She scrambled up, half-blind, her knees and hands stinging from impact. Men and women—and a child, God, why was a child here?—screamed and yelled. Laser beams scorched the air.
Yet they weren’t aimed at them, but over their heads.
Mari looked back at the group of Barks facing them from the other side of the airfield. Only half a dozen, but they were all the larger-sized leaders, each as big as a draft horse and twice as mean as the most vicious dinosaurs in Jurassic Park. They snarled their challenges, the sound rippling through the rapidly cooling air.
To her horror, Finn and Gareth faced off with them. And the aliens’ attention was focused solely on them—on Finn, in particular.
Patrice tugged at her arm. “Hurry! Get in the plane! They’ll come when they can.”
Mari took a few steps toward the plane, where soldiers—Twins, she now realized—were helping people get in and strapped down. Two of them headed toward Finn and Gareth, their expressions grim.
Mari looked back again, her steps faltering. She saw the danger a moment before one of the other Twins called a warning. She was already running as the man yelled, pouring all her energy into reaching the men she loved.
By the time she was halfway down the runway, the largest alien leader had cleared the wall, sandwiching the Twins between him and his companions. His tattered jowls flapped a grisly reminder that Mari had tried and failed to kill him once. He didn’t even bother looking her way.
“Mari, get back to the plane. Now!”
Normally, she would have obeyed Gareth, especially given his furious tone. Now she stood her ground. “Give them the device,” she yelled.
“What? No.” That from Finn, who half spluttered it.
“Throw it into their ranks. You have to. That’s the only way they’ll let us go.”
“She’s right. If there was enough firepower in the plane, they’d have opened up on them by now. But there’s only two sets of Twins along, and they need to concentrate on protecting the plane.” Gareth kept his laser trained on the knot of aliens while Finn held the injured one at bay.
“Fucking hell.” Finn rummaged in his pocket. “I don’t want to let the bastards win.”
“They’ve already won,” Mari said. “It’s activated. They’re probably hard-wired to want it back, to covet it. Maybe whoever has it becomes de facto leader.”
One of the aliens snarled, setting off a round of guttural noises from the rest of them. This standoff wasn’t going to last much longer.
“Throw it,” Gareth said. “Let them fight over it while we run.” He raised his hand in a signal to the Twins watching at the airplane.
Finn took out the device with a curse. He threw the two triangles end over end into the middle of the waiting aliens. Mari, holding her breath, raised her own gun as the injured leader leaped. One of its six legs lashed out toward the Twins, and she shot. The bullet lodged in the creature’s pale body, but the alien hardly faltered.
It landed in the midst of its comrades, tearing at their flesh with its shark teeth as they fought over the device.
“Run!”
She had no idea which Twin shouted that, but she obeyed without even looking, sprinting toward the slowly closing door of the cargo plane. As she made the leap onto the ramp, the Twins grabbed her arms and hauled her inside. The plane was already moving, gathering speed. Just as the pilot lifted off, Mari found a seat, grabbing onto the straps as they lurched into the air.
When had she last flown? She racked her brain, unable to think clearly. They had vacationed in Mexico the year before the Invasion, visiting her cousins who lived near Tijuana, but that flight had been smooth, comfortable. Nothing like this. Gritting her teeth, she held on and breathed a sigh of relief with the rest of the passengers when the plane evened out and the engines quit roaring so loudly.
“Laaaaadies and gentlemen, please feel free to move around the cabin and partake of any food or beverages you can scavenge up. There may be some turbulence here and there, but we should be in Chicago within three hours. This is your pilot speaking.”
“Cam is such a joker,” Gareth said, but his lips tugged upward in a smile. “Come here, Mari. Brave, foolish, crazy Mari. What were you thinking, running to us like that?”
Gladly, she threw the straps off to climb into his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck as she nuzzled into him. “I knew you guys wouldn’t willingly give that stupid device back to them. From what I read of my father’s journal, I know the aliens are possessive, territorial and very stubborn. So they weren’t going to give up that device without killing themselves in the process. It was their dead bodies or yours—I chose neither.”
“Pacifist.” Finn settled next to them, draping one of her legs over his.
“I wish I had the luxury to be one.” She ran a finger down his cheek, shuddering at how close she’d come to losing them. If she hadn’t been there to order them to give the device up, they would have fought to the death. Their training was so ingrained in them, such a vital part of everything they did.
Yet they chose to share her, to take her back home with them, in direct defiance of the “avoid long-term relationships” order.
They needed her. And she needed them.
* * * * *
She must have fallen asleep against Gareth’s chest, for the next thing she knew, she was being carried through a labyrinth of dimly lit hallways. Voices sounded all around her, thinning out as they went farther in, until there was only silence. Since she was confident both men were with her, she closed her eyes and fell back asleep.
When Mari woke up, Gareth was still there, watching her sleep as he toyed with a piece of paper. His smile lit up the room. “Hey, baby.”
“Urgh,” she said, sitting up inelegantly. “How long did I sleep?”
“Twelve solid hours.”
She washed her face in the bathroom, brushing her teeth and spending a few minutes combing out her hair. When she emerged, Gareth nodded at the table with a slightly triumphant air.
“Is that a croissant?” she blurted.
“Yep.”
“Wow. You have connections.”
“The very best.”
Mari resisted the urge to cram the confection in her mouth. She savored the buttery pastry, sipping apple juice as she looked around the room. This must be the Twins’ private quarters. There were two double beds, a large bathroom, and a dining area with a very unused kitchenette. Judging by the view, they were on the second or third floor. The windows looked out across a large courtyard.
“Nice digs,” she said.
“Nicer with you in them.”
“I’m…okay being here, right?” She polished off the last bite of croissant a little reluctantly. She didn’t want to get the Twins in trouble.
“Yes. Finn’s in a meeting right now. He says certain things are changing—like the long-term relationships rule. A bunch of us are mad, and Dr. Felton’s betrayal took the higher-ups down a few pegs. Not to mention the fact that he’s screwed up so royally that the aliens might now be able to breed.”
Mari sipped the last of her juice. “I always wanted to change the world when I was a young girl. I never thought it would be like this.”
“It is what it is, Mari. We’ll deal with it. Together.”
She looked down. “Is everyone else all right? Patrice? The babies?”
“Patrice and Tank have a small room downstairs, with access to the outdoors for the dog. She’s talking to a couple of the Twins about possibly finding Abigail. Kendal asked to stay here too, work as a dishwasher. A few of the other refugees are in the infirmary, nothing serious though, and the babies are fine. Right now, the Complex is working on locating housing for the rest of the folks we saved.”
“Good.” Mari’s heart lightened. It was a start. They couldn’t help everyone—but it wasn’t for lack of trying.
“This is your home now, Mari.” He sounded uncertain, and she looked up immediately. He was staring at her, worried.
“I won’t run from here, Gareth. I want to stay with you—and Finn.” No matter how complicated the situation, that was true. She felt it deep in her heart. Anywhere with Finn and Gareth was home.
Gareth came over to her then, bending to kiss her, and she was lost the moment his mouth touched hers. Never losing contact with each other, they fumbled their way to the bed. Gareth cradled her against him as they fell onto the mattress.
“Didn’t you say Finn was in a meeting?” she gasped as she came up for air.
“Revenge is sweet.” He grinned wickedly at her as he tugged down her pants.