Cruz: Scifi Alien Invasion Romance (Hell Squad Book 2) (11 page)

He sighed and pressed a palm to the wall, his head dropping. “We could get killed or captured, we could get her killed trying to escape. And we’d wouldn’t be able to come back for the others. Besides, she might need medical attention we can’t give her.”

“She looks fine, Cruz.” Santha yanked at the grate again. She needed something to get the screws off. “Now help me, dammit.”

From somewhere in the lab, there was the sound of a door opening and raptor voices.

The girl whimpered, her eyes going large.

“I’m getting you out.” Santha yanked at the items on her belt. There had to be something that would work.

Then the girl turned. Santha’s heart sank to her knees, a sob catching in her chest.

The shaved side of her head was covered in small round circles. Each one was a hole drilled into her skull. Some had tiny wires protruding from them.

Santha’s arms dropped to her sides and she closed her eyes. They couldn’t risk taking her outside, where God knew what could get into her open wounds.

Cruz’s arm wrapped around Santha’s shoulders. “We’ll come back for her. We won’t leave her.”

The raptor voices were getting louder. With one more frightened look at them, the girl darted away.

“We have to go.” Cruz pulled Santha away from the vent.

At the door to the storage room, he cupped her shoulders. “I need you back in the game so we can get out of here.”

She nodded dully, but images of that raptor lab remained in her vision, burned into her brain.

“Santha.” He shook her a little. “Focus.”

“Okay, goddammit, I’m focused.” She drew in a big breath. “We get out. Then we come back.”

He nodded. “I promise.”

“Okay.”

Santha focused on getting out of the raptor base. She couldn’t let her thoughts stray to what she’d seen, to that little girl.

They moved rapidly through the halls. Three times, they had to dart into side rooms to hide as raptor troops passed by.

Don’t think about the lab.

They managed to sneak out of the building without being seen. They sprinted out of the schoolyard and behind a neighboring building that used to be a restaurant.

Don’t think about the lab.

Moving into a jog, they headed back toward the Darkswift. Ruthlessly, Santha choked off thoughts of that little girl and how she’d been violated.

“Let’s skirt the park,” Cruz murmured. “I don’t want to run into another one of those feathered monsters.”

Santha nodded.

It took a little longer, but they went around the long grass. She forced herself to stay alert for any signs of raptors or other alien creatures. But all she could hear were the echoes of those pained human moans.

They reached the Darkswift. Santha strapped in and Cruz started the engine. The canopy clicked into place.

“Elle, we’re preparing for takeoff.”

“Cruz! Where have you been? Marcus and Holmes have been driving everyone crazy.”

“We…ran into a little trouble. We can confirm the human prisoners are at the location.”

Elle hissed in a breath. “Okay. Good. The other recon teams didn’t find anything.”

The Darkswift rose into the air. Santha watched the ground below get smaller and smaller, then they shot forward. Moments later they were heading west.

Away from the raptor base.

Away from the humans who needed their help.

Santha leaned forward until her forehead rested on the console. A helpless churn of anger and sorrow burned through her.

For the first time ever, she was glad Kareena had died. She would never, ever have wanted her sister to end up like that little girl.

Opening her eyes, Santha turned her head to look at the man beside her. The heads-up display cast a green glow over his hard features.

And for the first time in an eternity, she was glad she wasn’t alone.

***

“You’re got to be fucking kidding me.” The words exploded out of Marcus.

Holmes stood nearby, face grim.

Cruz had just finished debriefing them on their recon mission and the raptors’ experimentation.

He’d uploaded the images he’d taken to the comp and they flashed up on the screen. Beside him, he felt Santha tense.

The face of the little girl was like that of a ghost in the murky light of the lab. But it was enough to see the horrors going on behind her and the trauma reflected in the girl’s blank green eyes.

Marcus cursed some more and Gabe, Shaw and Claudia joined him. Tears shimmered in Elle’s eyes and Holmes looked ready to hit someone.

“Christ,” Roth muttered. Squad Nine’s leader had his arms crossed over his broad chest and his gaze glued to the screen.

Looking at that girl’s face took Cruz back to another time, when he’d seen a room full of horrors and children being hurt. Ragged emotions were a storm in his gut.

But it was Santha he was most worried about.

She’d barely said a word on the way back to base, not even as they’d landed the Darkswift. Her face was scarily blank, but he felt the tension pouring off her. Something dark and ugly was brewing inside her, feeding on her thirst for revenge.

He was afraid of just what she’d risk to see it through.

Cruz half listened as the others scrolled through the images and stopped to discuss the alien they wrestled with in the park.

“It looks like a velociraptor.” Elle tapping at the comp controls.

More images appeared, showing a dinosaur skeleton of an animal that looked similar to what had attacked them.

“Here’s a rendering of what they thought the velociraptor would have looked like.”

Cruz straightened. “Shit. That’s eerily similar.” A feathered dinosaur with huge claws on its back feet. The raptor version was a little larger.

“How many more of these are there?” Holmes asked.

“Impossible to know,” Elle said.

“What will we call it?” This from Shaw.

“A velox,” Elle said. “Velociraptor was named from the Latin word velox, meaning swift or rapid.”

“Well, it was damn fast,” Santha said. “Velox works.”

Damn, Cruz really didn’t like the calm face she was putting on.

“All right,” Holmes said. “We’ll plan a rescue mission. But I want an airtight plan. Whatever the raptors are doing, they aren’t going to want to lose their test subjects. We have to have every move planned out, with a plan B and plan C mapped out as well, in case things go bad.”

“We’ll need two squads to go in,” Marcus said.

“As well as a medical team,” Elle added.

“We’ll need the best.” Marcus stared at the screen, his muscled arms crossed. “Hell Squad and Squad Nine.”

“Hell, yeah,” Roth said.

“Nine have been out working on base defenses,” Holmes said. “And Steele, your team and Roth have been out on recon. I need everyone to get some rest, then in the morning we’ll start planning.”

Santha was already moving, but Cruz grabbed her. She struggled in his hold. “No more resting or waiting. We need to get them out.”

“We will,” Cruz whispered in her ear.

“We’ll get them out,” Holmes reiterated. “But we won’t go in half-cocked and risk our best fighters.”

Santha twisted and Cruz had to tighten his grip to keep hold of her. “They’re opening them up, drilling into their heads—”

“I know.” Something flashed in Holmes’ eyes. “I know. But you risked yourself and Cruz’s life today. I don’t have that luxury. I have to think of everyone, not just those poor people.”

“I—”

But Holmes wasn’t finished. His gaze pinned Cruz. “And if you ever turn your comms off and go rogue again, there will be consequences.”

“Coward,” Santha bit out.

“Enough.” Marcus’ voice was a deep rasp. His gaze met Cruz’s.

They’d been friends long enough that Marcus didn’t have to use any words.

“Come on.” Cruz swung Santha around, fighting to keep her contained. “We’ll meet back here at 0800 for the planning session?”

“Yeah,” Marcus said.

Cruz got Santha outside the room and let her go. She rounded on him, her eyes spitting fire. “What the hell—?”

He held up his hands. “I know you’re angry.”

“I’m leaving.”

Those two words make his spine stiffen. “No, you’re not.”

“You don’t get to give me orders, Ramos, I—”

“Come on.” He gripped her arm and towed her down the tunnel.

She surprised him by not fighting him. But a terrible tension radiated off her. She was either going to break or explode.

There was one place he went when he needed to burn off the darkness.

He led her into the gym.

A few soldiers were using the treadmills and all lifted a hand in greeting, curious gazes tracing over Santha’s long form. Cruz nodded at them and pulled her over to a doorway on the far side the gym. He nudged her inside, closed the door behind them, and locked it.

She studied the open space—covered in rubber mats and ringed with mirrors—with a narrow gaze. “What’s this?”

“Private sparring room.” Cruz kicked off his boots and then yanked his shirt over his head. He stepped out onto the mats, noted Santha’s gaze tracing over his chest and tattoos. “Come on.” He made a “come here” gesture with his hand.

“You want to fight?” She raised a dark brow but a light had gone on in her eyes.

“I want you to work off some of that tension before you crack.”

Santha toed off her shoes, then moved onto the mats, circling him. “I’m pissed off.”

“I got that.”

“I really want to be kicking some raptor butt.”

He watched her move that long, limber body of hers. “Me, too. But for now, we’re grounded until we can recharge and hammer out a plan.”

“I could leave,” she said again.

Cruz flexed his hands. “You could try.”

Her green eyes turned to slits. She sank into a fighting stance, knees loose, arms raised. “You need a reminder that you aren’t in charge of me, soldier.”

He smiled, anticipation licking his insides. “Bring it.”

Chapter Ten

Santha launched herself at Cruz.

She was fueled by all the pent-up emotions swirling inside her, eating at her. She aimed a roundhouse kick at his head. He blocked her and ducked to the side.

She landed, turning as she went, lining up her next kick. He was clearly more powerful than she was, so she needed to use her speed to her advantage.

She landed a chop to his arm, was gratified to hear a grunt, then she aimed a side kick at his knee.

But he was quicker than she’d guessed. He dodged out of her range, grabbed her ankle and twisted.

Santha spun with the move and jerked free. Next, she went in with a punch, feinted and ducked down to swipe at him with her leg.

He was ready though. He leaned forward and grabbed her T-shirt.

She jammed her arms up and broke his hold. When he reached for her again, she let him grab her arm. Then she gripped his thick wrist and used his momentum to pull him over her head.

For a second she didn’t think his big body was going to budge, but then he went, falling into a roll and somersaulting away from her.

Santha sprang back onto her feet. She bounced a little, her muscles warm and her blood fired up. She wanted to land some blows, get him to give her a good workout so she could get this shit out of her system.

They both moved at the same time. She launched into a combo of hits and kicks, which he blocked and ducked. They pulled back, both of them breathing heavily. Before he could recover, she took two steps and leaped into the air. Her kick hit his shoulder, knocking him back a step. She followed with a hard punch to his gut.

Damn, the man felt like he was made of rock. She aimed another blow to his side but he blocked with his forearm and she stepped back.

She frowned at him. He was just blocking her, not attacking. “Come on, soldier. Surely you have more than that.”

They circled each other and Santha hit him with more kicks and punches. When she stepped back, annoyance was a fiery shimmer in her veins.

“Fight, goddammit. If I wanted a punching bag, I’d go out in the gym.”

Cruz’s eyes sparked. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

“Come on,” she urged. “Fight me.” She ran in again, and this time her roundhouse kick connected with his chin, snapping his head back.

She pulled back, panting.

He swiped his hand across his mouth, wiping away a smear of blood. “I’m not going to hit you.”

“Then why the hell bother sparring?” She attacked again, her punch landing just above his left kidney. With a curse, he spun away.

“You aren’t trying,” she spat. “Fight!”

But he let her blows land or glance off him and never lifted a finger against her. Santha felt like she was fighting and he was dancing.

All the anger and horror inside her morphed, turning to a molten emotion she couldn’t name…and now all of it was aimed at the man in front of her. If she could purge it, maybe she could think again, breathe again.

Time for something different
. She leaped at him, using all her strength and collided with his chest.

He wasn’t expecting her change in tactics and he went down, Santha landing on top of him. She pinned his arms down with her knees.

“If you aren’t going to give me what I want, then I’ll just take it,” she said.

He eyed her. “You really want me to smack you around?”

She didn’t let herself think. She leaned down and nipped his bottom lip, sinking her teeth in, stealing a hint of his dark, sexy taste.

Cruz’s big body went still under her, then his mouth was on hers, forcing her lips open. She clamped her hands either side of his head and kissed him back. It wasn’t an easy kiss, nothing gentle or loving about it. It was hard, rough and perfect. His tongue stroked hers and she stroked back, moaning into his mouth. So, so good. She’d always known when she finally had Cruz, it would be better than anything she’d had before.

She reared back, heard his grunt of protest, but as she gripped the neckline of his gray T-shirt and then yanked it over his head and arms, his face changed. It went stark, a hungry glint overtaking those liquid eyes.

The black ink wrapped around his rock-hard biceps and shoulder called her like a siren. She ran her tongue over the design on his arm, tracing the ink.