Cruz: Scifi Alien Invasion Romance (Hell Squad Book 2) Read Online Free Page A
Author: Anna Hackett
a blue liquid. She dragged in a breath, jabbed it into her good thigh and depressed it.
Wincing, she waited until the bracer shot hit her. It was a cocktail of stimulants and painkillers designed for use by Special Forces troops on the front line. The advantage was it would hold off the paralysis and she could get away. The downside was that when it wore off, she’d collapse, out cold.
The bracer hit in a few seconds and Santha tilted her head back, savoring the sensation as the pain faded away and adrenaline surged through her. Her senses sharpened, and energy flashed through her in a seductive rush.
She grabbed a tourniquet from her pouch and yanked it tight around the top of her thigh. She ignored the ugly wound.
Then she ran.
She knew the stims wouldn’t last long. She moved through buildings, ran along streets, leaped over abandoned cars. She needed as much distance between her and the aliens as she could get.
But the excited yips and snarls of canids were still following her.
They were tracking her.
She ran faster. Her lungs burned.
As she sprinted through what had once been a park, she rounded the now-overgrown playground where kids had once played and laughed. When had she last laughed? She knew. That last night with Kareena, before the fiery lights in the sky had turned night into day.
Santha burst out of the park and raced along the sidewalk. She rounded a corner and a huge wave of dizziness hit her.
No. No . The bracer was wearing off.
She staggered and hit a fence. Winded, she found her balance and kept moving. But her pace was slower now, her injured leg dragging behind her.
A huge explosion tore through the growing darkness.
The gas station.
Santha managed a small, satisfied smile. Take that, you bastards.
Pain filtered in. She gritted her teeth. Have…to keep moving . She looked down and saw her trouser leg was completely soaked in blood.
Santha forced herself to keep moving. One foot in front of the other. She was panting and sweat poured into her eyes. Sobbing, she pulled herself into an alley.
She couldn’t go any farther.
Fumbling, she pulled a canister off her belt. It was a repellent she’d made that the canids hated. She opened it and dumped the contents on the ground. It wouldn’t deter them for long, but it was better than nothing.
She moved farther into the alley, then dropped down behind a dumpster and dragged herself so her back was against the wall. She wasn’t sure where she was exactly. How far to the top floor apartment with a view of the harbor that had become her home since the attack?
Her vision wavered and she closed her eyes.
Then she heard them.
The canids were coming.
She dropped her head back against the wall and released a shuddering breath. “I’m so sorry, Kareena.” Santha fumbled in her pocket and pulled out a photo. It was a shot of her and her sister, their arms around each other, laughing for the camera. Kareena was shorter and curvier than Santha—she took after their mother—and had a sunnier personality. She’d been the best of them, a nurse who’d loved caring for others. “Not going…to be able to take them all down for you, sis.”
The canid snarls were much louder now.
Santha grabbed the last object on her belt. Another grenade.
Fighting off dizziness, she pulled the grenade close to her chest, her finger on the pin. She’d have to wait until the canids got really close. That way, she could take out as many as possible.
As she waited in the dark to die, her fuzzy thoughts turned to a handsome face and deep-brown eyes, and the regrets of what would never be.
Chapter Three
Cruz crept through the night, his night-vision lens showing everything around him in varying shades of green.
The team was moving behind him, everyone on alert for signs of the raptors.
Suddenly, an explosion ripped through the night. A ball of flames rose above the rooftops, flaring through his night vision. Behind him, he heard the others mutter
Wincing, she waited until the bracer shot hit her. It was a cocktail of stimulants and painkillers designed for use by Special Forces troops on the front line. The advantage was it would hold off the paralysis and she could get away. The downside was that when it wore off, she’d collapse, out cold.
The bracer hit in a few seconds and Santha tilted her head back, savoring the sensation as the pain faded away and adrenaline surged through her. Her senses sharpened, and energy flashed through her in a seductive rush.
She grabbed a tourniquet from her pouch and yanked it tight around the top of her thigh. She ignored the ugly wound.
Then she ran.
She knew the stims wouldn’t last long. She moved through buildings, ran along streets, leaped over abandoned cars. She needed as much distance between her and the aliens as she could get.
But the excited yips and snarls of canids were still following her.
They were tracking her.
She ran faster. Her lungs burned.
As she sprinted through what had once been a park, she rounded the now-overgrown playground where kids had once played and laughed. When had she last laughed? She knew. That last night with Kareena, before the fiery lights in the sky had turned night into day.
Santha burst out of the park and raced along the sidewalk. She rounded a corner and a huge wave of dizziness hit her.
No. No . The bracer was wearing off.
She staggered and hit a fence. Winded, she found her balance and kept moving. But her pace was slower now, her injured leg dragging behind her.
A huge explosion tore through the growing darkness.
The gas station.
Santha managed a small, satisfied smile. Take that, you bastards.
Pain filtered in. She gritted her teeth. Have…to keep moving . She looked down and saw her trouser leg was completely soaked in blood.
Santha forced herself to keep moving. One foot in front of the other. She was panting and sweat poured into her eyes. Sobbing, she pulled herself into an alley.
She couldn’t go any farther.
Fumbling, she pulled a canister off her belt. It was a repellent she’d made that the canids hated. She opened it and dumped the contents on the ground. It wouldn’t deter them for long, but it was better than nothing.
She moved farther into the alley, then dropped down behind a dumpster and dragged herself so her back was against the wall. She wasn’t sure where she was exactly. How far to the top floor apartment with a view of the harbor that had become her home since the attack?
Her vision wavered and she closed her eyes.
Then she heard them.
The canids were coming.
She dropped her head back against the wall and released a shuddering breath. “I’m so sorry, Kareena.” Santha fumbled in her pocket and pulled out a photo. It was a shot of her and her sister, their arms around each other, laughing for the camera. Kareena was shorter and curvier than Santha—she took after their mother—and had a sunnier personality. She’d been the best of them, a nurse who’d loved caring for others. “Not going…to be able to take them all down for you, sis.”
The canid snarls were much louder now.
Santha grabbed the last object on her belt. Another grenade.
Fighting off dizziness, she pulled the grenade close to her chest, her finger on the pin. She’d have to wait until the canids got really close. That way, she could take out as many as possible.
As she waited in the dark to die, her fuzzy thoughts turned to a handsome face and deep-brown eyes, and the regrets of what would never be.
Chapter Three
Cruz crept through the night, his night-vision lens showing everything around him in varying shades of green.
The team was moving behind him, everyone on alert for signs of the raptors.
Suddenly, an explosion ripped through the night. A ball of flames rose above the rooftops, flaring through his night vision. Behind him, he heard the others mutter
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