by Anna Hackett
Chrissy dodged to the side. The animal landed, splayed on the floor, and pushed up on its tentacles to turn back.
Levi lifted a boot and brought it down on one tentacle, pinning it. “Now!”
She raced forward with the laser cutter. The creature whipped around in a frenzy. She hesitated for a second, worried that she’d hit Levi.
“Do it!” he ordered.
She thrust the cutter into the creature.
Tentacles waved wildly and it flickered black and red.
Levi lifted his boot and slammed it down on the creature. The flailing tentacles stopped and flopped to the concrete.
He stepped back and sucked in a deep breath. “What the fuck was that?”
Chrissy clutched her broken wrist to her chest, and on a hunch, went over to get her scanner. She wasn’t sure this would work, but she flicked the device on and scanned the creature.
Data appeared on the screen and she hissed. “Well, it isn’t just an ugly Gizzida pet, after all. It’s part animal and part machine. This is what disabled the Hunter.” She frowned. “It looks like there’s data stored on this thing.” She looked up at Levi. “It was designed to collect data.”
He frowned. “Shit. Come on. We need to let the geek squad know, and get your arm checked out.”
Chrissy nodded. She knew that Noah Kim and his team of geniuses who kept everything in the Enclave running were the best people to pull this little nasty apart.
Besides, she really wanted a painkiller.
“The little bastard broke my wrist,” she muttered.
“Broke it?” Levi reached out, gently touching her arm. He muttered a savage curse, then grabbed the back of his T-shirt and yanked it over his head.
She watched, mesmerized.
“Here.” He set to work fashioning a makeshift sling for her.
Chrissy was too busy staring at his chest, and the vast expanse of bronzed skin over hard, lean muscle. She swallowed. Silver winked at her from one of his flat nipples. God, he had a nipple ring. And all that black ink. Her gaze followed some tribal markings that ran down his side.
Then he turned and she got a view of his back.
Oh. God. Chrissy had always liked tattoos on a man. Levi’s muscled back was completely covered in the most amazing ink. She shifted, her gaze sliding over the outstretched black wings of a fallen warrior angel.
He turned back. “Come on, we need to get you to the infirmary.”
Infirmary. Right. Broken wrist.
He slid an arm around her and scooped her into his arms.
She gasped. “My arm’s broken, King, not my legs.”
“Don’t care.” He strode out of the hangar.
“What about the alien?”
“I’ll call Noah from the infirmary.” Levi paused. “You did good work back there, Spitfire. Didn’t lose your cool once.”
Praise from this man shouldn’t feel so good. “Thanks. You too.”
He’d charged in with no concern for his own safety. She’d heard the berserkers were good at that.
Suddenly, he grinned at her. “Wow, you thanked me without spontaneously combusting.”
She screwed her nose up. “Don’t ruin it.”
He leaned closer, his breath brushing her cheek. “I can’t wait for you to thank me for giving you the best orgasm of your life.”
“Annnnd he’s ruined it. You just can’t help but be an asshole, can you?”
He turned a corner into another corridor and ahead lay the door into the infirmary. “Nope. Come on, Spitfire. Let’s get that arm fixed.”
“And then I can punch you with it,” she grumbled.
Levi leaned against the wall in the Command Center, staring at the small crowd gathered for the early-morning briefing. Ash and Tane were flanking him.
His gaze moved unerringly to auburn hair sitting close to the front. Chrissy had tossed him some glares when he’d forced her to sit. Her wrist was all healed now, but it would take him a while to forget the sight of her wrestling with that alien thing when he’d entered the hangar.
“All right, let’s get started.” General Holmes stepped out in front. The man carried an air of authority that usually grated on Levi, but Holmes did get the job done. He made tough choices, took action, and kept everyone in this little sanctuary of humanity alive.
Off to the side stood another dark-haired man. Niko Ivanov was the civilian leader of the Enclave. The man was an artist, but Levi recognized a badass when he saw one. He might be an artist now, but he’d been something else before. From the day the survivors from Blue Mountain Base had arrived, Niko had welcomed them and worked seamlessly with Holmes to make the Enclave their home too.
“Noah’s had some time to study the creature that came off the Hunter.”
Noah stood, his dark hair loose and brushing his shoulders, and a frown on his face. He held a device and when he clicked a button, images blinked onto the screens covering the wall. They all showed the ugly, black tentacle creature.
“We’re calling this unattractive little guy a parasite. It is an organic machine, and seems to have been specifically designed to get into the Hunter, lay low, and collect data.”
Levi glanced at Chrissy and caught her wince. Hell, the woman even looked sexy when she was uncomfortable. He took in her black tank top, and the way it showcased slender arms and her fantastic breasts. His cock hardened and he let himself imagine her naked.
She didn’t look his way, and he got the distinct impression she was ignoring him.
Levi had learned to never give up. If you wanted something, you went after it, because life was a bitch. She never handed you anything for free. You fought for it, and you bled for it, or you got nothing.
God, Chrissy had been fierce fighting that creature. No screaming or hysterics. Tough as fuck, even with a broken wrist.
“What data is this thing collecting?” Marcus Steel, the leader of Hell Squad, asked.
“Everything,” Noah answered. “How the Hunter works, info about the fuel systems, engine stats, and weapons data.”
“The maintenance team is already checking all our vehicles and Hawks for any sign of more of these things,” Holmes said. “I’ve also got extra squads out on patrol.” He glanced at the woman standing tall beside him.
Captain Kate Scott, head of Enclave security, nodded. “My security team is on high alert. If anyone gets close to the Enclave, we’ll know about it.”
“I did get some encrypted alien data off the parasite.” A satisfied smile crossed Noah’s face. “Elle?”
A small brunette seated at a comp tapped on the screen. Elle Steele, comms officer for Hell Squad and Marcus’ wife, smiled as she worked.
Images flashed up on the screen. As they flicked through in a slideshow, Levi frowned. Most were dark and blurry, and he wasn’t sure what he was looking at.
“Most of them seem to be of this particular location,” Noah said.
Levi saw metal and water. A factory?
“Where is it?” Chrissy asked.
Noah shook his head. “We’re not sure yet.”
“Those look like cranes,” Chrissy said. “Not small ones, either.” The next image made her straighten. “Yes, look. That’s a part of a dockside gantry crane.”
Noah put his hands on his hips. “You’re right.”
“Hang on a second.” Elle’s fingers flew across the screen. “I’m doing a search of all of Sydney’s ports. Cross-referencing our drone image database.” The comp beeped, and a wide smile lit up Elle’s pretty face. “Got it. It’s the deep-water port at Botany Bay.” Her smile dissolved. “It’s right beside Sydney Airport.”
Levi stroked his chin. Sydney Airport. That was the Gizzida’s base of operations in the area, and where their giant, alien mothership sat.
“So, what’s so special about this port?” Tane asked. “Anything that you can see?”
Holmes frowned. “We’ve documented the port before. As far as we know, it’s just empty, rotting docks.” Th
e general turned, sliding his hands behind his back. “Elle, alert Lia that I want the drone team to focus on the port and gather more data. Noah, keep your team studying this parasite. We need to determine why the raptors are focusing on that particular area.”
“I can send someone in to scout it out,” Santha Cruz said. The head of the intel team was back at work since the birth of her baby.
Holmes shook his head at the brunette. “It’s too close to the airport. That will be a last resort.”
Levi crossed his arms over his chest. “I have a bad feeling about this.” He kept his voice low.
Ash nodded. “I get a bad feeling anytime the aliens are involved.”
Ash had been feeling particularly touchy about the raptors, since one of them had shoved a sword through his woman’s chest a few weeks back. Thankfully, sweet Marin had survived.
“Stay alert.” Holmes’ gaze slid around the room, and then stopped on the berserkers. “Squad Three is up for the next mission, so if we find anything we need to act on…”
Tane inclined his head. “We’ll be ready.”
As others raised their voices to ask questions, Levi looked over at Chrissy.
Only to find her gorgeous red hair missing and her chair empty. Sometime during the briefing, she’d slipped out.
Levi grinned. You keep running, Spitfire. I’ll catch you.
Chapter Four
Chrissy leaned over the table in her room, studying the schematics spread out on its surface. She rubbed the back of her neck and breathed deep. She had a candle burning, and its vanilla scent filled the room. She loved her space. After months spent locked in cages by the Gizzida, having some privacy and some nice things that were hers meant a lot to her.
Ugly, black memories clawed at her throat, and she breathed in vanilla again. The throaty voice of her favorite singer filtered in from the music speakers. Once the memories receded, she looked at her work again.
She’d been scribbling some ideas for upgrades to the Hunters. Upgrades that would stop those icky alien creatures from infiltrating again. Absently, she rubbed her now-healed wrist.
She needed chocolate. Heading over to the tiny kitchenette, she raided her stash. Some of it was homemade, while a couple of bars had been pilfered from the ruins of the nearby towns. She popped a square of raspberry-infused dark chocolate in her mouth, and took a second to savor the taste.
During those months in captivity, she’d had nothing. No privacy, no bed, no place to call home, no clothes except the rags on her back, and barely enough food to survive. No hope.
There certainly hadn’t been any small pleasures, like chocolate.
Every day at the Enclave, she reminded herself of how lucky she was. So many people hadn’t made it, and so many people were still raptor prisoners.
Sitting back in her chair, she looked again at the Hunter schematics. She thought of that ugly little octopus creature and rubbed her wrist again, feeling a phantom pain. Doc Emerson, who ran the medical team, had given her a shot of nanomeds. The microscopic medical machines had done their work in a few hours.
And then, her thoughts turned to her rescuer.
No. She wasn’t going anywhere near thoughts of him. She did not need Levi King and all his sexy, annoying bikerness in her head.
There was a knock at her door, and happy for the distraction, Chrissy jumped up to open it.
A tall, athletic woman stood on the other side, her dark, red-tinted hair pulled back in a ponytail.
“Hey, Taylor.”
“Hi,” Taylor Cates answered. “I heard what happened, and thought I’d come and check on you.”
“Come on in.” Chrissy had been friends with Taylor ever since the Squad Nine soldier had helped rescue Chrissy and others from the aliens. A faint shiver ran down Chrissy’s spine. She was grateful every day that Taylor, and her lover, Devlin, had helped her, little Max, and several others escape.
She held up her block of chocolate and Taylor took it with a grin.
“I’m fine now,” Chrissy told her friend. “The nanomeds fixed me right up. But I do not want to mess with those icky aliens again.”
“Well, I’m glad you were able to kill that thing.”
“He’s currently being dissected and studied by the medical and tech teams,” Chrissy added.
Taylor glanced at the table, and the spread of paperwork and the glowing screen of Chrissy’s portable comp.
“I’m working on how to keep these slimy parasites out of my Hunters in the future.”
The other woman nodded. “Heard you had some help from a sexy berserker.”
Chrissy made a choking sound. “You mean a cocky, arrogant asshole?”
Taylor’s lips quirked. “He’s all those things, but there is also the hard, muscular body, sexy goatee, hot man bun, mouthwatering tattoos—”
“Hello?” Chrissy coughed and waved a hand in front of her friend’s face. “You have a man, remember? A gorgeous, handsome, suave British man.”
Taylor grinned, warmth filling her gaze. “I sure do, and I’m not giving him up. But that doesn’t mean I can’t look at other sexy specimens.”
Chrissy studied that warm look on the other woman’s face. Love. Chrissy had never been in love, and dammit, a part of her was stomp-her-feet-and-pout-in-the-corner envious of Taylor.
“I am a woman with a pulse,” Taylor continued, with a wink. “And even though I get to snuggle up with the sexiest, most handsome man in the world every night, Levi King is the kind of bad boy your mother warned you about.”
“My mother died young,” Chrissy said, “but I don’t need anyone to warn me off King. He’s arrogant—” she held up her hand, ticking off her fingers “—overconfident, and annoying. Did I mention annoying?”
Taylor’s lips twitched. “Maybe. There’s a whole lot of protesting going on, though.”
Chrissy’s eyes bugged out, but before she could retaliate, the ground started to shake. Chrissy gasped and Taylor reached out, gripping the edge of the table.
What the hell?
Chrissy bent her legs to keep her balance, her stomach clenching. Everything in her room rattled and clattered. Something fell off a shelf and broke with a crash.
Taylor gripped Chrissy’s arm and pulled her down to the floor. They crawled in under the table.
“Are we under attack?” Chrissy asked.
Taylor tilted her head, her gaze narrowed. “The alarms aren’t going off, so I don’t think so.”
The shaking finally slowed and then stopped. Chrissy looked around the room. “Earthquake?”
Taylor jumped up. “I’ll find out. I have to go. I’ll catch you later, Chrissy.” At a run, the squad soldier was gone, racing out the door.
A curtain of dust fell from a crack in the ceiling and Chrissy coughed.
Then she thought of Max.
Without hesitation, she rushed out the door. The corridor was filled with confused and frightened people.
“Please go back in your rooms,” Chrissy called out, keeping her voice calm. “The squads will have everything under control. The general will update us.”
“What happened?” someone called out.
“Are the aliens attacking us?”
The aliens had attacked one end of the Enclave a few weeks back and everyone was still jittery.
“The alarms aren’t going off,” Chrissy repeated Taylor’s words. “Everything will be fine.” Please don’t make me a liar, universe.
Chrissy hurried down the hall, stopping to calm a few more people, before she reached the door to Max’s foster family. She lifted her hand and knocked.
A moment later, the door opened to show a middle-aged woman, with a makeup-free face and curly, brown hair pulled up in a messy knot on top of her head.
“Hi, Chrissy. So glad to see you.” Relief crossed Patricia’s face. “Do you know what’s going on?” The woman jiggled a sobbing, year-old baby on her hip.
“I don’t, but it doesn’t appear to be an alien attack. I
thought I’d check on you guys. Max?”
Max rushed out and threw his arms around Chrissy’s waist. She braced herself to balance his weight. He pressed his dark head against her belly.
She wrapped her arms around him and held him tight. “You okay, big guy?”
The boy nodded and looked up. “Are you?”
Her heart melted. He was such a good kid. After everything he’d been through, he was still always thinking of others.
“I’m okay.”
“Ruby is a bit scared, though.”
Chrissy glanced through the door, and spied a sweet girl of about three, with cute chubby cheeks, clutching a teddy bear. The girl was usually beaming with a cheeky smile, but there was no sign of that happy expression right now.
Another girl around Max’s age was sitting beside Ruby with frightened eyes.
“Come on.” Chrissy gripped Max’s hand. “Why don’t we let Pat sort out the baby, and we’ll play a game, or something.”
Suddenly, there was the sound of static from the speaker system, and General Holmes’ deep voice came across the comms system.
“Your attention, please. Everything is okay. We are not under attack. I repeat, the Enclave is not under attack.”
Chrissy let out a long breath.
“So what was that shaking?” Max asked.
“Maybe it was an earthquake,” Chrissy said.
Max’s bottom lip quivered. “I hate not knowing. Not knowing if it’s the aliens.”
She pulled him in for a hard hug. She knew what he meant. She’d spent hours in her cell, imagining what terrible things the raptors had planned. Sometimes, not knowing was the worst thing of all.
General Holmes continued to speak with his composed, commanding voice, urging everyone to go about their normal business and stay calm.
“We’ll know what happened soon enough,” Chrissy said.
But she saw the worry in the boy’s eyes. A boy who’d already been through so damn much.
Determination filled her. “I’ll find out everything I can and let you know, okay?”
The worry lines bracketing his mouth relaxed. “You promise?”
She crouched to his level. “I promise.”
