Detective Nelari stood in one of the doorways. Spotting him, Darika hurried over and tugged on his shirt sleeve to get his attention. “What’s going on?”

“There seems to be some kind of commotion…” His voice trailed off. At the same time, she became aware of Ahl walking away from them and in the direction where people were gathering.

She called out to him, but he seemed oblivious. That, or something else, something greater, held his attention.

Something greater…

“Oh, shit! Ahl!” She ran to catch up to him, but by this time he’d been swallowed up by the crowd.

A shriek split the air and several people called out a warning. Darika struggled to make her way through the wall of bodies until she reached the station lounge. A semicircle of uniforms with weapons drawn formed a protective phalanx. She tried to break through to get to the Gwa but they kept her back. She was forced to stare over their shoulders at the confrontation taking place.

Inside the room, Ahl was hunched over and staring at an armed officer who was holding him at bay with his pistol. She recognized Sergeant Birchum. She knew the man. She’d worked with him, but the guy wasn’t acting like himself. His facial expression, his body posture…

“Oh, sweet Jesus! He’s a Vokko!” she yelled.

“Get back! Move back!” Birchum aimed his weapon directly at Ahl. “Move back, you fuckin’ Gwa! You fuckin’ Gwa!”

Without warning, the officer fired twice in succession, striking Ahl in the chest.

Darika screamed and dropped to her knees as the officer fired again, hitting Ahl a third time. And a fourth.

There was a moment of hesitation from Ahl. In less than a heartbeat, the Gwa dropped his human self, revealing his werewolf form.

Throwing out his hands with their enormous claws, he opened his mouth and howled. The sound reverberated in the room with nerve-scraping intensity.

Birchum tried firing again, but either the clip was empty or the gun jammed. The man had no chance as the beastly Gwa swung a hand, catching the man across his chest and knocking him backwards against the water cooler. Before the officer could react, Ahl grabbed him by both arms, lifted him off the ground, and proceeded to squeeze the life out of the man.

“Release the human!”

Birchum opened his mouth to reply but nothing came out. Ahl shook him, applying more pressure, until the man’s face and head turned bright red.

“Release the human!” Ahl roared again.

It was as if the Vokko slid out of the human like the inside of a banana from its skin. The instant its feet hit the floor, Ahl tossed the unconscious officer toward the group of uniforms and in the same move lunged toward the Vokko.

Darika watched in dazed astonishment as Ahl seemingly grabbed two of the Vokko’s appendages and effortlessly ripped them from its body. Black blood sprayed across the walls, furniture, and floor as the alien screamed and writhed in the Gwa’s grasp.

The Vokko opened its mandibles to screech again when Ahl opened his jaws. He swooped in to close his teeth around the Vokko’s triangular-shaped head. There was a loud crunch, a snap, and Ahl jerked his mouth sideways. The Vokko’s head went flying across the room and bounced off the wall as more ichor spurted from the stump.

The fight was gone from the alien enemy. All that remained was a lifeless husk that continued to weakly struggle. Ahl dropped it in disgust, turned his furry head, and spat to get the taste of the creature out of his mouth.

Someone behind her yelled the orders to stand down. Darika was vaguely aware of the tension ebbing away. Her eyes were locked on the monstrous myth standing a few feet away. When he finally turned around, his gaze fell on her, and for the first time she saw the four bullet holes oozing reddish blood from the wounds in his chest. Her mind flashed back to that night, that instance, when Danny lay dying in her lap.

It was the last thing on her mind before darkness claimed her.