Fireteam Delta by J. Halpin (ebook reader that looks like a book txt) 📕

She looked tired. They’d been hauling ass down the road ever since the refugees had mentioned an army nearby. The last thing the caravan wanted was to deal with soldiers, and with a group as large as theirs, a small party could easily catch up if they weren’t careful. But she still hadn’t missed a single one of Summers’ lessons.

Synel spoke to Asle, the two talking back and forth. The cadence was so fast that Summers couldn’t quite grasp the meaning, so he waited for the girl to translate—something that was happening less and less these days.

Asle, for her part, had really stepped up her game in these lessons. Summers was by no means a clever man. In fact, he was a dumbass grunt through and through, with maybe a touch more common sense than average. But between the private tutoring and Asle’s explanations afterward, the language lessons were really starting to show results.

“She’s . . . she wants to be alone with you. So . . . goodbye.” Asle nodded before turning to leave.

Summers blinked a few times as he watched her push the flap to Synel’s private tent closed.

It took a moment before he realized what was happening. And he was pretty certain that if leaving your barely fluent friend alone with a beautiful woman could be called betrayal, this would definitely qualify.

Summers immediately went into full-on panic mode. Synel had moved toward a chest at the back of the tent.

“It’s getting late. I shouldn’t keep you up.”

Synel placed a glass full of brownish liquid in front of him. It smelled vaguely fruity.

Oh, thank God. It was liquor.

She gave Summers a vaguely hurt look, cupping the glass in front of her in both hands.

“It’s crass to drink alone. I’d hoped you could keep me company for a few more minutes.”

Synel was a lithe woman, and a smart one. Probably smarter than him, as a given. If this was her big play at him, he had no doubt she’d feign offense at any excuse he’d use to get out.

And so, Summers had no choice but to raise his glass in response.

"I'd love to."

Synel was smarter, but there was something that Summers figured she didn’t account for: the fact he had about sixty pounds on her. So, the solution seemed obvious.

He’d drink her under the table.

<<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>>

Summers awoke in a daze several hours later. He looked down to see that his pants were not where he’d left them. Neither was his shirt, or his boxers.

He was completely naked, covered in furs, and lying beside an equally bare Synel.

Her hand was laying against his head, gently stroking his ears.

His very human ears.

Summers had seriously fucked up.

Chapter 17: Trigger Discipline

Asle breathed heavily. Cortez didn’t give her a chance to rest, however. She launched toward the girl. Asle tried to dodge out of the way, but Cortez was fast. Her hand snapped out, grabbing Asle’s shoulder and throwing her roughly to the ground. She was on Asle in the next instant, grasping for the gun at Asle’s side.

Asle saw the move coming and reared her head back. She slammed it forward, catching Cortez with the top of her head.

“Ow, you little bitch!” Cortez recovered almost instantly, but in that short reprieve, Asle had already leveled the barrel of her pistol at Cortez’s chest.

“Bang?” Asle pressed the gun into Cortez’s sternum, still gasping for breath.

“Good.” Cortez sat up, letting Asle to her feet. “One more time, and fair warning: I’m done going easy.”

“How about you let her rest a second?” Logan stepped forward. “Training’s good, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not like she’s going to be going hand-to-hand with anyone anytime soon.”

“Oh no. An adult gets in there, she’s already fucked. Not the point.” Cortez moved to the opposite side of the small clearing they were using as an improvised training area. “It’s about muscle memory. Draw, point, shoot. Can’t have her freezing up when we’re playing for keeps.”

“She’s still a kid,” Logan pointed out. “Not a soldier.”

“And she’ll bleed like anyone else.”

The two started arguing quietly. Asle was only half listening as she took the time to collect herself. She knew Logan meant well, but Cortez was smart, too. Normally, Nowak would be there to give the final say, but he had taken guard duty. So, she’d just let them figure out what was best.

As Asle looked around, she saw Beorn and Erne in the distance watching her. They’d been doing that more and more lately, though they’d never been allowed to watch target practice. The others didn’t want to show the “powers” that were keeping the rest of the caravan at arm’s length, and they were afraid it would stir up some bad memories for the family.

They weren’t wrong. It had been like that for Asle at first, too. But she was better now. Asle still felt like Beorn knew what the weapon was, at least. She saw fear in his eyes whenever his eyes caught it.

Erne must have seen her looking their way. She waved. Asle managed to compose herself long enough to return the gesture, still trying to stay ready in case Cortez tried to surprise her.

As she did, she saw Summers in the distance, walking slowly toward them. He was looking right at her.

And he didn’t look as happy as she would have expected.

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“It was the most awkward pillow talk in my fucking life. She thinks we’re like, some screwed-up version of their demigods. At least, that’s what I think she was saying,” Summers explained to the others. “It didn’t help that my interpreter left me!”

“Okay, she is not sticking around for that,” Logan shot back.

“I didn’t mean—” Summers put his face in his hands. “You know what