Cruz: Scifi Alien Invasion Romance (Hell Squad Book 2) Read online

  Below, the raptors stirred, the guards coming to attention.

  A throaty growl of an engine echoed through the streets.

  “Someone’s coming.” Santha arched her neck to get a better look.

  One of the squat raptor transports pulled into view, its lights spearing into the night. It was followed by two vans, and Santha scowled. Now it appeared the raptors were using human vehicles, too.

  The raptor soldiers in the yard formed two rough lines. A tall figure got out of the lead vehicle.

  Santha bit her lip hard enough to sting. The commander.

  Quickly, Santha pressed down onto her belly and scuttled closer to the edge of the roof for a better view.

  “Santha!” Cruz bit out on a savage whisper.

  Crouched by the ledge, she carefully peered over. A second later, Cruz’s big body moved in beside hers.

  She kept her gaze glued to the commander. Memories hit like bullets: Kareena’s screams as a raptor kicked her, her blood soaking onto the ground, the commander watching on impassively.

  Santha had fought to move, but her body hadn’t obeyed. She’d screamed, but it’d been soundless.

  She remembered the grunts and strange guttural language of the raptors. Then that last glimpse of her sister as they’d dragged Kareena’s lifeless body away.

  With a blink, Santha snapped back to the present. She heard the commander issue some throaty commands to the raptors below before she swept up the front steps and into the building.

  Santha’s hand curled into a fist. “We need to get closer.”

  “No,” Cruz said through gritted teeth. “Recon only.”

  “I’m not going to engage—”

  He snorted. “Yeah, right. Waltz right into the middle of their base, but not engage.”

  “We need proof that the prisoners are being held inside. We can’t get it from here.”

  “We need to be patient. Not a word in your vocab, I know. But we both know the reason you want to go in there isn’t because you’re after intel.”

  Santha worked to keep her face composed. “I care about finding those prisoners—”

  His face was set. “I never said you didn’t. But you’ve been living and breathing revenge for a year. I know you want that commander dead.”

  She didn’t respond. She didn’t like that she was so damn transparent. Dammit, she could balance her need to find the prisoners with the driving desire to see the commander dead.

  Elle’s voice came through the earpiece. “Cruz, General Holmes would like an update.”

  “Roger that, Elle.” Cruz turned to the side to block the wind from his earpiece.

  An idea gripped Santha and her muscles tensed. She glanced down at the side door propped open, then at the raptors now milling near the vehicles. Cruz was still talking quietly.

  He’d kill her for this.

  Santha closed her eyes for a second and forced herself to think of Kareena. Her smile, her witty sense of humor, her blood splattered on the ground.

  Santha crawled backward, moving with all the stealth her training had drilled into her and a year of living on the edge had honed sharp.

  With one final guilt-soaked glance at Cruz’s broad back, she slipped over the edge of the roof.

  ***

  “Got it, Elle. We’ll report in soon.”

  “Stay safe, Cruz,” Elle replied.

  Cruz turned to update Santha and realized she was no longer beside him. His gut clenched and he scanned the rooftop.

  But he already knew.

  Staying low, he peered over the ledge…

  In time to see her slipping unseen into the open doorway into the raptor base.

  “Fucking hell!” His hands curled into fists, his muscles straining. He should have known she’d try a stunt like this.

  He should call it in…but he knew Holmes would forbid him following her. And Elle would see the instant Cruz moved inside. He hesitated for half a second, then touched his earpiece, deactivating his comms.

  Dammit to hell, when he caught up with Santha, he was going to tie her up. Preferably to his bed.

  In a crouch, he moved along the length of the building and slipped over the edge right at the farthest point from the raptors.

  Seconds later, he was moving across the open area toward the door, using anything he could for cover.

  He paused about four meters from the door, hidden behind a stack of boxes. He heard the scrape of a boot and ducked down. The noisy breathing of the passing raptor guard made Cruz tense. He slipped his gladius combat knife out, tensed, ready to kill if he had to.

  He couldn’t attract any other raptor attention. Not just to protect himself but to protect Santha. If the raptors saw him, they’d go into lockdown and she’d be stuck inside.

  Or worse, captured.

  Another scrape of a boot.

  And then the guard moved on.

  Cruz relaxed a fraction, but his adrenaline was up and he’d need it to get inside and yank Santha out of there.

  After checking the raptors were focused elsewhere, he raced out from behind cover and through the door.

  Inside was an empty corridor. He brought his carbine up and moved forward.

  He came to the first doorway and checked the room. A classroom. Tables and chairs sitting neatly in rows. But empty.

  He kept moving. Where the hell are you, Santha?

  The next two rooms were empty of people or aliens but filled with supplies and items of interest the raptors were stockpiling.

  As Cruz moved farther down the hall, he thought he heard the distant murmur of voices but he couldn’t quite make out the sounds.

  At the next doorway, he saw a living area of sorts. The raptors had pushed together some chairs and tables. Some sort of animal had become a meal and the remnants of raw meat and picked bones sat on a table. Cruz grimaced and was about to turn when he caught a flicker of movement out the corner of his eye. He swung his carbine around, finger on the trigger.

  Santha appeared out of the shadows, arms raised.

  Cruz cursed and lowered his weapon. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

  “Seeing if the prisoners are here. Seeing what the commander is doing here.”

  He shook his head. “This is reckless, Santha. No plan, no warning. You’ll get us killed.”

  “You didn’t have to come. And I’ve survived this long doing things exactly like this.”

  “Dumb luck.”

  “Screw you—”

  He gripped the nape of her neck. “I fucking care, Santha. Get used to it.”

  A shiver wracked her and the fire leaked out of her eyes. “I know. I’m sorry.”

  “Sorry isn’t going to cut it. You’ll have to do much better than that to make it up to me when we get back to base.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Are you blackmailing me into giving you sex?”

  “I didn’t say anything about sex.”

  She snorted. “No, you just implied heavily.”

  “I didn’t imply a damn thing,” he bit out. “When we have sex, it’ll be because we both want it. Got it?”

  She inclined her head.

  He sucked in a deep breath. “Any sign of the prisoners?”

  Her face screwed up. “No. But I did find something weird.” She waved him over to another doorway.

  Inside were large, rounded…well, he wasn’t sure what they were. They were about the size of single beds but had a dome-like cover made from a translucent orange substance. They were ribbed with what looked like…veins.

  “I think this is where the raptors sleep,” Santha whispered, moving closer to the nearest pod. “They’re like a bed crossed with an egg.” She reached out a hand.

  “Don’t touch it!”

  She stopped just short of the organic, amber-like substance. Suddenly the dome cover moved, opening with a quiet hiss.

  Santha stumbled backward. Cruz lifted his weapon.

  The pod was empty.

  They both s
tudied it. There was a space inside that would fit a raptor.

  Cruz lifted his camera and snapped a few images. “Come on. We’re here now, so let’s take a quick look around.”

  They moved through the corridors, finding more living quarters for the raptors, more supplies, empty classrooms.

  No human prisoners.

  He saw Santha’s face becoming more and more grim.

  “They have to be here,” she said.

  He glanced at his watch. “We can’t stay much longer.”

  “We have to keep searching the building. The—”

  Heavy footsteps sounded around the corner, father down the hall.

  Shit. Cruz glanced around. Not many places to hide. He gripped Santha’s arm and urged her down the corridor.

  More footsteps. Coming from the opposite direction. He stopped. Dammit, they were trapped between oncoming raptors.

  He yanked out his knife and gestured for her to stay behind him.

  Then he leaped around the corridor corner.

  The raptor strolling toward them reared back, startled, and dropped his weapon. Cruz slammed into him.

  The alien didn’t go down. He was a big bastard. When his gaze landed on Cruz, the red in his eyes flared.

  Cruz reversed his grip on the knife hilt and plunged the blade into the side of the alien’s neck. Cruz worked the knife in, blocking the raptor’s swinging fist with his other arm.

  The raptor didn’t even get a chance to make a noise. He died in an instant and Cruz rode his body to the ground.

  “Come on!” she whispered frantically. “More are coming.”

  The drum of boots was like a metronome ticking down the time. Cruz grabbed the dead raptor under his armpits and dragged him down the hall. “We have to find somewhere to stash this guy.”

  “Ah…there’s blood on the floor.”

  “Clean it up best you can. It’s not like they’re keeping the place tidy.” The floor was filthy.

  She screwed up her nose but quickly used her boot to smear the blood into the other dirt stains.

  “They’re coming!” She glanced down the hall.

  “Quick, there’s a janitor’s closet.”

  Together, they got the door open and with some awkward maneuvering, got the heavy body of the dead raptor into the closet. The space turned out to be more like a small room filled with shelves of cleaning products, brooms, mops and an industrial floor cleaner.

  Santha had just eased the door closed when they heard the thud of running boots and the guttural sounds of raptors talking.

  Cruz quietly lowered the body to the floor, all his attention focused on the threat outside. If they had to fight their way out, being trapped in this tiny room wouldn’t be to their advantage.

  But the sound of the raptors quickly faded away.

  Santha’s shoulders relaxed. “They’re gone.”

  “But they were searching for someone. They know we’re here. And once they realize they have a guard missing, they’ll be back.” Cruz studied their hiding place.

  He dragged the raptor body back behind a shelf to keep it hidden from a cursory search.

  Santha shoved her hands on her hips. “What should we do—?”

  A low moan filled the room.

  Cruz glanced at the raptor. It was still and silent.

  Another strangled cry, low and pitiful.

  “What the hell?” Santha whispered, hefting her crossbow.

  He looked around and spotted a large ventilation grille. When the moaning started again, he realized the sound was filtering through there.

  He pointed, and with a nod, Santha followed him over.

  They crouched and peered through the slats of the vent.

  Cruz’s gut clenched and an explosive curse escaped his mouth.

  Santha pressed a closed fist to her lips. “Oh, my God.”

  Chapter Nine

  Santha’s brain couldn’t compute what she was seeing.

  Through the narrow gaps in the vent, she could see several narrow beds lined against the wall in the dim room.

  In each bed was a human…being experimented on.

  Closest to her and Cruz, she saw a man hooked up to so many organic-like tubes he was barely visible. Blood ran out of some tubes, and other fluids of various colors were running into him. He was thrashing weakly and moaning.

  The next bed held a woman with her chest cracked open and held apart by strange-looking bone claws. She was weeping.

  Beside her was another woman, her pregnant stomach distended to an abnormally large size. She looked unconscious but her body was twitching spasmodically.

  The row of beds continued, disappearing into the darkness. Holding who knew how many other people.

  Bile rose in Santha’s throat. They were lab rats. For whatever the hell the raptors were doing in here.

  She swallowed, trying not to be sick. “We have to get them out.”

  She hadn’t even realized she’d spoken until Cruz’s big hands clasped hers, holding her in place. “We’ll get them out. But we can’t do it alone.”

  Something in his voice alerted her. A dark edge she’d never heard before. Staring up at his face, she saw a rage so black and lethal it scared her.

  “It reminds you of your cousin,” she said.

  A muscle ticked in Cruz’s jaw and he gave one curt nod.

  “I don’t want to leave them here one minute more,” Santha whispered.

  His hands tightened on hers. “Neither do I. But we need manpower and a medical team to help them.”

  Everything he said was true, but it tore at her. To leave anyone like this…she let out a long, unsteady breath. “We get back to base, get reinforcements and make a plan—” she stared into his dark eyes “—then we come back here and get them out.”

  “You got it, mi reina.” He pressed a hand to the grate, his muscles flexing. “We’ll be back.”

  Santha was about to pull back when she heard a small cry just on the other side of the grille. Startled, she pulled back, then slowly leaned forward again.

  A green eye stared back at her.

  Santha gasped. It was a girl. About ten years old.

  She wore a filthy, tattered nightgown and her face was streaked with dirt. Half her head had been shaved, the other half was covered in a cloud of tangled dark hair.

  Santha’s heart was a heavy pound in her chest. The girl reminded her of a young Kareena with her dark hair and green eyes.

  “Sweetheart, are you okay?” Santha whispered.

  “What the hell?” Cruz crouched down. When he saw the girl, he pressed a fist to the wall and looked like he wanted to knock the bricks down.

  The girl simply blinked at Santha, her expression vacant.

  She had to be in shock. Other than the missing hair and the filth covering her, she looked fine.

  “We’re going to get you out of there.” Santha couldn’t save her sister but she sure as hell could save this little girl. Santha tested the strength of the grille over the vent. If she could just get it off—

  Again, Cruz grabbed her hand. “Santha—”

  “I’m not leaving her!” A furious whisper.

  “We can’t get out of here if she’s with us.”

  “She looks just like Kareena did as a girl.” Santha bit her lip. “I can’t leave her.”

  He sighed and pressed a palm to the wall, his head dropping. “We could get killed or captured, we could get her killed trying to escape. And we’d wouldn’t be able to come back for the others. Besides, she might need medical attention we can’t give her.”

  “She looks fine, Cruz.” Santha yanked at the grate again. She needed something to get the screws off. “Now help me, dammit.”

  From somewhere in the lab, there was the sound of a door opening and raptor voices.

  The girl whimpered, her eyes going large.

  “I’m getting you out.” Santha yanked at the items on her belt. There had to be something that would work.

  Then the
girl turned. Santha’s heart sank to her knees, a sob catching in her chest.

  The shaved side of her head was covered in small round circles. Each one was a hole drilled into her skull. Some had tiny wires protruding from them.

  Santha’s arms dropped to her sides and she closed her eyes. They couldn’t risk taking her outside, where God knew what could get into her open wounds.

  Cruz’s arm wrapped around Santha’s shoulders. “We’ll come back for her. We won’t leave her.”

  The raptor voices were getting louder. With one more frightened look at them, the girl darted away.

  “We have to go.” Cruz pulled Santha away from the vent.

  At the door to the storage room, he cupped her shoulders. “I need you back in the game so we can get out of here.”

  She nodded dully, but images of that raptor lab remained in her vision, burned into her brain.

  “Santha.” He shook her a little. “Focus.”

  “Okay, goddammit, I’m focused.” She drew in a big breath. “We get out. Then we come back.”

  He nodded. “I promise.”

  “Okay.”

  Santha focused on getting out of the raptor base. She couldn’t let her thoughts stray to what she’d seen, to that little girl.

  They moved rapidly through the halls. Three times, they had to dart into side rooms to hide as raptor troops passed by.

  Don’t think about the lab.

  They managed to sneak out of the building without being seen. They sprinted out of the schoolyard and behind a neighboring building that used to be a restaurant.

  Don’t think about the lab.

  Moving into a jog, they headed back toward the Darkswift. Ruthlessly, Santha choked off thoughts of that little girl and how she’d been violated.

  “Let’s skirt the park,” Cruz murmured. “I don’t want to run into another one of those feathered monsters.”

  Santha nodded.

  It took a little longer, but they went around the long grass. She forced herself to stay alert for any signs of raptors or other alien creatures. But all she could hear were the echoes of those pained human moans.

  They reached the Darkswift. Santha strapped in and Cruz started the engine. The canopy clicked into place.

  “Elle, we’re preparing for takeoff.”