“Leave them.” Adrian had come from the caution tape with quiet steps, and it eased his men to have him there even as their frowns deepened.
“Still want more?”
Angela had freed herself and was staying low as Marc circled her, rapidly closing the space.
She didn’t answer his taunt and he eased closer. “Very good. You remember the next lesson?”
She tensed, watching his eyes and not his big body. “Trade-off.”
“That too much?” Angela shook her head and Marc came forward, swinging.
This time, even Neil moved to stop it and only Adrian stepping forward halted the rush to help her. He stopped as soon as the men did though, eyes on the battling warrior woman of his dreams.
Angela swung back, connecting with his open palm and Marc immediately fired again, this one a bit harder. Angela had her feet braced and didn’t budge as her hand absorbed the hit.
She threw the next punch with a quick twist at the end and she could feel his surprise that she’d remembered the single five minute lesson. The blow made him sway to the right and she waited for his return hit, gaze locked firmly on his.
Marc knew what she wanted, what the blond watching wanted, and was unable to resist the pull from them both. Angie wanted the Eagles to know she could do this and Adrian wanted the same. Marc grunted at the hope on her face as she read his thoughts. Fine. At least with him, she wouldn’t be hurt.
“Level Two.”
Angela swung at the words, following a right with a left and Brady’s arm being locked forced him into a step back.
He moved toward her with a raised hand and the fear had her freezing again, hands going to her sides. He was so big!
Unsure and very aware of his duty, Adrian stepped forward as Marc’s slap neared her face and then she cupped her hands into one huge fist and slammed it into Brady’s unprotected jaw.
Expecting it, Marc grunted at the impact, but kept coming and she flashed out with a punch to his kidneys that sent him to his knees at the unexpectedness of it.
Calming, Adrian motioned the Eagles back, but stayed close as Marc lunged for her legs and got a boot in the shoulder that sent him rolling backwards and then onto his feet.
“Switch.”
Angela’s grin stretched her lips back into a fierce snarl as she attacked.
Now mostly confident they’d done this enough times to keep her from getting hurt, Adrian observed the reactions of his men, trying not to wonder how many of Marc’s hits had landed when she’d first begun to learn these moves.
Angela swung from the hip, letting her anger out a bit and Marc’s duck was quick. He jumped back from her leg sweep and managed to avoid her left hook, but the right caught him squarely on the forehead and he hit the ground.
Stunned, Angela rushed to him, not thinking about anything but him falling from the mangled blazer. What was she doing?
“Brady?”
Marc’s body was shaking, but not from her hit, and his snort shot out at her worried tone, letting them all relax.
“I’m fine,” he ground out through the laughter, “just finished thinking you looked like you wanted me on my ass and then here I am.”
Angela chuckled, offering a hand up that he took and kept for a second.
“Nice switch.” He smiled at her, moving back. “That enough or you want some more?”
He challenged like he’d won, making her grin and the sparks between them were thick.
“That’ll do, Brady.”
Her amused sigh was full of long suffering and she moved out of the circle with his chuckle in her ears and a lighter heart. Marc didn’t want her to be an Eagle, but he did want her to be happy. If this is what it took, he would give it to her.
“Let’s have a lesson.”
Adrian’s words caught her attention and she lingered nearby, hoping she’d be allowed to watch. Sweat rolled down her back and she shivered as a cold gust of wind gave her a chill.
Adrian moved toward the back of the long tent that Neil had indeed directed them to less than five minutes after they left the little Mess. “Open matchups.”
All the Eagles were grinning now, stripping gear, and when Angela stayed near the door, Adrian gestured toward her. “Eagle Four has lead. Rookie session during, Eagle Three.”
For reasons she soon understood, their spirits went up another notch and Neil moved her way. “You should have a front row seat for this.”
Angela went willingly enough, happy to be allowed to watch, but she was aware of Marc’s good mood being gone as he fell in on her left. She also noticed the Eagles giving her strange looks, but their thoughts weren’t open in her distraction.
“What was the first thing you learned in my self-defense class?”
Adrian’s voice was full of a command he hadn’t used with Angela yet and the sound of it was mesmerizing, drawing her closer.
“To duck!” The Eagles answered in unison.
“And the second?”
“To hit back!”
Adrian gestured to the empty space in the center of the tent. “The basics. Square off and show me.”
Angela watched in fascination as the men chose each other and started brawling. Except it wasn’t a chaotic fight with wild swings and reckless moves. It was a choreographed play of punches and ducks that made the men doing it seem like puppets on a stage, their strings being wielded by a master.
“That’s the first set you’d learn if you were an Eagle,” Neil stated and she nodded, but never took her eyes away from the fight. Not a single swing was out of place, no missteps that sent them into each other or to the floor. This was the basics?
“It wasn’t so smooth in the beginning. It gets this way over the course of time and repetition.”
Not sure why Neil was telling her these things, but very aware of Brady’s disapproving grunt on her left, she nodded again.
Adrian spun a finger. “Level One.”
Now the hits were landing, but only into open palms, much the way she and Brady had done. Only these punches were hard and fast, making men move back from the force being used.
The slaps of skin meeting skin rang violently through the tent and Neil waited for the right moment to speak, surprised to find he could read her as easily as he did the males. “By the end of this level, your arm muscles are so sore you feel like you can’t move, and the bruises on your palms last for weeks.”
Angela didn’t respond, thinking she’d had a taste of that when Marc had started really trying to give her the training she wanted. He’d pulled most of his hits, she knew that, but she’d also made him stay at it until she ached, to make up for his gentle touch.
“Level Two.”
The first punch took Seth to his knees and Angela stiffened her lips into a line to hide the fear that bubbled up. This is what she needed to see, what she had to know.
Seth wiped the blood from his mouth, slinging the scarlet drops as he swung back. Marc had refused to do more than trade hits with her open-palmed. Would she ever be able to take that? If not, she’d never be an Eagle.
“Three.”
Adrian moved them up the levels, giving them the release and nerve-steadying workout they needed, and he watched her face as the fights got harder, nastier. She needed to know what she was walking into.
“Camp rules say when you bleed, you’re out,” Neil stated with a tone of longing ringing in her ear. “But as an Eagle, there’s no crying off. Blood’s a part of what we do.”
Angela could feel him wishing he was part of the lesson instead of sitting here with her and she kept quiet, hoping he’d understand he didn’t have to miss the fun to explain things to her.
“To teach you,” the Witch corrected, awake and scenting the tent’s odors of strength and pain. “You’re the rookie he’s instructing.”
“Level Six.”
Angela winced as Daryl smacked into the ground near her feet, but his wink and grin told her he wasn’t unhappy and when he delivered a bruta
l ankle kick to his opponent, his roar was full of life.
“They love this,” she murmured wonderingly.
Neil’s tone was pointed. “Enough to follow his orders, no matter what they are.”
Angela heard the warning, the tone that said she wasn’t strong enough to do this, and raised her chin. Just because she was scared of something didn’t mean she couldn’t do it - especially when there was so much at stake. When the Slavers came for her, when Dean came, she had to be able to hold them off long enough to take out their Leader. With the head cut off, Adrian and his Eagles would be able to go in and wipe them out.
“You okay?” Marc’s voice brought her back to the lesson and she gave a nod, frowning as she realized the men were all cleaning themselves up, finished. She’d missed the end.
“We have another hour. Anyone else feel like a challenge?”
Adrian stepped into the center of the tent, removing his 9 mm, and the excited reaction of the men was nothing to the thumping in her heart as Adrian stripped his shirt. Her eyes went over the tattoos, seeing some she recognized as Marine and others she suspected went much deeper into the underside of the military. They stretched over his back and arms in beautiful, exotic detail.
Eagles were moving his way and Adrian’s stance said he wanted it as much as they did. Angela sighed. What was it with men and fighting?
“They won’t hurt him,” Neil assured her, grinning. “Now them, well, that’s another story.”
“Let’s thin things out a bit; no one below Level Three.”
There were good-natured groans and movements that left only half a dozen men in the ring with Safe Haven’s nearly naked Leader. When they all rushed him, Angela tensed, drawing a disdainful thought from the man at her side. She had to know they wouldn’t hit him, right?
Thud!
Marc’s eyes narrowed as the blond took a sharp hit to the jaw and fired back with a blow that sent the offender to his knees.
Thud!
Another punch to Adrian’s chin and a second Eagle on the floor an instant later. Damn, the blond man was fast, Marc thought, caught off guard. He had known Adrian was lethal in many ways, it was in his body language, but he hadn’t expected the 40-something year-old to be so…quick.
Angela watched with her hands balled into fists to keep her emotions from showing. The Witch was whispering, muttering of the wasted energy, but Angela could feel their need for this. Adrian was giving them a release from the tensions of being perfect all the time in front of the camp.
“And showing you what to expect,” the Witch cautioned, fading back. “Pay attention if this is what your future holds. You’ll have need of it.”
Another man went down and Adrian took out the last two in one very fast leg sweep that made the Eagle next to Angela almost whimper in longing.
“He’s been practicing,” Neil muttered, forgetting his duty, as the desire to join in flooded him. Matchup with Adrian was an incredible rush.
“Anyone else?”
Unable to stop himself, Neil took a step forward. “Request permission to trade off?”
Adrian allowed it and Todd motioned Seth over to cover his duty as he moved toward the blond.
“Level Ten.”
The Trooper froze for only a brief second before starting to strip his hat and Beretta. “You got it.”
Each Eagle there suddenly didn’t envy him for the personal time. They recognized the punishment. Level ten was only for tests and even then, few passed.
Angela had never seen anything so brutal. The hits were cruel, intended to inflict pain as well as injury, and yet it was a vivid show of the power in a human body that had her cheering along with the rest of them.
Sure Neil needed a reminder of his place and the plans being made, Adrian didn’t pull his punches.
Neil hit the ground, hard, and got back up. He adjusted his strategy and attacked, only to be driven back with a brutal hit to the shoulder blade that sent him to his knees. For every swing he got in on the blond, Adrian’s fist was there to make him pay double.
“Get him, Neil!”
“Come on, man!”
With Brady cheering next to her, she was caught up in the rush, and Angela let the Witch free in a burst of uncensored pleasure. She liked it here!
Energy exploded, sending a gust of heat-drenched air through the tent in a resounding blast that echoed off the canvas walls and bounced back. It hit men with an unexpected flare of furious need that sank deep and immediately vanished, leaving them all a bit confused as to what had happened.
Angela wanted to slip out, sorry she’d lost control, but they would know she was responsible for sure then. She turned to Marc with a casual tone instead, “I’ll be adding that one to the journal. Remember the heat flash we felt back in Indiana?”
Marc’s words were careful, “That one lasted longer.”
She shrugged, very aware of the men listening. “Things are very different now.”
There were nods and mutters and the two men in the center shared a look that said they were done. Adrian headed for his gun belts and shirt. “We leave in an hour. Is everything set on this side?”
He barely sounded out of breath, Angela noticed, watching him use the shirt to wipe his bloody face. His jaw was already swelling, skin bruised, and she realized Kenn and Brady having shiners wasn’t something so big here. The camp had to be used to seeing their men this way.
“All set, Boss.”
Adrian handed out the next punishment he’d settled on. “Good. Neil has Point until midnight.”
The Trooper stiffened, recognizing another reprimand, but didn’t say anything as Adrian left. Point man was a great duty during camp times. On travel days, it was hell.
“What did you do?” Kyle asked curiously.
Neil spoke without thinking. “I wasn’t paying attention to the lesson he wanted me to give the Barbie doll.”
Silence fell, and this time Angela did duck her head. “How does that feel?” the Witch asked bluntly, making her face it. “Because there’s more of the same waiting if you choose this path.”
Angela’s cheeks were blazing, but instead of the tears or tirade most of them were expecting, she lifted her head and fired Neil’s own warning back coldly. “Don’t blame me for slacking off. When he gives me a job, I’ll follow his orders, no matter what they are.”
She spun from the tent as voices rose behind her and stopped when she saw Adrian waiting outside the flap.
“You handled that pretty well. Would have been better if you’d hit him for the insult.”
Inside the tent, there was now a fresh silence while ears strained to hear and a Trooper cringed.
“I’m not that good yet, but I want to be.” Angela gave the wolf a comforting rub when he appeared at her heel.
“And will you give everything? They do.”
“Yes. I want to be an Eagle in your Army.”
Inside the tent, Marc froze and everyone waited, almost holding their breath.
“I’ll get back to you on that.”
She didn’t smile. “I’ll be here.”
Behind her, the Eagles were now coming out of the tent and Angela headed for the bathroom to clean up and get herself under control. She was also looking forward to a couple minutes alone to think. Adrian had given her a clear show of what she was in for and she’d asked anyway. Was she insane?
Marc watched her, trailing behind, and heard Kyle’s well-meaning words.
“He woulda said no if he thought she couldn’t do it.”
Marc didn’t answer. That wasn’t the problem. He’d known Angie when she was that young girl playing with fire and delighting in what she learned from the burns. In time, she would be able to hold her own with most survivors, man or woman.
Then why was his gut all twisted? Because these men would be training her and not himself? That they were getting his Angie time? Marc grimaced. If that was the only reason, then she’d had every right to be upset with him. Not that it m
attered either way now. A no from Adrian would have shut it down from the start, but instead, she had his support. The blond hadn’t said yes, but Brady knew clever tactics when he saw them. That whole show had been about getting her in, drawing her closer, and it had worked. The biggest part of his issue with that was how willing Angie was to turn control over to Safe Haven’s Leader. She’d only known him for a few days!
Marc was sure whatever she was getting from Adrian’s thoughts must be the reason, but it still bothered him and he was glad when she spent the next hour sitting on the hood of her blazer.
Busy writing in her journal, Angela didn’t notice it had been parked between three trucks, blocking it from even the best sniper, but she was aware of how many guards lingered near her, each wondering in silent speculation.
4
“Kyle said you wanted to see me?”
Adrian and the rest of the large camp were taking down tents and packing up to go, and Sam wished she had it all down so well. It had taken her half an hour to dismantle her own canvas.
“I’ll be right with you.” he stated, but instead of just waiting, she started on the last side of his large tent, earning an approving smile.
“Thanks. How’d you sleep last night?”
It was a very normal question and shouldn’t have drawn a nervous twitch. Adrian frowned at her. “Why are you still hiding, Sam? You pull your weight and I know you’re one of us, but you still don’t have a single friend here. You don’t eat meals in the Mess and you’re very neutral with what comes out of your mouth. There’s something keeping you from the shelter of this camp and I want to know what it is!”
Her face flushed with guilty offense and she kept her voice low as people moved by. “You see all. You tell me,” she retorted sharply.
He snorted, nodding, “Okay, I will. You’re a loner and you think you’re different than anyone else here.”
Sam snorted, mind flashing to the dead man in the NORAD compound. The man she’d killed.
“I am different.”
Adrian met her eye. “You’re special, Sam, but not more so than everyone here.” he paused to light a smoke, “Angie said I should talk to you. Today.”
Sam crossed her arms over her chest, not letting his aura of persuasion distract her. “Speaking of special, I don’t even know her. I didn’t think she remembered my name.”
Adrian's Eagles: Book Four (Life After War) Page 5