Avenger

Page

Avenger

ISBN # 978-1-78184-141-9

©Copyright Jambrea Jo Jones 2017

Cover Art by Posh Gosh ©Copyright October 2017

Edited by Sue Meadows

Pride Publishing

This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Pride Publishing.

Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Pride Publishing. Unauthorised or restricted acts in relation to this publication may result in civil proceedings and/or criminal prosecution.

The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork.

Published in 2017 by Pride Publishing, Think Tank, Ruston Way, Lincoln, LN6 7FL, UK

Pride Publishing is a subsidiary of Totally Entwined Group Limited.

Alliance

AVENGER

Jambrea Jo Jones

Book six in the Alliance series

Sometimes going back is all you can do…

Angel Carter doesn’t know why he kidnapped a criminal and fled the planet. He just knows that he’s confused and the man responsible is one Frank Morgan. His ship crashes, leaving them both stranded on Earth—a planet that is supposed to be free of people. A perfect hideout—or it was until he’s greeted by the natives.

Frank wanted to be free of a life of crime and made a deal to turn in his boss when things went crazy. He was injured in the process and woke up when the ship he was on crashed. He didn’t remember much—only now he’s in a jail cell with the very man he was supposed to be working with.

Will the past bring them their future?

Dedication

To family and loving them no matter what—yes, this includes Joy and Ive um…and all my online family. Just goes to show you that not all family has to have blood ties.

Chapter One

Angel Carter couldn’t believe his bad luck. It was supposed to be an easy assignment. But he should have known by now that nothing in his life was ever easy.

Buckle up, we’re about to crash. Angel glanced at Frank Morgan—his inside man on the deep undercover job had gone all to hell. Frank looked rough. His stubble had stubble and there were circles under his eyes. His short dark hair sticking up every which way and the white of the bandage on his side stood out against his skin. Angel hadn’t put a shirt on Frank. Angel licked his lips and he should’ve been ashamed of himself for being turned on when it appeared as if Frank had passed out from lack of blood.

He wasn’t sure if Frank had even heard him, the man had been loopy from the drugs. Getting shot would fuck anyone up. Angel didn’t know how he felt about Frank getting injured or why he felt the need to run when he should have stayed and helped his brother, Alphonse, but every instinct had screamed at him to get Frank and get off the planet. Now they were about to both go down in a hail of metal and fire. If the crash didn’t kill them, the re-entry into Earth just might.

But he was out of options. He was going to the one place he should be safe. Earth had been abandoned for decades after it had almost been destroyed. Reports showed it was liveable again, but the Alliance was keeping it under wraps for now. They wanted to get hard data before letting people re-inhabit the place.

He hoped to hell the reports were right because in T-Minus twenty minutes he was going to find out, first-hand, just how good the air quality was. Angel leaned over and strapped Frank in, taking a moment to caress his cheek. Damn this attraction he had to Frank. It was going to get them both killed—if the ship didn’t kill them first.

Erik…where…what…? Frank winced.

Angel wanted to apologize, but really…what could he say? It wasn’t his fault Frank had been involved in a lot of bad shit that had come back to bite him on the ass.

Frank, you shouldn’t call me that.

And he shouldn’t have said that. Frank knew Angel was undercover, but not his real name, and now there would be questions. He should have just left it alone. But no—they might die and he didn’t want to lie. Damn it. His timing sucked, but he had a strong pull toward the criminal and he wanted him something fierce.

Why? It’s your name. Frank blinked at him—he still seemed a bit out of it.

Not really.

Shit, shit, shit. Shut up, man!

Huh? Now Frank appeared confused on top of being hurt.

I’ll explain later. Angel tried to wave it off, but he’d got to know Frank somewhat during the investigation and the man wasn’t going to give up.

Just explain now. Frank bit down on his lip as the ship hit a bad run of turbulence.

They were going down fast. The outer shields were burning as they entered the atmosphere. Out of his peripheral vision he could see a blue glow—flames coming from somewhere. It didn’t look good. He had to switch to manual. The computer shut down—he wasn’t sure if that was from the heat inside or if it’d been hit.

My full name is Angel Erik Carter. You knew I was undercover. I try to stick as close to my name as possible. I used Erik Angel so people still call me Angel—well, except you. Makes it easier. Of course, now you know my last name and you can’t say anything. Not yet. There are too many—

Shit, Frank had passed out. His head listed to the side. Frank needed help and Angel wasn’t sure he’d be able to do much good with only basic medical skills. Fuck. Frank should be in a base hospital. Angel’s head was all screwed up. He needed to call Alphonse or his dad. Someone had to be able to help him.

The ship began to beep at him. Angel needed to get his head back into the game before the ship was completely wrecked. If the trajectory was just right the craft would be salvageable. A landing in a body of water might work if his maps on board were up to date. Angel always fell behind in getting his ship upgraded and not much of Earth’s terrain was known anymore, at least not by him. Their scientists hadn’t been out there for a really long time as far as Angel was aware. Of course, science wasn’t his forte.

Angel took a quick glance at his passenger. Was Frank getting pale, and was that blood seeping out of the bandage? Landing on an unpopulated planet with a man who could be dying, he’d been in worse situations, right? He could do this. Double damn.

The ship shook so badly Angel feared it would fall apart. Land was in view and there wasn’t a body of water in sight. Of course not. That would’ve made things easier for him. Angel pushed a couple of buttons and reversed thrusters, engaging his emergency landing gear. The Avenger made a god-awful screeching sound. Angel put up a quick prayer as the ship slammed into the ground. He jerked forward, his safety harness biting into his neck. His head hit the console and bounced back against his seat. He blinked as something warm and sticky slid down his face.

He used a hand to wipe it off. Blood. Just what he needed. What else could go wrong? Angel took a moment to collect his thoughts and catalogue any injuries he might have. He wasn’t feeling so hot and his head was spinning from the blow, but that seemed to be the extent of the damage to his person. Angel fumbled with his buckle but couldn’t seem to undo it—his hands kept slipping. He wiped them on his jeans.

An alarm buzzed through the ship. That should have happened sooner—like, on impact. His ship was fucked. Damn it. Smoke was starting to fill the bay. He needed to get up and see how Frank was.

Come out with your hands up.

Well, fuck.

Angel shouldn’t have said anything about shit getting worse, because when you put that out there—things went tits up. Earth shouldn’t be populated. Who were these people? Everyone was supposed to have been evacuated and there had been no reports of inhabitants. Frank wasn’t budging and there was no getting out of whatever was going to happen. Angel sighed and took off his harness. He rubbed his shoulder and moved closer to Frank.

I need you to wake up, Frank.

Frank just grunted.

Damn it, Frank, we’ve got a situation here. I need you to wake up.

He had no idea how long the people outside would give him before they stormed the ship. He needed Frank up and about. Angel hoped they had some sort of medical facility nearby.

Angel ran his hands over Frank’s chest and down his side, stopping at the bandage. It looked like the blood was flowing again but Angel knew it shouldn’t have been. Not if a normal laser had been used. It wasn’t a graze.

Frank moaned and something started banging against the hull of the ship. Angel shifted away from Frank and had to do something he usually didn’t do—hope for