Finn: Scifi Alien Invasion Romance (Hell Squad Book 10) (14 page)

Only one other thing had made her feel like this. Being with Finn.

“You’re quiet,” he said.

“Just contemplating falling in love with you.”

She stared straight ahead, too afraid to turn around and look at him.

There was a pause. “Oh?” That one sound was filled with satisfaction. “Knew you wouldn’t be able to resist me for long.”

Lia laughed, emotion flowing through her chest. “Arrogant flyboy.”

His hand landed on the back of her neck, and squeezed. “
Your
arrogant flyboy.”

He was hers. She was still terrified of taking the risk, of loving him and losing him. But she wanted him, needed him, and he was worth any risk.

“I wish I could hold you right now,” he said.

She touched his hand and turned to look at him. “After we finish this mission, you can do a whole lot more than hold me.” Because dammit, she was getting them home. One way or another.

“You’re on, flygirl. Now, let’s drop this amplifier and help save the world.”

The trip out felt easy, compared to what they’d been through. Lia could almost imagine she was just on another commercial flight for her old airline.

“Approaching location,” Finn said.

“Preparing to leave supersonic speed,” Lia replied. “Hold on.”

A second later, Lia felt a slight jerk as they returned to normal speed. All around them was blue ocean and even bluer sky.

It was a beautiful sight. She pulled in a deep breath. Out here, there were no aliens, no invasion, no hardships. She started their descent. They had to be low enough to ensure the amplifier survived the drop.

“How about we find an island and live in tropical luxury?” Finn suggested.

Lia made a sound. “Drinking coconut milk and eating fish all day?”

“Could be worse. Besides, there’d be unlimited sex on the beach.”

“Hmm, but sand would get into some nasty places,” she replied.

“It’d be worth it.”

The jet slowed, and her voice turned serious. “Okay, we’re at the location and at the right altitude. I’ve put us in a tight holding pattern.”

“Let’s do this. Preparing to drop the amplifier.”

She could hear Finn tapping his controls. Lia glanced down through the canopy, staring down at the waves below. She frowned. “Wait!” She stared out the window. “What the
hell
is that?”

“What the fuck?” Finn said.

The water below them was churning, frothy and black. Then, something dark shot out of the water. Finn cursed, and Lia stared, open-mouthed, at the huge tentacle waving outside the cockpit.

“Hell.” Lia touch the controls and they shot away from it.

As they turned in a wide circle, Lia watched as a huge creature started to rise up out of the water. It was covered in thick, black scales, and then a huge head looked up and she saw glowing red eyes.

More tentacles started to rise up, waving madly. They had huge sucker pads all over them.

“It’s a damn alien kraken!” Finn shouted. “Watch out!”

She saw a tentacle moving toward them. She moved them again. “We have to get out of here.”

“I can’t drop the amplifier on top of this damn monster,” Finn said. “It’ll be destroyed.”

And this entire mission would be a waste.

“Shit.” Another tentacle reared up, and Lia moved to evade again. “We’ll have to get away from it, first. I’ll take us farther out.”

“Do it. Go!”

Now Lia could see the giant mouth of the monster. What the hell had the aliens done to their planet?

She concentrated on flying. They shot away, but suddenly they were wrenched to a stop.
What the hell?

“What’s wrong?” Finn asked.

Her hands moved over the controls. “I don’t know. I have the engines at full speed. I don’t know what’s wrong.”

Then Finn cursed. “There’s a tentacle attached to the back of the plane!”

Another black tentacle smacked into them. The suckers stuck to the cockpit canopy.

The jet was jerked backward and tossed around. Lia was thrown hard against her seat. She heard Finn swear.

God, they were stuck to the alien kraken.

“Lia? You okay?”

“I’m okay. Any ideas on how to get loose from this thing?”

“I don’t know.”

Think, Lia
. They had no weapons, nothing.

“What if you ignite the supersonic engines?” Finn suggested.

She shook her head. “It’ll tear us apart.”

And there’d be no guarantee that the amplifier would make it.

“Can we shock it?”

“Without shocking ourselves?” She fell silent, deep in thought.

“What if—”

“Shh,” she said. “I’m thinking. That
could
work.”

“What, Lia?”

“I could reroute some power to the exterior drag reduction skin. That will electrify the exterior of the jet and might be enough to dislodge our friend.”

Or make him really mad. The tentacle moved again, swinging them around, and for a second, they were upside-down. Lia pressed her hands to the cockpit canopy, staring down at the giant creature below.

“Do it!” Finn yelled.

Then, they were thrown upright again. Lia worked feverishly at the controls. “There,” she cried.

She felt a tingle, and the hairs on her arms rose. Then the kraken let out a deafening screech.

The suckers released them.

The jet plummeted straight down toward the water.

***

Oh, God.
Finn watched the waves rush closer and yelled at Lia, “Switch off the charge!”

“I have.”

But the plane was in a wild spiral.

“I can’t pull it up,” she yelled.

Bam.

Something slammed into them, breaking their fall and swiping them sideways in a dizzying rush.

The kraken had grabbed them again.

“Next time, I’m flying,” Finn called out. He saw Lia was frozen, staring out at the kraken. “Lia!”

His voice seemed to jolt her out of her daze. Her hands moved back to the controls.

Another tentacle hit the other side of the jet. Metal groaned.

Shit, the damn alien was going to crush them.

“I’m going to shock it again,” Lia said.

“What?” Finn’s eyebrows rose. “It really didn’t like that the first time.”

“I’ll try and engage the engines again at the same time.”

“Okay. Go for it.” Damn, he really hated being stuck back here, unable to help her.

The panel on the right side of the plane cracked, the metal denting inward.

“Do it now,” Finn yelled.

With a deep breath, Lia engaged the electrical charge.

Again, the kraken dropped them instantly. Its tentacles waved madly around them.

The plane dropped and Finn felt his stomach go hard. Lia engaged the engines.

For a heartbeat, nothing happened.

Then the plane shot forward. Finn felt his heart start beating again.

“Hell, yeah!” he yelled. “You are amazing.”

As they pulled away from the kraken, he saw Lia drop her head forward. “After this, no more field missions for me. Drone missions only.”

Finn needed to touch her. He unclipped his harness, leaned over the back of her seat, and pulled her head back. He pressed his mouth to hers, delving his tongue deep. She moaned into the kiss, and he nipped her bottom lip, feeling a dizzying rush of desire deep in his gut.

“Finn.” She pulled back, breathless. “Get your harness back on.”

He did as she asked. He could hear air whistling in through a crack somewhere. They’d definitely sustained some damage, but they were thankfully still in the air. He looked back and saw the giant alien creature in the distance. It was slowly sinking back into the water.

“Let’s drop the amplifier and get out of here,” Lia said.

“Best thing I’ve heard all day. Let me take care of that right now.”

The quiet in the cockpit was only broken by the whistle of air and the sound of Finn’s fingers on the controls.

Finn hit the cargo-release control.

A red light blinked on the comp screen.
Malfunction.

“God fucking dammit.” He slammed his palms against the console.

Lia twisted in her seat. “What?”

“The cargo release clamp is damaged. I can’t open the cargo hatch, and that means I can’t drop the amplifier.”

She closed her eyes and pressed a hand to her temple. “Can things get any worse?”

Finn had learned that on a mission, things could always get worse. He unfastened his harness again.

Her eyes popped open. “What are you doing?”

“I’m going to climb out there and release the amplifier myself.”

Her eyes widened. “Climb out there?” Her voice rose a notch. “We’re at a low altitude, but it’s still a long drop, Finn.”

“Not planning to fall. Open the canopy, Lia.”

“No.” She shook her head wildly. “One wrong move out there, and—”

“I’ll fall off.” He leaned forward and cupped her face. “I know. But there’s a line of recessed maintenance handholds all the way to the back of the jet, and…we have to do this. Preferably before the mutant kraken comes back.” He tried for a smile. “And I’m nimble.”

“My courageous flyboy.” Emotion moved through her green eyes. “Why did I have to go and fall for a hero?”

Her words made his heart clench. He wished they were anywhere else but here.

She released a slow breath. “Let me slow us down first. You’ll have a better chance of not slipping off.”

Lia slowed the jet as much as she could. When she opened the canopy, the wind was still a harsh, rude rush to Finn’s face.

He gave her another quick, hard kiss, and then he climbed out onto the plane’s exterior.

He gripped the first of the handholds and climbed, slowly and steadily, toward the back of the plane and the cargo area. The wind whipped his hair in his eyes and tore at his clothes. He gripped onto handholds and jammed the toes of his boots into them, praying none of them were rusted or loose. One move at a time. He could do this.

Then he made the fatal error of looking down. He loved heights…when there was a nice, sturdy, reinforced glass wall between him and the ground. He swallowed to wet his dry throat and kept moving.

He was getting close to the cargo-hatch release mechanism. He could see it—it was a large red handle set into the side of the aircraft.

Then his foot slipped.

His leg swung off the plane, hanging out over the air. His hands gripped tight and he wedged his other foot under one handhold, as hard as he could, trying to stop his body from slipping.

Shit
. His muscles strained and he pulled his leg in, pressing his body against the metal of the plane. He stayed there a second, calming his harsh breathing. Jesus, Lia must be frantic.

Finn regained his footing and kept moving steadily toward the release latch. He reached the handle and, one-handed, he yanked it open.

Nothing happened.

Fuck
. It wasn’t working. He closed his eyes for a second, then he glanced down the side of the jet. He’d have to cut the damn door open.

He dipped into his pocket and fished out the laser cutter he’d stowed there back at Aeron. He fired up the laser, reached down and sliced into the metal.

For once, he caught a break. The cargo door fell open, dropping downward toward the ocean below.

He swung around, holding two handholds, and dangled against the side of the jet. He kicked his feet inside the cargo area.

The amplifier rolled toward the edge. It tilted for a second on the edge, and then it dropped out into the air.

Finn didn’t wait to see if it hit the waves. He climbed back up, his arms starting to burn, and headed back toward the cockpit. Lia was waving at him.

He retraced his steps and climbed back into the cockpit. Once he was safely inside, he collapsed into his seat and felt the tense muscles in his neck and back relax.

Lia was busy closing the canopy. Then she undid her harness, reached back, and smacked him in the chest. “Don’t ever do that again.” Then she grabbed the front of his flight suit and yanked him forward for a kiss.

He breathed in the smell of her. “If this is my reward, I might consider doing it again.”

She smiled, tears blurring her eyes. “I think loving a hero might be hard work.”

He pulled her close. “I promise I’ll make it worth your while.”

Chapter Fourteen

Hot damn, they’d done it. Finn was buzzing. Adrenaline was punching through his veins, making him feel like he’d downed a six-pack of homebrew, along with some shots of the God-awful homemade tequila his pilots liked to make.

They were once again zooming along at supersonic speed, heading back toward the mainland. He tried not to take notice of the thin crack in the side of the plane. It was holding for now.

He wanted to get back to the Enclave as soon as they could, and then drag Lia into his bed. He didn’t plan to let her out of there for days. Hell, maybe a whole week.

“Dropping out of supersonic speed,” Lia suddenly said.

Finn frowned, staring at the back of her head. That hadn’t felt like thirty minutes.

The jet slowed and everything came into focus. The mainland was a vague smudge of blue in the distance. “We aren’t there yet.”

“No.” Lia’s voice was sharp. “I’ve got a warning light. The aircraft sustained some damage, and the supersonic engines are failing.” She let out a shuddering breath. “And it gets worse.”

Finn’s gut cramped. “It can’t get worse. This mission has already consisted of bad, fucked, and seriously fucked. It’s time we snagged a break.”

“Sorry. Whatever damage that creature did, it’s draining our power.” She spun to look at him. “I’m not sure we’ll make it back to the mainland.” Her green eyes were so serious.

“We’ll make it.” Finn locked his jaw and looked out at the water below. No way he wanted to land in there with Lia. Who knew what other nasty alien surprises were hiding beneath the waves?

“What can we do to make it?” he asked.

“Lighten the aircraft. Toss whatever we don’t need overboard.” She stared out through the cockpit. “I’ve set the jet to the optimal speed to take us in as far as possible. I’m aiming straight for the Enclave.”