by Angela White
Kenn reluctantly stood up and interfered. “Brady! She’s calling us!”
Kenn was relieved when Marc calmly reloaded and slid his smoking Colts into their holsters. The few wounded around him didn’t even cower in pain as he strode by, desperate to escape his notice.
Kenn did a rough count and came up with forty. Another dozen lay inside. The rough estimate he’d stated had come close.
“I warned them,” he muttered, noting that Ray had stopped just out of sight. “They should have listened.”
Marc walked by Kenn like nothing was amiss, but the Marine knew better than to trust the pretense.
“Hang on. We have to burn this–all of it.”
Marc was in the fog of bloodlust, barely able to think. “Burn what?”
“The bodies, the town–all of it.”
Marc’s haze slowly began to clear. He took stock of the carnage and gave a curt agreement. “I’ll gather. You find the necessaries.”
Kenn didn’t argue. They’d done this once in Afghanistan, though those bodies had all been male, and he knew Marc would do things exactly as they had then. They would cover up the mess and Marc would bury the memory. Angela, a woman, wouldn’t want details, only to know that it had been accomplished.
Marc listened to Kenn’s steps fade, and then forced himself to face what he’d done. He expected overwhelming regret and pain, but there was only cold, hard satisfaction as he viewed the carnage.
“This is your doing!” he accused the demon.
There was no answer. Of course, the evil side had done this. The good Brady wouldn’t have been able to fire more than the first few shots, but that inner man was tired of letting dangerous threats live. These women were that, though untrained. In time, they would have terrorized every area they traversed. Slave traders weren’t the only ones who deserved to die and Marc was finally at a point in the aftermath that he no longer put right and wrong first.
The remaining women had fled the instant his attention had been distracted by Kenn. Marc gathered their fallen guns and ammunition, and other valuables as he dragged their bodies to the stairs of the town hall. All those arson scenes he’d witnessed on the way here no longer appeared completely mysterious to him now.
And the soul? Marc questioned himself ruthlessly, needing to get it out before he saw Angela.
It’s bruised, but intact, the demon replied. It cannot be crushed by doing the only thing you can to protect those you love.
Marc didn’t agree, but he’d given up his afterlife long before the war. All he wanted now was to be with Angie until he died. Who cared what happened after he was split from her?
7
Within an hour of finding Ray, the entire town was engulfed in a blaze that even the old world would have been hard pressed to save from the wind-driven flames. No one else would know what had happened.
Ray was waiting on the edges of the camp, out of sight and hearing, but in view of tent tops.
Kenn instantly understood why Ray was lurking. “You’re no actor, are you?”
Snapped out of his pain, Ray stiffened. “Fuck you.”
“That’s your need, not mine.” Kenn sneered, still pissed. He’d known Ray would respond to his pull, but to feel it! Hadn’t Cara’s memory been enough?
Ray only stared in confused longing, waiting to be told what to do.
Marc barked out a hard laugh. “Go tell her exactly what you were told, and then go to Dale.”
Ray paled further.
Kenn snorted. “She’ll know everything if we send him in.”
“She needs to,” Marc stated harshly. “She thinks I’m not like the rest of you. It’s time she knew better.”
“You’d hurt her that way?” Ray asked, shocked.
Marc paused. “Hurt her, how?”
Ray scowled. “She worships you. Even I know that. She’ll be crushed.”
Marc’s feet moved again. “Maybe she needs to be.”
Kenn didn’t swing Marc around by his arm like he was tempted to do. He no longer had a death wish.
It was Ray who jumped in front of Brady, voice hard. “No.”
Marc shoved Ray aside and was surprised to find himself on the ground, looking up.
Ray planted his feet, ready to protect himself as best he could. “I’m the one who failed, who made you have to do all that. You take it out on me and leave her alone! She’s got enough to handle.”
Marc stared stupidly, fighting the rage. Ray was defending this? It snapped Marc out of the haze and he slowly stood up.
Ray immediately flinched.
Kenn actually wanted Marc to go over the edge, but he also wanted Adrian’s dreams intact and he interrupted again. “I agree with Ray.”
Marc detoured around them. “I’m not lying to her.”
“Again, you mean?”
Ray’s words had Marc spinning on his heel. “What’s that?”
Ray paled further, but made himself speak. “Dale’s been helping the vet. He told me about Dog.”
Marc winced and Kenn took note of that. When Marc didn’t argue, Kenn vowed to find out every detail of that story.
Marc once again headed for camp, but his stride was no longer as angry or determined. Dale knew. Ray and Kenn knew. How long before Angie did?
Ray and Kenn were both relieved when he went toward the main camp, instead of the QZ.
“Will he be okay?”
“If he keeps his mouth shut,” Kenn answered. “If she finds out he’s lying to her? Not a chance he’ll come through it alive.”
“She wouldn’t kill Marc,” Ray protested.
Kenn got them moving. “When she’s finished, it will feel like she did. You take care of Dale. I’ll handle our new leader until Brady’s ready to.”
Ray didn’t like turning it over to Kenn, but Marc clearly wasn’t able. “Be careful. She sees so much now!”
Kenn grunted. “Not if you give her something else to inspect. It’s all about distraction. You have to know which bomb to put in her path first.”
Ray didn’t think it would work for long, but if it bought them a little time, that was good enough. Angela couldn’t find out that her man had massacred an entire group of females by himself. She’d never view him the same and everything would suffer for it.
8
“She got a minute?”
Kevin saw Brady stalking toward the showers as Ray vanished into the QZ tent where Dale was snoozing. John’s sedative should be wearing off about now.
Kevin reluctantly waved Kenn to go on.
Kenn ducked into the tent after a quick tap.
Angela glanced up from the notebook page as Kenn dropped the flap. “It’s done?”
Kenn was startled by how much she sounded like Adrian. “Yeah, it’s over. No more problems there.”
Angela looked down. “That won’t keep me out. What happened to the rage that blocked me for so long?”
Kenn blinked, blurry teenage concerns crumbling under her prying. He’d never felt anything as strong as her mental fingers opening the doors in his mind.
Angela waited for him to resist, ready to hurt him to know the truth, but he only grunted unhappily.
“You won’t like it.”
“I don’t expect to. Would you rather tell me?”
“No.”
If he tried to explain, it would come out wrong. Better that she got to view the danger they’d been in–that Safe Haven would have eventually been in.
Angela read it as deeply as she needed to, but in her heart, she’d already known who had spilled blood. Marc’s Colts were impossible to mistake once they began to crash.
Kenn felt her withdraw from his mind and was relieved. He once again had secrets that she wasn’t allowed to know.
Angela picked up the thought and immediately got angry. “Don’t cross me.”
“Not unless Adrian tells me to,” Kenn answered carefully, feeling the chill.
Angela had to be satisfied with that. She didn’t want to ruin
Kenn by breaking him down to discover what he was hiding. It would be ugly.
Kenn caught the top sentence of the page she was on–Lying is not only wrong, it’s absolutely necessary. Without lying, a leader will never be able to control his flock–and quickly looked away. He didn’t remember all of the instructions and lessons he’d read through while Adrian was handling the slavers, but that one, he did. It had made him feel better because that was how he already lived his life. For Angela, it had to be difficult.
“She’s the one remaining Eagle who might hesitate to pull the trigger, to kill.”
Marc’s words had been laced with contempt and Kenn now recognized the remark for what it was. Brady had a conscience that was crying out.
Angela asked herself if it mattered beyond what she’d already considered, and found only silence. She wasn’t sure. The thought of trying to view Marc that way was frightening. Even the images she’d seen felt like a dream. That couldn’t have been her Brady.
“I’m good. Get some rest before your shift.”
Kenn heard the dismissal and left the tent before she changed her mind and tried to get further into his.
Angela listened to the witch cackle, confused and sad. She’d sent them out to kill and they had. She bore the sin of this, not Marc.
Once that sank in, Angela felt under control and tugged her jacket over that unused wrist blade. It had never felt heavier than when she stepped outside and found Marc coming from the shower.
Their eyes locked over the camp.
Marc read the resigned understanding, but didn’t want it. He did need her to keep seeing him as the good guy, though. It was the only advantage he still held over Adrian.
Angela saw the shadow on his face, the wall he didn’t want her to get through either, and slowly accepted it. If that was how he wanted things, the camp would be led to assume that Kenn had handled things.
Marc wasn’t relieved when she didn’t call him on it. She knew something–too much. Nothing had gone right today.
Marc spotted Dale and the vet fawning over Ray, and amended his thought. Something had gone in his favor, though he hadn’t recognized it at the time. Ray was in his debt and that was useful.
The Eagles knew what had happened without Kenn’s quiet words, and they all expected to feel less for Marc–less trust, less respect–but when he joined them on duty, they found only acceptance and a bit of sadness. Another camp idol had proved he was capable of something awful. They would be stronger for it.
Kenn observed the anticlimactic attitude in shock. If that had been him, they would be glad of it, but the coolness would have returned until he did something big again. The difference in how he and Brady were treated by the Eagles was astounding on every level.
Kenn took up his post, mind spinning through the moments he’d had that compared to Marc’s. Why hadn’t he been as accepted as easily?
Angela waited until Kenn was out of sight, and then went to a man she hadn’t spoken with in a while. When she opened her mouth, he beat her to the punch.
“Would you like a recon for survivors?”
Angela stared at Seth. “Yes, I would. Your team only.”
Seth gestured to the shadows waiting nearby. His men needed a mission and he needed time away from Becky’s pain. Upon hearing and observing, Seth had been set to volunteer and suspected that Angela had noticed the silent request.
“Leave in an hour?” he asked, wondering what Becky’s response would be. She didn’t like being away from him, but Seth was able to recognize this as an opportunity. She claimed she was doing fine, but he wasn’t sure he should believe her.
Angela grimaced slightly, and Seth understood.
“Half that and home by daylight.”
Angela left before she could change the order. She wasn’t sure what she would do if any of the snake women actually wanted to take shelter with them, but she’d figure something out. Leaving them in the wilderness to die simply wasn’t in her nature.
But killing now is...
Angela ignored the witch. Threats were to be handled first. Compassion had to come after. And Marc had made the final choice. If the women hadn’t been threats, they would still be alive.
Chapter Three
Do Your Part
1
An hour before evening mess, Angela was sitting with Adrian and Conner. The boy appeared weak, but John was being careful about collecting the blood for Adrian’s surgery. Angela planned to help him tonight, but this long after the initial injury, he would still require surgery first to remove as much of the infection as they could. In only twenty-four hours, it had grown too strong for the witch to handle alone. His wound was riddled with poison.
“It might not work, right?”
Angela glanced up, a bit startled. She’d forgotten for a moment that Conner was like her and Charlie.
“I’m not,” Conner stated matter-of-factly. “But we can go through that later. Tell me why you’re so worried, even though you can bring the dead back.”
“No one can do that. I only heal,” Angela informed him.
Conner didn’t understand the limits, but he’d always wanted to. It was something he’d never been allowed to question or even discuss outside of the Lab.
“Why won’t it be enough?” he repeated.
Angela sighed. “I can heal injuries, like from a wreck or a gunshot, but Adrian’s wound is infected. There’s nothing to heal, only a foreign body to be killed. I don’t have that power.”
Conner fired off another version of the same question when he didn’t understand. “Why doesn’t your magic make him as good as new?”
“It does for the injury, just not what came after. I can’t find and destroy. I can only increase health to help them fight on their own.”
“It’s killing, boy,” Adrian groaned. “Women aren’t supposed to be killers.”
“It’s against their nature?” Conner asked, rebellious tone long gone. His concern that he might lose both parents had taken center stage.
“You don’t have that limit?” Angela guessed, when Adrian didn’t answer. She discarded the next idea as soon as it came. Conner was in no shape to be lending his dad anything except emotional support.
Adrian’s hazy gaze swung to Angela. “Is it ready?”
“Yes. In half an hour, we’ll wheel you to the little mess. You’ll get a tray and come right back here for John to get you prepped.”
His lids shut, and then suddenly popped back open. “Code Raven?”
Angela nodded, not smiling at all. “They’re doing what you want and so am I.”
Adrian tried to say something else, but the darkness pulled him under before he could.
Conner and Angela exchanged concerned glances that might have been followed by hopeful lies meant to bolster flagging spirits in the old world. Now, they accepted that he might die. They would do everything that they could, but in the end, it was up to fate.
Lingering near the flap, Kenn caught her attention as she came outside. “I have a suggestion.”
Angela paused and waved Kevin back when he would have come over with the next list of to-dos.
Kenn kept his voice low. “Call a security meeting and get a list of options.”
Angela was currently running through what to say and how to handle the unique challenges the most common ideas would bring. It pleased her to be ahead of Kenn, but she had Adrian’s notebooks to thank. She might not have thought of it on her own.
Kenn took her silence as a bad sign. “Just a thought.”
“Tell them after the camp’s settled for the night. You decide who I should hear from,” she instructed.
Surprised, Kenn started to add more and held himself in check. Pushing her would get them nowhere. “Okay.”
Angela watched him leave, not exactly suspicious, but wondering if she should be.
Kevin came to her side, mouth opening, and Angela held up a finger. “Wait.”
Face reddening, Kevin stood there realizin
g he’d been about to interrupt something she was working on. I’m not sure if I like this job.
2
“Where is he?”
“Rear of his new truck with that laptop–same as the last two days.” Billy pointed toward the parking area, ignoring the dull throb in his leg. He was off the crutches now, but the leg wasn’t fully healed.
Samantha went that way without responding to the accusing note. She’d heard it too many times to be swayed. Jeremy knew about her and Neil, but he was burying it, giving himself space. He didn’t really need her...yet.
Sam waved her shadows away as she neared the new truck. To replace the Jeepster, he’d chosen an old blue Ford with rust spots. It would be boring to destroy.
Jeremy didn’t look up from the keyboard. “I’m fine. You already know that. You’ve done your duty, and I’m busy.”
Samantha didn’t acknowledge the dismissal as she slid onto the tailgate. Instead, she studied him to determine how much damage she’d done, and how much more he could take.
Jeremy ignored her. He wasn’t going to be drawn into it anymore. He didn’t need her.
Samantha picked out subtle changes, like his new haircut and shoes, but the things that concerned her were less obvious–like the way he was drawing away from camp life and his team again, his determination to break the internet code, and the way he’d doubled his times in the workout tent yesterday and this morning. It all said he was having trouble. The wisest thing to do was leave him alone, but the camp and Eagles wouldn’t allow that. The next best thing was to finish what she’d started. It was time to claim him.
Jeremy didn’t stop typing, but he felt the edge of distraction at Samantha’s continued silence. He didn’t want to talk to her, didn’t want to face himself when she finally worked up the courage to ask the only question she would want an answer to. It would scar him and he’d never be the same.
Samantha let the peaceful night wash away some of her tension. She loved being outside, adored nature, and she understood why they were under attack–they deserved that. She just didn’t know what to do about it. Despite all the trouble that sometimes came, Sam liked her life now. If not for the loneliness at the onset of dusk, it would almost be perfect.
