The Life After War Collection

by Angela White

  Adrian’s chest cramped, but in joy rather than pain. He’d foreseen this long, cold months ago, and obsessed over what to say. Now, with so much death on his conscience, the words fell easily. “Before we leave our country. Only knowing what we can do, will give them the courage to go.”

  “I know we’ll have to, and that we will, but I’m scared of why. It’s bad right now, but we could make a stand here.”

  “Yes,” Adrian concurred. “But things are only going to get worse. We need them out of the crossfire.”

  “So we can teach them how to rebuild America,” Angela confirmed. These nights, her dreams and his were often linked. They were learning it together and hoping to catch everything.

  “When will you start bringing us together to do things?”

  Adrian shrugged. Another of his secret dreams was coming to life and he couldn’t even celebrate it with her.

  “When the camp can handle it, and once again, it’s all on you.” That’s why it had to be someone who was stronger than she’d ever given herself credit for. This was no easy role that he’d assigned.

  “Do you know yet, what it is that we’re all being brought together for?”

  Adrian shrugged again, feeling Marc’s eyes burning holes into his back. “I have a list, with a few more likely at the top, being prepared for.”

  “Do I want to know any of them?”

  “Not if you want to sleep tonight,” he snorted, turning away. “Take down the rest of that line if you can. Marc’s got enough restlessness to fill you back up.”

  Angela didn’t turn to look. Marc would do his duty and let her handle hers. Things were good with them that way now.

  Marc waited patiently for Angela to burn the remaining trees. He’d heard enough of their conversation to have his other worry confirmed, but it was little compared to watching Adrian and Angela work together. That one combination blast had sent a jolt into his heart. Why couldn’t I have a gift like that? Then I could compete.

  He doesn’t understand what it’s like, Angela thought, not frowning or letting him know that she’d caught the bitterness in his mind. He wanted to have power, but it didn’t work that way. The power held them, and they eventually learned to control or cage it.

  Angela joined Marc, covered in a fine sheen of sweat. The last tree was the one she should have started with. Sending the ball of flames fifty feet was exhausting after the first throw. It had taken nearly ten to get the tree to flame up, and she sagged against the fence. She didn’t know if her terror of fire had been conquered yet, but if not, she definitely had a good start on it.

  Marc gave her the towel in his back pocket, the one Adrian had handed him without speaking.

  Angela smiled at the thoughtfulness, and Marc gritted his teeth. Adrian was trying to make it clear that he wouldn’t interfere, but the smell of him on the cloth was currently causing Angela to inhale loud enough for him to hear.

  Addictive! Angela covered quickly, dropping the cloth. “Tell Hilda there might be mold in the laundry water. Time to change it.”

  Marc snickered happily as they headed for camp, and Angela lowered her tired lids to hide the deceit. Every time his jealousy brought something between them, she would either kill it or find a way to use it in their favor.

  3

  “She wants you.”

  Charlie’s quiet words sent apprehension through Kyle. They’d moved, gotten the camp reset and settled down, and he’d done his usual job–after John’s care in the ambulance while they rolled.

  “Kyle.”

  “I haven’t been banned from her, have I?”

  Charlie shook his head. “No. They know that will backfire, but be careful. Not all of the camp is satisfied.”

  Kyle nodded. “Tell her ten minutes.”

  Charlie’s tone was full of Angela’s disapproval as he repeated her exact words. “When she’s asleep, so I can have your full attention.”

  Kyle’s shame flooded his face, but triumph settled into his heart. Jennifer was his, and everyone knew it now.

  Charlie shook his head. Adults were so blind.

  He moved to Marc, who was standing outside the tent where his mom was set up. They both stayed quiet until Kyle was out of earshot.

  Marc wondered if this was going to be another of those private conversations. He’d dreaded them at first, not sure what to say, but that had changed.

  Matt walked by on his way to the training area, but he didn’t look at either of them and Marc understood that the pimply teen was probably feeling left out of the new friendship between Charlie, Jennifer, and Becky. Seth and Kyle were relieved by it, though. They knew what Charlie could do for their girls here, but more than that, the protective men hoped he would tell them if something was wrong that they hadn’t accounted for.

  “Anything I can do?” Charlie offered.

  “Think it’s all good. You’re welcome to hang, though.”

  Charlie nodded happily, and his father studied him with quick glances.

  He was still getting taller, but thanks to the training and good food, Charlie was starting to fill out in other areas, as well. He was more muscular, skin tanning, hair growing longer. He and Angela had both seen female gazes follow their son. Ready for him to be a part of the couples forming here or not, Charlie was a handsome boy who was drawing notice. Soon, some lucky girl would find herself the center of his world.

  Marc slung an arm around Charlie’s shoulders and noted they were firmer, wider than a week ago. The teenager looking at him in concern was so much like glancing in a mirror that Marc suddenly felt old.

  “You’re not. Stop it.”

  Marc grinned. “Then slow down a little with the growing up, will ya?”

  Charlie’s head swung toward the mess, where a large group of new women was being instructed by Hilda. In that gaggle were half a dozen females who looked back invitingly.

  Charlie stared at the tables, clearly appraising.

  You don’t like anyone yet, my ass, Marc thought.

  Charlie snickered, but didn’t respond. When he’d said he wanted to be sure the first time, he’d meant it. And that required a basis for comparison. The problem was that he had yet to find anyone who compared, so that he could implement the test. The woman he had his eye on was just that–a woman. These younger camp females didn’t even make him stare anymore. Actually, none of the herd did since he’d accidentally gotten a glimpse of Tracy though the peephole in the female camper. She had the biggest breasts he’d ever seen.

  She was also servicing a number of the Eagles, including Kyle if rumor was to be believed. Charlie thought that was unlikely from the way Kyle doted on Jennifer, but he didn’t care. Neither of Tracy’s main men was interested in anything serious. They both had other plans. At some point, Tracy would be free, and Charlie wanted her. It didn’t bother him in the least that everyone called her a slut. In fact, that was part of what Charlie liked about her. He had taken the talks with Marc and Adrian to heart. She would know how to keep him satisfied, and then he’d never cheat. It was a perfect solution to all the drama that he refused to become a part of.

  And if you find someone else who draws you later? Charlie’s demon asked spitefully. Will you stay with someone you don’t love?

  Charlie didn’t answer. That was why he had to be sure. He didn’t ever want to cause someone the pain that the people around him were suffering. As long as he wasn’t sure, he would wait before revealing it. When he was ready to do that, however, he wanted to be set to compete for her, and the teenager moved toward the training tent for a workout.

  Marc sighed. There goes trouble.

  4

  Kyle’s tense shoulders in the flap drew Angela’s grunt.

  “I’m not the enemy. I used to be a teammate.”

  Kyle ducked into the tent, leaving the flap open. “I know.”

  “Then why the dread?”

  Kyle only snorted, carefully lowering himself into the chair across from her and the small folding
table. It reminded him so much of Adrian that he had to smother a frown. He’d noticed Kenn bringing it in as he climbed from the ambulance, along with a set of envelopes, but hadn’t made the connection. Adrian had her doing meetings for him. What else had he missed in his obsession?

  Angela let him work through it, not interrupting with any of the scolding or praise she could have given. Kyle was an extremely smart man. He hadn’t earned his place with impulsive actions, and she was sure Jennifer wasn’t one, either.

  Nor was his time with Tracy, the worry he was currently trying to hide. Kyle didn’t have to be concerned. Angela approved the choice, unable to help feeling a bit vindicated that Adrian’s relief source wasn’t spending enough time with him to be satisfied.

  “Let’s start with why. And don’t feed me that shit you’ve spread around the camp. I know better.”

  Kyle flushed, forced to reveal part of his long-hidden ugliness. This was why he’d been staying away from Angela despite the incredibly strong bond they shared. “There’s no way I can keep doing this job for him unless I settle my mind.”

  Angela waited for him to explain, sensing the determined person headed their way.

  “I’m evil. The things I do are wrong. The Eagles are good. Getting rid of these killers is right. It’s like I’m being ripped apart.” Kyle closed his eyes. “She can save me.”

  “That’s a lot to put on one pregnant girl’s shoulders.” Angela leaned forward. “Exactly how will she save you?”

  “I’ll teach him that it doesn’t matter if he kills, so long as it’s for the greater good.”

  Jennifer was in the flap, Dog at her heels.

  Kyle dropped his head in shame. And concentration. There was now a door in his mind that would always be closed to her, and Kyle mourned the loss even while grateful for the return of his control.

  Jennifer didn’t look away from Angela. “Am I allowed to speak for him?”

  “Yes.”

  Reading them both, Angela discovered that Kyle didn’t want Jennifer to take any of the fallout if he were banished, that’s why he’d set it up this way. How sweet. And naïve on his part. If he were voted out, the camp would find a way to hurt her for disrupting the flow of the Eagles.

  “Come in.”

  Angela noted the bigger belly, the stiffness of Jennifer’s movements. She looked better, but it was obvious that she was much too young for what her body had been forced into.

  Kyle stood up, directing Jennifer into the chair.

  “What would you like to say?” Angela asked.

  Jennifer wasn’t one to play games when it came to getting what she wanted. “Kyle asked me to be his mate. I’ve said yes, with conditions.”

  Angela’s head spun to him in disapproval. “Really.”

  Kyle groaned. “I need her, Angie. In so many ways, I can’t tell them all.”

  “And what about her needs?” Angela demanded.

  “I’m taking care of them!” Kyle snapped back guiltily. “And I’ve made their deal!”

  “But you haven’t stuck to it, otherwise we wouldn’t be here right now,” Angela retorted.

  “I asked him to kiss me, to be sure I wanted him.”

  Jennifer’s words were clearly a lie. Kyle’s stunned face was the evidence.

  Angela snorted, leaning back. “The camp won’t believe that any more than I do.”

  Jennifer locked gazes with Angela. “That doesn’t matter to me. He and I have an arrangement in place, one that I like.”

  There was steel in that tone, those golden eyes that resembled Dog’s. Angela studied the girl openly, evaluating. “The camp will say you’re too young to know what you want or need.”

  “But he isn’t,” Jennifer pointed out. “And you all trusted him before me, right?”

  Angela admired the girl’s tactics. “Yes. We never expected Kyle to react this way to any female, let alone one so young. It makes us worry.”

  “It does the same to him, but I’ve talked to Charlie. Wasn’t that how you and Marc started out?”

  Angela opened her mouth to scold and realized she was trapped–by a fourteen-year-old girl who had the heart of Adrian’s highest Eagle. That said a lot, didn’t it?

  Kyle was staring at Jennifer as though she was his reason for breathing. It was an expression she and Marc had shared for all the years of their childhood, and that included when it would have gotten him arrested. Love knew no boundaries of time or distance.

  “I’m going to recommend that you be declared an adult, so that your choices are your own.” Angela raised a hard brow toward the surprised mobster. “That is what you were hoping for when you planned this, right?”

  “Yes.” Kyle forced himself to talk past the lump in his throat. Why had he thought Angie hadn’t known? “She needed time to get to know me, to feel the connection. I’d never hurt her. I gave that promise during our first night together, and I meant it.”

  “And if she grows up and wants freedom? A new man? You gonna be like Kenn and stalk her?”

  “No!” Kyle protested that, immediately. “I’ll let her go.”

  “Like hell you will! Just be good to me, and I’ll never want anyone else.” Jennifer scowled, flushing at her outburst.

  Kyle was lost in the daze of getting of what he wanted most, to be allowed to love her.

  Jennifer smiled, hand over her stomach. “You make me feel safe.”

  “A friend can do that, too,” Kyle offered, starting to realize how crowding her emotions, trying to give her no choice, had been wrong.

  Jennifer tilted her head as he knelt in front of her. “You are my friend. You have been all along.”

  “It doesn’t have to be more,” he conceded, unable to hide the misery behind the revelation.

  “I was going to insist on that, being friends only, but something Chris told me made me realize I want more.”

  “That was where the…relief question came from?” Kyle asked, letting his hand cover hers as the babies jostled for position.

  It was as if they were alone as they worked out the bonds holding them together, and Angela took it all in, concern easing.

  “Yes. He said you would take a woman here, in secret, to keep from hurting me if I didn’t want you like that.”

  Kyle stiffened. “They’ve been informed that I won’t be using their services.”

  “They? As in more than one?” Jennifer’s cute face squashed up in anger. “That makes me want to hit you!”

  Kyle chuckled, delighted. “Really?”

  “Yes.”

  “You can. I’d never hit you back.”

  “Even when I tell you that I’ve already signed up for the Eagles?”

  “No. Never.”

  His hand over her stomach had tensed for an instant, but she hadn’t felt her usual flare of fear. It was liberating, and Jennifer finished making it clear that she wasn’t nearly as innocent as she’d led everyone to believe.

  “When we were in that farmhouse, I had to make a choice. I knew I could use the things you were feeling to control you. That’s all it was at first for me, aside from how safe you made me feel. I saw what you could do for my baby, and...I chose to lead you on. And, I’m not sorry I used you that way.” She looked up at him with regret and victory. “I’m also not saying all this to keep you out of trouble.”

  Kyle took her confession to heart and delivered one of his own. “I knew you would, Jen. I used your worry over the delivery and Safe Haven’s reaction. I’m sorry, I just…”

  “Want me,” she supplied.

  “Yes.” His hand curled protectively over the top bulge, caressing what would be his son or daughter in a couple of months. “Them, too. I can’t take away what he did to you, but I can swear it won’t ever happen again. We’ll be the family you’re missing.”

  She sighed as his touch began to settle the babies down. Her pale hand against Kyle’s extremely tanned fingers was a harsh contrast, a bad omen of their compatibility her mom might have said, but Jenn
ifer didn’t listen to that voice. Her mom hadn’t always been right, like her being an escort.

  Jennifer understood now that her mom could have been one of Adrian’s Runners if she’d wanted to be. Instead, she’d liked her life of moral depravity. Jennifer hadn’t, but that experience had kept her alive during captivity, and she was grateful for it now. Without her mom’s voice whispering, telling her what to do, she would have been one of the hundreds of corpses Cesar left in his wake.

  “I like the deal we have.” She flushed. “And when I’m stronger, I think you won’t scare me as much.”

  Kyle pressed an intense, chaste kiss to the back of her hand. “We’ll go slowly, with everything.”

  Jennifer stood up, silently insisting on being held, and Kyle surrounded her with his killer’s arms, heart complete for the first time in his life. He was wanted!

  Angela slipped out of the tent, smiling. Love. It screwed with everyone at some point.

  5

  “Why are we stopping?”

  Shawn pointed toward the edge of the creek where a large group of wild turkeys was foraging in the bushes.

  Neil’s truck came to a stop, lights flashing off, and Sam realized this was their prey. She was relieved. She hadn’t been looking forward to more deer.

  “You stay with Neil.”

  She ignored the happily observing men in the seats behind her. “What?”

  Shawn tried not to smirk. He liked Sam and didn’t want to offend her. “He switched you for our XO. You’ll play that role today.”

  Sam swallowed nervously. Neil had done it on purpose, so she would have to spend time with him.

  Wasn’t that part of why you wanted to come along? she asked herself. You wanted human contact. Now, you’re getting it.

  “Fine!” Samantha closed the door, heading for Neil’s truck, but even in her anger, she knew not to scare the birds away by slamming it. Safe Haven needed the food.

  Samantha slid into the passenger seat of Neil’s truck with a sharp glare that dared him to try starting a personal conversation.

  Neil wisely kept his mind on the mission. “This is what I need.”