Merrin desperately flew away from the water-plant with the dripping chrysalis of Chuck in her beak. Her priority was to get as far away from Colin as possible.

  When Chuck had started to feed on her human body, there had been a moment when a deep feeling of severance lanced through her entire being. That was the moment she lost connection with her old body. When her body died, there was no longer a tether to remove her consciousness from her hypnosite form. She was now a fully incorporated hypnosite. She could feel it. That oppressive threat of returning to a state of paralysis disappeared and Merrin felt free for the first time in her life.

  If that were the only thing that happened, she would have been overjoyed, but she also felt the cap on her growth removed. There was a deep sense inside of her that craved growth. Where she had been limited to two forms before, Merrin knew she could transform into more if she ate the DNA. It was exhilarating. This whole time, the answer that eluded them back had been discarding their old human bodies.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  How fitting was it that Chuck was the one to help Merrin reach her true potential? She shuddered at the closeness it brought them.

  Despite all her newfound potential, though, all feelings of superiority were crushed the moment she had felt Colin’s presence. He felt like a true apex predator. The fact he hadn’t killed her and Chuck was nothing short of luck.

  That would not do.

  Anything that risked Chuck’s safety was something Merrin couldn’t tolerate.

  So Merrin flew as fast as she could to escape Colin’s senses. She avoided the town full of Changed and headed towards a place where she knew her and Chuck’s potential as hypnosites could be reached. A place where she and Chuck could gather DNA and reach the true heights of an apex predator that would far surpass Colin.

  The Audubon Zoo was only miles away now. First, Merrin needed to shake the drone that followed her and then head straight to the Zoo where she and Chuck would hide and grow until nothing could get in their way.