Sex, Love, and Aliens 2 (20 page)

Elara reached out and gave Angela’s hand a squeeze. She mouthed
we’ll get him
.

Angela nodded and sucked in a deep breath to level the pounding of her heart. The next voice that came from the room sent a chill down her spine.

“I expected nothing less.”
Damon.
The human may have been little more than a stranger, but she’d recognize his voice anywhere. They’d captured him too. Damon never would have been discovered if she hadn’t encouraged him to leave the safety of his dwelling. She tightened her grip on the gun, dying to put it to use.

The clone commander spoke again. “When you left us, Damon, I didn’t expect you to return. I thought maybe you didn’t have the stomach for this.”

The sound of a fist smashing into bone nearly made Angela scream. She moved toward the door and risked a glance through the glass porthole. Past Damon’s broad shoulders, a clone had just punished her father’s limp body with another blow. Two guards held his unconscious, bleeding body like a punching bag. The hot brand of a tear leaked down Angela’s cheek. Rogue reached for her, pulling her away from the window.

“Tell me about the ship, Damon. You’ve always been a loner, why are you now so eager to return to your forsaken clone family with such news?”

Reality sank into Angela, a heavy weight that made her drop to her knees. Damon was a clone. The ultimate betrayal filtered through her. She swore she’d never let a clone lay hands on her again. He’d tricked her, played the victim, and she’d given her body willingly to the damn bastard. Worse, he’d taken her mind captive, turning her into a lovesick fool that couldn’t see what was really in front of her.

She replayed the time they’d spent together. He’d always refused to use sunblock—something he wouldn’t need as a clone, harvested for a planet of heat and immune to such things. He’d known the “slave trade” tunnels and when the clones were coming. Her breath caught as the realization of all his lies dawned on her. He’d misled her, traveling in circles around the base, when as the mission geologist, she should have recognized she was being deterred. She’d been a fool.

Her hands trembled. Just when she thought the agony and fury of the betrayal couldn’t hurt much more, the door slammed open, knocking her to the ground. Rogue immediately stepped in front of Elara, but in only moments, a gang of clones had them wrestled into their grips and they were being hauled into the room.

Angela fought more tears when Damon turned and laid eyes on her, showing no signs of recognition or remorse. The perfect face she once gazed at was devoid of all emotion, now the cold expression of a stone. Her arms erupted in pain as the clones on both of her sides tightened their grips. “Look what we found.”

“And here I thought our fun at Base 23 had run out.” The commander grinned, a smile that made bile creep up Angela’s throat.

She forced her gaze to her father’s unconscious form. Had she failed him?

Rogue remained calm in the arms of two clone guards as if he knew he could shrug them off at any moment. His eyes were trained on the commander with lethal intent. “If you touch either of these women, I’ll sever the hand from your body.” The guards quickly removed all the blades within sight on his form. Rogue didn’t flinch. “Damage can be done without blades.”

“What a wicked promise. You must be Rogue. I’ve heard about you…traitor.” The commander motioned to his guards, and they grabbed Elara by the hair and jerked her head back.

Rogue freed himself from the arms of the guards in a blur of speed. A clone roared as Rogue reached for him, crushing his wrist. The agony caused the guard to release his grip on Elara. Once she was freed, Rogue snatched the guard’s other hand and smashed each finger in his grip.

Angela noticed the clone commander watching Rogue with a sick satisfaction on his face. He didn’t look at all disappointed to see one of his men sink to his knees, crippled by pain. “I see you’re just as lethal as I’d always heard. It’s a shame you’ve been bewitched.”

“A shame for you,” Rogue warned. He issued Damon a killing stare, but Angela averted her gaze toward the ground, unable to look at the clone any longer.

“Let them go and I’ll tell you where the ship is,” Damon uttered, causing Angela to look up.

“You think I’d give up these two females for a ship?”

Rogue growled. “You should, since you’ll never put hands on the women.”

Angela watched Damon, but he never looked toward her. Any hope she might have had melted away.

His deep voice spoke up once more, “I’ll tell you where the ship is now…and after you release them, I’ll tell you where the weapons store is.”

The commander’s cocky grin fell into a murderous expression. “So you did confiscate our extra supply of arms and ammunition? I suspected it was you, but when they were never discovered on the trading post, I was unsure. What was your purpose in taking them if it wasn’t currency?”

“Perhaps I just didn’t want you to have them.”

“Or you’re bluffing.” Silence followed the accusation.

Angela used the distraction to kick backward at her captor. He yelled out, but knocked her hard across the face before he released her.

Damon started toward her, but the commander put a knife to his throat. He spoke anyway and Angela watched blood trickle down his skin. “Release the general and the women, and I’ll tell you where the guns are.”

“How about I give you the half-dead general and keep the women?”

Angela looked to her father, hoping Damon would take the deal. If her father had a chance, at least she wouldn’t feel like she’d completely failed. And as for her, she could defend herself.

“The women for the guns.”

“I’ll give you the half-dead general and you can walk out of here alive…if you lead my men to the guns.”

Take it.
Angela prayed silently for her father’s well-being.

“Deal.”

Angela breathed a sigh of relief, but it still didn’t cure the hollowness in her heart as Damon so casually negotiated while lives hung in the balance.

She watched Damon move toward the guards that held her father. He easily took the limp form upon his shoulders and strode toward the exit. As he did so, he walked close enough that she could smell the sun upon his skin.

Damon cast her a hard glance, his eyes icy and lethal for the first time since she’d met him. It was a killing, determined gaze and it read one thing—
this isn’t over.

Then he left her for the second time.

Chapter 10

Damon gnashed his teeth as the Humvee rolled up the steep hill just outside Base 23. The thought of Angela being stuck within the compound nearly lost him his sanity. Somehow he’d been able to remain calm in front of Crool, knowing if he’d shown any emotion when Angela was brought in, Crool would have used it against him. Now perhaps those weapons he’d stolen and hidden so long ago would come in handy. But not in the way his commander expected.

A bump in the landscape tossed the large vehicle into the air, and the barely conscious form of Angela’s father moaned in pain. Damon used the distraction to pull a small pistol from his ankle and fire into the clone nearest to him. Ignoring the driver, he turned and squeezed three more shots into the back of the SUV. The gun locked on the third fire, leaving the remaining clone in the back seat alive. Damon reached out and took the man’s throat in his hands. He squeezed, watching the life slowly drain from the soldier’s eyes. The driver yelled, reaching for Damon, but he didn’t lessen his grip. Damon hated killing, it was why he’d left the base. But Angela had said she would die before a clone touched her. He would see many clones die before he ever allowed that to happen, including himself.

When the man’s head slumped lifelessly, Damon reached for the door and shoved the driver out. Damon wasn’t far behind, running toward the body to subdue it. The clone struggled, getting several punches in before Damon finally wrestled him to the ground and snapped the man’s neck.

He didn’t waste time being sad for the life lost—Angela’s still hung in the balance. He ran toward the stalled car and climbed in. Luckily, he hadn’t hidden the guns far from the base since he hadn’t been able to carry so much weaponry very far. He’d been on the way out and hadn’t wanted his comrades to do any more damage than they already had. The clones were deadly enough, he’d thought the last thing they needed was automatic rifles.

As he made his way toward the guns, he fought to focus on the landscape. Instead, Angela’s pained gaze tormented him. The look of betrayal had been plain on her face. She knew now that he was a clone. And worse, that he’d played with her affections and used her body. In truth, although he’d lied to her about being a clone, she knew him better than anyone ever could.

His hands clenched around the steering wheel, nearly bending the metal in half when he thought about someone laying a hand on her. He had to get back to the base, fast. He knew Rogue would protect them for as long as he could, but there were at least fifty clones left at base, the man could only hold out so long. Damon knew that Rogue felt just as he did…he would rage on to protect the woman he loved until the last of his blood was spent.

The woman he loved…
Damn him if it was too late to utter the truth to Angela and let it be the first truth among many lies.

* * * *

Once the Humvee was filled with ammunition, Damon parked it on the edge of Base 23. On his belly, he crawled toward the ridge to look down on the facility. Crool had appointed four guards at the entrance, learning from his prior mistake.

Damon retrieved the sniper scope and lay on the ground, training it on the clone closest to the door. He squeezed the trigger, and the clone fell to the ground. The bullet had been silent, but as their comrade fell, the other clones glanced around for the shooter. Damon didn’t hesitate, unleashing lethal fire before any of them could take cover. The entrance lay unguarded when he was done.

After arming himself to the teeth, Damon climbed down the hill and entered the facility. Barely through the door, two clones descended on him. Damon used a hunting knife to quietly slice their throats. He dragged their bodies into a nearby closet.

When Damon neared the command center where he’d left Angela, he noticed a pool of blood on the ground. His heart seized, his hand tightening on both his gun and his hunting knife. He followed the trail of blood past the command center, holding his breath until he found a dead clone near another crimson pool. Had Angela done that damage? He hoped so.

As he navigated through the facility in search of her, he continued to down clones, utilizing the silencer he’d found in his ammunition supply. The bodies in closets began to pile up, but still there was no sign of Angela. Then he heard a scream that made his blood run cold.

* * * *

Rather than let herself be tied to a post, Angela kicked and screamed, bit and spit. After hearing that Damon had stolen their ammunition, she knew the guns trained on her would be useless and fought back against the clones with all her might. She sent her aggressor to the ground, but three more advanced on her.

She flopped around like a calf while they worked together to yank her onto her side and overpower her like she’d seen back home in the rodeos. She sobbed in fury as they bound her hands above her head to a pole. Still she kicked out at them, fighting to delay their touch as long as possible.

Two of them grabbed her legs, the third clone approaching with rope. “You’re going to get what’s coming to you, bitch.”

Angela kicked out, but bobbed in the air within the clone’s grasp. She eyed the man advancing with rope, the lust-filled glaze over his eyes causing her to tremble. Suddenly, blood spurted from his chest. The clone fell to the ground, revealing the shooter.

Damon stood, pistol in hand. The man she’d found hiding in the cave was gone, replaced by seven feet of deadly clone male. Every inch of his hard body was covered in rifles, pistols, and knives, and the lethal glint in the glare he had pinned on her captors proved he had every intention to use all of them.

“Let her go.”

Her captors attempted to hide behind her, one of them wrapping an iron fist around her throat. “You think you can have her for yourself, Damon?”

“No.” Damon’s icy blue gaze moved to meet hers. As her breath was choked from her body, all she could think of was the pain in Damon’s eyes. “I know I can never have her.”

He fired, clipping her foe’s shoulder, the close blast making her scream. The clone fell away, and with a clear path, Damon fired a kill shot.

Only one clone was left behind her now, but his unforgiving hand slithered across her bodice. Angela fought a sob, revolted by the touch and once again being held victim. Damon rushed the clone, slamming into his body. The hand that’d been groping her scratched at her as it was hauled away. She bit off a cry, trying not to call attention to Damon’s presence in the facility.

Unable to watch the altercation since she was tied to the post, she remained quiet, listening to the tussle. She heard the abrupt snap of bone. Had Damon won?

The ties binding her hands to the post loosened and she had her answer. Despite Damon’s betrayal, her heart surged with relief. In another moment, Damon stood before her. He didn’t speak as he unloaded some of his weapons, helping her to don pistols and knives. He handed her one of the rifles he’d had strapped to his back.

His silence confused her all the more. Why did he not try to defend his actions to her? Instead, he finished equipping her and searched her body for wounds. His eyes rested on a bruise that she felt taking form on her cheek. He reached out, as if to caress it, but held back.

He glanced away. “Your father is still unconscious, but his pulse is strong. He’s safe.”

She opened her mouth to speak, but the many questions she had for Damon passed silently. “Thank you,” was all she could manage.

“I’ll take you to the exit, then you’re going to climb the hill, and on the southeast side you’ll find a Humvee. Stay there until we get back.”

“You know I won’t do that. I need to help my friends.”