Page 1 of Raven's Curse
Prologue
Eastern Europe
Classified rescue mission
Five years ago…
“Thirty seconds to infil. We’ve got massive resistance so, we’re going in hot.”
Chase Remington shifted in beside his buddies as Foster Beckett’s voice sounded through his comm unit. Though, for Foster to comment on the conditions, the situation had to be worse than usual. Which meant their intel had been lacking. Again.
Zain Everett and Kash Sinclair — along with Kash’s partner, a feisty German Sheperd named Nyx, strapped to his chest — moved in beside him. Chase shook his head. And Kash thought Chase was crazy carrying his medic bag.
The helicopter swooped in low, rotors thundering through the night, nothing but a hint of moonlight guiding their way. The doors slid open, a mix of mountain air and incoming rain spilling into the cabin. A thick canopy of trees rushed beneath them, the tops black against the indigo sky.
Foster banked the chopper, skimming the treetops before the forest disappeared, the off-grid compound rising before them like a monolith. A large wall surrounded the collection of buildings, smoke rising from a couple chimneys.
He didn’t slow, eating up the distance before flaring off the speed — bringing the machine into a high hover. Dust kicked up beneath them, their ropes snapping in the downwash as they dropped out of the chopper, the ends pooling on the roof of the building.
Green tracer fire streaked across the sky as gunfire popped through the air. Bullets ricocheted off the struts, their gunner, Rhett Oliver, returning fire.
Rhett waved them on. “Get your asses out the damn door before they’re filled with lead.”
Zain rolled his eyes, then leaped out, racing down the line face first — firing off rounds as he went. He hit the clay tiles all of five seconds later, Kash a step behind him. Chase brought up the rear, boots slamming against the rooftop, the rope slipping free as Rhett reeled it back in. Chase scoured the area for wounded, the voice inside his head poking at him. Based on the amount of resistance, he doubted the mission would go off without injuries.
Zain took up his position as overwatch, already scoping the area as Chase and Kash dropped to the ground, his buddy catching Nyx as she followed him off the roof. Alpha team waved them over, two of the Green Berets taking point. Laying down cover fire as Chase and Kash closed in. After a few hand signals, they took off, hoofing it across an open stretch, then behind one of the peripheral structures. Some kind of shed that creaked as the chopper roared overhead, banking hard to the right before disappearing into the night.
Master Sergeant Eric Dalton, Alpha’s squad leader, wove his way across the compound, stopping at the main building. A red door sat recessed amidst the wood and stone, the frame giving against the force of Dalton’s boot.
He grabbed a canister off his vest, then chucked it inside. The grenade skipped across the floor, each impact sending out a tiny vibration. It spun to a halt, everything freezing for one agonizing moment before it detonated.
Lights and sound filled the air, smoke billowing out the end. Shouts rose above the ear-piercing wail as people poured out of the rooms, barely taking a couple steps before crumpling.
Dalton twirled his finger, and his team exploded into the building, night vision goggles covering their eyes, rifles notched in their shoulders. Quick, sharp bursts echoed through the space, scattering anyone not already down. Chase followed suit, the night vision’s eerie green hue painting the interior. They swept through the main section and continued down a long hallway, clearing rooms, then moving ahead. Chase covered their six, gun at his shoulder, ready to charge ahead if anyone got hit.
Dust filtered through the air, glowing in the soldiers’ small beams cutting through the darkness. Boots tapped the floor as the men entered a large area, photos and maps pinned to the far wall. Kash jogged ahead, giving Nyx enough slack to work the room. She stopped at a shelving unit, then pawed at the floor, glancing up at Kash.
“Good girl.” Kash reeled her in as Dalton and his weapons’ specialist, Caleb Rios, shouldered up.
They muscled the shelf to the side, exposing a thick, metal door. Some C4 tacked to the hinges, and the door exploded, clattering to the floor as more smoke filled the air. Shouts echoed from inside, the hostages clutching each other as the team swooped in.
Chase gave them a quick once-over, bodily lifting one woman who wouldn’t budge, gaze fixed straight ahead. Clothes torn. Alpha’s medic, Royce Carver, hiked the woman onto his shoulder, following the rest of his team back through the corridors as Chase swept behind them.
Rios veered off at the next junction, covering an adjoining hallway when gunfire erupted from the shadows, catching Rios in the neck. He fell hard, blood arcing off the ceiling and walls, his legs spasming.
Chase took off a heartbeat later, vaulting over a chair before sliding under more rounds. Two seconds flat, and he had his hand cinched around the wound, his bag spread out beside him. Bullets whizzed past, hitting an inch from his head, kicking up bits of wood as they pinged off the floor and walls.
He kept working, clamping off one of the bleeders before packing the whole mess with sponges and gauze — prepping Rios for medevac. More gunfire erupted in the next room, shouts and grunts prickling the hairs on Chase’s neck when his comm unit clicked.
Zain’s voice crackled over the line, steady. Unyielding. “Enemy reinforcements inbound. Get the lead out.”
Chase tied off the bandages, packed up his bag, then lifted the man fireman style, weapon still grasped in one hand. He booked it down the hallway and out the door, scouring the landscape.
The hostages stumbled their way across the grounds, Kash and the others picking up any stragglers. Chase trailed after them, Marcus Hodges, Alpha’s comm tech, guarding his six. Keeping a path open as they raced for the landing zone.
Gravel crunched in the distance, those reinforcements bumping along the main road — headlights slicing through the darkness. His teammates angled right, staying on the periphery, Zain picking off anyone trying to flank them.
Chase sped up, Rios groaning with every jostle when a band of hostiles stepped out of the shadows, rifles spitting out rounds.
