Cruz: Scifi Alien Invasion Romance (Hell Squad Book 2)

by Anna Hackett

  Santha didn’t need to look around. “His name is Cruz.”

  He stepped forward and rested his hands on Santha’s shoulders. “I’m hers.” He felt her give a slight tremble under his hands.

  “Good.” Relief flashed in Kareena’s green eye. “Good. She needs someone to look after her. She always worked too hard, took on too much.” The woman’s gaze burned into Cruz. “She’ll need you now, more than ever.” Her gaze was pleading.

  Fuck. He understood what Santha’s sister was telling him. Dammit all to hell.

  “Let me get you out,” Santha said.

  “No.” Kareena’s voice turned into a growl again and her grip on Santha’s arm tightened. Her long, jagged nails sliced into Santha’s skin.

  As Santha hissed in pain, Cruz stepped forward and grabbed Kareena’s elbow. He exerted enough pressure that she let go and yanked her arm back inside the cage.

  Santha pressed her bleeding arm to her chest, staring at her sister in horror.

  “It’s too late for me, Santhy.”

  “No. I’ve been fighting to avenge your death, now I’ll fight to save you. Whatever happens.”

  Kareena came close to the bars again and sighed. “Listen to me, Santhy. Listen. I want you to pour all that passion and love you have in you into something else. Into him.” She nodded in Cruz’s direction. “Because the way he looks at you…every woman deserves a man who looks at her that way.”

  “Kareena—”

  “Listen, Santhy. I need your help. One last time.”

  Santha stiffened. “No—”

  “One last time, Santhy-girl. You were always the strong one.”

  “No.” Santha’s voice was a strangled whisper. Heedless of the scratches on her arm, she reached for Kareena again, curling her fingers over her sister’s on the metal bars.

  It cut through Cruz. God, he’d fight any alien, any enemy to save her, but here was one thing he couldn’t shield her from.

  But he could still take the difficult task away from her.

  “I need you,” Kareena said quietly. “Please.”

  Santha was silent for a second. “Cruz, can you wait for me with the others?”

  His jaw tightened. “Why don’t you let me—?”

  “No. Just…if I know you’re waiting for me, it’ll help.”

  It was the hardest thing he’d ever had to do. To turn and walk away from her when he knew this was tearing her apart.

  He moved over to Marcus and the team. Every step felt like he was walking through mud. His friends were silent, watchful. The rest of the patients waited, loaded on stretchers and ready for evac.

  “Cruz, if you or Santha need anything, you just ask,” Marcus said.

  Cruz nodded. But he knew there was nothing that would make this better for Santha.

  Moments later, she walked toward him.

  Her face was blank but her eyes were filled with a soul-sucking misery. Her hands were shaking, and one held her knife—still coated in blood.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Cruz watched Santha walk up to him. The knife clattered to the floor and she threw her arms around him. He pulled her into his chest and she pressed her face into him. She was shaking.

  “She thanked me.” Santha’s hands gripped Cruz’s armor. “My baby sister thanked me while I killed her.”

  “You helped her.” Cruz cupped Santha’s pale cheeks and forced her to look at him. “She was suffering, Santha. You gave her peace.”

  “I…want to believe that.”

  He pressed his forehead to hers. “I’m so sorry, mi reina. If I could change this, I would.”

  “Why bother fighting when we can’t save the people we love?” Her harsh words came out on an even harsher whisper.

  “Hey.” He hated the defeated tone to her voice. “Look around at these other people. We saved them. And…you saved me. From the moment I laid eyes on you, something switched on inside me. Before that, I wasn’t sure what I was fighting for.”

  Her gaze was on his face. “Cruz—”

  “You’re my fucking reason, Santha. I need you.”

  The sound of a throat clearing made them both look over.

  Marcus stood there. “I’m sorry about your sister.”

  Santha swallowed. “Thank you.”

  “I know it’s hard, Santha, but I have to ask you to put it aside for now. We need to get these people out of here.”

  Santha swiped a hand across her face and nodded. “Okay.”

  Cruz gave her a hard squeeze. “Let’s move.” The quicker they got back to base the quicker he could help her deal with her grief.

  The squad hurried outside, pushing and pulling the stretchers along with them. Marcus had already signaled for Elle to send in the Hawks for the evac.

  Cruz felt that itchy feeling he always got when something bad was headed their way. He kept one eye on the rooftops, watching for any sign of raptors.

  “Elle, any raptor signatures on screen?” he asked.

  “Nothing, Cruz.”

  That didn’t make him feel better. The aliens had to know they’d try and rescue these people. Why just let them waltz in unimpeded?

  The itching increased with each second that ticked by. Yeah, something was really off.

  Three Hawks rocketed in, landing in a flat area near a half-destroyed roller coaster. They all worked to load the patients into the quadcopters. They filled the first two copters with patients who were left under the careful attention of members of Emerson’s medical team. Only two patients went with Hell Squad and Emerson in the final Hawk.

  Soon, the Hawks were motoring back across the city, headed for the base.

  “I want the commander dead.”

  Santha’s voice drew Cruz’s gaze. She sat hunched in the chair beside him, one hand stroking her crossbow.

  “We’ll find her. Make her pay.”

  Santha nodded. But her green eyes were so empty it made Cruz’s stomach tight.

  She needed time to grieve, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to let her do it alone.

  He’d give her a reason to live. Even if she didn’t want one.

  ***

  Santha stared out the window. The ruined city below just a blur in her vision.

  She was trying not to think, not to feel.

  But Kareena’s face was burned into her brain. Not the smiling, beautiful sister she’d known all her life, but the tortured, beaten face she’d been left with, thanks to the raptors.

  God. Santha squeezed her eyes closed. How long would it take until she didn’t think about sliding that knife into her sister? Listening to Kareena’s quiet words of thanks as Santha had taken her life.

  Suddenly alarms blared from the cockpit.

  “Fuck,” Finn called back. “Strap in Hell Squad, we have two pteros incoming. I’m going to try and pull them off the other two Hawks.”

  Santha yanked on her harness and beside her Cruz, did the same.

  “I knew it was too easy,” he grumbled.

  The Hawk shuddered and a glance out the side window showed green poison streaking across the sky.

  “Missiles incoming,” Finn yelled.

  The Hawk veered hard right, throwing Santha against Cruz’s shoulder hard enough to steal her breath.

  She heard him mutter and around them the rest of Hell Squad were cursing and bracing themselves.

  The side of the quadcopter imploded, sparks and flames showering them all.

  The Hawk fell into a dizzying death spiral. Santha was slammed around, her head striking the side wall.

  Her vision dimmed. She heard the roar of the wind, men swearing, alarms blaring.

  A sharp, violent burst of pain.

  Then nothing.

  ***

  With a groan, Santha opened her eyes. It was dark and a brisk wind ruffled her hair. Beneath her, she felt pavement. And she hurt. She hurt a lot.

  She dragged herself up to a sitting position. Pain stabbed through her right thigh, and she bit her lip to st
op from crying out. She glanced down and saw a ragged shard of metal sticking out of her leg. God. What had happened?

  She looked up and her heart leaped into her throat.

  The Hawk lay about fifteen meters away, crashed in the front yard of a house. The copter was barely recognizable—not much more than a twisted lump of metal.

  Cruz. Santha tried to stand, but the resulting pain made her stomach revolt. She leaned to the side and retched.

  She sank back against what she now realized was a wooden fence. She wasn’t going anywhere with this metal in her leg.

  After sucking in a few breaths, she gripped the piece of metal. “You can do this, Santha.” Quick as she could, without giving it a second thought, she yanked it out.

  She panted through the pain, fighting off unconsciousness, her head lolling to the side. Hideous agony flowed through her in a giant wave.

  She wasn’t sure how long she sat there, but noises made her look up.

  Santha squinted and sucked in a shocked breath.

  Raptors surrounded the wreck of the Hawk and had lights shining on it.

  Her heart hammered in her chest, and she froze in position. No aliens headed in her direction and she exhaled softly. They hadn’t noticed her.

  Gingerly, she shifted her weight, and pain stabbed through her leg like fire. She bit her lip and forced her scream back down. Come on, Santha. Get it together.

  She fumbled around at her belt, searching for the med kit, all the while keeping one eye on the raptors crawling all over the Hawk wreckage. She finally managed to get the zipper open and pulled out a bandage, which she clumsily tied around her thigh. She shoved another wad of bandage under it. Dammit, her wound was bleeding a lot. She tried to tell herself she was damn lucky she hadn’t hit an artery.

  Ahead, she heard guttural shouts and grunts from the raptors as they shifted bits of wreckage and lumps of metal.

  And bodies.

  No. The thought of Cruz and the other Hell Squad members dead fell on her like a giant weight. No, he couldn’t be dead. She couldn’t lose him, too.

  The raptors dumped two bodies on the ground. Neither were wearing armor. The patients. Neither moved.

  Sorrow stabbed at Santha but she pushed it down, hard. She had to focus, and help anyone still alive in the wreck.

  Two more raptors shuffled away from the Hawk, carrying a large body between them. They dumped the man on the ground and he groaned. Marcus. And he was still alive.

  For now.

  “Fuck you!” Violent movement from the wreckage caught her attention.

  Cruz! She watched three raptors struggling to contain him. Half his face was covered in blood, but the way he was fighting suggested he wasn’t injured too badly.

  They dumped him near Marcus, and one of the aliens pulled his weapon off his shoulder and aimed it at Cruz.

  Terror was like a stone in Santha’s throat. She started dragging herself toward them.

  She didn’t want to die here, in the dirt, and leave the raptors to torture someone else’s sister or kill a good man. She would fight until she couldn’t fight anymore.

  And she didn’t want to do it without Cruz by her side. The man had pushed and prodded at her until he was so deep under her skin she knew she’d never get him out. Didn’t want to get him out.

  She drew her combat knife. It had ended her sister’s suffering and now it would take the lives of these alien bastards.

  The raptors dragged out more bodies. A swearing Shaw and an unconscious Claudia and Gabe.

  “We are going to kill all of you, you bastards,” Shaw yelled.

  When a raptor nudged Claudia’s body with his boot, Shaw kicked at him. “Get the fuck away from her.”

  Cruz was sitting, watching the raptors around them. Even from a distance, Santha could see his powerful body coiling.

  Her pulse jumped. No, you hero, just wait for me.

  But he launched himself at them, striking like a viper. He’d stabbed two before the rest were on him.

  Raptors were punching and kicking him, pummeling his body.

  Marcus and Shaw moved to help, but they were outnumbered, and quickly subdued.

  Santha pushed to her feet, gripping the fence to help her stand. Her leg screamed in pain and couldn’t take much weight. The exoskeleton in her armor took a lot of her weight, so she knew the injury was bad. She drew her crossbow.

  She started forward, her right leg dragging in the dirt. She aimed at the biggest raptor beating Cruz and fired.

  She was already aiming at the second before the first dropped.

  The other raptors swiveled, spotted her. They left a groaning Cruz and ran at her, lifting their weapons. Pushing through her pain, she sank low and stabbed at the nearest raptors, cutting through the weak spots in their armor. Two more stumbled backward.

  The rest were almost on her when Cruz appeared from the darkness. He yanked a gun from the nearest raptor body, aimed, and unloaded their own poison into them.

  Shaw appeared and pummeled another raptor with his fists. Marcus emerged from the shadows, still looking dazed, but he took down another with brutal kicks.

  Before long, all the raptors were down.

  The men stood there, breathing heavily. Santha felt a wave of dizziness, but she only had eyes for Cruz.

  He was alive. That was all that mattered.

  Two pteros flashed overhead, shining blinding lights down on them.

  “We need to get into shelter,” Marcus yelled.

  Shaw scooped up Claudia, and Marcus heaved Gabe over his shoulder.

  Cruz wrapped an arm around Santha, helping her hobble forward. “What about the others? Reed, Finn, the doc?”

  Marcus’ jaw tightened. “We’ll—”

  Raptor fire cut through the night.

  “Go!” Marcus shouted. “We’ll come back for them.”

  Together, they reached the ruined shell of a two-story house that looked like it had once been a comfortable family home. As they crashed through the front door, Santha caught a glimpse of photos hanging askew on the walls. Parents smiling, hands on the shoulders of two teenaged boys. She wondered if any of them had survived.

  “In here.” Marcus shouldered his way into the kitchen. “The appliances will give us more protection from any weapons’ fire.”

  “Shit, you’re bleeding.” Cruz helped Santha down to the floor and she leaned against the wall.

  He gripped her thigh, his big hands gentle. “This is bad.”

  “I’ve had worse.”

  His face looked beyond grim, and coated in blood, his sexy good looks were hidden. Now he simply looked scary, like something from a horror movie. Funny that her heart still beat extra hard just looking at him. He was alive and that was all she cared about.

  As he studied her wound, he pressed down on the wadded fabric.

  “Ow!”

  “It’s still bleeding.” His other hand cupped her cheek. “When I came to and couldn’t find you…”

  She put her hand over his. “I’m okay. I got thrown clear of the wreckage.”

  It was only then that Santha became aware of a tinny voice screeching at her. She frowned, confused. Where was the sound coming from? Then, she realized her earpiece had been damaged, but that Elle’s voice was still just barely getting through.

  The woman sounded frantic.

  Santha touched her ear. “Elle?”

  ***

  Cruz watched Marcus’ head whip around.

  “The raptors took our earpieces,” Marcus growled.

  Santha pulled hers out and handed it over.

  Hell Squad’s leader shoved it in his ear. “Elle? Baby?”

  The big man was silent for a moment and Cruz watched him close his eyes for a second.

  “I’m okay. We made it out of the crash. We’re holed up.” Pause. “I know. I know. Calm down.”

  Cruz couldn’t believe they’d made it. He’d been so worried about finding Santha he’d barely thought of anything else. Then
she’d come out of the darkness, raining crossbow bolts like an avenging warrior queen.

  His queen.

  He placed a med-patch over her wound. The cut was jagged and ugly, but the bleeding was finally slowing. He finished redoing her bandage.

  “I’m going to give you a shot. It’s only mild, but it’ll take the edge off the pain.”

  She nodded. “I won’t say no.” He pressed the injector to her thigh.

  “Okay, Elle, I got it,” Marcus said. “We’ll hang on until help arrives, I want…Elle? Elle?” He slammed a fist into the wall. “Raptors jammed the signal.”

  “What’d she say?” Cruz asked.

  “Help’s on the way. But with all the pteros in the air, and the increased raptor presence, they can’t send Hawks.”

  “They’re coming via the ground?” Shaw sat back, his head thunking against the wall. “That’ll take at least an hour.” He cast a worried glance down at Claudia. She lay on her side, her head resting on his thigh. She hadn’t regained consciousness. “She’s hurt bad.”

  “We’ll get her back to base.” Cruz hid his own worry. “She’s tough.”

  Gabe groaned and slowly came to. “What the hell?”

  “Hey, how are you feeling?” Marcus crouched down near the other man. “Took a bad knock to the head.”

  Gabe rubbed his temple. “Fuck. Feels like I was on an all-night bender.”

  Marcus studied the man’s eyes. “You’ll hold until we get back.”

  “Yeah.” Then Gabe looked around, taking in their surroundings, and stiffened. “Where’s the doc? Where’s Emerson?”

  The team all traded glances.

  Gabe pushed to his feet, swayed and grabbed the wall to stay upright. “Where the fuck is she?”

  “No one saw her,” Marcus said. “Finn and Reed are missing too. They might still be in the wreck.”

  He didn’t say the words, but Cruz knew everyone was wondering if there were only bodies to recover.

  Something wild flashed in Gabe’s eyes. Something Cruz had never seen before in the contained, intense man.

  “I’m going to look for her—” He made a move toward the hall.

  Marcus blocked his path. “Stand down, Gabe. You go out there, you’re just committing suicide.”

  “We’ll find her.” Cruz caught Gabe’s dark gaze. “And Reed and Finn. You have to survive in order to find her.”