Adrenaline charged through Kate’s veins as they powered through the darkened tunnels. Red lights up near the roof still provided some illumination, but they were spaced farther apart, leaving big patches of darkness.

Her body was throbbing with pain, but then she felt a sharp sting in her nose. Shit, she’d forgotten about the baraa.

She stumbled to a stop. “Manu.”

He pulled up. “We have to—”

“Get it out.” She pinched her nose. “Get this damn thing out of me.”

He cursed and tilted her face up. “I can see the end of it.” He brought his fingers up near her nostril and pinched them together.

He must have been able to grab the end of it, because she felt it wriggle. Ugh. Her stomach rolled. The damn thing was almost fully inside her nose.

Panic flared and bile rose in her throat. “Get it out.”

With a nod, he started to pull. The thing fought back. The sting turned to burning pain, and tears poured down her cheeks. Oh, God. Don’t be sick, Kate.

Manu hesitated.

“Do it,” she rasped. “I want it out.” Her skin was crawling, and she was horribly aware that the raptors could find them at any second.

Manu resumed tugging. Kate bit her lip. It felt like there was a burning-hot poker up her nose. She tasted blood.

And suddenly, with one, final spike of pain, Manu yanked the thing free. It was wriggling around wildly, and he dropped it on the dirt floor. With one big stomp of his boot, it was gone.

Kate felt a trickle of blood from her nose and swiped at it with her knuckle.

“Babe.” Manu cupped her jaw.

“I’m okay.” She hugged him, hard. She needed his strength. “Thank you.”

“We have to keep moving.” His hand tangled in her hair. “They’ll be looking for us.”

She nodded.

They kept moving, silent and wary, their weapons held at the ready. Kate noticed Manu’s uneven gait and realized he was limping badly. But his face was set and resolute, so she didn’t bring it up.

“Any idea where we are?” she asked.

“No clue.”

They kept moving, hoping against hope that they were increasing the distance between them and the raptors, with only the ominous red lighting illuminating their way. She searched for any tunnel that looked familiar, but everything freaking looked the same. They traveled down one dark tunnel, only to reach an area where dirt and rock filled the passage. The tunnel was partially collapsed.

“Dammit.” Manu gripped her arm and yanked her back the way they’d come.

They turned another corner.

“The odds of finding the tunnel we used to get here are slim,” she said. “We need to just find a way to the surface. Any way.”

He nodded.

She noticed his limp was getting worse. “You okay? Looks like your prosthetic is damaged.”

“It’ll hold up,” he said grimly. “Keep going.”

But their pace was getting slower and slower. Kate was pretty sure they were headed for another fight about her leaving him behind.

She wasn’t leaving him. Ever.

They were walking down another dark tunnel, when an eerie sound echoed through the labyrinth behind them, causing them to both jerk to a halt. They glanced back, staring into the darkness.

Yips of excited animals resonated down the tunnel, followed by a long, drawn-out howl that made the hairs on the back of her neck rise.

“Fuck.” Manu looked at his boots, his hands clenching on the raptor weapon. “They’ve set canids on us.”

She knew the alien hunting dogs were vicious. “Let’s keep moving.”

Glad for her weapon, even though she hated the scaly feel of it, she hefted it higher as they trudged down the tunnel. Surely it was time for them to catch a break.

But then something appeared out of the gloom, sending her hope spiraling downward.

A rock wall.

It was a dead end.

“Dammit.” Apparently, Lady Luck had decided to toy with them today. Kate turned, the sounds of the canids getting louder.

“We’ll have to make a stand here,” Manu said.

They were stuck in a dead end with no cover, and only two alien weapons between them. Her throat burned.

“Kate.” He pulled her close.

Her fingers tightened on his arms. “I know,” she whispered.

They shared a moment of silence, the air between them charged. It was really unfair that she’d met a man who was perfect for her—who she didn’t scare or intimidate, who made her light up and melt, who looked at her like she was the most gorgeous thing he’d ever seen—only for them to die in this horrible, dark, dusty place.

“I have some grenades,” he said.

Her eyebrows rose. “The raptors didn’t take them?”

His teeth were white in the darkness. “They were hidden in my first aid kit. I made them look like rolls of bandages.”

She managed a smile. “Sneaky.”

He leaned heavily against the wall as he fished out the grenades. “I have a cedar oil one the canids won’t like, and a new cineole one that the tech team are still testing. Plus a couple of regular frag grenades.”

As he talked, she looked down at those ugly scales covering his prosthetic. It looked like they were chewing through the high-tech metal.

God, if his prosthetic broke before they got out of here, he wouldn’t be able to walk. Without her armor, she wouldn’t be able to carry him.

“Set up two of these near the entrance,” he said.

She nodded, taking the grenades, and moved down the tunnel. She crouched low, placing them carefully.

Back by his side, they stood, shoulder to shoulder, and both lifted their weapons.

A deep growl rumbled through the darkness.

Her nerves stretched taut. The alien dog was close. She clutched her weapon, keeping her hands steady.

Then the first canid slunk out of the darkness.

* * *

Manu watched as the alien hunting dog crept forward.

Ugly bastard. The canine-like alien had thick, tough skin, sharp spikes along its back, and drool dripping off the fangs in its jaws.

The first grenade exploded with an earsplitting bang, blowing the canid apart.

But before they could celebrate, more canids rushed into the tunnel. The second grenade—the cedar oil one—went off. Pained yelps reverberated off the walls.

Manu started firing, a grim smile on his face. Kate opened fire at the same time. He and Kate might be backed into a corner, but they wouldn’t go down easily.

Poison splattered the walls and floor, sizzling, and canids howled in pain and anger.

Behind the dogs, the big, hulking shapes of raptors formed out of the gloom.

Poison sprayed nearby, and Manu dodged closer to Kate. She barely flinched, still returning fire. More poison hit the ground, and he felt some hit his prosthetic.

A second later, his leg went out from under him.

He dropped to his knees. Fuck, his prosthetic was ruined.

Suddenly, bone projectiles hit the wall above his head. Thump. Thump. Thump.

“Kate, sniper!”

She ducked down, still firing.

“Kate.” He pulled his last grenade—the experimental cineole one—off his belt. “I’ll create a diversion and you get out.”

She eyed the grenade. “What?”

“Get out.”

She shook her head. “No.”

“I love you. I want you out and safe.”

Her eyes widened. “Not leaving, Rahia.” She turned away to spray more fire at the raptors. “I’m pretty sure I’m in love with you, too.”

She sounded pissed. Sweet pain and savage satisfaction filled him. “Babe.”

More bone projectiles whizzed through the air and they ducked.

“You light me up,” she said angrily. “Before you, I was existing, not living. You gave me color, life. You made me feel.”

“Kate.” She was slicing him up inside.

“You gave me a reason to fight, Manu. A reason to survive, and to damn well live.”

She fired again, and then he followed with several shots of his own.

“We’re getting out of here,” she snapped. “Got it?”

He eyed the tunnel, and the wave of raptors approaching. Kate cursed, and Manu felt like a rock had settled in his gut.

“We both get out,” she said, “or we both go down fighting.”

God, she was one hell of a woman. “I love you, babe.”

“And I love you right back, you stubborn, alpha male.”

They kept firing, the tunnel ripe with the smell of burning poison and flesh. A moment later, Manu’s alien weapon clicked on empty. Dammit. He dropped it.

Kate edged closer to him, still firing. Fuck, he hated feeling helpless. The last time he’d felt like this was when he’d lost his leg. When he’d been screaming in agony and unable to move.

The raptors were trying to take the damn planet. They’d taken his leg, and now they were trying to take away the one woman who meant everything to him.

Suddenly, Kate jerked back. He looked up and the bottom dropped out of his stomach at the sight of a bone projectile lodged in her shoulder.

“Kate!”

Another volley of projectiles. Pain sliced into his gut. Grimly, he saw a bone bolt had speared through his stomach.

He reached down and yanked it out. He grimaced and tried to ignore the agony.

Kate’s body jerked to the side, and he saw she’d been hit again. She fell down on the dirt floor with a cry.

He reached out to her, helplessness choking him. Fuck, no. It wasn’t going to end like this.

* * *

Kate tried to block out the pain of the projectiles buried in her shoulder and side. She could feel blood soaking her shirt and knew it was bad.

She also felt any remaining energy seeping out of her. She dragged herself over to Manu and grabbed his hand.

She sensed the last of the raptors getting closer, but she ignored them, too.

All she could see was Manu. His face was covered in blood and grime, but he smiled at her.

“You are my perfect woman.”

She laughed. “I love you, too, Manu.”

He held up one more grenade.

“Thought you were out.”

“Old habit. Always save one. Ready to take the last of these suckers down?”

“Hell, yeah.”

Manu lobbed the grenade, and they both ducked down. It exploded with a deafening bang, which was followed by raptor grunts and groans. A haze filled the small tunnel and smelled like eucalyptus.

The raptors’ cries increased. She raised her head and saw several aliens clutching their heads, blood pouring from their noses, eyes, and mouths. Holy hell.

But a fresh wave of raptors leaped over the injured. One charged toward them out of the haze. He grabbed Kate and dragged her up off the ground. She kicked him, sending him stumbling into the rock wall. Kate gripped the bone projectile stuck in her shoulder and yanked it out. The pain was horrible, making her eyes water. But she gritted her teeth and breathed through it. When the raptor looked up with a growl, she stabbed the projectile through his eye.

He let out a scream. He released her and dropped his weapon.

Excellent. As she dropped back to her knees, Manu snatched up the weapon. He took aim and fired at the other raptors.

After a few moments, no more aliens emerged from the dissipating smoke. Her breath hitched. Had they really beaten them all?

Unable to hold herself upright any longer, she collapsed to the ground.

“Shit,” Manu bit out, collapsing down beside her. He pulled her closer and slumped against the wall.

“What?” She rested her head on his chest.

“I think I’m going to pass out.”

She gripped his hand. “You can’t. I can’t carry you.”

He cursed again. “Fuck. That won’t stop you from trying, though, will it?”

This time, she shot him a grin.

She’d drag him out of here like a caveman, if she had to. But then, she heard a shout in the distance, the sound echoing down the tunnel. Her heart dropped. It was in the raptor language.

More raptors were incoming, and she knew Manu couldn’t withstand another round. She squeezed his hand, and they sat there in silence.

When the first raptor appeared at the entrance to the tunnel, a numbing calm slipped over Kate. She was with Manu and that was what mattered to her. More raptors appeared, all cradling their weapons.

This was it.

Kate took a deep breath.

Suddenly, the ground beneath them started to vibrate. Dirt trickled down from the roof. The raptors looked upward, confused.

“What the hell?” Kate muttered.

With a violent explosion of rock, the wall to their left exploded outward. Kate gasped as the metallic tip of a large drill burst through the rock. A huge piece of mining equipment rattled into the tunnel, crashing into the raptors.

She blinked, unable to believe her eyes. Hemi and Tane were behind the controls.

“Woo-hoo!” Hemi called out.

They continued down the tunnel, crashing through more raptors. From the newly bored hole behind the drill, the berserkers rushed out—Levi, Ash, Dom, and Griff. Green laser fire lit up the tunnel.

It didn’t take long for them to mow down the remaining raptors.

“Fuck.” Griff raced toward Manu and Kate. He dropped down beside them and then yanked something off his belt. He pressed some wadded gauze to Kate’s shoulder, putting pressure on her wound.

Dom appeared and started work on Manu.

“How you doing there, Captain?” Griff asked.

“It’s Kate.” She stared at his hard, but handsome, face.

“How are you doing, Kate?”

“I’ve had better days.”

Now she got a faint smile. “We’ll be back at the Enclave before you know it.”

“How’d you find us?”

“We’d been searching the tunnels for a while when we heard the commotion. Got one of the geek squad’s mini-drones operational and headed this way.”

“What a damn mess,” came a deep, gravelly voice.

Kate looked up. Marcus Steele and the rest of Hell Squad were also coming out of the newly-drilled tunnel.

Hell Squad’s sniper, Shaw, frowned, his sniper rifle pressed up to his shoulder. “Well, hell. How come nobody left us any raptors to kill?”

Griff patted Kate’s arm, drawing her attention back to him. His face was hard and worried. “You’ll be in the infirmary in the blink of an eye.”

“Not a fan of doctors, so you aren’t making me feel any better.” She swallowed. “How’s Manu?” Griff was blocking her view.

“That tough guy will be fine.”

But she saw Griff glance up at Tane, who was standing close by. Squad Three’s leader didn’t look happy. His face was blank, his mouth tight.

Then Dom’s near-accent-less voice cut through the air. “Manu? Hey, stay with us, my man.”

“Manu.” Kate tried to sit up.

Griff planted a hand on her chest and held her down. “Stay still, Kate. We need to stop your bleeding.”

“Manu—”

“He’s passed out, but he’s breathing.”

“Shit, what’s wrong with his leg?” Hemi bit out.

Kate managed to shove Griff aside and get a look at Manu.

She gasped. The alien scales had multiplied and were covering most of what was left of his prosthetic. They had just started to crawl up the skin of his thigh.

“Let’s get them to the infirmary,” Tane ordered. “Now!”