by Michael Todd
Katie’s War
War Of The Angels™ Book Two
Michael Todd
Michael Anderle
Laurie Starkey
Katie’s War (this book) is a work of fiction.
All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Sometimes both.
Copyright © 2018 Michael Todd, Michael Anderle, and Laurie Starkey
Cover by Ryn Katryn Digital Art
Cover copyright © LMBPN Publishing
A Michael Anderle Production
LMBPN Publishing supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.
The distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
LMBPN Publishing
PMB 196, 2540 South Maryland Pkwy
Las Vegas, NV 89109
First US edition, December 2018
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Author Notes - Michael Anderle
Connect with Michael Todd
Books by Michael Todd
Books written as Michael Anderle
Katie’s War Team
JIT Readers
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Kelly O’Donnell
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Daniel Weigert
Peter Manis
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Dorothy Lloyd
Larry Omans
If we missed anyone, please let us know!
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Proprietor
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Editor
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Dedication
To Family, Friends and
Those Who Love
to Read.
May We All Enjoy Grace
to Live the Life We Are
Called.
1
Lt. Col. Wilson opened the glass front door, cringing at the sound of bells ringing against it. He peered around the space, a small toy store tucked into a cul de sac. There didn’t seem to be anyone else in the place, even employees.
Taking a step forward, he stared at a carousel of hats, all adorned with some sort of glitter, frills, and long tresses of fake princess hair. He wrinkled his nose and leaned forward, looking at the satin ribbons flowing from the tip of one hat. He had been in prison for a while, and nonsense like this didn’t really register in his mind.
Something shimmered to his right, and he looked at a rack full of stuffed unicorns. They were a foot tall and fat, their smiles sewed meticulously onto the faces. Rainbows of color spilled from their manes, and they looked to be squatting. On each belly, there was a Squeeze Me sticker. Slowly he reached forward and squeezed one, watching in horror as a rainbow spike of solid gel poked from its asshole and then slid back inside when he released. The tag read, Rainbow Ice Cream-Pooping Unicorn.
“May I help you?” a voice called from his right.
Wilson quickly straightened and cleared his throat, pulling his jacket closed. He peeked around the corner to see a small blond girl with both of her eyebrows raised, and sauntered up to the counter, noticing her screen was showing the security feed. She had seen him squeezing the unicorn.
He tapped his fist on the counter and nodded. “Yes, I’m here to see Red.”
He expected her to ask who he was talking about, but surprisingly she knew exactly who Red was, despite the fact that no one had any idea what the rest of her name was…if she had one. “Sure. Follow me, she’s in the back.”
Wilson walked behind the girl through a makeshift door which was a brightly tie-dyed curtain. She took him through the storeroom, the contrast from the flowing colors of the shop to the gray concrete stock room slightly shocking to his senses. When they came to the end of the racks, she put out her arm and stepped to the side. “Red! You got a visitor!”
Wilson smiled at the girl as she walked away. He turned toward the open space, finding Red facing away from him, working on a bicycle. She looked the same as the last time he had seen her. She was strong and tall, over six feet. Her body was muscular, and her red hair fell down to the dip in her back. Her muscles flexed beneath her tight black spandex pants and bright-blue tank top as she worked. She was a warrior woman stuck in a century where she had no wars to fight.
Red cracked her neck and put down her tools, then stood and leaned against the table. A smile pulled at the corner of her lips. “Wilson. I thought you were locked away.”
Wilson put his hand in his pocket and walked toward her, stopping a few feet away and staring down at a row of brand-new bikes. “I managed to blow the joint. Legally, of course.”
Red chuckled and rolled her eyes. “Yes, because legality always was so important to you.”
Wilson flipped his fingers through shiny ribbons coming from one of the bike handles. “I see you are fighting the good fight, as always.”
Red’s face went serious. “If you hadn’t noticed, the world is going to shit, and we all need to eat. I do what I’m good at. I fix shit, I build shit. I don’t care what color I have to paint it. Like you have room to talk, hanging out in a military prison.”
Wilson smirked. “I don’t think ‘hanging out’ is really the best way to describe it.”
Red stared at him for a minute. “Okay, I’ll bite. What the hell are you doing here? It’s obviously not for just a friendly visit. You never go anywhere without a purpose.”
Wilson took a deep breath and looked around the room. “We had some good times together as soldiers. You beat them, I manipulated them. Until you got out, of course.”
Red lifted an eyebrow. “This must be big if you are pulling the memory card.”
Wilson laughed. “I always loved that about you. You hated the bullshit, just cut to the chase.”
Red nodded. “Apparently you’re still struggling with that.”
Wilson put up his hands. “Okay, okay. I get it. I’m looking for soldiers who are willing to work completely dark. I’m talking a level above black ops. No government connections, no files…nothing. You die, we don’t know what happened or anything about you.”
Red turned around and began tightening a bolt on the bike. Wilson narrowed his eyes and stepped closer to her. “You have the experience, probably more than anyone but me when it comes to this whole situation.”
Red shook her head, still staring down at the bike. “I’m out of the game.”
Wilson chuckled. “You’re never really out of the game; we both know that. This time, though, we are doing something a lot different and much more exciting.”
Red paused, her eyes shifting toward him. “Like what?”
Wilson leaned in and whispered, “We’re hunting motherfucking demons.”
Red turned toward Wilson and stood very close. She opened her mouth to say something when a pizza guy walked into the back. “Hello? Did someone here order pizza?”
Red’s eyes went wide and excited. Wilson smirked and paid the guy while Red grabbed the box. Opening the lid, she stared excitedly at the pizza before looking up at him and smirking. “You don’t play fair.”
Wilson bit his lip, watching as Red slowly lifted the pizza to her lips and took a bite of the gooey cheese pie. She rolled her eyes back in her head and chills ran down his spine.
“That’s right, show that pizza who’s boss, baby.”
The jet was making its descent toward the base in Nevada, Katie and Pandora on board. Katie glanced over Pandora in the seat across from her, her eyes shut. She took a deep breath and stared down at Brock’s sword in her lap. Sasha had taken it, but Katie wouldn’t leave without it. Brock had no clue she had it, but she knew he would be stoked to get it back.
Pandora’s voice broke into Katie’s thoughts. “That sexy rock star better have a sword to give to you, if you know what I mean.”
Katie looked at her slowly, face straight. Pandora wiggled her eyebrows. “Huh? You know, sheath that sword in your holster? Push it in nice and slow...or hard and fast. Right?”
Katie shook her head. “I’m pretty sure you could turn anything into something sexual. What’s worse is how much time you’re spending outside of me. It means other people can actually hear your bullshit.”
Pandora giggled. “Yeah, it’s great. Besides, you are perfectly healthy. I needed to stretch my legs a little and have some me time, okay?”
Katie took a deep breath. “I’m not complaining. We’re in a plane, so you can’t embarrass me too badly.”
Pandora smirked, tilting her head to the side and looking at Katie. “Is that a dare?”
Katie chuckled and changed the subject. “So, while we are here, what’s been up with everything? Your powers have been acting kind of strange lately, even for you.”
Pandora locked her fingers and stretched her arms out in front of her. “I don’t know. I’ve been thinking about that shit the whole flight. My demon powers are like all wanked out, while my angel powers seem to be growing stronger by the minute. I feel different, too. That warm, positive angel shit is constantly trying to infiltrate me. It’s like having a sad puppy looking at you all day long. It’s fucking gross, but it’s strong.”
Katie shook her head. “Yes, heaven forbid you feel happy and warm toward others.”
Pandora rolled her eyes and put her head against the seat. “I knowwww, right? But I never really have time to concentrate on it. We’ve been so damn busy since giving the World Council the big Fuck You. And now we are on our own.”
Katie looked out the window as the base’s landing strip came into view. “I know. It won’t be easy fighting on our own. I get that. But I don’t want anyone telling us what to do. When we get the military or the police in on it, there’s always someone who thinks they’re the boss. Fuck that.”
Pandora put up her hand and Katie slapped it, laughing. Pandora took off her seatbelt. “I agree one hundred percent. Now, I guess it’s time to jump back in. I know you missed me in there.”
Katie groaned. “Oh, yeah, my breasts were finally heaving a sigh of relief.”
“So you want to press Contacts, then that little plus sign in the corner,” Angie explained. She sat next to Juntto on the couch, pointing at the screen of his new phone.
Juntto poured a handful of salted peanuts in his mouth and wiped his hand on his pant leg, then narrowed his eyes and carefully raised his big blue finger to the screen. He pressed the Contacts button, but because his finger was so big and warm, it scanned through several screens, stopping on the setup screen again. He groaned and put his head back on the couch.
Angie hid her amused smile. “Don’t give up. You just have big fingers.”
Juntto switched to a smaller human form. “Why can’t I just do it like this? This form has little fingers.”
Angie rolled her eyes. “First of all, you look like Frodo, and I’m not into hairy feet. Secondly, you need to be able to do this in Juntto form. You need to be able to answer the phone at any time.”
Juntto groaned and switched back to his big blue self. “Better?”
Angie shrugged. “Better than Frodo, that’s for damn sure.”
Juntto stuck his tongue out at her, then scrunched his face and went to work, trying to carefully press the buttons. After a few minutes, he finally programmed the general’s number into his phone.
He let out a deep breath and handed the phone to Angie. “There. Not sure why I needed to save his number, but there it is.”
Angie smiled. “So he can call you whenever necessary, and you can call him.”
Juntto was already bored. He leaned forward and grabbed the controller for the Xbox. “Let’s play Red Dead Redemption 2. I only played it once, then got distracted.”
Angie looked at him, surprised. “I thought you said it was stupid.”
Juntto shrugged as he turned on the game. “I guess at first I did. John Marston has to save his family by doing whatever their captors say. I would just crush them. But now...now that I have you, I guess it’s not so stupid.”
Angie wrapped her arms around him as far as she could and kissed his cheek. “Aww. I would also ruthlessly kill people to save you.”
Juntto chuckled as the game started. Angie sat back, watching him play. He leaned forward, moving his body right and left in sync with his avatar. He bounced up and down on the couch, and Angie almost came out of her seat. “That’s right, take that shit, motherfucker. Take it. Take it right in your...fuck. Nooo, you are not getting me.”
Angie watched as his character ducked around the corner and reloaded. Slowly he peeked back around the building and smiled as he blasted his opponent. Juntto dropped the controller and stood up, jumping up and down in the living room, his head brushing the ceiling. “Taaaake that! First fucking time playing and I beat all of you dumb-ass bitches!”
Almost immediately Angie’s phone began to ring. Picking it up, she cringed at the name on the screen and slapped Juntto’s leg. “Sit down. It’s the freaking security guy.”
Juntto groaned and plopped down on the couch, shaking the condo again. Angie rolled her eyes and put the phone to her ear. “Hello?”
Juntto stared at her as she talked to the man, assuring him that there had not been an explosion or some sort of battle in the condo. She promised the noise would stop, which made Juntto pout. After she hung up, she snapped her head toward him. “I told you before, you cannot go wild when you are playing these games, especially when you are that huge. It probably felt like the whole building was going to come down below us.”
Juntto crossed his arms. “It’s my place. Why can’t I get excited?”
Angie sighed and patted his arm. “Because you live above other people. If you don’t want that issue, you have to buy a house. You could always shrink back to Frodo and jump on the couch. I bet no one would hear you.”
Juntto scoffed. “You don’t like Hobbitses and you don’t like Precious, so I have to stay at least normal-sized. But, I mean, come on! These people know how to contact us. Why did they lodge a complaint first? They could totally join in. It would be a wild video game block party.”
Angie shook her head. “I doubt anyone is interested in playing games with a giant blue alien. In fact, most of these people are rich and snobs. They don’t play video games, much less have parties for it.”
Juntto was astounded. “I don’t believe you. What does money have to do with the glorious nature of gaming? I mean, for fuck’s sake, there is literally something for everyone. You don’t like shooter games? Fine, play a sports game. You don’t like those? Fine, play the full version of Candy Crush. Whichever you choose, you can have fun from your own couch and not even have to put on fucking pants. It’s like a dream come true.”
Angie blinked at him. “People have hobbies
that are more exciting than gaming.”
Juntto laughed, then stood up and walked toward the door. “Like what?”
Angie furrowed her brow. “Where are you going?”
Juntto flung open the door. “I’m going to go talk to him.”
Before she could get to him, Juntto quickly stepped out of the condo and into the hall, shrinking down to normal human height. He was still blue, though. He went straight to the stairs and took them two at a time. Angie ran after him, calling, “Juntto, no! You can’t just knock on people’s doors.”
She opened the stairwell door, hearing the next level’s door shut. She groaned and threw her head back, then made her way down. “Great. We are going to get kicked out because our alien is trying to make friends.”
When she hit the next floor down, she opened the door and looked up and down the hall, finding Juntto standing in front of an apartment door. He looked up at the ceiling and at Angie. “This should be the one directly below us.”
He knocked and Angie hunched her shoulders. “This is not going to do anything but freak them out.”
Juntto scoffed. “No way. They will see the light.”
They stood there for several minutes, Juntto knocking a couple more times. Angie let out a deep breath of relief. “Come on, let’s go back upstairs. They must be busy with something.”