Nicholas Smith - Allegiance

“Where are the skinwalkers now?” X asked.

“Licking their wounds, but I have a feeling Horn will come for the throne once he recovers. Sofia overheard him saying that was his plan.”

“Let him come,” X said.

“There’s something else,” Les said.

X winced from a rush of pain and blinked away the dots in his vision.

“Timothy has been talking to the survivors we rescued,” Les said. “They know more about the defectors than we do.”

Static broke over the speakers, blocking the rest of the transmission.

“Les, come again,” X groaned.

The channel cleared, and Les came back online.

“I said these people know more about the defectors than we do,” he said, “and they claim to know how to shut them down.”

X’s shaking hand lowered the handset. He took a moment to think. Raising it back to his mouth felt like lifting a fifty-pound anchor.

“Is Tin there?” X asked.

“Yes, right here. Hold on.”

“X?” said a voice.

“Hey, kid, good to hear you.”

“You don’t sound so good,” Michael said.

“I’ve got a few more scars, but I’ll be fine.” He wanted to talk about Rhino, but couldn’t find the words to describe what had happened. “General Rhino didn’t make it.”

White noise filled the room.

“Michael,” X said.

“Yeah. Holy shit, X. What happened?”

“We averted a war.” X couldn’t say much more over the radio, and Michael must have sensed that.

“But there’s another war coming, kid,” X said. “A different kind of war that’s going to require Hell Divers.”

“We dive so humanity survives, always,” Michael said. “It’s what we do.”

The door to the command center opened, and Dr. Huff entered. X turned back to the radio, stars bursting across his vision like little bombs going off.

Samson bent down to grab the receiver. “I’ve got it, X,” he said.

“I got to go, Tin,” X managed to say. “I love you, Michael.”

“I love you, too, Xavier.”

Sloan and Huff helped X out of the chair while Samson sat back down at the radio equipment. Ton and Victor clasped forearms and carefully picked X up under his legs to carry him, and he finally let his body weight go while his burdened mind grappled with the future.

In a few short months, Layla and Michael would welcome Bray to the Vanguard Islands. There was a lot to do between now and then.

Rhino had given his life to help pave the way for peace. But more threats were closing in on their new home, and before X could face them, he had to rest and heal. He would need his strength more than ever for this next fight.

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Nicholas Sansbury Smithis the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Hell Divers series. His other work includes the Extinction Cycle series, the Trackers series, and the Orbs series. He worked for Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management in disaster planning and mitigation before switching careers to focus on his one true passion—writing. When he isn’t writing or daydreaming about the apocalypse, he enjoys running, biking, spending time with his family, and traveling the world. He is an Ironman triathlete and lives in Iowa with his wife, their dogs, and a house full of books.

Hell Divers

Hell Divers II: Ghosts

Hell Divers III: Deliverance

Hell Divers IV: Wolves

Hell Divers V: Captives

Hell Divers VI: Allegiance

Hell Divers VII(coming summer 2020)

Extinction Horizon

Extinction Edge

Extinction Age

Extinction Evolution

Extinction End

Extinction Aftermath

Extinction Lost(A Team Ghost short story)

Extinction War

Extinction Shadow

Extinction Inferno

Extinction Ashes(coming January 2020)

Trackers

Trackers 2: The Hunted

Trackers 3: The Storm

Trackers 4: The Damned

Solar Storms(An Orbs Prequel)

White Sands(An Orbs Prequel)

Red Sands(An Orbs Prequel)

Orbs

Orbs II: Stranded

Orbs III: Redemption

Orbs IV: Exodus

Don’t forget to sign up for Nicholas’ spam-free newsletter to learn more about future releases, how to claim a book patch, special offers, and bonus content. Subscribers will also recieve access to exclusive giveaways.

Copyright © 2019 by Nicholas Sansbury Smith

E-book published in 2019 by Blackstone Publishing

Cover illustration by K. Jones

Series design by Kathryn Galloway English

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

The characters and events in this book are fictitious.

Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

Trade e-book ISBN 978-1-5385-5718-1

Library e-book ISBN 978-1-5385-5717-4

Fiction / Science Fiction / Apocalyptic & Post-Apocalyptic

CIP data for this book is available from the Library of Congress

Blackstone Publishing

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Ashland, OR 97520

www.BlackstonePublishing.com