“Incoming!” I shouted, diving for the floor as a blast of energy cleared the center of the room.
When the concussion ended, three Hive soldiers stood in the exact spot we’d fled.
The Atlan roared, charging. My men opened fire from the upper decks at the surprise Hive. The soldiers did not attack as I feared, but nodded to each other and disappeared—transported into thin air—one by one.
The last, however, was inches from Seth. He grabbed my brother and spun, hoisting Seth into the air to use as a human shield as my brother’s ion rifle clattered to the floor at his feet.
Seth!
I lifted my pistol, but I couldn’t take a shot without hitting my brother. The Atlan looked at them and froze mid-stride. All my training kept me in position, my aim steady as we waited to see what the Hive soldier would do.
“Release him.” I yelled at the Hive soldier, but he ignored me, his gaze on the real threat, the Atlan giant just a few paces away.
Seth kicked, reaching for the injector at his side as he screamed at all of us. “Do it! Take him out.”
“No!” I screamed at my brother as the Hive stepped back, further away from us, my brother held to his chest like a shield.
In my ear, Richards’ voice was like the devil’s own temptation. “I can take the shot, captain.” He was above me, and a decent shot, but not perfect, nowhere close to a true marksman, and this was my brother’s life on the line. Richards would have about a four-inch window to kill the Hive soldier and leave Seth breathing.
“No. Not yet.”
The Hive warrior holding Seth lifted his weapon and aimed it at the Atlan. We were all frozen as the emotionless silver eyes of the Hive soldier scanned the room. Before we could do more, the Hive pressed a button on his uniform and he… he disappeared. So did Seth.
Gone. Poof. Into thin air. On Earth there was no such thing as transporting. It was something for old TV shows, but never in real life. Only those fighting with the coalition saw it in real life. Beam me up, Scotty. The first time I’d been transported, I’d been terrified. The technology was supposed to be cool and had been, until now. Now, my brother had been transported somewhere, somewhere Hive. Somewhere I knew they turned coalition fighters into machines, replacing body parts with synthetic implants until there was nothing of the individual left. He was there one second, gone the next.
Unless my brother chose door number two. All at once the memory of his hand reaching for the injector at his thigh played like a broken record in my mind. “Seth!” I screamed.
The crazy Atlan—the one who’d wrecked our op and caused the Hive to take my brother—turned his head and stared at me. Those dark eyes narrowed, his full lips thinning. He wouldn’t look away, not even when every ion blaster in the room was pointed in his direction. I felt something, something primeval and explosive flare to life in me as our gazes locked.
Holy hell. He was… and I felt… and… shit. My brain was misfiring. My body disregarding any notion of personal safety as I marched up to the man, ready to attack with every ounce of strength I had left. I raised my ion pistol and advanced until I had the business end pressed into the warrior’s armor, right over his heart. I stared up into those eyes and realized he hadn’t tried to stop me. He hadn’t touched me at all, instead his dark gaze filled with pain as he looked upon me.
Our gazes held and I couldn’t do it, couldn’t pull the trigger. I studied his hard jaw and full mouth, the dark eyes and the black, silken hair that fell to his chin. He was truly stunning to the senses, his strength staggering and overwhelming. Even with the rage pulsing through my body, I couldn’t pull the trigger. My brother’s capture wasn’t truly this warrior’s fault. It was no one’s fault. It was war. And war sucked.
“Captain!” Richards’ voice broke me from my trance and I lowered the weapon, but didn’t back away from the warrior.
“You will help me recover my brother.”
His eyes widened in surprise, but he nodded. “You have my word.” That voice, those four words, were like a rockslide. Harsh, rough, and deep.
Mollified for the moment, I took a step back.
“Coalition clear!” I shouted, signaling it was safe to stand. It was time to get the hell out of here.
The Atlan watched me closely, but didn’t move. We all knew by his uniform that he was coalition, but the way he’d behaved, the blood coating his hands? He was a threat and his silence helped us all calm down and not kill him.
“I want four of you to remain here and watch our back. Three Hive transported in and took Captain Mills,” I said, irate that they’d been able to infiltrate and take Seth. He’d let it happen. “And you.”
I pointed at the rogue fighter.
His gaze swept the room, then met mine. There was heat when he looked at me, desire. And that pissed me off. We were in the middle of a war zone. I didn’t need—or want to be—attracted to anyone in the middle of a battle. I was no skinny thing, but his gaze made me feel small and feminine. Feminine? That was crazy because I was anything but in my coalition body armor. The curve of my breasts was well hidden behind the chest armor. My hips were disguised under the black armored pants. No one else here saw me as a woman. I was their leader and that was all.
The fact that he’d made me think about sex right now caused my muscles to go rigid with fury.
“Who the hell are you and why are you looking for me?” I demanded.
“I am Warlord Dax from Atlan and I am your matched mate. You are mine.”
“Are you kidding me with this? Is this the mouse’s idea of a joke? I’m not a bride, Warlord Dax from Atlan. Sorry. You’ll