Dom eyed his friend. “I know you’re trying to get me to sit down.”
Griff smiled. “You did get squeezed by alien tentacles. Figured you needed a rest.”
Dom shot his friend the finger.
“Hawk, now,” Arden said, voice firm.
“You getting bossy on me, bella?”
She kept her arm tight around his back. “If I have to.”
Dom waited while Arden deactivated the combat drone. They had a brief tug of war over the heavy device before she sighed and let him have it. He set it down inside the Hawk. Then he boosted Arden in and tried to hide his grimace as he followed, pain flaring.
“Nice to see you guys alive.” Finn appeared in the doorway from the cockpit. “You find the bomb?”
Dom shook his head. “It was a trap.”
“Damn.” Finn looked at his boots, then lifted his head. “We’ll find it.”
Dom dropped into a seat and pulled Arden into his lap.
She nuzzled against his chest. “I feel safe right here.”
“Always, bella. My arms will always be safe for you.”
They held each other, and Dom lost the battle against the pain. He drifted a little, breathing in Arden’s scent.
It didn’t take long to get the bikes loaded. Before he knew it, the rest of his squad was all seated.
“Time to go home,” Arden murmured.
The Hawk lifted off. Yeah, time to go home.
Chapter Fifteen
As the Hawk flew smoothly through the air, Arden stayed curled on Dom’s lap. She’d be happy not moving from this position, ever. Still, it would be a relief to get back to the Enclave.
Suddenly, the Hawk veered sharply to the right, banking into a hard turn. She was flung against Dom’s chest, and all of the berserkers cursed.
“Finn?” Tane called out.
“Hold on,” the Hawk pilot yelled. “We have company.”
Everybody swiveled to look out the side windows. Arden watched several ptero ships whizz past the Hawk, and her heart leaped into her throat.
Memories of that night on the street hammered in her head, and she clamped her nails into her palm.
“Mine!” Hemi leaped up, jumping onto the autoturret mounted on the side of the Hawk.
“Dom…” Her fingers clenched on his arm.
“It’ll be okay, bella.” But there was an intense undertone to his voice.
As Hemi started firing from the autoturret, Tane pushed the side door open, and a rush of wind filled the back of the Hawk. The squad leader lifted his carbine.
All around her, she watched the berserkers tensing, carbines in hand. These men might be rough and crude, but they were heroes to the core, always ready to fight.
As Hemi and Tane fired on the ptero, the Hawk veered again, then pulled upright. Arden clamped her hand onto the seat in front of her. She knew Finn was the best Hawk pilot at the Enclave. He’d get them out of this.
Something struck the quadcopter and it shuddered. Tane swung around and slammed into the side wall.
“There are three of the fuckers,” Hemi bit out.
Arden leaned forward, peering through the windows. The pteros were racing through the clouds. She watched as one of the triangular-shaped ships turned and followed the other Hawk.
Then several smaller, dark shapes shot past.
“Yeah,” Levi cheered.
She blinked and smiled, realizing it was her squad in the Darkswifts. Her pulse pounded. She prayed for her friends to stay safe, and for Squad Nine to take these pteros down.
“Erickson, you there?”
Mackenna’s voice came through the comm in the cockpit.
“I’m here, Mac,” Finn answered.
“We have some smaller, flying aliens on our tails. Never seen them before, but they’re small, fast, and vicious. Managed to tear a good hole in Sienna and Theron’s Darkswift.”
“Wonderful. I see them.” Finn raised his voice. “We have more unfriendlies incoming. No idea what these things are.”
Tane shook his head and looked out the side of the Hawk. Arden watched the man’s muscled body tense.
“They’re birds of some kind. Covered in gray scales and spikes.”
Arden swallowed, and then spotted four of the creatures. They were about the size of a large dog, with leathery, bat-like wings, sharp, black beaks, and a back covered in long, pointy spikes.
Hemi swiveled on the autoturret, and laser fire arced through the sky. “See how you like this.”
The laser fire clipped one of the dino birds. The alien let out a squawk, and its leathery wings flared out. It tumbled in a ball and fell downward.
A ptero swung in close and something shot out of the side of it. A bolt of fire hit the autoturret, and it exploded. Hemi was knocked off his seat by the shockwave, his big body flying back into the Hawk.
“Hemi!” Tane yelled.
The berserker groaned from the floor. “I’m okay.”
Ash hurried over to help Hemi, while Tane eyed the smoking ruin of the autoturret. With a sharp squawk, one of the Gizzida birds flew in close, beak snapping.
Dom’s arms tightened on Arden.
Tane gripped the side of the door and fired his carbine at the creature.
Selena launched to her feet and staggered toward Tane.
“Sit down,” he bit out. He didn’t look away from the scope of his weapon as he kept firing.
Selena ignored him and balanced right at the edge of the Hawk. Tane’s left hand flashed out, clamping around her wrist.
But the alien woman didn’t seem to notice. Her gaze was firmly glued outside. Arden glanced out of the door. Suddenly, the clouds nearby began to boil and thicken. Arden gasped. Selena was somehow controlling the clouds.
Tane kept firing.
The cloud cover hid the pteros from view.
“She’s giving us cover,” Dom said.
Then, without warning, one of the spiked birds flew right into the Hawk. It knocked into Selena, sending her spinning into Tane.
The alien bird landed on the floor of the Hawk. Dom cursed and shoved Arden off the seat, covering her with his body. Around her, the berserkers were shouting and cursing.
She raised her head and came eye to eye with the alien creature.
Above the sharp, black beak were two burning-red eyes. Its spikes bristled around its scaly head. With a sharp squawk, it launched itself
