Roth(Hell Squad 5) (12 page)

There was no sign of life. Nothing that made it stand out.

She eyed the ruins of the prep plant for a long moment. It took her a second to realize what she was looking at, but when she did, she blinked. “Roth. Take a look at the top of the plant.”

He frowned and wheeled the Darkswift around the structure. “Shit…is that an antenna?”

It was well-hidden, made to look like junk. “Looks like it. And it looks like it is in perfect working condition.”

“Damn. This could be it.”

Avery searched the ground harder. “Look. I think there are some pathways through the grass, but they’ve stuck to the trees in an effort to hide them.”

“Hot damn. Nine, I think this is it. Mac, you have the camera, snap me some pretty pics.”

“You got it, bossman.”

“Taylor, circle out and see if you can pick anything else up around the edges of the mine property.”

“On it,” Taylor replied.

His team respected him. Avery wasn’t surprised. She’d already guessed he was an excellent leader. “Can you take us in any lower?”

He nodded. “Increases the risk of being spotted, but I think it’s worth it. Mac, I’m heading in for a closer look.”

The Darkswift dipped and Avery had to swallow back her laugh. God, she loved these things.

Suddenly, Roth pushed them into a hard dive, and when she glanced over at him, he was smiling. She realized he was doing it for her. For the first time in a long time, Avery laughed, hard and loud.

But soon, they were both focused on the ground below.

“Can you see anything else?” he asked.

“No.” If Howell and any human survivors were indeed living here, they were being careful to keep themselves hidden.

“Roth.” Arden’s voice. “The drone is picking up a faint heat signature on the ground. Ten meters southwest of the coal prep plant structure. In what looks like trees.”

“We’ll check it out.” Roth turned the craft.

“There are the trees.” Avery pointed to a large, lone stand of trees surrounded by thick bush.

Roth cursed. “If anyone’s in there, they’re too well-hidden. They picked their spot well.”

A flash of something caught Avery’s eye. “I think I might have just seen a reflection off binocs.” She stared, trying to spot something through the foliage. Her eyes watered from the strain. “Can’t see a damn thing.”

“We’ll mark it and come back with a couple of squads to take a look around.”

“Roth.” This time it was Mac on the comm. “Sienna and I are headed a little farther west. Thought we might have spotted something there.”

“Go,” he said. “Avery and I will swing around for another look at the mine, then we’ll all rendezvous at the meeting point.” He rattled off some coordinates. “After that, we’ll head back to base and take a look at everything we’ve got.”

“Got it,” Mac said.

Avery stared at the space where she guessed Mac’s Darkswift was hiding, imagined it peeling away. “You really aren’t going to let me have a go flying? I’ve piloted gliders before. They’re sort of similar.”

“A glider is nothing like a Darkswift. And no, you can’t fly until you’re qualified.”

She poked her tongue out at him.

His eyes darkened. “Careful. I might take that as a challenge.”

Avery felt a hot rush flash through her. She liked challenging Roth Masters.

They did another circle of the mine, lower this time. Everything remained quiet and still.

“Roth!” Arden’s voice broke through, loud and urgent, and made Avery jerk. “I have some strange heat signatures heading your way. They’re airborne.”

“What?” Roth arched his neck looking out the cockpit screen. “I don’t see anything.”

“There are four of them, and they’re big. Not pteros, though.”

Avery scanned the area as well. She didn’t see anything.

Then something slammed into the cockpit.

“Fuck.” As the Darkswift veered to the right, Roth grabbed the controls, struggling to get them level. “Illusion system’s down.”

Another…thing slammed into the cockpit, and Avery grabbed onto the handholds built into the molded seat. She caught a glimpse of a long, black body and…wings.

“It’s some sort of flying creature,” she called out. As the animal flew over them, she tried to keep it in sight.

Bam
. Another hit. This time the creature didn’t fly away, but pulled back, hovering in front of the cockpit screen.

“Oh, my God,” she murmured.

“What the hell?” Roth was staring, too.

It was some sort of giant, alien insect. It had a long, elongated body, a head topped with huge, multifaceted eyes, and a large mouth with serrated mandibles on either side. It had two sets of large and strong-looking, transparent wings.

The creature rushed forwardand slammed into the Darkswift. The strength of the hit knocked the craft to the side again.

Another alien insect crashed into them, and another.

“Dammit.” Roth was fighting the controls. “We can’t get out of here if they keep this up.” He rammed down on the throttle.

The Darkswift shot forward, shaking unsteadily as it went, as though it were drunk.

Avery looked to the left and saw one of the alien insects clamped onto the wing…eating it.

“Roth, they’re eating the metal on the wing!”

“Arden, we’re under attack—” A metallic screech came across the line.

Avery and Roth both winced and wrenched the earpieces out of their ears.

“What happened?” Avery said.

“No idea. But we’ve lost comms.” He was focused on the controls. “Man the laser cannon, we need to get these bastards off us.” Icy eyes looked her way. “Or we’re going down.”

Avery activated the touchscreen, and after Roth gave her authorization, the laser cannon controls flared to life on the heads-up display. She studied it for a second, and was relieved to see it was similar to other weapons’ systems she’d used before. “All right, let’s go bug hunting.”

Roth kept the Darkswift moving. Avery aimed the cannon, ready for the second when an insect got in range.
Come on, you ugly things
. She waited. A flash of golden wings caught her eye, and she fired.

She heard the inhuman screech from outside the cockpit. One giant bug fell back, plummeting to the ground.

“Shit, there’s another one on the other wing,” Roth said. “Damn things are chomping through the steel like its sugar.”

Two on the wings, one down. Where was the other one? Avery waited, her muscles tense, forcing herself to stay alert.

A hard thump on the cockpit. She looked up and saw the fourth insect. It was hammering its head against the synth glass.

Avery banged against the glass. The bug reared back, but didn’t fly off.

“Can you shake them off?” she asked.

“I can try. But we’re unstable as it is. It’s risky.”

Above them was a loud crunching noise. She gasped. The glass was cracked like a sheet of ice. “Don’t think we have another choice.”

Grim-faced, Roth nodded. “Hold on.”

The Darkswift pulled hard to the left, its left wing pointing almost vertically to the ground. Avery’s stomach dropped.

Roth pulled the craft around hard. One insect slipped off the wing, and Avery lost sight of the creature that had been attacking the cockpit.

“Come on,” she cried out. “Get in target range.”

“Hang on.”

Roth turned the Darkswift hard in the opposite direction. One giant bug pulled into the laser sights.

Avery pulled the trigger.

The insect shuddered, then fell in a death spiral.

“Yeah!” she yelled, smiling. “Two down, two to go.”

“And we’re almost back to the rendezvous point. We should be in visual range of the others soon.”

Backup would be very welcomed. Avery stayed ready.

Suddenly, one of the bugs rushed at them, clamping onto the cockpit. Glass shattered and rained over them in a wild sprinkle of shards. The top of the cockpit was gone.

Avery thought Roth was cursing, but the rush of the wind, combined with the erratic clicking noise the bug was making, drowned it out. The bug reached its head into the cockpit, snapping at her with its sharp mandibles. It didn’t have teeth, but she guessed the edges on those things were worse than knives.

Roth was fighting to keep the Darkswift steady.

If they didn’t get this bug off, they were going to crash, or get chomped on.

Grimly, Avery unclipped her harness and grabbed the carbine Mac had given her. She sat up, and jabbed the barrel at the alien.

“Avery!” Roth roared. “Strap in, dammit.”

She jammed her knees against the middle console to keep her balance and opened fire.

The green laser cut into the insect’s fat belly. Its wings fluttered like crazy, and blood spewed over the craft’s wing. The bug slid off, and fell behind them.

“You’re crazy.” Roth grabbed at her. “Get down here.

She grinned at him, and started to get back in her seat.

The final alien insect slammed into the left wing. The wing, weakened where the other bug had chewed on it, snapped.

The Darkswift tipped down, and Avery fell with the sharp move.

No!
Her hands scrabbled for purchase on something—anything. They weren’t really that high off the ground, but if she went over, it was still high enough to kill.

She heard Roth roar her name. Her legs fell over the edge of the craft and into open air. She managed to snag something with her hands and held on.

The Darkswift began a nasty spiral toward the ground. She couldn’t see Roth, but she figured he was fighting for control. In the dizzying spin and the mad rush of air, she couldn’t see much at all.

There was a loud crunch of metal, and a jarring thud.

Then, Avery was flying through the air. Her body crashed into something hard, and pain burst through her in an avalanche.

Everything went black.

Chapter Eleven

Roth woke to a world of pain. He stayed still for a moment, cataloguing the situation. He was slumped over the controls of the Darkswift, his upper body hanging out of the broken cockpit.

He swallowed a groan, trying to remember what had happened. His head throbbed and he felt the wet slide of blood down his face and neck. His body was a mass of aches and pains.

Darkswift. Alien bugs. Crashing. Avery.

Avery
. He lifted his head, his heart hammering. The other side of the Darkswift was empty.

God, no
. He scrambled up to his knees, heedless of his training warning him to search for the enemy first, find a weapon and take cover.

He had to find Avery.

Roth struggled out of the remains of his harness. He saw his carbine in the holder where he’d stowed it during flight, and snatched it up. Wincing, he stood and jumped out of the broken craft.

They were in a field. There were some trees nearby, but thankfully they hadn’t hit them during the crash.

He found his earpiece hanging from its wire and set it back in his ear. He tapped it. While he couldn’t contact the base, he prayed he still had short-range contact with Avery. “Avery, you there?” He scanned his surroundings, searching for any sign of her.

Silence.

“Mac? Arden? Anybody receiving.” His earpiece was completely dead. Damaged in the crash. He yanked it out and tossed it in the wreckage of the cockpit.

Had Avery climbed out of the Darkswift? Was she hurt? Then more memories cleared in his throbbing head.
She’d been unharnessed
. His chest constricted until every breath hurt.

God
. He moved faster, circling the Darkswift, then moving outwards in some semblance of an organized search perimeter. The little idiot had unclipped her harness to fight off the bug. She’d risked her life to save his.

His gut hardened to a tight knot. An image of Avery, broken and lifeless, left him with a cold sweat spreading over his skin.

He kept moving.

He came to a body. But it wasn’t slim limbs and dark hair. It was one of the bugs.

Roth nudged it with his carbine. Damn thing was as big as him. It looked like a giant dragonfly with brown-and-gold coloring. This one was definitely dead, its wings a shredded mess.

Then he heard a groan.

Roth whipped his weapon up, eye pressed to the sight.

He saw the creature’s body move…then a slim hand—a very human hand—slid out from under the creature’s dead bulk.

“Avery!” Roth dropped to his knees, relief driving into him so hard he could barely breathe. He touched her hand and then gave the bug’s carcass a hard shove to get it off her.

Avery looked up at him, her dark hair a mad tangle around her face. “Roth.” His name came out a croak.

He yanked her into his arms. “Are you okay?”

“Can’t…breathe. Holding me too tight.”

He loosened his grip but couldn’t let her go. He pushed her hair off her face. “God, baby, I thought I’d lost you.”

“Same.” She cupped his cheeks. “You’re bleeding all over the place.”

“Nothing major.”

“Good.” She rose on her knees and pressed her lips to his.

And Roth forgot all about the crash and his injuries. He pulled her closer and took control of the kiss.

She tasted so good it muddled his mind. He thrust his tongue inside, his cock pushing insistently against his armor. She was alive. He was alive. He’d never felt so good.

When they pulled back, they were both panting.

“When we get somewhere safe, I’m stripping you naked and fucking you hard,” he growled.

Avery’s tongue came out and touched her bottom lip. “Oh, yeah?”

“Yes. And I’m going to spread those strong, lean thighs of yours and lick you until you come.”

Her breath hitched. “What else?”

“Every damn thing I can come up with. I want to take you from behind and watch my cock sliding into you. I want you laid out under me, legs on my shoulders, so I can watch your face when you come on my cock. And I want to watch you suck my cock again.”

With a shaky hand, she pushed at her tangled hair. “Then we’d better get out of this field and find somewhere safe.”

Roth took a second to lock his desire down. His body was hungry for her, this woman he wanted beyond reasoning. But another urge was kicking in. He had to get her safe.