The Life After War Collection

by Angela White

  The gossip lacked details and would be quickly forgotten without fresh fodder, but Adrian was curious about the reactions of Angela and the Eagles. The panic in her voice had run through Adrian with a horror he would never forget. Would she now back out of the ideas he’d planted? The life he foresaw for these refugees was no picnic, but as an Eagle, she would face dangers like this regularly.

  He spotted her at the center table with the rest of his chain of command, Marc on her right in his crisscrossed gun belts and appearing as if he’d taken the worst of it.

  The wolf appeared at his master’s side for an inspection and a quick rub of confirmation. From there, Dog went to Angela and curled up at her feet, letting her gentle fingers stroke his soft fur comfortingly. The big animal was bonded with Marc. Losing him might have sent Dog out into the wild, and he was grateful to the woman and her witch for saving his master. She would be well protected, and so would their pup.

  Adrian let his sight reach out, the part of him that was sometimes able to view what was hidden, and Angela mentally rushed out to greet him.

  The girl in the parka leads their group. She doesn’t know she’s pregnant.

  Was she right to be worried about their reactions? Adrian scanned the new people, noting them putting away the food and talking easily with the Eagles around them. They were thin, strong, and young. Smart too, he realized, noting mended glasses, walkie-talkies, and loaded weapons with extra ammo staying in reach. They were survivors.

  And my men?

  Adrian recognized the satisfaction on their faces, the kind that came from winning a battle, and relaxed. He was now anxious to hear the unabridged version the herd would never get. Surprising only them, Adrian went straight to the college kids, eager to welcome the first new people that Angela had risked her life to help.

  It took only a few minutes to realize the kids were already won over. Adrian sat with them, pushing more food toward the girl in the parka as he stored every word of their vivid story. When he began to speak of quiet loyalty and of helping, they hung on every word.

  Angela felt very exposed. Both sides of the caution tape that lined the camp were full of those eating, but Marc had almost died for her, and she wouldn’t hurt him by moving away. She worried over it though, knowing Kenn would see it and be sure there was more than friendship between them.

  He already knows that, Adrian stated. I’ll handle it.

  Adrian sounded pleased, and Angela was glad he wasn’t upset that she’d risked so many of his men for so few people. She sent him an apology, telling him she just couldn’t leave them.

  Adrian turned to her in a silent communication that made the man on her right, Marc, very unhappy.

  Please don’t feel that way. Each life is without price to me, and I want them all. You won’t be punished. The need to help them is what makes you one of mine.

  Adrian looked at Marc, who tensed, also expecting the leader to be mad about how he’d taken over.

  Same with him. He just can’t accept it yet.

  I’ll work on that, Angela said.

  Me too, and when they find out he saved your life today, so will the camp, Adrian promised.

  Hoping to calm things down, Angela looked at Kyle and Neil. “Sorry for putting you guys in a hard spot, and I’m sorry Marc’s so pissed at you.”

  Marc let out a sigh, understanding she wanted him to let it go. “I’m cooling off, but yeah, they fucked up. Adrian wouldn’t have let you go alone.”

  Adrian slid onto the seat across from them. “No, I wouldn’t have, but I’ve served all my life, learned the tricks. Now they know. It won’t happen twice.”

  “Because you’ll train them better or because she won’t be there?” Marc’s response was fast.

  Angela waited to find out if she was as free as Adrian claimed.

  “Neither. She’s to have full reign among my army, though, I prefer only the higher people know it for now. As her protector, I expect you to teach them not to make these mistakes. Who better for that job than the man who brought her over a thousand miles through this new hell?”

  Marc’s heart fell. There was no way she’d turn that down. Stupid, Angela was not.

  “Kenn won’t let this happen without a fight.”

  Marc could feel Angela’s growing anger, her annoyance with the conversation, but didn’t take back his observation. “You have that covered?”

  Adrian gestured toward the college kids. “It’s already begun. He can’t stop it. He can only interfere. You’ll have roughly twenty-four hours to act openly, while you’re in quarantine.”

  When Marc said nothing, Adrian pushed. “Would you deny the others like them a chance at life?”

  “I’m not that selfish,” Marc replied scornfully. “But she’s going to keep putting herself in danger, and I’d have that stopped!”

  Angela’s protests were ignored by both men, and she inhaled a calming breath as they continued.

  “I won’t hold her back or tell her no on the things she wants to try here, and neither will my men, unless they have to.”

  Marc understood the promises he wanted weren’t coming. “Don’t get her killed, Adrian, or the men she’s bonding with might turn on you.”

  His warning drew scowls from the Eagles, but Adrian held out his hand. “If I lose her, I’ll resign, and the people here will vote in a new guardian. I wouldn’t be worthy of leadership.”

  Marc relaxed the tiniest bit. “You believe in all this that much?”

  “It’s everything I am.”

  Marc reluctantly shook with him. “If I only have a day, I’ll need some boundaries.”

  Adrian smiled ruefully. “So do I. We’ll talk, and then you and the Eagles will draw up some plans. We’ll do switches where we need them. She’s never to be alone.”

  “I hope you two are done!”

  Angela stood up with a frown. She was angry enough to fight, and Marc doubted Adrian had adequate leverage to get her to agree. They had both forgotten to account for her reaction, but things were happening fast.

  “I have defenses. I’m not some helpless pup you guys picked up on the side of the road!”

  “I never said you were,” Marc muttered, drawing fire from Adrian without even realizing it.

  Angela’s lips tightened into a dangerous line. “Our deal stands!”

  Some of the listening Eagles exchanged looks. A deal? There wasn’t love between them, but an arrangement?

  “Not above your safety.” Marc squared his shoulders. “If you mean to do big things here, and I can already see that you do, then you’ll accept the protections we come up with…”

  They all felt the ultimatum coming, and Adrian respected Marc even more for continuing as her hands clenched at her sides.

  “…or I’m leaving. Tonight.”

  There was a shocked silence as tension crackled violently.

  It was broken by Dog’s low whine.

  Angela didn’t try to hide how much that hurt. “You mean it?”

  “I do. Next time, the bullet will get through, or I won’t be close enough to save you, and I can’t take that.”

  The words surprised her, hurt her again, and none of them–Angela included–knew if he was bluffing.

  “You’d leave me?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then I agree!” she sneered. “I need to piss and dunk my head in some cool water before I explode. Should I pick a guard?”

  “Yes.”

  “Yes.”

  Marc and Adrian spoke at the same time, and both males saw the flames shoot through her eyes.

  Angela chose Seth by giving him a tilt of the jaw and a questioning brow that both Marc and Adrian felt deep in their gut. It said, “I need an ally and no one else will do.”

  Seth noticed Adrian’s expression was a bit harder than he was used to and tensed reflexively at the curt nod. But he didn’t hesitate to follow Angela from the little mess. He would have accepted her invitation without Adrian’s words of giving her
free reign. Her pull was strong, though not all sexual, and Seth hoped she wasn’t planning on going against Adrian. There might be real trouble if she did that.

  “He has my support, but my freedom, I will always fight for,” she stated.

  Seth took careful stock of their surroundings, aware of Marc gesturing the wolf after them.

  Paranoid about her safety, Seth thought, and wondered how long Marc would be able to stand watching from the sidelines as she built a life in Safe Haven. It was already clear to Seth what Angela would become, and he couldn’t wait to help her achieve it.

  “Complete freedom doesn’t exist. It’s a myth, and I think you already know that.”

  Seth received silence, and kept coaxing, drawing on that spark of kinship he knew she’d felt too. “You’re gifted, special. Men will kill to take you away from here. Adrian will give you as much freedom as he can.”

  His blunt words dulled some of her anger, and Seth saw fear take its place.

  “You’re so eager for me to give him what he wants, but when it gets someone good killed, maybe him, will you still want me then? Because these things always come due in blood–he’s right about that.”

  “America surviving, that’s what matters, and there’s not one of us who wouldn’t lay down his life to make that dream come true, including Adrian,” Seth answered firmly. “He needs you. He knew you were coming, and he hoped you would be strong enough to stand for the women, and you are! Don’t let what might happen or will happen, if you already know, get in the way. The lives we’ll save, change, are worth the price. Adrian’s worth it.”

  Using a part of himself not employed since before the war, Seth pinned her with a sexy grin, oozing charm she had little resistance to. Seth was ruggedly handsome at the worst of times, but when he flashed those dimples, he was lethal to the camp’s women and he knew it.

  “His Eagles need you too, Angie. Together, we’ll keep him alive.”

  Angela sighed wearily, leaning down to stroke the wolf. She would agree and follow blindly like the rest, but she had to be careful. For the new life she was creating to succeed, she had to keep Marc around while she put the pieces in place. There was a chance for them somewhere in the future, and she intended to take it when the time came. He’d more than earned it.

  3

  “Was it the slavers?”

  Kyle shrugged, watching both sides of the mess clear out. Set up in the middle of the road, the emptiness was making him uneasy, especially after the morning’s trouble. “It could have been a part of their group, the tail we’ve had, maybe. It felt like a two minute plan, and they had no support.”

  Adrian wasn’t relieved. Two spies had recognized an opportunity (rookie mistake made by his Eagles when they’d sent her and the kids on alone) and had tried to take advantage of it. Just because one of them died in the attempt didn’t mean it was over, however. In fact, it had likely added more fuel to the fire. Now the enemy knew it would be no easy task, and they would come in force. There was a battle for survival waiting and he had to get everyone ready.

  Kyle took out his notebook expectantly. Under pressure, their leader was at his best.

  “All training and testing will be done indoors for a while. Start rescue lessons for every Level. Double the sentries at night and use the disks at one hundred feet instead of fifty. Seamstresses will be in my tent an hour after evening chow, and gather all the steel plates and green material you can find. Put it in the rear of my rig and have Miller and his two boys brought into it.” Adrian paused to light a smoke, sure Kyle already knew to cover the family’s absence. Adrian couldn’t let his sheep know he was worried enough to have steel-plated canopies created, but it still had to be done.

  “Mention that we have openings in the defensive driving and hand-to-hand classes, and offer vests. Use the reserves if you need to. Go out of your way to keep them calm and stress that it was random, and not related to the group moving up 25.”

  Kyle had no problem with omitting that part of the story. He’d viewed panic in New York before the war, and it was as deadly as the crisis itself.

  Adrian glanced at the empty tables being packed up. The big ants crawling along their perimeter was something he stored for later. It would go into the notebook. The mutations didn’t usually get this close. “I’d like one of you to stay with her at all times, out of sight.”

  “We already sorted out a rough schedule for the next two days, boss. There are four of us. Marc we naturally included after today, but Seth wouldn’t back off.”

  Adrian was glad his people were loading up without any obvious signs of being scared, but he didn’t care for the way a few of the Eagles were staring at Angela. None of this would be easy. “He’s like her in some ways, I think, running on a level closer. Maybe he’ll catch something we miss. Make the lower Levels believe it was a random attack. Some men saw her alone with the kids and thought they were helpless.”

  “I’m sorry for it.”

  Adrian answered with none of the coldness Kyle felt he had earned.

  “I don’t hold it against you. We will make mistakes. Hopefully, no more like this one. High-level security meeting an hour after we’re settled for the night. I want all team leaders present, and bring Marc along. We’re starting on some defenses.”

  Kyle kept his voice low. “She’d search for you, boss.”

  Adrian didn’t pretend not to understand. When he’d told Kyle he trusted him completely, Adrian hadn’t lied. “These people can’t find out too fast, or we’ll lose them all, including her. It’s code Raven. You have a better idea what that means now?”

  “She’s gonna be one of us.” Kyle was unable to stifle the note of awe in his tone. “She was great. Fell right into it like you thought she would, boss. You’ll get the full in my report tonight.” Meaning all the details the college kids wouldn’t have noticed.

  Relieved to hear it had gone well, Adrian met Kyle’s eye, thinking of the Arkansas dreams that had haunted him last night. “She’ll recognize your loyalty, too. She’ll need it.”

  Kyle didn’t really doubt Adrian’s words or Angela’s honor, but questioning both was required now, especially after discovering Kenn’s lies and abusive nature. “We can trust her like we do you? She won’t use it to her advantage?”

  “Of course she will, but survival is all she cares about,” Adrian explained. “She’s almost accepted this as her home, her new family. For the first time in her life, she is valued. She’ll protect that security, this camp, by any means we allow, and I intend to give her few limits. She’ll do what she was meant to–help us keep our country alive.”

  Adrian’s voice lowered. “And Kyle, she’s on the edge right now with all these new tensions and people. She’s a little unsure, and that may make her slightly dangerous. Don’t be the one to insist on the changes if you can help it. Marc is the only one who can stand her heat.”

  4

  “You keep up that fake smile, your mouth might crack.”

  Kenn turned from glaring at the little mess to discover Tonya leaning in Adrian’s open door, big tits almost spilling from her low-cut red dress. Doesn’t she have any other clothes?

  “What do you want?”

  His curt tone sent a mean sneer across her pretty lips. “I thought you could use some company now that your woman’s gone and joined Adrian’s super-troopers.”

  Kenn’s unshaven countenance set into hard lines. “She got lucky and found some people. So what? She’s not an Eagle.”

  “Then why was she at the center table? Well, maybe we were low on seats. I do wonder why she was the one to check in for the recon team, though. Bet they were all too busy. But why is she wearing a vest? Hmm… I can’t answer that one.”

  Kenn made his voice sound normal despite the dread in his gut. He’d heard rumors, but he hadn’t talked to anyone yet. Obviously, Tonya had. “Adrian covers that.”

  Tonya laughed cruelly, hawk-like profile turned toward Adrian’s rig. “Yes, he does, and
you’re on the outside now. She’s already done more for his dreams than you have.”

  “What are you running your mouth about?” Kenn snapped.

  Very aware of his abusive notions, Tonya took the smirk out of her tone but her words couldn’t be buffered. “I’m talking about lots of things. You didn’t tell Adrian that she’s…different, or that Brady was your boss before the war. You didn’t tell him about your heavy hands either, but it’s more than all that now. She’s left you for Adrian.”

  Kenn was getting hotter as Tonya talked, slamming awful truths into place.

  Tonya didn’t stop. She needed him pissed for her plans to succeed. It would take guts to eliminate Adrian. “She’ll be the first female Eagle, the one that draws the others in, and he’ll give Marc your place to keep her happy.”

  “And where does she rank?” Kenn asked, not quite successful in blocking the tremor from his voice this time. “If she’s so important, what’s her place?”

  “She doesn’t have one.” Tonya softened her tone, taking pity. Kenn may have broad shoulders and a strong back, but this would be a hard blow. “Your woman’s what the voters used to call an Independent. She’ll be above the chain of command, an advisor of sorts…though in time, she might not even answer to him.”

  “How do you know all this?” Kenn snarled, and Tonya showed an edge of shrewdness that the rest of the people, including Adrian, would have been shocked to witness.

  “I don’t. I’m the dumb-ass, remember?” She turned away. “The dumb-ass who doesn’t play his ‘nice people’ games, and yet still gets to stay and be safe.”

  “You’re wrong!” he shouted, drawing attention, and Tonya turned to deliver a scornful tone that said they had all underestimated her.

  “How many times have you heard him say he could use a little magic, Kenny? Now, he has it. You and the Eagles are nothing compared to that.”

  Tonya left him with those unsettling thoughts.

  When Adrian climbed into his seat a few minutes later, the tension was thick and unavoidable. Adrian didn’t try.