Ice (Elite Forces #1)

by Hilary Storm

  “Sir.” I exhale, acknowledging both men on my medical team with a nod. They, too, are trained to kill.

  I hold back my anger as I continue walking the small compound, looking for her. My eyes scan everywhere, from the tiny tent we eat under to hers. Where in the hell is she?

  The sun is setting deep in the desert. Soon we'll be going from closing out one day and right into the next. The day we’ve prepared for. The day that will forever be engrained into our memories as one of the craziest times of our lives. When our lives were in danger and we were on a mission to kill anything that moves.

  I finally see her. She's standing off to the side of my tent. Our eyes lock. This shit is forbidden out here. It's dangerous for me to keep my observance of her, exploiting what I desperately want to say. I know the look on my face will give away the desperation I'm feeling inside.

  She drags her gaze away first and tucks her blond hair under her hat, disregarding me as if I never existed. I watch closely as she makes her way to JJ, tucking herself close to his side. I lose sight of her when they enter the equipment area... The one that I fucked her in last night.

  It kills me more than I care to admit that he’s the one with her right now instead of me. He’ll be with her on top of that roof, guarding her back the same way she’ll be guarding his. He’s a good man and a dedicated soldier, not only to this country, but to his wife and children as well. “Take care of her JJ, I need her,” I whisper to myself.

  “You worried about her?” Roberts comes up behind me. I scoff at the absurdity of his question. That woman has more balls than most men I’ve met.

  “Not at all. She’s more put together than the rest of us. She can handle this.” Speaking the damn truth, I know Jade can handle it. It’s my damn feelings for her that need to be handled before I fuck this shit all up. A mind must be clear during a mission. A single hesitation could cost a life, so I need to get my shit in check quickly.

  I need to focus on being an expert, as well as the leader of this team for the next few hours, while we compile our gear. Then tear down what we can to help the cleaners who will come in the minute we leave and demolish this small camp like it never existed. All teams leave out today. Not a damn thing will be left behind, only memories.

  Memories should be left behind here in this mass destruction, this place called hell. Mine will exist.

  With determination, I enter my office to send one last email to Colonel Wright, who I will report back to the minute we land in the United States.

  Closing my laptop, I tuck it safely into my duffle bag that will await me at the airport in Dubai. I stand, roam to my small cot, and sit on the edge to set my alarm on my watch, knowing damn well I won’t sleep. Not out of fear for our mission. I’m fearful of her and of what the fuck will become of us after we're all debriefed and go our separate ways.

  Will she act as if I never existed, the same way she did the entire night we tore shit down? Or will she want to exist in my world and get to know me? Will she want me the same way I want her? What she fails to know about me is, I’m not a man to give up on the things I want; and I want her. Not just her body, but her soul and her heart.

  As I lay my head on my pillow, I close my eyes. I don’t sleep. I’m ready for this mission. I’m focused. I have to be. I have men to protect. A woman to protect. “I will own you, Jade. You will become mine.” Those are the last words I speak before I succumb to the sleep I didn’t think I would get.

  The distinctive sound of the MH-60 Black Hawk Helicopter approaching rings in our ears. Everyone is geared up and dressed in darkness with our backpacks attached. Each one of us carries several rifles and pistol mags, a radio, and hydration reservoirs. Watching everyone with special ops helmets in hand, I stand secure, knowing they're designed to stop a round from a pistol busting open a skull. These helmets are lightweight but carry the necessities needed to guide us through the dark. Flashlights, cameras, ear and microphone pieces all in place and tested repeatedly. All exposed skin painted, making us inconspicuous to the enemy. We are fucking ready.

  No one speaks as we watch the helicopter land; instead we’re running toward it. The high-pitched whirl of the engine and the blades strum over the loud beating of our pounding chests.

  “Let's do this. In and out. I don’t give two fucks who kills that bastard as long as the proof is recorded. I also don’t give a shit who you take down to get to him. Do I make myself clear?” I yell over the top of the roaring engines as we lift off of the ground. My eyes are trained on Jade, who looks straight ahead, still not meeting my eyes. I need to drive my point deep into them all.

  My meaning is really meant for her more than anyone else. I’ve kept this to myself until now, but I saw the way she looked at the women and children during our briefing a few days ago. She stayed tight-lipped, like she should. But her eyes gave her away, showing a flicker of sadness. Grief before we even strike. It's a sore spot with most soldiers. It's one thing to kill the enemy, but when the enemy is a child or a woman, it's a hard pill to swallow.

  Every facet of flying at night is unlike flying in the clear gleam of the day. Pitch black awaits you; the only lights you see are the red panels lit up from the cockpit, illuminating the determination of the pilot. Silence awaits. Blood begins to boil in anticipation, and I start to remember why I craved this kind of shit for so long in my career.

  Then before I know it, the smallest of light appears on the ground and the one person I care about drops into place beside me. I close my eyes for a brief second and take in her close proximity. I'd love more than anything to take her in my fucking arms and tell her the shit that's boiling up inside me. ‘Be fucking careful, Jade. Know your strengths and acknowledge your weaknesses. It makes you invincible when you work with the knowledge of both. Don't let your guard down, and for fuck's sake, don't hesitate. Do what you've been trained to do.’

  “Captain,” I whisper. Her head jerks my way. I can no longer see her stunning eyes. I reach for her hand, grasp it firmly in mine. That’s all I can give her, all she lets me have as we glide in closer to the building.

  The thick woolen ropes are attached to the cabin drop. Right behind them, JJ and Jade fast-rope down and just like that, she’s gone. She's out of sight, but not even close to being out of mind.

  I nod to the pilot and we lift several feet; then in one giant swoop, we drop. It’s fast and quick, just like we planned. Everyone jumps out and scatters into their positions. We're behind enemy territory. We've just jumped without hesitation straight into what we all know will be a bloodbath before this is over. Just as quickly as he dropped us off, the pilot is gone, waiting in the darkness to return.

  "I need a status from my snipers." Whispering is hard when your heart is racing from the adrenaline of a run like this, but it helps when I get the go-ahead from both Jade and JJ. Knowing she's in position and safe makes me feel like I can go in and kill this motherfucker.

  Lights start to turn on in several of the buildings. Harris, Roberts, and I move toward the building where we know Azham-Amir-TajUdin is hiding.

  “Fuck. Everyone down,” I say into my microphone when several men run into the dingy street. Flashlights, guns, and grenades in hand, I look to Harris for his interpretation when they start yelling in their native tongue.

  “Someone’s here. Someone’s here. Attack. Attack,” he whispers.

  The second we hunch down to the ground, all hell breaks loose. Gunshots start to go off into the air, and I watch as three of the men in the street are taken out with one single gunshot to the head before the rest retreat back into the darkened shadows, shooting at JJ and Jade as they go. I know they've missed my team, because I can hear moving through my earpiece.

  We move. I have no fear. I lead us into the building and know without a doubt they have that fucker buried in here to keep him safe. He’s no leader. He’s a damn pussy motherfucker, who gives orders to kill, to rape, and to mutilate, while he sits here in his fucking hideout, letting these suicid
e assholes do all his work. A true leader doesn’t expect his teammates to do anything he wouldn’t do. These men and women have been brainwashed for years. It’s like one giant piece of rotting shit that’s broken off and fed to the next person in line. They’re born to live a life not worth living. It’s so wrong. They make themselves our enemy and we make them dead as fuck.

  I have no control of what’s happening outside of this building. I'll have to leave that up to my team. Gunshots ring in my ears while my men talk to each other, having our backs the farther we creep into the building.

  We make a dirty sweep of the main floor of the distraught building, killing over a dozen men. Fuck, call me sick and twisted, but this is the shit I live for. To kill. It's unfortunate for every one of these fuckers who is now bleeding to death, trying to scatter away like fucking cockroaches crawling along the dirty floor. Or a snake slithering away after you’ve cut off its head. Pathetic fucking creatures. It’s time these assholes die.

  They're the enemy because they, too, crave the kill. Ours. There is no fucking way I'm accepting that as our fate as I continue to leave a path of bodies behind me as I search for this fucker. I move up to one filthy asshole, his tongue dragging out of his mouth as he screams what I assume is obscenities directly in my face. “Fuck you.” I pull out my .45 and shoot him right between his eyes.

  You don’t have time to blink in this situation. We are moving fast as we sweep further into the building. “Bingo, bitches.” I smile and signal for Roberts to toss a grenade.

  Jade’s face flashes across my mind for one brief moment. I know she’s alright. They all are. I would know. It’s only been a few minutes since we began this battle. Very little communication is needed, but I have my ears tuned into her. I know she's breathing in my ear. It may have something to do with the fact that she's the only one in my left ear. Call me controlling, I don't give a fuck. I knew her safety would keep me clear-headed.

  Her face drops out of my memory as quickly as it invades it. I nod for the go-ahead the second the three of us have retreated back down the hallway we just came through. The sound of the pin being pulled and the launching of the tiny yet powerful vessel being sent into the air takes me back in time. The sweet sound of the clapping thunder from the explosion when it hits its target has my cock twitching, and I fucking love the rush that consumes me.

  We move fast through the cloud of smoke, heading toward the light shining from a room on the left. Screaming women, who I don’t trust one damn bit, submerge from their huddles. Harris stands over them with two pistols in his hands, while Roberts and I battle it out with three guards who barrel at us with a knife in one hand and guns in the other. Fucking war. I take one out while he takes out another. The last one is quick, his shot barely missing Roberts.

  “Time to die, motherfucker.” I snap his hand behind his back until I hear it crack, allowing the gun to fall to the floor.

  “Ask him where he is, Harris.” I spin the fucker around, and Harris mumbles some bullshit jargon. The soldier dressed all in black spits in his direction. I shove him forward and put a bullet straight through the back of his head.

  “Roberts. Where the fuck—” I turn around to face our enemy, my words cut off mid-sentence. The one whose life I’m about to take is standing before me. Roberts has the fucker’s hands behind his back, his once white cloak now stained and dirty just like his heart.

  “You Americans cannot come in here and do this. This is wrong.” He speaks in English. Of course he knows English. To hear my native tongue flowing out of his mouth has my hands itching to cut his tongue out.

  “Wrong?” I question, my brows lifting. “This is right, bitch. Back away from him, Roberts.” The instant Roberts moves out of the way, I send the last four rounds from my mag straight the fuck into his black soul.

  “Snake down.” Our code that he’s dead echoes through our ears. This means the chopper is on its way back. It’ll be here in three minutes tops. The women are folding their hands together, rocking back and forth in the corner, screaming. They're obviously praying for the death of this so-called leader. I release the clip on my camera and shove my evidence deep inside my pocket.

  We leave the exact same way we came in, but now the silence greets us in the half-lit street. We run along the sides of the buildings, never cowering, yet always keeping cover.

  I list off every member of my team into my headpiece. They all answer back with their chosen code word assigned to them during training. When I hear her sweet voice answer with the word ‘hunger’, my lips tilt upwards. Our mission is over, and she has no idea just how hungry I am for her.

  CHAPTER SIX

  JADE

  It’s a difficult task to try to get into the mind of a sniper, and it’s by far more strenuous to live as one. I’ve trained for this, studied usage in weapons, how to handle stressful situations and the ability to accept any challenge set in front of me, and I'm proud to say I've always succeeded in my missions.

  Your mind has to be in the right place. Our emotions are demanding. Summing it up, you have to literally require your mind to not only do the work it needs to do on the inside to keep you alive, you also have to let it take over every aspect and every grueling detail on the outside.

  It’s JJ and I up here. Each of us trained to do this with the privilege to see through our night vision gear as if it’s daylight. Our eyes have to be everywhere. My sights are zeroed in, and I’m ready to pull the trigger at any moment.

  That’s why I stayed as far away from Kaleb as I could today. He’s a distraction out here I can’t afford. Not only for myself, but for every single one of my teammates, including him. One slipup, one miss, and we could jeopardize this entire mission. Or worse yet, lose a member of the team. As hard as it is to snub out another life and watch them die unexpectedly from your hand, there is no way in hell I will lose my focus and take a chance on losing one of the guys. To have to live the rest of my life knowing it was my fault would be worse than death to me.

  I felt Kaleb’s eyes on me all day. The urge to run to him ran through my veins as fast as the blood coursing through them. I may be an American soldier, but I’m a woman. I have a need to be held every once in a while, and I'd love to have someone tell me they care.

  I know he’s not that man. God, how I wish he were. He’s crawled under my skin during the past few days. Every waking moment, all I can think about is him. I’m a fool for believing him when he told me we would continue this once we arrive back home. I'm sure he’s a liar, a manipulator, and I let him take me without knowing a damn thing about him. It's easy to say one thing in the sweltering heat of the desert, then change it completely once you hit safe land. The desert makes you fucking crazy.

  Now, as I lie on top of this roof with my rifle in position and my finger on the trigger, ready to fire the instant I need to, I’ve made one decision. I hope I never see him again after this is over. My heart clenches at the thought of not having his hands on me again. He’s possessed me in a way I can’t describe. Deep down I know he only used me every time he fucked me. I have to be done. I have to go back to the States with a clear head and try to return to some sense of normalcy. After tonight, he no longer has control of anything I do or say. During training, there was a hole drilled so deep into our heads that once a mission is over it is never spoken of again. Everything that happens is left here. And that has to include him.

  I’m thankfully pulled away from the last thoughts I will allow myself to have of Kaleb the second several men barge out of a building, screaming. JJ and I are undetected up here, and that gives us a great advantage. The moment those fuckers start shooting their guns in the air, we take them out. One right after the other, they drop to the ground. My intellect is not giving a shit that I’ve just snuffed out several human beings’ lives. These fuckers deserve to die. Every damn one of them.

  JJ nudges me, his fingers coding that he’s spotted two men climbing up the roof of a building across from us. I aim my rifle, find
my target, and take them both out, their shit bodies falling to the ground.

  I have no idea how many more we kill. I do know the instant I see three women coming out of a darkened building, I hold off and watch them. Fuck. Sweat starts to drip down my back and forehead. “Goddamn it,” I say while covering my microphone with two of my fingers.

  One of them places her hand inside her dark-colored clothing. Threat or not, they have to go. JJ takes out two of them, and I hit the other. I sigh in relief. Minutes go by quickly. All we hear is the firing of guns from inside the building where we know our main target is. The beautiful moment we hear Kaleb announce it’s done is the second JJ pulls out his bomb. He does his thing to set it and we're gone.

  Crawling across the hard pebbles of this soon-to-be destroyed building is one of the hardest things. We have to get our asses out of here now. Our shit will blow up if we stall too long. JJ hits the steps alongside the roof first, and I follow close on his ass. Feet planted on the rusty steps, rifle slung over my back, I haul ass. We hit the ground and run for the empty field we've been instructed to meet in.

  I hear his voice once again. Deep, dark, and dangerous as he asks each one of us to give our code word. I’m the last one to rattle mine off. Each of us was given a word we were to check in once the mission was complete. "Hunger,” I say loudly, my breathing rapidly picking up speed the faster I run.

  The helicopter approaches; one by one, everyone jumps in. Except me.

  I can’t explain the sudden urge of panic that catastrophically hits me in the gut. It’s as if my sensors are telling me something is wrong. I turn my body sharply in the direction of the small village. Kaleb, Harris, and Roberts are still running toward us.

  “Did you see that?” I yell over the top of the blaring engines of the helicopter.