Niko: Scifi Alien Invasion Romance (Hell Squad Book 9) (10 page)

She swung back to Gabe. “They have him! Gabe—”

“Almost there.” Gabe banged his shoulder one more time. Then the big man swiveled and pressed his palms against metal and pushed.

Screw this
. Mac couldn’t stand here and do nothing. She moved close to Gabe, pressed her palms beside his and pushed.

They strained hard. Mac felt her muscles burning. She had to get to Niko.

Suddenly, the hatch gave way. They stumbled forward as the circle of metal fell out onto the ground.

Mac wasted no time throwing her leg through the narrow gap and climbing out.

Ahead, on the nearby runway, she spotted Niko fighting the raptors.

Several aliens were down, their bodies motionless on the ground. But there were still lots of them on their feet, circling around Niko’s smaller form.

He was fighting with one raptor. Heavy kicks, hard hits. The man could fight.

But she could see Niko’s face was swollen and bloody on one side. The alien was getting in his own blows. Even with his armor on, Niko would be feeling the pain of each strike.

He dropped down, slamming into the raptor’s knee. The alien toppled, and Niko sprung on top of it, shoving forward with a hand.

Knives. Niko was holding knives in each hand.

“Come on!” Mac called to Gabe and Dev.

The men were climbing out of the tank. Dev was holding his gun with his left hand and looked comfortable doing it. Gabe was right behind him.

She turned…just in time to see a giant raptor slam a fist into Niko’s face.
No!
She winced, watching Niko fall to the ground.

Niko pushed up onto his knees, but she could see he was dazed. She started running.

One of the aliens spun around with a snarl. He slammed a huge fist into Niko’s body.

Niko flew sideways, and landed on his side. All the remaining raptors surrounded him, kicking him with their giant boots. Blow after heavy blow to his stomach, chest and face.

God, no.
She lifted her carbine, pushing for more speed.

Chapter Nine

Every breath burned.

Niko was barely holding onto consciousness.
Nyet
.
Got to keep fighting.
Got to give Mackenna and the others time to get away.

He fought to stay conscious, but pain was a living, breathing thing clawing at his insides. Mackenna fought for everyone else, day after day. This time, he was fighting for her.

He struggled up and a hard punch of a clawed fist sent him down again. Vicious kicks hammered into his gut and chest. He felt ribs break and gave an agonized shout. He tasted blood in his mouth.

Gritting his teeth, he rolled over and managed to strike out and knock one raptor over.

He pulled out his knives. Even after all these years, they were a familiar weight in his hands. In this moment, he was glad for his skills. Glad he could kill as many of these aliens to keep Mackenna safe.

Niko swiveled, barely containing a groan, and threw the knives. The blades lodged in the lead raptor’s throat. The creature grabbed at them, stumbling backward.

Another vicious kick landed in Niko’s lower back. He sprawled forward onto the ground. He clawed at the dirt, rolling as fast as he could…
Get up, Ivanov, or you’re dead.

He looked up to see the final raptor standing above him, his ugly, scaled weapon pointed straight at Niko’s head.

He didn’t have time to think, or plan, or watch his life flash before his eyes. It was just a single image of Mackenna that filled his mind.

Laser fire cut through the air. It tore into the raptor’s body and the alien jerked. He toppled forward, and Niko barely managed to roll out of the way.

Using the last of his strength, Niko pushed to his knees. He swayed and realized he couldn’t go any farther. He stayed there, trying to fight through the fog of pain growing in his head.

“Niko!” Mackenna skidded to her knees in front of him.

Gabe and Devlin were right behind her. Even with his right arm in a sling, Dev was firing a laser pistol with impressive precision. Gabe moved around, checking the downed raptors. Any that were still breathing, he took care of with a double tap of his carbine.

Mackenna touched Niko’s swelling face. “Goddammit, Niko.”

She probed his wounds, making him wince. “You made it out.”

She cupped his cheek. “And you let them beat you up.”

He smiled, then felt his lip split. “Sorry.”

She checked him over with sensible no-nonsense pats. When she reached his abdomen, she hissed out a breath. “Their kicks got through your armor.”

He nodded. “Ribs are broken. Pretty sure there’s some internal bleeding.”

Her touch turned soothing now. “I have plans for this body, damn you.”

He kept his gaze on hers. “That hurts more than what they did.”

She looked up at Gabe and Devlin. “He’s hurt bad. We need to get him to medical help ASAP.”

“We can’t call it in,” Dev reminded them. “We’ll have to get him back to the evac point.”

Kilometers away. Niko swallowed back the taste of blood and bile.

“Need to move,” Gabe said. “Have to assume these guys called for reinforcements.” He toed one of the raptor bodies.

Mackenna wrapped her arm around Niko, wedging her shoulder into his armpit. “You need to get up, Niko. Up for a stroll?”

His entire body rebelled. “Mackenna, I can’t stand up.”

Gabe shifted. “We’ve got incoming raptors. A lot of them.”

Dev frowned, following Gabe’s gaze. “I don’t see or hear anything.”

“You will in about two minutes,” Gabe said.

Dev shook his head. “You are spooky, Jackson.”

Niko willed his body to move. Every move was agony. He took a deep breath, pushing down the gut-wrenching pain and the accompanying sorrow. It was time to face facts. “You guys need to go.”

“No.” Mackenna’s head whipped around, her tone emphatic.

“I’ll slow you down. You have to go, Mackenna. Now.”

“Is that your bossy-leader voice?” She raised a brow and dug her shoulder deeper into his side. “Up and at it, Ivanov.”

So stubborn. He knew her exoskeleton would be doing a lot of the heavy lifting, but he was still bigger and heavier than she was. He managed to get to his feet, but he was shaky. She was taking the bulk of his weight.

“Okay, just put one foot in front of the other,” she said. “Gabe, cover us. Dev, you good shooting left-handed?”

“I’m fine. You just help Niko.”

They started moving. Every step was excruciating, and he knew that they were going too slow. He looked ahead, focused on just lifting a boot and setting it down. But he knew he was putting them all at risk.

He tried to focus on the fact that the sun was coming up and bathing everything in a pretty early-morning blush of light. But they hadn’t gone far when the pain started to make him nauseous. And the last thing he wanted to do was puke up his guts in front of Mackenna. He felt a laugh burble inside him. Funny that he was more worried about embarrassing himself in front of a woman than the raptors chasing after them.

But the pain had stolen his ability to talk. Walking was taking everything he had.

“I can carry him,” Gabe said after a minute.

Niko scrounged up some energy. “Not fucking carrying me, Jackson.” He pushed the words through his gritted teeth.

“I’ll help him,” Mackenna said quietly, her arm tightening on him. “If it comes to that.”

She was already taking most of his weight. “You’re not carrying me, either.” The thought left him vaguely horrified.

“Then keep moving.”

He did, riding through the pain. She started murmuring to him. Quiet encouragement. Praise. Damn, he liked it. Over the last eighteen months, he’d had to listen to more than his share of complaints, fears, concerns. There hadn’t been much praise. And before that…well, no one really took the time to congratulate you on being a good killer.

“We’re getting closer,” she said. “Keep going.”

Maybe he could make it. With her help.

“Down!” Gabe cried out suddenly.

Raptor fire tore through the early-morning stillness. Mackenna shoved Niko hard. He hit the ground and the wave of pain that rolled over him made him groan. Sweat broke out on his brow. He was going to be sick.

Nearby, Gabe was busy returning fire and taking down the raptors. Dev was firing, too.

But there were more aliens getting closer. Shouts and grunts filled the air.

“Let’s go.” Mackenna forced Niko up again, trying to heave him onto his feet.

“I…can’t. I won’t be responsible for your death. Go.” He’d never been one to give up. But more than anything, Niko wanted her safe.

She got in his face. “You want me naked in your bed?”

Even wracked with pain, he felt a brief surge of heat.

“Hell.” Gabe looked away from them.

“You want to do anything and everything to me?” Mackenna said.

Nearby, Devlin let out a short bark of laughter and started whistling.

Niko ignored them. “Yes.”

She leaned in close, her nose brushing his, her voice low with a seductive edge. “You want to slide your cock inside me? See how much you can stretch me?”

“More than anything,” he whispered.

Her seductive voice disappeared. “Then keep moving, Niko.”

This time, it took both Mackenna and Gabe to get him on his feet. They started off again, but he was well aware he was moving even more slowly than before.

“Bribing me with your body,” he gritted out.

“Consider it incentive,” she answered. “It isn’t bribery, if we both want it.”

There was a roar of sound. Lights whizzed overhead in the brightening sky.

“Fuck,” Mackenna bit out. “Ptero.”

“Run!” Dev cried out. “As fast as you can.”

Niko saw the raptor ship wheeling about ahead of them, turning to make another pass. It was shaped like a pterodactyl, with fixed, triangular wings. They were fast and deadly.

In front of them, a ptero, and behind them, raptor troops. They were fucked.

Suddenly, a wide spray of laser fire blasted through the air. Niko turned his head and saw the welcome shape of a Hawk appear out of nowhere.

More laser fire tore through the sky, hitting the ptero. But these shots weren’t coming from the Hawk.

Mackenna grinned. “My squad.”

That’s when Niko saw the small, sleek, dark shapes whizzing past at great speed. The Darkswifts.

The Hawk lowered and Gabe jogged up to it and yanked open the side door. With Mackenna and Gabe’s help, Niko managed to get aboard. He collapsed onto the floor.

All the sights and sounds seemed to move around in a dizzying swirl. He couldn’t focus on anything anymore. He felt a warm hand on his face.

“Hold on. I’ve got you.”

He tried to hold on to her voice, but he couldn’t stop himself from passing out.

***

Mac paced in the waiting room outside the Enclave infirmary.

It was plush, lined with comfy chairs, with a coffee machine in the corner. It was nothing like the bare concrete tunnels she’d waited in at the Blue Mountain Base medical center when one of her squad was injured.

But she couldn’t use the comfy chairs anyway. She was too edgy to sit, and she couldn’t stay still.

Devlin and Niko were still in there. There’d been no news yet. Gabe had gone somewhere to drop off the drone remnants and to update Marcus and Holmes.

It was so damn quiet. Mac had taken her upper armor off and left it stacked beside the wall. She ran her hands up and down her arms and kept up her pacing.

There was a sound at the doorway and she saw Roth and the rest of Squad Nine appear.

“How are they?” Roth asked

Mac felt her lip tremble, and fought to remain composed. She was grateful they were here, but she really didn’t want to show any of her worry and concern. “Dev has a broken arm. Niko…he was beaten up.” She swallowed. “Really bad.”

Cam came closer and slid an arm across Mac’s shoulders. “Well, based on Niko’s previous employment, and on how in shape that guy is, Doc Emerson will have him patched up in no time.”

Mac nodded, but if that was the case, why was there still no word?

Sienna flanked Mac from the other side and patted her arm. Then she peered forward. “Is that paint?”

Cam leaned closer as well. “And here on your shoulder, too?” She grinned. “Did your artist man make you his own private canvas?”

Aw, hell.
Luckily, Mac was saved from having to answer when the infirmary door opened.

Dr. Emerson Green stood there in her lab coat. Her blonde hair was mussed and she looked tired, but then she smiled.

Mac shifted her weight from foot to foot.
That had to be good, right?

“Devlin’s fine. I’ve set his arm and put a regen patch on it. He’ll be as good as new tomorrow.” Emerson’s gaze found Mac. “Mac, Niko’s asking for you.”

“He’s okay?”

“He is now. The nanomeds have done their work. We did have to perform some surgery to stop the internal bleeding, but he’s going to be fine.” The doctor’s brow scrunched. “I have no idea how he walked several kilometers in his condition. It was a miracle he was conscious at all.”

Mac nodded and stepped into the infirmary. Inside, it had the typical clean and clinical feel of any medical establishment—white tile floor, rows of beds down one side, and on the other, glassed-in examination rooms. The surgeries and labs were at the back. Members of the medical team were bustling around. It was far larger and better equipped than what they’d had at Blue Mountain Base.

“He’s back there.” Emerson pointed.

Mac spotted him at the end of the row of beds. He was sitting up, his shirt on but open.

His green gaze fell on her, intense. “Mackenna.”

She walked toward him slowly. She didn’t know what to do or say. She was filled with a confusing rush of emotions, and she fought to choke them down.

A soft look crossed over his face. “It’s okay to tell me how you feel.”

Mac just shook her head. Then, before she thought about it, she climbed onto the bed with him. She wrapped her arms around him and buried her head against his chest.