Liberty Awakened - Isle of Fangs Book 1

Prologue and Chapter One

Prologue

Sang Croc Island

French Polynesia

“No way am I going in there.” Caitlin halted at the mouth of the cave. She planted her hands on her hips and turned to Ashton. “Not even for a fountain of youth.”

She held her breath as she waited for his reaction. When he paused, she let out a sigh of relief. His hesitation was a good sign. But he wouldn’t wait long. If she didn’t go, he would go without her. He would leave her out here alone. In the jungle. The palm trees that were so pretty in the daytime now looked menacing. The sun had set and it was dark. Really dark. And she kept hearing strange noises. Some kind of animals…or murderers.

“It’s not a fountain of youth.” Even in the darkness, she could see Ashton roll his eyes. “It’s a stream.”

Caitlin bit her lip, trying to decide whether he was worth the risk. She loved him, and he was definitely hot. Odd, but he seemed even hotter now than he had been before. Since they’d arrived on the island, his skin had tanned, and he’d become more muscular. He’d taken to going shirtless more often than not, and she certainly wasn’t complaining.

“Whatever.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “I doubt it even exists.”

“It exists. I know it. And when we find it, we’ll be freakin’ set for life.” Ashton flipped his blond braids over his shoulder. She’d hated the braids at first, but now she found them sexy.

She was weakening, but she tried once more. “There are, like, a million caves on this island. What makes you think this is the one?”

He grinned and gestured to the opening of the cave. “Only one way to find out.”

Damn. He wasn’t going to give up. She dropped her arms and let out a resigned breath, then followed him in.

Inside the cave, it was darker than it had been outside. Darker than anything she could have imagined. Must tickled her nose, but she held back a sneeze. She didn’t want to draw the attention of whatever creeped in the blackness.

“Turn on your flashlight,” she whispered.

He did, but it wasn’t much better. The beam played on the rocky, slime-covered walls of the cave. She shuddered.

He stopped abruptly, and she stumbled into him.

“Listen,” he said. “Did you hear that?”

She concentrated. A rushing sound came to her ears. “Is it water?”

“Sounds like it.” His voice rose with excitement. “Come on.”

He took hold of her hand and pulled her along with him. She didn’t have the heart to remind him that just because they found water, it wasn’t necessarily the water.

With each moment that passed, the sound grew louder. Only now it didn’t sound like water. It sounded like wings…flapping wings.

Oh shit.

Ashton must have seen the bat at the same time she did. He dropped her hand and the flashlight. The beam played on his crouched figure, arms covering his head. She let out a scream, but his was louder.

God. He was a wuss. His screams grew more frantic. He was more afraid than she was. The creature flapped past her, brushing her arm. She ducked, her knees weak with terror, and slapped at the beast. She touched its creepy, hairy wing and another scream left her throat.

Whirling, she squinted in the nearly pitch black.

“Come on,” she panted to Ashton. “Let’s get the hell out of here before it comes back.”