The Life After War Collection

by Angela White

  Adrian was sitting at a fold-up table next to his tent, shielded by a green canopy as people waited to see him.

  Angela knew the call was the reason for them being here too. People were scared and hoping for reassurance. There were more members wearing guns today, and the line at the target practice area was already long, though it was so early and so chilly. The sounds of gunfire rang out almost continuously.

  After listening to the first three people–older, nervous women–ask about defenses and joining the gun class, Angela tuned them out, wondering if Adrian was going to make her leave. Might be for the best, her heart seduced, then you could have Marc.

  Angela picked up Adrian’s thought and went to sit on the damp grass, content to wait, though more people had joined the line. Some of those now regarded her differently, more respectfully, and she listened, impressed with the way Adrian handled them.

  It was nearly nine before they were alone, and Adrian waved her into the empty seat as the last of the members left, satisfied, “Sorry.”

  Angela shrugged, brushing at her damp jeans. “I didn’t mind.”

  He only looked at her, and she dropped her eyes to the lifeless dirt under her feet. “I don’t know how they know. We saw almost no one on the way here.”

  “Almost no one. I need you to tell me about all of them,” he prompted.

  Angela frowned in concentration, trying to tune out those walking by, whispering and staring. “There were people everywhere at first, but by the time I left Ohio in early February, even the group living at the college had torn themselves apart. I had to…convince them to let me go. They discovered a lot more than I wanted to show, but there were six of them. When Marc came, their leader, Warren, ambushed him and died for it. Once we were on the road, I…”

  Her face drained of color, and Adrian hated the ugly fear that came into her expression.

  “I was stalked by two men in Indiana, near Martinsville. I defended myself. They witnessed things. They might have gotten me, if not for Marc. They said they’d follow, but they were both seriously wounded, and I thought we’d lost them. I wouldn’t let him finish them off. Said something stupid like, ‘they’re hurt, that’s enough,’ but I knew better.” She stared at the fingers lovingly caressing her gun. “I was attacked again in Versailles, and I…killed him. We saw no one else except for a Mountain couple we spent the night with in Nebraska. It has to be the twins from Indiana.”

  Adrian read between the lines and his respect for her doubled even as his worry grew. “Can you…no. Will you show me?”

  Angela was scowling, but she nodded, not looking up. She didn’t want to experience it all again, but she had led them here and she had to give Adrian whatever he needed to make them go away.

  “Yes. We’ll have to be touching.”

  His heart thumped, and Adrian stood up. “Bring your chair.”

  2

  Adrian sat back, hand still tingling sweetly from the innocent contact. Her skin was so soft!

  Do my fingers reek of her scent now?

  It was a struggle not to find out.

  “They saw the fire and energy, nothing more?”

  “No.”

  “Good. They know very little, then.”

  “But they suspect more, and if it is the twins, then they’ve followed me, and I’m sorry.”

  “I’m not,” Adrian calmed. “We need you here.”

  “You’re not asking me to leave?”

  His tone became passionate. “Never! You’re one of us now, one of my Council, and I’ll handle this. Here’s your driving schedule. Hope you like older people.”

  He changed the subject abruptly, and she let him, skimming the paper.

  Adrian knew she would assume he was putting her with the coal miners to discover if the elderly people had a need for anything. It was actually Kenn’s doing.

  Angela had no idea about the arrangements going on behind her back. She was just happy she would get to drive. She hadn’t realized how big a part of her life her Blazer had become until she went without it for a few days.

  As she moved toward the flap, Adrian said, “You did well yesterday. You’re always welcome to stop by the fort.”

  Angela left, but inside she doubted his men felt the same.

  3

  “It’s hurting her.”

  Charlie looked up from the basket he’d been sorting.

  The sullen teenager was not happy to be laboring with Marc. Adrian had insisted Charlie knew the things that people used the most since he was usually the one to hand stuff out or to deliver boxes, and there had been a tense four hours of silence.

  “What’s hurting who?” Charlie asked sharply, thinking it wasn’t enough to be good with a gun, but he was glad Marc was.

  “Your mom, when you won’t talk to her.”

  There was another tense silence.

  “See, this I expect. Hate me, but give your mom a break. She went through hell to find you.”

  Charlie had been thinking about it all morning, unable to drift off again after her nightmare had woken him, but he still didn’t respond. What could he possibly say to make this stranger understand that if he stayed, she would probably be killed? That he was trying to keep his mom alive by making her pick between them?

  They worked in silence for a few more minutes, the other men already gone for lunch. The boy felt Marc wanting to talk, to explain. Charlie was glad when he didn’t try. Kenn had said many things about his mom, things his mom said weren’t true, and even at his age, Charlie knew who he could trust. He also knew how dangerous Kenn was.

  “Can I ask you something?”

  Marc paused to light a smoke and knew he would have to repay Adrian somehow for this precious time with his son. “Shoot.”

  “Is she telling the truth? You would have come for us if you’d known?”

  Marc’s gut clenched. “In a heartbeat, boy. I used to fall asleep hoping to hear her calling for me.”

  There was another long pause and then:

  “I wish she had.”

  Marc could have cried in that moment, one of the few times he’d ever felt such an emotion. “Me too, boy, me too, but she made the only choice she thought she had.”

  “And we got Kenny.”

  The bitter tone made Marc frown. “Yeah, some great joke, huh?”

  Charlie nodded angrily, dropping the small box he’d been about to start unpacking as Dog appeared in the wooded shadows around them.

  There was a brief, intense moment of concentration between the wolf and teenager that had Marc scanning to see who might have noticed.

  Only the guards. Their eyes were glued to Charlie, not in surprise, but in concern for the willful child.

  They know. Which means Adrian does too. None of our secrets are safe.

  “I probably won’t be able to come back.” Charlie let out a sigh, and then, “Sorry. I wanted to talk a little more.”

  The teenager was gone a second later, vanishing silently into the late morning shadows around them.

  Marc continued to work, now worried. Charlie was so much like his Angie that it was scary. Whoever the teen was about to confront had better know how to handle him.

  4

  “Where the hell have you been?”

  Angela gave Kenn a cool glare as she left the long bathroom line, going scarlet at how many people had turned to stare. He’d snuck up on her while she was busy thinking about what Adrian had said about her being welcome. She hated it that she hadn’t been paying attention, but after the call last night, the witch had to be let out carefully. As a result, Kenn had startled her, and she was surprised to discover her anger was stronger than the fear.

  “Well?” Kenn pushed. He’d been searching for a while.

  “With the doctor and then Adrian, as you damn well know, so get off my ass!”

  Kenn moved in front of her at the lie. He knew she hadn’t been with John–he’d been there twice already.

  Angela shifted around him as the wit
nesses muttered. “Go away, Kenn. I’m not in the mood.”

  The Marine ignored her order, fell in step as the sentries scowled, fingers on radio buttons.

  “Where are you going now?” Kenn demanded as she left the crowd and passed the tents.

  “I’m off!” Angela snapped. “Wherever I want.”

  Kenn stepped in front of her again, drawing attention as she flinched and went for her gun.

  “I just wanna talk!”

  He reverted to whining, and she went around him again as two guards moved closer. “Not now, grunt!”

  The tone of command coming from her mouth had Kenn in shock, speechless to discover he had to obey. He watched her go with a concern that was unusual. She was seriously upset. What had caused that?

  Kenn started to glance at the nearest Eagle, like he would have done before she came, then stopped. They were against him already, surprised and angry that Adrian was letting him off without a punishment.

  Kenn headed for the trucks instead.

  5

  Angela wandered for hours before lining up to wash for lunch mess. She’d lied to Kenn, hadn’t wanted him to know exactly how long she’d been alone or with the blond, but now she wished she did have duty with the kind doctor.

  Yesterday hadn’t been enough of a workout to calm her, not with everything that was happening. She knew she would be glad of the free time after the shift on guard duty tonight that she’d volunteered for, but right now, she was searching for a distraction from her fears. The twins were coming for her, and these people would be in the crossfire. Unless I give myself up to spare them.

  Terror filled her at the thought, and she returned to her roaming, clearly agitated. She wasn’t hardened enough yet. She wasn’t a trained killer, and when she turned herself over to the slavers, she would have to be. She’d told Adrian she wouldn’t ever take another life, but if the Mexicans came here to Safe Haven, Charlie and Marc would be murdered.

  Angela’s heart screamed and she raised her chin in defiance. She would turn herself over before that happened. Surrender and then try to kill them all.

  Her gut twisted again, but her mind went straight to the Eagles. Did Adrian welcome female fighters? Would she be allowed to try out? Could she? She had heard about the Level tests, the physical requirements that always drew blood, and while the fear was there, waiting to evolve into panic, she found herself considering asking him anyway.

  Angela’s feet slowly took her to the off-limits area. She wouldn’t do anything like she had yesterday. The witch was locked up tight now, but she could still watch them, right? Angela stopped abruptly. Watch…

  The twins are watching us! That had been her feeling of danger on their first night here. They would have seen her reunion with her son. They wouldn’t take her without him, not with it being such an obvious method of control. They know about Charlie!

  Panic erupted, fear ordering her to get her boy and run hard. She turned as if in a daze.

  Concerned guards moved her way.

  Adrian came from the shadowy doorway of his tent, and even Kenn, on Point, saw her distress and responded.

  Angela wanted only Marc, and he was by her side before any of the others could reach her.

  “What is it?”

  She sent him her thoughts in one horrifying picture of a gun being held to Charlie’s head by one twin, while the other ordered her to destroy these people.

  In Marc’s expression, Angela discovered no surprise. He had already thought of it.

  “Will you take us? We’ll go right now. Adrian won’t let Kenn stop us.”

  “It won’t do any good, honey.” Marc’s words were regretful. He’d considered it again after the call, but the twins had followed them for a thousand miles, and he’d only known because of a trim on his bumper.

  “They’re coming. We have to get ready.”

  “But we could lose them–”

  “No.”

  Her fear cleared a bit at the hard tone, and she read his thoughts.

  The brothers are too good.

  She caught a flash of the fire, of him finding a bullet mark, and gasped. “They were there? They shot at us, and we didn’t know?”

  “It’s what changed my mind.”

  She sucked in a breath. “I’m scared, Brady.”

  “I know.”

  “What are we gonna do?”

  Marc locked eyes with the man now standing tensely behind her. “Trust Adrian to protect you both.”

  Angela stiffened but spoke what was in her heart. “And when he can’t?”

  Marc turned away, waving at Dog to stay with her. “I’ll do what I should have already. Hunt them down and end this!”

  Angela spun to find Adrian, wanting to say so much that she didn’t know where to start.

  Adrian’s tone said he knew. “I can. He won’t have to.”

  She scanned the livestock area and found her boy in a shoving match with Zack’s other son, this one younger but much wider than his brother.

  Matt was lying on the ground nearby and Angela swung back to Adrian with desperation as guards rushed to break them up. “I’d send him away and give myself up.”

  “I don’t doubt it,” Adrian leaned in. “But will that succeed?”

  It would keep them away for a while, but make peace with them, it will not, the witch answered immediately.

  “Good!” Adrian grinned savagely. “I don’t want to make peace! I want them eliminated.”

  Before she could respond, he gestured toward the fort. “Let’s go observe the Eagles training. We’ll both feel better.”

  6

  They entered the tent as the bell for evening mess rang, and every head turned, all of them surprised to find her there once more.

  Angela nodded to the people she recognized, attention settling on the far corner, where three men–one of them Doug–were practicing what was clearly a hostage-rescue scenario.

  She turned to Adrian, daring him to lie. “For me, right?”

  “In case we make a mistake,” Adrian responded without hesitation. “We’ll come for you.”

  His voice lowered so only she could hear. “I’ll come for you.”

  Rather than protest as she might have done, Angela was grateful, listening to the witch insist that Adrian meant it. If the twins somehow kidnapped her, he would be at Marc’s side for the rescue.

  “Can I help?”

  Adrian felt fate take notice. Her asking was the first stage. “Depends.”

  “On what?”

  “They’re using live rounds.”

  When the witch said she would cover it, Angela nodded. “I’m in. You want me to play myself, right?”

  Adrian subtly judged the reaction of his men. This would be a crucial test of their lessons, and he could feel their unhappiness. He wasn’t certain that they were as ready as he would have liked, but he bit his tongue before he could tell them to switch to blanks. He would wait a minute and observe how they reacted to using the real hostage in their lesson. Right before it started, he would have them switch to training weapons.

  Angela joined the three men who had stopped to listen and were now frowning. “You want me to sit pretty or do what I would if I were a hostage?”

  Adrian was impressed at the question. “Being still would be best for now. They’re already spooked.”

  “You got it.”

  Angela sent him a quick flash of being inside a shield of energy. She felt his immediate relief, and knew he had been about to tell them to switch to paintball guns.

  She took her place in the chair in the center of the room and Billy handed her a set of earplugs. He had been the one to allow her into the training area yesterday, and she felt a spark of interest for the ponytail-wearing blond that she wasn’t sure of. Was he trouble?

  “Be careful, will ya? If I get trimmed, the wolf’s gonna want to talk to whoever did it.”

  There were snorts and chuckles at her words, and the use of laughter to break the tension was
a technique that drew Adrian’s attention. Surprised, he watched her handle herself and the males around her as if she’d been doing it all her life. While they set up, she casually held conversations with the men, waving to those across the room, and Adrian felt his plans shift. She is ready for more now, he thought, and settled against the far wall of the warm canvas room to let her prove it.

  Angela couldn’t believe she was doing this, was shocked to find herself here and more than stunned that she wasn’t afraid. She had gotten used to letting the witch guide her through the more challenging things in this new world, but being here was all her own doing. She smothered a wide grin at the feeling of freedom. She could never have done this before the war.

  The training exercise was short. Three guards against three targets, set to randomly pop up, and of course, the hostage was in the middle with the bad guys using her as a shield.

  Billy and Jeremy exchanged a long, tense glance. When Billy bobbed his agreement, Jeremy turned toward Adrian. “Request permission to change the team?”

  Adrian nodded. “Granted.”

  Jeremy turned to Doug, expression pained. “I’m sorry. Doug out, Daryl in.”

  The big man took it better than Angela thought he would. The other guards didn’t think he was that good, were making the best choice for the mission.

  Angela switched her attention to the three men getting ready to roll and felt the witch inside smother her in layers of protection.

  “Team one, set.”

  “Targets, set.”

  They looked at her, and she smiled sexily. “The innocent maiden, set.”

  Instead of jokes, all hell broke out.

  Not using suppressors, the deafening barrage froze Angela with her eyes shut tightly. She was determined not to move an inch as the slugs flew, tiny missiles punching into targets near her.