Roth(Hell Squad 5) by Anna Hackett

to leave without a significant number of bodies for their tanks.”
    Her bottom lip trembled before she firmed it. “They put me in a cage.” Her voice was flat again. “I was hungry. Thirsty.” She shivered. “There were other humans in cages, too.”
    “Where?” Roth asked, resisting the urge to pound his fists into the floor.
    “The dome. I remember the orange light. That damned orange light that made it all seem like a bad dream. Or a fucking nightmare.” She made a choking sound. “We were all in cages, and I could see the tanks. They were growing them…to put us in them.”
    “Enough.” Roth got to his feet. “That’s enough.”
    She moved, quick as lightning, tugging the electrode cables behind her before her hands gripped his wrists. “No. There’s something else.”
    “I said, enough.”
    “I have to remember,” she said, frantically. Her nails bit into his skin. “Howell, he gave the Gizzida something else. Information in return for his safety.”
    Shit . “What?”
    “He gave them military information. Our weapons, our vehicles, our troop training. There were a series of CCIA hard drives he handed over.”
    Every muscle in Roth’s body froze. “No.”
    Her face was etched with despair. “Roth, it included information on the bases. And…Blue Mountain Base was in there. It was why he had to build his bunker somewhere else. He gave them the base schematics, the power systems, the weapons…everything.”
    “Oh, God,” Emerson said, gripping the scanner.
    Avery’s wild hazel eyes met Roth’s. “They know where we are.”
    Suddenly her back arched and a short scream escaped her mouth.
    “Emerson!” Roth reared up, pulling Avery into his arms. She was shaking spasmodically, her eyes rolling back in her head.
    “A seizure.” The doctor ran her handheld scanner over Avery. “Get her on the table.”
    He lifted Avery up, heedless of the electrodes being yanked off. She was jerking so hard in his arms, he had to exert a lot of strength to hold on to her.
    He got her on the exam table. “Come on, Avery.”
    With a grim face, Emerson set to work. She pressed an injector to Avery’s neck. “Hold her, so she doesn’t fall off.”
    Roth already was. “Will the injection stop this?”
    “It should.” Emerson’s gaze met Roth’s.
    “What aren’t you saying?” he bit out.
    “If this goes on too long, it could do irreversible damage to her brain.”
    No . Roth stared down at the woman beneath his hands. She’d called to him from the moment she squared off with him, dripping wet, in an alien lab. He hadn’t let himself give in to the attraction, not completely, but now knowing he might never get the chance…his lungs constricted. “Help her.”
    Emerson ran her portable scanner over Avery. “She has to help herself.”
    She was a fighter. As her body jerked against his hands, he gritted his teeth. He should never have let her do this procedure.
    Suddenly, she went still, her body dropping limply down against the table.
    Emerson let out a breath. “She’s stable.”
    Roth brushed at Avery’s dark hair, hoping Emerson didn’t notice that his hands were unsteady. Avery’s face was pale, her lashes dark against her cheeks. So still, all the fierceness gone. “How come she’s not waking up?”
    “Coma was always a risk.”
    His hands tightened on Avery’s silky hair. “You’re saying she might never wake up?”
    “I can’t give you absolutes, Roth. But I can tell you her vitals are stable, she’s young, fit, and strong. She’ll likely wake up within the hour.”
    He brushed a thumb over her temple. “I have to meet with the general. Pass on the information.” He couldn’t delay that.
    Emerson nodded. “Go.”
    He hated having to leave Avery. “You’ll take care of her?”
    The doctor’s face softened. “Of course.”
    He brushed his lips over Avery’s. “I’ll be back,” he whispered. He forced himself to head for the door. “Call me when she’s