Reed: Scifi Alien Invasion Romance (Hell Squad Book 4) (8 page)

Shit
. A muscle ticked in Reed’s jaw. She could have killed herself when that cube had shocked her.

“But that’s not what I wanted to tell you.” A hesitant smile. “I’ve worked out a way to upload a virus to it that would essentially kill any other cubes it’s attached to. It renders them useless.”

“The raptors couldn’t get energy from them, then?” Reed asked.

She shook her head. “And I think it would destroy some key components in the cubes.”

“Meaning?” Marcus prompted.

“Meaning they wouldn’t be able to repair the cubes and use them again. Ever.”

“Damn,” Shaw said. “That is sweet, Natalya. Good work.”

Reed grabbed her and yanked her off her feet. He pressed a quick kiss to her lips. “Nice work, brown-eyed girl.”

Heat colored her cheeks and she shot a quick sideways glance at Hell Squad. All of whom were grinning at them. “Ah…thanks.”

“All right. Showers will have to wait,” Marcus rasped. “Everyone to Ops. I’ll have the general meet us there.”

“Come on.” Reed pulled Natalya along with him.

Soon they pushed through the doors to the Operations Area. Inside, the large room nicknamed the Hive, was busy with rows of drone operators sitting in front of live-feed screens. Other people bustled around carrying tablets.

Hell Squad moved to a conference room off the main room. Someone had taped a sign to the door that said “Hell Squad.” They’d also drawn a caricature of a muscle-bound, gun-wielding soldier stomping on a raptor. Reed thought it was pretty good.

In the room, he pulled out a chair for Natalya at the large conference table. As she sat and crossed her legs, her skirt hem lifted and he stared at her legs. God, he had to have her soon.

He looked up and noticed Shaw grinning at him. Reed shook his head at the sniper, then took up a position against the wall with the rest of the squad. They were all too dirty to sit in the chairs. A minute later, General Holmes strode in, followed by Elle.

“Hell Squad.” He nodded at them. Holmes, in his neat and tidy uniform, carried an air of command. He’d been a poster boy for the Army—a young, handsome and talented general who’d shot up through the ranks. He often rankled the troops, but no one could fault his dedication.

Reed thought the man looked tired. Since the first hybrid had snuck into the base, Holmes had been busy devising ways to keep the raptors from infiltrating again. And reassuring the spooked residents. The second hybrid would have made his job that much more difficult.

Holmes yanked a chair out and sat. He raked a hand through his dark hair with its dash of silver at the temples. “What have you got for me?”

Marcus clicked the comp controller and images of the raptors making their new base filled the screen. “This is a small town sixty kilometers south of Blue Mountain Base.”

The general’s jaw tightened. “You think they’re planning an attack?”

“They don’t appear to be, at least not in the immediate future,” Marcus said. “But the location of this base indicates it must be on their agenda. They’re flying in on pteros and, as always, are steering clear of the trees.”

“Geek squad worked out why the raptors hate the trees?” Shaw asked.

Holmes shook his head. “All we have are theories. Maybe something to do with their vision, maybe some substance the trees give off that they don’t like. Who knows, maybe they have killer trees on their planet.”

Reed pondered the theories. The canids—the raptors’ alien-hunting dogs—hated cedar oil. Now all the squads carried cedar oil grenades. It was possible there was something else in the trees that acted as some sort of repellent.

“So we think they’re getting ready to hit our base?” Reed said. “Payback for the Genesis Facility?”

“Yeah,” Marcus agreed. “I’d guess we graduated from pains in the ass to viable threat.”

The images were on slideshow, showing the raptors moving supplies into a building that must have once been a city hall. The next image showed a raptor ptero landing on the town’s main street.

“Stop!” Natalya leapt to her feet. “Stop on that image.”

Reed narrowed his gaze, staring at the boxes the raptors were moving into the building. “What is it? They’re just boxes.”

She pointed. “No, they aren’t. Go back one image.”

Marcus clicked back. And this time, because Reed was staring at the boxes, he saw what he’d missed the first time. Some of the boxes were blinking with red lights.

“Those are energy cubes joined together.” She swiveled, beaming at him. “That’s the power source for whatever they’re doing at this new location.”

Shit
. And Natalya had a way to neutralize the cubes. They could take out the raptor’s power source at this new base. And at their other facilities.

“And?” General Holmes asked, frowning.

“I’ve found a way to upload a virus to one of the command cubes. We click it into those—” she pointed again “—and it’ll destroy their energy supply.”

“Hot damn,” Claudia said.

“So, you get this cube ready and show us what to do,” Reed said. “And we can head out and finish this alien base.”

Natalya shook her head. “It’s too complicated. None of you have the capability to do it.”

“She just call us dumb?” Shaw asked.

Natalya straightened, all prim and proper. “Of course not. But could you tell me how to use a carbine right now and then send me out to kill raptors? I need to be the one to set the cube in place and run my virus program on the spot.”

“No.” The word burst out of Reed. “I won’t let you do this.”

She slowly came to her feet. “It’s not your choice. It’s mine.”

“It’s too dangerous. Look at all those raptors, Natalya. You want to end up back in their hands?”

She flinched and he hated himself. But he had to keep her safe.

“You are not getting close to those fuckers. Not while I’m still breathing.”

“Reed,” Marcus said, his voice weary.

“You know better than any of us that nothing good comes from taking untrained civilians on missions. Remember Elle and the rex?”

Marcus’ face darkened and Elle shot a glare at Reed.

He looked at Gabe. “Emerson got taken by raptors.”

Menace radiated off the big, silent man.

“Natalya’s been through enough,” Reed said.

A slim hand landed on his arm. He looked down into big brown eyes that caught his entire attention.

“I need to do this, Reed.”

“No—”

Her fingers tightened on him. “Listen to me. I need to fight back. I want to strike at them, not just be a victim.”

He grabbed her arms now. “You aren’t a victim, you’re a survivor.”

A faint smile tweaked her lips. “Then let me be a survivor. This is my decision and I need to know you’ll support me and have my back.”

Dammit
. He pulled away, scraping a hand through his hair. She was asking for him to go against every instinct he had. But he knew, deep down, that she needed this and she needed him to be with her every step of the way. He gave the conference table a solid kick and heard the crack of wood.

“All right, Natalya, you’re in,” Marcus said. “But we need twenty-four hours to recuperate and plan.” Marcus’ gaze landed on Reed. “You take that time and spend it with her showing her how to defend herself.”

***

“This is a Xeon 5 laser pistol.”

Natalya watched Reed pick up the small weapon from the vast array on the bench. And she heard the whip of anger simmering in his voice.

He was still mad at her.

He turned to face her. “It’s one of the smallest and lightest of the laser pistols, so it’ll be easy for you to handle.” He held it out. “Some of its components are plastic. The tech guys have a 3-D printer, so we have several of these babies, as they’re easy to make and maintain.”

She took the pistol, testing the feel of it in her hands. It was light. She shot Reed a glance from under her lashes. His jaw was tight, tiny lines of strain were visible around his mouth, and he wasn’t looking at her.

“Ear protection on.” He nodded toward the earmuffs hanging on the wall. “Let’s test it out.”

They were at the base’s shooting range. There were ten long rows, each with electronic targets at the end. There was only one other person using the range. The huge man with his dark hair in long dreadlocks had given them a nod when they’d entered. Since then, he’d been busy unloading a huge, booming weapon into the electronic targets that danced around like mad.

She pulled some earmuffs off the wall. “Who’s that?” she asked.

“Tane. Tane Rahia. He’s head of Squad Three.”

The Berserkers.
She stared at the man with wide eyes. She’d heard rumors about them. Tough, undisciplined, reckless.

Reed tapped her on the forehead. “Focus. We only have a few hours to get this done before you’re going to head out right into the heart of a new raptor base and put yourself at risk.”

Ouch
. His tone was sharp as a knife’s edge. “Reed, I know you’re upset.”

A muscle in his jaw flexed. “The pistol’s simple. Aim and shoot. When the charge dies, take your finger off the trigger. It’ll recharge in under two seconds.”

With a sigh, she settled her muffs over her head and turned to face the target.

“Two hands.” Reed’s voice came through the muffs’ speakers, as clear as without them. His arms also surrounded her, his big body pressing up behind hers.

Focus? How was she supposed to focus like this?

He helped her lift the pistol and aim it, her arms outstretched.

“Now, pull the trigger.”

She did. Green laser fire whizzed down her lane. As it hit the electronic target, she saw it shimmer.

“It’s got more kick than I’d guessed,” she said.

He nodded, his chin brushing her head. “Again.”

He made her shoot over and over again. Soon, her arms were burning from the strain. He gave her pointers, adjusted her grip, changed the targets to different sizes and distances.

And the entire time, he surrounded her, his body brushing against hers in a way she couldn’t ignore. A hand along her arm, his chest against her back, his thighs against her bottom.

By the time he decided they were done, her body was a mass of quivering need. Every nerve ending was trembling and every cell was vitally aware of him.

His arms were still around her and he was saying…something about a holster and a gun safety.

Unable to stop herself, she pressed back against him, her butt brushing him.

He hissed out a breath. “Natalya.”

She felt one very large and very hard cock nestle against the crevice of her bottom.

His arms tightened around her. “We have a mission, a dangerous one, to prepare for.”

“I know. I’m—”

“Not taking it seriously enough.” His words were like bullets past her ear. “If they get you, they’ll put you back in a cage. Take you to a lab again…or kill you.”

A rock settled on her chest. “I know—”

His fingers dug into her skin. “I can’t bear the thought of them cutting into your soft skin again—” he dragged in a shaky breath “—of them crushing the life out of you.”

“Stop it.” She spun and slammed her hands against his chest. “You’re trying to scare me.”

His hands cupped her cheeks, lifting her gaze to his burning gold one. “Yeah, I am. I don’t want you to go in there unprepared. You need the fear to give you an edge.”

“I’ll be with you. With Hell Squad.”

“We aren’t superheroes, Natalya. We all bleed too. Can be killed.”

She did not want to think about Reed hurt or dying. It was hard enough knowing what he risked every time he went out there.

“This mission is important.” She pressed her hands over his. “We’ll do it, together, and strike back at them. They might not be the raptors who hurt me—” her voice wavered “—but I think it’ll help to know I took the offensive.”

He released a long breath and let his forehead drop to hers. “Okay. But I’ll be by your side the entire time.”

She smiled. “I’d like that.”

“God, you twist me up.”

She licked her lips. “Really? I don’t think I’ve ever twisted a man up before.” Especially not a hard, tough warrior like Reed. But boy, she liked it.

“If…if the worst happens—” he stopped with a curse and heaved in a breath. His gold eyes bored into hers. “If they get you, I’ll come for you. Understand?”

She trembled. “Okay.”

“You don’t do anything stupid, or risk yourself, you wait until I come.”

Natalya could barely stand the thought of being strapped down on a bed again, bright lights in her face, pain sawing through her. Panic fluttered in her chest. “Reed—”

He gave her a little shake. “Promise me, sweetheart, or I won’t let you get on that Hawk.”

Could she hold on if the aliens had her again? Memories of being dragged away the first time flashed through her head. She wrapped her arms around him and pressed her face to his chest. Suddenly an overwhelming urge welled inside her, the need to talk.

“When they took me…I’d been hiding out at the university. That’s where I was when the attack happened. A bunch of us, staff and students, had been there, scavenging, hiding. Then a raptor patrol came through.”

Her throat tightened. She remembered the screams, the hiss of raptor poison burning through skin, wood and metal.

Reed’s hand stroked down her back, steadying her. “My memories of the lab aren’t always clear and my nightmares…sometimes I don’t know what was real and what was imagined. But I had such little hope.” She gripped him tighter and his arms held her tight and safe. She breathed him in, that salty-ocean scent of him. “There was so much pain, lights in my eyes, and sobbing. Mine, and the people around me who I couldn’t help. I didn’t think I’d ever get out of there. I know you can’t fully understand what it was like—”

“I do.”

She squeezed her eyes shut. “You can’t—”

“I was taken captive on a mission once.”

“What?” She jerked her head up to look at him.

“It was years ago.” Something dark moved through his eyes. “It was only a day. A few of us got separated during an attack and snatched by insurgents in the Middle East. They…wanted to make a spectacle out of us. The big, mean UC Navy SEALs weren’t so tough when they were stripped naked, tortured, and beaten bloody.”