by Anna Hackett
“This is our ride.”
Santha gasped. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“It’s called a Darkswift. We use them for covert infiltration.” He watched her circle the sleek, black craft barely big enough to fit two people. “It’s shaped like a glider, seats two people lying down side by side on their stomachs. There are dual controls—” he pointed to the tinted, low-profile canopy “—and it has a small, silent, thermonuclear engine.”
She looked up and smiled. “I cannot wait to try it out. Let’s go.”
Cruz opened the canopy. “Climb aboard.”
She stepped in and lay flat on her stomach in the molded space. “Can I fly it?” Excitement vibrated in her voice.
“No.”
She frowned at him over her shoulder. “Why not?”
“You have to be trained.”
She snorted. “That’s a bullshit excuse. You’re just being a man…won’t let a woman drive.”
Cruz arched a brow. “Yes, I want to drive. I’d prefer we didn’t end up crashing into the side of a building. And in case you hadn’t noticed, I am a man.”
Something flashed in her eyes. “Oh, I noticed.”
He let his gaze drift down her body, lingering on her shapely ass. Man, he really didn’t need a hard-on in his armor. Sucking in a breath, he lay down on the other side of the Darkswift’s cockpit.
They were only inches apart. He thumbed a control and the smoky-black canopy closed.
“How come I haven’t seen any of these babies flying around?”
“They have illusion systems and because they’re small and silent, they’re easy to hide. And we usually only use them at night. They’re practically invisible.”
“Cool.”
He smiled at her. “Ready to launch?”
“Ready.”
“Elle, we are go for launch.”
“Okay, Cruz,” Elle said. “Initiating launch now. Good luck.”
Cruz adjusted the controls. A neon-green, heads-up display flared to life in front of him and harnesses snapped closed over their bodies. “There’s a launch mechanism in the floor beneath us. It’ll catapult us into the air.”
“How do we launch to come back?”
“The engine can get us airborne, but not as high as we’d like for maximum stealth.”
Elle counted down steadily in their ears. Ahead, the launch bay doors retracted, revealing a strip of early-evening sky. Below, the valley was a mass of shadows.
“Hold on,” he warned.
Santha gripped the handholds built into the console. A second later, the catapult mechanism released and sent the Darkswift shooting out of the hangar.
As they soared into the air, Santha laughed.
Cruz tapped the controls, his right hand gently moving the control stick. He monitored the display as the computer their checked altitude and adjusted the stabilizers.
Then he turned his head and was caught by the sight of unfettered joy on her face. It made his gut cramp. He suspected she’d had little to laugh about since the invasion.
Finally, their ascent leveled out, and the engine kicked in, sending them gliding silently toward the city.
“I have to get myself one of these,” Santha said. “Are you sure I can’t have a turn flying it?”
“I’m sure.”
A pause. “Maybe I could bribe you with something?”
The slight, seductive drawl in her voice made him go hard. Dammit. “You probably could.”
“Hmm, I just have to work out what I have that you want.”
He caught her gaze. “I want everything you have. All of it.”
Her smile evaporated and she just stared at him. “I’m not that special.”
“We covered this already. Brave, helps others and never gives up.”
She snorted. “I’m not a saint, Cruz.”
“I know. I don’t want a saint. Believe me, once I get you in bed, or against a wall, I want the opposite of saintly.”
A faint blush stained her cheeks. “When we get back from this recon mission, then we’ll see.”
Oh, yeah, they would. “Now, stop distracting me. A hard-on in armor is really uncomfortable.”
As she laughed again, he turned his attention to the controls. They soared in over the outskirts of the city. Elle updated him on raptor troop movements on the ground, but thankfully, the air space was free.
“We’ll land in a strip of parkland by the harbor and then go in on foot,” he said. “It’s about two kilometers to the raptor installation. There’s a row of old shops and restaurants next door, we’ll use the roof as a vantage point.”
Santha nodded. “Got it.”
As the computer guided them into the landing area, Cruz felt that familiar tingle he got in his blood just before his boots hit dirt on a mission. A clarity, an intense focus that couldn’t be matched by anything else.
“Get ready for landing.”
Their speed dropped off and eventually the engine cut out. Cruz glided them in and they scooted across the grass, the reverse thrusters making them stop before they neared the water.
Touch down.
***
“Hell of a ride, soldier,” Santha said.
“I’m sure I could say something inappropriate to that comment, querida.”
She grinned. The man really was too sexy for his own good. And that accent…she thought hearing it more would make her immune to it.
Nope. “I bet you could.” She touched the control for the canopy and it slid open. “But we have a mission.”
They both climbed out of the Darkswift. Santha checked her crossbow before sliding it over her shoulder. Across the glider, Cruz did the same with his carbine.
He strode around to join her. “You need to activate your combat helmet.” He touched the side of her neck, his fingers brushing over skin until he found a button at the neck of her armor. The helmet extended from her armor, sliding over her head.
“Neat,” she said.
“It’s made of a thin, extremely strong thermoplastic.” He activated his own. “Now, I suggest you take the lead.”
“What?”
“You know this city better than anyone. I’d be crazy not to use your expertise.”
She hitched her crossbow up and nodded. God, the man just kept making her like him more.
After a quick glance at the comp screen attached to her wrist to check the map Elle had uploaded for them, she headed off. “We’ll stick to the buildings along the water’s edge and use them for cover.”
He tapped the side of his helmet. “There’s a button here to activate your night-vision lens.” A small eyepiece slipped over his right eye.
She flicked hers on. The night showed up in shades of green. They fell into a quick pace, Cruz following closely behind her, a warm, intense presence. She moved quickly and quietly, sticking to the shadows. She fell into her usual way of moving to stay invisible.
That was the key to this mission, being invisible. In and out. They’d get their intel, confirm the prisoners were either at this raptor installation or not, and then get out.
So why did she have a huge gnawing sensation in her gut that a big pile of crap was headed their way?
Santha suddenly halted and pushed her back against the wall. Cruz followed suit and gripped his carbine. She tilted her head, listening. She was positive she’d heard something.
“Cruz?” Elle’s voice in their ears. “There’s a small raptor patrol about two hundred meters from your location. They just appeared on the map, Must have come out of the sewers or some other hidey-hole.”
Cruz just tapped his earpiece to acknowledge the information and remained silent.
They waited for several minutes before Santha relaxed and nodded. The raptors had moved on.
“You move like the wind,” Cruz murmured.
The compliment warmed her. They moved past apartment buildings, large houses, and boutique stores. In the street, cars were piled on top of each other
, some just burned out shells.
She wanted to believe a rex had done the damage, the giant creature tearing through what had once been an affluent suburb. But she knew a good portion of the destruction had been caused by humans. In the initial invasion, many people had panicked and gone into hiding or escaped the city. Others had looted and rioted, and in the days that followed, most had given in to the incredible terror.
Cruz and Santha kept moving. They reached a park area by the harbor. The grass was lush and green from the recent rain and rose to past her knees. They waded in and Santha was glad it was nighttime. All the snakes should be holed up somewhere else.
She stopped under a tree and leaned in close to Cruz. “Just around the next bend, we’ll be able to see the raptor base.” She tapped her mini-comp. “We only have to cover another two hundred meters and we’ll be at our vantage point.”
Cruz nodded.
They moved on, and soon, the trees and plants of the park grew closer together into a dense bush. Santha pushed her way through it, branches slapping at her and grass seed sticking to her boots.
A flash of movement through the long grass caught her eye.
She stopped. For a second, she thought she’d imagined it. She wasn’t used to the night vision and the way it changed her surroundings.
A sound. A large body moving through the bush.
Another sound. A strange animal noise. She frowned. It didn’t sound like anything she’d ever heard before.
“Santha?”
“Shh.” She stayed still. The sound came again, a cross between a gurgle and a click. A chill swept over her.
“What was that?” Cruz said.
“Cruz and Santha,” Elle’s steady voice came over the line. “I’m picking up a heat signature near you guys. It isn’t a rex but it looks larger than a raptor. The growth is too thick and it’s too dark for a visual.”
“Roger that, Elle,” Cruz responded with a quiet murmur.
Santha turned, trying to find the animal. Maybe it was some escaped pet? A horse? A large dog?
Yeah, and maybe the raptors were really here to make friends. She pulled her crossbow out. “Let’s keep moving. Slowly.”
They covered more ground and nothing appeared or charged them. But the sensation of being watched didn’t dissipate.
She felt a groove in the dirt beneath her feet. She stopped and crouched. Cruz flicked on the light on his carbine and aimed it down.
A large footprint, with three clawed toes, was perfectly delineated in the damp ground where the long grass lay broken and flattened.
Cruz made a sound in his throat. “That is no dog.”
No. It was larger than a dog print, much, much larger and with much sharper claws.
“Pick up speed.” She wanted to get them out of this grass. It hampered their movements and vision.
The strange sound came again. From the left.
They moved into a jog.
The sound again. On the right.
That shiver hit Santha again. “It’s hunting us.”
“Fucker can show himself and see how he likes my carbine,” Cruz muttered. His voice was in no way quiet.
“Shh! Don’t antagonize it.”
“We don’t even know what it is.”
Suddenly a large, dark body burst from the undergrowth and slammed into Cruz. They smashed into the ground.
There was enough moonlight for her to make out the large, feathered creature trying to slash at Cruz’s abdomen with the huge sickle-shaped claw on its hind foot.
Santha’s brain cleared of everything except one thought. Kill it. Stop it hurting Cruz.
She fired a bolt into its side.
The bolt glanced off and fell to the ground.
Next she aimed for its head.
This time the bolt hit, but she could tell it hadn’t penetrated far enough to do much damage.
The creature whipped its head around and bared its razor-sharp teeth. God, the damn thing was fast, and those claws did not look like they were for show.
Santha walked closer, saw Cruz struggling beneath the creature.
Its red gaze flicked up and it watched Santha approach. It was probably wondering why she wasn’t running and screaming. It had hunted humans before, she was certain of it. It had taken Cruz out first—what it perceived as the biggest threat—and, based on the deep scratches on Cruz’s armor, it clearly knew where to slash to kill a human.
Thank God Cruz was wearing body armor.
Santha aimed her next bolt at the sliver of softer underbelly she could see.
The alien gave an almost human scream and reared back. Santha rushed to Cruz’s side.
He was already getting up. Despite the grooves in his armor, there was no blood.
He lifted his carbine and started firing at the creature. Santha followed suit.
The alien leaped into the bush and both of them followed. She had no idea if this creature could communicate with the other raptors, or if it was more like a hunting dog following simple orders.
But Santha didn’t want to take any chances. And she’d seen a naked intelligence in the creature’s eyes. She didn’t think it was a mindless hunting dog like the canids.
“Shit, where is it?” Cruz cursed.
She crouched. “Prints.”
She tracked it, following its prints until they just…disappeared.
“What the hell?” she muttered.
Cruz stiffened. “Santha—”
A huge weight dropped from the tree above and knocked into Santha. She felt the sting of claws at her neck and heard that horrible gurgling click again.
As she slammed into the ground, she lost her grip on the crossbow. She felt the animal clawing at her belly. Tearing at her armor.
Chapter Eight
Cruz’s carbine sounded hellishly loud. Santha slid her hand into her belt and yanked out the combat knife Cruz had given her.
She reached up and stabbed the creature in its belly.
It let out a scream, its clawing becoming more frenzied.
Dammit, why wouldn’t it die? For the first time in a long time, Santha felt a fierce need to survive. She yanked the knife out and sank it into the alien’s neck.
Its mouth opened, its terrible teeth only inches from her face.
She felt hot blood splash over her. The alien slumped forward, knocking the wind out of her.
“Santha!” Cruz was there, hefting the creature off her. He yanked her to her feet. “Is any of the blood yours? Where are you hurt?”
“Not mine.” She tried to catch her breath and calm her racing heart.
He was patting her down, a savage look in his brown eyes.
Damn, there was that warm glow again. The man was turning her to mush. She cupped his cheeks. “Cruz. I’m okay.”
Finally his gaze met hers, the primal intensity receding. “You’re sure?
“Positive.” She leaned up and kissed him.
When she pulled back, a different kind of heat was warming her. If the fire glowing in his eyes was anything to go by, he felt the same.
His hand wrapped around her braid. “When we get back to base…”
She licked her lips. “Yes?”
He jerked her forward. “I’m fucking you. Hard.”
“Not if I fuck you first.” She turned away to snatch up her crossbow and let her cheeks cool. The adrenaline rush and fear thundering in her blood turned to pure lust in a flash.
When she turned back, Cruz was watching her, those dark eyes burning hot. She was sure a few sweaty sessions between them would burn out this heat arcing between them.
He heaved in a few breaths. “You’re hell on my concentration.” He pulled a tiny camera off his belt. “We need to snap a few pics of this…thing. The geek squad’ll want to take a look.”
He kicked the alien over, uncovering those vicious claws. God, they were lucky it hadn’t shredded them into ribbons.
After he finished the photos, he touched his earpiece. “Elle,
you got a drone in range so I can send you some images?”
“Yes. Are you two okay? I couldn’t see what you were fighting.”
“We’re fine. I’m uploading images of the creature. Some unknown kind of alien. And it’s not nice and fluffy.”
“They’re coming through now.” Elle’s quick intake of breath came through loud over the line. “You’re lucky to be alive! We’ll start analyzing it. Be careful.”
Cruz glanced at Santha. “Let’s get out of this long grass. I don’t want to run into any more of these.”
Santha took the lead again and soon they left the park and were back amongst the buildings. A wind had picked up, blowing wisps of her hair around her face. At least it was drying the blood splattered all over her.
“There.” She pointed to a row of what had once been shops. “See the roof? It’s flat and there are air-conditioning units we can use for cover. On the other side of that row of buildings is the school the raptors have taken over as their base.”
Cruz eyed the roof. “Not too high to climb. There’s a dumpster at the end we can use to get up.”
They worked together. She climbed up onto the dumpster and he followed with one lithe jump and a flex of his muscled arm. From there, he kneeled and cupped his hands together. She pressed her boot to his hands and with an easy lift, she flew up and gripped the edge of the roof. She pulled herself over and crouched. A second later, Cruz pulled himself over the ledge.
Bent over, they hurried across the roof to one of the large, industrial air-conditioning units. They pressed their backs to the metal, then peered around.
Below, the schoolyard was filled with raptors.
Out of habit, Santha ducked a little lower. The aliens had lights set up, illuminating the entire yard. Some raptors were clearly on guard, holding weapons. Others were shifting supplies into the main building. A side door was propped open.
“Good vantage point.” Cruz settled down on the ground next to her, his sharp gaze assessing their enemies. “Bastards look fucking cozy, don’t they?”
“We’ll find a way to get rid of them,” she murmured.
A muscle ticked in his jaw but he nodded.
Santha was shocked at her words. She’d only ever cared about revenge. When had she started caring about driving these invading bastards away?