Gabe: Scifi Alien Invasion Romance (Hell Squad Book 3) Read Online Free Page B

finding her dying in a raptor lab.
    But Emerson knew Santha threw herself into her work fighting the raptors.
    And Emerson was doing the same thing, albeit on a different battlefield. “I’m really okay.”
    The other woman didn’t look convinced, but before she could talk again, the scanner beeped. With a frown, Emerson turned her attention to the monitor.
    What the hell? She studied the screen, and tapped it, double-checking the odd result.
    “Doc?” Cruz asked.
    “There’s…” She glanced at Bryony, not sure if she should bring this up in front of her. But steady, pale-green eyes stared at her. Eyes that had already seen too much and seemed far too aged for a ten-year-old. It was Bryony’s head, and after everything she’d been through, she deserved some honesty.
    “There’s something lodged in your head.”
    Santha gasped and slipped an arm around the girl.
    Anger flashed over Cruz’s face. “What?”
    Bryony swallowed. “But my head doesn’t hurt, and I feel okay. So, what is it doing there?”
    “I don’t know.” Emerson felt like such a failure with that answer. Despite treating and monitoring all the lab survivors, she still didn’t know exactly what the aliens had done to these people, or why. Yet.
    She tapped the screen, running an analysis on the object. She frowned again.
    “It appears to have a crystalline structure.” She looked over the girl’s head at Santha and Cruz. “The computer says it’s made of the same substance as the information crystals the raptors use to store information on.”
    Cruz cursed.
    Bryony glanced up. “Naughty word, Cruz.”
    “Sorry.” He pinched the bridge of his nose.
    “Doc Emerson?”
    Emerson crouched down to Bryony’s level. “Yes, sweetheart?”
    “I want you to take it out.”
    “I think—”
    Bryony shook her head hard. “No. I want it out.” Her tone was firm.
    Emerson released a long breath and looked at the couple. “I think I can remove it. It’s very close to a hole in her skull. It’s likely how they inserted it in the first place.”
    Cruz pressed his hands to the back of his head. Santha touched his arm. “We both trust the doc. More importantly, Bry trusts the doc.”
    Emerson looked at the little girl. “I’ll have to put you under for the procedure.”
    A tear slipped down the girl’s cheek, cracking Emerson’s heart. But she nodded.
    “All right.” Cruz ruffled Bryony’s short hair, then his gaze hit Emerson’s, liquid-brown eyes drilling into her. “Do it.”
    ***
    Gabe hated being on base patrol. He much preferred to be blasting aliens.
    He walked through the trees, his carbine in his hands, keeping an eye out for anything unusual. The base was hidden in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney. Standing here, in the peaceful tranquility amongst the trees, you couldn’t tell a fucking alien apocalypse was raging only miles away.
    He stepped over some rocks and saw a flutter of bright color. A rainbow lorikeet swooped down from the trees, landing on the grass near a rock, completely unaware it was sitting right near an entrance to Blue Mountain Base. The base’s entrances were well hidden, all blending into the natural scenery to avoid detection. It also helped that the raptors seemed to hate being amongst trees.
    “Nice day, huh?”
    Gabe eyed his partner. Reed MacKinnon was the newest member of Hell Squad. A former United Coalition Navy SEAL, the tall, rangy man had outdoorsman stamped all over his rugged, tanned features. He was apparently magic in the water, not that they got the chance to go in the water much, and Gabe had seen firsthand that the guy was damned good with explosives.
    And he was also Zeke’s replacement.
    Gabe grunted in reply. He didn’t hold it against the guy, but every time Gabe looked at Reed, he thought of his dead twin.
    “You know, mostly we’re doing night infiltrations, wading through raptor blood, or dodging raptor poison.” Reed took a deep breath. “Fresh air and sunshine are a