Part One
“A period of adjustment is always required during a change in leadership, but not everyone can afford the lost time. That’s when you discover if they’re worth following at all.” –Adrian Mitchel
Prologue
The war has begun to change us.
The mental cliffs we’ve been forced to leap–the horrors that we now hold inside–are nothing compared to the physical evolutions. We’re harder, stronger, more determined, but also weaker because we need each other so much more. It creates vulnerabilities.
We’re angrier, as well. We know the government survived and that we’ll have to fight them to remain free. We’ve faced slavers and nature, direct attacks from crazed refugees, and personal hatred inside our own borders, but all of that was to prepare us for this moment. We represent what’s left of the great American herd.
And I’m scared.
They are going to come for him–these people will know everything in a short time–and Adrian will be unprotected except for the Eagles. That won’t be enough to defeat the government. If they get ahold of Adrian, the entire world will finish falling. His powers are so magnetic that he could be used to draw in every gifted person on the planet. With all that light gone, all that hope, our civilization will crumble.
I have to ask something of my Brady, something that will torture him. I need him to share his strength and help me save the man he wants to kill.
Chapter One
Concentrated Chaos
June 30, 2013
Toltec State Park
Scott, AR
1
Angela closed the notebook and slid it under her mattress. It was actually Adrian’s and the entry was her first. The log of personal thoughts and camp plans had been exhausting to skim. She was both dreading and anticipating exploring it in depth, though that would take a while. The large stack of notebooks, ten of them, had been inside the tent when she and Marc had come here from the shower.
Angela flushed as she flashed to Marc on top of her, shuddering in pleasure. He’d taken her three more times during the night, as if he couldn’t get enough, and for every time he’d exploded, so had she.
Angela felt her body wake at the memory. What a difference! She’d enjoyed him as a teenager and their recent playing had been fun, but this...this was something that would tighten their bonds every time it happened.
He’s awake.
Angela winced at the note of tired anger in the mental message. She’d put Charlie on the medical tent last night to monitor things, and she had no doubt that he now knew of Adrian’s desires.
Thanks.
Okay to go? He’s too weak to block and I need a break.
Yes. Get some sleep.
Yeah, that’ll happen now.
Angela determinedly took a few more minutes for herself instead of rushing to comfort or cover. Charlie would be upset for a while, but he would realize what everyone else who found out did–that she didn’t want Adrian. She had Marc. Nothing could compare to that.
Body lighting up, Angela glanced over at the naked man sleeping next to her. Even relaxed, he put off an air of menace.
And that comforts me, she thought.
Marc rolled over, exposing a bare chest and faint nail marks. Angela blushed, drawn instantly into the memory of putting them there. Straddling Marc had been educational, to say the least. The witch had healed his mauled wrist and she’d held him while he groaned her name.
“If you keep throwing out that vibe, you’ll start me up.”
Angela flushed darker. “Maybe I meant to...”
“Come here.”
Marc’s husky voice sent a chill down her spine and Angela did as she was told.
Marc felt warm skin settle next to his, a slightly rough leg draping over his thigh, and tugged her closer. Even dreaming, there was no mistaking that smell, and in here, there were no rules to follow, no fears to conquer. He was allowed to take what he wanted.
And what do you want? the lusty voice inside asked. What way would you have it?
Marc slid his hands around and under, moving closer. Together.
The demon agreed eagerly. That fit with his plans.
Marc nuzzled her cheek, inhaling deeply. “Mm. You smell good for a dream.”
Marc’s hand went to her hip, rolling her onto her other side and he slid tightly up against her. He curled one thick arm under, hand cupping her breast. The other went over her hip and pulled her against him. The feel was enough to bring Marc close to the edge.
He put her leg over his hip and readjusted so that he was pressed tightly against her thighs. When he slid his hand to the slick flesh between her legs, her body arched against him and he pushed inside.
“Mm...”
“Oh...”
Marc didn’t waste time. He brought her right to that edge with his finger strokes and held himself on it as he thrust in and out. The fit from this angle was amazing. Pleasure seared him and his balls grew heavy.
His fingers stroked her faster, pressing harder, and she arched in climax, body clamping down.
Marc let go of his control, shoving forward to explode inside her willing body.
Angela’s groans and the nails digging into his wrist were the first signs of reality that registered. Still shooting into her with nerve tingling jerks, others followed in rapid succession. Tangled hair around his hand, tight body, sore muscles... Marc hurriedly pulled out, and was unable to stop from covering his ass. He pushed against hers and rode out the rest of the intense pulses. Maybe she wouldn’t notice.
Marc groaned as she pushed back and sent a fresh rush of pleasure through them both. She definitely wouldn’t if he shoved her over the rainbow again.
Marc sent his hands to her sensitive flesh, pushing away the guilt. What were the odds that she’d get pregnant again from the first time? There was no way fate would hit them that way twice in the same lifetime.
2
Duty pulled Marc from Angela’s hot arms just as dawn arrived. No one came to get him, but the alarm in his mind said the camp was stirring.
Marc eased off the air mattress and pulled the blanket up to Angela’s shoulders as she snuggled into the warm spot he’d left. He stole a minute of staring at her before pulling on his jacket and boots, and quietly leaving, zipping up the tent behind him. He hoped everyone would give her a few more hours rest, but knew it was unlikely when he spotted Kyle and Daryl nearby.
The two men didn’t speak to him as he went toward the little mess for coffee, and Marc understood they were her protection.
Marc turned to verify it and found both men now standing outside Angela’s flap, their backs to it and hands on holsters.
He grunted unhappily.
Marc went to John first, avoiding Adrian’s bedside. Deathbed, his mind whispered.
Marc knew Adrian wasn’t better when John came to meet him at the flap. After quick eye contact with the other wounded men, a nod to Anne, and a fast glance at the curtains shielding Adrian, they walked outside.
Adrian’s fever had risen as the infection grew. Around daylight, he’d begun to rant and toss. John had put up a partition to give privacy and then sedated him, sure that Adrian wouldn’t want his men to view him that way. Even Adrian’s tattoos were paler, not as striking with him in that cot, and a leader wasn’t supposed to appear so easy a target. There was little John could do but hope the antibiotics would smother the infection. The Eagles didn’t like their leader being brought down. John loathed it.
Marc’s heart was heavy as he went toward the main camp. What would they do without Adrian? He realized he’d finally caught what was going around and found only a sad bitterness. Adrian was the reason they’d come together. Son of a bitch or not, nothing would be the same if he were taken.
His radio crackled. “Mitch is waking up.”
“Copy,” Marc answered. He was nearby.
After three full days of drinking at the table, Mitch was looking and smelling rough. Every time he’d tried to get up, he’d been told to keep drinking, that it was his exit party from Safe Haven. Violence hadn’t been required to keep their former radioman at the table–his addiction had done that. Mitch had a monkey on his back that most of them doubted could be unloaded.
Marc slid onto the damp bench as their former radioman raised his head.
“Morning,” he called cheerfully.
Mitch flinched from the loud word. “Whass?”
Marc motioned Li Sing forward. “How about something to drink? That always helps, right?”
Mitch stared in baleful confusion. He barely remembered passing out here, but Brady’s friendliness was still bright in his mind.
Marc tilted the cool beer up and let half of it roll down, controlling his stomach.
Mitch again chose the whiskey instead of beer, and the two men spent a quiet moment of silence–one drinking, one thinking. Around them, the camp went about morning rituals, while in the crowded QZ, there was almost no movement.
Marc waited for Mitch to become alert and then glassy, for the bloom of roses to come into his cheeks. When he saw those signs, Marc switched from friend to teacher.
“The boss man wants you gone. On your own.”
Marc didn’t react to the immediate promises and denials. He told only the truth. “Someone else has your job, Mitch, your place. You’re at zero again because of a drinking problem that has endangered Safe Haven more than once. You have no value to Adrian anymore.”
Mitch dropped his eyes, telling Marc he’d already figured that out for himself.
“Matt will stay here.”
Mitch began to cry big drunk tears, the kind that quickly soaked everything under them. “Thank you for giving him another chance!”
Marc blinked. There was a real person inside of Mitch. It was another insight he hadn’t agreed with upon hearing the plan, but Adrian was apparently able to get deeper.
That’s why he was born–to be a leader, the demon inside stated firmly. It’s also why he’s damned. Few would recognize so deep a secret without actually being there. He’s gone through this himself–all of it.
Marc shook off the eerie thought that followed: We all have. He got back to helping Mitch. “Adrian thinks you’ll die out there. It’s why no order came down on you. Is that true, Hopkins?”
The whiskey opened Mitch’s mouth. “I survived before. I will now, too.”
“That’s what I told him,” Marc stated.
Mitch stared in sudden suspicion. “You don’t like me. You never have.”
“Like? No. Believe you can reform? That’s different. Matt is a good kid without a man in his life to teach him right from wrong. I’m going to help straighten him out. I suspect you’re raising him like your father, and that’s the problem. While I’m helping Matt, I can do the same for you.” Marc sat back. “Or you’ll be gone by sundown.”
Mitch wanted to take the offer, but he was sure it would be hard. The man inside was shouting, wanting to fight over the insulting truths, but the alcohol was calling louder.
Marc took another short drink of his sweaty beer, guts rumbling in protest. “Mm. I have one or two a week, but I always want more.”
Mitch stared, trying to process what that meant.
Marc sighed regretfully, aware that he had attention now. “But I won’t be drunk on duty, not ever.”
He dumped the remaining beer onto the ground near the table.
Mitch got the point, and it wasn’t enough. He flushed, but didn’t answer, didn’t even consider doing the same with his own.
Marc tossed out one of his secrets with a sense of relief. “I used to be a drinker, too–a heavy one. It got me in trouble, cost me things I loved.”
Mitch gaped in surprised. “You’re a alcoholic!”
Brady gave an embarrassed shrug. “Like most of us, I hate that word, Mitch.”
It made Mitch believe. No one else but a fellow addict would know how dirty that word made a person feel. “Me, too.”
Marc stood up, stomach rolling over. “Finish that bottle–enjoy it. When it’s gone, either go get a shower and a lot of coffee, or say goodbye to your son and get out of this camp. It’s your choice, but make it now or I’ll do it for you.”
Marc quickly got out of sight and hearing distance, before allowing himself a minute to vomit. His CO had given him a much harsher lesson than the one Mitch was receiving, making him drink from dawn to dawn for three days straight. By morning three, only the hits had kept him swallowing. As a result, Marc now loathed any type of alcohol on an empty stomach.
This was a worthy reason to do it, though. Angie wanted Mitch to stay and learn to be a father. Marc would try to make it happen.
3
Stepping out into dawn’s cloudy chill, Angela spotted Kyle lingering nearby. He clearly hadn’t gone to bed yet. The mobster looked as bleary as she felt.
“Get some rest soon.”
Kyle didn’t answer and she didn’t push further. He knew his limits better than most men.
“Got a minute?” Marc asked, coming around the Safe Haven side of the mess.
Angela slowed, but kept going. “Not really. Walk with me.”
Marc fell in. “What’s the hurry?”
“Adrian’s awake, delivering instructions.”
Marc forced himself to sound as if he liked being in charge. “I need some things from you.”
“Like what?”
“Don’t know what to tell people about Conner, for starters. All this chaos for one kid is being openly questioned.”
Angela went to Kevin, who was on duty over the first truck. Kevin had become Mitch’s buddy in the com truck and the two men loathed each other. With Kevin working for her now, Mitch would have only a rookie as his buddy again and none of them liked it. Kevin being there to keep him sober had been important.
“I need security put on Matt. Cynthia is in here with me. You’ll need to cover the shifts for each person you move around.”
Kevin’s gaze went straight to the new patch of gray showing from the side of her ponytail.
It’s noticeable. Damn. Angela gave Kevin a short headshake.
The Eagle understood that she didn’t want anyone to know the effects of using so much magic. Wondering if the sharp man at her side had missed it, Kevin took out the notebook that Adrian had given him not long before they’d gone into that cursed city. He wrote as he spoke. “I’ll have those things taken care of.”
Angela sent him a silent request. How long? I need it before… I need it soon.
The Eagle immediately vowed to work diligently on the mental lessons he was going to be a part of when he reached the next level. If they were still together for it. “Fifteen minutes.”
Angela felt Kevin’s silent despair and refused to offer false comfort over their future. “Good.”
She went toward the shower camper.
“Angie.”
Hearing Marc’s growing angst, she grunted, “Give me some time to get him settled. For now, he’s the only survivor from Little Rock that we were able to bring out with us. The other kids were killed. They can know that much.”
Angela got a chill as Marc wrote down her instructions. Why?
Adrian answered, It means he knows that you’re my replacement, that not following, or forgetting, even a single order would be a grave mistake to your relationship.
Marc was frowning deeply, but not allowing anger to take control. He hadn’t noticed her gray curls in the tent shadows, but out here, it was clear that something was going on with her.
“Are you okay?”
“No, but at least I’m not dying. What else do you need from me?”
Marc wasn’t ready to start a fight. He’d expected to be blown off. “Mostly, to know how Adrian’s going to be in front of the camp, so I can get it ready.”
“With my help and good, old fashioned drugs. I’ve got that covered.”
“Why am I still in charge and not Kenn?” Marc hadn’t meant to ask, but he didn’t call it back.
“Kenn’s busy,” Angela hedged. She couldn’t spare the time to convince Brady. She was still working on herself.
“Kenn could have been done, cleared, and out of here by now. Adrian didn’t want that. Why?” Marc protested as they neared the guard on the shower.
Stalling, Angela viewed Doug and the arm she’d put in a cast and sling last night. “Are you sure you should be working already?”
Doug’s demeanor was one of grief. “Couldn’t stay in there anymore. And you need me here.”
“Yes, I do.”
She was also sure the quick visit she’d allowed from Peggy and Maria’s sons had strengthened the need to be out. Roy and Romeo were a constant sight. The camp had accepted them, but Doug had come to love them.
“Kenn will be running defense–sure he was sent away, and eager to take control,” Angela stated tiredly. “He and most of the camp expected it to be given to him. When Kenn finds out, I may need Eagles to assist me–men I can trust, and who can trust me. Is that possible?”
Doug’s tone was satisfied. “Absolutely.” His gaze flicked to Marc’s glowering face briefly, questioning.
Angela gave her approval silently. With care. He’s already boiling
“Adrian told us to follow you, not Kenn, if anything happened. He said for us to make Kenn fall in line behind you–where he belongs.”
Angela knew what Adrian expected her to do in this moment, but she’d never guessed that he had taken it so far as to set it all up with his Eagles.
“I didn’t know.”
“There was no need to upset everyone, but he was adamant that you would protect our lives better because…”
“Because of my gifts,” she tried to finish, a bit bitterly.
Doug’s brows furrowed. “Because you value us the way he does. He even said…” Doug stopped, glance flicking to Marc again. He gave her the rest of it silently.
He said in another lifetime, you would have been given this duty first, not him, and that he would have been honored to follow you.
Marc studied them with a feeling of loneliness that he hated. Here it was, the ‘only for the boss’ shit. Now, there would always be secrets between them, new walls. Because she would throw her heart into this. Adrian would have known that.
Angie’s the CO now, his sharp mind whispered. Where do I rank?
Marc walked away, drawing Angela’s attention. “Hey. Don’t you need an answer?”
Marc stopped, but didn’t face her. “I have it now. Kenn’s not in the picture anymore and no one knows it, not even him.” Marc scowled deeper. “That’s why Adrian set me up in the cage! He needed them all to know that I’m hard enough for this place. He knew this was coming.”
Angela stiffened her shoulders, doing what she had to. “Say it. Try it on for size.”
Marc delivered an angry glower over his shoulder. “I’m tending the herd until you’re caught up enough to handle both sides of the tape. I’m Safe Haven’s new XO.”
Angela gave him a charged look of understanding, worry, and personal elation. “Congratulations.”
Not wanting to embarrass either of them, Marc marched toward the big camp, slightly shocked at receiving the position without ever expecting it. He was also furious at Adrian for giving him this when he held such deep a hatred for the man.
“Call me if you need anything.”
Angela didn’t have time for his self-righteous anger. The weight settling onto her was far heavier than any she’d ever carried. She was in charge of Safe Haven. This was her camp.
Angela met Doug’s gaze. “I will do everything I can to keep Adrian alive and here. I don’t want his place.”
“That’s why we’ll follow you.” Doug already knew that, and had no problem working under female leadership. He was only glad that it was a good morning for him–no shakes or extra bathroom trips to be noticed by John’s strict, early release observation rules.
Behind Doug, senior Eagles began to appear in the early morning shadows, showing their unity. Team leaders and XOs came, giving their support, their loyalty. Their thoughts rang in her heart, held her up under the weight of the role she’d been given.
He was right to choose you.
We trust you to protect his dreams.
Angela let a single tear trace her cheek and quickly scrubbed it from sight.
4
Angela found Neil waiting nearby and understood the switch would be done openly and all while Kenn was gone. Adrian was a genius. How would she ever do this so well?
Neil approached her firmly, and Angela tried not to let it bother her that small populations of the waking camp were now staring at them in nervous groups from the tape. She would learn and so would they.
“Got a few things for you,” Neil said with forced casualness. “First, you’ll wear this at all times, keep it under your pillow during sleep.”
He helped her put Adrian’s cleaned radio and belt on, and then handed her a small box with a snap lid.
“This is an alarm. Open it for a smoke, and we know to come quietly.”
“I’ve had the course on protecting him, Neil,” Angela grunted, almost frozen with pain. “I know what it’s for.”
She shoved it impatiently into her pocket, adjusted the set, and keyed the mic. She let go just as fast. “What god-awful name did you guys pick?”
Neil’s lips twitched in the barest of smirks. “We stuck with his.”
Angela snorted without amusement. “Raven to Kyle. I need a gopher for the main medical tent.”
“Copy.”
She glanced at Neil in annoyance. “Next?”
She reminded him so strongly of Marc on his second day in Safe Haven that the trooper smiled despite the heaviness in his heart. “Questions. You provide the answers.”
Angela planted her feet, as she’d seen Adrian do so many times, and found the stance almost comfortable. He’d given her a hard duty and she would prove his trust. “Hit me. I can take it.”
At the moment, Neil had little doubt. The waves of determination rolling from her were strong enough to bolster his own lagging faith.
“First is camp security. Stays doubled?”
“Yes.”
“We’re taking in new arrivals, even though we know they might be assassins?”
“Yes. Myself, Charlie, or Jennifer–in that order–will go through them. If we’re all busy, then they wait.”
Neil hoped that would be a standard now. They couldn’t take any more chances, not with the government coming.
Subtly reading those closest to her, Angela opened a fresh layer of concern.
“It won’t be just him, Neil. They know about Conner, and about me. One careless slip or forced conversation, and we’re on their radar for Jennifer and Sam, as well.”
“They’ll take all of you!” Neil realized, horrified.
“Yes,” Angela confirmed. “And then kill the others here. It’s what you do when there’s an outbreak.”
“Otherwise it spreads,” Neil stated angrily.
“Yes, but they don’t understand that the dream of freedom doesn’t belong to one man or even an entire camp. It’s a birthright and we’ll never stop fighting.” She glanced around, including the nervously listening Eagles. “They’re not taking anyone from this camp. I’ll die first.”
Neil held out the notebook for her to read the next item on his list.
Where does she stand on the Gov issue?
Angela took his pen and quickly scratched two words.
With Adrian.
Neil slid the notebook into his pocket and waved Zack over. “He’s your personal shadow for the day. If you don’t see him, even for an instant, trigger your alarm.”
Before she could question, Neil motioned to an Eagle in the trees that she couldn’t identify from where they stood.
“That’s Shawn. He’s your sniper today–fresh out of Brady’s class and eager to pull the trigger. If you don’t want them shot, stay out of reach of all new people.”
Angela agreed curtly. “What else?”
“Kevin will go over a couple things, and then you’ll be on your own.”
Kevin immediately asked what many were already wondering. “You’ve chosen Marc as your XO?”
“Adrian gave him that place,” Angela sent back quickly. “I didn’t argue.”
Neil hid a smirk at the prepared answer and gestured for Kevin to continue. He was getting a crash course on being an assistant to someone in the chain of command. Neil and Kyle had gotten their lessons from Kenn and hated every minute of it. Kevin’s would be better, though certainly not easier considering the circumstances.
“We realize you’ve had...”
“I realize,” Neil corrected without the malice that had always layered Kenn’s teaching moments. “The slot comes with the blame, as well as the fame.”
Kevin cleared his throat. “I realize you’ve had almost no time to adjust, but the faster you settle three things, the easier this camp will run for you.”
Angela liked it that she wasn’t the only one unsure exactly what to do. She answered reasonably. “You tell me, I’ll argue, and we’ll go from there.”
Kevin blinked. “Uh, yeah. Okay.” He cleared his throat again. “Your chain of command, your rules and punishments, and a meeting where you tell the camp those things.”
Angela raised a brow. “What’s the third?”
Kevin made a face. “That was all three.”
Angela was eager to rise to the challenge she’d been gifted with. “Picking and then telling the camp are on the same ticket. The second is getting the camp to approve my choices. What’s the third?”
Neil was impressed. He and Kyle had thrown that in with no real hopes that she’d catch it due to their clever wording. “Third is following through–getting it to all work.”
“Do you know how you’re going to get their approval?” Kevin asked.
Angela peered toward the medical tent, able to feel Adrian listening–hanging on to a temporary alertness so that he could hear her say she had it covered. He was ready to give up.
Yes, the witch confirmed. He brought Conner here and gave you control. He will not keep fighting without a goal...and those who cannot find hope will not survive.
It was a mirror of what the witch had told her in Ohio. Angela glanced at the men waiting nervously for her answer. “No, I don’t.”
She retreated before they could respond. Of course, she knew how to do it. She had to save Adrian’s life, lead Safe Haven to the mountains, and start settling them inside. During that time, she also had to convince the camp to accept the magic in their midst and help fight the government troops that would come.
Kevin’s face was red as he caught up. “Sorry about that. I didn’t know they were testing you.”
Angela shrugged. “They got you too, rookie.”
“Yeah,” he grunted. “This is all new. I never thought they’d recommend me for this.”
“Recommend? I get a choice?”
“Sure. Neil said you’d probably let Brady know who you prefer for your...” Kevin paused, unsure what place he’d been shoved into.
“Personal assistant to the leader of Safe Haven Refugee Camp,” Angela filled in the title with grave pride.
Kevin’s mind went to places he knew better than to mourn. Those days would come around again. They were working hard on it even now.
“I won’t be mad if you let me go for Kyle or Jeremy, or someone who already knows how the inside stuff works,” he blurted suddenly.
From that, Angela understood that Kevin had been given the chance at a place all the men would want. He was being rewarded for his steadfast performance in Little Rock, she was sure, but there was a feeling that it might be more.
“I mean it. I won’t be mad. I don’t have enough experience for this.”
“That makes two of us,” she stated.
Angela ducked into the medical tent and went to Adrian, ignoring all those observing her. There were only Eagles in this tent–plus John, Anne, and Conner. The time for hiding what she was, at least with this group, was over.
Angela raised a hand over Adrian’s feverish body and the witch scanned him.
Dying, came the prompt answer. Poison and infection.
I have to have Adrian. I can’t do this without his guidance.
You know the price?
I do.
And you pay it willingly?
Marc will be Charlie’s lifeline?
Yes. Fathers have the same gifts.
And Adrian’s right about what he put in the notebook? That...Marc’s been lying to himself and everyone else?
Yes.
Then save Adrian. If the need ever comes, Marc will cover Charlie.
As you wish.
Now?
You haven’t recovered enough. Another twelve hours.
He may not have that long.
Adrian didn’t wake, but she sensed he wasn’t so far under that she couldn’t reach him. How long would it hold?
Angela turned toward the cooler and got a bottle of water. The more she drank, the faster the chemicals would leave her system.
She searched herself briefly over the choice to save Adrian and found only a strange chill that hadn’t been there before. She should be devastated that Marc had lied, but she wasn’t, hadn’t been even from the instant she’d read that curtly scribbled paragraph.
For personal reasons, I’ve chosen not to tell her what Marc’s hiding. When she runs that blue glow through the filters, does she miss the meaning intentionally? I wonder if she hasn’t known all along and allowed him to hide it because she knows what an ugly burden it is to be born this way.
Yes, she did understand the price of power, but that wasn’t how it had happened. Until Safe Haven, she hadn’t suspected at all. Once here, though, Marc had fit Adrian’s leadership profile a bit too closely to be overlooked by the boss man. That had been her first clue–that Adrian found Marc useful enough to take advice and use him in FND work. Then, she’d noticed Marc’s way with the camp women, heard him using it. Moments from their childhood had flashed her to the magic they’d always shared, to how he’d always understood her so well. By the time the glow had happened, it had only been confirmation.
Dribbling water, Angela wiped her mouth and mind clear as John joined her. She had work to do. Speculation and conversation would keep.
“Have him ready to go out for evening mess and then get him prepped. Wait as long as you can to call me. I still have drugs in my blood that will interfere.”
“Can we get another water truck and two more tents set up? A few of the patients can be switched out to give privacy and space,” John suggested.
Thrilled to be getting a cover story with the request, Angela was able to sound almost cheerful. “You, doctor, can have about anything you want.” She hated witnesses.
John grunted, unable to play along. “How about the cure for Cancer?”
Angela viewed him in dismay. “It’s back? Already?”
John took off his glasses, rubbing restlessly at the frame. “This is a particularly aggressive type. The chemicals we’re absorbing are feeding it, I think.”
Angela asked the question that now mattered most to her. “How many people in camp have terminal cancers?”
John didn’t meet her observant stare. “More than a dozen, with twice that many suspected.”
“Oh, my god!” she whispered in horror. Was this covered in one of Adrian’s notebooks? “That’s like...that’s...”
“Almost a sixth of them.”
Angela turned to stare toward the camp that she could hear now waking. One in six. There was no way she could help them all.
“He said to tell you not to drown in the bad–to swim through it.”
Angela tried to breathe normally. She wasn’t drowning in pity–she was furious. How dare fate take yet another cut!
John’s hand on her arm was a warm comfort that she shrugged off. “I’ll work on it. You’ll have him ready?”
“For both appointments.” John slid his glasses on. “You know he’ll be groggy and in pain. They might see through his act.”
Angela sighed, moving for the flap to relay the doctor’s needs to Kevin. “Yes. I also know Adrian would rather be with his people than anywhere else. He’ll pull strength from their joy. They won’t know, but they’ll be the ones who really save him.”
Angela ducked out of the medical flap with guilt and anger warring for room in her heart. They had five men inside with serious gunshot wounds, one with a high fever of unknown origin, and three with minor bone breaks. It had been a rough mission. Twenty-four confident, eager men had gone into that city with her. That number had come out, but none of them was the same.
“What should I do?”
Angela let Cynthia stay close as she left the medical tent, but didn’t linger. “Get the team–you’re in charge on this one. I want the kids’ group working the QZ gate. Have them scan every living thing that gets close to this camp. When there’s a lull, I want them patrolling the perimeter with the senior Eagles. Make it clear that they do as they’re told or they return to being camp kids. We want their help, but don’t need it should be the undertone.”
Cynthia left without looking at Kevin.
“We hear from Kenn yet?” Angela asked.
Kevin made a motion to the perimeter man and got a quick response.
“He checked in before dawn, but not since.”
“I want him first when he gets home,” Angela ordered. “Make sure I’m here for it.”
“I will.”
Angela spotted Mitch in the coffee line. “That’s different.”
Kevin filled her in on Mitch, the group fistfight, and gave her an update on Dog–glad Neil had shoved a paper into his hand while he waited at the medical flap for her.
Angela wanted to spend a few minutes thinking about all three reports, but couldn’t spare the time. The problems with their animal population would also have to wait.
“John needs help in here. Go visit these people and tell them it’s time they used their skills instead of mooching in fear.”
Kevin took down the names and left. These women had nursing skills, but hadn’t told Adrian? Didn’t they know they would have been priority members? Kevin was still pondering the weakness fear can create as he crossed into the main camp.
Angela spotted Marc across the distance. That was another change she wanted to explore, but she headed for the little mess instead, where Li Sing was directing food into the smaller bins. She needed to study the area for a minute. They had to be careful not to let the camp know how injured Adrian was and that required a good illusion.
“Coffee?”
Angela smiled gratefully as Li Sing hurried to push a steaming mug into her hand.
“Sit, eat.”
Angela wasn’t going to, but the smell of freshly baked bread caught her nose and pulled her down onto the bench. “Just for a minute.”
Li Sing went to carve a thick slice and Angela took her notebook out. Around her, the camp and QZ were slowly waking. It was okay to steal a personal minute–something she hadn’t had since before going into Little Rock. Later, it would be impossible.
“Butter?”
Angela tore off a small chunk. “Nope.”
The warm bread was perfect and she found herself sitting quietly instead of viewing the notes and to-do list she’d made. The sound of the camp coming to life was...magical.
“You look like him. Stop it.”
Angela didn’t answer Kyle’s half-joke as he came through the netting around the mini-mess.
He filled a tray with enough food and drinks to outfit a small army, and Angela gave him an approving nod as he slipped right back out. Kyle was off duty now. He’d more than earned the break.
Crack!
A number of people flinched at the distant thunder. It was something they hadn’t heard in months.
“Yeah, that timing figures,” Angela muttered, but not bitterly. They’d known rain was coming. Adrian would have prepared for it.
As if to mock the assumption, a stiff breeze began rustling the papers in her notebook.
Angela pulled the pen from the holder. Her minute was up.
5
“How is he?”
Chris jumped at the hostile voice, backing away from the food bowl he’d just set down. He rushed to assure Marc that Dog was okay.
“Perfect–like there wasn’t even a fight.”
Marc scowled. “Maybe there wasn’t!”
Chris retreated as Marc came closer. It was easy to guess that the man was upset and the vet grabbed for a calming trigger. “How’s Adrian?”
Marc growled and Chris cowered along the tent wall. Wrong button!
Dog was instantly alarmed at the waves in the tent. This wasn’t the master that he’d chosen to serve. This was the soldier–who Dog happened to loathe.
The wolf wasn’t sure what had occurred after the fight. The last thing he remembered was falling on top of the pile he had already killed, as more of them attacked.
Marc clenched his fists, throwing out a cold warning. “If anyone suspects what I did, you’re who I’ll talk to about it.”
Chris stammered out a promise, but it wasn’t enough for Marc.
“That includes the chain of command–all of it.”
Chris understood, but unlike the Eagles, he wasn’t bonded with Adrian that way. In fact, in another world, he and Brady might even have been some semblance of friends. Considering who this hard man was sleeping with, it wouldn’t happen now.
“They’ll think it wasn’t bad–that I took care of it. Keep him in here for a bit to cover.”
Satisfied, Marc delivered a last blast from his current anger supply. “Mitch told me he saw you skulking around the night of the sinkhole. I’m checking into that when shit settles down around here. Now get out.”
Chris fled, shaking with fear and anger. Brady thought he could make changes while Adrian was laid up, did he?
“But he didn’t notice he had help,” Chris sneered scornfully. He hadn’t been able to leave the wolf to suffer. Marc’s magic had done wonders, saved the animal, but the vet had also contributed.
Chris hurried toward the animal trailer; mind a furious maze of secrets and scars. “I’ll show him. And when I do, she won’t want him anymore.”
Marc knelt down to stroke the wolf, not reacting to Dog’s reluctance. The animal would always sense the difference, but Marc had no choice in how he handled the vet. Adrian’s traditional methods had barely worked on Chris before. This required sterner measures and he’d had to bring the soldier inside forward to do it. Marc didn’t like being mean, even to those he mistrusted or didn’t care for. It wasn’t in his nature.
Dog relaxed as the air of menace faded and he allowed himself to enjoy the rub that Marc was delivering. Dog wished he could speak to Marc, as he did some of the others here. He needed to express his gratitude, but more, to warn Brady.
Marc knew Dog was special. He’d watched Adrian put the wolf to work and been glad. He, too, understood what it meant to be needed, to have a place
“But not this one,” Marc muttered. “The load is too heavy. It’ll use us both up.”
Dog nudged Marc’s hands and he switched ears, wishing he could talk to Dog. He wasn’t sure what he’d say, other than to ask if the wolf had another name he preferred. After all these years, ‘Dog’ felt rude. The big animal was much more than that.
Dog strained, not sure if it could be done, but willing to try…
Marc stilled at the new sensation. He knew what it was–someone inexperienced trying to find a line in–and sudden intuition had him dropping his mental walls.
Take her and run–now.
Marc drew his gun, even though he connected the deep voice to Dog almost instantly.
“Where’s the threat?”
In the medical tent, about to be healed.
Marc winced, holstering. “The first time we’ve spoken and that’s what you pick?”
Dog blew out a damp snort. A warning to get your mate and go, while you still have her. Isn’t that valuable?
Marc sighed. “It would be, if I didn’t already know.”
Dog glanced up in confusion and Marc forced the words out.
“My time with her is limited. I don’t know why, or what I can do that would possibly change it without hurting all these people, but I know she’ll leave me. At some point, she won’t be satisfied.”
Dog didn’t know what to say, beyond the obvious. Why would you accept that?
“I haven’t. I’ll fight for her until I’m dead...or until she says she’s done. When I hear that, I’m gone.”
Why would you go through so much pain for something that you have no hope of keeping?
“Love sucks like that, Dog. It doesn’t give you a choice.”
Dog considered. Like the breeding heats.
Marc was startled into a smile. “Uh, yeah, I guess. You have no choice, right?”
Dog whined lowly. I’d hurt you, if you got in the way.
Marc understood. Some things just pulled a male like that.
What will you do after?
Marc grunted. “No idea. Find a substitute and hurt, take off and roam this dead world, blow my brains out... It’s hard to say at this point.”
Marc shook off the depression. “But for right now, I plan to enjoy every second she gives me. I had no idea what I was missing. I thought I did, but Angie willing is...”
Dog whined again, burying his head under a large paw.
Marc laughed. “Sorry.”
Dog rolled over, staring in concentration. I’ll stay out of sight for a while.
Marc was reminded of his secret, but Dog already knew what he wanted there, too.
I would never volunteer such information.
Marc didn’t want to ask, but had to. “And if she questions you directly on it?”
Dog, who was sure telling Adrian those forbidden things had caused his near-death, made his choice quickly.
I won’t answer in any way that would imply I was healed.
“Can she...” Marc sighed, unhappily. “Could she pry it out of your mind?”
She won’t need to. If I refuse to answer, she’ll know it’s to protect someone.
“She won’t think of me,” Marc offered miserably. He hated keeping secrets from her.
What happens when she finds out?
Not if, but when. Marc stood up and left the tent without answering.
When Angela found out that he was like her and had been all along, that he’d left her to be different alone because he’d feared the same treatment; when she finally realized that he’d been lying to her for the entire time they’d known each other, it would be the beginning of the end for them. That was a pain she would never be able to forgive.
As Marc came from the tent, he spotted Cynthia herding a small group of reluctant, bleary shadows through the fog. At least he didn’t have Cynthia’s duty. Between Angela and that teenage mess, Marc wasn’t sure he had the worst end of the whipping stick.
6
“Why us? We’re not trained for this.”
Cynthia didn’t answer. None of the teenagers had liked being dragged from their warm cots.
“Can’t we at least have a few minutes to wake up?”
Even Charlie was grouchy. He was missing his morning time with Tracy. This was the only ten minutes he could steal with her. Later, the camp would be too active.
Cynthia still didn’t respond. She wouldn’t until one of them asked a question that mattered.
“Isn’t this a job for the Eagles or Angela?” Jennifer asked, moving slower than the others were. Her back was aching.
Cynthia’s continued silence annoyed the sullen kids and the complaints began to fly uncensored. When it got loud enough to draw attention, Cynthia stopped and turned around. The only one she viewed was Charlie, but each of them felt her silent scold.
Charlie didn’t cave. “Well, we won’t be doing anything! After all the fighting here yesterday, any groups that were around took off.”
Cynthia gestured toward a rising cloud of trail dust coming from the west. “Just the opposite. Because we’ve proven repeatedly that we can defend ourselves, they’ll come in heavier now. And your mom wants you here, officially. If it goes well, this might be a regular post.”
Charlie caught the hint. “You mean we’ll pick who gets in and who doesn’t?”
Cynthia agreed, forgetting how Angela had told her to handle it. “Yes. We need you to do your duty here.”
Understanding that it wasn’t make-work, the group stopped complaining.
Cynthia went on. “The front desk is where you’ll sit. The guards will let in one carload at a time for you to do paperwork on. Make us proud.”
Charlie turned to Jennifer. “You and I will dig while Matt and Becca distract them. Between the two of us, we’ll ferret out every little secret.”
Jennifer was all for it. “We should have a code or something, for the ones we decide to refuse.”
“What about a code like the Eagles use?” Matt suggested. “That way our men can get rid of them.”
Cynthia listened to them for a minute, hearing the self-importance, the too-strict laws emerging. It wasn’t what they needed. When the teenagers began openly discussing life and death, Cynthia remembered her instructions and understood why Angela hadn’t wanted it handled this way.
“Stop it!” The reporter was angry. “Your first thought, when you find something you don’t like, is to ask yourself what Adrian would do.”
Cynthia held up a curt finger against the protests. “You guys haven’t been made leader. You don’t decide life and death, or who stays and goes. Only Angela and Adrian do that! You’ll fill out their paperwork, send them to a QZ tent, and let an Eagle know if there’s problem. You will not directly confront anyone about anything you pick up or Angela will send you back to the training tent.”
Complete silence, layered in hostile glowers.
Cynthia didn’t know what to do. “Fine. You know what? I’m going to go tell her that I screwed up by telling you this job mattered, and then I’m going to tell her that I think it’s a bad idea.”
Cynthia stomped away and protests began to echo behind her.
“Hang on!”
“Don’t do that!”
She stopped, but didn’t face them. “Angela knew you guys weren’t ready. I thought you were. It’s no big deal. You’ll train for another six months before you get the next chance and you’ll do great on it.”
She resumed her steps, fully prepared to report exactly that.
Charlie waved the others toward the QZ desk with a low whisper. “Wait for me there.”
He hurried to Cynthia’s side and the reporter tried to block her thoughts by thinking of the brick wall from Village of the Damned.
“That doesn’t work on me. Cool idea, though, to hide the bomb that way. We might know something was there, but until enough brick crumbled, you’d have the advantage.”
Cynthia glanced over in mild surprise. Not only did Charlie make it a habit to never talk to her, he also didn’t talk openly about magic with anyone but his mom. Even in the kid’s lessons, which were being called the Jr. Eagles, he was very careful.
“Thank you.”
Cynthia stopped to give him a searching look. “For your mom, right?”
Charlie nodded. “I was reading you just then and I realized I hadn’t said that.”
Only two other people giving her those words had meant more. Cynthia felt her heart expand and shoved away the teary emotions. “You have to lead them. If you want the things I think you do, the legal bonds with certain people, then work for it and for them.”
Charlie knew she meant Tracy and for that bond, he would work their team into the ground.
Cynthia knew she’d gotten to him and turned to glare at the other kids over the distance. “Each of them has triggers inside those intelligent minds. When you hit one, remember and use it ruthlessly. They’ve been complete strangers to you, fellow refugees, and even friends. Now, make them your team.”
“I need to think,” Charlie confided lowly. “Can I stand here and do it, or should I put them to work and do it during?”
Cynthia leaned against the water tanker. “Which way would be more effective?”
Charlie considered. “If I could at least plan out this first day, I could work on tomorrow’s setup after the shift.”
“Good. Why not send your team to the mess for trays to bring with them and buy planning time?”
Charlie liked it that his first order would be well received. “Thanks, Cyn.”
Cynthia froze at the nickname, and then quickly turned around before she started crying. Being accepted still felt odd.
End of Free Sample
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“A period of adjustment is always required during a change in leadership, but not everyone can afford the lost time. That’s when you discover if they’re worth following at all.” –Adrian Mitchel
Prologue
The war has begun to change us.
The mental cliffs we’ve been forced to leap–the horrors that we now hold inside–are nothing compared to the physical evolutions. We’re harder, stronger, more determined, but also weaker because we need each other so much more. It creates vulnerabilities.
We’re angrier, as well. We know the government survived and that we’ll have to fight them to remain free. We’ve faced slavers and nature, direct attacks from crazed refugees, and personal hatred inside our own borders, but all of that was to prepare us for this moment. We represent what’s left of the great American herd.
And I’m scared.
They are going to come for him–these people will know everything in a short time–and Adrian will be unprotected except for the Eagles. That won’t be enough to defeat the government. If they get ahold of Adrian, the entire world will finish falling. His powers are so magnetic that he could be used to draw in every gifted person on the planet. With all that light gone, all that hope, our civilization will crumble.
I have to ask something of my Brady, something that will torture him. I need him to share his strength and help me save the man he wants to kill.
Chapter One
Concentrated Chaos
June 30, 2013
Toltec State Park
Scott, AR
1
Angela closed the notebook and slid it under her mattress. It was actually Adrian’s and the entry was her first. The log of personal thoughts and camp plans had been exhausting to skim. She was both dreading and anticipating exploring it in depth, though that would take a while. The large stack of notebooks, ten of them, had been inside the tent when she and Marc had come here from the shower.
Angela flushed as she flashed to Marc on top of her, shuddering in pleasure. He’d taken her three more times during the night, as if he couldn’t get enough, and for every time he’d exploded, so had she.
Angela felt her body wake at the memory. What a difference! She’d enjoyed him as a teenager and their recent playing had been fun, but this...this was something that would tighten their bonds every time it happened.
He’s awake.
Angela winced at the note of tired anger in the mental message. She’d put Charlie on the medical tent last night to monitor things, and she had no doubt that he now knew of Adrian’s desires.
Thanks.
Okay to go? He’s too weak to block and I need a break.
Yes. Get some sleep.
Yeah, that’ll happen now.
Angela determinedly took a few more minutes for herself instead of rushing to comfort or cover. Charlie would be upset for a while, but he would realize what everyone else who found out did–that she didn’t want Adrian. She had Marc. Nothing could compare to that.
Body lighting up, Angela glanced over at the naked man sleeping next to her. Even relaxed, he put off an air of menace.
And that comforts me, she thought.
Marc rolled over, exposing a bare chest and faint nail marks. Angela blushed, drawn instantly into the memory of putting them there. Straddling Marc had been educational, to say the least. The witch had healed his mauled wrist and she’d held him while he groaned her name.
“If you keep throwing out that vibe, you’ll start me up.”
Angela flushed darker. “Maybe I meant to...”
“Come here.”
Marc’s husky voice sent a chill down her spine and Angela did as she was told.
Marc felt warm skin settle next to his, a slightly rough leg draping over his thigh, and tugged her closer. Even dreaming, there was no mistaking that smell, and in here, there were no rules to follow, no fears to conquer. He was allowed to take what he wanted.
And what do you want? the lusty voice inside asked. What way would you have it?
Marc slid his hands around and under, moving closer. Together.
The demon agreed eagerly. That fit with his plans.
Marc nuzzled her cheek, inhaling deeply. “Mm. You smell good for a dream.”
Marc’s hand went to her hip, rolling her onto her other side and he slid tightly up against her. He curled one thick arm under, hand cupping her breast. The other went over her hip and pulled her against him. The feel was enough to bring Marc close to the edge.
He put her leg over his hip and readjusted so that he was pressed tightly against her thighs. When he slid his hand to the slick flesh between her legs, her body arched against him and he pushed inside.
“Mm...”
“Oh...”
Marc didn’t waste time. He brought her right to that edge with his finger strokes and held himself on it as he thrust in and out. The fit from this angle was amazing. Pleasure seared him and his balls grew heavy.
His fingers stroked her faster, pressing harder, and she arched in climax, body clamping down.
Marc let go of his control, shoving forward to explode inside her willing body.
Angela’s groans and the nails digging into his wrist were the first signs of reality that registered. Still shooting into her with nerve tingling jerks, others followed in rapid succession. Tangled hair around his hand, tight body, sore muscles... Marc hurriedly pulled out, and was unable to stop from covering his ass. He pushed against hers and rode out the rest of the intense pulses. Maybe she wouldn’t notice.
Marc groaned as she pushed back and sent a fresh rush of pleasure through them both. She definitely wouldn’t if he shoved her over the rainbow again.
Marc sent his hands to her sensitive flesh, pushing away the guilt. What were the odds that she’d get pregnant again from the first time? There was no way fate would hit them that way twice in the same lifetime.
2
Duty pulled Marc from Angela’s hot arms just as dawn arrived. No one came to get him, but the alarm in his mind said the camp was stirring.
Marc eased off the air mattress and pulled the blanket up to Angela’s shoulders as she snuggled into the warm spot he’d left. He stole a minute of staring at her before pulling on his jacket and boots, and quietly leaving, zipping up the tent behind him. He hoped everyone would give her a few more hours rest, but knew it was unlikely when he spotted Kyle and Daryl nearby.
The two men didn’t speak to him as he went toward the little mess for coffee, and Marc understood they were her protection.
Marc turned to verify it and found both men now standing outside Angela’s flap, their backs to it and hands on holsters.
He grunted unhappily.
Marc went to John first, avoiding Adrian’s bedside. Deathbed, his mind whispered.
Marc knew Adrian wasn’t better when John came to meet him at the flap. After quick eye contact with the other wounded men, a nod to Anne, and a fast glance at the curtains shielding Adrian, they walked outside.
Adrian’s fever had risen as the infection grew. Around daylight, he’d begun to rant and toss. John had put up a partition to give privacy and then sedated him, sure that Adrian wouldn’t want his men to view him that way. Even Adrian’s tattoos were paler, not as striking with him in that cot, and a leader wasn’t supposed to appear so easy a target. There was little John could do but hope the antibiotics would smother the infection. The Eagles didn’t like their leader being brought down. John loathed it.
Marc’s heart was heavy as he went toward the main camp. What would they do without Adrian? He realized he’d finally caught what was going around and found only a sad bitterness. Adrian was the reason they’d come together. Son of a bitch or not, nothing would be the same if he were taken.
His radio crackled. “Mitch is waking up.”
“Copy,” Marc answered. He was nearby.
After three full days of drinking at the table, Mitch was looking and smelling rough. Every time he’d tried to get up, he’d been told to keep drinking, that it was his exit party from Safe Haven. Violence hadn’t been required to keep their former radioman at the table–his addiction had done that. Mitch had a monkey on his back that most of them doubted could be unloaded.
Marc slid onto the damp bench as their former radioman raised his head.
“Morning,” he called cheerfully.
Mitch flinched from the loud word. “Whass?”
Marc motioned Li Sing forward. “How about something to drink? That always helps, right?”
Mitch stared in baleful confusion. He barely remembered passing out here, but Brady’s friendliness was still bright in his mind.
Marc tilted the cool beer up and let half of it roll down, controlling his stomach.
Mitch again chose the whiskey instead of beer, and the two men spent a quiet moment of silence–one drinking, one thinking. Around them, the camp went about morning rituals, while in the crowded QZ, there was almost no movement.
Marc waited for Mitch to become alert and then glassy, for the bloom of roses to come into his cheeks. When he saw those signs, Marc switched from friend to teacher.
“The boss man wants you gone. On your own.”
Marc didn’t react to the immediate promises and denials. He told only the truth. “Someone else has your job, Mitch, your place. You’re at zero again because of a drinking problem that has endangered Safe Haven more than once. You have no value to Adrian anymore.”
Mitch dropped his eyes, telling Marc he’d already figured that out for himself.
“Matt will stay here.”
Mitch began to cry big drunk tears, the kind that quickly soaked everything under them. “Thank you for giving him another chance!”
Marc blinked. There was a real person inside of Mitch. It was another insight he hadn’t agreed with upon hearing the plan, but Adrian was apparently able to get deeper.
That’s why he was born–to be a leader, the demon inside stated firmly. It’s also why he’s damned. Few would recognize so deep a secret without actually being there. He’s gone through this himself–all of it.
Marc shook off the eerie thought that followed: We all have. He got back to helping Mitch. “Adrian thinks you’ll die out there. It’s why no order came down on you. Is that true, Hopkins?”
The whiskey opened Mitch’s mouth. “I survived before. I will now, too.”
“That’s what I told him,” Marc stated.
Mitch stared in sudden suspicion. “You don’t like me. You never have.”
“Like? No. Believe you can reform? That’s different. Matt is a good kid without a man in his life to teach him right from wrong. I’m going to help straighten him out. I suspect you’re raising him like your father, and that’s the problem. While I’m helping Matt, I can do the same for you.” Marc sat back. “Or you’ll be gone by sundown.”
Mitch wanted to take the offer, but he was sure it would be hard. The man inside was shouting, wanting to fight over the insulting truths, but the alcohol was calling louder.
Marc took another short drink of his sweaty beer, guts rumbling in protest. “Mm. I have one or two a week, but I always want more.”
Mitch stared, trying to process what that meant.
Marc sighed regretfully, aware that he had attention now. “But I won’t be drunk on duty, not ever.”
He dumped the remaining beer onto the ground near the table.
Mitch got the point, and it wasn’t enough. He flushed, but didn’t answer, didn’t even consider doing the same with his own.
Marc tossed out one of his secrets with a sense of relief. “I used to be a drinker, too–a heavy one. It got me in trouble, cost me things I loved.”
Mitch gaped in surprised. “You’re a alcoholic!”
Brady gave an embarrassed shrug. “Like most of us, I hate that word, Mitch.”
It made Mitch believe. No one else but a fellow addict would know how dirty that word made a person feel. “Me, too.”
Marc stood up, stomach rolling over. “Finish that bottle–enjoy it. When it’s gone, either go get a shower and a lot of coffee, or say goodbye to your son and get out of this camp. It’s your choice, but make it now or I’ll do it for you.”
Marc quickly got out of sight and hearing distance, before allowing himself a minute to vomit. His CO had given him a much harsher lesson than the one Mitch was receiving, making him drink from dawn to dawn for three days straight. By morning three, only the hits had kept him swallowing. As a result, Marc now loathed any type of alcohol on an empty stomach.
This was a worthy reason to do it, though. Angie wanted Mitch to stay and learn to be a father. Marc would try to make it happen.
3
Stepping out into dawn’s cloudy chill, Angela spotted Kyle lingering nearby. He clearly hadn’t gone to bed yet. The mobster looked as bleary as she felt.
“Get some rest soon.”
Kyle didn’t answer and she didn’t push further. He knew his limits better than most men.
“Got a minute?” Marc asked, coming around the Safe Haven side of the mess.
Angela slowed, but kept going. “Not really. Walk with me.”
Marc fell in. “What’s the hurry?”
“Adrian’s awake, delivering instructions.”
Marc forced himself to sound as if he liked being in charge. “I need some things from you.”
“Like what?”
“Don’t know what to tell people about Conner, for starters. All this chaos for one kid is being openly questioned.”
Angela went to Kevin, who was on duty over the first truck. Kevin had become Mitch’s buddy in the com truck and the two men loathed each other. With Kevin working for her now, Mitch would have only a rookie as his buddy again and none of them liked it. Kevin being there to keep him sober had been important.
“I need security put on Matt. Cynthia is in here with me. You’ll need to cover the shifts for each person you move around.”
Kevin’s gaze went straight to the new patch of gray showing from the side of her ponytail.
It’s noticeable. Damn. Angela gave Kevin a short headshake.
The Eagle understood that she didn’t want anyone to know the effects of using so much magic. Wondering if the sharp man at her side had missed it, Kevin took out the notebook that Adrian had given him not long before they’d gone into that cursed city. He wrote as he spoke. “I’ll have those things taken care of.”
Angela sent him a silent request. How long? I need it before… I need it soon.
The Eagle immediately vowed to work diligently on the mental lessons he was going to be a part of when he reached the next level. If they were still together for it. “Fifteen minutes.”
Angela felt Kevin’s silent despair and refused to offer false comfort over their future. “Good.”
She went toward the shower camper.
“Angie.”
Hearing Marc’s growing angst, she grunted, “Give me some time to get him settled. For now, he’s the only survivor from Little Rock that we were able to bring out with us. The other kids were killed. They can know that much.”
Angela got a chill as Marc wrote down her instructions. Why?
Adrian answered, It means he knows that you’re my replacement, that not following, or forgetting, even a single order would be a grave mistake to your relationship.
Marc was frowning deeply, but not allowing anger to take control. He hadn’t noticed her gray curls in the tent shadows, but out here, it was clear that something was going on with her.
“Are you okay?”
“No, but at least I’m not dying. What else do you need from me?”
Marc wasn’t ready to start a fight. He’d expected to be blown off. “Mostly, to know how Adrian’s going to be in front of the camp, so I can get it ready.”
“With my help and good, old fashioned drugs. I’ve got that covered.”
“Why am I still in charge and not Kenn?” Marc hadn’t meant to ask, but he didn’t call it back.
“Kenn’s busy,” Angela hedged. She couldn’t spare the time to convince Brady. She was still working on herself.
“Kenn could have been done, cleared, and out of here by now. Adrian didn’t want that. Why?” Marc protested as they neared the guard on the shower.
Stalling, Angela viewed Doug and the arm she’d put in a cast and sling last night. “Are you sure you should be working already?”
Doug’s demeanor was one of grief. “Couldn’t stay in there anymore. And you need me here.”
“Yes, I do.”
She was also sure the quick visit she’d allowed from Peggy and Maria’s sons had strengthened the need to be out. Roy and Romeo were a constant sight. The camp had accepted them, but Doug had come to love them.
“Kenn will be running defense–sure he was sent away, and eager to take control,” Angela stated tiredly. “He and most of the camp expected it to be given to him. When Kenn finds out, I may need Eagles to assist me–men I can trust, and who can trust me. Is that possible?”
Doug’s tone was satisfied. “Absolutely.” His gaze flicked to Marc’s glowering face briefly, questioning.
Angela gave her approval silently. With care. He’s already boiling
“Adrian told us to follow you, not Kenn, if anything happened. He said for us to make Kenn fall in line behind you–where he belongs.”
Angela knew what Adrian expected her to do in this moment, but she’d never guessed that he had taken it so far as to set it all up with his Eagles.
“I didn’t know.”
“There was no need to upset everyone, but he was adamant that you would protect our lives better because…”
“Because of my gifts,” she tried to finish, a bit bitterly.
Doug’s brows furrowed. “Because you value us the way he does. He even said…” Doug stopped, glance flicking to Marc again. He gave her the rest of it silently.
He said in another lifetime, you would have been given this duty first, not him, and that he would have been honored to follow you.
Marc studied them with a feeling of loneliness that he hated. Here it was, the ‘only for the boss’ shit. Now, there would always be secrets between them, new walls. Because she would throw her heart into this. Adrian would have known that.
Angie’s the CO now, his sharp mind whispered. Where do I rank?
Marc walked away, drawing Angela’s attention. “Hey. Don’t you need an answer?”
Marc stopped, but didn’t face her. “I have it now. Kenn’s not in the picture anymore and no one knows it, not even him.” Marc scowled deeper. “That’s why Adrian set me up in the cage! He needed them all to know that I’m hard enough for this place. He knew this was coming.”
Angela stiffened her shoulders, doing what she had to. “Say it. Try it on for size.”
Marc delivered an angry glower over his shoulder. “I’m tending the herd until you’re caught up enough to handle both sides of the tape. I’m Safe Haven’s new XO.”
Angela gave him a charged look of understanding, worry, and personal elation. “Congratulations.”
Not wanting to embarrass either of them, Marc marched toward the big camp, slightly shocked at receiving the position without ever expecting it. He was also furious at Adrian for giving him this when he held such deep a hatred for the man.
“Call me if you need anything.”
Angela didn’t have time for his self-righteous anger. The weight settling onto her was far heavier than any she’d ever carried. She was in charge of Safe Haven. This was her camp.
Angela met Doug’s gaze. “I will do everything I can to keep Adrian alive and here. I don’t want his place.”
“That’s why we’ll follow you.” Doug already knew that, and had no problem working under female leadership. He was only glad that it was a good morning for him–no shakes or extra bathroom trips to be noticed by John’s strict, early release observation rules.
Behind Doug, senior Eagles began to appear in the early morning shadows, showing their unity. Team leaders and XOs came, giving their support, their loyalty. Their thoughts rang in her heart, held her up under the weight of the role she’d been given.
He was right to choose you.
We trust you to protect his dreams.
Angela let a single tear trace her cheek and quickly scrubbed it from sight.
4
Angela found Neil waiting nearby and understood the switch would be done openly and all while Kenn was gone. Adrian was a genius. How would she ever do this so well?
Neil approached her firmly, and Angela tried not to let it bother her that small populations of the waking camp were now staring at them in nervous groups from the tape. She would learn and so would they.
“Got a few things for you,” Neil said with forced casualness. “First, you’ll wear this at all times, keep it under your pillow during sleep.”
He helped her put Adrian’s cleaned radio and belt on, and then handed her a small box with a snap lid.
“This is an alarm. Open it for a smoke, and we know to come quietly.”
“I’ve had the course on protecting him, Neil,” Angela grunted, almost frozen with pain. “I know what it’s for.”
She shoved it impatiently into her pocket, adjusted the set, and keyed the mic. She let go just as fast. “What god-awful name did you guys pick?”
Neil’s lips twitched in the barest of smirks. “We stuck with his.”
Angela snorted without amusement. “Raven to Kyle. I need a gopher for the main medical tent.”
“Copy.”
She glanced at Neil in annoyance. “Next?”
She reminded him so strongly of Marc on his second day in Safe Haven that the trooper smiled despite the heaviness in his heart. “Questions. You provide the answers.”
Angela planted her feet, as she’d seen Adrian do so many times, and found the stance almost comfortable. He’d given her a hard duty and she would prove his trust. “Hit me. I can take it.”
At the moment, Neil had little doubt. The waves of determination rolling from her were strong enough to bolster his own lagging faith.
“First is camp security. Stays doubled?”
“Yes.”
“We’re taking in new arrivals, even though we know they might be assassins?”
“Yes. Myself, Charlie, or Jennifer–in that order–will go through them. If we’re all busy, then they wait.”
Neil hoped that would be a standard now. They couldn’t take any more chances, not with the government coming.
Subtly reading those closest to her, Angela opened a fresh layer of concern.
“It won’t be just him, Neil. They know about Conner, and about me. One careless slip or forced conversation, and we’re on their radar for Jennifer and Sam, as well.”
“They’ll take all of you!” Neil realized, horrified.
“Yes,” Angela confirmed. “And then kill the others here. It’s what you do when there’s an outbreak.”
“Otherwise it spreads,” Neil stated angrily.
“Yes, but they don’t understand that the dream of freedom doesn’t belong to one man or even an entire camp. It’s a birthright and we’ll never stop fighting.” She glanced around, including the nervously listening Eagles. “They’re not taking anyone from this camp. I’ll die first.”
Neil held out the notebook for her to read the next item on his list.
Where does she stand on the Gov issue?
Angela took his pen and quickly scratched two words.
With Adrian.
Neil slid the notebook into his pocket and waved Zack over. “He’s your personal shadow for the day. If you don’t see him, even for an instant, trigger your alarm.”
Before she could question, Neil motioned to an Eagle in the trees that she couldn’t identify from where they stood.
“That’s Shawn. He’s your sniper today–fresh out of Brady’s class and eager to pull the trigger. If you don’t want them shot, stay out of reach of all new people.”
Angela agreed curtly. “What else?”
“Kevin will go over a couple things, and then you’ll be on your own.”
Kevin immediately asked what many were already wondering. “You’ve chosen Marc as your XO?”
“Adrian gave him that place,” Angela sent back quickly. “I didn’t argue.”
Neil hid a smirk at the prepared answer and gestured for Kevin to continue. He was getting a crash course on being an assistant to someone in the chain of command. Neil and Kyle had gotten their lessons from Kenn and hated every minute of it. Kevin’s would be better, though certainly not easier considering the circumstances.
“We realize you’ve had...”
“I realize,” Neil corrected without the malice that had always layered Kenn’s teaching moments. “The slot comes with the blame, as well as the fame.”
Kevin cleared his throat. “I realize you’ve had almost no time to adjust, but the faster you settle three things, the easier this camp will run for you.”
Angela liked it that she wasn’t the only one unsure exactly what to do. She answered reasonably. “You tell me, I’ll argue, and we’ll go from there.”
Kevin blinked. “Uh, yeah. Okay.” He cleared his throat again. “Your chain of command, your rules and punishments, and a meeting where you tell the camp those things.”
Angela raised a brow. “What’s the third?”
Kevin made a face. “That was all three.”
Angela was eager to rise to the challenge she’d been gifted with. “Picking and then telling the camp are on the same ticket. The second is getting the camp to approve my choices. What’s the third?”
Neil was impressed. He and Kyle had thrown that in with no real hopes that she’d catch it due to their clever wording. “Third is following through–getting it to all work.”
“Do you know how you’re going to get their approval?” Kevin asked.
Angela peered toward the medical tent, able to feel Adrian listening–hanging on to a temporary alertness so that he could hear her say she had it covered. He was ready to give up.
Yes, the witch confirmed. He brought Conner here and gave you control. He will not keep fighting without a goal...and those who cannot find hope will not survive.
It was a mirror of what the witch had told her in Ohio. Angela glanced at the men waiting nervously for her answer. “No, I don’t.”
She retreated before they could respond. Of course, she knew how to do it. She had to save Adrian’s life, lead Safe Haven to the mountains, and start settling them inside. During that time, she also had to convince the camp to accept the magic in their midst and help fight the government troops that would come.
Kevin’s face was red as he caught up. “Sorry about that. I didn’t know they were testing you.”
Angela shrugged. “They got you too, rookie.”
“Yeah,” he grunted. “This is all new. I never thought they’d recommend me for this.”
“Recommend? I get a choice?”
“Sure. Neil said you’d probably let Brady know who you prefer for your...” Kevin paused, unsure what place he’d been shoved into.
“Personal assistant to the leader of Safe Haven Refugee Camp,” Angela filled in the title with grave pride.
Kevin’s mind went to places he knew better than to mourn. Those days would come around again. They were working hard on it even now.
“I won’t be mad if you let me go for Kyle or Jeremy, or someone who already knows how the inside stuff works,” he blurted suddenly.
From that, Angela understood that Kevin had been given the chance at a place all the men would want. He was being rewarded for his steadfast performance in Little Rock, she was sure, but there was a feeling that it might be more.
“I mean it. I won’t be mad. I don’t have enough experience for this.”
“That makes two of us,” she stated.
Angela ducked into the medical tent and went to Adrian, ignoring all those observing her. There were only Eagles in this tent–plus John, Anne, and Conner. The time for hiding what she was, at least with this group, was over.
Angela raised a hand over Adrian’s feverish body and the witch scanned him.
Dying, came the prompt answer. Poison and infection.
I have to have Adrian. I can’t do this without his guidance.
You know the price?
I do.
And you pay it willingly?
Marc will be Charlie’s lifeline?
Yes. Fathers have the same gifts.
And Adrian’s right about what he put in the notebook? That...Marc’s been lying to himself and everyone else?
Yes.
Then save Adrian. If the need ever comes, Marc will cover Charlie.
As you wish.
Now?
You haven’t recovered enough. Another twelve hours.
He may not have that long.
Adrian didn’t wake, but she sensed he wasn’t so far under that she couldn’t reach him. How long would it hold?
Angela turned toward the cooler and got a bottle of water. The more she drank, the faster the chemicals would leave her system.
She searched herself briefly over the choice to save Adrian and found only a strange chill that hadn’t been there before. She should be devastated that Marc had lied, but she wasn’t, hadn’t been even from the instant she’d read that curtly scribbled paragraph.
For personal reasons, I’ve chosen not to tell her what Marc’s hiding. When she runs that blue glow through the filters, does she miss the meaning intentionally? I wonder if she hasn’t known all along and allowed him to hide it because she knows what an ugly burden it is to be born this way.
Yes, she did understand the price of power, but that wasn’t how it had happened. Until Safe Haven, she hadn’t suspected at all. Once here, though, Marc had fit Adrian’s leadership profile a bit too closely to be overlooked by the boss man. That had been her first clue–that Adrian found Marc useful enough to take advice and use him in FND work. Then, she’d noticed Marc’s way with the camp women, heard him using it. Moments from their childhood had flashed her to the magic they’d always shared, to how he’d always understood her so well. By the time the glow had happened, it had only been confirmation.
Dribbling water, Angela wiped her mouth and mind clear as John joined her. She had work to do. Speculation and conversation would keep.
“Have him ready to go out for evening mess and then get him prepped. Wait as long as you can to call me. I still have drugs in my blood that will interfere.”
“Can we get another water truck and two more tents set up? A few of the patients can be switched out to give privacy and space,” John suggested.
Thrilled to be getting a cover story with the request, Angela was able to sound almost cheerful. “You, doctor, can have about anything you want.” She hated witnesses.
John grunted, unable to play along. “How about the cure for Cancer?”
Angela viewed him in dismay. “It’s back? Already?”
John took off his glasses, rubbing restlessly at the frame. “This is a particularly aggressive type. The chemicals we’re absorbing are feeding it, I think.”
Angela asked the question that now mattered most to her. “How many people in camp have terminal cancers?”
John didn’t meet her observant stare. “More than a dozen, with twice that many suspected.”
“Oh, my god!” she whispered in horror. Was this covered in one of Adrian’s notebooks? “That’s like...that’s...”
“Almost a sixth of them.”
Angela turned to stare toward the camp that she could hear now waking. One in six. There was no way she could help them all.
“He said to tell you not to drown in the bad–to swim through it.”
Angela tried to breathe normally. She wasn’t drowning in pity–she was furious. How dare fate take yet another cut!
John’s hand on her arm was a warm comfort that she shrugged off. “I’ll work on it. You’ll have him ready?”
“For both appointments.” John slid his glasses on. “You know he’ll be groggy and in pain. They might see through his act.”
Angela sighed, moving for the flap to relay the doctor’s needs to Kevin. “Yes. I also know Adrian would rather be with his people than anywhere else. He’ll pull strength from their joy. They won’t know, but they’ll be the ones who really save him.”
Angela ducked out of the medical flap with guilt and anger warring for room in her heart. They had five men inside with serious gunshot wounds, one with a high fever of unknown origin, and three with minor bone breaks. It had been a rough mission. Twenty-four confident, eager men had gone into that city with her. That number had come out, but none of them was the same.
“What should I do?”
Angela let Cynthia stay close as she left the medical tent, but didn’t linger. “Get the team–you’re in charge on this one. I want the kids’ group working the QZ gate. Have them scan every living thing that gets close to this camp. When there’s a lull, I want them patrolling the perimeter with the senior Eagles. Make it clear that they do as they’re told or they return to being camp kids. We want their help, but don’t need it should be the undertone.”
Cynthia left without looking at Kevin.
“We hear from Kenn yet?” Angela asked.
Kevin made a motion to the perimeter man and got a quick response.
“He checked in before dawn, but not since.”
“I want him first when he gets home,” Angela ordered. “Make sure I’m here for it.”
“I will.”
Angela spotted Mitch in the coffee line. “That’s different.”
Kevin filled her in on Mitch, the group fistfight, and gave her an update on Dog–glad Neil had shoved a paper into his hand while he waited at the medical flap for her.
Angela wanted to spend a few minutes thinking about all three reports, but couldn’t spare the time. The problems with their animal population would also have to wait.
“John needs help in here. Go visit these people and tell them it’s time they used their skills instead of mooching in fear.”
Kevin took down the names and left. These women had nursing skills, but hadn’t told Adrian? Didn’t they know they would have been priority members? Kevin was still pondering the weakness fear can create as he crossed into the main camp.
Angela spotted Marc across the distance. That was another change she wanted to explore, but she headed for the little mess instead, where Li Sing was directing food into the smaller bins. She needed to study the area for a minute. They had to be careful not to let the camp know how injured Adrian was and that required a good illusion.
“Coffee?”
Angela smiled gratefully as Li Sing hurried to push a steaming mug into her hand.
“Sit, eat.”
Angela wasn’t going to, but the smell of freshly baked bread caught her nose and pulled her down onto the bench. “Just for a minute.”
Li Sing went to carve a thick slice and Angela took her notebook out. Around her, the camp and QZ were slowly waking. It was okay to steal a personal minute–something she hadn’t had since before going into Little Rock. Later, it would be impossible.
“Butter?”
Angela tore off a small chunk. “Nope.”
The warm bread was perfect and she found herself sitting quietly instead of viewing the notes and to-do list she’d made. The sound of the camp coming to life was...magical.
“You look like him. Stop it.”
Angela didn’t answer Kyle’s half-joke as he came through the netting around the mini-mess.
He filled a tray with enough food and drinks to outfit a small army, and Angela gave him an approving nod as he slipped right back out. Kyle was off duty now. He’d more than earned the break.
Crack!
A number of people flinched at the distant thunder. It was something they hadn’t heard in months.
“Yeah, that timing figures,” Angela muttered, but not bitterly. They’d known rain was coming. Adrian would have prepared for it.
As if to mock the assumption, a stiff breeze began rustling the papers in her notebook.
Angela pulled the pen from the holder. Her minute was up.
5
“How is he?”
Chris jumped at the hostile voice, backing away from the food bowl he’d just set down. He rushed to assure Marc that Dog was okay.
“Perfect–like there wasn’t even a fight.”
Marc scowled. “Maybe there wasn’t!”
Chris retreated as Marc came closer. It was easy to guess that the man was upset and the vet grabbed for a calming trigger. “How’s Adrian?”
Marc growled and Chris cowered along the tent wall. Wrong button!
Dog was instantly alarmed at the waves in the tent. This wasn’t the master that he’d chosen to serve. This was the soldier–who Dog happened to loathe.
The wolf wasn’t sure what had occurred after the fight. The last thing he remembered was falling on top of the pile he had already killed, as more of them attacked.
Marc clenched his fists, throwing out a cold warning. “If anyone suspects what I did, you’re who I’ll talk to about it.”
Chris stammered out a promise, but it wasn’t enough for Marc.
“That includes the chain of command–all of it.”
Chris understood, but unlike the Eagles, he wasn’t bonded with Adrian that way. In fact, in another world, he and Brady might even have been some semblance of friends. Considering who this hard man was sleeping with, it wouldn’t happen now.
“They’ll think it wasn’t bad–that I took care of it. Keep him in here for a bit to cover.”
Satisfied, Marc delivered a last blast from his current anger supply. “Mitch told me he saw you skulking around the night of the sinkhole. I’m checking into that when shit settles down around here. Now get out.”
Chris fled, shaking with fear and anger. Brady thought he could make changes while Adrian was laid up, did he?
“But he didn’t notice he had help,” Chris sneered scornfully. He hadn’t been able to leave the wolf to suffer. Marc’s magic had done wonders, saved the animal, but the vet had also contributed.
Chris hurried toward the animal trailer; mind a furious maze of secrets and scars. “I’ll show him. And when I do, she won’t want him anymore.”
Marc knelt down to stroke the wolf, not reacting to Dog’s reluctance. The animal would always sense the difference, but Marc had no choice in how he handled the vet. Adrian’s traditional methods had barely worked on Chris before. This required sterner measures and he’d had to bring the soldier inside forward to do it. Marc didn’t like being mean, even to those he mistrusted or didn’t care for. It wasn’t in his nature.
Dog relaxed as the air of menace faded and he allowed himself to enjoy the rub that Marc was delivering. Dog wished he could speak to Marc, as he did some of the others here. He needed to express his gratitude, but more, to warn Brady.
Marc knew Dog was special. He’d watched Adrian put the wolf to work and been glad. He, too, understood what it meant to be needed, to have a place
“But not this one,” Marc muttered. “The load is too heavy. It’ll use us both up.”
Dog nudged Marc’s hands and he switched ears, wishing he could talk to Dog. He wasn’t sure what he’d say, other than to ask if the wolf had another name he preferred. After all these years, ‘Dog’ felt rude. The big animal was much more than that.
Dog strained, not sure if it could be done, but willing to try…
Marc stilled at the new sensation. He knew what it was–someone inexperienced trying to find a line in–and sudden intuition had him dropping his mental walls.
Take her and run–now.
Marc drew his gun, even though he connected the deep voice to Dog almost instantly.
“Where’s the threat?”
In the medical tent, about to be healed.
Marc winced, holstering. “The first time we’ve spoken and that’s what you pick?”
Dog blew out a damp snort. A warning to get your mate and go, while you still have her. Isn’t that valuable?
Marc sighed. “It would be, if I didn’t already know.”
Dog glanced up in confusion and Marc forced the words out.
“My time with her is limited. I don’t know why, or what I can do that would possibly change it without hurting all these people, but I know she’ll leave me. At some point, she won’t be satisfied.”
Dog didn’t know what to say, beyond the obvious. Why would you accept that?
“I haven’t. I’ll fight for her until I’m dead...or until she says she’s done. When I hear that, I’m gone.”
Why would you go through so much pain for something that you have no hope of keeping?
“Love sucks like that, Dog. It doesn’t give you a choice.”
Dog considered. Like the breeding heats.
Marc was startled into a smile. “Uh, yeah, I guess. You have no choice, right?”
Dog whined lowly. I’d hurt you, if you got in the way.
Marc understood. Some things just pulled a male like that.
What will you do after?
Marc grunted. “No idea. Find a substitute and hurt, take off and roam this dead world, blow my brains out... It’s hard to say at this point.”
Marc shook off the depression. “But for right now, I plan to enjoy every second she gives me. I had no idea what I was missing. I thought I did, but Angie willing is...”
Dog whined again, burying his head under a large paw.
Marc laughed. “Sorry.”
Dog rolled over, staring in concentration. I’ll stay out of sight for a while.
Marc was reminded of his secret, but Dog already knew what he wanted there, too.
I would never volunteer such information.
Marc didn’t want to ask, but had to. “And if she questions you directly on it?”
Dog, who was sure telling Adrian those forbidden things had caused his near-death, made his choice quickly.
I won’t answer in any way that would imply I was healed.
“Can she...” Marc sighed, unhappily. “Could she pry it out of your mind?”
She won’t need to. If I refuse to answer, she’ll know it’s to protect someone.
“She won’t think of me,” Marc offered miserably. He hated keeping secrets from her.
What happens when she finds out?
Not if, but when. Marc stood up and left the tent without answering.
When Angela found out that he was like her and had been all along, that he’d left her to be different alone because he’d feared the same treatment; when she finally realized that he’d been lying to her for the entire time they’d known each other, it would be the beginning of the end for them. That was a pain she would never be able to forgive.
As Marc came from the tent, he spotted Cynthia herding a small group of reluctant, bleary shadows through the fog. At least he didn’t have Cynthia’s duty. Between Angela and that teenage mess, Marc wasn’t sure he had the worst end of the whipping stick.
6
“Why us? We’re not trained for this.”
Cynthia didn’t answer. None of the teenagers had liked being dragged from their warm cots.
“Can’t we at least have a few minutes to wake up?”
Even Charlie was grouchy. He was missing his morning time with Tracy. This was the only ten minutes he could steal with her. Later, the camp would be too active.
Cynthia still didn’t respond. She wouldn’t until one of them asked a question that mattered.
“Isn’t this a job for the Eagles or Angela?” Jennifer asked, moving slower than the others were. Her back was aching.
Cynthia’s continued silence annoyed the sullen kids and the complaints began to fly uncensored. When it got loud enough to draw attention, Cynthia stopped and turned around. The only one she viewed was Charlie, but each of them felt her silent scold.
Charlie didn’t cave. “Well, we won’t be doing anything! After all the fighting here yesterday, any groups that were around took off.”
Cynthia gestured toward a rising cloud of trail dust coming from the west. “Just the opposite. Because we’ve proven repeatedly that we can defend ourselves, they’ll come in heavier now. And your mom wants you here, officially. If it goes well, this might be a regular post.”
Charlie caught the hint. “You mean we’ll pick who gets in and who doesn’t?”
Cynthia agreed, forgetting how Angela had told her to handle it. “Yes. We need you to do your duty here.”
Understanding that it wasn’t make-work, the group stopped complaining.
Cynthia went on. “The front desk is where you’ll sit. The guards will let in one carload at a time for you to do paperwork on. Make us proud.”
Charlie turned to Jennifer. “You and I will dig while Matt and Becca distract them. Between the two of us, we’ll ferret out every little secret.”
Jennifer was all for it. “We should have a code or something, for the ones we decide to refuse.”
“What about a code like the Eagles use?” Matt suggested. “That way our men can get rid of them.”
Cynthia listened to them for a minute, hearing the self-importance, the too-strict laws emerging. It wasn’t what they needed. When the teenagers began openly discussing life and death, Cynthia remembered her instructions and understood why Angela hadn’t wanted it handled this way.
“Stop it!” The reporter was angry. “Your first thought, when you find something you don’t like, is to ask yourself what Adrian would do.”
Cynthia held up a curt finger against the protests. “You guys haven’t been made leader. You don’t decide life and death, or who stays and goes. Only Angela and Adrian do that! You’ll fill out their paperwork, send them to a QZ tent, and let an Eagle know if there’s problem. You will not directly confront anyone about anything you pick up or Angela will send you back to the training tent.”
Complete silence, layered in hostile glowers.
Cynthia didn’t know what to do. “Fine. You know what? I’m going to go tell her that I screwed up by telling you this job mattered, and then I’m going to tell her that I think it’s a bad idea.”
Cynthia stomped away and protests began to echo behind her.
“Hang on!”
“Don’t do that!”
She stopped, but didn’t face them. “Angela knew you guys weren’t ready. I thought you were. It’s no big deal. You’ll train for another six months before you get the next chance and you’ll do great on it.”
She resumed her steps, fully prepared to report exactly that.
Charlie waved the others toward the QZ desk with a low whisper. “Wait for me there.”
He hurried to Cynthia’s side and the reporter tried to block her thoughts by thinking of the brick wall from Village of the Damned.
“That doesn’t work on me. Cool idea, though, to hide the bomb that way. We might know something was there, but until enough brick crumbled, you’d have the advantage.”
Cynthia glanced over in mild surprise. Not only did Charlie make it a habit to never talk to her, he also didn’t talk openly about magic with anyone but his mom. Even in the kid’s lessons, which were being called the Jr. Eagles, he was very careful.
“Thank you.”
Cynthia stopped to give him a searching look. “For your mom, right?”
Charlie nodded. “I was reading you just then and I realized I hadn’t said that.”
Only two other people giving her those words had meant more. Cynthia felt her heart expand and shoved away the teary emotions. “You have to lead them. If you want the things I think you do, the legal bonds with certain people, then work for it and for them.”
Charlie knew she meant Tracy and for that bond, he would work their team into the ground.
Cynthia knew she’d gotten to him and turned to glare at the other kids over the distance. “Each of them has triggers inside those intelligent minds. When you hit one, remember and use it ruthlessly. They’ve been complete strangers to you, fellow refugees, and even friends. Now, make them your team.”
“I need to think,” Charlie confided lowly. “Can I stand here and do it, or should I put them to work and do it during?”
Cynthia leaned against the water tanker. “Which way would be more effective?”
Charlie considered. “If I could at least plan out this first day, I could work on tomorrow’s setup after the shift.”
“Good. Why not send your team to the mess for trays to bring with them and buy planning time?”
Charlie liked it that his first order would be well received. “Thanks, Cyn.”
Cynthia froze at the nickname, and then quickly turned around before she started crying. Being accepted still felt odd.
End of Free Sample
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