by Anna Hackett
“Kate!” Manu shouted.
The crates tumbled, and landmines rolled out like bowling balls. Kate tried to stay on her feet, but slipped on the bombs. The raptor fell over with a shout.
Manu saw some of the bombs blink on, activating.
No. He sprinted toward her, jumping and dodging the rolling balls. He imagined he was back on the rugby field. She was toppling over when he reached her. He scooped her up, kicked the raptor in the face, and leaped over the last of the bombs.
Then he aimed toward the mining equipment, lungs burning as he ran as fast as he could.
The gear was old and rusted, but it was built of solid steel. He hoped to hell it would hold against multiple explosions.
He jumped, and they flew into the space between the equipment and the wall.
They landed hard, both of them grunting. A huge explosion ripped through the cavern behind them.
Manu rolled on top of Kate to shield her. Dirt rained down on them, and debris made loud pinging sounds, bouncing off the metal machines. More explosions followed, shaking the ground.
He felt something hit his prosthetic leg. The pain receptors flared and he jerked. Then everything went quiet.
“Okay?” Kate whispered.
“Yeah. Something hit my prosthetic leg, but I’m fine. Let’s move while we can.”
He rolled off her and they jumped up. He grabbed her hand, and they slid out from behind the equipment.
But luck wasn’t on their side.
Manu’s gut went rock solid. Several battered, blood-covered raptors stood with weapons aimed at them. The lead raptor, his bandolier torn and hanging off him, was among them, his eyes burning with fury.
Manu tightened his grip on Kate. Fuck.
Chapter Thirteen
Kate groaned and rolled over. God, her body hurt. Even her teeth hurt.
She lifted her head and peered blearily around the space. Close by, she could hear the grunts of raptors talking.
Dammit. Where was Manu? She turned her head and her chest went tight.
He was hanging from chains strung up over the mining equipment. His arms were wrenched above his head and his chin was resting on his chest. His armor was gone, and his shirt was torn and bloody.
Was he alive? Terror filled her. She’d never felt this desperate, pained emotion before. She got up on her knees and finally acknowledged the true depth of her feelings for this man. It had happened fast, was too soon, but it was real.
Quietly, she crawled over to him, trying not to attract any attention. They’d been gone too long now, so she was sure the squads would be on their way.
If the squads could find their way through the maze of mining tunnels.
She touched one of Manu’s legs. “Manu?”
She saw that his prosthetic leg was damaged. His trousers were torn, exposing the damaged limb. Probably from the blasts earlier. She also saw something else.
Scales had appeared on his leg, the same as had happened with Kendra. What the hell?
Suddenly, Manu’s body jerked, and relief flooded her. He was alive. Her heart shot into her throat as she rose. She reached up and cupped his jaw.
“Manu?”
“Kate.” His voice was dry and croaky.
“You okay?”
“Sure.” He lifted his head, looking around. He tested his restraints. “Can’t get free.”
Now, Kate scanned the cavern. They needed a way to get out of here. But all she could see were more crates of those damn landmines. No other weapons in sight.
“Kate.”
She turned her gaze to meet his. “I’m going to—”
“Get out of here.”
Her eyes widened. “And leave you here?” Her words were a furious whisper.
“Yes.”
Ignoring him, she spotted an empty crate. She nudged it over in front of him.
“Get out and warn the Enclave,” he continued.
“They’d already know something went wrong. We’ve been gone way longer than thirty minutes.”
“I don’t want my brothers walking into this clusterfuck.”
“We are getting out of here,” she said sternly. She stood up on the crate and checked the chains. They were face to face.
“I don’t want you here, either. Get out, Kate.”
She glanced into velvet-brown eyes, warmth in her chest. “Not. Leaving. You.” She fiddled with the chains.
He let out a sigh. “Fine. There’s a knife in my boot.”
Of course there was. Badass Manu Rahia wouldn’t go anywhere without a backup weapon. She crouched down, found the hidden slot in the side of his boot, and yanked the knife out.
When she stood, she took a second to press her lips to his. “For a second, I thought you were dead.”
His eyes flashed. “Kate.”
“Manu, I—” She tried to put some words to her emotions, but damn, she wasn’t good at this.
He smiled. “I know.”
She nodded. Now wasn’t the time to talk, but hopefully they’d get the chance later. She lifted the knife and tried to pry open the lock on the chains.
A guttural laugh sounded behind her and she quickly spun.
Several raptors fanned out, watching them. Dammit. Despair washed over her.
When she looked back, she saw Manu’s face was hard.
The lead raptor, bandolier now repaired, stepped forward. “I want to know the easiest way to get my weapons into your base.”
Kate straightened. “Screw you.”
He stepped closer and with her standing on the crate, they were almost face-to-face. “Humans are so stubborn.”
She lifted her chin. “Yep.”
His hand flashed out and he punched her in the gut. Pain exploded and she doubled over.
Behind her, she heard Manu’s chains rattle.
“Don’t fucking touch her,” Manu ground out.
Kate breathed through the pain. “Just kill us. There’s no way we’ll give up our people.”
The raptor shot her an ugly smile. “We have ways to make people talk.”
She choked out a laugh. “It’ll never happen.”
The raptor gripped the front of her shirt, jerking her to her toes. “Let’s see how much he can take.”
She glared. “He’ll never break. He’s stronger than all of us.”
An ugly smile unfurled on the raptor’s face. She stiffened, her stomach turning over.
“Let’s see how much he can take of watching what we do to you before he breaks.”
Manu made a choked, growling sound, and Kate felt ice slide through her veins.
Panic was an ugly burn in Manu’s gut.
He watched a raptor drag a chair over in front of him. It was beaten up and looked like it was left over from when the mine had been in operation.
Another raptor yanked Kate by the hair and dragged her to the chair. He shoved her into it. She was silent, defiance wafting off her, as they tied her to the chair.
So tough, his woman. So perfect.
“Come on, then,” she ground out. “Hit me.”
“Kate,” Manu warned.
Her blue eyes were blazing. “I can take it. Don’t give them anything.”
Manu gritted his teeth.
The head raptor talked to another, and a second later, a third raptor walked closer. He was carrying a small black box.
He walked up to Kate, and her gaze fell on the box.
The head raptor leaned over and opened the lid.
Manu craned his neck, and saw a small silver device nestled in the center of the box. It looked long and skinny, but he was too far away to see it clearly.
“Can you get a move on?” Kate said, voice bored.
The raptor lifted the device. “We call this a baraa.”
Kate didn’t say anything, but she swallowed. The raptor held out his scaly palm and Manu saw the thing wiggle.
“It will enter your body through your nose,” the raptor said.
Fuck. Manu
tested the chains again, but they were too strong.
“It will burrow its way to your brain and into your brain tissue.”
Kate lifted her chin another inch.
“Then you’ll be very willing to share what you know. This little thing will destroy areas in your brain that regulate your self-control.”
She thrashed against her chair, and Manu wanted to be sick. Then, he wanted to slam the fucking raptor’s head into the wall.
The raptor leaned down, bringing the small creature closer to Kate’s face. He put it on her cheek and it wiggled. She thrashed again.
“Hold her,” the lead raptor ordered.
Two raptor soldiers stepped up, pinning her down to the chair.
“Leave her alone,” Manu barked.
The leader looked his way. “You’ll share all the entrances to your base? And security details?”
“Manu, no!” Kate shouted.
God, so many innocent people were in the Enclave—women, children, injured survivors. His gaze fell on Kate. The woman who matched him step for step. The woman he wanted for his own.
He roared his frustration, rattling his chains.
The raptor turned back to Kate and watched his little device wiggle into Kate’s nose.
“I’m afraid after the baraa is finished, it is impossible to extract,” the leader added.
She jerked, her eyes wide.
“It will liquefy your brain.”
Fuck, no. Manu felt a sense of fury-fueled power wash through him. No way was he going to let his woman be killed right before his eyes.
Using his strength, he lifted his legs up to his chest. The raptor nearby tensed, but Manu kicked out, knocking him into another raptor.
Fast, Manu curled and lifted his legs all the way up, smashing his prosthetic against the chains above his head.
Nothing happened. He lifted his left leg again, using all his strength to bang the high-tech titanium alloy against the chains.
One chain broke, and his body dropped. One of his hands was free.
The lead raptor shouted something, and Manu guessed it was orders to stop him. Not today, asshole.
A raptor rushed him and Manu kicked out again. The raptor staggered. Manu lifted his leg once more and bashed it into the other chain.
It broke open and he dropped to the ground in a crouch. Free.
Raptors rushed at him, but his fury was white-hot, flooding him with adrenaline. He was going to save his fucking woman.
Enraged, he snatched up one of the chains and swung out with it. A raptor went down under the vicious swing. Manu punched and kicked. He ducked and dodged blows. His prosthetic was badly damaged, and his balance was off, but he stayed on his feet and kept fighting.
He landed a punch into the chest of another raptor. The alien dropped his weapon, and quickly, Manu snatched it up.
He spun, opening fire. Poison sprayed everywhere.
He watched the lead raptor duck out of the way, some of his men covering him. Manu kept firing, charging forward to reach Kate.
He reached her chair and, with the weapon still up, he used his boot to slam down through the ropes binding her.
She bounded up and scooped another discarded weapon off the floor.
Together, they started firing and walking backward.
“Tunnel,” he yelled.
She nodded. They kept up a steady spray of poison, keeping the raptors from getting close.
Then they turned and ran for the tunnel.
Chapter Fourteen
Adrenaline charged through Kate’s veins as they powered through the darkened tunnels. Red lights up near the roof still provided some illumination, but they were spaced farther apart, leaving big patches of darkness.
Her body was throbbing with pain, but then she felt a sharp sting in her nose. Shit, she’d forgotten about the baraa.
She stumbled to a stop. “Manu.”
He pulled up. “We have to—”
“Get it out.” She pinched her nose. “Get this damn thing out of me.”
He cursed and tilted her face up. “I can see the end of it.” He brought his fingers up near her nostril and pinched them together.
He must have been able to grab the end of it, because she felt it wriggle. Ugh. Her stomach rolled. The damn thing was almost fully inside her nose.
Panic flared and bile rose in her throat. “Get it out.”
With a nod, he started to pull. The thing fought back. The sting turned to burning pain, and tears poured down her cheeks. Oh, God. Don’t be sick, Kate.
Manu hesitated.
“Do it,” she rasped. “I want it out.” Her skin was crawling, and she was horribly aware that the raptors could find them at any second.
Manu resumed tugging. Kate bit her lip. It felt like there was a burning-hot poker up her nose. She tasted blood.
And suddenly, with one, final spike of pain, Manu yanked the thing free. It was wriggling around wildly, and he dropped it on the dirt floor. With one big stomp of his boot, it was gone.
Kate felt a trickle of blood from her nose and swiped at it with her knuckle.
“Babe.” Manu cupped her jaw.
“I’m okay.” She hugged him, hard. She needed his strength. “Thank you.”
“We have to keep moving.” His hand tangled in her hair. “They’ll be looking for us.”
She nodded.
They kept moving, silent and wary, their weapons held at the ready. Kate noticed Manu’s uneven gait and realized he was limping badly. But his face was set and resolute, so she didn’t bring it up.
“Any idea where we are?” she asked.
“No clue.”
They kept moving, hoping against hope that they were increasing the distance between them and the raptors, with only the ominous red lighting illuminating their way. She searched for any tunnel that looked familiar, but everything freaking looked the same. They traveled down one dark tunnel, only to reach an area where dirt and rock filled the passage. The tunnel was partially collapsed.
“Dammit.” Manu gripped her arm and yanked her back the way they’d come.
They turned another corner.
“The odds of finding the tunnel we used to get here are slim,” she said. “We need to just find a way to the surface. Any way.”
He nodded.
She noticed his limp was getting worse. “You okay? Looks like your prosthetic is damaged.”
“It’ll hold up,” he said grimly. “Keep going.”
But their pace was getting slower and slower. Kate was pretty sure they were headed for another fight about her leaving him behind.
She wasn’t leaving him. Ever.
They were walking down another dark tunnel, when an eerie sound echoed through the labyrinth behind them, causing them to both jerk to a halt. They glanced back, staring into the darkness.
Yips of excited animals resonated down the tunnel, followed by a long, drawn-out howl that made the hairs on the back of her neck rise.
“Fuck.” Manu looked at his boots, his hands clenching on the raptor weapon. “They’ve set canids on us.”
She knew the alien hunting dogs were vicious. “Let’s keep moving.”
Glad for her weapon, even though she hated the scaly feel of it, she hefted it higher as they trudged down the tunnel. Surely it was time for them to catch a break.
But then something appeared out of the gloom, sending her hope spiraling downward.
A rock wall.
It was a dead end.
“Dammit.” Apparently, Lady Luck had decided to toy with them today. Kate turned, the sounds of the canids getting louder.
“We’ll have to make a stand here,” Manu said.
They were stuck in a dead end with no cover, and only two alien weapons between them. Her throat burned.
“Kate.” He pulled her close.
Her fingers tightened on his arms. “I know,” she whispered.
They shared a moment of silence, the air between them charged. It was r
eally unfair that she’d met a man who was perfect for her—who she didn’t scare or intimidate, who made her light up and melt, who looked at her like she was the most gorgeous thing he’d ever seen—only for them to die in this horrible, dark, dusty place.
“I have some grenades,” he said.
Her eyebrows rose. “The raptors didn’t take them?”
His teeth were white in the darkness. “They were hidden in my first aid kit. I made them look like rolls of bandages.”
She managed a smile. “Sneaky.”
He leaned heavily against the wall as he fished out the grenades. “I have a cedar oil one the canids won’t like, and a new cineole one that the tech team are still testing. Plus a couple of regular frag grenades.”
As he talked, she looked down at those ugly scales covering his prosthetic. It looked like they were chewing through the high-tech metal.
God, if his prosthetic broke before they got out of here, he wouldn’t be able to walk. Without her armor, she wouldn’t be able to carry him.
“Set up two of these near the entrance,” he said.
She nodded, taking the grenades, and moved down the tunnel. She crouched low, placing them carefully.
Back by his side, they stood, shoulder to shoulder, and both lifted their weapons.
A deep growl rumbled through the darkness.
Her nerves stretched taut. The alien dog was close. She clutched her weapon, keeping her hands steady.
Then the first canid slunk out of the darkness.
Manu watched as the alien hunting dog crept forward.
Ugly bastard. The canine-like alien had thick, tough skin, sharp spikes along its back, and drool dripping off the fangs in its jaws.
The first grenade exploded with an earsplitting bang, blowing the canid apart.
But before they could celebrate, more canids rushed into the tunnel. The second grenade—the cedar oil one—went off. Pained yelps reverberated off the walls.
Manu started firing, a grim smile on his face. Kate opened fire at the same time. He and Kate might be backed into a corner, but they wouldn’t go down easily.
Poison splattered the walls and floor, sizzling, and canids howled in pain and anger.
