Reed: Scifi Alien Invasion Romance (Hell Squad Book 4) (9 page)

She was rocked to the core. He was so strong, so solid. She couldn’t imagine it.

He brushed a hand over her hair. “A team came in and rescued us. The idiots had posted images of us online and they gave away enough landmarks that our teammates could find us.” He stroked his thumbs against her cheeks. “Most of the time, they kept us locked in a hole in the ground. Dirt inches from our faces, no fresh air.”

She bit her lip at what she heard in his voice. She understood.

“I vowed to myself that when I got free, I’d make the most of my freedom. Of the great outdoors. I learned not to dwell, and take pleasure where I found it.”

She arched a brow. “Oh?”

He grinned. “Diving, or riding a bike, or just being in the fresh air. You have a dirty mind, Dr. Vasin.” Then his smile faded. “So, I didn’t experience being kept for months,” his hand slid down her chest, along her scar, “and my scars were nothing like this. But I do understand.”

Something tight inside her eased. She pressed her lips to the V of tanned skin at his neck. She knew deep inside that the man standing in front of her would move mountains or cut through the entire alien horde to get to her. “I promise to hold on until you come.”

His arms flexed on her and he pressed a quick kiss to her lips. “Thank you.”

“Knowing you’ll come for me…I could survive anything knowing that.”

He pressed his cheek to her hair. “I’ll always come for you, Natalya. Always.”

Chapter Eight

She could do this.

Natalya tried to stay calm, but her heart was thumping and her pulse racing. Around her in the quadcopter, Hell Squad was preparing for the mission. They were coiling thin rappelling ropes and clipping carabiners onto their armor.

They’d be rappelling down to the new raptor base. Natalya swallowed back the sick feeling rising in her throat. She’d be in raptor territory. Surrounded by them again.

She closed her eyes, breathing slowly. Her armor felt strange, her body felt hollow, and her new laser pistol felt like it weighed a ton.

“Hey.” A warm hand on her shoulder. Ocean waves and sea spray. She looked up at Reed and immediately felt a little calmer.

“You’ll do great,” he said. “And I’ll be by your side the entire time.”

She nodded and blew out a breath. “I feel…” scared out of my brains. For all her big talk about needing to do this, now she felt like crawling into her bed and never getting out.

He brushed a strand of hair off her temple. “Being afraid is natural. And it’s good. It’ll stop you being cocky, taking unnecessary risks.”

A hiccupping laugh escaped her. “There is no chance I’ll get cocky.”

He smiled, turning that rugged face irresistible. “You’ll go in there, destroy their energy cubes and show them no one, not even giant invading aliens, can keep you down.”

She nodded.

“You’ve got the cube?”

Another nod. She pulled the blinking alien cube from the mesh bag clipped to her belt and held it up. “Noah helped me and we uploaded the virus. I really wish we could have tested it.” But without extra cubes, it just wasn’t an option. “I need to set it in place and use my analyzer to finish the last step to activate the virus.” Then they’d see if the theory actually worked.

“All right, people, listen up,” Marcus’ gravelly voice rasped.

He stood at the front of the Hawk, legs spread, looking tough as always.

“This needs to be a quick op. We don’t have time to sneak in or take them all out. We need to get in, let Natalya do her stuff, and get out. The Hawk will hover right outside the city hall building for us to rappel down. Head straight for the target. Everyone ready?”

There were nods and murmurs of agreement. Natalya wanted to shout “no way” but she stiffened her spine and shoved the cube back in her bag. She was going to do this.

Marcus’ blue eyes glittered. “Ready to go to hell?”

“Hell, yeah!” the team yelled. “The devil needs an ass-kicking!”

The soldiers all pressed buttons on the neck of their armor and lightweight, retractable helmets slid into place.

Natalya blinked and stared at them all. In their black armor and with their focused faces, they looked so…intimidating. But she knew them all now, and under the muscles, the deadly fighting skills, there were men and women who just believed in fighting for what was right.

“Here.” Reed’s hand slid along her jaw and down to the button on her neckline. Her helmet settled into place.

She looked up at him. She knew he would fight again and again to protect those who needed his help and to fight for freedom.

The riotous emotions in her settled. If Hell Squad could do this every day, she could face her fears and do it once.

Reed held up a carabiner. “Time to hook on.” He clipped it to her belt and tested it. “I’m your ride to the ground, brown-eyed girl.”

“In any other circumstances, it might be fun,” she said.

He tipped her chin up, his thumb running over her lips. “One day, I’ll take you rock climbing. Somewhere with crisp mountain air and beautiful scenery as far as we can see.”

“Sounds wonderful.” She wondered if they would ever get the chance.

He leaned closer. “And I’ll find a patch of wildflowers, lay you down in them and take my time stripping you naked. Then I’ll make love to you with just the sunshine on our skin.”

Oh
. Desire was a hot surge between her legs. “Reed,” she whispered quietly.

He grinned and tapped her nose. “Ready?”

Mission. Right.
She nodded.

He led her to the side door. Ahead of them, Claudia and Gabe were ready to head out first. Marcus and Cruz would be next, then Reed and Natalya. Shaw would provide cover fire and come down last.

Out the window, she saw the small town the raptors had claimed come into view. It must have been so pretty to live there, nestled amongst the beauty of the Blue Mountains. Now raptor vehicles crowded the streets in front of the shops, and what must have been the town hall. It was an older building, with a wide set of steps up to double doors framed by large columns.

As they got closer, she could make out the raptors wandering the streets, weapons in hand. Her heart thumped again, but she soaked in the reassurance of having Reed by her side.

“They’ve seen us,” Finn, the Hawk pilot, called back from the cockpit.

“Goodie,” Shaw said. He sat in the autocannon on the side of the Hawk, swiveling to aim. “Let me say a big hello.”

As the autocannon fired, green laser sending the raptors scrambling, Marcus gave the order to go.

In a graceful move, Claudia and Gabe dived out of the copter, carbines held tightly in their hands.

Natalya’s heart leapt into her throat. “Tell me we aren’t going out like that.”

Reed smoothed a hand over her helmet. “No. They’re going in hot and will lay down cover fire for us. Watch Marcus and Cruz.”

The other two men went backward, zipping down the sleek, black lines.

Okay, that she could do. Reed pulled her to the very edge of the doorway. Below, she saw the first four Hell Squad members rapidly firing their weapons and running for cover. The raptor weapons were spewing poison around the street in return.

“Time to go.” Reed pulled her in front of him.

She was about to ask him if he was going to count to three or something, but he just stepped out of the Hawk, taking her with him.

God
. Adrenaline spiked. Air whizzed past her face. They dropped so fast, she felt like she was on an out-of-control carnival ride.

Her feet hit the ground. Reed steadied her, unclipped the hook and then was yanking her toward an overturned SUV.

“We’re going to head straight for the steps. Gabe’ll go first, so you just follow him. The others will be laying down cover fire. Got it?”

She nodded. But as she studied the path to the building, all she saw were raptors and their ugly green poison arching through the air.

“Look at me.” Reed’s voice was firm.

She did and was snared by the intensity in the burnished gold.

“You look at Gabe or me. Nothing else. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“Right.” He touched his earpiece. “Gabe?”

“Ready,” the man’s deep voice came across the comm.

“Let’s do it.” Reed pulled her up and they ran.

Natalya just focused on putting one foot in front of the other. Ahead, Gabe charged through the street like an unstoppable linebacker. He shot down aliens, and physically rammed into one or two who got too close. Reed was firing, too.

Just reach the building
. She focused on the men.
Reach the building.

Something exploded to her right, making her scream. Reed grabbed her arm and pulled her forward.

Then they were at the steps.

Gabe took cover behind one of the large columns and Reed tugged her behind a second one. She dared look back and saw the rest of Hell Squad fighting their way toward the building.

Something hit the column, inches from her face, chipping off plaster. She jerked back, heard Reed’s curse, and saw three bone-like projectiles embedded in the column.

“Stay in cover,” he bit off. “Elle? How many raptors inside?”

“Ten, Reed,” came the comm officer’s reply. “Most emptied out when you arrived.”

Elle sounded incredibly calm. Natalya thought she’d go crazy if she had to listen to the team go through this every day. Especially when one of the men was hers.

“Roger that.” Reed eyed Gabe. “When the rest of the team gets here, be ready to go in.”

The big man nodded.

Moments later, Marcus and the others sprinted up the stairs. “Let’s do this,” Marcus said.

With a nod, Gabe unloaded his carbine into the door. Then, with a swift kick, he knocked it in. Claudia moved up beside him. Gabe went in high, and Claudia low.

The sound of carbine fire reverberated through the building. Marcus and Cruz charged forward. Reed urged Natalya to follow.

Inside was a reception area. It had probably been bright and welcoming once, but now, an electronic noticeboard hung crookedly on the wall, its screen cracked. Beside it, the old-fashioned bulletin board was filled with torn and faded posters, their edges curling. The pale-gray carpet had a trail of muddy boot prints stamped into it.

“Through there,” Marcus pointed.

Double doors led into the hall. Through them, she had a glimpse of lovely polished wood floors and a stage framed by old red velvet curtains at the back.

But it was all marred by the supplies the raptors had packed into the room.

Green goo splattered the floor near Natalya. She dodged and Reed yanked her out of the line of fire. She heard the stuff sizzling and knew a tiny touch of it would paralyze. Reed returned fire and around him, the rest of Hell Squad was taking down the remaining raptors.

Then there was silence.

Marcus strode forward. “Gabe, Cruz, get something across the doors. Let’s keep any visitors out.” His gaze leveled on Natalya and Reed. “Find the energy source. I want this done quickly, and then I want to get out of here before raptor backup arrives.”

Reed nodded and together the two of them hurried through the hall. Natalya studied each item they passed. Black boxes filled with…things. Most she couldn’t recognize.

When she saw a box overflowing with raw meat, she grimaced. She knew raptors were carnivores, but she really, really didn’t want to imagine them tearing into hunks of bloody meat.

No energy cubes.

She released a breath, turning in a circle. “I don’t see them.”

“They’ll be here.” Reed was frowning.

Then Natalya spied a cable running along one wall. “Look.” She hurried over. It was an ugly thing, spliced with organics, and pulsing lightly.

“Power cable?” Reed asked.

“Possibly.” She followed it. It was heading toward the stage area. It ran under the red velvet curtains hanging at the side of the stage.

She pushed the curtains back.

The cable ran right to a pile of energy cubes.

She gasped.
So many
. They were all fitted together, forming a rough pyramid shape about waist-high. They were all operational, pulsing red. She snatched up her analyzer and checked.

“This is it.” She pulled her black cube out. She was deciding on the best place to stick it when shouts rang out. Glass smashed and growls filled the room.

She swiveled, heard Reed curse.

Canids were pouring in through the windows high up on the walls. Hell Squad was firing at them. They looked like giant dogs, or wolves, but with scales, sharp spikes on their backs, and jaws filled with sharp teeth.

“Cedar-oil grenades!” someone shouted.

Beside her, she saw Reed pull a slim canister off his belt. “Canid repellent.” He pulled his arm back like a baseball player and lobbed the grenade toward the pack of canids. Then he lifted his carbine.

“I’ll be right over there, holding them off. Get the cube connected.”

With a nod, Natalya focused back on her task. The top of the pile might be best. She had no idea if the location made any difference. She really wished she could scoop all these cubes up and take them back to base to study. She reached up and clicked her cube into place.

Nothing happened. She’d expected…something. She picked up the analyzer, and with a few quick swipes, activated the last bit of code for the virus. She pressed the button.

She waited a few seconds. The howls and snarls of the canids filled her head.

Nothing.

Come on.
She frowned and tapped the analyzer screen. The command cube should be communicating with the other cubes, passing along the virus that would burn them out.

But the lights on the pyramid of cubes kept blinking merrily. Like they were laughing at her.

Dammit
. She snatched the cube off, knelt, and jammed it onto another at the base of the pile. Still nothing.

Crouched there, the sounds of Hell Squad fighting the canids ringing in her ears, she felt a choking sense of failure creeping in. That horrible, helpless feeling that she knew all too well.

Then she heard a guttural grunt.