Manu (Hell Squad #16) Read online

  Behind the dogs, the big, hulking shapes of raptors formed out of the gloom.

  Poison sprayed nearby, and Manu dodged closer to Kate. She barely flinched, still returning fire. More poison hit the ground, and he felt some hit his prosthetic.

  A second later, his leg went out from under him.

  He dropped to his knees. Fuck, his prosthetic was ruined.

  Suddenly, bone projectiles hit the wall above his head. Thump. Thump. Thump.

  “Kate, sniper!”

  She ducked down, still firing.

  “Kate.” He pulled his last grenade—the experimental cineole one—off his belt. “I’ll create a diversion and you get out.”

  She eyed the grenade. “What?”

  “Get out.”

  She shook her head. “No.”

  “I love you. I want you out and safe.”

  Her eyes widened. “Not leaving, Rahia.” She turned away to spray more fire at the raptors. “I’m pretty sure I’m in love with you, too.”

  She sounded pissed. Sweet pain and savage satisfaction filled him. “Babe.”

  More bone projectiles whizzed through the air and they ducked.

  “You light me up,” she said angrily. “Before you, I was existing, not living. You gave me color, life. You made me feel.”

  “Kate.” She was slicing him up inside.

  “You gave me a reason to fight, Manu. A reason to survive, and to damn well live.”

  She fired again, and then he followed with several shots of his own.

  “We’re getting out of here,” she snapped. “Got it?”

  He eyed the tunnel, and the wave of raptors approaching. Kate cursed, and Manu felt like a rock had settled in his gut.

  “We both get out,” she said, “or we both go down fighting.”

  God, she was one hell of a woman. “I love you, babe.”

  “And I love you right back, you stubborn, alpha male.”

  They kept firing, the tunnel ripe with the smell of burning poison and flesh. A moment later, Manu’s alien weapon clicked on empty. Dammit. He dropped it.

  Kate edged closer to him, still firing. Fuck, he hated feeling helpless. The last time he’d felt like this was when he’d lost his leg. When he’d been screaming in agony and unable to move.

  The raptors were trying to take the damn planet. They’d taken his leg, and now they were trying to take away the one woman who meant everything to him.

  Suddenly, Kate jerked back. He looked up and the bottom dropped out of his stomach at the sight of a bone projectile lodged in her shoulder.

  “Kate!”

  Another volley of projectiles. Pain sliced into his gut. Grimly, he saw a bone bolt had speared through his stomach.

  He reached down and yanked it out. He grimaced and tried to ignore the agony.

  Kate’s body jerked to the side, and he saw she’d been hit again. She fell down on the dirt floor with a cry.

  He reached out to her, helplessness choking him. Fuck, no. It wasn’t going to end like this.

  Kate tried to block out the pain of the projectiles buried in her shoulder and side. She could feel blood soaking her shirt and knew it was bad.

  She also felt any remaining energy seeping out of her. She dragged herself over to Manu and grabbed his hand.

  She sensed the last of the raptors getting closer, but she ignored them, too.

  All she could see was Manu. His face was covered in blood and grime, but he smiled at her.

  “You are my perfect woman.”

  She laughed. “I love you, too, Manu.”

  He held up one more grenade.

  “Thought you were out.”

  “Old habit. Always save one. Ready to take the last of these suckers down?”

  “Hell, yeah.”

  Manu lobbed the grenade, and they both ducked down. It exploded with a deafening bang, which was followed by raptor grunts and groans. A haze filled the small tunnel and smelled like eucalyptus.

  The raptors’ cries increased. She raised her head and saw several aliens clutching their heads, blood pouring from their noses, eyes, and mouths. Holy hell.

  But a fresh wave of raptors leaped over the injured. One charged toward them out of the haze. He grabbed Kate and dragged her up off the ground. She kicked him, sending him stumbling into the rock wall. Kate gripped the bone projectile stuck in her shoulder and yanked it out. The pain was horrible, making her eyes water. But she gritted her teeth and breathed through it. When the raptor looked up with a growl, she stabbed the projectile through his eye.

  He let out a scream. He released her and dropped his weapon.

  Excellent. As she dropped back to her knees, Manu snatched up the weapon. He took aim and fired at the other raptors.

  After a few moments, no more aliens emerged from the dissipating smoke. Her breath hitched. Had they really beaten them all?

  Unable to hold herself upright any longer, she collapsed to the ground.

  “Shit,” Manu bit out, collapsing down beside her. He pulled her closer and slumped against the wall.

  “What?” She rested her head on his chest.

  “I think I’m going to pass out.”

  She gripped his hand. “You can’t. I can’t carry you.”

  He cursed again. “Fuck. That won’t stop you from trying, though, will it?”

  This time, she shot him a grin.

  She’d drag him out of here like a caveman, if she had to. But then, she heard a shout in the distance, the sound echoing down the tunnel. Her heart dropped. It was in the raptor language.

  More raptors were incoming, and she knew Manu couldn’t withstand another round. She squeezed his hand, and they sat there in silence.

  When the first raptor appeared at the entrance to the tunnel, a numbing calm slipped over Kate. She was with Manu and that was what mattered to her. More raptors appeared, all cradling their weapons.

  This was it.

  Kate took a deep breath.

  Suddenly, the ground beneath them started to vibrate. Dirt trickled down from the roof. The raptors looked upward, confused.

  “What the hell?” Kate muttered.

  With a violent explosion of rock, the wall to their left exploded outward. Kate gasped as the metallic tip of a large drill burst through the rock. A huge piece of mining equipment rattled into the tunnel, crashing into the raptors.

  She blinked, unable to believe her eyes. Hemi and Tane were behind the controls.

  “Woo-hoo!” Hemi called out.

  They continued down the tunnel, crashing through more raptors. From the newly bored hole behind the drill, the berserkers rushed out—Levi, Ash, Dom, and Griff. Green laser fire lit up the tunnel.

  It didn’t take long for them to mow down the remaining raptors.

  “Fuck.” Griff raced toward Manu and Kate. He dropped down beside them and then yanked something off his belt. He pressed some wadded gauze to Kate’s shoulder, putting pressure on her wound.

  Dom appeared and started work on Manu.

  “How you doing there, Captain?” Griff asked.

  “It’s Kate.” She stared at his hard, but handsome, face.

  “How are you doing, Kate?”

  “I’ve had better days.”

  Now she got a faint smile. “We’ll be back at the Enclave before you know it.”

  “How’d you find us?”

  “We’d been searching the tunnels for a while when we heard the commotion. Got one of the geek squad’s mini-drones operational and headed this way.”

  “What a damn mess,” came a deep, gravelly voice.

  Kate looked up. Marcus Steele and the rest of Hell Squad were also coming out of the newly-drilled tunnel.

  Hell Squad’s sniper, Shaw, frowned, his sniper rifle pressed up to his shoulder. “Well, hell. How come nobody left us any raptors to kill?”

  Griff patted Kate’s arm, drawing her attention back to him. His face was hard and worried. “You’ll be in the infirmary in the blink of an eye.”
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br />   “Not a fan of doctors, so you aren’t making me feel any better.” She swallowed. “How’s Manu?” Griff was blocking her view.

  “That tough guy will be fine.”

  But she saw Griff glance up at Tane, who was standing close by. Squad Three’s leader didn’t look happy. His face was blank, his mouth tight.

  Then Dom’s near-accent-less voice cut through the air. “Manu? Hey, stay with us, my man.”

  “Manu.” Kate tried to sit up.

  Griff planted a hand on her chest and held her down. “Stay still, Kate. We need to stop your bleeding.”

  “Manu—”

  “He’s passed out, but he’s breathing.”

  “Shit, what’s wrong with his leg?” Hemi bit out.

  Kate managed to shove Griff aside and get a look at Manu.

  She gasped. The alien scales had multiplied and were covering most of what was left of his prosthetic. They had just started to crawl up the skin of his thigh.

  “Let’s get them to the infirmary,” Tane ordered. “Now!”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Griff

  Griff ducked through the reinforced doorway, pushing the iono-stretcher into the Enclave. Thank fuck. He hated being out in the open with injured people.

  His squad mates followed him in, all of them covered in dirt, sweat, and grime. Hell Squad had stayed behind to clean out the mine tunnels of any remaining aliens. They had orders to seal up the neighboring mine in any way possible. Griff was certain that would involve explosives. He suspected Hemi would have liked to help make that mess, but the guy was clearly worried about his brother.

  Griff leaned over the stretcher, his gaze falling on Manu and Kate. She’d refused to get on her own stretcher. Manu was unconscious, and Kate was wrapped around him. She’d been whispering nonstop to him the entire trip back.

  It was strange to see tough, no-nonsense Captain Kate Scott clearly head over heels for the oldest Rahia brother. He’d pegged her as cool, but seeing her with Manu made it clear she wasn’t.

  Even though Manu was unconscious, the man knew his woman was with him. He had one strong arm wrapped around her, and he’d held tight to her the entire trip back.

  They fit. Even Griff, who’d had his faith in women and relationships shattered into jagged pieces long ago, could see these two fit.

  Kate hadn’t left Manu. Griff glanced at Manu’s mangled leg. He would have asked her to go and find a way out. Griff knew his friend well, and Manu would’ve wanted Kate out of there.

  But she’d stayed. She’d fought at his side.

  Unlike Griff’s faithless ex-fiancée.

  He shook his head. Now wasn’t the time to think of Amelia.

  “You’re going to be fine, Manu,” Kate murmured. “We’re back at the Enclave.”

  Griff’s fingers tightened on the stretcher.

  “You brought color into my life.” She pressed into Manu’s side. “You brought me to life. I’m not letting you go.”

  Shit. Griff felt the hard shell around his heart crack a little.

  Ahead, he heard running footsteps. Doc Emerson and her team appeared. Right behind them was another woman running fast on long legs, her dark ponytail flying out behind her. Indy.

  Griff’s gut clenched. He always felt that sensation whenever he saw her. He couldn’t even remember when it started.

  He’d grown up with Indy Bennett. Their families had been close friends and once, her brother Gareth had been his best friend. His brother.

  For so many years, Indy had been Gareth’s kid sister. At first, cute, then annoying and loud-mouthed. Then she’d reached her teens.

  She’d always been fucking gorgeous, but at about sixteen, she’d started flirting and throwing herself at Griff. Hell. He’d held her off pretty successfully until she was eighteen. He’d been home on leave from the Police Academy with Gareth.

  At a party, she’d cornered him and kissed the hell out of him. His fingers tightened. Damn, he’d wanted her.

  But she’d been too young and wild, and more importantly, she’d been his best friend’s little sister. Besides, he’d been focused on his career, passing the Academy, and working hard on his dream to be a cop like his dad.

  To get Indy to back off, he’d been harsh with her. He’d hurt her.

  His ruthless words about her being like a little sister to him, and that he’d never see her as a desirable woman had stopped the seduction attempts. Then she’d started avoiding him like the plague.

  She’d also gone even wilder. She’d always been spirited, but over the next few years, the few times he’d seen her, he learned she’d gotten ink, been partying hard, and had a parade of biker and musician boyfriends.

  A muscle ticked in his jaw. But he’d never stopped thinking about her. Hell, even when he’d been engaged to Amelia, he’d still had less-than-pure thoughts about Indy Bennett.

  When he’d been incarcerated, she’d been one of the few people to come to see him in prison. He’d refused to see her.

  His chest tightened. After the alien invasion and his escape from the supermax prison, he’d mourned his family, and he’d mourned Indy, too. He’d wake in the night, thinking about her.

  Then he’d arrived at Blue Mountain Base and seen her among the survivors. Alive and more gorgeous than ever.

  Indy had always been the color in his life.

  “How are they?” She looked anxiously at the stretcher, worry etched on her face.

  “They took down a buttload of raptors. They’re battered, but tough as hell, both of them.”

  She glanced at him and nodded. Then her gaze moved past him to the rest of the squad. His fellow berserkers got a smile.

  “Hey, babe.” Hemi slapped her ass as he walked past.

  “Neanderthal,” she called out, no heat in the word. “Everyone in one piece? Nothing broken or bleeding?”

  She didn’t look at Griff. Once again, she was ignoring him.

  Indy breathed life into a room, and he was sick of her pretending he didn’t exist.

  “You plan to kiss my boo-boos better?” Levi asked with a wink.

  She smacked the tattooed man in the shoulder. “Chrissy would hit me in the head with her wrench, big guy. Then she’d come after you.”

  As the others headed down the corridor, Indy moved to follow them. Griff saw the tight lines bracketing her mouth. She was still worried. He gripped her arm, his hand wrapping around the bright rose tattoos on her skin.

  “Manu and Kate will be all right,” he said.

  She nodded. “It’s hard listening to the fighting over the comms, and not knowing if you guys will come back in one piece.”

  No way he’d be able to sit behind a desk and listen to the fighting. He’d always been a guy who preferred action, a man who believed in the law, and did whatever he had to do to protect it. He’d always thought right beat wrong, good beat evil. But life had taught him that wasn’t always the case with a big fucking betrayal he’d never seen coming, followed by the damn alien invasion.

  Without thinking, he tugged Indy in for a hug. She went still, then stiffened, and tried to pull back.

  But Griff didn’t want any distance between them and held her in place. She was a long, curvy handful, and smelled like she had years ago—of coconut.

  “Let me go,” she said.

  “You’re always avoiding me.”

  “No, I’m not. I see you every day.”

  “You look through me. You only look at me when you’re busting my balls.”

  She glared at him. “Your balls are safe from me, Griff.”

  Some indefinable mix of emotion roared through him at her words, and he backed her into the wall.

  Her gray eyes narrowed on his face. “Back off.”

  “I think it’s time we talk about us.”

  “Us?” Her dark brows rose. “There is no us.”

  “Let’s talk about why you’ve been avoiding me for years.”

  “Ah, you were in jail, Griff.”


  “Before that,” he growled. He wanted no reminder of the years he’d spent in that hellhole.

  “We grew up. You became a cop and left.”

  “Indy—”

  “I’m not doing this.” She shoved at him.

  He grabbed her wrists, but she yanked one free and, quick as a snake, she slammed her open palm into his nose.

  “Goddammit.” He staggered back, checking she hadn’t broken his nose.

  “You taught me that self-defense move, remember? So I could deal with pushy guys who wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

  “I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to talk.” He glared at her.

  “We have nothing to talk about.”

  “We are going to talk, Indy.”

  With a glare hot enough to melt his skin, she stomped off down the corridor.

  Griff stayed where he was, watching the sway of her ass under her tight jeans. She was fighting him, but he’d been a cop a long time. He was good at reading people. He’d seen the flare of panic in her eyes when he’d told her they’d talk.

  He thought of Kate’s words to Manu. That he’d brought color to her life.

  Griff had been ignoring the shades of gray around him for a very long time. Life had ground him down, but now he was finally ready to risk it all to get some color back into his world.

  To get Indy back into his world.

  Kate woke to a steady beeping sound and the smell of antiseptic. And thankfully, no pain.

  She rolled over, looked at the ceiling and blinked. She was in the infirmary. She touched her shoulder and felt smooth skin, no sign of her wounds. No doubt she had a shot of nanomeds to thank for that.

  She turned her head, and her gaze fell on Manu lying in the bed beside hers.

  Her chest tightened and she sat up. His eyes were closed and he was lying so damn still.

  She reached up and pulled a small sticky monitoring pad off her chest, then she swung her legs over the side of the bed. She was wearing a stupid hospital nightgown and was naked beneath it.

  Carefully, she pressed her feet to the floor and waited. There was no dizziness. She crossed the few meters to Manu’s bed and crawled in with him.

  Curling around his body, she pressed her nose to his throat and breathed him in. He was so still, but his skin was warm, and when she pressed her palm to his bare chest, she felt the steady thump of his heart.