Roth by Anna Hackett

Author:Anna Hackett [Hackett, Anna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-09-20T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Exhilaration fizzed in Avery’s blood. That anticipation she felt, heading off on a mission—a feeling she’d missed so much. She also felt so…happy. The only other time she’d felt like this, Roth had been kissing her.

Beside her, Roth turned his head and smiled at her. His hands were moving smoothly over the controls. The Darkswift banked to the right, the move making her stomach dip, and she had a fantastic view of the scenery below. She saw some magnificent rocky outcrops at the edge of the mountains. And trees, so many trees. It was stunning.

Moments later, she saw the other two Darkswifts move up on either side of theirs.

“Good hunting, Nine,” Arden said. “And be careful.”

“We will, Arden,” Roth answered.

Through the comm, Avery heard Mac and Taylor answer the woman as well.

“All right, illusion systems up. Let’s head south,” Roth said. “Keep your eyes peeled. Arden’s monitoring the drone feed and will let us know if she spots any alien activity.”

Soon, they moved over the outer suburbs of Sydney, and all the thrill of the ride was sucked out of Avery. As signs of the city’s awful destruction came into view, she felt like she’d swallowed a stone and it sat heavily in her gut.

God. She saw entire swathes of houses—full neighborhoods—razed to the ground, nothing left but rubble, like a tornado had ripped through. But she knew it had been alien bombs, raptor troops, and rampaging rexes who were responsible for the devastation. In other places, the buildings were just burnt-out shells, surrounded by overgrown grass and vegetation.

She didn’t spot a single living thing—human or animal.

Avery pressed her fingers to the cockpit screen, her heart so heavy in her chest. If she’d been smarter, worked harder, done something more, maybe she could have prevented this.

“Not your fault, Avery. It’s stupid of you to take the weight of this on yourself.”

She glanced at him, swallowing to wet her dry throat. He wasn’t looking at her. “I was head of the team—”

“Team. Not a single superhero. You represented the Coalition. Besides, no one’s at fault.” He scowled. “Although Howell needs to be hung up and left for the raptors.” Roth stabbed a finger at the devastation below. “Only things to blame for that are the damn raptors who invaded a planet that wasn’t theirs.”

She nodded, but a part of her wasn’t convinced.

Strong fingers wrapped around her arm and she jerked her head back.

Ice-blue eyes blazed. “Avery, they were going to invade, no matter what you did. You have to work the guilt out and move on to beating their scaly asses now.” He let out a short breath. “If you keep blaming yourself, that guilt will eat you alive. You have to accept they died and there wasn’t anything you could have done.”

Those words steadied her. Or maybe it was he who steadied her. His strength, his determination, his solidness. An irresistible combination. She pressed her hand over his. Or maybe it was what she heard buried in his voice. “That’s how you felt…about your family?”

“Yeah.

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