by Angela White
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 al
l.
“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–a
nd 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?”
