In the lab, Marin leaned forward over her computer, tapping as fast as she could. There was so much data here and more was pouring onto the screen every second.

Elation flooded her. There was a lot of stuff that needed translating and that would take time, but it was very possible that this could help them beat the Gizzida, once and for all.

She shifted on her chair, and felt an ache between her thighs. It was a reminder that the reason for that was sitting right beside her, his big body sprawled in the chair, watching her. Damn, he looked so good. She shivered.

He leaned over, pushing her curls to the side, and pressed a kiss to the back of her neck. “How’s it going?”

Desire swirled through her. “Great. Awesome.”

“I love watching you work. It makes me hard.”

Her gaze dropped to his lap, and sure enough, she saw the bulge straining against his zipper. “Is it like this all the time?”

“Don’t know. Never had it happen like this before.”

A quiver went through her. “For me, too.”

He grinned at her. “How’s it going with the data?”

Data? Marin shook her head. “Data, right.” She looked at the raptor language filling the screen. “There’s a lot of stuff here. I can’t read it all, so I’ll have to let the translation program and Elle Steele help.” Something caught Marin’s eye. “Oh, my God.” She moved her head from side to side as she scanned the information.

Ash straightened. “What is it?”

“If I’m reading this correctly, we were right about the Gizzida having a single leader.” She looked up at him. “And she’s here.”

“Shit. Really?”

Marin nodded. “I mean, on Earth. Well, okay, not on Earth, but on a ship that’s in orbit.”

Ash’s face hardened. “So she’s in charge of the invasion.”

Marin stood, pulling a hard drive over. “I’ve got to get a copy of this, and get it all backed up.”

The screen flickered and went blank, before coming back to life.

“What was that?” Ash asked.

She frowned. “I’m not sure. Maybe a power surge? I’ve never had an issue with my comp, and Noah’s done all kinds of mods to keep the system stable.” She tapped the keyboard, checking the system. “It seems fine now. I need to get the full translation program running, and then I’ll run a diagnostic—”

A window popped up, and Marin scanned. Every muscle in her body tensed, horror seeping into her veins.

“Marin?”

“No, no, no.” Her fingers flew across the keyboard. She reached up and swiped at the screen.

Ash stood, frowning. “Marin, what is it?”

She could barely hear him over the hard thump of her heart. This couldn’t be right. “It looks like…I can’t believe this.” She shook her head. “This is all my fault.”

He gripped the nape of her neck. “What?”

“The Gizzida are using my link to hack our system.” Oh, God. “I have to shut it down.”

“Do it.”

She kept tapping. “I should have thought about this.” Her fault. “I used some of their tech, and it must have given them a way in. I…can’t shut it down. Come on!”

Suddenly, the lights and screens clicked off, plunging them into darkness. Marin stared into the thick, impenetrable black, her throat clogging with fear.

“Ash.”

His big hand grabbed hers. “I’m here. The backup power will come on in a minute.”

Sure enough, a few seconds later, red lights clicked along the walls. They cast a gloomy glow across the lab. She saw the comp screen flicker back to life.

That’s when she heard the distant echo of screams from outside.

Ash shoved a chair back, staring at the door.

Marin rose, her stomach tying up in knots. “Oh, God, what’s going on?”

They hurried to the door. Ash flung it open, and they stared at the waves of people running past. The screams were getting louder.

A muscled man charged down the corridor carrying a carbine. “Everyone get back in your rooms!” His gravelly voice reverberated off the walls. Marcus.

“Marcus, what’s going on?” Ash asked.

“Connors, grab a carbine. All the squads are needed. The raptors have breached the northern end of the Enclave.”

Shock rocketed through Marin. No.

Ash cursed. “Northern end is the storage and the new quarters that are currently being built.”

Marcus nodded. “No one living there. Anyone in the area has been evacuated, but people in the main part of the base are panicking.”

“This is my fault.” Marin wrapped her arms around her middle. “They piggybacked in on my hack, and that must have been how they found the door and got inside.”

“We had no warning.” Marcus’ scarred face looked savage. “The drones didn’t pick them up, or the cameras. They dodged our patrols.”

All her fault. Bile filled her throat. “They got into the system and manipulated our security.”

“And they did a dry fucking run the other day,” Ash bit out. “When they attacked Eric and Marin.”

“From what we can tell, it’s a small team,” Marcus said. “They haven’t made it into the main part of the Enclave, and security has initiated a partial lockdown. The squads are going in to take these bastards down.”

Ash nodded. “I’ll get my weapon.”

“We’re going in blind,” Marcus said grimly. “Raptors have locked us out of the system in that area. The team in the Command Center are managing to keep them out of the rest of the Enclave system.”

Marin spun and raced over to her desk. She snatched up her tablet. She quickly linked up and came up against the alien firewall. Oh, no you don’t.

She tapped, typing in commands, and when she hit another wall, she decided that instead of going around it, she’d go under it.

Bingo. “I can access cameras in the northern area.” Images filled the screen, and instantly, she saw a group of raptors marching through an empty Enclave corridor. “Look.” She tilted the screen.

“Brilliant,” Ash said.

Marcus nodded. “Good work. Can you patch it through to the Command Center?”

She nodded.

“What’s that raptor doing?” Ash asked.

Marin looked at the screen. She saw a raptor plugging something into a control panel on the wall. “Oh, no.”

“What?” Marcus demanded.

“He’s trying to break through to the rest of the Enclave system.” She tapped the screen, zooming in. “If he gets in, he’d have full control of the Enclave.”

“Can you block him?” Ash asked.

She nodded. “I can try.” She started tapping furiously.

The sound of running footsteps reached them. Noah appeared, his dark hair pulled back and tied at the back of his neck. His shirt only had two buttons done up. “What the hell is going on?”

“The Gizzida piggybacked my link,” Marin said. “They hacked us.”

“Fuck.” Noah pressed a hand to the back of his neck.

She knew he understood the full implications.

“A team of raptors are in the northern end of the Enclave,” Marcus said. “We’ve blocked them in, but Marin says there is one trying to break through the system.”

Noah shouldered his way past, and dropped down behind his computer. “Let me see if I can stop the asshole.”

Marin watched him get to work. Noah was a genius, and his face turned hard and focused as he worked.

Noah cursed. “This bastard is good.”

Marin leaned over his shoulder. “The only way to keep him out and cut their connection to our system is to shut down the system in the northern end of the Enclave.”

“We can’t do that from here,” Noah said.

She nodded. “I need to go in and do it. This is my fault, and I want to fix it.”

“No,” Ash said.

“You couldn’t have predicted this, Marin,” Noah said angrily.

“Maybe not,” she said. “But I sure as hell can fix it.”

“No, you’re not going in there,” Ash ground out. “You’ll stay here. Safe.”

She lifted her chin. “Ash, I have to do this.”

“I already fucking took you into raptor territory, and you nearly died!”

“I came back with a few bruises.”

“I’ll go,” Noah said.

Marin shook her head. “I forged the link, and we both know I’m better at this kind of work.” She looked back at Ash. “Are you going to lock me up? Take away my choices? Make me feel like I can’t do my job? Should I not be me and just sit around wringing my hands?”

“Fuck.” Ash kicked a chair and sent it spinning across the lab.

“Ash,” Marcus said. “I know it sucks, but we need her. You protect her. You keep her safe, and let her do what she needs to do.”

Ash looked at Marin, his jaw tight. “You stay beside me every second of the mission. You do exactly what I say.”

Marin nodded.

Ash muttered one more curse before he grabbed her hand. “Come on. Let’s do this.”

* * *

Ash moved with his squad down the empty corridor, the red emergency lights giving the place a creepy glow. There hadn’t been time for full armor, so he only wore his chest plate. He held his carbine, had a pistol on his side and his gladius combat knife strapped to his thigh.

Marin was in the center of them, her face set. She carried her portable comp clutched to her chest. He wished he could have decked her out in full armor, but he’d only had time to shove a thermo pistol at her so she was at least armed.

“Wait for me,” came a deep voice from behind them.

As one, they spun, and saw a large silhouette appear out of the darkness. He was holding a big, heavy assault carbine, which was twice the size and weight of a regular carbine, and packed three times the punch. Ash saw the butts of two more rifles protruding over his broad shoulders, strapped to his back.

“Manu, you aren’t cleared for missions,” Tane said.

“I’m not cleared to go in the field because of this hunk of metal.” Manu tapped his leg, and they all heard the dull thunk of his prosthetic. “But I’m not an invalid. I fucking taught you to shoot, and I’m going to protect our home.”

Ash knew Manu was a hell of a soldier. If he hadn’t have lost his leg on a mission last year, he’d still be a berserker. Hell, he was still a berserker.

Finally, Tane nodded. “Let’s go. More raptors have followed the initial team in. Squad Nine and Hell Squad have engaged. The bastards are tearing through the storage areas, and setting the place alight.”

“God,” Marin murmured, her chin dropping to her chest.

Ash touched her arm. “Fire can’t get through the lockdown to the rest of the Enclave.” But he was aware if they lost all of their supplies—food, medicine, clothing, artwork—that it would hurt.

He saw that Marin was blaming herself for this. It was stamped all over her face.

They reached the lockdown gate. A giant steel door had slammed down, closing off the corridor. A small door set in the center of the metal was closed and guarded by Captain Kate Scott, and a team of her security guards.

The captain nodded at them. She didn’t look like she’d been dragged from her bed for an emergency. Her dark hair was pulled back and her fatigues neatly pressed. “We’ll let you through and then shut the gate behind you. You know that if you come back to the gate with even just one raptor behind you, I can’t open it.”

Tane nodded. “We know the drill.”

Her gaze landed on Manu. “I don’t believe you’re authorized for this mission.”

Manu lifted his assault carbine. “This is my authorization.”

She stared at him for a moment, before she gave a small nod. She looked at one of her guards, and the woman pulled the heavy, reinforced-steel door open.

“Good luck,” Kate said.

Ash helped Marin through the door. Once they were all on the other side, the door swung closed with an ominous clang. The berserkers started forward, carbines up.

They moved swiftly and quietly. The sounds of fierce fighting from up ahead reached them. Beside Ash, Marin stiffened.

“Remember, you stay back,” he said.

She nodded, tugging at her shirt. Again, he wished he’d had time to get armor on her. But it didn’t matter because he wasn’t planning to let any raptors near her.

“Anything goes wrong, you head back to the gate.”

“I will, Ash. And you stay safe, SuperSoldier.”

He paused long enough to press a quick kiss to her lips. Then, they rounded a corner to find Hell Squad fighting a group of raptors.

“Stay back.” Ash raced forward with his squad mates, and started firing.

He was angry. Angry that again, he had to risk Marin and put her in the line of fire of the Gizzida. Angry that the power-hungry bastards were relentlessly trying to kill innocent human survivors.

These damn aliens were like a horde of insects. They just kept coming and coming, to pick over every last bone.

He sighted the closest raptor and fired. He had a fair bit of anger to work off. He took down another raptor, and swung to face the next.

He watched Claudia come into view, firing her carbine. Beside her, huge Gabe was wrestling with another raptor. They swung around and Gabe, face emotionless, rammed the alien into the side of the corridor.

Ash fell into the familiar groove of fighting. He fired and kicked, taking down each giant alien that came up against him. But for the first time, he felt the warmth in his chest. He wasn’t just fighting because he was a good killer. He wasn’t fighting because this was all he had, all he knew. Now, he was fighting for his woman. For the bright, fresh woman who made it all worthwhile.

He swung around, firing at more incoming aliens. He gave a roar.

Beside him, Levi tossed a grenade. Ash watched it bounce into the center of the raptors.

“Fire in the fucking hole!” Levi shouted.

Boom. The contained explosion lit up the tunnel for a second, the ground shaking.

Then Manu stepped forward and dropped to one knee. He lifted the heavy assault carbine and fired. Green laser poured out in a deadly rush.

“Ash!”

He spun to look back at Marin. She was pointing across the corridor. He glanced over and spotted the tech raptor—who was slimmer than the others and clutching the raptor version of a tablet—sneaking down a side corridor.

As Ash watched, Marin shimmied down along the corridor wall, then turned the corner, following the alien.

Fuck. Ash fired at the raptor right in front of him, then leaped over the downed body. He charged through the fight and raced after Marin.

Ahead, smoke billowed from the burning side rooms. He saw her slim form disappear, and then she was lost in the smoke.

Double fuck. He charged in after her.