covered its surface. Nothing marred the smooth top of the counter either. Behind the desk, she noted a single stool and a door.

That was it. No cages with creatures inside. No mysterious hum or ominous screams. She didn’t even get a chill; the temperature was quite pleasant.

“The bathroom is through there.” The man with the clipboard pointed to the door.

With nothing to see, there was no point in stalling.

“Thank you.” She entered the small two-piece bathroom and wondered what to do next.

She immediately turned on the water and paced the tiny space. One step, turn. One step, turn.

She didn’t use the toilet. First, because she doubted she could go; and second, because she didn’t want to be caught with her pants down. Literally.

Her sense of unease grew. There was something wrong here. She knew it. This place hid something. Something big. No one went to this much trouble to hide a report on the deer population—unless they were mutant deer with deadly superpowers.

It could happen. Humanity had recently discovered how much they didn’t know when the shapeshifters in the world came out and revealed their presence to the general population.

Shapeshifters, as in people who could change his or her body into something else—usually a large animal. It boggled the mind.

As a doctor, the very thought that a body—one made of the same flesh and bone and blood she possessed—could reshape itself so completely, so perfectly, seemed impossible. The kind of science—and magic— that involved fascinated. It also frightened.

Despite reassurances by the shapeshifting community that their genetic condition wasn’t a virus, but something they were born with, Chandra had to wonder. Science was always evolving. Discovering. Imagine what some people could do if they figured out how the shift is done.

Which led her back to the man with the fiery green eyes. Was he a shapeshifter being kept prisoner for experimental reasons? And why tell Chandra? She worked simply as a research biologist for Lytropia Institute. At least she used to work for them. The place had undergone some drastic changes, and now it seemed no one had a job.

So why not go exploring weird tips without backup?

I am so stupid. She turned off the water and took a few breaths. There was no mirror to reflect her angst back to her.

I think I might have made a mistake coming here.

In her defense, she’d not known what to expect when she followed the coordinates. This kind of stuff didn’t happen in reality. This was movie material.

At any moment, she expected Jason Bourne or someone else to come barreling into the place, guns blazing, looking hot.

The door remained closed. Real life sucked like that. And because this was real life, it meant there was a perfectly logical answer for everything. She was overreacting and letting her imagination run wild.

What would really happen next was she’d walk out of this bathroom, thank the man with the clipboard for the use of the washroom, and return to her car.

There would be no further exploring. I am done and getting out of here.

As she exited the bathroom, it didn’t take a word for her to realize that she’d overstayed her welcome.

The man with the clipboard bore a frown. “You need to hurry and leave now. Time for you to go back to town and forget you saw this place.”

He gripped her arm and guided her. Her steps matched his as he led her through the door outside.

She was leaving, exactly what she wanted, and yet she couldn’t help but ask, “What are you hiding? Do you need help?” Because she saw a glimpse of something in his eyes, heard it in his voice. Fear. The fact that he’d let it show frightened her. But the thing that truly made her blood run cold was the pity she also noticed in his gaze.

“No idea what you’re implying, ma’am. We have nothing to hide here.” Said with a bright smile. The reassurance rang false. “If you think our security is a bit tight, it’s just because we don’t need any eco nuts barging in and screwing things up.”

“Environmentalists are why you have guards on the roof?” She blinked. “You can’t seriously tell me they’re supposed to shoot the people who want to save the earth from people studying deer.” That was a bit much to expect anyone to believe.

The genial smile dropped, and his gaze turned hard. “You have to go. Now. And don’t stop for anything,” he admonished as he held open the door to her car.

Before she got in, she couldn’t help but ask, “What’s really going on here?”

“You don’t want to know.”

“It doesn’t seem like it’s a good place.” She lowered her voice. “You should get out while you can.”

“It’s too late for us. And for you.”

For some reason, his bleak words gave her a chill.

She jumped into the driver seat, and the door slammed shut. She might have held the key too long when she started the engine, the whining scream reminding her to let go. She drove a lot faster leaving than coming in. She clutched the wheel tightly, and she realized she hunched, her breaths coming fast yet shallow.

I made it. I got out. For some reason, that realization didn’t completely reassure.

For a few stressful minutes, she watched her mirrors, looking for a tail, headlights behind her. The road remained dark.

I really did escape. Time to dial a friend.

Dex, a guy who worked at Lytropia Institute with her, answered. “Yeah.”

“I think I messed up. They’re on to me,” Chandra rushed into saying without even the pretense of polite niceties.

His tone became very serious. “Where are you?”

In trouble? “In the woods. I went looking for that thing I told you about.” She kept it vague. While she had escaped, her paranoia still managed to reach record heights. A part of her couldn’t help but wonder if someone could be monitoring her calls.

“Idiot! Why would you do that?” Dex exclaimed. “Give me your coordinates. I’ll come get you.”

And do what? She almost asked but paused as she heard a woman through the connection say, “I’m coming, too.”

Dex had someone with him. Probably that crazy woman—Adi something or other with the crazy-colored hair—who’d had a jealous fit when Chandra had a dinner meeting with Dex.

Tangling with the crazy girl with short hair after the night she’d had did not appeal. “Don’t bother leaving where you are. I’m in my car. It’s best if I meet you. Where are you?”

He named an address that she kind of made note of. She didn’t plan on meeting up. She’d probably just text him on her way through town because she was leaving.

I am done playing this game of spy. She wasn’t a spy, but a scientist. First thing she’d do when she got home—her real home back in San Fran—she’d send that video and those coordinates off to someone she knew who worked in law enforcement. Let them decide if there was a case to investigate. She was going back to studying things through a microscope.

Hanging up with Dex, Chandra tossed her phone on the seat beside her. She tried to reassure herself that everything was fine.

She’d left. What was the worst thing that could happen to her? She’d not technically trespassed. There were no signs. She’d not touched a thing.

What if it has to do with national security? Because those guys with guns were serious protection. They could have been military, and if that were the case, they had certain rules to follow. “I am a law-abiding citizen. They can’t arrest me, and even if they do, I’ve done nothing wrong.” They couldn’t hurt her—so long as they were legit and following the edicts of the law.

What if they didn’t? What if she’d stumbled onto something big, say like an organization that didn’t believe in leaving witnesses behind?

What if—

Something swooped suddenly across the hood of her car, a shadow with wings that caused her to scream and slam on the brakes.

What was that?

She sat there, breathing hard, staring out the windshield, the beams of her lights illuminating the road and nothing else. But she’d seen something.

Probably a bird or a bat.

A big freaking bird or bat.

Perhaps she’d seen an owl. They were large and nocturnal.

Thump.

Something hit the top of her vehicle, and she looked up then kept staring as the top of her car bulged, the metal bending under some weight. Her eyes grew so wide, she was surprised they stayed in her head.

What’s on top of my car? She gripped the wheel tightly and held her breath as she heard whatever it was that had landed on her vehicle move around.

Just a bird. Nothing to be scared of.

She pressed the accelerator, increasing her speed, hoping to dislodge whatever it was. She heard a disturbing sound, a crunch and creaking as the roof caved in further.

She braced herself as she slammed on the brakes, the tires screaming, the car sliding. With a wrenching noise of metal, something went flying off her roof and soared past the beams of her headlights.

It’s gone. I got it off.

She smiled.

Thump. She couldn’t help the startled squeak that came out of her.

“I’m safe in here. It can’t get to me.” The car would protect her, and tomorrow, she’d laugh at how the big, bad bird had scared her.

Tomorrow. Sure. Right now, she wished she’d peed when she had the chance.

More creaking and popping of metal accompanied the movements of the thing on top of her car. She didn’t even want to think of the damage. Would insurance cover an attack by an owl?

That thing that flew off wasn’t an owl. And neither, she’d wager, was the friend it had brought along.

It looked more demonic than that.

Did she have a clause against demon attacks? She almost giggled at the inane thought.

She lost all urge to laugh as a thing, and she meant thing, swooped in from the side and landed on her hood. The sight of it froze her blood and dropped her jaw.

Dear, Devi—the goddess she prayed to. Help me—for she faced evil.

A raakshas stood on her hood, a demon. What else could it be with its dark, squat body, wings, and the ugly face made terrifying with all those sharp teeth?

Her hand slapped the door lock button; the sudden click sealing her in, a false security.

The action drew attention, and a smirk formed on the demon’s face.

The creature crouched down, its human eyes made more frightening by his monstrous visage. It knocked on the window.

She whispered, “Nobody’s here.”

The words of a coward. Her daadee, her mother’s mother, would have known what to do. She would have cuffed Chandra and told her to stop being a ninny. You were only a victim if you didn’t try.

“I am not a victim.” Chandra had fought too hard to get where she was to let anything, even a demon, get in her way.

She slammed the car from park into drive, and her foot hammered the gas. The vehicle shot forward, fast enough that her hood surfer couldn’t keep his feet and he hit her windshield first before rolling up it and over the roof of her car, taking the roof creature with him. The impact left behind a lovely crack, but Chandra didn’t care.

She drove as if the demons of hell were after her, and in a sense, they were. Even over the scream of the engine, she could hear a strange, ululating sound. The high, piercing shriek of a predator on the chase.

I am its prey.

She might have squeaked at the thought.

Hands sweaty, Chandra gripped the steering wheel and leaned forward, willing the town to be closer. Surely, among the lights and buildings, monsters thought to belong in fables wouldn’t dare follow.

Alas, she wasn’t fated to make it that far.

Something came at her, from straight-ahead, a group of flying imps, and she screamed. Screamed as she swerved and braked.

The demons hit her car, and it rocked on two wheels before slamming down. She gripped the wheel and hit the gas pedal, but the car wouldn’t move, probably because a pair of the demons had lifted the front end of her vehicle, which meant her wheels spun uselessly.

A demon, his eyes alight with glee—made all the more frightening because they were human eyes—pressed his face against her side window. Humanoid eyes in the face of a monster glared at her with a savage glee. It grabbed at the handle for her door and pulled. The lock kept it shut.

Smash.

While she’d watched the demon on her side, another had punched through the passenger window and clicked the lock.

The one at her window smiled.

She smiled back, and when he pulled open the door, she withdrew her hand from her purse with her can of pepper spray and got it in the face.

It let out an unearthly shriek and reeled away from the door. She didn’t stick around to enjoy her small victory. With the safety of the car compromised, she dove out of the vehicle and ran back in the direction of the building where there were men with guns.

No wonder they had guns. There were monsters in these woods!

She ran as best she could, her low-heeled shoes not ideal, and her speed far below Olympic standards. She huffed and puffed and pumped her legs, expecting to be attacked at any moment.

She heard the creatures’ strange cries and saw the furtive shift of shadows out of the corner of her eye, but they didn’t accost her. They could have, and yet, they seemed more intent on harassing her, their howling cries shrill and mocking as they dipped overhead and ghosted through the tree line edging the road—moving shadows of menace.

Her breath heaved as she ran. The stitch in her side was ignored.

What had taken five minutes to drive took her much longer to run, all the while harassed by the demons.

But alive. So inexplicably alive, and she refused to listen to the little voice that insisted they were herding her.

She could have sobbed with relief when she spotted the building in the distance, the low glow of the single outdoor light a symbol of hope.

Help. Finally.

Except the men on the roof were gone. How could they go? The monsters were here.

She ran to the door and pounded on it. Pounded and banged and cried, but the man with the clipboard didn’t open it. No one did.

She rolled around until her back leaned against the building. She eyed the darkness outside the cone of light. How many of the demons approached? Would they attack at once, or toy with her like many a predator did with its prey?

Fear had her body taut with tension, but at the same time, adrenaline coursed through her veins. She wouldn’t give in without a fight.

“You really shouldn’t have come here.”

The words came from her left, and a turning of her head brought into view the rotund fellow, wearing a lot less clothing than earlier and minus his clipboard.

A stranger’s naked bits dangling? She could handle it, and politeness should have made her avert her gaze, but she couldn’t, not once she noticed his eyes.

Devi, help me. She recognized those eyes. The raakshas.