by Angela White
Kenn flipped him the finger. “Shut up and sit down.”
Doug and Peggy frowned. They didn’t interfere, but at that moment, they both understood why they’d been asked to be here. Now that the teens were spending so much time together and the top men were needed for training, the shadows were usually a mixture of the levels and members, and it was working out. The kids in this camp were being observed by nearly everyone, thanks to Matt. He’d shown everyone that the teens were as dangerous, just in different ways.
Charlie snorted as the other teenagers snickered and muttered. “What are you doing here?”
Kenn held up a slip of paper, reading from it. “Teach the teenagers what Eagles do with traitors.”
He glared around in the confused silence. “Which one of you is the traitor?”
No one spoke, and Kenn crumbled the paper up. “She means outsiders. You’re getting a lesson in punishments. She wants you to understand that it’s okay when she lets someone in that you’re worried about, that there are measures waiting to detect them.”
Kenn had full focus from the teens and went on with the lesson. “Whenever you mark someone, we watch them. You won’t pick it out most of the time. We’re good at not being seen now, but we’re there, and it screws us up when you stalk them once they’re out of the QZ. We’re waiting for them to make a mistake, like we’ve been taught. You do your job, and we’ll do ours.”
Kenn waved at the lanterns. “Flip the button on the floor and then blow out the candles.”
The film began playing as dimness filled the tent and all of them settled back to view the words someone had written on a wide sheet of paper.
“You are now rookies in the Jr Eagle army. Please remember to act like it.”
The kids broke into a loud cheer that the film appeared to account for with fireworks.
“That’s cute,” Doug commented.
Peggy didn’t answer, too humiliated by Becky’s method of delivery. She’d planned to tell Doug in her own way and let him spread it around. Now, she was defenseless.
Kenn motioned toward the screen on the canvas wall, pointing out items that were important, and the kids paid attention as if he were Adrian. They wanted to know what happened to the people Kyle led from camp, and they were told. In some cases, there were photos, and those were shown as well. Angela was starting the next phase of their training and it wouldn’t be neat and clean.
An hour later, Kenn had the lanterns lit and waited for the lights to fill the canvas before letting them shut off the film. Angela had warned him not to let the tent go completely dark with the teenagers inside and he’d taken it to heart without asking why. He could come up with plenty of bad scenarios on his own.
“Questions?”
Matt’s was the only one.
“What happens to us, if we break the rules?”
Kenn pinned the boy with a hard sneer. “We kill you, of course. Why, Matt? Are you a bad guy hiding among the sheep?”
The boy flushed. “I’m a Jr. Eagle.”
The other kids cheered and Matt joined them, but Kenn saw the information get stored away for later examination. Kenn wasn’t sure what Angela had going on in Matt’s area, but he was suddenly sure she’d hit a target with this lesson.
“Any other questions before homework?”
There were groans, but none of them serious. All of the kids were hoping for a hands-on lesson.
“Sneak up on an Eagle.”
“They’ll shoot us,” Charlie stated.
“Not this time. They have orders to be on watch for you and not to use anything more painful than pepper spray.”
That had the teenagers agreeing and protesting, and Kenn held up a hand. “Maybe you should pick an Eagle, and tell them what you want to do, so they’ll be expecting it. Adrian always knows with us and we still pass.”
Annoyance had Becky’s mouth opening. “That’s because you’ve been trained. All we’ve had is babysitting and rules.”
“You’re being trained now,” Kenn stated. “Stop fighting the teachers and soak up the information. If we all die, this camp still has to be protected and that means by you.”
Kenn left the tent with a cool nod to Peggy and Doug. They’d been sent to make sure he didn’t get out of hand with the kids, but Kenn had planned it all out after Angela’s tips and warnings. Much to his delight, he’d discovered that the kids needed the same thing she did–for the distractions and bombs to be placed in their paths in the right order. When that happened, they were easy to control.
Kenn felt warm wetness slide down his back and swung around with his fist out.
Thud!
The vet fell backwards at the blow, clutching his cheek. “What the hell?”
Kenn opened his mouth to yell and felt another blast of warm wetness caress his neck.
He turned around in time to catch a full blast down the front of his shirt this time and flinched.
Chuckles started around him as Kenn realized it was bird shit.
He yanked his gun out to take revenge and found Billy’s hand taking it and replacing it with a handkerchief.
“You can’t do that right now. You’ll spook the herd.”
Kenn was furious, but couldn’t argue. He cleaned his face, tossed the cloth to the ground, and held out his hand.
Billy gave him his gun back with a cheerful smirk. “Come daylight, you can blast every bird you find, you know? She said she likes it when the camp’s up early.”
Kenn gritted his teeth and went toward the showers. A perfectly good moment, shot to hell. The teenagers were still rolling on the ground, in stitches at his mistake. Chris, who was being tended to by Ray and Lee, he ignored.
Billy let out the breath he’d been holding since picking out the shadow in the tree and figuring out who it was. If those two weren’t careful, someone would get hurt.
“Should we talk to Marc about it?” Lee asked, coming over now that they knew the vet was okay.
Billy narrowed in on Charlie, who wasn’t laughing but staring at the trees.
“No, not yet.” He had a sudden intuition that Charlie hadn’t been in on it. “Let’s see where it goes.”
Lee returned to his post. He had no problems with it so far, except that Kenn might have fired and woken the camp in a panic. Other than that, it had been great.
“Hey, what happened?” Neil asked, coming by on his way to the tents.
Lee let out a short cackle. “A bird shit on Kenn, so he punched the vet.”
Neil was still chuckling when he ducked inside his canvas.
7
“Can I join you?”
Samantha’s question was met with silent surprise. She came in and dropped the flap before turning around.
The five Eagles had cards, poker chips, and beer on the round table, but from the notes they were trying to hide, Samantha immediately suspected it wasn’t a real game.
“You mean for some poker?” Theo asked, sitting his beer down on top of his open notebook. “We were about to finish up. Maybe next time?”
Samantha snorted, crossing her arms over her chest. “Angela sent me.”
Theo and the others peered around in concern. Samantha’s guns hung on her hips as if they belonged there.
“She said I’d find you together, and when I did, to tell you that you’ve finally been noticed. The truck and reserves are open for use in your projects.”
Theo laughed as the others slapped high-fives. “She’s good.”
Samantha ducked out of the tent. “Yes, and she’s gonna need everything you guys can put together.”
The five men in the tent cleared the table to work on. Cover was no longer needed.
Samantha went to the personal tent area, tired but satisfied with the day. She was in the thick of things at any given time. It was soothing.
Sam saw the man leaning against her tent and sighed heavily as she stopped in front of him. So much for soothing.
“Do we have to fight over it, Jeremy? You
know why I won’t.”
“I came to ask if you’d like to spend the night in my tent, sleeping.”
Taken aback, Samantha searched his face for anger and found only a desperate longing.
“Okay.”
Jeremy settled into the shadows to wait for her, sure she’d hit the showers first, like he just had. After that, they would spend the next six hours alone in his tent.
8
“Go doctor a body.”
Angela’s words got immediate action from the two teams of Eagles that she’d handpicked for this chore. Kyle and Kenn would take a dozen men each, and protect John while he made the chosen corpse appear to be Adrian. Thanks to the surgery, they had plenty of DNA to put in the right places. The smart healer had also made a mold of Adrian’s fingerprints and teeth, and would use them, along with the dog tags, to convince the government that Adrian had died.
None of them expected it to last. Angela was estimating that roughly three months from this very moment, they would be locked in mortal combat with the enemy. She hadn’t told anyone that part. She also hadn’t mentioned the fifty other subtle details of the plan. It was complicated, depended on many things, and it wasn’t guaranteed to work. She’d accounted for each possible reaction, but in the end, fate always had the final say.
Angela went to her tent, running through the plans again. Where would a wildcard hurt them the most and how could she account for it?
Marc let her leave, half wishing he was going into Little Rock to be able to observe the evidence of what she’d gone through. She had come back changed once again and he had no doubt that one of her moments there had caused it.
“She okay?”
Marc nodded at Kevin’s question. “She’s going over things, making sure she’s right.”
“Oh. Like Adrian.”
Marc tried not to be offended for her. “Yes, like Adrian. She’s just as smart…”
Marc stopped, replaying that. He did think she was as smart as Adrian was. And wouldn’t that mean she was also as dangerous?
And devious, his demon spoke up carefully. She isn’t telling them everything.
Marc heaved a worried sigh. She isn’t telling me everything.
No, the demon confirmed in surprise at the response. She’s not sure that she can.
Marc spun away from the guards and found the shadows of the farthest perimeter. What does she have planned?
The demon hesitated and Marc understood Angela’s plan had support.
“Let me guess. A witch came to visit and now, you’re a convert, too?”
The demon snickered scornfully. I’ve been a convert all along. So have you.
Marc couldn’t argue. As much as he hated Adrian, he couldn’t have withheld the energy needed to heal him.
Not wanting to leave them on a sour note, the demon spoke again. You should rest.
Marc started to snarl and was interrupted.
If you don’t rest, you’ll have to start drawing, like she does.
Marc hadn’t considered any effects. He’d thought if he didn’t acknowledge the demon inside, he wouldn’t have to deal with any of it.
If I hadn’t been woken, that would still be true, the demon confessed slowly. You’d have to put me to sleep again.
Marc started to ask how and then didn’t. He might not want to get cozy with the power he held, but if he needed it, he sure as hell wanted it to be there.
The demon settled back happily for a change, grateful to the witch. She’d told him many things, but those he lingered on were about how to gain Marc’s friendship. That was something the demon had longed for the whole time he’d been in this body. He was never lonelier than when his host was pretending he didn’t exist.
9
The Big Plan
Angela went over the outline again, but the math didn’t lie. They’d never get a ship stocked in that time, even if they managed to find one that would haul them all. Then, there was the issue of where to go, and others. If they didn’t wipe out the first set of troops that came, they were doomed. By taking out the first troops, they might avoid the fight all together. It was their one chance for peace–that the government would know they had escaped, but not chase them anyway after taking another loss–but Angela knew it wouldn’t work that way. The remaining government needed her kind, desperately if the thoughts of the Major’s men were to be believed. They wouldn’t be stopped by a small defeat. They’d come in force on the second run, whether they left them a body or killed every last man.
“And if the outcome is the same, I have to do something different,” Angela muttered, slipping the paper into her pocket as she finished nightly rounds.
“Yes, but what exactly have you chosen?” a guard asked from his post nearby.
Angela joined Dexter, a Level Three on Kevin’s team, as he lounged against the bumper of Jeremy’s rusty truck.
“What do you think, considering the details you have?”
Dexter had been in jail most of his life and was still shocked to be an Eagle at all, despite being so high up. He answered truthfully, “I think we could put up a great fight, but in the end, we’d fall.”
“So not fighting,” Angela humored. “That leaves surrender.”
“Negotiate in ways you haven’t considered, maybe, or even a series of hidden camps,” Dexter offered. He gave her a slightly condescending tone. “I don’t have it figured out. That’s why you’re in charge, not me.”
Angela laughed like it was all in the day of a leader, and quickly moved away from prying ears so that she could vent.
“I’m in charge because I value life and Adrian knows killing isn’t what I’ll pick if I have another choice. He’s banking on me doing this the right way.”
“Then he’s already lost, hasn’t he?” the witch questioned.
“Yes,” Angela answered. “I only came up with one way to do this and it’s ugly. I’m turning into him.”
No, the witch corrected sleepily. You’re becoming a leader. He would have counted on that, as well.
“Why didn’t he have this covered? The Adrian I know plans for everything!” Angela snapped, fading into the shadows around the perimeter for more privacy. “He would have at least checked through it and set a few things up.”
He did that. Look at the Eagles. He wasn’t only training them for camp defense. It was also to protect the magic, the people that he knew would come. He taught his men to care for the most important part of the camp–the heart–and he set it up to die, to give us time to gather supplies and find the ship. The government might have experimented on his body for months before seeking out the rest of us.
“So my plan is all we’ve got,” Angela realized harshly. “That’s all there is.”
The witch tried to comfort. It’s good. Many of the pieces are in falling into place. We’ve seen enough to know it could work.
“But will it?!” Angela demanded.
She was met with the annoyingly familiar answer that had haunted Adrian so often.
That has not been revealed.
Kyle came to her side. “They both said no.”
Angela caught a flash of Dog’s anger and made a note to handle that. The wolf had no right to it.
“But?”
“They’re both lying to me.”
Angela made a note of the loyalty and gave her own in return. “I won’t sacrifice her. My word on it.”
Kyle let out the breath he’d taken. “Thank you.”
Angela’s tone went cold. “For trading your life instead? It’ll be my honor and one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.”
Kyle now understood why she’d been avoiding him. He’d thought she had lost too much respect for him upon finding out about Tracy.
“Couldn’t have you discover it until the right time, Reece. You would have seen through me before now.”
Kyle didn’t have to ask what had changed. “She survives?”
“Yes.”
“And the camp?”
&n
bsp; Angela faded into the thick darkness without responding.
Chapter Seven
Oh, Hell
1
“Raven to the gate.”
“Copy.”
The Quarantine Zone was packed. There were dozens of tents, and a growing line at the desk. With the teenagers in a training lesson, Angela was covering the post. The security was double.
Angela gave Dog a cool nod as she walked by and the big wolf heeled, much to the surprise of those around them. The new people were used to animal attacks, not obedience.
Another group had arrived at dawn. Survivors from Little Rock, judging by the utility trucks they were driving, and they were twitchy enough that the guards had called her early. The gate wasn’t officially open yet. It was barely dawn.
The QZ was easily half the size of the main camp now, and Angela looked to Marc. “Do we have enough men to cover it all?”
“We’re good. I’m working them differently, arranging by their strengths.”
“The little details Adrian didn’t have time for, and Kenn didn’t have enough support to do on his own?”
“Yes. One of those is Level tests. You’ll need to get them ready soon, for One through Five.”
“Kenn usually does it?”
“Yes. He gave me the files this morning.”
“Suspend the level tests for now, and replace it with classes on survival.”
Marc was relieved. He could come up with plans easily enough, but her workload needed to be lightened, not added to. “You got it. What else?’
Angela was listening for discontent in his tones, and was glad not to hear any, but didn’t trust it. “I’d like you to pick someone to supervise the party. I want rides if possible, small ones, and all the fireworks we can get our hands on.”
Marc wrote it down, and glared pointedly at her hair. “It’s showing more than before.”
Angela wasn’t alert enough to lie, not to Marc. “I’ll do something about it later.”
He pushed out that heat. “With me?”
Angela flushed. “Yes, please.”
Marc turned for camp with a light smirk. “You got it.”