by Angela White
Adrian wasn’t in sight as they arrived at the snowy intersection. Wind blew drifts and ice across the road as they tried to spot the former leader.
“There,” Kyle pointed to a taller drift near a telephone pole.
They watched the drift become a white tarp that was jerked aside by a man on a bike, holding a woman in his arms.
Marc was out of the gator in a flash, crunching toward them.
Kyle and Jennifer took positions nearby, neither of them caring for how open it was here. Anything could happen.
Jennifer shared a concerned look with Kyle, but he didn’t have time to agree as lights flashed their way from a narrow street that should have still been blocked by the avalanche.
Marc had started to take Angela from Adrian, but now he spun around, drawing a Colt.
The truck skidded to a halt at the corner, door flying open.
Marc prepared to fire, like Kyle and Jennifer were doing.
“Don’t shoot! Oh, God! Brady don’t you shoot me!”
Hearing the name froze all of them. It was someone Marc knew.
The woman slipping toward them in a hurry had left her headlights on, engine running, and was clutching a form that could only be a thin child.
“Oh, God!” The brunette ran toward them as fast as she could on the ice. “We have to go!”
Marc glared at Adrian, who flashed Angela’s words about the dosimeters. Understanding the threat that was coming, Marc’s gut tightened into a ball of lava. Safe Haven!
Marc waved toward the Gator. “Get her up the hill. I’ll follow you.”
Marc grabbed the panicking woman by the arm and swung her around, ignoring everything except his need to get to the cave. The herd was in danger.
“No! Stop, Brady!” Julia tried to resist, but there was little she could do as Marc pushed her toward her truck. “We have to get under cover.”
Marc took her to the passenger side, causing Julia to fall silent. She watched fearfully as he slammed her door and slipped around the front of the old Chevy to take the driver’s seat.
“Hang on,” Marc instructed, following Kyle, who was already rolling. “Rough road.”
Julia clutched her son, bracing with her legs. She also kept her mouth shut, stunned that she’d found Brady standing in the middle of the street right when she needed him most. It was a sign.
Marc concentrated on the drive. The woman’s truck wasn’t equipped for the climb that it now had to make.
The demon however, disappeared to dig for information on the woman and child huddled in the passenger seat. He remembered this serpent in their garden all too well.
3
Angela moaned as the Gator slid on a patch of ice that had melted a bit from the first ride down. It was icing over in a slick sheet that refused to give enough traction. Kyle shifted gears, rocking, and they shot forward. Jennifer warned Marc mentally, but wasn’t certain that she had needed to. Marc was hell behind the wheel, like Kenn and Billy.
Even though she’d expected it, Jennifer was still impressed with the way Marc walked the battered truck up the hill sideways. It was a delicate balance to hold a vehicle on the edge like that, and it implied the person doing it was a master.
Marc was just glad when they finally reached the tunnel. The silence from the woman and her child was a bit unnerving. He’d been braced for crying and/or constant chatter while he was trying to concentrate. It had been a relief not to have it, but it had also been a concern. He hadn’t had the spare focus to scan her yet, but he was already positive that the woman or her child was a descendant. There wasn’t a hum of power or anyone in his thoughts to give it away, but he knew what he knew. His radar was much sharper now. He needed to get them under cover so he could at least view her face. She and the kid were wearing more layers than the Eagles did whenever he sent them out.
Marc went to the passenger door, holding it for her and then leading her into the bottom corridor, where Kyle and Jennifer were following Adrian toward the camp.
Marc waited until the others were out of sight before turning to his unexpected company. He flipped on his belt light and crossed his arms over his chest. “Who are you?”
Julia set the boy onto his feet, keeping an arm around him. “An old…friend.”
Marc scowled as flashes from an ugly past slapped him like the recent rifle butt to the skull. “Julia?”
She pushed her hood off to reveal a gaunt profile under a desperate expression. “Hello, Brady.”
Marc hadn’t thought about Julia in more than ten years. All he could come up with was, “How did you find me?”
“I heard the Ghost defy and then defeat the government.” Julia swallowed nervously. “After that, Cody tracked you down.”
Marc stared in dawning horror and shock as Julia slid the boy’s hood off. It was like looking into a mirror.
Julia cringed as Marc’s facade morphed into every nightmare that she’d ever had of this moment. She’d always hoped it wouldn’t have to happen. “Please, let me expl–”
“What have you done?!” Marc exploded, unable to process more than the obvious yet. Julia was here. Julia had a son that looked like him. This was his son. Julia had…stolen a child from him! “You liar! You whore! You awful, awful human being!”
Julia held the boy when he would have lunged forward to attack Marc. She deserved everything he gave her, even if he tossed her out. Cody was all that mattered now.
“How could you do that! You…you…liar! Thief!”
Marc spun toward the tunnel, staggering in his pain.
“Wait!” Julia scooped up the struggling boy, running after Marc. “Wait!”
Marc didn’t.
“You, Boot!” Julia screamed, using the only way she knew to get his attention.
Marc’s fury passed the level of violence. He twisted around to hit her.
“He’ll die without you!” Julia screamed, not scared after the life she’d led since betraying him. “Hate me, throw me out, shoot me, but do right by your son, grunt!”
Marc froze, glad she’d called him a grunt. He wouldn’t have been able to stop himself if she had hurled another insult. He stared at her defiant face, seeing the terror of a mother who had nowhere else to turn. He didn’t care about her, but the little boy on her hip, now suckling his thumb in fear, was hard to ignore. “What’s wrong with him?”
Julia sighed in relief. “He’s in shock from things we saw. He’s getting better.”
Marc scanned them, digging deeper than he’d ever gone into someone other than Angie. When he was satisfied that she didn’t have a hidden agenda, Marc motioned toward the corridor where Eagles could be heard coming toward them. “Get moving.”
Julia tried to hurry, heart pounding. She’d been sure that he would kill her. It was worth it for her son to be with someone who wouldn’t let his gifts be used in ways that would harm him further. Cody had been through enough.
Julia tried to keep up with Marc’s stride, but it was impossible. She tripped repeatedly in her worn boots and weak condition. They had always been on rations, but the last weeks had been harder than usual. There hadn’t been much food. Julia tried to be grateful that her son didn’t weigh as much as normal as she struggled up the mountain tunnel. She’d reached Marc. When his anger eased, he would do right by their son. That was all that mattered.
Marc wasn’t immune to her suffering. He didn’t care. It was the child’s cry of pain when she tripped and fell that got him to relent.
Nearly snarling, Marc stomped to them and snatched the boy.
Julia waited at his feet for the beating she deserved. He had his son. He could cast her out right now.
Marc wanted to. Her thoughts were easy to read, but her remorse had no effect on him. Nothing she could ever say or do would allow him to forgive her.
The boy in his arms was light and still, curled around his arm and shaking. Marc tried to give him back to his mother as she stood up, but the boy wouldn’t let go. Marc glowered at J
ulia in confused anger. “What’s his deal?”
Julia rushed forward to take her son, but the boy still wouldn’t let go.
Marc caught a detail he’d missed in all his rage. “Why doesn’t he talk?”
Julia paled a bit, retreating. “He’s fine.”
Marc shoved into her mind, immediately wincing at her memories of the boy being born. She was in what appeared to be a shed.
Julia slammed down the wall she used with her son.
Marc waved a hand and she was knocked against the tunnel wall. She stayed on the ground, gasping.
“Please, don’t.”
Marc pulled in the physical form of his anger. It was the first time he’d used it in Safe Haven. The little boy hadn’t budged from his curled position around Marc’s arm, but his voice was like hearing Charlie speak.
Marc turned toward Safe Haven, catching Adrian’s need for him to be there to enforce Angela’s wishes on the newest crisis. He tucked the child onto his hip as he did with Missy, glad when the boy automatically wrapped his legs and arms around for a better grip. “Keep up!”
Julia hurried to her feet, dizzy. She’d known he would be mad, but deep down, she’d still believed Marc wouldn’t hurt her.
“You were wrong,” Marc mocked, shocking her with the demonstration of another gift.
Julia stared in shock as she realized Marc was an Alpha. “He got it from you!”
Marc understood then, more than he wanted to. Julia had believed it was a curse, that the boy was ill. She hadn’t been able to accept that her son had gifts. She’d chosen to hide them.
Marc instinctively held the child closer. “That won’t happen here. You can be who you really are.”
Cody didn’t answer, but he was listening. His mother had always spoken of his father in terms of a hero. Cody needed that to be true. Nothing else his mother had told him was.
Marc quickly ran through the chaos this would bring, trying to spot big problems that had to be handled right away. Based on what Safe Haven had already gone through, Marc only asked a few important questions.
“You running from anyone? Being hunted? Sick? Planning revenge on someone here?”
Julia snorted, out of breath. “No, to all.”
“What do you want from us?”
“Us?”
“Safe Haven.”
“I came for you, Brady. I don’t care about your camp.”
Marc didn’t tell her that she would in time. He already wanted her gone. He had enough on his plate. “What do you want?”
“For Cody to be safe.”
“You’ve been doing that until now, I assume,” Marc stated stiffly. “What changed?”
“Supplies are getting scarce,” Julia explained, feeling like she might faint. This was more exertion than she was used to. “And raiders getting bolder. Our group was attacked. I barely made it out.”
“So you want to dump him here with me or do you want to be invited in too?” Marc demanded, facing her as they reached the sentry booth at the summit of the corridor.
Julia didn’t answer. She didn’t have the right to ask for anything except her son’s life. If Marc gave her that, it was enough.
Disgusted, Marc waved a hand at the guard. “Get someone on her. She doesn’t even visit the latrine without company.”
Barry nodded, facade not showing his surprise at Marc’s hostility. He hadn’t spoken when Adrian had gone by with Angela in his arms and he didn’t now, either. It was obviously a bad time to bother anyone.
4
Angela couldn’t halt the tears as Adrian carried her into Safe Haven. The guards around them assumed she was in pain. Angela let them. She couldn’t explain how it felt to be here without her baby growing safely inside her.
Adrian cradled her, understanding as much as he could. Her misery was hitting him in harsh waves that threatened to bring tears to his eyes, but he didn’t know what to do to help her, other than what he was already trying. Losing a child wasn’t something you got over in a month or even a year. It was something you carried your entire life. He knew.
“You didn’t tell me that,” Angela sniffed against his chest, ignoring their audience as he took her to the medical bay. “Why not?”
Adrian shrugged, glad his chest wasn’t hurting as they neared the lower levels of the camp. “Just didn’t come up. I would have.”
“Son?”
Adrian nodded stiffly. “My eldest.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, trying to restrain the flood.
“So am I, baby,” he answered, shifting her gently into Doug’s waiting arms. “So am I.”
Angela buried her cheek against Doug’s chest as tears broke over her face.
Adrian immediately went down the ladder. He didn’t want to push his luck, but he was also curious about Marc’s visitors. Was that really a bastard child from Brady’s past? Adrian hadn’t thought Marc capable of walking away from a woman carrying his child.
“He wouldn’t!” Jennifer snapped angrily. “Quit enjoying his pain. It isn’t right.”
Adrian didn’t reply. None of this was right. They should all be back in their previous lives, worrying over bills. None of this was right.
Jennifer agreed with that, but with the revelations of the last months, she had come to understand what her role was. The peace wouldn’t come until past behaviors changed, and past behaviors wouldn’t change until they were pointed out. Half of these dwellers didn’t know the line between right and wrong anymore.
“Who are you to be the moral judge of my refugee camp?” Adrian barked, instantly furious at the teenager for what he saw as an attempt to wrest control from the council he’d put in place.
Jennifer paled a bit at the accusation. “I wouldn’t do that. The council choices are final.”
“Didn’t sound like it,” Adrian remarked, not caring that Kyle was coming toward them with a shitty expression that warned of violence. “Don’t get ahead of yourself as an enforcer, Jennifer. You haven’t lived enough yet to understand what drives people to make the choices they do. You have gifts, but you won’t deserve them until you gain the wisdom to know when to interfere and when to stay out of it.”
Jennifer wanted to argue that, but couldn’t. He was right. She didn’t understand humans at all.
Kyle fell in behind them, forcing himself to listen before reacting. He hadn’t cared for Adrian’s body language. He was certain he wouldn’t care for the words, either.
Falling back into leader was easy for Adrian as the couple stayed close, appearing to escort him out. “It isn’t about understanding. You have to search deeper. And then you have to dig. People hide who they are, what they want. When you can determine a future reaction, based on a past event, you’re close. When you can accurately predict the reactions of an entire group that you’ve never met before, whose past you don’t know, then you’re there. Past enforcers didn’t take official roles until well into their thirties, and many of them didn’t qualify until they were half a century old.”
“Qualify?” Jennifer questioned, anger fading with the new distraction.
“There are tests for all descendants, tests to pass to take your rightful place. Like school. No one is born knowing everything.”
“Interesting…”
Adrian was impressed. Kyle knew how to pick them. Jennifer would be a full partner in any relationship. It was nice. “We can’t do it here. Boss lady will shut it down.”
“Because of the sheep?” Kyle asked quietly.
“No. She doesn’t want them all competing and destroying the peace.”
“You’ve already discussed it?”
“It’s in my notebooks,” Adrian admitted. “I gave her both angles on it. Because we haven’t heard anything, I’m assuming she chose not to and that’s why.”
“Makes sense,” Kyle concurred. He respected Angela a lot, but it went up on discovering that. The descendants could have taken over the camp, like Sonja. Kyle was grateful that Angela was goo
d.
Adrian began to laugh.
Jennifer and Kyle believed they knew why he was amused. The mobster flushed angrily, but Jennifer knew he was right. Angela had wells of darkness. “But she’s also our light.”
Adrian nodded. “Yes, she is.”
The tunnel narrowed as they reached a checkpoint, where the guards approved of Adrian having a high-level escort.
“Is there something we can do for her?” Jennifer asked. “I’ve been scanning, but I don’t know.”
“Leave her be for a while?” Kyle offered. “Maybe send her off with you...”
Adrian was happily surprised, but he knew better than to mention how big of a concession that had to be for the mobster. “She has to face the pain, but she’ll need breaks from it. When she’s ready for one, Marc will let me know and I’ll take her out for a while. Over time, she’ll come back to most of the Angie we all know.”
“But we have a lot of trouble coming,” Jennifer protested. “We need her in charge now.”
“I understand,” Adrian commiserated. “But you’ve got Marc and the council. They’re good at what they do, too. Have faith.”
Jennifer and Kyle were now the ones surprised. They’d never thought to hear Adrian supporting Marc.
More conversation had to wait as Marc and his guest reached them.
Marc’s face was red, but his hold on the boy was gentle. The woman behind him didn’t get a glance as Marc stomped by. Both of the descendants he passed immediately began scanning him and the kid for details.
Marc was in no mood for it. He spun around to glower.
Adrian coughed. “I’ll be around.”
Jennifer flushed as Adrian scooted off. “Sorry.”
Marc grunted, ignoring Julia’s surprise. “Keep track of him.”
Kyle and Jennifer followed Adrian.
“Come on,” Marc ordered, shifting his son to his other arm.
Julia stayed on his heels, unable to place this hard, angry man with the young Marine from whom she’d stolen a child. He’d clearly changed.
“Are you the boss here?” Julia asked.
