From the Ashes

by Angela White

  Adrian gave a slow, bitter smile. “That was the question I asked when those two flanked me through the dust storm, and you chose the mess.”

  Neil didn’t respond, locking down on his thoughts.

  Adrian went back to his workout. “Is this a problem?”

  “No.” Neil had accepted that Adrian was different a long time ago. It was the shock and embarrassment of discovering Adrian that had been reading their thoughts. It explained how he was able to keep up.

  Adrian quickly disabused him of the notion. “Her magic rubs off. I couldn’t do that before she came.”

  Neil forced his mouth to work. “But you did, can do things?”

  Adrian confirmed it. “My gifts are what I’ve always done, manipulate pieces into place. Before the war, it was used for government and personal purposes. Since then, it’s become a weapon to fight extinction.”

  “Who knows?”

  Adrian’s face flashed sorrow. “Kyle, Seth, and the woman now moaning in Marc’s arms.”

  Neil was appeased. “We should keep it that way.”

  “Yes.”

  There was a minute of silence as Neil tried to figure out what he could offer in place of what Adrian was hurting over.

  “Do you… Can you talk to me about it? Or Kyle?”

  Adrian knew what he meant and shrugged. “When it boils, I may. All good right now.”

  Neil understood the leader was still fighting and took hope from it. As long as he was strong enough to do the right thing, it might all work out.

  Neil left the hay room with a censored version of an explanation and a lighter heart. He wasn’t as upset over the love triangle thing now, despite knowing how badly it could go.

  Adrian couldn’t tell himself the same.

  13

  “Recon team is on the way back, Boss,” Kevin called over the radio.

  Marc woke instantly, looking down at Angela’s sleeping form. She was curled on his chest, hands tight in his shirt so that if he moved, she would know.

  That means as much as the way she calls for you in her sleep, the inner man stated. Stop pushing or you’ll force them together.

  Marc knew that to be good advice. He would try to act as if nothing had changed.

  “So will he,” Angela stated sleepily, glad Marc had calmed down, “But it doesn’t matter either way.”

  She slowly sat up, locking eyes with him. “I’ll say this once, Marc. Please listen.”

  Marc nodded, expecting to hear a promise of fidelity.

  “I miss my baby.”

  Angela didn’t add anything, just let him put it together. It was an endless ache that she hadn’t shared with anyone.

  Marc’s heart broke for the pain in her eyes, even as that inner voice said this was another clever distraction technique.

  “That was earlier, Brady,” she snorted harshly. “This is real. When we settle down and it’s safe enough, will you–”

  Marc was kissing her before she could finish the plea.

  14

  There was a group of camp members lingering around the QZ when the rookie recon team pulled in and more than a full team of Eagles, off duty, finding make-work nearby. Everyone wanted to see how Kenn had done with the females. The training session and classes were going awful, fighting, flirting, and repeated explanations taking most of the time. After Kenn’s words to the Eagles about it getting better, they were eager to see how he had handled eight females alone.

  Angela and Adrian also needed that information. They were standing together with beers, watching as the Excursion pulled into the QZ parking area. Behind them, Marc stood in the shadows, sweeping with his mental grid.

  Kyle lingered nearby, eyes on Adrian.

  “Welcome back,” Kevin greeted them on the radio.

  The truck lights flashed in response, but when no oral answer came, the Eagles on duty moved closer. That wasn’t Kenn’s usual MO.

  Angela also took a few steps forward.

  The doors on the Excursion opened, and the females began filing out. They all headed to the rear in a rush, and those watching observed eagerly. The women weren’t fighting or even talking. They were...pulling a gurney from the rear.

  “Hang on.” Angela stopped Adrian from moving that way.

  They watched the females take up places around the gurney and heft it into the air. From the way it tilted dangerously, it was obvious that Kenn was on it. The women struggled to keep it balanced, Becky and Tracy directing the other six toward the medical camper.

  Eagles rushed forward to help.

  “Let them be!”

  Angela’s shout froze the men who were only obeying centuries of training. They looked to her in confusion as the women hauled Kenn’s unconscious body into the camper without dumping him out of the gurney.

  Angela ignored their silent requests for clarification. They didn’t need her to tell them what Adrian had been trying to teach them all along. Instead, she moved toward her rookies with a pleased smile that she made sure they each felt as they came back out of the camper.

  “Who has my sitrep?” she asked as they gathered around her.

  Adrian grinned. He hadn’t been sure about how she was handling them–he had let Kyle inside a lot more than she was doing with any of these women–but female Eagles would have to be handled differently in some area. He was coming to realize that through watching their reactions to her aloofness. It got results.

  Angela motioned toward the mini mess when none of them answered. “After each run, you’ll meet me for a sitrep. Eventually, my XO will perform that honor.”

  “When do you want us there?” Sam asked quietly.

  “Ten minutes. And the first thing I’m going to want to know is what happened to your team leader.”

  There was a round of uneasy, guilty looks exchanged among the eight females.

  Angela raised a brow. “Saving one of you when you failed to listen to an order?”

  Again, Sam spoke, voice barely a mutter, “Not exactly. He, uh, forgot rookie rule six D.”

  Angela’s mind pulled it right up. Always account for the reactions of your team.

  Her lips curved upward. “Caught in the crossfire?”

  The females shared another round of glances, these all guilty.

  Samantha shrugged uneasily. “In a manner of speaking.”

  “Okay.” Angela let them go. “Ten minutes.”

  Samantha glanced around at her team and then motioned toward the filthy Excursion. “Get the nets over to the holding chiller so John can run the tests.”

  Angela noticed the immediate obedience and stored it. Apparently, the women had worked some more things out, and Samantha had emerged on top. Interesting.

  15

  The mini mess was crowded.

  The group of rookie females hesitated in the flap as three teams of Eagles turned to grin at them.

  “Damn it!” Sam swore under her breath.

  “Understatement,” Cynthia grumbled.

  The six females behind them nodded in agreement. They all moved toward the center table with flushed cheeks and stiff bodies.

  Angela had set it up for Li Sing to bring over beers and pretzels, a favorite of the returning teams. The small man moved happily through the crowded tables.

  Sam took a beer with a tired smile, understanding they were being treated like full Eagles. The feeling would have been incredible, if not for the report they had to give now.

  Angela waited for them to get settled and then opened her notebook.

  Samantha and Cynthia automatically followed her lead, but Angela shook her head, motioning. “You’ll use these from now on.”

  Charlie dropped a stack of glossy notebooks onto the table and backed into a far corner to observe.

  “What happened to Kenn?” Angela asked, passing the books down the table. “I was told that he’s awake and refusing to take an all-female team out of camp again. Ever.”

  Eagles around them snickered. They’d already made bet
s on what had happened. If it were a threat to camp security, Sam and Cynthia would have already told someone.

  “Well?” Angela insisted.

  Sam cleared her throat. “Well, we rolled north for a little while and saw lights.”

  “Kenn wanted to check it out,” Peggy offered, sitting next to her daughter.

  They also looked like they’d managed to work some things out.

  “So we get the usual lecture about staying close, blah, blah, blah,” Crista popped up, trying to ignore Jeff’s eyes on her. “But we kinda freaked out when we saw the rabbits.”

  Angela opened her mouth to question, already missing a piece.

  “It’s his fault,” Becky stated.

  “That’s true,” Cynthia supported. “All he said was get the nets out and be ready.”

  “And we were.” Tracy flushed. “Sort of.”

  “It might have been okay if Tonya hadn’t thrown her gun.”

  “Well, I thought shooting was a bad idea right then!” Tonya defended, hand coming up. “It’s not like I could make out what he was screaming.”

  Cynthia glared at the redhead. “None of us could, genius. It was just incoherent babble at that point.”

  “Stop.” Angela couldn’t take any more. She turned to Samantha. “Start from the beginning.”

  Sam drew in a calming breath. “The light was a small brush fire. We got close and found a bunch of rabbits.”

  “Swamp bunnies,” Becky added wistfully.

  Frowning, Samantha continued. “The fire was flushing them our way, and Kenn had us get the nets out.”

  “Only he forgot to tell us what to do when the entire herd ran our way,” Crista stated.

  “Hopped,” Peggy corrected.

  “They panicked,” Sam said, trying to remain calm. “Nets dropped, women ran, rabbits bit and scratched. It was lovely.”

  Angela ran a quick look over them. “Bit and scratched? You guys look fine.”

  Sam glared toward Leslie. “You tell her this part.”

  Leslie cringed. “I, uh...screamed,” she stated with an embarrassed grimace. “Loudly. And the herd turned, ran toward Kenn.”

  “Hopped,” Cynthia corrected.

  “Right, hopped toward Kenn. He shot a bunch of them, but man, were there a lot of rabbits.” Leslie flushed darker. “And so I suggested that we throw our nets.”

  “We realized it was a mistake when he started screaming.” Sam swallowed the laughter as best she could. Kenn under the netting with all those rabbits was the funniest thing she’d ever seen.

  “Samantha yelled to cut him loose... So we all rushed over with our new knives,” Leslie informed her.

  Angela groaned. The tables around them weren’t even trying to contain their laughter. The sound of it was rolling across the camp. “What then?”

  Sam wasn’t capable of continuing. She had her head buried against her arm. They’d gotten a teammate hurt. Laughing was wrong.

  Cynthia took over the sitrep. “He screamed some more, then we got him up and made sure he was okay. He said he was going to move the truck so that we could try again, and growled at us to gather the bodies of the rabbits and then take the live ones left in the nets and put them in the truck.”

  “So we did,” Tracy said quietly, seeing Cynthia wasn’t going to get much more out before dropping her own head. “Man, was he pissed when he got in. Those rabbits were all over him.”

  “He ran out of there so fast!” Becky exclaimed.

  “Hopped,” Sam corrected, without raising her head.

  “He did hop, didn’t he? They were really latched onto him that time.” Crista shrugged. “Anyway, he was screaming again, and we didn’t know what to do. We couldn’t shoot them off of him. And then Tonya stepped right up like she had it covered. When she threw her gun, we all just thought Hey! That’ll work!

  “So they all did too,” Sam grunted from under her arm.

  The mini mess was an explosion of laughter, men on the floor all around them.

  Angela was struggling not to join them. “And after that?”

  “Samantha and Cynthia got us to stop throwing things, and we started using our boots on the ones that were still biting him.” Tracy didn’t look up. “We’re not sure who got him in the head. We were just kickin’ away...”

  Peggy was the only one capable of speech, and she finished the sitrep with a straight face. “We only dumped him twice on the load-up. All in all, I think it went pretty well.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  The Arkansas State Line

  June 22nd

  1

  Marc studied Angela from the tent flap, unnoticed by her or the group of Eagles that she was currently putting through their paces in the first aid class. Even healed, Angela’s shoulder wound was about the ugliest thing he’d ever seen on a female. It was clear that the students also viewed it that way, but it obviously didn’t matter to her. She had a duty to these people, and nothing would stop her from honoring it. Marc had chosen to help her…and Adrian.

  There’s a flash of the bitterness, Marc thought. He hadn’t thought he had anything in common with Kenn, but over the last months, Marc had learned more about himself than he’d ever thought he would. That possessive streak was news, but it had been there all along, and now, he had a place to put it. Every time the flashes came, he planned to think of how it felt to walk into that rest stop and see her body.

  Marc shuddered, unable to stop the reaction. Yeah, that’s where it belongs. Better to carry the heart-crushing sense of loss than to become Kenn and push her straight into Adrian’s waiting arms.

  Angela noticed his mood change and raised a brow. Do you need me?

  Marc shook his head and sent, All my life.

  The blush rose over her cheeks, gaining Eagle attention. To their credit, none of them cracked a joke, though it was clear from the smiles that the guards wanted to say a lot.

  Angela was steady as she continued teaching, and Marc ducked out of the tent to take up a spot in the nearby shade. She had a number of guards in this zone, but Marc liked to stay close. These men were good, he knew that, but he wanted to be able to sleep at night, and he often lingered nearby even when off duty. He tried to give her space during those times, understanding it was his fears that needed to be sated. The Eagles mostly approved, though he’d gotten a few glares from people who sensed his edge of possessiveness, but it wasn’t for anyone’s benefit but Angie’s. The things she’s capable of!

  Marc lit a smoke, scanning the area. Her gifts were growing, daily it seemed, and the camp was noticing. She was the first one to alert them of new arrivals now, usually settled in the chair as they pulled in. She was predicting and confirming Sam’s weather reports, something the camp didn’t know of yet, and she was giving answers–before they were asked.

  Marc had talked to Adrian about it this morning, but the leader had only said she knew what she was doing. After everything that had happened, Marc had his doubts that Adrian would have stopped her anyway, even if it meant trouble with the camp. He was getting too much of what he needed to interfere.

  Marc frowned slightly. It was almost as if she was in charge.

  “I am, I think, on some things.”

  Angie was standing behind him, smoking and staring. Behind her, the rookies were leaving the class with knowing, slightly jealous glances.

  Marc glared, showing sharp white teeth and a willingness to fight for her. The single males hurried on.

  “Is this still a problem?”

  Marc knew how to handle it now. She wasn’t the only one who could use distraction. “Only if you keep digging into my brain, princess. I might have to bail you out of the well.”

  Angela snorted, relaxing at his joke. “I won’t go so deep that I can’t get out.”

  Sparks flared and Marc’s body woke instantly. “What if you like it there?” He leaned closer. “Sometimes, I’m a fun guy.”

  Angela regarded him in surprise. “Are you flirting with me?�
��

  Marc had her in his arms an instant later. “I think you could say that.”

  Angela was aware of his tactics. He hadn’t given her time to be scared. “There’s only one issue with that, braveheart.”

  “What’s that, princess?”

  Her eyes flared at the second use of the hated nickname…then narrowed, and Marc braced.

  Angela smiled, slowly sliding her arms around his neck.

  Marc felt her strength, the muscles flexing under that pale, scarred skin. She was definitely recovering.

  “I’m not satisfied.”

  Heat flared and his grip on her waist tightened. “We can’t have that, baby.” His mouth lowered, hands tangling in her thick hair.

  “Angie, to the mess.”

  They both jumped, and then shared a snicker.

  “Timing,” Marc groaned, as she keyed the mike.

  “Copy.”

  “Later?” Marc asked, leering at her.

  Angela ducked in for a copy of his fast peck and then fled. “You know it.”

  Left me with a smile, Marc thought, unable to glance away as she strolled through the camp.

  Angela reluctantly pulled away from their connection and forced her mind to the schedule-making lesson Kenn was set to give her. It wouldn’t be a fun class, but Kenn wasn’t full of hate now, and it was easier to handle being around him. He had finally accepted that her gifts would never be under his control. They could make peace at some point, the real kind, she hoped, but there was still a dark spot on him that she was leery of.

  “You ready?” Kenn sounded surprisingly amused under his bruises and bandages.

  “Whenever you are.”

  Kenn shrugged gently. “Just waiting to see how many radios I’m replacing.”

  Angela scoffed at his joke about the pulses she sometimes sent. “I’ll try to take it easy on you.”

  It was one of the things he used to say right before he hit her. They both winced.

  When Angela would have stated the intention behind it, Kenn swallowed the guilt. “I know you didn’t.”

  Angela let out the tense breath she’d drawn in. “Thank you for knowing that.”