Chapter 15
KEVLAR
Judd took point. He moved quickly and surprisingly quietly for such a boisterous man.
His helmet was pulled low over his eyes, and his gun held level.
His boots managed to skim across the top of broken glass and gravel, never making a sound save for the sharp intake of breath that Blake was ninety percent sure was actually him.
Victoria was behind Blake. She was moving well, considering the agony she must be in.
Every time he looked back, Blake could see a fine sheen of sweat collecting on her pretty face, dripping into the khaki green collar of her flight suit.
Still, the pilot pushed on, one hand on her handgun and the other bracing on walls or downed vehicles.
The day was still. Blake wondered if the barrier kept out the weather or if it was just the atmosphere. It felt like the world had stopped breathing. Mortal wounds had been carved out of the Earth, and slowly, she was bleeding out, each breath growing shallower as her life slipped away.
I need sleep.
Shaking himself, Blake moved to keep pace with Judd.
Gabriel had told him Judd was a scout, but he didn’t really know what that meant.
When Judd was the one who wanted to collate all their information, he just figured it was the normal thing to do.
He had no idea it was in his training. Seeing the man like this, moving quietly with dark eyes flicking over everything, cataloging it away, it suddenly made sense.
Even Victoria seemed begrudgingly impressed—something Blake guessed wasn’t easy.
Judd stopped at the end of a street, holding up his hand with a fist closed. “Our Aviatrix here said the barrier was closest to the north.” He jerked his head in the general direction. “We’ll never make it on foot.”
“You want to steal a car?”
He grinned, teeth flashing against the dark stubble lining his tanned cheeks. “Tactically acquire.”
Victoria shook her head. “No way. It’s too loud. We’ll draw too much attention.”
Judd shrugged. “Risk assessment.”
The pilot wasn’t buying it. She ground her teeth and opened her mouth to speak, but Judd cut her off.
“Look, in a textbook situation, you’re right. Stealth is our biggest asset. And if it were just me—yeah, that would work. But hauling you two around will slow me down too much.”
“My leg is—”
“Broken,” Judd said, his voice light, like they were arguing about what to have for dinner rather than a life and death situation. “Even if it wasn’t, you wouldn’t be able to keep up with me.”
Blake wiped some sweat off his lip with the back of his hand. “Car might not be much faster,” he reasoned, trying to keep his voice neutral. “We don’t know what the roads look like.”
“So we tactically acquire something bigger. Capable of off-roading.”
Blake thought about the man who literally melted in his arms. The cars and buildings that immolated the moment the alien’s ordinance struck.
“There might not even be a road.”
“We need to try,” Victoria said quietly from behind him, her eyes narrowing at Judd. “Chicken Fried Steak is right. Speed is optimal.”
Judd waggled his eyebrows. “See, you think you just insulted me, but chicken fried steak is literally heaven. So thanks, Danger Tits.”
Blake stood up before Victoria could strangle Judd with her bare hands. Judd would probably just enjoy it.
“There.” He pointed to an older SUV haphazardly parked across the street. Two tires were up on the curb, and the rear fender had melted off. It looked bad, but drivable.
They took off across the road and Blake gritted his teeth as his fingers slid around the car door.
Yanking, he breathed a sigh of relief when the door was unlocked.
Throwing himself into the driver’s seat, he bit down on his tongue to keep from crying out in joy.
The keys were dangling from the ignition.
Judd grabbed Victoria and bodily lifted her into the back seat. “No need to thank me, getting to touch you was all the thanks I needed.”
He grunted when she punched him.
Blake wondered if it was possible to get slapped with a sexual harassment suit in the middle of an alien invasion.
Judd jumped into the passenger seat and lowered the window, resting his gun against the opening.
Blake turned the keys and winced as the engine rolled over.
It sounded so loud in the still streets.
Loud, but stable. Luckily, the damage was to the back of the vehicle.
The occupants had probably panicked when it was hit, and abandoned the smoldering vehicle. Blake hoped they got away.
He started north. They didn’t have a precise destination, but he figured a massive force field would be hard to miss. On more than one occasion, he had to re-route, taking a detour around a destroyed street or when they saw a drone whizz by in the distance. Those were always the worst.
Leaning down, chin pressed to the steering wheel, Blake tried not to breathe. The car idled underneath him. Occasionally, the whole vehicle would tremor from the engine, forcing him to jump and his fingers to clench the wheel as he tried to keep his composure.
Eventually, Judd would gesture for them to keep going, and he’d ease off the brake, big toe gently pressing down on the accelerator as they rocked forward.
Tires crunched through the debris with none of Judd’s finesse, moving them steadily through the streets.
Technically, Blake knew this must be faster, but it felt so achingly slow.
“So,” Judd drawled. “You went to Top Gun?”
Victoria glared at him. “Yes.”
Judd whistled, leaning back in the seat to prop his foot up on the dash. “Damn. Knew you had to be the best.”
Unaccustomed to not wanting to throttle Judd, Victoria seemed to bristle with the compliment. “I’ve…worked very hard.”
Even in the wake of everything she’d been through, Victoria looked put together.
Her hair was still regulation—if a little singed—and she carried herself with the stiff bearing that would make anyone flinch.
If pressed, Blake would guess she used her steely exterior like a weapon.
A way to beat through the asshole misogynists of the world who saw a beautiful woman and nothing else.
Judd’s helmet lifted with the force of his eyebrows rising. “Think your flying speaks for itself.”
“I got lucky.”
“Bullshit.” His drawl got heavier, dragging on each syllable as he turned in his seat to look back at the pilot. “Luck ain’t got nothing to do with it, and you know it. Save that humble shit for the brass. They love that.”
It was a clear stretch of road, so Blake chanced a look to see Victoria in the rearview mirror. She looked surprised, confused, and weirdly pleased. Her eyes were hooded, and she seemed like he was trying to bite back something.
“You…you served?”
Oh. Pride.
Victoria didn’t want to ask Judd anything about himself. Content to hate the rowdy soldier on principle. Blake fought a grin.
“Sure did,” Judd sucked his teeth. “1st Armored Division. Did three tours.”
“Why did you get out?”
Judd was quiet for the first time—ever. He shrugged under his plate carrier. “My dad died. Ma and Nana couldn’t run the farm themselves. My sisters already had families of their own.”
Blake knew Judd was Southern. Everyone in a ten-mile radius knew that. If not from his accent, then the Texas patch taped into the lining of his helmet. But he didn’t know he had left the military because of his family.
“Hardship discharge,” Victoria mumbled quietly, unable to look at Judd.
He nodded. “Didn’t matter much, anyway. Lost the farm. Some big company’s going to build condos on the fields, or something. I didn’t ask.”
“What about your mom and grandmother?” Blake asked.
Judd chewed the inside of his lip. “Got them set up in a neighborhood. Nice house with a yard. Big trees too, not those little saplings. Shade trees so Ma can garden without getting too hot.”
He didn’t say it, but it was obvious that Judd was the breadwinner for the family.
Blake wondered why he volunteered for this mission if he was so important to his family.
But weren’t they all important to someone?
Phin didn’t mention it, but he had to have someone who cared about him.
Scott was National Guard, so he was probably local.
He definitely had family or friends in DC.
Gabriel had told Blake why he was here. Not in so many words, but the soldier had as good as admitted he wanted to absolve his sins through sacrifice. But what about his parents? His sister? They had to care about him.
Hell, Blake was beginning to care about him.
Maybe not just beginning. He did care.
Which was not a thought he should be dwelling on as he was driving through enemy territory in a SUV with a ‘Soccer Mom Life’ sticker on the back window, but here he was.
Born a natural loner, Blake struggled to even want to build his friendship group.
His parents loved him, but most of the time, he wondered if they liked him.
And dating? That was a minefield of apathy and mistakes.
He’d never considered men to be attractive—romantically or sexually.
Sure, he could tell Gabriel was good looking.
He was straight, not blind, but ever since Gabriel had looked Blake in the eye and given him the truth he asked for, it was… different.
Different in a way he couldn’t quantify because everything was different right now.
Still, he found himself gravitating to the man.
Looking at him to see his reactions, to hear his thoughts.
Even just sitting next to him felt right.
Gabriel had bared himself to Blake because he asked.
Because he knew he could. And that was a heady feeling.
He couldn’t stop thinking about that crochet hook. Would Gabriel crochet him a hat if he asked?