David Knight has been plagued by dreams his entire life, only to have all memory of them vanish when he awakens. Now the dreams are coming with more frequency, and they seem to be drawing him to the Amazon. A scientist with a PhD in ichthyology and a dedication to learning all he can about lungfish, whose existence dates back to the Devonian era, David is determined to see what the Amazon holds. His hopes seem about to be answered when Dr. Carlos Avila contacts him. It seems the Brazilian archeologist discovered the remains of a previously undiscovered species on a tributary of the Amazon, and he’d like nothing better than for David to join the expedition to see if more of the creature can be found. Of course David leaps at the opportunity and flies to Pesadelo Bay to join the mismatched team. Once there, he discovers not only does Dr. Avila have his own agenda, but a former conquest as well as a friend who’d saved his life years before are part of the team and are engaged to be married. Meanwhile, the need to sail up the Amazon to find what ... or who ... is calling him there has become more and more pressing, and David must decide which is the most important -- learning what Dr. Avila really is searching for, or finding the answer to his dreams?

Lagoon of Dreams

My cry brought the others rushing to the tiny clearing.


“Sw—” Whatever Sam had been about to say was overridden by Carlos calling out at the same time.


I turned to face them, my face, my hands, my clothes, all covered in blood, and to a man, they shied away in horror. Not Dinah, though, who was made of sterner stuff—hadn’t she challenged a shark to save my life? She would have come to me, but I held out a hand, keeping her back.


With a slow, repetitive sound, blood dripped to the floor of the forest. The body had been skinned and eviscerated, and a hand lopped off. The head lolled to the side, the eyes wide and staring, the mouth open in a silent scream. When I remembered the uncontrolled fury of whatever it was that attacked the two hapless men, I wouldn’t have been surprised if it had happened while there was still life left in the body.


Chapter 76