Thatcher slapped Nox on the shoulder. “He’s ready. He’s always ready.” The guy winked and laughed. Thatcher had been one of the most recent introductions into the group. Like the majority, he was straight, unlike the majority he hadn’t reacted badly to the realization not having same-sex contact wasn’t an option.
Nox couldn’t blame them. He didn’t really believe the commanders when they told him sexual contact was a primal way to tighten bonds between individuals and critical to function away from their Alpha.
But he was quick to learn, there was nothing, absolutely nothing more primal than the Anubis. Protecting each other meant protecting their Alpha. There was no greater priority than that.
Which is exactly why Nox listened when his instincts danced on edge. “I don’t like this.” Only half the team was on the helicopter. The other half had been on the ground for three days, tracking the men believed responsible for a mass killing at an American consulate. Religious extremist or individuals sent out by another country to create the illusion they were. Of course they could also be ordinary people with no particular dogma on a mission to cleanse the earth of whatever race they’d decided was the next human parasite.
The reasons didn’t matter. The results were the same.
Several hundred dead, all because a group with weapons could accomplish the task.
Now they were going to learn the real definition of a weapon.
“It’s a quick in-and-out what are you worried about?” Jessie punched Nox on the arm.
“They’re sending us in.”
“And?”
“Not the Marines, not the Army, us. Why?”
“Because we’re a hell of a lot fucking harder to kill.” Able. He’d had a twin brother when he was alive. Contrary to the jokes, his name was not Cain. Like a lot of them, he’d had difficulty letting go of his past. Nox hadn’t had the family some of these people did so running had never been a desire. Others had tried, waiting till they were out in gen pop, then making a break for it.
Their director never had to chase them. She’d just punish Koda for the indiscretion, and they’d come crawling back. A week of isolation away from teammates and their Alpha had been more than enough to stop even the thought of ever trying again.
Keep your mind on your job.
Nox smiled.
“What did he say?” Harvard. Not a nickname because of where he attended school.
“Just telling me to pay attention to what I’m doing and stop worrying about him.”
“I can’t believe you can hear him at this distance.” Jessie picked up one of the Sig Sauer 516 and checked the clip. He’d done that every ten minutes for the past hour. “None of us has verbal contact with him beyond five hundred miles.”
Dart, which wasn’t his real name, leaned forward in his seat, closer to where Nox stood holding onto a ceiling grip. He never could stay still for very long. Dart pressed against the back of Nox’s thigh and put his hand between Nox’s knees. He massaged the muscle close to Nox’s crotch. “He just has a special kind of love for the kid, don’t you?
“Knock it off, asshole.” Jessie grabbed Dart’s thumb before he could grope Nox’s cock.
Dart yelped, and Jessie cranked the man’s thumb back until it snapped. He let go and Dartglared. “You act like you never touch him like that.”
They all touched each other.
“Not on a mission, I don’t.” It wasn’t prohibited. It couldn’t be prohibited, but it was discouraged because it was a distraction no one could afford.
The aircraft tilted, and the barren landscape grew closer.
“Hey.” Thatcher jerked his chin at Nox. “Dr. Dante ever tell you why you can hear Koda so far away when the rest of us can only feel him?”
Nox shook his head. “He said he didn’t know.”
Abel laughed. “They don’t know anything about this shit they put in us. At least not until it happens.”
“You have any of your own theories?” Jessie leaned back in his seat.
“Only thing I can come up with is—”
An inferno ripped through the bottom of the helicopter. Flying shards of steel shredded the body of the aircraft. Fuel tanks ruptured, blowing out waves of fire. Nox didn’t have time to register the metal stake in his chest until he was ejected from the aircraft, but he knew instantly Abel was dead. His presence torn from Nox’s mind in one swipe of debris that severed Abel’s head from his body.