by Angela White
Adrian spotted Quinn’s frozen boot impressions in the snow, not glancing down at the devastation. His own campsite was partially covered in tons of dirty snow and rock, but the soldiers had been in their hammocks when he left. He assumed they were out of reach, but it wouldn’t have mattered to him even if they were in danger.
Adrian ignored the cold as he shoved himself forward and up the last rise to reach the ledge above his camp. He saw a melted area where Quinn had spent some time, noting the wires and debris, and then kept going. Whatever was happening was close to him, but not near enough as gunshots rang out.
I’m coming! he shouted on their old line, hoping for an answer. Hang on!
Do you have her? Marc demanded in his thoughts.
No, Adrian answered, realizing Marc was also out of the perimeter to be able to monitor him. Where are you?
Coming from the cave they went through. They left me a decoy. Where are you?
A few minutes from the top.
Meet you in the middle.
Adrian allowed his reserve strength to be used as he went even faster through the miserable weather and the pains in his chest. He was closer than Marc. He might be able to help somehow if he could just get there!
12
“Down!” Quinn shouted, firing from his place behind the snowy boulders that lined the site. He’d chosen it for their snow removal because of the cramped quarters, and he was now cursing himself for it. The driving wind had reduced visibility and he was trying to hit the enemy, while missing their captive people. He could only hope that luck was with him as he fired again.
Scott and Josh stayed down in the open tent, trying to untie each other while their captors were busy fighting with Quinn and Angela. Between groans, she was sending balls of fire and curses in languages they’d never heard before. Her orbs were crimson and the noises she was making were scary. It sounded like she’d let the witch out. Blade and Darian were already dead, bodies burnt from Angela’s amazing fury.
Angela groaned as her stomach clamped down again, harder than before, but there was no time as Vlad charged again. The witch lunged forward to meet him, breathing flames that melted his shield and then shot into his eyes.
Angela wanted his life force. She wanted to enjoy every second of it, but penetrating agony slammed into her belly and the witch retreated.
Vlad dropped to the ground, screaming wildly as his mentally captive men fled down the nearest snowy path. He couldn’t hold them now and neither could Tara, who was behind a big boulder by the cliff’s slick edge. She’d darted there when Quinn attacked. Angela had been hampered by her cramping body and missed Tara on the first shot.
“Come out here!” Angela shrieked.
Tara stayed down, realizing the huge mistake she’d made in assuming that Angela was under control. Even in the midst of a miscarriage, Angela’s power was far beyond her own.
The lose lurker everyone had worried about ran toward the small cave entrance to escape Angela’s wrath, but her flames shot over his shoulder and caught on his hair. Slapping at the growing heat, he tripped, sliding, and went screaming down the side of the mountain as a human torch.
Angela focused on the last target, able to feel the child inside her dying. There was nothing she could do now except extract justice.
Angela dropped to her knees as she struggled to bring forward more power through the pain radiating in sharp, tear-bringing cramps.
Waiting for that, Tara stood up, firing. “For my husband!”
Angela ducked in time to take the bullet through the upper arm instead of the chest. Blood sprayed the snow as she cried out and Tara laughed cruelly.
“How’s that feel?!” Tara taunted, hurrying forward. She kept her gun trained on Angela as also Quinn rushed forward. “Get lost!”
Quinn followed his training instead. He took the shot.
Tara fell backwards from the impact, shocked and dazed. Her shield had caught the slug, but she hadn’t expected him to fire at all.
It gave Quinn and Angela a few seconds they wouldn’t have had otherwise. Angela used hers to gather the last bit of power she had, along with all her horrible fury at her mistakes. Quinn used his to recall how many bullets he had left. One.
Boot steps crunched through the snow, hurrying toward them in angry determination. Quinn wanted to see who it was, but he couldn’t take his attention from Tara as she scrambled to her feet. He wasn’t able to get through her shield, but Angela could.
Quinn saw Tara’s finger tighten on the trigger and he lunged, dropping the gun.
Tara fired, hitting Quinn in the metal medical box that he preferred to carry. It spun him to the ground, where he slammed into the snowy stone with a dull thud.
Angela forced herself to her feet, feeling warm wetness slide down her thighs in gooey clumps. The chill of the wind sank in, making her shiver, but she held her chin up as Tara placed the gun against her cold skin.
“I’m going after your other kid next!” Tara promised, leaning near enough to make sure she was spattered in blood upon pulling the trigger. She wanted a souvenir. “I’ll suck him dry.”
Angela shut her eyes, terrified to hear herself ask if she even wanted to survive now.
Have we had enough? the witch mocked. Pain too great?
Angela nodded, tears rolling down her frozen cheeks. “It hurts.”
Tara thought Angela was speaking to her and laughed, “Good!”
Then let go and join the darkness, the witch advised. You wouldn’t survive the future anyway. Marc and Adrian need a strong woman.
I’m taking her with me…for my baby.
Why bother? Let Marc have the justice.
“I deserve it!” Angela screamed.
“Oh, yeah!” Tara agreed happily. “Here we go.”
Safe Haven dies with you, the witch shouted. Fight for your life!
Fate can make this choice too, Angela responded wearily. I’m done deciding who lives and who dies-including me.
Adrian emerged through the snow and rock. “Angie?”
His voice was a light in the darkness, but there was no time and he didn’t slow down.
Adrian leapt as Tara fired again.
Thanks to the impact of his body, the bullet went off course and plunged into Angela’s other arm, drawing a fresh scream. Tara had been aiming for her heart.
Adrian rolled clear and hit his feet, staying in front of the lunatic who began shouting. He already knew he couldn’t draw in time to shoot her.
“Move! She has to die!”
Adrian didn’t answer, but his shield came up, making it impossible for Tara to reach Angela until she had dealt with him. Because she wasn’t firing, Adrian suspected she was low on ammunition.
Angela’s groans and moans brought cruel happiness into Tara’s reddening profile. “I love that sound!”
Vlad stopped screaming suddenly, but neither of them looked. If Adrian moved the wrong way the next time Tara fired, Angela would be hit again. Adrian assumed she was too injured to bring up her own shield.
Tara cackled madly at his concern, retreating to the cliff’s edge in an effort to be out of his lunging range. “Mexican standoff!”
Adrian didn’t understand why the old joke was so funny to her, but he felt the moment of truth arrive as her face lost all trace of human emotion. Her arm slowly raised, eyes going blank.
Adrian tensed, preparing to jump. He would take her off the cliff.
“Yourself!” Angela grunted furiously from the ground. “Shoot…yourself!”
Tara’s eyes widened as her own arm began to shake.
Adrian watched in proud horror as Angela forced the woman to put the barrel of the gun in her mouth.
Angela strained, feeling something in her abdomen give. “Die!”
Tara pulled the trigger.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Carved in Stone
1
“Angie!” Marc rushed forward, followed by the two teams of men who quickly realiz
ed the only threat left was from Angela’s injuries and the weather. Some of the men took up sentry posts, while others went to Quinn.
“He’s alive!”
“Get him to the cave!”
Three of the guards quickly took Quinn down the open path, trying not to drop him.
“Two more survivors!” Billy called, finding Scott and Josh who were still gagged and tied. Their fingers were nearly frozen from working on the knots. Their knives and guns had been removed upon capture.
Adrian gestured for the Eagles to take their men down the mountain and no one argued. It was obvious that Adrian had saved Angela’s life, though none of them was certain she would keep that gift. With all the blood around her, it definitely didn’t look good for the baby.
Finished binding both her arms, Adrian stepped aside.
Marc dropped to his knees at her side, ignoring everything else. “Angie?”
Angela groaned, crying as a fresh gush of liquid heat soaked her lap. “I miscalculated the time. I thought…I had it…all covered!”
Marc wanted to hold her, to rush her down the cliff, but he was also scared to move her. She was covered in blood.
“I was arrogant and fate took the baby!” she cried, clutching her gut.
Marc jumped up and grabbed Adrian’s arm. “Help her!”
Staring at the gruesome scene, Adrian jerked out of Marc’s grip. “I can’t.”
“Help her!” Marc yelled through the storm. “Do it now!”
“I can’t!” Adrian shouted back. “It’s too late and it’s your fault!”
“What?”
“This is your fault, always making her hide what she is. You caused this!”
“You’re insane.”
“She has to hide her plans from you. You can’t accept her for what she is–a leader who has now sacrificed everything for her people!” Adrian shouted furiously. “I never would have done this to her! Your insistence on the bars being up drove her to keep secrets. I should have been here with her for this!”
More blood pooled around Angela’s legs and Adrian jerked a hand toward the path he’d come up. “Go get shit ready. I’ll bring her in.”
“Don’t you touch her!” Marc shouted. “I’ll carry her down.”
“You have to get things ready!”
“You do it!”
“I can’t!” Adrian growled. “I’m banished, remember? I’ll be shot on sight–another of your bullshit attempts to get rid of someone she loves. Jealous bastard.”
Adrian bent down and slid gentle hands under Angela’s limp body. She had passed out while they argued, and Marc hadn’t even noticed. “Come here, baby. I’ve got you now.”
Adrian stood up and Marc winced as the blood dripped.
“Get moving! She needs help!”
Billy and the other Eagles, along with the two freed captives, surrounded Adrian, expressing more disapproval than Marc was used to. Left with no choice, Marc spun toward the path and took off running. None of the Eagles could clear Adrian for entry. Only he could, thanks to his own rules.
Adrian had no time for the support of the men he’d once bonded with daily. He cradled Angela, face against hers as he breathed what little energy he had left into her. “I’m so sorry, baby.”
Billy got them moving, trying to clear an easier path for Adrian to manage. Scott and Josh helped navigate, supporting her legs when needed, as the rest of the honor guard tried not to notice the trail of blood they were leaving. Together, the somber males slowly brought their leader’s body through the storm and down the mountain.
At the bottom of the hill, gunfire rang out in loud waves that said the chaos wasn’t completely over. Kyle and the rest of the Special Forces men were still defending the gate from the refugees that had survived the avalanche. People were coming from the cave to help and the battle continued to ring across the mountain as the storm raged around them. A few minutes into their treacherous hike, Marc’s Colts also began thundering as he vented his anger on the few remaining refugees.
The escorts didn’t speak to Adrian, busy examining his accusation. Had Marc really caused this somehow? What were they missing?
Adrian didn’t try to convince them he was the hero this time. Besides being exhausted, he hadn’t said those things to Marc to make the wolfman feel bad. He’d spewed the truth in a moment of rage. He and Angela would have been a perfect team because he could accept the awful choices she had to make. Marc was too good for her–literally.
2
Marc watched Adrian lovingly place Angie’s unconscious form onto the gurney that the medical team had waiting inside the shattered gate. They rushed her passed the bodies in the snow and into the drafty tent where some of the doctor’s equipment was still set up. People ran back and forth at his calls for supplies that he didn’t have here, shouting updates and rumors alike. After proclaiming Angela near death, the word that Adrian was back came next.
Marc suffered it all in silence, using hand signals to direct the Eagles. With so many people topside to wait for Angela, they needed a perimeter. He got Kenn on it, hating the sympathy he read for Adrian in the Marine’s expression. He also hated all the curious and concerned camp members viewing his humiliation, but he didn’t send them below.
Adrian followed the gurney through the snow. At the flap to the medical tent, when Zack would have stopped him, Scott and Josh stepped tiredly between them. After not being able to assist Angela, both the men were at their limits on patience.
“What’s he doing here?” Zack demanded angrily. “He should be shot!”
“He kept her from being executed,” Scott informed his superior coldly. “This is what he deserves.”
Zack scowled at the bruised man, focusing on Marc. When Marc didn’t reply, Zack reluctantly stepped aside to let Adrian enter.
Doctor Reynold stared at the bloody woman in shock. “Angela?”
Josh slapped the doctor on the shoulder, making him flinch. “Get to it!”
Hilda and Peggy came to help, along with Millie and Mandy. Adrian stayed out of the way, studying everyone else in the large drafty tent. He wouldn’t be sent away from Angela yet unless someone wanted to die. He had enough energy left to take a life force if he need to, though he expected it to be Marc, not an Eagle.
“She’ll have a notebook for this,” Adrian stated, not caring who heard the information. That wasn’t his job to cover anymore. “Someone go search her mattress.”
When the guards looked at Marc, he spun angrily toward their tent, silently cursing. He didn’t know if Adrian was right. That was a huge problem.
Is he? Marc demanded of his demon. Is that what caused this?
The demon refused to answer.
Marc found a notebook under her pillow, along with a single sheet of paper that he read with a breaking heart.
I’m sorry. If you’re reading this, I wasn’t able to come back and destroy it. I know there’s a chance I’ll get hurt, but I’ll do anything to protect our future. You know that. The choices I’ve had to make were awful. If my plan works, the refugees will be dead and Safe Haven can stay here a few more weeks. I’ve bought us some time, but it won’t last. You have to get these people south, Marc. That’s my last wish.
If you’re asking yourself what you could have done to prevent my getting hurt, believe me when I say that you couldn’t have. I didn’t tell you. That isn’t your fault. I’m sorry I couldn’t, but you’re one of the few pure souls left and I won’t corrupt you with this pit of damnation that I’ve willingly signed up for. I love you because you’re good. Please, whatever happens to me, don’t change that about yourself. Charlie needs you to be strong.
In my bug-out vehicle, there are new notebooks. I’ve left plans, instructions, and notes on what you’ll need to lead in my place. I’m passing you command with this letter. Take our people south and keep as many of them alive as you can. I’m with you in spirit, if not in person. I’ve always loved you and even death won’t change that.
Angie
Marc wiped away tears, grateful she hadn’t died, but able to imagine the pain he would be feeling as he read this, if she had. Her words were proof. If she had told him, he would have stopped her. She couldn’t trust him to support her choices like the Eagles did, or like Adrian would have. Marc faced the truth. Adrian might be right.
Next time, you’ll do better, the demon tried to soothe. You’ve protected her from herself all your lives. It takes time to change.
Marc thought that was also true, but it didn’t ease the sense that the wall between him and Angela wasn’t Adrian or her leadership, as he’d thought for a while now. It wasn’t that she was female and it wasn’t because she was smaller or that he honestly feared for her life. The problem might not be with her at all.
I’ve never been the type to follow blindly, Marc admitted. I never will be. I’ll always try to protect her from the consequences… So, she’ll always hide her plans from me until it’s too late for my interference.
Marc dropped his head, hating Adrian even more than he already had, but this time, it was because Adrian’s sleazy nature would allow him to accept whatever she chose, where his own honor wouldn’t.
Marc opened the notebook, wondering how much of it she wanted released to the public. After a minute of skimming, he angrily slapped it shut and took it to the medical bay. It was addressed to Adrian.
3
Adrian took the notebook without looking at Marc, sure the wolfman was on the edge of snapping. If the situation had been reversed, Adrian didn’t think he would be able to be in the same room with his men. He certainly hadn’t been able to face them after his banishment, and it gave Adrian a good idea of what Marc would do next.
“You should stay. She’ll want you here.”