by Anna Hackett
He wanted to touch her, but he was afraid she’d shatter. To see a strong woman’s tears almost bought him to his knees. “I’m sorry. We’ll help you avenge your sister.”
“Wait a minute,” Holmes said. “We can’t have personal vendettas—”
“We’ll help you find this raptor commander and kill her,” Marcus reiterated.
Holmes pinched the bridge of his nose. “Steele, I do not want to have another shouting match with you about the chain of command.”
“Don’t stress, Holmes,” Marcus growled. “We’ll get the prisoners too.”
Elle cleared her throat to ease the tension. “I’m so sorry, Santha. I’ve no doubt this information can help us beat the raptors.”
Santha wiped a hand across her face and straightened. “I hope so.”
Elle’s considering gaze moved back to the screen and the picture of the commander. “They’re a bit like a bee colony.”
“What?” Cruz asked, frowning.
“There are thousands of raptor fighters, they’re kind of like worker bees.”
“And this commander is like the queen?” Claudia asked.
“I don’t know.” Elle shrugged. “If there are other commanders like this one in charge of area operations on other parts of the planet, then no. But possibly there is one queen…or king…out there, somewhere, directing it all.”
Holmes pointed to the screen. “Rescue the prisoners and gather any additional intel you can to determine if they have a single leader.”
Marcus nodded. “We will.”
Cruz stepped closer to Santha. “We need to get this raptor commander’s description to the drone operators. Have them on the lookout for her. If she is in charge in Sydney, then the prisoners can’t be far from her.”
“Elle?” Marcus said.
She lifted her tablet, swiping the screen. “On it.”
Santha lifted her comp controller and changed the image to an aerial map of the city. She drew circles around four main raptor installations. “These are the four main places I’ve seen the commander most frequently.”
Marcus nodded. “Good. I suggest we send in four recon teams. Each with two people only. Slip in, gather intel, confirm the prisoners are there and get out. Then we’ll plan a rescue mission.” He turned to his team. “Claudia and Shaw, you’ll be one recon team.”
Claudia straightened. “I want to go with Gabe—”
“It wasn’t a suggestion.” Marcus’ tone hardened. “I’m with Gabe. Cruz and Santha will be the third team.” He cursed. “We really need to fill the final squad spot. But for now, I’ll ask Masters to head the fourth team with one of his guys from Squad Nine.”
Cruz liked Squad Nine’s leader a lot. No one was quite sure what Roth Masters’ background was. Some said military, others said intelligence. Cruz could see the man as a soldier or a spy, but he didn’t really care, as long as Roth was good at killing raptors and keeping his team alive.
Santha set the controller down. “When do we leave?”
“Tomorrow.”
She started. “What? Those people are suffering God knows what—”
Marcus’ eyes narrowed. “My team just spent the night in the field. Contrary to what everyone thinks, including them, they need sleep. And just a few hours ago you bled out, took a potent cocktail of stimulants, suffered a nano-med cascade and died. Those bugs might had fixed you up but you still need rest.”
Cruz suppressed a wince. He’d been on the receiving end of that cold tone of Marcus’ a time or two.
Marcus’ gaze hit Cruz. “I assume I can trust you to make sure she gets some rest and doesn’t go off half-cocked?”
When Santha stiffened more, Cruz was at least happy that the deep grief was gone from her face for the moment.
He grabbed her hand. “Come on, mi reina. Before you know it, you’ll be covered in raptor blood and dodging poison again.”
***
Santha felt like a wire strung too tight and ready to snap.
After eating lunch at a long table in the dining room, wedged between Cruz and a silent Gabe, she was feeling the need for some space. She hadn’t even enjoyed the very fine meal of protein substitute and fresh—fresh—vegetables. It had reminded her of her favorite meal—Kareena’s curry.
Santha wanted to be out there searching for the prisoners, not stuck in these tunnels. That’s why she’d avoided the base so long—she liked being her own boss. Here, there were too many people who thought they could tell her what to do.
“Movie Night’s on tonight. I think they’re playing an old classic, something about robots taking over the world and killing humanity.” Cruz snorted. “I’d take robots over aliens any day.”
The thought of being stuck in an enclosed room full of people for a whole evening made a flutter of panic stir in Santha’s belly. God, she’d clearly been alone too long.
She looked up and saw Cruz eyeing her like she was an open comp file.
“How about some fresh air?” he suggested.
It should annoy her that he could read her so clearly. She nodded. “Please.”
He led through the maze of tunnels to a door. It had a sign marked with various warning messages. He gestured her through, into a tiny tunnel only wide enough for one that sloped upward. At the top was another door closed with a round lock. Cruz reached around her and spun it.
They stepped out into the forest.
Sunlight filtered through the trees and Santha pulled in the fragrant air. It smelled…green. And fresh. So different to the city. Instantly, her muscles loosened.
Here the insects still chirped their songs and small animals scurried unseen in the bushes. They were going about their daily lives, mostly unaffected by the alien invasion.
If only humanity had been so lucky.
“You find it hard to be around so many people?”
God, that accent. His voice was like music in the darkness. “I’ve been alone for a year, Cruz. I’ve gotten…comfortable with my own company.”
“I understand. I hated the base the first few months I was here. Marcus and I were over in Sydney for military maneuvers when the attack happened.”
“You’re from the United States, right?”
He nodded. “New Mexico. My father was Mexican and my mother American. And I have a sister.”
“Do you know if they’re still alive?”
“I’ve no idea.” He stared at the trees. “I can only hope.”
There was pain there, buried deep.
He glanced at her. “Although I do have a few family members I wouldn’t mind having met with a messy death at the hands of the raptors.”
She sucked in a breath. “What?”
Cruz rubbed the back of his neck. “Forget I said anything.”
“Too late for that now, soldier.” Santha found a fallen log and sat down. She wanted to know this man’s secrets. “Tell me.”
He stuck his hands on his hips, eyeing the grass. “My father…he escaped his family in Mexico. They ran a drug cartel.”
She blinked. “He must have been tough to escape from that.”
“Yeah. I was only a kid but he packed us up and ran. Although they tried a few times to kill him. Once they realized he wasn’t heading off to sell their secrets or start his own rival cartel, they left him alone.”
There was more to the story. She heard it in the dark edge to his words. “But?”
He released a long breath. “We’d moved to the U.S., but a cousin searched me out when I was finishing high school. I was going through a phase, not getting along with my dad. I was young, angry and keen to prove myself.”
“They sucked you in.”
“Yeah. I spent two years working for my uncle. I thought I was so tough.” Brown eyes met hers and bored into her. “I did some terrible things. Unforgivable things.”
She couldn’t picture Cruz doing anything except what was right. “I heard Mexico got hit pretty hard in the invasion.”
“Yeah.” He was
lost in his memories. “It would be a favor to the world if my uncle and cousin didn’t make it.”
“How did you get out?”
“The job had lost its shine a long time before I found the courage to leave. It wasn’t fun, exciting or edgy anymore. I was an enforcer…I killed people.” He shook his head. “Most of them were scum, but some weren’t. I have to live with that. At the time, I felt like my soul was disappearing, little piece by little piece.”
She knew that feeling. Felt it every day when she remembered Kareena, when she went out to fight the raptors.
“But there was one thing that finally made me snap. My cousin, Manuel…he’d always had a thing for young girls. They flocked to him and he joked how once they’d tasted his pleasures, they never wanted to leave. That he made them feel special.” Cruz closed his eyes. “I should have known something was wrong. He never let anyone back to his cottage on my uncle’s property. But one day, I needed to talk to him and he wasn’t answering his phone.” A grimace of disgust crossed Cruz’s face. “He…had a torture chamber. None of those girls had left him, because he’d tied them up, was raping them, cutting them, torturing them.”
Santha hissed in a breath.
“I never sunk as low as rape,” Cruz said. “Or to fucking hurt kids, or cut a woman open…” He closed his eyes for a second. “Most of those girls died, but I made sure Manuel wouldn’t hurt any more little girls and I went home.”
“Your parents?”
“Welcomed me home. Told me they loved me.” There was a sad smile on his face. “I had a hard time adjusting and knew if I didn’t try and make amends, I’d probably end up an addict myself. I joined the United Coalition Marines instead.”
“And here you are.”
“Yeah, after a lot of blood, sweat and tears—” he stepped closer to her “—here I am.” He reached out and fiddled with her hair, his fingers brushing against her ear. “So, you were SWAT?”
His touch had warmth flooding her and her pulse tripped. “Yes. I always knew that was what I wanted to do.” She wrinkled her nose. “I like guns.”
“Music to my ears, querida.”
She smiled. “I got a criminology degree, became a police officer and as soon as I was eligible, took the SWAT test.”
“SWAT’s not for the faint of heart.”
“Nope. But I loved it. Had a great team.” Her heart clenched. “They were killed in the invasion. I was on leave that day and they were annihilated in the fighting.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I was glad that at least I was with Kareena. But then a week later…”
“Tell me about her?”
“She was the sunshine. That’s what my father used to call her. Our parents had us late in life and after they passed away, it was just the two of us. She laughed a lot and loved helping people. She was a nurse.” Santha caught Cruz’s gaze. It was nice to remember the good times. “And she was a great cook. Made the best chicken curry in the world. It was packed full of spices—turmeric, ginger, cumin. And she’d always make homemade chapattis, an Indian flatbread.” Santha released a long breath. “God, I miss her cooking.”
He smiled. “I understand. I still miss my dad’s tamales.” Cruz’s fingers were back at her ear, tracing the shell.
All thoughts of her sister flew out of Santha’s head. She gripped his wrist. “Cruz, this is crazy. We barely know each other. We have other things to focus on…this just gets in the way.”
His hand settled on her neck, his thumb brushing against her racing pulse. “We do know each other. We know the stuff that counts. I know you’re stubborn, intelligent, can handle a crossbow, and so courageous it scares the hell out of me.”
She frowned. “That doesn’t sound very attractive.”
He nudged her closer to him. “I’m a soldier, mi reina. Believe me, watching you handle a crossbow is goddamned foreplay.”
She pressed her palms to his chest and laughed. God, it felt good. And so did he. He was hard and smelled good. The tattoo wrapped around his bicep drew her gaze. Drawn to it, she traced a finger over the design. “You’re all those things as well. I could probably throw arrogant and alpha male in there, too.”
He tipped her chin up and her heart started beating faster. She was helpless to resist this man.
“Then we’re made for each other,” he murmured.
Santha licked her lips, saw his eyes zero in on the move. “I got the impression you have plenty of willing playmates here at base.”
“I don’t want any of them. I want you.” He leaned down and nipped her lip. “Only you, mi reina.”
Dammit, why shouldn’t she just leap before looking? The world had gone to hell, things weren’t like they were before, where she’d date a nice guy and then take him to her bed. Now you took what you wanted and grabbed it with both hands, because you never knew when it might be yanked from your grasp.
The thought of a few scorching, sweaty hours with Cruz moving thickly between her legs made Santha feel hot and electric. For a few hours, she could forget and just focus on pleasure.
“Cruz, let’s—”
Something vibrated in Cruz’s pocket. He cursed under his breath. “My communicator.” He yanked it out and checked the screen. Instantly, the slumberous, heated look in his eyes vanished. “One of the drones has found something.”
Santha straightened, and gave her head a small shake. Moving from thinking about sex to the mission jarred her. “What? What was it?”
His head snapped up. “They didn’t say. But they want us in Ops.”
“Then let’s go.”
Together, they hurried back into the base. At a half jog, they made it to the Operations Area and into the Hive.
Marcus and Elle were there with General Holmes.
“What is it?” Santha demanded.
Marcus nodded at a curvy, redheaded woman in a blue uniform at the desk nearby. “Lia here, thinks she’s found something.”
The redhead’s short, feathered hair accented a long, slim neck and a face dominated by large almond-shaped eyes. “I spotted a group of raptors bringing supplies into one of the bases that had been marked as a potential location for the prisoners.”
“Supplies?” Cruz frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. “That isn’t unusual.”
“No.” Lia turned. “But one of them dropped a box and the contents spilled out.” She tapped at her comp and an image flashed on the huge screen on the wall.
It showed vegetables spilled out on the pavement.
“I don’t get it,” Marcus said. “Potatoes and spinach, so what?”
But Santha’s pulse tripped. “Raptors are carnivorous. They don’t eat plants.”
“You think this is to feed the prisoners?” Cruz said.
“It’s a possibility,” Lia replied. “I flagged it as a potential item of interest. Then someone special turned up a few minutes later.”
The image changed and this time Santha felt a punch of heat to her gut.
It was the commander.
“We need to get to this location and check it out,” she said. “I don’t care about resting. I’m going. Now.”
Holmes held up a hand. “Calm down, Santha. I’ve already given the order for the recon mission supplies to readied for the four recon teams.” His gaze moved between her and Cruz. “Go.”
Chapter Seven
Cruz led Santha into the hangar bay.
They were prepped and ready to head out. Beside him, Santha was fiddling with the armor he’d found for her. It was all-black, and the lightest he could find. The carbon fiber panels slicked over her long, lean body.
“You okay?”
She gave a distracted nod. “I’m not used to wearing stuff like this.”
“That ‘stuff’ can stop raptor claws, or one of their projectiles. You’re more likely to survive in it.”
She touched the laser pistols holstered at her hips and the frag grenades lined up along her belt. “I’m just not used to being t
his…decked out.”
“Advantage of being at the base. We have good supplies.”
She nodded. “Still, I feel naked without my crossbow.”
“Well…” he moved to the wall and grabbed what he’d stashed there earlier. He handed it to her.
Her mouth dropped open as she took her matte-black crossbow. “Where did you get this?”
“I asked Claudia to bring it with us when we evaced from your apartment. It was a little damaged, but I did some work to it.” He’d spent some of those endless hours she’d been unconscious in the infirmary slaving over it.
She stroked the crossbow like a lover and Cruz’s mouth went dry. When she looked up, warmth glowed in her green eyes. “Thank you.” She walked to him, went up on her toes and kissed him.
The kiss was over too fast. He wanted to grab her and drag her away somewhere private. Later, he promised himself.
Santha secured the crossbow on her back. “So, are we taking a Hawk into the city?”
“Nope. We need a bit more stealth than that.” He reached up and brushed the lobe of her ear. “I have something else for you.” He slipped a tiny earpiece into her ear. “Elle, you there?”
“Read you loud and clear, Cruz,” Elle’s voice came through their earpieces.
“Santha’s online too.”
“Hey, Santha.”
Santha touched her ear. “Elle.”
“You need anything—intel, escape routes, raptor numbers—just ask, okay?”
Santha blinked. Cruz could see it was another thing she was adjusting to. An uncomfortable feeling slithered through him. What if she couldn’t get used to all the people, the structure and the other stuff that came with being at base?
What if after this mission, she didn’t want to stay here?
“All right, soldier.” She held her palms up. “Let’s go spy on some raptors.”
He nodded, shaking off his thoughts. He couldn’t afford to think about it right now. He needed a clear head and laser-sharp focus.
“So, if Hawks are out, how are we getting into the city?” she asked.
He waved her toward a door to the next hangar bay. As they stepped inside the dark space, lights clicked on automatically.
