Free Marcus by Anna Hackett Page A

she tore free of the
rex.
    She fell several meters to the floor and hit
with a hard slap. The air rushed out of her lungs with an oof .
    Stunned for a second, she stayed sprawled
amongst torn-up books and broken shelving, staring at the rex’s
giant claws.
    Hands gripped the back of her armor and
yanked her up. She caught a brief glimpse of Marcus’ scarily
enraged face before she was tossed over his broad shoulder.
    Too out of it to speak, she saw of the rest
of Hell Squad getting ready to move. Claudia was standing, but
favoring one leg, and pointing a finger at Shaw.
    “You try and carry me and I’ll gut you,”
Claudia snapped.
    “You’re hurt—”
    “I can walk. The damn exoskeleton in my
armor will help.”
    “You stubborn idiot—”
    “Shut your mouth or I’ll shut it for you.
With my fist.”
    “Fine. I won’t carry you—” he slid an arm
around her shoulders and fought her when she tried to pull away
“—but I’m helping you out of here. Compromise, Frost. A word you’ve
probably never heard of.”
    She swore at him.
    “Ah, there’s your sweet disposition shining
through.”
    “Enough.” Marcus jerked his head. “Let’s get
out of here. Now.”
    “How’d you get Elle to let you carry her?”
Shaw asked as they headed through the library.
    “I didn’t give her a choice.”
    “Don’t even think about it,” Claudia
snapped.
    Elle cleared her throat. “Marcus, I can
walk.”
    He ignored her.
    Moments later, they exited out the front
door of the library. The team hurried down the street. Elle braced
her hands on Marcus’ back to stop bouncing all over the place. He
was all rock-hard muscle under her palms.
    The sun was headed rapidly toward the
western horizon and the shadows were growing. She swallowed the
lump in her throat. They did not want to be here once dark
hit. She’d heard rumors of alien beasts that only came out at night
and left nothing behind but bones picked clean of flesh.
    They moved along the street, Gabe and Zeke
ahead, weapons up.
    Then she heard the canids.
    Elle swiveled her head and saw the pack
running at full speed, leaping over anything in their path. God,
they never gave up.
    Cruz stopped and swiveled. He pulled a
grenade from his belt, armed it and tossed it with his good arm
toward the canids.
    The creatures suddenly started howling, some
dropping to the ground, their heads between their paws. Others
turned in circles, disoriented.
    Elle frowned. She hadn’t seen an
explosion?
    “Sonic grenade,” Marcus said.
    But a few of the canids made it through,
their mouths open, teeth bared.
    “Fuck.” Cruz scrambled to get his carbine
aimed.
    Suddenly, a black bolt whistled though the
air and slammed through the head of the lead canid. The animal
dropped, tripping the canid behind it.
    More bolts came in quick succession. One,
two, three.
    The canids at the back of the group skidded
to a halt, wary. By then, Gabe and Zeke were in position and laid
down a barrage of laser fire.
    Cruz stood still, his gaze searching the
rooftops. Elle swiveled enough to get a quick glimpse of a lean
figure leaping between two buildings. Then the figure was gone,
swallowed by the shadows.
    “Let’s go!” Marcus barked, jostling her.
    Elle watched Cruz scan the buildings once
more before he cursed and ran to the closest dead canid. He yanked
out the bolt, then ran back to join the group.
    Moving at a fast jog, it didn’t take long
before Elle saw trees and waist-high grass.
    She felt a rush of air and she was suddenly
flipped over and set on her feet. Ahead, the quadcopter was coming
in to land.
    Gabe leaped up first and helped Cruz up.
Shaw and Zeke helped a scowling Claudia onto the copter. Next,
Marcus handed Elle up to Gabe.
    As soon as Marcus climbed aboard, the Hawk
lifted off.
    She heard the distant roar of the rex as the
copter turned and headed toward the setting sun.
    Shaw started checking a protesting Claudia’s
leg while Gabe tore open a first-aid kit and wrapped a