Free The Dragon Pool: The Dragon Pool by Christopher Golden

Redfield and the three BPRD field operatives got situated with the gear and started to put up their tents. Hellboy saw his father look up from the conversation with Abe, and the old man narrowed his eyes. Hellboy caught the subtle concern and disapproval on the old man's face though no one else would have noticed any change.
    Hellboy returned his gaze to Anastasia.
    "You do look amazing," he said. "Haven't aged a day. Almost didn't recognize you without the damn Yankees hat, though."
    "Back in my tent, actually," she said. "Well, not the same one. Dropped it into a volcano a couple of years back and had to replace it."
    "You did not."
    Stasia gave him a tiny shrug. "Really did."
    They stood for a moment, just looking at each other. The last time they'd crossed paths, it hadn't been like this at all. Hellboy had harbored some resentment toward her--and toward himself--that they hadn't been able to make things work. The attention of the media and all the church groups and others who were so vocal about their disapproval of the relationship had been too much stress. Hellboy didn't like the constant reminders that to much of the world, he would always be a monster, no matter how many lives he saved. The United Nations had declared him an "honorary human" decades ago, but even that label made his skin crawl. What the heck was it supposed to mean, anyway?
    He'd lied to her. She looked damned good, but she had gotten older. Even in the dark, he could see that her hair still had the luster it had always maintained, no matter the climate or how long she'd been toiling in ditches and tombs. Her eyes were still as bright, and she was fit as ever. But the crow's-feet had deepened around her eyes, and small lines had formed at the corners of her mouth. How to explain that these things made her more beautiful, that the life in her--the living--made her sexy as hell?
    Not the things you said to your ex.
    "You haven't changed at all, either," Anastasia said. "You look--"
    "Like a donkey's ass? Cuz that's how I feel."
    A kind of sadness touched her features. "No. You look well. Healthy. Strong."
    The strength in her faltered, and she stepped nearer, took his hands in hers, not differentiating between his ordinary, flesh-and-blood hand and the massive, destructive fist of his right.
    "Thank you for coming. You have no idea how relieved I am that you're here."
    Hellboy's voice dropped nearly to a whisper. "No sign of the girl?"
    "Nothing. But there have been developments. Last night, our saboteur returned. I shot him, but he fell in the lake. I'm certain he swam off, despite the bullet wound."
    "You got a good look at him?"
    She nodded. "It's just as was in the report. Subhuman. I've reason to believe he might be a shape-shifter. And I may know where he is. If he is the one who took Kora--"
    Hellboy had been unable to focus on anything but her hands in his. He broke that contact and took a step back, feeling the anxious attention of his father's eyes on his back without even turning around.
    "Whatever's going on here, we'll work it out as fast as we can. Professor Bruttenholm is leading our investigation, but I'm sure the first thing he'll want is a meeting where you can lay out the background of the dig and what you've uncovered thus far. If your saboteur fell in the lake, then he may have come from there in the first place. Abe will probably recon the lake bottom tonight. And we'll take it from there."
    He looked around to make sure none of the other archaeologists were close enough to hear him. The last thing he wanted was for Professor Kyichu to eavesdrop on this conversation.
    "If this girl is still alive, we'll get her back, Stasia."
    Ever since they'd landed, he'd had an ominous feeling, like something wasn't right. He wasn't the type to put much stock in precognition--not in people like himself who'd never shown any aptitude for it--but there was a kind of menace on the shore of the lake. When Anastasia smiled again, so full of her