by Angela White
Cara smiled, keeping her tongue in her mouth, and Kenn saw the woman she had been before. Not much compared to Tonya, the snake leader still held a powerful appeal with her sinewy body and determination to get what she wanted. She motioned toward a smaller, narrow doorway that led into a closet of some kind.
“Go with them,” Kenn ordered, waving at Kevin. “If she doesn’t burn me up, she’ll drop me off.”
Kevin moved away from them in relieved revulsion. He didn’t think he could have made that choice. She’d actually sniffed, with her tongue. Yuck!
Kenn waited until they were alone, forcing his mind and body to work together. This wouldn’t be hard compared to some of the things he’d done before the war.
Hell, Kenn thought, watching her drop the dusty coat to reveal soft curves and flawless skin. I might even like it. He was always up for something new and exotic.
“Are you for rent, as well?”
Kevin flinched back out of reach, shaking his head at the tall woman with the snake tattoos along her exposed legs. “He’s not for rent like some item you could lease from a store! He’s paying a debt.”
The woman smiled knowingly, showing beautiful teeth and a long tongue. “He’s bartering our servicesss. I’d like to have yours.”
Before Kevin could say no, the woman held out a small pouch. “Be sure.”
Kevin stared at her. “Why don’t you guys have men? Not all of them were taken in the draft, right?”
Nuna jerked at the alert observation, but didn’t lie. “They involuntarily joined the Major’s army. And never came back.” The woman’s demeanor grew cold. “And now, we allow no males to live among us.”
She went toward the front of their walking convoy. “Think about my offer.”
That type of confidence said they needed whatever she had given him, and Kevin tried very hard not to peer into the pouch. He didn’t want to have to pay for it.
He caved quickly.
Kevin gently pulled the object out, mind flying along a hundred paths. It was a key. The one to wherever the Major would put their other team members?
“It opens the back door of Garret’s compound,” Nuna confirmed.
“Holy hell!” Kevin blew out an unhappy breath, looking down at his groin. “Get ready, dude. We’re as stuck as Kenn is.”
Ahead of him, the tall woman laughed in anticipation.
4
“Adrian?”
Angela leaned closer, willing him to wake. She’d already healed his wounds, unmindful of the audience of cameras and guards, but he wasn’t responding. “Adrian!”
Sharper, it still didn’t pull him up from the drug and fist-induced sleep. She did what she knew would work. I need you!
The call rang through the cell and then the compound, drawing attention and urges to come running.
But from Adrian, there was only silence.
“He won’t wake for another hour,” a voice called over the intercom. “Stop disturbing the others.”
Angela started to ask what others and realized she knew. “I need to pee.”
Laughter rolled over the radio. “So go on.”
Angela flipped the finger toward the voice box, and more amusement greeted them. Under it, was hatred and fear. Their guards didn’t like this duty. Why?
Angela worked on it as she studied their cell for weaknesses and tried not to think of the team that had been left behind. Garret had ordered them all darted in case he needed them for leverage, but now that Adrian was in custody, they were expendable. Angela was sure Garret had considered shooting them right then, but it would torture Adrian to think of them tied up and helpless to avoid the snakes.
Angela turned to find Kyle awake, watching her in concern. She’d let him sleep and tended Adrian when she came to. Conner, she hadn’t seen.
“I was trying to wake him.”
Kyle pushed up against the wall. He had been darted as soon as he put the bodies down and he peered around groggily. The cell held four bunks, both tops empty as Angela paced the damp stone floor.
I’m not sure if they have our thoughts covered. I’m going to send another call and find out.
Kyle trusted her judgment. He only had the basics down with Adrian when it came to magic. Kyle had witnessed the pleasure on Garret’s face as Adrian dropped to his knees, but in that bald head and heavy duty gear, Kyle had recognized the ability to cause chaos. Like Adrian, the Major was a leader, but his casually wrinkled trench coat and long fingernails exposed an important difference. Adrian led by example, while Garret reigned over his men with fear. That meant he was flawed and beatable, despite the odds.
“You can only do it one more time, and then Major Garret will have you darted again,” the voice on the intercom warned. “Use it wisely.”
Angela snapped her mouth shut and resumed her pacing. The cell had clearly been a basement room at one time, and the welds on the bars looked too solid to waste time on. Two bunk beds made a holding area for four people, one that had only a heavy cage door that appeared to be electronic. She would have to blow them open when the fighting started.
Kyle assumed Angela was busy building a wall so they would be able to communicate, and kept quiet.
Angela paced faster, mentally pushing.
Bang!
Angela and Kyle both jumped at the nearby gunshot.
The intercom crackled. “I killed him for trying. I’ll do the same to the next one.”
Angela pushed aside the guilt. “Line ‘em up, baby. I hate you, and they mean nothing to me.”
Another chuckle rolled over the intercom, but now, it was laced with respect. “The Major wants you monitored.”
Angela shrugged. “Don’t really like the Major, either...Harold, is it? What if you and I blow this place, together?”
Now there was a low growl, and a tense chuckle. “He said you’d be dangerous, but I think he’s underestimating. The next shift is female. Good luck.”
Angela sighed in resignation and resumed her furious pacing. She hated being caged. You’re up, stripper. Win us a friend or two for the fight.
Kyle burst out laughing. He couldn’t help it. They were in an ugly situation, and she wanted him to strip for their guards. It was better than priceless. It was one for the Eagle table. “Should I hum or something?”
“Maybe.”
Kyle stopped laughing slowly, thinking he hadn’t felt this good in a long time. It was a bit worrisome. Shouldn’t he be upset?
“It’s from being so close to both of us for so long,” Angela explained. “Things rub off.”
She gave him a quick hand gesture. I can’t get another reader killed. Will you carry it for me?
“Yes.”
I’m going to connect us, show you what I did. And then step… Angela stiffened, moaning. “Damn it!”
Kyle already knew. “They brought Conner, right?”
Angela no longer bothered to talk silently. “Kill them, boy! Leave us!”
No chuckle over the radio, but light scorn lined the relief. “He knows his place. Conner’s been very useful.”
“Deals made to save those kids are not his guilt to carry!” Angela shouted. “You hear me, Conner? There are no rules in war!”
Angela slung herself onto the bunk and hid her satisfaction when Conner’s startled presence began cautiously asking her what he should do. He’d expected hatred because he had aided the enemy, and the enemy had counted on that keeping them apart, but she’d flipped it around on them and given him absolution. There wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for her now.
5
“I’ll do that again, for information.”
Cara, who’d gotten what she came for and was only glad it was over, denied him, “Your questions are paid.”
Kenn grunted in relief. It would be a long time before he didn’t shudder at the sound of a snake. Instead of moans or groans, or even screams, she’d hissed as she climaxed.
“What do you know about the Major?”
C
ara leaned against the damp wall lovingly, stealing the sensation to take with her as their people fled into the arid wastelands of the west. “Everything. He likes my noises.”
Kenn flushed at the bluntness. “I’m sorry if I offended–”
“Sssave it!” Cara glowered. “I needed the seed, not the man.”
“Why?”
Her face slowly lost the anger. “Our people are mutating too quickly. We need babies who are half-breeds or we will die out.”
Kenn took that in with a grimace, but didn’t protest. He’d suspected it, just hadn’t wanted to deal with himself. He didn’t like kids, so it wasn’t a terribly hard choice, but if he thought about it too much...
Cara sensed he might decide against letting her leave here alive if he dwelled on it, and shoved them into another direction. “Garret was Adrian’s best friend.”
Kenn gaped. And then began placing pieces. That’s how the Major had been able to capture Adrian so easily. He knew him, knew his ways.
“They served together, right?” Kenn guessed, sense of doom growing.
“For years. Until Adrian met Shannon.”
Kenn settled back, watching Cara slide back and forth along the rock as if she wanted to crawl up it.
“She didn’t have power, but she was a pure soul, which is rarer. The Major drugged her, and her parents forced a marriage.”
“She and Adrian were dating?”
“No. Adrian and Garret were her security detail. The Major said Adrian was obeying the rules and waiting for the job to be finished.”
“But Garret didn’t.”
“No. After it came out, Adrian split their team up and disappeared. For three years.” Cara’s voice lowered. “When he came back, he kidnapped Shannon, seduced her, and sent her back six months later–pregnant.”
Kenn fit another set of pieces into place. “That’s step daddy, and Conner’s been working with the enemy the whole time.”
Cara showed the first sympathy Kenn had seen from her.
“Conner loves those damn kids. He’d betray his father to save them.”
That sent Kenn’s mind into another possible outcome that he didn’t want to face. “We gotta go.”
Cara pointed the way toward the park.
“Kevin! Let’s go!” Kenn shouted. He had heard the rookie laboring not long after finishing his own revolting chore.
“Comin’!” Kevin replied, wincing.
Kenn barked out nauseated amusement and stepped up his pace. “Do all of your women feel the way you do about having babies?”
“Yes. We’ve been allowing the soldiers access to us in exchange for safety, but there are only a few of them that can have children, due to the wars they’ve been mired in.” Cara glanced over. “You’d ask for our help in exchange?”
Kenn wasn’t sure the others would go for it. “Can you wake them up when we get there?”
“Yes. We have herbs and such.”
Kenn caught the tone. “You have an antidote, you mean.”
Cara was pleased. “If our child has your intelligence, I will mold her into a leader.”
Kenn didn’t say anything, torn with pride and an unfamiliar ache deep in his gut. He didn’t want kids…did he?
6
“Damn, I enjoyed that! I always hated those kids.”
Garret frowned at Hudson and his new defensive wounds. The kids had obviously tried to fight back.
“Emotional bonds make the perfect collateral. Don’t ever forget that.”
“I never fought with them. Never touched one of Conner’s kids until today,” Hudson stated, happiness fading a bit.
Garret turned from the reminder. No, Hudson knew better than to disobey orders. “You’re my one true man.”
Hudson stood up straighter, feeling the orders about to flow. He loved these moments.
“The snake clerks had a lot to say about their meeting,” Garret stated, full of anticipation. “Adrian’s men weren’t afraid to talk in front of the snakes and compare living situations. I want this Safe Haven.”
Hudson felt the thrill of battle looming and welcomed it. Maybe Mitchel’s camp guards would be a challenge. He certainly hadn’t been. “I’ll set it up with the squad.”
“Two-side attack formation, five teams per. Use the automatics, but remember to have them check for those on our list first. Then, kill everything he loves.”
“What about the loose ends?” Hudson asked. They’d observed the movements on the tracker and assumed Adrian’s men were more immune to the drugs than most of their prey.
Garret sank down into the comfy army chair that went everywhere he did. “What’s the best way to get an ant colony out of your yard?”
Hudson, whose father had been an exterminator, answered, “Water, over and over. It drowns the larvae and ruins the walls. They collapse. If you keep doing it, the pests move.”
“And we already have that coming, don’t we?”
“Yes,” Hudson confirmed. “We do.”
“Good. Dismissed,” Garret stated.
Hudson slipped from the luxurious control room and spotted Embry and Lenore gliding down the dark hallway in oblivious joy. His unease over the orders to kill their men was instantly pushed aside.
They didn’t know that the dam would blow at dawn, and what was left of this city would be washed away or submerged. It would be him, the Major’s personal squad, and their captives who survived.
Which meant all bets were off, didn’t it?
Hudson looked at his watch. Oh, yeah. He could take a twenty-minute break.
Hudson followed the happily giggling couple toward the garden, seeing Embry’s dirty hand tangle in that pale hair and tug Lenore closer. As soon as they were in the green grass, Embry took her to the dusty ground.
They made love fast, with a passion that had their observer hard and determined to be next.
As Embry stiffened, groaning in pleasure, Hudson stepped from the shadows. “I’m up!”
“What the hell are–”
Hudson put his gun to Embry’s head and pulled the trigger.
“No!” Lenore screamed.
Embry fell heavily, blood running.
“Guess that makes me next in line for you,” Hudson stated happily.
“Help!”
“Lenore, Lenore!” Hudson chanted over the screaming, jerking his belt loose. “Let me in, Lenore.”
Lenore felt her mind blur into a gray area where only fear and hatred existed. It had been this way since the war. Only hoping to survive long enough to kill him, the captive woman held in her tears of grief and rage, and opened her legs.
“Very good!”
As he fell on her, Lenore’s hands immediately began searching Embry’s nearby body for his gun.
7
“Message, sir.”
Garret moved away from the window where he liked to spend his waiting hours. The sight of the decay that surrounded them never failed to inspire. Unlike his men, he loved it here, and the deeply overcast skies were perfectly suited to his moods.
The Major read over the radioman’s shoulder.
“We are under evacuation. Radiation levels are critical in the east. The reserve bunker has been activated. Take Mitchel, Jr, and White, Angela, to Utah. Mitchel Sr. is to be terminated immediately.”
“Tell them I’m happy to comply, as always.” The Major switched his attention to the modified cells on the screen, and then to the sullen teenager in the monitoring chair. “Go say goodbye.”
Conner shot from the chair, almost running, and Garret grabbed his arm. He jerked the boy to a halt and gave him a hard shake. “Don’t forget our deal, son.”
Conner twisted loose, expression ugly. “And don’t you forget it, either, dad. If those kids get hurt, you’re the first one I’ll kill!”
Conner left the room, and the Major grinned cruelly. This was going to be fun. He got to break the father and the son, at the same time. Moments like these only came around once in a lifetime.
<
br /> Still smiling, Garret and his guards followed Conner into the basement cells they’d built. The control room was also located in the basement, separated by storage areas that were full. He wasn’t one to leave behind supplies.
The wide room held a bank of computer screens and heavy-duty cords that brought in the power and allowed these men to control the entire complex. Positioned directly under the main home, it would be hard to take over unless the hunters didn’t suspect anything, and his men always did. He’d trained them that way.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The Right Bait
1
“Time’s up,” Angela muttered as the basement door swung open.
Adrian sensed it, too, but he only had eyes for the son under Garret’s control. I came back for you both. She sent me away.
Conner didn’t doubt it. She was scared of him. She always was.
She needed me.
Conner shrugged, still answering silently, We needed you back then, but the war changed it all. He left and we thought we were free to come find you. He was always watching us.
Adrian stood up, going to the bars. He spoke openly. “I’m sorry for everything you’ve gone through.”
Conner found that he didn’t have any rage left. Adrian wasn’t his enemy. “I know.”
“I’m also sorry for everything you still have to face,” Adrian stated, trying to prepare him for the ugliness he saw coming in Garret’s scornful expression.
The Major delivered his sword tip. “You should be, since it’s your fault that the kids are dead. Hudson handled them upon our return.”
Conner screamed, realizing the betrayal, and Garret swung, punching him in the mouth.
“Dart him,” Garret ordered as Conner dropped to his knees.
The closest guard shot Conner in the arm, and the teenager groaned, slumping to the floor.
“One down,” Garret taunted. He pointed at Angela. “Come out.”
The cell door buzzed open.
Angela’s laugh was brittle. “So you can hurt me in front of Adrian for your next victory? Yeah, that’ll happen.”