Stolen By Raze (Grabbed Book 4)

by Lolita Lopez

  Stolen By Raze

  Grabbed #4

  Lolita Lopez

  Night Works Books

  College Station, Texas

  Copyright © 2019 Lolita Lopez

  Kindle Edition

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below.

  Night Works Books

  3515-B Longmire Drive #103

  College Station, Texas 77845

  www.roxierivera.com

  Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.

  Cover Art © 2015 P Schmitt/Picky Me Artist

  Stolen By Raze/ Lolita Lopez – 1st ed.

  ISBN 978-1-63042-033-8

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Epilogue

  About Lolita Lopez

  Also by Lolita Lopez

  Stolen By Raze

  Chapter One

  Knee-deep in inventory, Raze silently counted the weapons neatly suspended on the wall of the gear room. Though he enjoyed his position as the head of the Special Response Units in this sector, he loathed all the paperwork and reports that went with it. One look at the messages clogging his inbox every morning, and Raze couldn’t help but think back to the easier days before his many promotions. He reminded himself that the slower pace and safer environment here in orbit above the planet Calyx were his reward for his many years of valiant service.

  “You got a minute?” Cipher, the SRU Alpha team’s chief engineer and explosives expert, popped his head through the open door and held out his tablet. “I need some signatures for the equipment requisitions.”

  Raze made a face and held out his hand. “Is it that time of year already? I better start working on my arm-wrestling skills because I’m going to have to take Vicious to the table to get every credit we need out of his budget.”

  “Sorry, boss.” Cipher handed over the tablet and gestured to the digital display of the duty board mounted on the nearest wall. “I’ve got transport for the Grab escort duty squared away for tomorrow morning. Zeph is taking us down to the surface.”

  Surprised by that bit of information, Raze glanced up from the screen he had been scrolling down. “He’s been cleared to fly?”

  “Only transport missions but yeah. He wants back into the combat duty rotation, but the admiral hasn’t signed off on his release yet.”

  “The guy took a direct hit and made a crash landing that he barely survived. There’s no rush.”

  “He’s hurting. Emotionally,” Cipher clarified. “He’s the one who shot down Terror. He’s the one who couldn’t stay in the air long enough to defend and save him. I’m sure he feels guilty for Terror’s capture.”

  And death.

  Raze didn’t dare speak the words they had all accepted as truth. A man like Terror wouldn’t have lasted long in Splinter captivity. Once it became clear that he couldn’t be broken, they would have slit his throat and dumped his body in an unmarked grave. Regardless of all the trouble the man had caused, Terror had been loved by many and viewed as the best of their kind, a warrior unlike any other. He was missed by man, but especially his closest friends Vicious and Torment.

  “It’s better for Zeph to get back in the pilot’s seat where he belongs.” Cipher walked over to the screen and tapped in the flight plan information that would automatically sync to the Alpha squad’s communication devices. When he was done, he accessed the secret interface that allowed a soldier with his clearance to sift through all the information the ship’s many servers possessed. “Did you get the invite for the big sit-down in the war room next week?”

  “Yes.” Raze slashed his stylus across the bottom of the tablet screen and tapped it for the next page. “Did you see the invite list?”

  “I did.” Cipher’s voice tightened. “Thrash and Rampage, huh?”

  “Yes.” Raze continued signing in the necessary spots. The two land corps soldiers were famous among the Harcos ranks for waging a counter-insurgency campaign on one of the planets the Splinter faction had tried to colonize. The two soldiers had been given one year to try to rein in the violence or else the war council was fully prepared to destroy the entire planet. Miraculously, the pair had succeeded against all odds. Seven years later, that ratty shithole was an emerging trade partner and one of the safest planets in the Alliance network.

  “You think we’re going to try to colonize Calyx?”

  He met Cipher’s questioning stare. “You’re the genius. You tell me.”

  The specialist turned back to the screens and started typing in a passcode. “I think it would be in our long-term interests to put more than just a base down there. Calyx has no standing army and almost no infrastructure. If we don’t colonize them, the Splinters will.”

  “Better us than them,” Raze agreed.

  “But it won’t be easy,” his friend replied. “Not with that place already overrun by terrorists. I’ve seen some of the latest intel on the western villages like the places where Vicious’s mate came from,” he said. “The Splinters have a major stronghold there and are operating openly.”

  “Sure, but you remember what it was like in Blue Shores. Think of how relaxed and easy it was there during Venom’s honeymoon. They’re talking about putting our main base near the beach there because the people in that area are so open to accepting us.”

  “It’s a strange planet,” Cipher remarked, still tapping away at the touchscreen. “The City wants to be a metropolis, but it’s being held back such restrictive laws. The rural areas are frighteningly backwards with their bans on all medicine and technology and their treatment of women. Then you have places like Blue Shores which is basically a slice of the colonies on Calyx.”

  “From what I’ve read about their home planet—about this Earth of theirs—it’s always been that way. They aren’t like us. They don’t share a central heritage or bloodline.” He shrugged. “You’ve seen how different the women look. Dark hair, pale hair, red hair, blue eyes, green eyes, brown eyes, pale skin, dark skin, tan skin—”

  Decked out in his gear, Venom appeared in the doorway. “I’m taking the Beta squad out now.”

  After losing an entire team during the blitz attack by the Splinters nearly three months earlier, Venom had taken over as the Valiant’s Beta squad leader. Raze missed working al
ongside his best friend every day but acknowledged that it was wisest choice for their unit.

  “Don’t be easy on the new guys over on the Arctis. I want their asses dragging when you’re done with this forty-eight-hour scenario. Break them—and then build them back up, Ven. They have to make all the wrong decisions now, with the safety net of training to catch them. It’s the only way to give them the confidence they need to operate independently in the field.”

  “Shit, Raze, remind me not to send you to the next recruitment breakfast. We’ll never get any new applications with your sunny face greeting them at the door.”

  He scowled at his friend and tossed a stylus at him. Venom ducked and caught the shiny stick before it smacked his head. “Alpha has Grab escort tomorrow so you’ll be the backup team up here if we get a hot call.”

  “We’ll be three hours out by normal transport and one by dart if you need us on the ground,” Venom said, his tone concerned.

  “It’s a simple Grab escort, Ven. We’ve got this.”

  “Simple my ass,” Venom replied with a grunt. “There is nothing simple about the powder keg waiting to blow down there.”

  “Orion is sending extra guard ships with us. He hopes the show of air force will be a deterrent to any sort of nonsense the locals might want to kick our way.”

  “Let’s hope he’s right.”

  “Have you heard from Dizzy yet?” Even though Venom had never given him a reason to doubt his mission priorities, Raze needed to know that his friend wasn’t pining over his wife who had taken a quick trip to Safe Harbor.

  “Earlier,” Venom said and smiled. “She and Jack landed safely and are already at his new home in the Harcos embassy compound.”

  “You think her old man is going to like it there?”

  Venom shrugged. “He doesn’t have much of a choice. After the way shit went down in The City, he’s a marked man. Working for us and living within the safety of one our compounds is the best option for him. It was that or stay here on the Valiant or one of the destroyer or guard ships.”

  “And General Thorn?”

  Venom made a face. “It’s still very complicated for Dizzy. She loves Jack because he’s the only father she’s ever known, but she’s open and curious about forming a better relationship with Thorn. They’re on good terms. She’s actually meeting Thorn’s wife at the embassy.”

  “Is that a good idea?”

  “I trust Dizzy’s judgment. She’s spoken briefly with Thorn’s mate. I don’t foresee any issues between them.”

  “What about Thorn and Jack?”

  “They’re like a pair of Sendarian growlers in a bag.”

  He laughed at the image of those scrawny, yowling cats. “No love lost, huh?”

  “None.” Venom glanced at Cipher’s back, almost as if debating whether he wanted to say something in front of the man. “Hey, uh, when I get back, I need to chat with you about some scheduling conflicts on the horizon.”

  Raze’s brow furrowed until it finally dawned on him what Venom was trying to tell him. The glint in his friend’s eyes couldn’t be mistaken. Since saving Dizzy from the terrorists who had kidnapped her, Venom had been trying his hardest to start a family with his pretty blonde mate. Apparently, the newlyweds had succeeded in their mission.

  Despite the joy he felt at his best friend’s stroke of luck, Raze couldn’t deny the dagger of envy that stabbed at his gut. To earn the right to a wife and the chance to father children was the greatest honor among their kind. It was something only the strongest, bravest warriors ever earned the right to try—and the one task he had utterly failed, in more ways than one. There would be no second mate for him and never a child of his own blood.

  Venom rubbed the back of his neck and offered a lopsided smile. “So…yeah.”

  Certain Venom wanted to keep his happy news quiet for a while, he grinned at him and held back the heartfelt congratulations he wanted to offer. Later, in private, he would make sure Venom knew just how happy he was for the couple. “We’ll get together sometime next week if that’s all right?”

  “Works for me.” Venom turned to the screen Cipher was studying. “What are you looking at?”

  “Just the list of the men cleared for the Grab tomorrow,” Cipher said. “Boss, didn’t you have a run-in with Swift at the officers’ club?”

  The mention of the asshole pilot who had a bad habit of crossing the established boundaries of poppies, the high-end pleasure agents who served unmated soldiers and airmen, riled him. Shooting out of his chair, he strode toward Cipher. “Orion let that bastard onto the Grab roster?”

  “He’s right here.” Cipher tapped the name halfway down the short list. “Looks like they bumped a Land Corps sergeant to give him a space.”

  Swearing under his breath, Raze wondered what the hell the admiral was thinking. Swift was a loose fucking cannon and dangerous. As the chief negotiator of the SRU, Raze easily read people, and he’d seen enough of Swift’s behavior to understand the man was likely incapable of showing love or affection to a bride. He was the sort of Harcos male who wanted a subservient and collared slave, not a wife to love and pamper and certainly not a partner.

  “This is bullshit.”

  “Easy.” Venom squeezed his shoulder. “It’s out of our hands. The lists are split equally between Land and Sky Corps and the spots are assigned by seniority and valor points. Unless the admiral had a paper trail to point to, he couldn’t just ax the guy from the list for being an asshole.”

  “This isn’t going to end well,” Raze predicted. “I give it a week before Risk or someone else from the medical team has to step in and take his bride.”

  “Maybe,” Venom said uneasily. “Until then, we have to rely on the systems in place to keep her safe.” The communications device strapped to his wrist beeped. “I’ve got to run.” He clapped Raze’s back. “We’ll talk later, yeah?”

  “Yes.”

  Venom hesitated in the doorway. “Don’t let Swift get to you, okay? Just let it go. We’ll sort it out later.”

  Raze scowled at him. “I know how to handle myself.”

  “Uh-huh,” his friend said, unconvinced. “You seem to forget how many bar fights I’ve had to back you up on over the years.”

  “I’m too old for that shit. I’m not about to brawl on the departure decks with a pilot just because he’s the biggest son of a bitch I’ve ever met.”

  Venom glanced at Cipher. “If he gets into trouble down there…”

  The explosives expert held up his hand. “I’ve got his back.”

  Raze wanted to be annoyed with his teammates for being so mothering but knew he was incredibly lucky to have such loyal friends. After losing an entire unit of their highly trained SRU brethren, the men had closed ranks and come together to form an even more cohesive group. Even the new guys who had been added into the mix weren’t seen as mere replacements but as brothers-in-arms.

  Cipher closed down the private access windows he had opened. “This is why the Grabs need to be replaced with something more equitable for both parties. Letting some poor girl get kidnapped and taken by men who don’t deserve them is barbaric.”

  Cipher had never made his disdain for the Grab ritual a secret. Despite his numerous valor points earned by risking his life on missions with SRU and even the Shadow Force on occasion, Cipher refused to use them.

  “Traditions die hard.” Raze hated the idea of Cipher continuing his lonely existence so he suggested, “You could look into some of the trial programs for mate matching. They’re opening them up here soon. Some of them look promising.”

  Cipher made an uncertain sound but didn’t say no. “I’ll think about it.”

  Raze didn’t push. He was the last man in the universe who had any business lecturing another man on his personal life. After the shambles of his first mate bond, he had sworn off mating ever again. Seeing the way Dizzy made Venom so happy had tempted him greatly, but the shameful secret he had been carrying around for years was eno
ugh to force him to abandon those fanciful thoughts. Wives and mate-bonds were for other men.

  “Raze.”

  He stiffened at the low, raspy sound of Torment’s voice and turned toward the doorway Venom had recently vacated. The Shadow Force interrogator loomed there, his very presence ominous and foreboding. Nothing good ever came from a run-in with the man capable of breaking even the hardest terrorists.

  Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with a curious Cipher, he asked, “What’s up, Torment?”

  “We have a problem down on Calyx, and I need your team to make a side trip tonight.” Torment glanced around and took a step forward, lowering his voice even more. “This would be strictly off the books, and you’ll probably get your hands slapped when it’s done.”

  Raze narrowed his eyes. “This isn’t a sanctioned mission?”

  “That paper-pushing asshole they sent to take Terror’s place, refuses to expend resources on native assets in trouble. He’s a tight-fisted jerkoff who seems to think they’re all easily replaced and not worth risking our men to protect.”

  It was the first time Raze had ever seen Torment lose that mask of icy indifference. Losing Terror appeared to have rattled the normally cool and collected operator. He couldn’t publicly disagree with Savage, the man the war council had sent to head up Shadow Force in this sector, but he could make things difficult and go behind his boss’s back to do the right thing.

  Raze blew out a worried breath. “Look, your assets know the risks they’re taking when they sign onto work with you.”

  “Not these two,” Torment countered. “We’ve used one of them for information, but she’s never asked for anything in return from us. We owe her a debt of honor.”

  Raze frowned. “And who the hell would that be?”

  “Hopper.”

  He blinked. “The pink-haired woman who gave us the tunnel intel and helped us locate and recover the fuel rods?”

  Torment nodded. “Her.”

  “And the other one?”

  The interrogator hesitated. “It’s Dizzy’s best friend, Ella. General Thorn made it clear to me before he set off on his flagship that I was to do everything within my power to keep his daughter safe and happy. Dizzy considers Ella her sister and that’s good enough for me. She’s family—and we protect our families.”