Garrick crashed and turned in the surging water. He curled into a protective ball, not knowing which way was up or down. When he finally opened his eyes, he stared into an inky darkness, where dark shapes spun past him in a dizzying whirlpool.

He rotated, searching for any bearing in the murk. When he spotted the faint glow of light he kicked as hard as possible, his lungs screaming for air. He swam with fierce strokes, silver air bubbles streaming in a trail as he rose, muscles protesting and roaring from the lack of oxygen. But his legs were not moving him fast enough and red blobs danced at the edge of his vision, threatening him with a permanent stay in the watery hell.

With a last desperate push, he burst through the surface, like a bullet from a gun. As he gasped greedy lungfuls of air, oxygen flooded his system, restoring his equilibrium. He shook the water from his head and wiped his hands across his eyes.

He spun in the water. He’d surfaced in a wide pool nestled within a low cavern. Golden octagonal walls surrounded it, plated with scales. The water swirled lazily, reluctant to release the others. He ducked his head under the surface to scan beneath. Nothing. He came up for breath, spitting out dirty water.

“Hey!”

Behind him, Hardy swam for a narrow protruding shelf. He pulled himself out, water cascading from his bare torso. Tugging his pulse rifle off his body, Hardy plunged back in. “V’s not up yet.”

Garrick nodded, dragged fresh air into his lungs, and dived with Hardy under the surface. He swam to the back of the cavern. Grey and black shapes blurred and twisted past him. No sign of his sister.

Something bumped against his hand. He reached down, feeling for something, anything. Come on V, where are you? Don’t do this to me. His fingers closed on soft flesh. An arm. He kicked furiously for the surface, pulling her with him. They broke through in an explosion of water.

“Help me get her out!” he shouted across the water at Hardy. His words echoed back at him. This wasn’t going to happen. His sister was not going to die in this fucking monstrosity. Adrenaline fuelled his arms and legs.

Garrick erupted out the water like a wave then turned and hooked his hands under Violet’s arms and rolled her onto the ledge as Hardy pushed her legs up from below. When she was clear, Garrick bent over and listened to her chest. She wasn’t breathing, but his fingertips registered an erratic pulse in her neck.

Come on V. Come on.

He adjusted her head and breathed one, two, three breaths into her lungs. He counted in his head. One, I love you V, two, stop pissing about, three, wake the fuck up now. His hands trembled with the effort of keeping himself together.

Hardy waited at her feet, hanging protectively over her like a wolf over his mate. His face was emotionless. “Again,” he said as Garrick paused to listen to her chest.

Garrick leaned forward, gave three more breaths then jerked backward as Violet finally coughed and rolled, heaving up dirty river in violent spouts. He slapped her back twice then hung over her, his arms squeezing her shoulders as he laughed with relief. “Christ V. Don’t do that. You scared the hell out of us.”

Hardy rocked back on his heels, still clutching her ankles, and closed his eyes.

Garrick helped her into a sitting position to catch her breath. Her lips still had a bluish tinge, but she was alive. She gave them both a small smile and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Her voice wavered. “When we leave, can we walk out?”

* * *

There were no doors or tunnels out of the cavern. What they found instead was a hole in the floor, a tunnel sloping downwards, leading away from the river and deep into the Chittrix colony. It ran at an angle of forty-five degrees, not steep enough to fall down but angled enough to require extreme care.

Garrick went first, Violet next, and Hardy took the rear. They inched and slid their way down the claustrophobic tunnel, which narrowed as they crept, finally spilling out into another cavern. This one was much bigger, like a small chapel with gaping, open holes peppering its tall walls, ceiling, and floor. They crouched together for a few moments, taking in the enormity of the task in front of them.

They’d landed in the middle of spaghetti junction.

The air was dry here, isolated from the icy water of the Thames. Warm blasts from three hundred and sixty degrees buffeted them. Garrick’s eyes flitted from one opening to another. How the hell were they going to navigate their way around this thing?

“Any indication if we should be going up or down?” Violet’s voice was hushed in the giant antechamber, which was surprisingly quiet after the din of the hive outside. Where the hell were all the Chittrix and Scutters?

Garrick stood up and began to walk slowly, across the eerily pliable floor, sensing the deepening depressions under his feet. He consulted the tracker pad on his wrist, locating Anna’s bracelet signature. Hardy and Violet followed, covering him with their weapons as he stepped over and between tunnel entrances.

“I hate to think what the fuck this is made of,” Hardy said. Garrick glanced over his shoulder. Hardy bounced lightly on the malleable surface then bent to run his fingertips over it, his face wrinkled in disgust.

Garrick checked his wristband again. They were closer to Anna, blips pulsed brightly on his wrist, detailing her location. He spread his fingers and panned back on the digital map. A delicate filigree-pattern of tunnels appeared on the screen.

“Are you getting this?”

Hardy checked his own wrist scanner. He nodded in agreement.

“Wait.” Violet grabbed his forearm.

“What?” Garrick scanned the space around them. Nothing. The tunnel entrances were dark and empty, but a diffuse burr vibrated in his head.

Hardy stilled beside him, raising his pulse rifle. He hears it too. Garrick pointed with one gloved hand to the nearest tunnel entrance in the direction they needed to go. He took one hesitant step.

That hazy burr again.

From above.

Garrick craned his neck, raising his face to the roof of the cavern. A Chittrix was hanging suspended above their heads, barbed feet embedded in the vaulted ceiling.

Garrick swore under his breath, and then the Chittrix released and dropped, plummeting in a blur of claws and angular limbs. Its tail arced, rotating its body to land upright with swift agility.

It instantly flattened Hardy to the floor in a violent collision of bodies. His gun was torn from his hand, as he disappeared under the thick alien thorax and silvered wings. Violet screamed and fired her pulse rifle, charging until she was aiming point-blank against the side of the Chittrix’s neck.

Its tail lashed, swiping Violet’s feet out from under her, hurling her flat on her back. As it lifted its head its jaw chattering in triumph, Garrick bludgeoned it across the face with the back of his SIG, silencing the call to battle. The Chittrix recoiled with a snap under the force of his blow, clicks and whistles terminated in its throat. Immediately, he unloaded an entire round through one glittering eye, smashing the perfect orb into jagged, weeping edges. Its tail hit the floor, and the body slumped.

Hardy’s hand surfaced from under the lifeless Chittrix, slapping against the sleek thorax in agitation. Garrick bent and yanked his friend’s arm and Hardy’s face popped out.

“Fucking get this thing off me,” he spat.

Violet and Garrick heaved together and the Chittrix slid sideways, releasing Hardy with a wet crunching sound.

Violet stuck her hand out, grinning widely. “You’re welcome.”

Hardy shook his head in disgust as he accepted the proffered palm and hauled himself onto his knees. “Bloody thing weighs a ton. And it stinks.” He wiped jellied slime from his abdomen and arms. “F-u-ck,” he said, distaste in every syllable.

Bending over, Violet swept more viscous ribbons from his backside, flinging them across the floor with curled lips. “Quit being such a girl.” She bent and returned his pulse rifle.

The tracker pad beeped, reclaiming Garrick’s attention. Anna’s signature was moving. He spun one hundred and eighty degrees, trying to determine the source. The signal jittered on the screen, unsure where it wanted to lie.

“Fuck.” He slammed it against his thigh. Damn thing was supposed to be waterproof.

Hardy came up behind him, rubbing his hands clean on his trouser leg. “Ok?”

Garrick clapped the tracker again. The signal steadied. He raised the pad in the direction of the tunnel entrance directly in front of him. It was a slash in the wall, eight feet tall, barely a foot wide.

“This one—”

A scream cut him off. A woman’s scream. Anna. Directly ahead.

“Garrick, go now!” Violet shouted from over his shoulder. As he spun in response to her voice, she raised her pulse rifle, taking aim at a spiked Chittrix shadow rushing across the ceiling.

Hardy reached for his own weapon, nestling it in the crook of his shoulder. His eyes were focused as he tracked in tandem with Violet. “Go! We’ve got this.”

Garrick spun on his heel and sprinted across to the tunnel entrance the scream had come from. He charged in.

Hold on, Spitfire.