by Anna Hackett
“Ash?” Tane said.
Ash unraveled a brown mesh net. He set it over the hole, and Griff and Dom covered it in a layer of dirt.
Chrissy stepped back and studied it. It was barely distinguishable from the rest of the road.
Ash peeled the edge back and Levi dropped into the hole. He crouched down, resting his carbine on the ground, and looked up at her. “You’re next.”
She stepped in and dropped down beside him. It was a tight fit, and she was pressed up against his body. A second later, Hemi joined them, and Chrissy found herself squished in between two sets of broad shoulders. Now, it was a very tight fit.
Tane crouched by the edge. “We’ll get an alien vehicle to stop above you. Then it’s up to you to get it disabled.”
Chrissy nodded. No pressure.
“Once they abandon it, we’ll lead them away. In that time, you get the trike operational, and back to the Enclave.”
She released a breath. God, she hoped this worked.
“Good luck,” Ash said.
“Take care of my bike, Connors,” Levi said. “Or you’ll answer to me.”
Ash smiled. “I’ll take good care of her.” With a wink, he laid the net back down.
And then it was just the three of them, trapped in the dappled darkness. Waiting. She listened to the crunch of boots on dirt as the other berserkers left.
“So, you guys are getting naked, huh?” Hemi asked.
Levi snorted. “You’re the biggest gossip in the Enclave, Rahia.”
“That’s not an answer,” Hemi said.
“Yes,” Levi said.
“No,” Chrissy said.
Hemi grinned and leaned against the dirt wall, his carbine resting across his legs. “It’s like that, is it?”
“It was one time.” Chrissy refused to look at either one of them, instead looking up through the dirt and net above. How far away were the aliens?
“It’s going to happen again,” Levi said. “A lot.”
She whipped her head around to meet his gaze, and saw the determined glint in his eye.
Shit. She was in trouble.
She was about to open her mouth and blast him, when she heard the rumble of engines. The noise echoed through the quiet above, and there was a rush of flapping wings as some birds took flight from a nearby tree. Her belly went tight.
The engine noise got louder. The aliens were getting close now. Her heartbeat echoed in her head like a drum.
All of a sudden, something exploded with a roar of noise. The ground shook, and a fine mist of dirt rained down on them.
Hemi grinned, his teeth white in the gloom. “Showtime.”
Chapter Nine
The air in their little hole in the ground was tense as they waited. Levi gripped his carbine as he listened to weapons fire above—carbines and the distinctive sound of the alien weapons.
Beside him, he felt the tension pumping off Chrissy. He was used to these kinds of situations. He knew to stay relaxed in the tensest moments, and conserve his energy for when he needed it.
Suddenly, they were plunged into darkness. He looked up. A vehicle crawled slowly over them. Levi counted in his head, willing the trike to stop.
But it kept moving and dappled light appeared again.
Come on, Tane.
There was another boom, closer this time, and more dirt rained down. Levi heard Chrissy gasp, and then her hand gripped his. He tangled their fingers together and squeezed.
Another vehicle rolled slowly over the top of their hiding place. It was firing, making the ground vibrate.
Come on, you bastards. Stop.
The vehicle shuddered, probably hit by one of the guys’ grenades. It slowed for a second, but it didn’t stop.
Hemi muttered a curse.
“One more,” Chrissy murmured.
The third vehicle rolled over them, and Levi’s pulse spiked. Come on.
Another barrage of weapons fire. Then boom.
“Grenade,” Hemi said.
The alien vehicle slowed. Levi sensed Chrissy holding her breath, and his hand clenched on his carbine.
The trike stopped.
Yes. “You’re up, Spitfire.” Levi nudged the net cover aside and helped her up.
The three of them popped up under the alien vehicle. The sharp stench of smoke mixed with alien poison filled the air. He stared at the ink-black underside of the trike. Every now and then, lines of glowing red lights pulsed along the underbody.
“I’ll keep watch,” Hemi said, his voice low. “Do your thing, because we won’t have long.”
Chrissy pointed to a panel on the belly of the trike. “I need to get in there.”
She squeezed closer to Levi, reaching up with her electro-driver. The tool whizzed quietly, and she worked steadily until the metal panel fell off. A red gush of warm liquid followed, drenching both of them.
“Ugh.” She wiped her hand across her face. Levi leaned over and spat the gross-tasting stuff out of his mouth.
Heedless of the gunk coating her, Chrissy continued on, focused on her task. Levi found himself watching her face, his gaze sliding over the perfect slope of her nose.
He gripped his carbine harder and blew out a breath. He’d never been attracted to a woman because of her damn nose before. What the hell was wrong with him?
But he knew true, real beauty when he saw it. And he didn’t just mean what she looked like.
“Come on, you alien piece of shit,” she muttered, trying to loosen something. She pushed hard, her arms straining.
“Here.” He set his carbine down and wrapped his arms around her. He gripped her hands and they pushed together.
A second later, a second panel fell open, and a small tangle of alien cables fell out.
“Thanks.” She snatched up the laser cutter.
One cable started undulating gently, heading for Chrissy’s hand.
“Not this time.” Levi gripped the cable. “Do it.”
She reached out and quickly cut the cable. Above, the trike’s engine stopped.
“Nice job, Spitfire.” He grinned at her and she grinned back.
Then he heard doors open, and the deep grunts of the raptor language.
Shit. “Back down,” Levi bit out.
“I need to get the panel back on, or they’ll know something’s wrong.” Chrissy leaned up higher, one knee pressed against the edge of the hole.
“Hurry.”
“I am,” she snapped.
Levi watched as a pair of giant raptor boots came into view, exactly level with them. “Chrissy,” he hissed.
She set the panel back into place. “There.” She dropped back down into the hole, and Levi quickly pulled the net back in place.
Hemi had already ducked low, and they sat there, huddled together, waiting for shouts or weapons fire. Instead, there were more grunts, and doors slamming.
He heard a big body slither under the vehicle. Dirt trickled down into their hideout. Chrissy’s hand landed on his thigh, her fingers digging into his armor.
The raptor above them grunted. Fuck. If the bastard moved a few more centimeters, he’d land in their hole.
There was another boom. Levi knew it was a missile from the launcher on his bike. It sounded farther away. In the distance, carbine fire sounded.
The raptor above them moved again with a grunt and a slide of dirt.
“Levi? Hemi?” Tane’s voice. “The raptors are abandoning the vehicle to give chase.”
“Hell, yeah,” Levi murmured, bumping his shoulder against a grinning Chrissy.
“Stay down for now,” Indy said, in their earpieces. “I’ve confirmed that there are no additional raptors in the trike, and I’ll let you know when they are far enough away for you to come out.”
“Tane and the others will lead them on a merry chase,” Hemi said.
More minutes ticked by, and the sound of weapons fire petered out. Then Indy was back. “You’re clear.”
“Get that damn vehicle operati
onal,” Tane growled on the comm.
Levi touched his earpiece. “We’re on it.”
They climbed out of the hole, shimmying on their bellies to get out from under the alien vehicle.
Hemi stood. “I’m on watch. I’ll circle the area. Levi, you keep an eye on Chrissy while she works. And not just on her mighty fine ass.”
Chrissy rolled her eyes and Levi scowled at his friend. “You have a woman, keep your eyes off mine.”
“Yours?” Chrissy spluttered.
Hemi’s grin widened. “My woman has a fine ass too.”
Levi grinned back. “I’m telling her you said that.” Cam would probably give Hemi a black eye.
Ignoring them, Chrissy dropped down and wiggled back under the vehicle. “While you two act like idiots, I’m going to get this vehicle working again.”
Hemi headed off with a wave, and Levi watched Chrissy’s boots as she worked on fixing the cables she’d cut. He yanked his water bottle off his belt, and washed out his mouth and splashed his face. He could still taste that damned red raptor gunk.
A few minutes passed, and she slid out. She stood, dusting herself off. “Right, let’s get it open.”
He held out the water bottle. “You have dried raptor gunk on your face.”
Her nose wrinkled, and she took the bottle and quickly washed her face. Then, she turned back to the vehicle. The trike had a door on each side and a cargo door at the back. Chrissy gripped a handle on the side door and tried to open it. She shook her head.
Then she pulled out her laser cutter and smiled. Seconds later, she pried the door of the alien vehicle open.
A horrible smell wafted out.
“Jesus.” Levi grimaced. It smelled like rotting meat.
“Gross,” Chrissy muttered.
Inside, there were large, semi-reclined seats big enough for raptor bodies. Cables dangled from the roof, and everything was a standard Gizzida mix of tech and organic. Metal and bone. Composites and sinew.
Hemi reappeared. “I’ll ride in the back.”
Levi nodded. “Only two seats in the front here, anyway.”
“I have to work out how to drive it first.” With her nose wrinkled, Chrissy slid into the driver’s seat. “I know some of the parts for these things, but I don’t know the controls for driving.”
Levi leaned in. “Can you do it?”
She gave him a grim, determined smile. “I’ll do it.”
* * *
Chrissy touched the spongy controls and pulled bone-like levers. Red lights flared on, but the vehicle wasn’t moving.
She blew out a breath, and reached into a recess on the console filled with alien cables. She pulled them apart, and hated when they moved against her hand.
Nothing was working.
Outside, Levi and Hemi were keeping watch, their carbines resting in their arms. But she could tell both men were tense. They were running out of time.
She touched some more things—they might be buttons. Nothing. Maybe it was coded for raptor DNA, or something.
Dammit. She slammed her palms on the console and suddenly lights flared to life.
Excitement made her straighten, but then she watched the lights die out. She cursed bitterly, the worst ones she’d picked up from her dad when he thought no one was listening.
“Babe.” Levi leaned in, one tattooed arm resting along the door frame. He looked amused.
“Don’t ‘babe’ me, biker man.”
“Babe,” he said again. “You can finesse a Hunter engine in your sleep. I’ve seen some of the sweet little upgrades you’ve added to the Hunters. You can sort out this alien piece of crap.”
His easy confidence in her skills made her chest expand. Her dad’s praise had always been grudging and part surprised.
“Don’t be nice to me, King.”
He winked at her. “I can be very nice if you’ll let me.”
Trying to ignore his blatant sexiness, she blew an escaped strand of hair out of her face, and pulled open a panel on the console. She stared at the red, jelly-like goop inside. Boy, that smelled bad. Like days-old fish in the warm sun.
Gritting her teeth, she reached her gloved hand into the viscous substance and almost gagged at the smell. Her hand closed around what felt like a small balloon.
What the hell? Cautiously, she squeezed the balloon. The engine started.
“Woo-hoo!” Levi leaned in again. “Nice work, Spitfire.”
She touched the bone levers. “Step back. Now I need to work out how to get this thing moving.”
Pulling the first lever, the vehicle lurched forward. Whoa. Okay, forward. She touched another, and the trike turned to the left, moving forward with a throaty growl. She got a few meters when the engine cut out.
“Levi, Hemi, and Chrissy?” Indy’s voice again. “You need to go. There’s another raptor patrol incoming. Looks like they’re the backup for the team chasing the rest of the squad. You need to move. Now.”
The other door opened and Levi slid into the passenger seat. “You’re out of time. We’ve got to go.”
“Levi, so far we can move forward a bit and turn left!”
“It’ll have to do. Work the rest out en route to the Enclave.”
Gritting her teeth, she got the engine started again. She heard a fist thump against the back with a dull echo, and realized Hemi was aboard.
Now or never. Letting out a slow, controlled breath, she touched the levers again, and they rolled forward. She did a wide left turn, bumping over road and grass, before she got them back on the road.
“There you go,” Levi said.
She touched more controls, working out the right turn and increasing their speed. They rolled down the road, moving faster. At the next corner, she misjudged, and they bumped off the dirt and onto the grass.
“Tree coming up,” Levi called out.
“Don’t backseat drive,” she grumbled, correcting her steering.
Back on the road, Chrissy fought to keep the vehicle straight. They needed to get back to the Enclave, so she decided to risk more speed. Soon the trees on either side of the road became a blur.
Then, the trike hit some loose gravel.
The vehicle fishtailed, and Chrissy bit down on her lip. She wrenched on the controls. Don’t flip. Don’t flip.
She gripped the brake lever, and they came to a hard stop. Levi flew forward, slapping his hand against the console to stop himself from smashing into it.
“Sorry,” she cried out.
“Keep driving, Spitfire.”
Gripping the controls, every muscle in her body tight, she focused on driving and keeping them on the road.
Soon, they turned off the dirt road onto a paved one. It was deteriorating in patches, but flat enough for her to accelerate more. It still wasn’t the smoothest ride, but now they were covering some ground.
“We see you coming,” Indy said.
Chrissy sent up a silent prayer. Thank you, God. Her shoulders, arms, and hands were so tight they were hurting.
She looked ahead and recognized the green valley. It was hard to imagine that the lush farmland hid a huge underground base built in a former coal mine. She turned onto the grass, bumping over a collapsed fence. She knew that there was a hidden ramp that base security would open up for them.
“A little more to the south, Chrissy,” Indy instructed.
Suddenly, the engine died.
“No. No.” Chrissy thumped the console. She tried to get the engine started but got nothing.
“Chrissy…”
“I’m trying,” she snapped at him. Then she threw her door open.
“Chrissy!”
She dropped down and slid under the vehicle. The panel she’d messed was hanging open, cables dangling out. Shit.
Stuffing them back in, she saw one cable was glowing red and damaged. Jaw locking, she pulled out her laser cutter. She didn’t have any spare alien parts or enough knowledge on their systems, so she’d have to wing it.
With
a quick slice, she cut the cable, ignoring as it waved around. She cut out the damaged part and pressed it back together. She retracted her helmet and snatched the band out of her hair. She reached up, wrapping the tie around the cable. Damn, it wasn’t enough to hold it.
She turned and saw Levi crouched, watching her.
“I need your hair band.”
He raised a brow, but retracted his helmet and pulled out his man bun. As he handed the elastic to her, she eyed his shoulder-length strands of dirty blonde hair. He looked good with his hair out.
Looking up, she used the band to hold the cable together and slammed the panel closed. Moments later, she was back in the trike. It fired up first time.
They resumed bouncing across the field.
“Pretty handy with some elastic,” he murmured.
“Sometimes you just have to make do.”
Levi leaned forward and pointed. “There.”
Chrissy spotted the hole opening up in the ground. She slowed the trike, and drove straight down into darkness. Lights automatically flicked on along the side walls of the ramp. They descended straight down before turning in a spiral and flattening out. Moments later, she saw a square of light ahead, and they drove into the Hunter hangar.
She pulled the trike to a stop and dropped her head forward. They’d made it. She flexed her aching hands.
Levi reached over, his gloved hand gripping the back of her neck. He squeezed. “Nice job, Spitfire.”
She looked straight into his sexy eyes. All the stress and strain of the mission churned in her, and found a target. Rough, hard sex with Levi was just what the doctor ordered. She deserved some orgasms, dammit.
She was about to say something when their doors opened. She turned her head and saw Holmes, Niko, and Indy waiting for them. Hemi joined them, swinging his carbine onto his back.
“Well done,” Holmes said.
“Thanks,” Chrissy said.
“Tane and the others are on their way back,” Indy said with a smile, her ink-black ponytail swinging behind her. Her bold gaze ran along the alien vehicle. “Nice work.”
“Holy shit.” John, Bec, and several of the other maintenance mechanics rushed over.
