Team 52 Box Set: Books 1-3 Read online

As he fired his rifle, shouts and screams punctured the night.

  Breathe through the pain, Lynch. “Move…have to…”

  “Quiet.” January pressed one shoulder in under his armpit. He draped his arm across her shoulders.

  “Are you bleeding?” she asked, tone businesslike, but he heard the concern in it.

  He shook his head. “Hit my vest.”

  They hobbled forward.

  “But it must hurt.”

  “Like a bitch.”

  Each step they took felt like agony. Together, they staggered deeper into the jungle. It was dark and hard to see. They were moving too damn slowly.

  Something slammed into January, knocking her over. With a cry, she fell, and they both went down. Seth groaned, nausea hitting him.

  He saw a flashlight on the ground, illuminating a man with long, blond hair. He was half on January, tearing at her backpack, trying to get it off her. She kicked him and the man growled.

  Seth reached for his CXM, but it was several feet away. Dammit. Instead, he reached for his SIG Sauer.

  The attacker pulled out a knife and cut one of the backpack’s straps.

  “No.” January kicked him again. “You are not taking my pack, asshole.”

  “Give it to me.”

  “Screw you!”

  The contents of the backpack spilled open, and one jade sphere rolled out of its covering and into the dirt.

  Dammit. Seth shoved the pain away and swiveled. He sat up and kicked the man. A lot harder than January had.

  The man grunted and then Seth aimed the SIG right at the man’s head.

  The man went still. His glittering blue eyes glared at Seth. He had pale skin and his hair was tangled around his shoulders.

  “Who are you?” Seth demanded.

  “A crusader.” He had a Scandinavian accent.

  Seth fought to draw in a breath. He could hear other people crashing through the jungle. He watched the man’s gaze shift over Seth’s shoulder.

  January stepped into view, holding the jade sphere.

  Seth tried for another breath. Damn, it felt like he had an elephant on his chest. He needed his vest off, and then to sell his soul for some painkillers.

  “You hold the chance to change the world in your hand.” The blond man’s hungry gaze was on the sphere.

  January flicked a worried glance at Seth. Yeah, she’d heard it too. Fanaticism. He hated fanatics. They were impossible to reason with.

  Seth jammed the gun hard against the side of the man’s head. “Who do you work for?”

  “You’ll never stop us.”

  January huffed out a breath. “He has a gun to your head. Answer him!”

  The man’s lips pressed into a hard line.

  He pressed harder until the man winced. “Tell me about Gaia.”

  The man’s eyes flickered. “We have a mission. We’ll never stop.”

  “I’ve heard it all before, man,” Seth said. “Every iteration of why you think you get to be an asshole. Just answer the question.”

  The man smiled. “I’m a knight. A warrior of Gaia.”

  The man leaped up, headbutting Seth’s chest.

  Fuck. Outrageous pain speared through Seth and he staggered back, trying not to vomit.

  “Seth!” January reached for him.

  The man leaped at January, trying to wrench the sphere from her. She fought back like a wild hellcat and the pair hit the dirt, struggling like wrestlers. The blond man hit her in the head.

  She cried out, clearly dazed. Seth fought to get his feet under him, but the pain held him pinned, only letting him move as fast as a damn snail.

  The man yanked the sphere from January’s hands.

  “No!” she yelled.

  Dammit. Seth got up on one knee and lifted his SIG.

  The man sprinted into the jungle. Seth took a shot, but knew he’d missed. He managed to stagger to his feet.

  “January, you okay?”

  She stood a few feet away, her face twisted in anger. “Yes. He got one of the spheres. We have to stop him.”

  Seth nodded, but several armed attackers exploded out of the trees. They were closest to January and trained their guns on her.

  Her eyes widened, and she held her hands out at her sides.

  In that second, Seth knew he had a choice—go after the artifact, or save January.

  Fuck.

  He spun, swiveled on one knee, and aimed at the newcomers. “Down, James.”

  She dropped, and Seth fired. Bam. Bam. Bam.

  The men fell, all neutralized.

  “We need to move.”

  January raised her head. “But the sphere—?”

  “Fuck the sphere.”

  She sucked in a breath. “You did not just say that.”

  Seth grabbed her hand, fighting off his pain. “First, let’s stay alive.”

  Her gaze dropped to his chest. He knew she couldn’t miss his labored breathing.

  “Fine,” she said.

  He yanked her into the vegetation.

  Chapter Six

  January ran, harder than she’d ever run before, fueled by her fury.

  These assholes had tried to kill her…again. Seth had stepped in front of bullets for her. And now, these bastards had one of the spheres.

  “We can’t let them have the artifact.” She slapped at a vine.

  “We can’t stop them if we’re dead,” Seth gritted out.

  She glanced up at him. She could hear the pain in his tone, and in the light of the flashlight he’d finally allowed her to switch on, his face held a grayish sheen.

  “How bad’s the pain?” she asked.

  “Just keep moving.”

  She wanted to shoot all these bad guys. God, she hoped Josh, Rachelle, and the others were okay. January was angry and she was afraid. She hated being afraid.

  Old memories, with very sharp fangs, rose up. But like she always did, she pushed away the fear and embraced the anger.

  “So, what’s our plan, 007?”

  “Not get riddled with bullets.”

  She rolled her eyes. Again, the image of him stepping in front of her, taking those bullets for her, rocketed through her head.

  Suddenly, he yanked her to a stop.

  “Shh.” He pulled her close, flicked off the flashlight, and cocked his head.

  Then she heard it. Bodies crashing through the jungle.

  They were being hunted.

  “Go.” Seth shoved her hard.

  “I’m going.” She’d lost her unlaced boots in the fight, and running in bare feet in the dark jungle was not fun. Something sharp sliced her foot and she winced. But she didn’t complain. They had to get away.

  They reached higher ground and she swiveled to look back. Her stomach clenched. A row of flashlights bobbed in the darkness, coming through the trees.

  Straight for them.

  “Faster, January.”

  She turned and kept going. “I’m going as fast as I can considering I can’t see a damn thing.”

  “Find some more speed, or you’ll find yourself tortured, raped, or killed.”

  She felt the blood drain out of her face, and she stumbled.

  “James?” His fingers tightened on her arm.

  She shook her head, stubbornly. “I’m fine.” She barged on ahead.

  They kept running, but they hadn’t gone much farther when she heard voices off to the left. Really close. Oh, no. Her heart sank.

  “Shit. They’re flanking us,” Seth muttered.

  Her heart was pounding. Trapped. Afraid. Helpless.

  Suddenly, a soldier crashed out of the vegetation.

  Seth yanked January back and lifted his weapon.

  “Drop the gun,” the man growled.

  More people came out of the trees from all sides, surrounding them.

  Trapped. January swiveled her head. No.

  A tall woman with short, black hair stepped forward. “We want the other artifact.”

  January
bit her lip. Where did these people get their information from? How did they know about the two spheres? How did they know that they potentially had abilities?

  Screw being afraid. Seth was beside her, and she wasn’t a little girl anymore. She glared at the woman. “Go to hell.”

  Seth made a sound. “Don’t goad people aiming guns at you, hellcat.”

  “Fuck them,” she said.

  He sighed.

  “Drop the weapon and get on your knees,” the man said.

  “I’m not getting on my knees,” January muttered.

  Seth shook his head. “Why am I not surprised? Even in a really bad situation you can find time to argue.”

  She raised a brow. “Are you going to drop your weapon?”

  “Hell, no.”

  She smiled. “You are, minutely, in very small doses, starting to grow on me, Lynch. But don’t tell anyone.”

  “Don’t worry, hellcat. I’m sure the feeling will pass.”

  “Stop talking and get down on the fucking ground,” the man shouted.

  “So, we going to go down fighting?” January had been too young to fight back when she’d been attacked as a girl. Now, she was more than ready.

  She saw Seth stiffen. She lifted her arms, willing to fight.

  But he grabbed a fistful of the back of her shirt, and yanked her to the ground. What the hell?

  Then she heard a noise.

  A whoosh. A flap of fabric. Then a whizzing sound.

  Seth pulled her closer. Shouts and gunfire erupted all around them. Suddenly, several black-clad figures were zipping down from the trees.

  Holy fuck. She looked up at the canopy above, and spotted several parachutes flapping in the branches. Five figures hit the ground and whipped their high-tech assault rifles up.

  They attacked, moving fast.

  Her gaze fell on the big man in the lead. He mowed through a line of attackers. Even though the newcomers had their faces covered by black masks, she knew it was Lachlan Hunter.

  Seth rose, lifted his rifle, and fired, joining his team. January watched Team 52 cut through the attackers with deadly efficiency.

  A smaller figure in black leaped up and kicked an attacker in the head. Then the figure spun, and with two hard blows, drove a second one to the ground. That had to be Blair.

  When more attackers came out of the trees, the largest of the Team 52 members stopped, lifted his rifle and fired a grenade. It exploded with a boom, flames licking at the trees. Screams echoed around them. Smith Creed.

  Another smaller Team 52 member raced across the small clearing, firing in quick succession, taking down several attackers. Beside her, a taller team member leaped onto a log and jumped off, smashing into a man and riding him to the ground. January was pretty sure that was Callie and Axel.

  January sucked in a breath. Team 52 sure knew how to make an entrance.

  “Where’s the prick who took the artifact?” Seth asked.

  “I don’t see him,” January answered.

  Finally, the gunfire stopped. Out of the darkness, a woman slid in beside them and pushed her black mask down. She had a small, high-powered flashlight attached to her shoulder.

  “Anyone hurt?”

  “Hey, Callie.” Seth nodded at his teammate.

  “Seth.” The medic turned to January. “It is very nice to see you alive, January.”

  “Thanks, Callie. Nice to be alive.”

  Callie scanned them both. “So, no gunshot wounds, stab injuries, claw marks?”

  “Seth took two bullets in his vest,” January said.

  “Ouch,” Callie said sympathetically. She fished around in her backpack and, a second later, she pulled out a syringe. Before Seth could say anything, she stuck it in his arm. “Vest off.”

  He obeyed and let Callie ease it off him. She quickly assessed his ribs. He winced a few times, but the painkillers had already taken the edge off.

  “Nothing broken. You’ll probably just have a few bruises.” The medic turned to January. “You next.”

  “Well, I don’t have any gunshot wounds.”

  Seth scowled. “That prick hit you in the head.”

  “Head’s fine.” She winced. “I do have a few cuts on my feet, though.”

  Seth cursed. “What?”

  “I lost my boots. Didn’t have time to lace them.”

  He dropped down beside her. His ribs protested, but he focused on lifting one of her bare feet. They were scratched to hell and covered in mud. “Why didn’t you say anything?” His tone was clipped.

  January tilted her head. “Oh, I don’t know.” Sarcasm laced her voice. “Maybe because we were running for our lives.”

  “Everyone okay?” Lachlan’s voice.

  Lachlan and the rest of Team 52 surrounded them, with the exception of Smith, who was standing over the line of zip-tied attackers. Some of them were conscious.

  Seth met Lachlan’s gaze. “We’re all right. One of these guys got away with one of the spheres, though.”

  Lachlan’s mouth compressed into a thin line and he gave a sharp nod.

  “The other one is safe in January’s backpack.”

  “Good. Keep it there for now, and we’ll put it in a containment box on the X8.”

  Seth looked back at January’s feet. One had a really nasty cut and was caked with mud. “You should have told me.”

  She made an annoyed sound. “When we were dodging bullets or when we were wrestling with the bad guys?”

  “They don’t look too bad.” Callie’s lips were twitching. “I’ll clean them up on the X8 and get some antiseptic cream on them. Don’t want you getting a nasty jungle infection.”

  January’s nose screwed up. “I’d like to avoid nasty infections.”

  “No point cleaning them here,” Callie added. “They’ll be dirty again after about three seconds.”

  Seth met Lachlan’s gaze. “Can we get out of this fucking jungle?”

  Lachlan nodded. “There’s a clearing two klicks west of here. We’ll get picked up there.”

  “Saw you treejumped in.”

  “We needed the element of surprise.”

  “Treejumped?” January asked.

  “A form of low altitude parachuting, specifically for the jungle,” Seth told her. “It was created by the British SAS for jungle insertion. You parachute into a tree canopy, then rappel down.”

  “It sounds dangerous,” she said.

  “It is.”

  “All right, let’s move out,” Lachlan announced.

  “What about these guys?” January asked.

  “Team of Guatemalan soldiers is inbound to take care of them,” Lachlan answered.

  January bit her lip. “And the archeologists at the dig site?”

  “The Guatemalan authorities are taking care of them, too,” Lachlan said. “Brooks tells me that they are all okay, including an irate, very demanding, Dr. Andelman.”

  A short, wry laugh escaped January. “That sounds about right.”

  They set off, and Seth watched her limp through the jungle. Despite his aching chest, which was now not so bad, thanks to the painkillers, Seth scooped her into his arms.

  “Hey, you were shot earlier. I can walk.”

  “No, you can’t.”

  “Yes, I can, Lynch. I’m not a princess. A few cuts won’t stop me.”

  “Okay, but I wasn’t asking. You’re not walking.”

  She huffed out a breath. “Fine, 007. Have at it.”

  From nearby, Blair snickered, and Seth shot his friend a look. Beside Blair, Axel was grinning at them.

  “Where do you think the sphere is?” January asked quietly, bringing his attention back to her.

  “My guess is that the guy and the sphere are long gone.”

  She sighed.

  “Don’t worry, we’ll find it.”

  “You get any more info from these guys?” Lachlan asked.

  “The guy who took the sphere said he was a knight. A warrior of Gaia.”

 
“I go to a yoga place in Vegas called Gaia,” Callie said.

  “Pretty sure these guys aren’t yoga instructors,” Seth said.

  “Brooks?” Lachlan touched his earpiece. He relayed the information. “Run some searches see what you can find.”

  They moved swiftly through the trees and finally reached the clearing. The X8 came into view a moment later, and January gasped.

  “What kind of aircraft is that?” she asked.

  The jet-copter hovered above the ground, and they jogged toward it.

  “A classified, experimental one.”

  With its coaxial dual rotors, wide body, and jet engines, it looked like the love child of a helicopter and plane. It was far faster than most helicopters and had an increased range.

  “Who’s piloting?” Seth asked. He and Blair were the team pilots.

  “Arlo,” Blair answered. “On remote.”

  The man was former Air Force, and was in charge of the storage facility back at base. But he’d been a hell of a pilot in his day.

  They all climbed aboard, and Seth settled January in a seat.

  “Don’t move,” he ordered.

  She glared at him, then leaned back in the seat. He watched as she closed her eyes and let out a long breath. “That’s an unnecessary order.”

  “Finally, she listens to me.”

  “I listen to you, Lynch. I just don’t dance to your orders.”

  God, always busting his balls. He moved to step away, but her hand shot out and circled his wrist.

  “Thank you, Seth.”

  He heard the heartfelt meaning in her words and something moved through him. The intensity in her hazel eyes caught him.

  “I’d be dead if it wasn’t for you,” she finished quietly.

  “Glad you aren’t dead, hellcat.”

  She raised a brow. “Hellcat?”

  “If the shoe fits…”

  She crossed her arms. “It doesn’t.”

  “It does. If I get 007, you get hellcat.”

  She closed her eyes. “I’m too tired to argue with you.”

  He pretended to look out the window with avid interest.

  She opened one eye. “What are you doing?”

  “Looking for a blue moon or a flying pig.”

  Her gaze narrowed, but before she could volley back, Blair marched past on her way to the cockpit.

  Seth moved to follow his team mate but she blocked him.