Evolver: Apex Predator Read Online Free PDF

words were harsh on his throat, guttural and deep. Jackson didn't sound like himself.
    "Amazing," Thorn said. He was surprised when his prisoner leapt at the glass though not surprised enough to forget to tap the screen of his tablet.
    Electricity arced and popped as Jackson hit the glass of the environment chamber. Thorn laughed. "Yes, that is what I want. Show me more!" He swiped at the screen again.
    Jackson had fallen back into the table and reverted to his human form. "Aaah!" The floor of the chamber was hot and the wind was slowing down though there was still sand swirling about him. He covered his head and his skin beaded up again.
    The roof of the chamber opened up and torrents of water spilled down over him. The coolness of it was welcome relief until it dawned on him that it wasn't stopping. The violent undertow of the filling process whipped Jackson over and over. He swallowed a lot of water and remembered the summer he'd gone whitewater rafting in Colorado, of being caught in a particularly nasty "keeper hydraulic". He was buffeted head over heels and banged against the side of the chamber, against the table. Jackson began to panic, just like he had on the river.
    What saved him was reflex. On the river he'd jumped out of the boat and been able to swim out of the hydraulic. At the thought of swimming, his skin smoothed out, his fingers and toes grew webs, he felt gills open on his neck and he breathed through the water. The chamber was completely full and the top-down current was easy to swim in with his new form. Jackson waved and smiled at Thorn. He took the opportunity to look at the entire lab.
    It was similar to his father's, but there were a lot more computer screens and strange-looking devices that looked kind of familiar. He couldn't see Laurie anywhere, so, with grim determination, he swam back to face Thorn.
    "Wonderful," the voice said over the intercom. "What else have you got in you?"
    The bottom opened up and the water rushed out as violently as it had rushed in, depositing Jackson on the floor with a heavy thud. He couldn't breathe straight air and his body quickly reverted to normal. He ached, though, and coughed as he got to his hands and knees, noticing he smelled like a fish. There was a mechanical sound of metal on metal below him and he was dripping wet, choking up water he'd swallowed. The floor of the chamber jumped up, sealing off the drains that had been opened when the floor had dropped to release the water.
    "What are your limits, I wonder?" Thorn walked around the chamber, his hands behind his back, the tablet on a table nearby. "How do you feel?"
    Jackson looked up. "Like a million bucks. Come in and check me out, if you like." He coughed again, spat up more water. He didn't want Thorn to see how wobbly he felt, but he couldn't stay down on all fours
    "The wrist gauntlets are ingenious devices and far beyond your father's skills. He couldn't have done this all by himself. Who helped him!" There was only a brief flicker of anger before Ebenezer Thorn regained control of himself.
    "He had a lab assistant," Jackson said. "Ask her."
    "She doesn't know," Thorn said, continuing to walk around the chamber, "and his files are woefully incomplete. Nothing was found in his house, either. Perhaps your mother knows?"
    "She's got nothing to do with this!"
    Thorn took up the tablet.
    The chamber got cold so fast that condensation and crackling ice formed on the glass and on Jackson's wet body as he struggled to his feet. He could see his breath. He reached out and wiped at the glass so he could see Thorn. Snow began to fall from the ceiling of the chamber; heavy, wet and piling up fast. The wind came back and the temperature dropped precipitously. Jackson fell into the thick covering of snow on the floor and hugged himself, shivering.
    There was a blizzard in the chamber. “Yes, perhaps your mother knows more,” Thorn said.
    "Leave her alone," Jackson said, his teeth chattering. "I'll kill you if