by Angela White
When there was only silence, she opened her eyes to witness all of them staring at her in horror. Even Adrian was scowling.
“What?” She glanced down, suddenly terrified she would discover blood, but there was only a hot piece of metal in her lap.
Angela picked it up with fingers that didn’t tremble or flinch from the heat. “All right, whose is it?”
There was a tone of command to her voice that made Adrian’s inner Marine applaud in admiration.
When Jeremy held up a hand, she tossed him the piece of hot lead. “Do it again and get it right this time.”
Angela slid her ear-buds back in and froze, waiting.
A second later, they were resetting it for another run. They all assumed it would have been a trim, but it had been worse than that. If not for her shield, she would have been hit in the chest, and Angela felt the witch’s pleasure when she didn’t bat an eyelash, just took it all in stride.
This time, there was that feeling of magic in the air, of perfect shooting about to happen, and Adrian watched them roll it in surprise. They hadn’t looked to him for confirmation.
Angela kept her eyes open this time, and their careful, practiced movements were like a smooth play. When the bullets stopped flying, she repeated what Adrian had said to her yesterday.
“Very nice. A couple more to be sure you’ve got it right?”
There was no hesitation, and the groups of Eagles in the tent were stunned as the three men ran it again. Why wasn’t Adrian saying something? She must have his approval. It was the only thing that made sense, and the men studied her closely to confirm it. What did the boss have planned for the black-haired beauty? Was it personal?
7
Angela stood up as they finished round five, all of them good, and knew by the tension in the tent that something had shifted. When she frowned in concentration, her three would-be rescuers responded.
“You okay?”
“You hurt?”
Being slapped with thoughts from their audience, she waved off the concern, and headed for the open flap. “I’m gonna hit the showers.”
“I’d say she picked up on not being welcome here,” Adrian stated. He saw their regret at interfering with his plans, and insisted, “We need her.”
That one word cleared things up for the Eagles. Whenever Adrian said we, it was a greater good issue and they had no reason to doubt him. Time had proven him right before and they understood he was saying it would do the same with Angela.
When Adrian strode into the darkness, he knew his wishes would be carried out. She had to stay. They would now help with that.
Adrian took a quick glance around. Where is she?
He caught a flash of the caution tape and frowned, moving. He recognized the spot, and it wasn’t in camp. As he walked, Adrian became aware of being trailed but didn’t send his shadows away. This time, they needed to hear what was said.
Angela threw the rock as hard as she could and was gratified to hear a loud thunk! as the stone hit the creek nearly twenty yards away. When she felt eyes on her, she didn’t turn.
“It won’t always be this way.”
She didn’t answer, determined not to let Adrian discover that she was on the verge of crying. The thoughts of some of his army had been mean, and she’d been slapped with a dose of reality. Good at it or not, this was a man’s world, and it would be a hard fight to be accepted.
“Angie?”
“I’m okay.”
“It’s not safe out here. It hasn’t even been reconned.”
She didn’t answer and heard him sigh.
“I’m sorry. I thought they were ready for this much.”
Angela shrugged, listening to the soothing ripple of the water as it rushed by in the darkness. “Most of them are.”
“Will you tell me who isn’t?”
“No. It doesn’t matter. They’re right. I don’t belong. I’m…different.”
Adrian’s heart broke for her. It was the soft side she hadn’t shown yet, and he felt his heart respond to her misery. “Give me time, and I’ll change that, my word on it.”
“There’s not much time left. Marc will leave soon.”
She didn’t say “and we’re going with him,” but Adrian knew and gave her a minute, let her breathe. She didn’t want to go. He felt that clearly. She needed another, bigger reason to stay, and he had it.
“You were good in the tent. Solid,” he said, changing the subject.
“It was good for me.” Her tone grew bitter. “At least this was a situation I could get out of.”
Her thoughts were weak, vulnerable, and he caught a quick glimpse of her pulling a trigger and being splashed with gore.
“What happened?”
Angela sighed, hating it that she still had flashes, hadn’t fully recovered. “He tried to rape me.”
“Then he got what he deserved.”
“I think so too. It’s what lets me sleep, sometimes.”
“Killing isn’t always murder. Surely you know that?”
Angela took the smoke he offered her. “I do, but it still eats away at me some nights.”
She sighed restlessly. “This will probably be one of them.”
“You’re the strongest female to join us so far, and you have the determination I’ve been hoping for,” Adrian said, letting some of his plans escape. “The women here need someone like you to help teach them, help lead them.”
Understanding came for her and for the trio of men listening while covering them in the darkness and Adrian waited for a reaction, treading lightly. It had to be her idea, but he could lead it, set it up as he always did and let her fall into place…on his right.
“You want me to train them? You want a female army too.”
Damn, she’s quick! He had purposefully not been thinking it so that she couldn’t pick that part from his mind.
“Yes.”
Angela was quiet for a long moment, considering the consequences, but in her head, the witch was reminding her that she had told him to put her where he wanted.
She slowly gave the answer that the men listening understood. It was Adrian. What else could you say?
“I’d love to.”
It would be something she could lean on during the nights when the dreams insisted that she was now stained forever. If she kept helping other people, that would be a small, steady payment on the debt she now owed for taking a life.
“What about the men here? This won’t go over well with them.”
Adrian chose his words carefully, knowing they would be repeated. “It would if they understood how useful it can be to have a woman on the team. She’d have to be different, though, and it would have to be all or nothing from her, or they’d never accept it. It’s one of those things that can’t be asked for, but has to be figured out to have meaning, earned.”
Angela acknowledged the hints. When he turned toward the quieting camp, she let him go without asking more questions. First, she had to decide if what she wanted would be possible with so many of her past demons here. Adrian’s request wasn’t a complete surprise. Why else had he shown her his army in the first place?
It would mean separating herself even further from Marc, who was only here because he was hoping for another chance with her. He would leave tomorrow if she told him that she wanted to become an Eagle and help teach the women here to do the same. He’d know it wasn’t possible for her to be his mate and a leader, too. Not when she added in teaching the others. She’d always be pulled between the two, and both of those things were all or nothing. Marc wouldn’t want to share.
Angela felt the wolf and the sentries lingering, waiting for her, but instead of returning to her tent, she settled herself on the damp grass and began to sort through her mind. What did she really want now? Adrian was tempting her with a new life, with possibilities she hadn’t even considered, and she was suddenly afraid that her time alone with Marc hadn’t been enough to keep them together. He wanted a mate, a part of t
he past returned, and she…she wanted the second chance fate was offering.
Angela lay on the ground, staring at the sky as full darkness settled over the broken land. Was there a way she could have them both, if only for a little while?
8
“Maria.”
The cook flinched, bumping into the door of the dark supply truck. This side of the mess only had a few people in sight and was almost pitch black except for her lantern.
“Who ees there?” She held up her light and sucked in a sharp breath at the shadow next to the rig. “Dio.”
Rick chuckled at the name, moving out of the shadows. “Sometimes.”
He held the door open so she would have no choice but to go inside or draw attention. When she hesitated, he uttered three words.
“Cesar says hello.”
Rick clicked his tongue at her near panic to get inside. He shut the door behind them. “They have a monthly meeting. You’ve known where they’d be, and yet, no word since he sent you here. Not a single call. Why is that?”
“I couldn’t. The radio is guarded!” she hissed.
Maria was trapped. Cesar was holding her sons, sparing them if she would infiltrate the Americans they had heard on the radio, and now, he’d sent this…this evil Gringo to what? Kill her? Scare her?
“Can we trust you, Maria? Or are you a convert too?”
His scorn drew a reaction, but not the timid one he had expected.
“If you are here, then you owe him too. Maybe we help each other and both stay alive, yes?”
“That’s what Cesar said.” He moved closer, big body intimidating. “But understand this. I am loyal, and if I get caught, I won’t go down alone.”
He slipped around her, reaching for the handle. “I’ll be in touch. Soon.”
She frowned, voice low, scared. “Cesar is near?”
Rick stepped out into the cool night air, aware of a nearby guard eyeing him suspiciously.
“Don’t wish for the devil if you owe him money you don’t have.” He glanced back pointedly, eyes glittering. “Especially when you never intended to repay him.”
9
“It is late. You sleep now, ja?”
Angela ignored the woman, slipping on her boots. She scowled when the den mother slid in front of her.
“You sleep.”
“You move. Now!”
Hilda considered, shook her head full of pink-and-green curlers. “He says keep them women healthy.” Her face softened. “You no sleep, no eat. Not good.”
Angela felt her anger fade, but not the sense of urgency that had woken her. “Thank you. I’ll try harder. Later.”
Satisfied, Hilda moved, and Angela went outside, pulling her sweater shut. She knew the woman cared about the females here. She was also sure something in the German’s past was driving her, but Angela didn’t push for that answer right now. She darted between tents; sure she knew where he was. She had to show him–
“Just tell me what’s going on. Why are you so determined to become my pal?”
Tonya’s voice was unmistakable, even without the usual fake accent. Angela slowly made her way past the showers, easily avoiding the three men subtly guarding their perimeter. The Eagles were too far away to hear the women, but Angela stored every word.
“Because I’d know! He has secrets. Who was he?” another voice hissed angrily, also familiar.
“Not a clue. I know I’ve seen him before… A politician maybe?”
That one was definitely Tonya, voice muffled a bit from running water.
“I’ve already run through that list. Not on it.”
Angela tried to figure out who the other voice was as she crept by during a thick silence, and then realized they were talking about Adrian. She felt her blood heat with the urge to defend him.
“Maybe we could team up while he’s distracted with Barbie and her Wolfman.”
There was pleased, cruel laughter from the other female. “I knew I read you right. Let’s grab some coffee at the mess and talk.”
Angela was full of rage. How dare they plot against Adrian! She wanted to confront them but kept moving, evading and pushing herself to use the skills she feared were beginning to rust without a daily workout. This couldn’t wait.
The creek bank had four sentries that she had little trouble sneaking around since she was inside the tape and they were watching for trouble from every other direction. As she rounded the curve and the spruce tree, she caught sight of Adrian and gasped. He wasn’t alone!
Hot, searing jealousy burned a path down her throat, and she pushed it away, face flaming as she turned her back to them, listening.
“What?”
“I’m sorry. I have to go.”
There was the sound of a soft kiss being pressed to an even softer, younger cheek, the rustle of bodies becoming untangled, clothing being adjusted.
“But we’re– “
Adrian left the anonymous female without an explanation.
As he stopped behind her, Angela could feel the sexual tension running the length of him. He’d been on the edge. She caught another hot flash that sent a chill of surprised need floating into her gut. He’d been pretending it was her.
“Something’s wrong?”
Angela swallowed a nasty remark, frowning at herself. “There’s something you should see.”
She spun toward the caution tape, and the sentries on the area dropped their hands to their guns at the noise of her no-longer careful steps.
Adrian was impressed, pulse still racing with need. They hadn’t known she was here. She’d gotten past Level Three Eagles, and he hadn’t known either until her feeling of pain echoed through his heart, calling him a traitor, a betrayer.
Aware of the wolf paralleling them on the right, Adrian waved away the men who tried to follow them and then wished he hadn’t when she didn’t stop for nearly a mile. She didn’t talk, just moved with a surety and grace in the unknown forest that sent his mind not to the embrace that had been interrupted, but to the fantasy that it had been her in his arms.
Adrian swept the area and then turned to her, noting the way she’d learned to keep herself under tight control as they walked quickly through the forest. Fantasy wasn’t even close.
“This way.” She led him to a steep cliff that overlooked the route the Safe Haven had traveled to get here–west. “Use these. You’ll get better details.”
He stared through the night vision goggles she took from her belt, stifling a moan at the sweet hint of vanilla lingering on them. He stiffened when she leaned in, using a gentle finger to guide his sight.
Adrian felt the thrum of raw energy, and then he froze, understanding why she’d brought him here.
Angela turned her back to his, almost touching, hand resting on her gun as she protected him. It gave him time to witness everything that mattered, and she knew he was pleased with her actions as well as this warning. After a long minute, she heard him light a smoke, and she stayed alert, assuming he was now choosing what to do.
“Hell of a fight down there.”
Adrian was studying the glow of a huge fire, the explosions. “Surprised we can’t hear it.”
Angela didn’t tell him that she could. To her, the cries of the dying were loud.
“They’re coming for me soon.” She hadn’t meant to say it.
The tremor of fear made him turn toward her instinctively. “I’ll protect you.”
She didn’t answer, clearly not sure if she could trust him, and Adrian gently put his arm around her shoulder, tugged her into his warmth.
He didn’t say anything, just held her, and Angela allowed it as they observed the flashes of light in the distance. There was a battle for survival going on down there, and she could feel him wanting to help, hurting because he couldn’t.
“The witch says it’s not your destiny to save them all. Try to relax. Stress is bad for the heart.”
“Don’t I know it.” Adrian retreated a bit as the scent of sweet vanill
a began to steal his thoughts. He handed her the goggles. “Let’s get back.”
Angela noted Dog patrolling the darkness around them as she answered, “I overheard a conversation tonight, one I think you need word for word.”
Before he could ask, she took his hand.
Adrian felt her response, her fear, and then he was in her head as she dealt with Hilda and then slipped past the showers.
When she let go, Adrian had to clamp his teeth shut to keep from protesting and hoped she would take his silence for anger at Tonya and Cynthia. It had been a long day, and his control wasn’t at its strongest.
“You’ll punish them?”
“No.” Adrian snorted, leading the way. “They never quit.”
Angela raised a brow, again marveling over the fact that she was using her powers so openly for him, after only four days. “Care to share?”
“You’ll get the full soon enough. These people love to gossip. Thank you.”
“It’s what I’m here for, right?” she said.
Adrian thought of his dreams, of the goals now expanding further than he had ever hoped possible, and let the longing fill his tones. “Among other things.”
Angela turned away to keep from asking if he would now finish what he’d been doing before she showed up. It was none of her concern.
Yet.
Angela frowned at that thought as she headed for her tent, full of confusion about these new, unwelcome feelings.
Chapter Forty-Seven
A Man Down
April 5th, 2013
North of the Rapid City Airport
1
Adrian was waiting at the QZ when the water crew pulled in, and he knew by their faces that they’d had a narrow escape.
They’d gotten the precious liquid too, though. Adrian could tell by the way the tires on the tanker were pushing out from the weight, and he was relieved that at least one of their bigger problems was solved for a couple weeks.
Neil and Kyle came to the tape, directly to him.
“They followed us openly from the state line, tried to surround us while we got the water. Rough count is sixty. Jeeps, trucks, machine guns. We didn’t engage, but we did put a timer on the tower so they couldn’t have the rest of it. Maybe we took out a few when it blew, but it’s not likely since they were watching us the whole time,” Neil said tiredly.