by Anna Hackett
Elle rolled her eyes. “Claudia.”
Cruz, Marcus’ second-in-command and best friend from their days as Coalition Marines, stepped up beside Marcus and crossed his arms over his chest. He’d already pulled some of his lightweight body armor off, and the ink on his arms was on display.
The general nodded at Cruz before looking back at Marcus. “We need Shaw back up and running ASAP. If the raptor prisoner we interrogated is correct, that map shows one of the main raptor communications hubs.” There was a blaze of excitement in the usually-stoic general’s voice. “It links all their operations together.”
Yeah, Marcus knew it was big. Destroy the hub, send the raptor operations into disarray.
The general continued. “As soon as the tech team can break the encryption on the chip and give us a location for the raptor comms hub—” his piercing gaze leveled on Marcus “—I want your team back out there to plant the bomb.”
Marcus nodded. He knew if they destroyed the raptors’ communications it gave humanity a fighting chance. A chance they desperately needed.
He traded a look with Cruz. Looked like they were going out to wade through raptor gore again sooner than anticipated.
Man, he really wanted that beer.
Then Marcus’ gaze landed on Elle again. He didn’t keep going out there for himself, or Holmes. He went so people like Elle and the other civilian survivors had a chance. A chance to do more than simply survive.
“Shaw’s wound is minor. Doc Emerson should have him good as new in an hour or so.” Since the advent of the nano-meds, simple wounds could be healed in hours, rather than days and weeks. They carried a dose of the microscopic medical machines on every mission, but only for dire emergencies. The nano-meds had to be administered and monitored by professionals or they were just as likely to kill you from the inside than heal you.
General Holmes nodded. “Good.”
Elle cleared her throat. “There’s no telling how long it will take to break the encryption. I’ve been working with the tech team and even if they break it, we may not be able to translate it all. We’re getting better at learning the raptor language but there are still huge amounts of it we don’t yet understand.”
Marcus’ jaw tightened. There was always something. He knew Noah Kim—their resident genius computer specialist—and his geeks were good, but if they couldn’t read the damn raptor language…
Holmes turned. “Steele, let your team have some downtime and be ready the minute Noah has anything.”
“Yes, sir.” As the general left, Marcus turned to Cruz. “Go get yourself a beer, Ramos.”
“Don’t need to tell me more than once, amigo. I would kill for some of my dad’s tamales to go with it.” Something sad flashed across a face all the women in the base mooned over, then he grimaced and a bone-deep weariness colored his words. “Need to wash the raptor off me, first.” He tossed Marcus a casual salute, Elle a smile, and strode out.
Marcus frowned after his friend and absently started loosening his body armor.
Elle moved up beside him. “I can take the comp chip to Noah.”
“Sure.” He handed it to her. When her fingers brushed his he felt the warmth all the way through him. Hell, he had it bad. Thankfully, he still had his armor on or she’d see his cock tenting his pants.
“I’ll come find you as soon as we have something.” She glanced up at him. Smiled. “Are you going to rec night tonight? I hear Cruz might even play guitar for us.”
The Friday-night gathering was a chance for everyone to blow off a bit of steam and drink too much homebrewed beer. And Cruz had an unreal talent with a guitar, although lately Marcus hadn’t seen the man play too much.
Marcus usually made an appearance at these parties, then left early to head back to his room to study raptor movements or plan the squad’s next missions. “Yeah, I’ll be there.”
“Great.” She smiled. “I’ll see you there, then.” She hurried out clutching the chip.
He stared at the tunnel where she’d exited for a long while after she disappeared, and finally ripped his chest armor off. Ah, on second thought, maybe going to the rec night wasn’t a great idea. Watching her pretty face and captivating smile would drive him crazy. He cursed under his breath. He really needed that cold shower.
As he left the landing pads, he reminded himself he should be thinking of the mission. Destroy the hub and kill more aliens. Rinse and repeat. Death and killing, that was about all he knew.
He breathed in and caught a faint trace of Elle’s floral scent. She was clean and fresh and good. She always worried about them, always had a smile, and she was damned good at providing their comms and intel.
She was why he fought through the muck every day. So she could live and the goodness in her would survive. She deserved more than blood and death and killing.
And she sure as hell deserved more than a battled-scarred, bloodstained soldier.
Hell Squad
Marcus
Cruz
Gabe
Reed
Roth
Noah
Shaw
Holmes
Niko
Finn
Devlin
Theron
Hemi
Treasure hunters, dangerous desert planet, wild beasts, and deadly thieves—the only thing standing between her and danger is one lethal man who might be more dangerous than them all.
With a secret map in hand, astro-archeologist Dr. Lexa Carter is excited for an expedition to a lawless desert planet in search of an invaluable old Earth artifact. She finally has her chance to prove herself to her disapproving family. But instead of adventure, she finds herself in the middle of treasure hunters, feral beasts, dangerous enemies and wild sandstorms. And her unwelcome protector is her museum’s mysterious—and frankly arrogant and annoying—new head of security, Damon Malik.
After years as a galactic spy, Damon Malik just wants a quiet job where no one tries to kill him. Instead of easy work in a museum full of artifacts, he finds himself on a backwater planet babysitting the most infuriating woman he’s ever met. Lexa might be smart and gorgeous, but Damon knows trouble when he sees it.
She thinks he’s arrogant. He thinks she’s a trouble-magnet. But among the desert sands and ruins, their treasure hunt—led by a young, brash treasure hunter named Dathan Phoenix—takes a dark turn. Someone doesn’t want them to find the treasure and they want Lexa and Damon dead. Damon isn’t sure if he wants to strangle Lexa or kiss her, but they will need to work together to have any chance of surviving among galactic ruins.
The Phoenix Adventures
Among Galactic Ruins
At Star’s End
In the Devil’s Nebula
On a Rogue Planet
Beneath a Trojan Moon
Beyond Galaxy’s Edge
On a Cyborg Planet
Return to Dark Earth
On a Barbarian World
Lost in Barbarian Space
Through Uncharted Space
Also by Anna Hackett
Treasure Hunter Security
Undiscovered
Uncharted
Unexplored
Unfathomed
Galactic Gladiators
Gladiator
Warrior
Hero
Protector
Champion
Barbarian
Hell Squad
Marcus
Cruz
Gabe
Reed
Roth
Noah
Shaw
Holmes
Niko
Finn
Theron
Hemi
The Anomaly Series
Time Thief
Mind Raider
Soul Stealer
Salvation
Anomaly Series Box Set
The Phoenix Adventures
Among Galactic Ruins
At Star’s End
In the Devil’s Nebula
Beneath a Trojan Moon
Beyond Galaxy’s Edge
On a Cyborg Planet
Return to Dark Earth
On a Barbarian World
Lost in Barbarian Space
Through Uncharted Space
Perma Series
Winter Fusion
The WindKeepers Series
Wind Kissed, Fire Bound
Taken by the South Wind
Tempting the West Wind
Defying the North Wind
Claiming the East Wind
Standalone Titles
Savage Dragon
Hunter’s Surrender
One Night with the Wolf
Anthologies
A Galactic Holiday
Moonlight (UK only)
Vampire Hunter (UK only)
Awakening the Dragon (UK Only)
For more information visit AnnaHackettBooks.com
About the Author
I’m a USA Today bestselling author and I’m passionate about action romance. I love stories that combine the thrill of falling in love with the excitement of action, danger and adventure. I’m a sucker for that moment when the team is walking in slow motion, shoulder-to-shoulder heading off into battle. I write about people overcoming unbeatable odds and achieving seemingly impossible goals. I like to believe it’s possible for all of us to do the same.
My books are mixture of action, adventure and sexy romance and they’re recommended for anyone who enjoys fast-paced stories where the boy wins the girl at the end (or sometimes the girl wins the boy!)
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Website: AnnaHackettBooks.com
