Holmes (17 page)

A huge boom sounded.

Adam turned and watched a huge mushroom cloud of smoke and flames rise into the sky.

He and Marcus strode to the top of the hill and waited. Where the hell were Tane and Hemi?

The minutes ticked by, and Adam fought the urge to worry.

A minute later, he saw two silhouettes appear out of the smoke. Both had carbines slung over their shoulders, steadily strolling up the hill like they had nothing better to do than go for a walk. They were both covered in blood, sweat and soot. Hemi was laughing and a slight smile broke on Tane’s face for a second.

“Those two need cigars, or something.”

Adam glanced down at Liberty. He put his arm around her and pulled her in close. He soaked in the warmth and life of her.

“I know what I need,” Adam said.

She looked up, smiling. “Oh?”

“You.” He touched her face. “Just you.”

There was a sudden gust of wind and above them, he saw a second quadcopter appear, dropping its illusion.

“Let’s get out of here,” he said.

***

Nikolai

Nikolai Ivanov ran quietly through the trees. Beside him, two of his Enclave soldiers ran with him.

He crested the hill, careful to stay in the shadows of the trees. He made a hand signal and the soldiers stopped. Niko lifted his binocs, zooming in, and got a good look at the incoming vehicles.

It had been one of the Enclave drones that had picked up the huge illusion heading their way. He knew the Blue Mountain Base convoy was on its way here…but Niko had a responsibility to the people who called the Enclave home to protect them.

He’d snuck under the illusion with a small team. He needed to make sure this convoy was the Blue Mountain survivors and that they didn’t have aliens trailing them.

“Sir, it looks like the Blue Mountain Base convoy,” one of the soldiers said.

“Yeah, it does.”

But all their intel said the aliens were getting better at deception. At first, they’d used brute force, still relied on that, but Niko suspected they were starting to understand they’d need something else to beat good, old human grit and determination.

“Spread out.” He jerked his head at the man and woman. “Get a closer look. If anything seems off, and I mean anything, report back.”

“Yes, sir.”

The soldiers melded into the trees.

Quickly, stealthily, Niko made his way up the next hill. It had been a while since he’d had to use the skills of his past life. Before, stealth and sneaking had been his norm.

A muscle ticked in his jaw. He wasn’t that man anymore. Now he was a survivor, a leader, an artist, a community member. His top reason for being was to protect the Enclave and its people.

He shimmied down on his belly and crawled to the top of the hill. He lifted the binocs again.

A second later, he felt the cool brush of a gun barrel at the back of his neck. He stiffened.

“Want to tell me why you’re sneaking around here and spying on my people?’

Female voice. Tough. Cool. Meant business. Niko had no doubt that whoever was holding the weapon, she wouldn’t hesitate to pull the trigger.

“I’m making sure they are who I think they are,” he answered. “Making sure they aren’t aliens in disguise.”

A pause. “Turn around.”

Niko rolled over. Taking her in felt like a kick to his gut.

He’d thought she’d be tall. Instead, she was tiny. Dark hair was tucked under her combat helmet and he wondered if it would be a long fall of silk or short, sexy wisps around her angular face. She wore her combat armor and held her carbine in a way that said she did it every day. No newbie soldier here.

But it was the hard, steady look in her dark eyes and the tough tilt of her chin that he found most fascinating.

“Who are you?” she asked.

“I’m from the Enclave—”

“We’ve heard that before. Name?”

Yes, this one had tough running through her veins. Damn, he found it sexy. “Niko.”

The woman touched her ear. “Roth? Come in. I’ve run into someone claiming to be from the Enclave.”

Niko straightened. “Roth? Roth Masters?”

His captor studied him.

“Tell him Nikolai says hello.”

She tapped her earpiece, then cursed. “Damn. The aliens are jamming everything.”

Holding his hands up, Niko got to his feet. “I’m Nikolai Ivanov.”

Her dark gaze drifted over him. “Mackenna Carides. I’m Roth’s second in command.”

So, she worked side by side with the tough, muscled Masters. “Looks like Roth has all the luck. I’ve met his beautiful and competent Avery, and now I see he works with a beautiful second in command as well.”

Mackenna lifted her carbine up an inch. “I’m not in this job because of how I look.”

“I don’t doubt it.”

She touched her ear. “Roth? Arden? Do you copy?”

Niko shifted to grab his own comms device off his belt.

A hard shove to his gut had him grunting. Mackenna kicked his knees out from under him and a second later he found himself flat on his back, a knee pressed to his sternum.

“You’re a bit twitchy, Mackenna.”

“It’s Mac. And after two weeks on the run, aliens dogging your every move, you’d be a little twitchy too, pretty boy.”

Niko was sick of being on the back foot with this woman. He slapped her knee away, surging upward.

She swung her carbine around, but he anticipated that and knocked it away. She threw herself at him and they shared a short, sharp scuffle.
Fuck
. She had an exoskeleton in her armor that made her stronger than him.

They ended up facing each other, on their knees. He had an elbow at her throat and she had a tight grip on his throat. One twist and she could snap his neck.

“Mac, you there?”

So close to her, Niko heard the tinny sound of Roth’s voice.

“I’m here. I caught a guy spying on the convoy. Looks human, says he’s from the Enclave and his name is Nikolai Ivanov.”

“Six foot, long dark hair, green eyes?”

Niko felt her relax a fraction.

“Sounds about right,” she answered.

“I can vouch for him. He’s an artist, and one of the leaders of the Enclave.”

Niko heard Mac mutter under her breath. “Roger that. I’ll bring him down to you.”

She released Niko and stepped back. Niko got to his feet. “Two of my soldiers—”

“Are with my squad,” Mac answered shortly.

He cleared his throat. “Are they unharmed?”

“They aren’t conscious but they’re breathing.” She cocked her head. “You are not an artist.”

He held his hands up. As usual, he still had streaks of paint on his fingers.

“You don’t move like an artist. I recognize combat training and experience when I see it.”

Niko shoved his hands in his pockets and mentally cursed that he’d given himself away and that she was so damned observant. “We all had lives before the invasion. I was…something else before the aliens came.”

“You mean we all have secrets.”

He inclined his head. “You have an intriguing face, Mackenna. Beauty edged with toughness. I’d love to sketch you.” Or paint her, sculpt her. Anything to be able to study her more.

“I don’t think so.”

He smiled. He was a persistent man and a patient one. “We’ll see.”

She jerked her shoulder. “Come on. I’ll take you to Roth.”

Niko moved up beside her. “We’ll be seeing a lot of each other. And Mackenna?” He waited until she lifted her dark gaze to his. “You don’t have to run anymore. Welcome to the Enclave. Welcome to your new home.”

***

Liberty let Adam grip her waist and lift her off the quadcopter.

The entire convoy was stretched out in a long row, moving forward slowly. They were flanked by military vehicles she didn’t recognize.

“Sir?” Private Mitchell was waving at them from the back door of Adam’s truck.

“There’s our ride,” Adam said. “Nice to see you, Private.”

“You, too, sir. And we were certainly happy to run into the Enclave troops who came out to escort us in.”

The Enclave. Liberty’s heart clenched hard.

Adam helped her into the back and while she tried to hide her wince, he spotted it. The man was attuned to her.

“You need to see the doc,” he said with a frown.

She waved a hand. “Later. She has her hands full with Santha. Do you think they’ll be able to save the baby?”

“I don’t know.” Adam thumped on the dividing wall with the cab, and the truck started. “All we can do is hope for the best.”

Suddenly, she was engulfed in Adam’s arms. He pulled her back onto the bunk with him, holding her tight. “I thought…back there in that town…I thought I’d lost you.”

“I’m right here.” She held onto him, breathing in the sweat and toil of their fight. She didn’t mind it. It meant he was alive.

He pulled back, his blue gaze drilling into her. “I need you, Liberty. You’re my light. Your smile, your voice, just watching you sleep. You give me more than a reason to keep fighting, you give me a reason to keep breathing.”

“Adam.” Her chest swelled.

“I’m falling in love with you,” he said.

She jerked a little. For a long time, those words had been used as a weapon, a tether against her. Since she’d escaped her ex, she’d never uttered them, or wanted to hear them again.

“That wasn’t supposed to upset you.” Emotions flashed on Adam’s face. “I’m sorry that it wasn’t what you wanted to hear.”

She grabbed Adam’s hands. “I…let me explain.” She dragged in some air. “My ex-husband, he’d tell me he loved me…while he beat the shit out of me. He’d leave me broken and bleeding and stroke my hair, telling me his love for me made him do it.”

Adam’s face hardened. “That is not love.”

“I know. I know that now.” She moved closer to him. “In fact, I only just realized it fully when you said the words to me. I felt the difference.”

“Jesus, Liberty, you know how to cut my legs out from under me.”

“Now, please, tell me again.”

He cupped her cheeks. “Liberty, I’m falling in love with you.”

She breathed in, feeling only warmth inside her. “Adam, I think I started falling for you while I was cutting your hair.”

“God.” He pulled her to his chest, still careful of her wounds. “Put me out of my misery. Be my partner, my lover, my everything.”

“Yes.” She crawled into his lap. “Yes.”

He took her mouth in a hot kiss. Her neck bent back under the force of it, but she gripped him and kissed him back. Eager for more, for the taste of him, to feel he was so very much alive.

“General?”

The private’s voice made them both start. Then she realized the sound had come through the small intercom speaker on the comp.

Adam pressed a button. “Private, this had better be good. And I mean really good.”

The young man let out a nervous laugh. “Ah, yes sir. Um, first thing is that Doc Emerson got Santha stabilized. Her contractions have stopped.”

Liberty closed her eyes.
Thank God.

“Excellent news. And the second thing?” Adam asked impatiently.

“How about the fact that we’ve reached the Enclave?”

Liberty’s heart gave a thump, and she saw savage satisfaction flare in Adam’s gaze.

“I won’t demote you, Private.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Soon, the vehicle stopped and they wasted no time getting out. Liberty didn’t care that she was sore and dirty.

At first, she saw the Enclave soldiers. They were standing ahead, waving vehicles in. She didn’t see the entrance, then as cars dipped out of sight, she realized the ramp was well hidden.

Around them, vehicles were honking their horns, and people were shouting and cheering.

Liberty leaned her head against Adam’s chest. “Well done, General. You did it.”

“
We
did it.”

She looked up at him. She could see he was happy but she sensed sadness as well. “What’s wrong?”

“Just thinking of the people who didn’t make it.”

“We won’t forget them. But look around.” She saw him take in the crowd of happy, relieved people. “See all the people you saved.”

He did and nodded. “Here, we can be safe. Kids can play, old ladies feel useful and appreciated.” He leaned down. “Couples can kiss.”

“Oh, I like that last bit.”

“Here, I can sleep through the night, wrapped in my Liberty.”

The words made her shiver.

“Here, we can regroup and make plans to rid our planet of the Gizzida once and for all.”

Her general would always be a military man. She knew he’d never give up fighting, and that made her proud as hell.

“And here—” his voice lowered “—I can make love to you whenever I want, however I want.”

She cocked a hip, desire flaring. “Is that right?”

“Yes.” He reached past her and into the truck. When he stepped back, he was holding something. It was a small, wrapped present. “This is for you.”

Delight flooded her. She hadn’t received a present in a very long time. She tore it open. It was a bottle…she turned it over and read the label. Homemade bubble bath…in her favorite jasmine scent.

“I don’t know how you knew my favorite—”

“I have my ways, too.”

“Thank you.” She leaned up and kissed him.

“You can thank me properly later, my love.” He nipped her lips. “When you’re naked, covered only in bubbles.”

“It’s a date. I look forward to it, my general.”

And she also looked forward to every single moment with Adam. She looked forward to falling one hundred percent completely in love with him and living a life that was so very worth living.

---

I hope you enjoyed Adam and Liberty’s story!

Hell Squad continues with NIKO, the story of the leader of Enclave, Nikolai Ivanov, and Squad Nine’s second-in-command, Mackenna “Mac” Carides. Coming June 2016.

If you’re looking for more action-packed, science fiction romance, then read on for a preview of
Among Galactic Ruins
, the first book in the Phoenix Adventures.

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