The Life After War Collection

by Angela White

  “Against the Black Widow or for?”

  “Against, of course. She’s got no chance with Dirce. He loves the snow.”

  “Didn’t you see how quickly she won every fight? And she’s a descendant.”

  “Dirce called her a healer. She’s harmless and her partners are normal humans.”

  “If she’s harmless, how did she tear apart the three Iranians?”

  “Wild dogs did that.”

  “You’re bugger, mate. Renda said Ms. Roberts did it.”

  “Renda was scared of the fight. She lied.”

  In the backseat, behind the arguing security on the vehicles, Becky and Seth shared a glance. They knew that name.

  “Well, what about Yuri? His body looked like the dogs got in and we know it was Ms. Roberts in there alone because her partners were in the hall, shooting at us.”

  “She got lucky.”

  “I don’t think so. She was covered in scars. A lot of people have tried to kill her.”

  “Then we have a wager. I’ll take that humidor you love so much.”

  The dickering went on in the front, but in the rear, Seth and Becky were now certain who Dirce’s target was. He’d left them here with two guards, taking a small force to capture someone. They’d hoped to escape while he was busy, but hearing who the UN was hunting changed those plans.

  Seth nodded when Becky lifted a brow. Do it.

  Given permission, Becky stared intently at the unsuspecting driver of the transport truck.

  8

  Dirce heard the truck moving over the snowy ground behind them and twisted around in surprise. Because it was Nero behind the wheel of the transport truck, Dirce waited until the vehicle was closer before he began gesturing. In the snow, there was no way the driver would be able to make out his gestures from this distance. Anyone else, Dirce would have ordered shot for blowing their cover.

  Dirce assumed it was something important for Nero to risk blowing their ambush this way. If not, Nero would die right here.

  Dirce heard the engine accelerate… His eyes widened, survival instinct kicking in. “Watch out!”

  The transport truck barreled toward the huddled group of ambushers who had paused under the shield of the last tree before moving in on the cabin.

  It ran them over and then reversed to lunge forward and do it again, hitting the dead and the wounded.

  Dirce was frozen in disbelief. Nero’s mind was blank, foreign…being controlled!

  I should have killed them, Dirce reflected as the truck swerved his way. He took off running.

  Kendle and the Eagles watched in nervous surprise as the troops below them were murdered by their own driver. Their screams echoed up the valley and into the cliffs, causing fresh snowdrifts to shift.

  Kendle kept her attention on Dirce as she and Ben lined up the rifles on the railing for Tommy and Scott. They were the best shooters on this mission team.

  “I’m locked,” Tommy swore softly, lost in the groove of what he did best. “Here we go.” He lovingly pulled the trigger.

  Dirce arched as the bullet slammed into his spine, flight halted. He fell forward into the snow as the truck reached him.

  Some of the team glanced away from the impact, but not Kendle. She was waiting to be positive that he was dead. “Reload.”

  Tommy got set again, aware of Scott’s jealousy over the great shot through a snowstorm.

  Scott took his place again, trying to smother the need to come out on top. He couldn’t help feeling it. He didn’t have to act on it.

  “I see movement under the truck,” Josh stated.

  Kendle watched the tires on the truck spin in vain. “They’re done.”

  “Here come the survivors,” Carl pointed out.

  The two dozen remaining UN troops flew toward the truck, presumably holding their fire because they didn’t know where Dirce was and didn’t want to hit him if he was only injured.

  “Open fire,” Conner ordered from Kendle’s right. “We have people in that van!”

  Kendle took the boy at his word. She tapped Tommy on the shoulder. “Do it.”

  Gunfire rang across the mountain, mixed with screams and shout for mercy. Slugs pinged off the truck, the trees and the rocky ground as the Eagles tried to eliminate the rest of Dirce’s men.

  Used to this type of fighting, the UN troops fled. They got under the concealment of the trees in small groups and running streaks, and then disappeared.

  The few men who were loyal to Dirce also ran, but not as far. They too wanted to discover if their boss had survived.

  “Anyone got a grenade left?” Josh asked.

  “We can’t do that,” Conner protested, pulling on his gloves. “I told you, we have people down there.”

  Kendle grunted, “Well, let’s get them.”

  “Who is it?” Tommy asked Conner as most of them trotted down the slippery stairs and into the slushy, bloody, body-littered valley.

  “I can’t tell. They have a strong mind, though.”

  That could be about any of us, Kendle contemplated. She dropped to the rear of the group with Conner as they advanced on the truck that was idling but no longer spinning wheels. The shadows in the front seats weren’t moving.

  “Is that blood on the inside of the window?” Carl wanted to know.

  “That’s not good,” Ramer agreed.

  “You, in the van,” Tommy called loudly as they surrounded it, all scanning underneath for signs of Dirce. “Come out now!”

  No noise or response came, causing the tension to thicken.

  “Open it,” Ben ordered, motioning to Carl.

  The former rookie ran forward eagerly and jerked the passenger door open.

  Guns came up at the sight of the sentry holding his own weapon.

  “Put it down,” Tommy ordered.

  “I’ll do what she tells me to do,” the UN man, Patrick, replied in terror. “Please don’t shoot anymore.”

  “She, who?” Tommy asked, discerning the driver had been shot in the temple. He assumed by this passenger.

  “The bitch Dirce grabbed outside Market Town. She’s in the back.” Patrick’s finger tightened on the trigger. “I’m sorry! Please don’t!”

  Kendle stepped forward. “Let him go now. It’s over.”

  There was a raw, primitive growl from the rear and then Patrick dropped the gun. It fell harmlessly into his lap, where Ben snatched it.

  Tommy slid the door of the truck open.

  Becky stared up in fear from beside Seth’s bloody body. “I think I killed him.”

  Kendle hurried into the truck, discerning Seth’s injury was from being flung against the truck during the troop chasing. “He’s knocked out. We’ll get him in.”

  “We’re staying here?” Ramer asked in surprise and disgust.

  “Oh, yeah.” Kendle helped Becky sit up, cutting her bonds. “Thanks.”

  Becky smiled and helped the Eagles get Seth into the cabin.

  In the distraction, the UN passenger took off running down the same path that the others had taken. The few troops who had clustered under the trees followed him, realizing Dirce wasn’t coming.

  Scott raised his rifle, but Kendle put a hand on his wrist. “Becky did enough to that one. Let him try to live with it.”

  No one argued.

  Kendle and Tommy, along with Ben and Ryan, scoured the ground around and under the van that they could reach. After half an hour and near frostbite on hands and faces, they were forced to accept that Dirce’s body wasn’t there.

  “How did he survive that?” Ben asked in shock. “He was shot and ran over.”

  “Maybe he has a healer too,” Kendle suggested, trudging to the cabin as the snow and wind increased. “Let’s get set to roll out the minute this storm breaks.”

  “Do you believe he’ll be back before then?”

  Kendle shook her head at Carl’s concern. “No. We may not have killed him, but he’s injured. Like a wild animal, he’ll run for his den to nurse
his wounds and feel safe. He’ll come for me when he can fight.”

  Knowing they were safe for a while let them all relax. When they finally settled down again, hours later, everyone went to sleep, including Tommy and Ben. The sense that they were being protected was hard to ignore.

  9

  The elderly couple jerked awake as the door to their tiny cabin flew open, letting in snow and evil.

  Dirce raised his gun to fire, but Nero’s passenger beat him to it.

  The couple tried to reach their weapons, not bothering with begging, but they stood no chance against the ready gun. Patrick was furious about falling victim to Becky’s control, about being in the truck while Nero ran over their fellow troops. The fear and the rage wouldn’t leave him alone. He kept pulling the trigger even after the click sounded.

  “That’s enough,” Dirce stated calmly despite his pain, placing a hand on Patrick’s shaking wrist. He certainly understood the uncontrollable rage. “Take care of the bodies. Make a fire.”

  That sounded good to the terrorized man. He holstered and strode forward with no qualms, grabbing the bare feet of the female. He wished it were the redhead.

  Dirce went into the small kitchen and eased down onto the chair, grunting harshly at the pain in his spine. He could feel the slug in there, pressing on his vital organs and nerve endings, but he was stronger than the one shooting had given him credit for. He’d managed to bring up his shield before the truck struck, going dim. When the Widow and her team had left the scene, he’d crawled away.

  “I’ve got the medical kit,” Andrew said, slapping the heavy case down on the formica counter. “Do it in here?”

  Dirce stripped his coat, jacket, and shirts, revealing a tapered body that was out of place in the quaint kitchen.

  “That’s what saved you,” Andrew concluded in relief. “We weren’t sure if you’d evolved again on us.”

  Dirce didn’t respond to the man’s emotions, but he did store them. “Give me something.”

  Andrew shot a generous painkiller into Dirce’s tensed arm. “There ya go.”

  Dirce remained still as the medic worked on removing the bullet. He felt the pain and he worried over Andrew’s shaking hands missing and getting one of his needed nerves, but the biggest issue in his thoughts was the Black Widow. He’d underestimated her. He’d known that Xavier and Yuri had, but he’d committed the same offense when he knew not to. It was humiliating.

  Andrew was conscious of Dirce’s rage growing as he worked. The medic quickly injected his boss with another dose of painkiller, hoping to calm him down. They couldn’t go anywhere in the snow without transportation, and half of their dozen survivors were injured. It would be days stuck here with Dirce in high alert mode if they didn’t soothe him in as many ways as they could.

  “Then find me some wheels before the madness finishes me off,” Dirce growled. He was aware of the dangers that came with his condition, with his evolution. Choosing to embrace his dark half had resulted in a monster within that had to be satisfied whenever the lock snapped on the cage.

  “We’ll cover it,” Andrew promised, dropping the slug onto the table.

  Dirce grunted, feeling blood flowing down his spine, but only the warm sensation of it. He closed his eyes as the buzz from the medication took effect, making him dizzy. He felt the monster inside yawn, paused in building the rage. “That’s better.”

  Andrew breathed a sigh of relief that let other men know their boss was okay now. Dirce had only blown one mission with his temper, but it had been memorable. The Canadians still hadn’t recovered.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Giving Way

  1

  “Come in, Safe Haven. This is mission team Freedom. Come in, base.”

  The long pause after the call implied the tired voice didn’t expect an answer.

  “Come in, Safe Haven.”

  “Should we go home, man?” Kevin was in the passenger seat of the truck, ignoring the grumbling woman in the carefully stacked bed behind them. Jeff had devised a shelter for her and the wolves from tarps and boxes. Once an hour they opened the connecting window to give her warmth.

  “It’s cold!” Sally complained, tapping on the dirty glass.

  “Take a bath,” Jeff retorted. He still wasn’t happy to be responsible for Sally. It was better than being in that tomb, but not by much. “You stink.”

  “Fuck you.”

  “Go to hell.”

  “At least it would be warm there!” Sally shouted.

  Kevin ignored the usual bickering between the two to repeat his concern. “We felt the quake, and they didn’t answer our calls either.”

  Jeff’s lips twisted. He flipped off the radio.

  “Come on, man. At least tell me what you’re thinking,” Kevin begged. “That’s Kendle calling. What if she found the boat?”

  “Then Angela will take them south.”

  “But there hasn’t been an answer since we left. We didn’t get a response after the quake.”

  “Do you want me to stop somewhere so you can find wheels?”

  Kevin realized Jeff didn’t care. “What’s wrong with you?”

  “I do care,” Jeff refuted angrily. “That’s why I can’t do it. Losing Crista and our child was enough!”

  “You believe they’re dead.”

  Jeff nodded stiffly. “It’s been weeks since we’ve heard a single call from them…and that quake was ugly. You know that.”

  Kevin did. The apartment building they’d taken shelter in for the night had collapsed. They’d barely gotten out in time, losing most of their gear in the process.

  “I can’t go back to bury them,” Jeff declared brokenly. “I won’t. Let them stay under the stone.”

  “A memorial in the mountains,” Kevin stated, understanding Jeff was probably right. He just couldn’t accept it.

  Jeff understood how Kevin felt, but he wasn’t going to that graveyard to verify what he already knew. Safe Haven was gone.

  2

  “Why aren’t they answering?” Josh complained after taking his shift on the hourly radio call that Tommy had ordered before lying down. “Is something wrong?”

  “Maybe they went quiet,” Ben suggested, sharing a look with Tommy. They’d discussed it upon waking. They’d been the first of the team to rise, though the afternoon had been waning. All of them had been tired. Even Kendle was still asleep, along with Rita and the twins.

  “Maybe,” Josh agreed reluctantly. “When was the last time anyone had contact with base?”

  Team members gathered around the table added it up in dismay.

  “Not since before we hit Market Town,” Josh realized. “Kendle had Conner check in with Adrian.”

  Everyone regarded Conner, remembering that he could do that over large distances.

  Conner shook his head, revealing what he hadn’t told them. “I’ve been trying since she cut the deal with the town masters. She wanted to know how to handle them. We never got an answer.”

  “She also had Rice’s brother, the baker, call on his illegal radio. He said no reply,” Rita offered, coming in with a baby in each arm. “I found out from Ori. He was one of the guards assigned to keep track of her as soon as Xavier realized she was a magic user.”

  “How do you know that?” Scott asked.

  “Xavier didn’t know,” Carl argued. “He tortured her to prove she wasn’t.”

  Tommy held out his chair for the female, seeing the babies were both alert and appeared to be listening. “Start from the beginning.”

  Rita explained her deal with Kendle, telling them how she had made the nails hollow to hold poison in a bubble of superglue. When she revealed how she’d been questioned by the bossy sentry, they learned that Xavier had been plotting to kill Yuri and Iram to take control of the market.

  “But how do you know all of this?” Ben insisted. “No offense, but you’re just a nail tech.”

  Rita grinned at them, a huge difference from her sullen attitude of
daily market grind. “I’m a descendant. I listen to every word and every thought that happens around me.” She glanced down at the two children. “I don’t usually talk to anyone about it. I wasn’t allowed.”

  “You’re the spy who was reporting to Dirce,” Kendle guessed, coming into the warm kitchen amid smiles and chair offers.

  “Yes,” Rita confessed. “How else would a female have a shop in the market?”

  Kendle realized she had overlooked that. She contemplated the other female owner. “Sylvia?”

  Rita pulled a face. “Bad one there. Never did like her. Too free with information. She ratted out the locals when they didn’t pay their tabs.”

  “What was your bet with Yuri?” Tommy asked curiously. “He wouldn’t tell anyone.”

  “Renda’s death. If I lost, he was already getting Conner. If I won, he had to kill Xavier.”

  “But Dirce killed Xavier,” Rita protested.

  “Yes.” Kendle smiled cruelly. “I almost miss Yuri a little. He was brilliant.” Kendle settled at the table, taking the cup of instant coffee. “How many descendants are in Market Town?”

  Rita shrugged. “Just the four of us, as far as I know.”

  “Four,” Kendle murmured. “You, Sylvia, Dirce… Who else?”

  “Iram.”

  Kendle blanched. “What type?”

  “Iram is an invisible. Or, at least, he was. When Dirce brought him here, his gifts evolved. He’s the best mental manipulator I’ve ever observed.” She nodded at Becky. “No offense. You’re young. You’ll get stronger.”

  Seth slid an arm around Becky’s shoulders, wishing that wasn’t the case. It would bring more trouble.

  Rita scowled at him. “You act like it’s all her. What about you?”

  Seth grimaced in confusion and dread. “I’m not a descendant.”

  Rita gaffed. “Of course, you are, boy. I know a levitator when I meet one.”

  “Levitator?” Becky asked, finally getting an answer to what she’d been sensing in her mate for months. “He…moves things?”

  Rita grinned. “Wait till he learns to use it in the bedroom.”