"The first one..." She murmured softly and turned the page.
The second photograph was different, attached to the document minutes ago.
Kaiden Grey as he stood now, more muscular and firmer, his gaze carrying the flat certainty of someone who knew exactly how the world worked and what he needed to do to achieve his goals.
And behind him, filling the frame from edge to edge, a mountain of dark carapace crowned with six burning eyes, its body angled toward the camera with the protective alertness of a hound that had chosen its master.
She studied this image longer.
"Stupid little thing," she murmured, and her voice softened into a fondness that resembled warmth the way a blade resembles a mirror. "It couldn't help itself, could it? Saw something bright, bit down, and choked."
