Devlin: Scifi Alien Invasion Romance (Hell Squad Book 11) Read online

  “What do we do about the humans?” Theron asked.

  “Once we cover the globe, it should free them from its effects.”

  “They’ll probably be confused,” Taylor said.

  “And we can’t fit them all on the Hawk. Tell them to hide until we can come back for them, or to make their way south to the Enclave.” It wasn’t much, but it was all they could do for these people right now.

  He turned and gripped Taylor’s arms again. “Don’t get hurt.”

  She reached up, stroking his jaw, her face hidden by the illusion. “Same goes, super spy. You’re mine now.”

  Devlin forced himself to step away from her. He turned and lifted his carbine. “Let’s get this mission completed.”

  ***

  Taylor moved quickly through the shadows. The new armor rocked.

  She knew they were all leaving a trail of wet footprints, but they’d dry soon, and she prayed the darkness hid them from the raptors as well as the armor that was hiding their bodies.

  She cast a glance up at the Opera House, and saw that one section of its iconic roof was damaged. She felt a shot of anger-laced sadness. She’d loved visiting this place, and now the once-unique monument had been desecrated.

  Then her gaze moved to the group of mindless humans ahead. That just made her angry.

  She rounded a corner, aware that the others on her team were nearby. A raptor stood right ahead, only meters away.

  Taylor froze. She had to remind herself that he couldn’t see her.

  She pulled out her combat knife and moved closer. She needed to take him down, quickly and quietly. She snuck right up to him, amazed he couldn’t see, hear, or sense her. When she slammed her knife into his throat, he jerked, but before he could make a noise, she brought him down.

  Devlin appeared inside her illusion, gripping one of the raptor’s arms. Together, they dragged the alien away, and dumped him into the water.

  “All right, let’s get the globe,” Devlin said.

  They moved fast, and she saw the globe ahead, at the top of the wide stairs leading to the front of the Opera House. Taylor made sure she only looked at the alien device out of the corner of her eye. No way was she getting caught by that thing again. A large group of raptors stood by the device, where it sat perched on a black stand.

  “Carbines out,” Devlin whispered. “We won’t be able to maintain stealth up there, so let’s take them down and get out of here as fast as we can.”

  Taylor pulled out her carbine. They moved through the silent crowd of humans. Looking into the milky-white eyes and slack faces made her heart hurt. Then, she spotted a woman with auburn hair. Taylor’s chest tightened, and she stepped over to look at the woman’s face.

  It was the woman from the cells in the factory. Taylor swiveled, searching the crowd. Her gaze fell on a small boy. She hurried over. It was Max! The boy from the factory. She touched his cool cheek. I’m getting you free. Hold on.

  “Taylor?” A quiet whisper.

  “Dev, the humans from the factory are here.” She kept her voice low, knew he’d hear her in his earpiece.

  “Then let’s get them free.”

  Determination flooding her, Taylor reached the steps and went up. As they neared the crowd of raptors near the globe, her team opened fire.

  She took down raptor after raptor. Confused, unable to see their attackers, only a few raptors fired back wildly into the night. As Devlin and the others kept firing, Taylor bent over, running toward the globe.

  Several raptors stood in front of the globe in a protective line. They were looking all around, clearly frustrated that they couldn’t spot the incoming danger, their weapons aimed straight ahead.

  Taylor felt a faint brush by her side and knew it was Dev.

  “Let’s do this.” Her whisper was barely audible.

  With Dev by her side, they attacked together.

  Even though she couldn’t see him, she knew where he was. They moved with lethal precision, firing on the raptors in front.

  Taylor leaped over the dead bodies and kicked a raptor in the knee. As he tumbled, Dev was already there, pressing his carbine to the raptor’s chest.

  She swung around and fired into the gut of another raptor. As the third charged forward, swinging wildly trying to find them, Devlin jammed his combat knife into the raptor’s side.

  Taylor kept fighting, Dev anticipating her every move. It felt like poetry the way they fought together.

  The raptors were almost all down.

  She heard loud shouts and turned her head. More raptors were pounding up the steps.

  Shit. There were too many.

  From nearby, Theron and Sienna were still picking off raptors, giving Taylor and Devlin cover fire. But it still wouldn’t be enough.

  “Devlin!” Taylor yelled.

  “I see them.”

  Taylor gripped her carbine and took down the final raptor by the globe. She felt Dev’s back press against hers as they faced the incoming raptors.

  Then, more carbine fire broke out. Lasers slammed into the raptors, mowing them down. Taylor grinned. Tane and Hemi had rejoined the fight.

  Keeping her gaze averted from the globe, she pulled out the black bag attached to her belt. She strode close to the device, then tossed the bag over it. The golden light cut off, leaving only the red and white illumination from the lights the raptors had set up in the area.

  Carefully, Taylor pressed her gloved hands to the side of the shrouded globe and lifted it off the stand.

  All around them, she heard the confused, frightened cries of the human prisoners. Taylor flicked off her illusion armor. “Turn your illusion off,” she told the others. “The survivors need to see we’re here and trying to helping them.”

  The others followed suit. She saw Tane and Hemi fighting the last few raptors. Sienna and Theron moved through the crowd of panicked people, trying to calm them.

  Dev was frowning.

  “What?” Taylor studied him, keeping a tight hold on the globe.

  He scanned the crowd, his gaze taking in the downed raptors. “It was too easy.”

  “Just enjoy the win, super spy. If you look for trouble, it’ll find you.”

  Dev touched his ear. “Finn? This is Devlin, come in.”

  In her earpiece, Taylor just heard static.

  “Finn? Mission objective achieved,” Devlin said. “Requiring pickup for the package. We’re just trying to calm the survivors now.”

  There was nothing, except another louder blast of static. Taylor winced, and at the base of the steps, she saw the rest of their team doing the same.

  Suddenly, Finn’s voice broke through the static. “Trap. Large…device. Going to Enclave. Have to…help. Can’t—” The pilot’s voice broke off, and there was silence. Even the static was gone.

  Devlin tapped his earpiece and then cursed. “The aliens are jamming comms.” He spun around and kicked the stand that had held the globe. It skidded across the concrete.

  Taylor’s skin felt cold, despite the warm night. “Aliens heading for the Enclave?”

  “And another larger device,” Devlin added darkly.

  They hurried down the steps. The rest of their team surrounded them. “You heard?” Taylor asked.

  The soldiers nodded.

  “We’ve gotta get back,” Tane said.

  “We’ve lost contact with Finn.” Devlin’s mouth was a flat line. “It sounded like he was headed to the Enclave already. Looks like we don’t have a ride back.”

  “Dammit,” Sienna muttered.

  “Then we have to find a way to get there.” Tane’s rough tone was unyielding. “There are too many innocent people there who have already suffered too much. I’m not going to fucking let the aliens touch a single hair on anyone’s fucking head.”

  Even though the man’s face was set like stone, Taylor detected a personal edge to his voice. His brother was beside him, so that implied someone at the Enclave had caught Tane’s attention, and warranted
his personal protection. Interesting.

  It was a mystery she couldn’t unravel right now. She swallowed against her dry throat and looked around. Sienna was still talking to the crowd, telling them to get away and hide.

  “You hide and take care of each other,” the soldier was telling people. “Adults, take care of the kids and the elderly. If you see that golden light or one of those globes again, do not look at it.”

  The first blush of dawn was lighting the eastern horizon, and in the faint morning light, Taylor saw women cuddling crying children, shell-shocked couples clinging to each other, people standing alone, dazed. A few men and women had snatched up alien weapons. She searched for Max. He stood nearby, his face pale.

  She knelt in front of him. “Hey, there, Max.”

  A small, shaky smile. “Hi. You came back.”

  She nodded. “Told you I would. You still got that lucky charm?”

  He fished it out of his pocket and held it out.

  She closed his fingers around it again. “No. You hold onto it a bit longer. When you get to the Enclave, that’s my home, you can give it back to me then. The Enclave is a safe place with food, drink, beds, other kids…you’ll like it.” She looked up, searching for anyone who might take care of the boy. “Does this boy belong to anyone?”

  Taylor saw the auburn-haired woman step forward. “He’s alone. But so am I.” She touched the boy’s shoulder. “You think you can take care of me, big guy?”

  Max nodded. “I have a lucky charm.”

  “Cool,” the woman answered.

  “Head south,” Taylor said. She felt Devlin appear beside her, some of the survivors watching him warily. “You need to reach the Enclave. It’s a secret human outpost. You’ll be welcomed there.”

  “How do we find it?” someone asked.

  “Head toward Wollongong and then head inland. I can’t give you the exact location, to keep everyone safe, but we’ll see you coming long before you reach it,” Devlin said. “Now, stay safe, hide when you have to, and don’t take any risks.” He looked over the crowd. “Go, before alien reinforcements arrive.”

  Finally, the crowd dispersed. Several of the men and women holding weapons took up leadership positions, rounding up the people.

  Taylor just hoped like hell there was an Enclave there when they reached it.

  “How the hell are we going to get back?” she asked.

  Devlin didn’t answer, and that was when she realized he was looking out beyond the glow of the alien lights.

  She followed his gaze and realized he was staring at the parked pteros.

  Her blood turned to ice. “What? No!” She spun and pressed her hands to his chest. “That’s not an option, Dev. We can’t fly those!”

  “I’m rated to fly a multitude of aircraft,” he said calmly.

  “Not alien spacecraft!”

  He tilted his head, a faint smile on his face. “Are you afraid?”

  “No. I’m being sensible.”

  “Our friends and our home are in danger,” he said simply. “We have to get there.”

  Taylor released a long breath. Dammit, he was right. She pressed her hands to her hips. “Okay.” She looked at the pteros. “Let’s go for a ride.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Devlin strode to the closest ptero.

  As he neared, the resemblance to a giant pterosaur was even more pronounced. The ship had two large, fixed wings, it sharpened to a point at the front, and had a long, tail-like back end.

  Up close, he could see the ship was made of a dark substance which reminded him of the giant, beast-like mothership at Sydney Airport that he’d once snuck into. He circled around the ptero until he found a door in the side. It was closed tightly, and it didn’t look like it would be easy to pry open.

  “How do we get inside?” Sienna asked.

  Devlin spotted an oval-shaped panel beside it. “This must be some sort of locking mechanism.”

  Suddenly, Tane and Hemi strode forward, dragging the body of a dead raptor between them. Tane lifted the raptor’s claw up and slammed its scaled palm against the panel.

  The door slid open.

  “That works,” Devlin said.

  Then he stepped inside. As he looked around the ptero cockpit, the others crowded behind him.

  “Oh, ew,” Sienna groaned.

  The inside of the ship smelled…bad. It was an organic odor that made Devlin think of blood. The space was lit with a dull red light that came from lights embedded in the walls. He studied the wall, pressing a finger against it. It was made of a spongy, organic substance. Pulsing cables covered in scales dangled from the ceiling.

  “You and your sneaking onto alien ships,” Taylor muttered to him.

  At the front of the ptero was a curved window, with a console beneath it, and two large chairs attached to the floor.

  “Everyone, find a place to sit,” Devlin ordered.

  “Where will I put this?” Taylor lifted the globe. The two of them scouted around and found the raptor equivalent of a storage unit beneath the pilot’s console. They carefully stowed the wrapped globe.

  “Well, at least the spongy walls will absorb some of the impact if we…” her voice trailed off and she looked up at Devlin. “Ah…if we have a rough ride.”

  “Thanks for the pep talk.” Devlin moved to the console and settled into one of the chairs.

  She sat in the chair beside him. “You sure you can fly this thing?”

  He started touching the glossy black screens and controls. “No. But I’m going to try to work it out.”

  The screens flared to life, raptor symbols filling them. They looked like scratch marks. Devlin had spent a lot of time studying the raptor language, and back at the Enclave, they had a pretty good database put together now. He could read a fair number of the symbols, but he wasn’t an expert like Elle Milton and some of the others. He started touching some of the symbols. The side door slid closed.

  He frowned. Okay, now he needed to get the engines started. He found some familiar symbols, and touched them. Nothing happened.

  He could feel Taylor and the others watching him. The pressure of knowing that the Enclave was under attack settled on his shoulders like a rock.

  Taylor reached out and touched his arm. “You can do this, Dev.”

  He glanced her way. He was so used to being alone, but having her and her quiet support beside him now felt damn good. He released a breath, and touched some more symbols. Come on, you raptor piece of junk.

  Suddenly, the rumble of an engine vibrated through the ship. He glanced over and saw Taylor smiling. He touched another symbol, and suddenly, the ptero shot into the air.

  Devlin was tossed back against his chair, fighting to get control of the ship. Taylor gasped, gripping her armrests. Behind them, he heard the others cursing.

  As Devlin managed to level the ship out, he sagged in his chair. He pulled the scale-like harness across his chest. “Strap in.”

  “You could have mentioned that before we took off,” Taylor noted, pulling her harness on.

  “I hadn’t intended to take off just then.” He looked back at the others. “Everyone okay?”

  “No,” Hemi growled. The berserker was sprawled on his ass on the floor.

  Tane stood nearby, holding onto some thick cables and smirking. Theron had found another seat, and was holding Sienna’s small body securely in his arms.

  Tane helped his brother up, and Devlin focused back on the controls. They were currently heading west, with the rising sun behind them, slowly lighting the sky. He needed to work out these controls and get them headed south.

  He touched the controls, and the ptero dipped a wing and dropped.

  “Watch it, Gray!” Hemi shouted.

  “There isn’t a manual for this,” Devlin shouted back. “I told you to hold on.”

  He leveled the ship out and touched the controls again. The ship jolted and bounced a couple more times, but finally he got them moving fairly smoothly throug
h the air. Devlin was pretty sure he had the main controls worked out.

  “I don’t know enough raptor to work out the navigation.” He glanced at Taylor. “I need you to help me do that manually. Ensure we’re heading in the right direction.”

  She arched her neck to look out the window. “I think it’s best if we use the coastline. That’s the easiest landmark to follow.”

  “Good idea.”

  Flying unsteadily, he followed Taylor’s directions, and they turned the ship to point southward. The coastline was off to the left, and the shattered city below them. Devlin touched the controls and they picked up speed.

  “I’m never doing this again,” Hemi bit out.

  “You do look a bit gray,” Sienna commented.

  “Don’t puke on me,” Theron said.

  “Shut it, both of you,” the berserker said with a groan.

  Everyone fell quiet as they flew, the cockpit filling with a quiet tension. Devlin drew in a deep breath. They had no idea what they’d find at the other end. But he knew the Enclave had strong defensive capabilities. If they needed to, the Enclave could drop thick, steel doors to cover all entrances, and activate a high-tech security system. They could pull everyone into the core of the base and stay there for years.

  But that would lock Devlin and his group out. Along with any other survivors.

  He knew better than to focus on uncertain outcomes. All he could do now was focus on assessing the situation and coming up with the most appropriate plan.

  He looked back at the controls. He didn’t want to bring it up to the others, but he had no idea how he was going to land the ptero.

  “I can see Wollongong,” Taylor said. “We need to turn inland now.”

  Devlin spotted the seaside city, and the low, flat hill behind it. The Enclave was situated on the other side of the escarpment.

  This time, Devlin thought his turn was pretty smooth. He smiled at Taylor. “I think I’m getting the hang of it.”

  “Don’t get cocky, super spy.” She turned back to look out the window. Then she gasped, leaning forward. “Oh, God.”

  Devlin craned his head and spotted a large raptor force marching across the rolling green hills toward the Enclave.