LAW Box Set: Books 4-6 (Life After War Book 0)

by Angela White

  That it’s weak, the demon confirmed. Now will you let me help you?

  Marc wavered, weakened by the knowledge that he would soon be parted from her, while Adrian would be here, staying close. “I’ll listen.”

  5

  “When the fight starts, there will be total chaos. Screams, gunshots, animals to trip over, camp members in the way. You have to remember one thing right then.” Angela viewed them, orbs glowing red. “Find me. We are a team. We come to each other.”

  “What about those of us with children?” Jennifer asked quietly.

  “The men will defend the children. We have to defend the men.”

  Angela waved at the battle map that she and Neil had spent hours on. She’d refused to tell him who would be in each place they’d chosen. “Each team has a job to do, but the leaders and XOs will also have separate assignments. The men know their responsibilities.”

  She met Jennifer’s concerned gaze. “Kyle will keep Autumn. You’ll be on my right as much as you can stand to be away from her. I need you.”

  Jennifer couldn’t resist those words. “I’m there.”

  Angela let out the small breath she’d been holding. “We are the front line, ladies. Over the next weeks, we’ll put in many hours together, but you’ll have to practice while I’m busy. Cynthia has the lead for those lessons. When she’s busy, Samantha will cover it. There will always be an Eagle to help and supervise, but these men do not have any clue what I’m planning.”

  Angela searched the small group, feeling a connection with them.

  When that hard glaze came over her face, each of them braced for the next revelation.

  “We’re going to hold the soldiers off, as if we’re a bubble. It will slow them down for the Eagles to get our weapons in place and send weaker people to cover. We’re going to buy time, something we need.”

  “How are we going to do that?” Becky asked, mind coming alive with ideas. She could get into work like this.

  “We evaluate the weapons we have and figure out how they work together to make something larger. For example, if you combine a steady flame with a powder keg, you’ll get a nice explosion, but if you add some shrapnel to the mix, you’ll kill. That’s what we are now, ladies. For this moment in time, we are Safe Haven’s flames, its powder kegs and shrapnel, born to defend this camp.”

  “Any rewards or perks?” Crista joked, aware that her nerves were now at their roughest level since the war.

  Angela grinned as the others laughed a bit. “Yes, as a matter of fact. Besides being wanted by every Eagle in camp, you’ll each be given Level One status and start choosing your own team.”

  Female cheers drew attention outside the tent, but only a little. Safe Haven was busy. Training classes and lessons, supplies and rations being distributed, defenses going through testing, ideas spawning from observing the groups closest. It was a bit amazing to have the elderly population cleaning weapons, while the children carried drinks and tools. These kids hadn’t been allowed to roam the camp before. The younger ones were still in the mess, helping Peggy and Hilda with a project, but even those were being allowed to explore under supervision. It was a good thing to see Safe Haven full of life that hadn’t been corrupted or broken.

  As the meeting ended, Becky caught up with Angela and Samantha. “Listen, I have an idea.”

  Angela waved Samantha on.

  “What?”

  “I think I can turn our shrapnel into direct slugs.”

  Angela had hoped her girls would think of things she missed. She’d already dug into the males here for all the schemes she could use.

  “Let’s go have a cup of mud and talk.”

  Angela spotted Charlie laboring in the livestock truck alone, but didn’t change her direction. Charlie’s feelings over Matt were something Angela knew to give him time with. Her own hells and guilt had a nasty way of busting through and making her stronger once she faced it. In his case, he had nothing to feel bad for, but like with Conner, that sense of responsibility was too strong to be ignored. In a few weeks, when there were signs, she would try to help him find peace. For now, she gave him space. It was what he needed the most.

  6

  Night fell over Safe Haven in a quick rush, reminding Eagles that there were more camp members on duty now than they were used to. Sleep would be hard to come by.

  “You should stay with her tonight. I’ll bunk with the camp and keep things calm.”

  Jeremy stared at Neil, a bit warily, thoughts and images flipping through his mind.

  Neil wasn’t annoyed. “I don’t know how this shit works any more than you do. What I am sure of is that she needs to be taken care of. That wind gift alone could tilt a battle for us.”

  “She’s been important the whole time,” Jeremy agreed.

  “Yes, and we knew it, deep down. Take care of her, make her happy, and when it’s my turn, I’ll do the same.”

  “Got it all worked out now, do you?”

  They turned to find Samantha standing shakily behind them, holding a tent side for support.

  Neil chose to be honest. “We think so, yes.”

  “Is it okay?” Jeremy was quicker to be sure that she wasn’t angry.

  “It depends on a few things.” She went to stand between them. “For now, it works.”

  Neil gave Jeremy a slightly curt nod. “Cleaned, fed, tucked in.”

  Jeremy grinned at Samantha’s snort. “I’ll cover it. You’ll call us if there’s trouble.”

  Neil’s face tightened. “Think good thoughts, will you?”

  Jeremy gently took Samantha’s arm. The duty he’d just been given had already accomplished that. He was eager to care for Samantha’s needs.

  Neil let them go without adding more, not feeling as much jealousy as he’d expected to upon deciding on this plan. If they were sharing her, they had to do it right and set an example.

  Neil snorted angrily at himself. They weren’t setting a good example with this, but he didn’t know any other way to have happiness. Life without Samantha wouldn’t be a life at all.

  7

  Angela stared at Marc with her lips in a tight line to keep from changing the orders. She didn’t want to be away from him!

  Marc caught the wave of panic, but didn’t stop packing his gear. In a few hours, he would be going west. He had to settle some things here in that time and her emotions would have to wait behind it.

  Marc fastened the last strap and set the kit by the flap. His own feelings were already locked up tight.

  “I’ll talk to Charlie before we roll.”

  Angela was afraid to try to speak. Fear, bright and dizzying, was beating in her mind.

  Marc had expected this scene to be hard. Might as well get it over with, he thought, coming to stand in front of her. He smoothed down a stray curl, lingering. Where he was going, there would be a shortage of soft hair and sweet smelling skin.

  Angela closed her lids as the tears welled up.

  “I want you to know something…for if I don’t come back.”

  Angela stifled a wounded moan, trying to find a last-minute plan change to keep him here.

  “You can love him. It won’t be a betrayal of me.”

  Angela was horrified. “I’d never!”

  Marc sighed, pulling her into his arms. “Yes, Angie you would. And you’d eat yourself up with it and never be happy again. I don’t want that for you.”

  Angela couldn’t prevent the tears. “Please, Marc, stop.”

  “No yet,” he insisted. “Not until you promise me.”

  “I can’t do that,” she whispered. “I’m changing the…”

  “No, you’re not. If I’m meant to die on this run, then I will. But there’s no peace for me unless I know you’ll be cared for. He’ll do that.”

  Angela began sobbing, not because he was right, but because she had hoped Marc hadn’t discovered that. He knew that if he died, she would turn to Adrian. How awful for him.

  “I’m sorry.
”

  Marc wiped away her tears as best he could, grinning. “Stop wasting water.”

  Angela’s surprise snorted out, sounding like a pig, and they both chuckled harder, hugging tightly.

  “I love you,” she whispered against his neck. “Come back to me. I’d never be the same.”

  Marc held her tighter. He understood exactly how she felt.

  When her lips found his, he groaned. My Angie!

  Her lips were demanding, arms holding him tight. She kissed him frantically, and the jacket fell to the ground.

  Marc ripped his mouth from hers, fighting for control.

  Angela groaned, needing him as ghosts flashed and Marc shuddered. Fire sparked, catching them both in the blast. When her leg came up, his hand was there to hold it.

  Heat flared and Marc took them to the ground.

  Angela cried out as his mouth found a rocky peak. The sound had him jerking his belt buckle open. Her restless hands went to his to help, and the contact shook them both.

  Marc glanced down, almost unable to believe she’d made him forget everything so quickly. Her eyes were full of desire, body trembling.

  Poised to claim, Marc grinned at her flushed face and used a gentle hand to spread her legs. He ran a thumb over her, felt her body tighten, reach out for his…I want to sink into her and never come up.

  His thumb stroked her, bringing her to the edge. She clutched roughly at his shoulders as she exploded, and he broke a sweat, straining to wait.

  “Please…”

  Angela knew instinctively what he was pleading for, and gave it willingly. “I’m yours. Always.”

  Marc slid into her as his own pleasure took over. “Oh, god!”

  His mouth latched onto her neck as he shoved deep and froze.

  Despite the stunning moment, Marc didn’t linger. He couldn’t stand it when she cried. He kissed her a last time, and slipped from their tent.

  Angela didn’t allow herself more than a few minutes of self-pity before pulling on her things and fading into the shadows. Marc was leaving. It had been a long time since she felt this lost.

  8

  “Make sure you tell him the truth if he asks.”

  Jeremy couldn’t answer, too shaken. Being with Samantha was...indescribable.

  Samantha lovingly kissed his lips and dislodged their bodies. She couldn’t resist a last feel of his hair as she brushed it off his forehead. Intentional or not, Jeremy’s new haircut was the exact opposite of Neil’s neat trim. Shagged locks lightly streaked with gold and red met her fingers, struck her with the glinting softness.

  Samantha ran a calming hand over his scarred leg, telling him it didn’t bother her, and felt him relax further. At some point, Jeremy would understand she saw those parts of him as proof that he was a survivor, like her.

  Samantha moved away from him before the need could start back up, leaning under the water. She groaned at the feel of it. “Nice.”

  Jeremy leaned against the shower wall as she washed, stunned into that perfect place where it felt like nothing could go wrong.

  Fate appeared to take that as a personal challenge.

  Samantha tensed, shampoo bottle freezing in midair.

  Jeremy saw the color drain from her face and grabbed for his pants and gun. “What is it? Where?”

  “Get down.” Sam’s mind went into survival mode.

  The door opened and Jeremy ducked down as a cool wind spun into their steamy sanctuary.

  He heard the door close and footsteps come closer, but it was Sam’s knowing grunt that he hated. They’d overlooked their first assassin.

  “Hello, Samantha.”

  Samantha set the bottle on the shelf, ignoring the gun pointed at her. “Good evening, Shellie.”

  The stone thrower raised the gun a bit higher as Sam reached for the towel.

  “Easy.”

  Samantha slowed her movements, wrapping the towel around herself and securing it in front. “What did they offer you?”

  Shellie smirked quietly. “Nothing, of course. I’m the best at our game when you’re gone.”

  Sam stared in understanding and anger. “For the thrill and glory, then. That’s why you’re going to die.”

  Shellie snorted arrogantly. “You’ll be gone first, baby.”

  Samantha waited for either gun to fire and realized she had to trigger the moment. Now that she was here, Shellie might not have the stomach for it.

  “Sam? Jeremy? Everyone okay in there?”

  The call from outside ruined the element of surprise and sent Jeremy to his feet.

  He fired once and didn’t miss.

  Samantha hated the death and violence that marred everything good about Safe Haven. Weak and angry at this newest evidence of how hard things would become, she began crying.

  Jeremy had her in his arms when Neil and the others burst through the locked door.

  It only took them a couple seconds to sort out what had happened, but in that time, no one noticed the absence of someone who should have been there.

  9

  “Go on. I’ll live long enough to watch Marc rip you apart with his bare hands. Go on!”

  Angela glared at the gun, daring the traitor to fire.

  Crone hesitated again. His companion, Denny, was already on the ground with a broken nose or maybe even dead. The syringe the top Level Eagles had planned to use was currently in Angela’s hand. Her knife was in the other.

  At least it’s not the gun, Crone thought, darting a quick look around to confirm they hadn’t been noticed yet.

  “What are you waiting for, coward?!” Angela roared, drawing attention to those searching for her. “Do it or I will!”

  Unable to follow through, Crone started to lower the gun and Angela’s hunger lunged forward. “There’s no turning back!”

  She pitched the knife at his chest and when the Eagle threw a hand up to block, she leapt forward and plunged the syringe into his neck.

  Angela wasn’t sure if it was meant to kill or knock her out, and she observed a bit curiously to discover if he fell asleep or died.

  When Crone’s face turned blue and he stopped breathing, she had her answer. There wouldn’t be many attempts to capture her now, only to exterminate.

  Marc rushed to her side and took her away from the bodies, motioning Jax forward. “Get her knife.”

  Jax jerked it from Crone’s limp forearm and gave the body a swift kick. “Piece of shit.”

  Marc grunted his approval, leading Angela into the main camp as she began to roll out orders.

  “I want a complete check-in, the entire camp accounted for. Crone’s been here six months, Denny even longer. This has been in the works for a while and I doubt it’s over yet.”

  10

  Adrian felt the knife go against his throat and almost let it plunge through to end his hell.

  “Check-in!”

  Angela’s shout brought his arm up to snap into his assassin’s unprotected throat instead.

  The man slumped to his knees and Adrian hit him again, knocking him over the next cot.

  The assassin didn’t get back up.

  “Men down! We have men down in the parking area!”

  Angela appeared in the flap, verifying that he was safe, and then she was gone to answer the call.

  Adrian slumped onto the cot, closing the wall around his mind and heart. The camp had to know that she could handle the bad, too.

  Kaaaablammmm!

  Adrian picked himself up off the floor and struggled to the flap, ears ringing. He gripped the tent pole tightly, vision blurring. What he saw was any leader’s nightmare, but also an exact copy of his dreams.

  Wounded people stumbled by, bleeding and crying, shouts and screams echoed through the darkness. Smoke layered everything in an ominous gray.

  “The medical camper! They got the camper!” someone shouted from the other side of the tent.

  “Grab a hose and find Ray. We need the truck!”

  Adrian put a h
and to his shoulder and pulled back red fingers. I’m next to the medical camper, he thought, swaying dizzily. Am I hit?

  His legs went limp, dropping him roughly to his knees. Adrian groaned, “Not again.”

  Wait.

  John was in the camper, along with…“Conner!”

  Adrian fought to his feet and joined the panicking mass outside.

  11

  “The com truck and medical camper are both a complete loss. Everything else can be salvaged–including the two cars that were wired. The people who did this didn’t know what they were doing.”

  Angela listened to the reports as she worked on their wounded. The medics on each team were lending a hand with the minor injuries and emotions, but it was no substitute for who they’d lost.

  “We have ten bodies. Six are the enemy. We lost…”

  “I know who we lost!” Angela snapped, cutting the thread on the last stitch in Daryl’s leg. “Next.”

  Kevin took up the recital when Kenn spun out of the tent to keep from snapping back.

  “People panicked, but only a few took off. We’ve accounted for two hundred and seventy one, so far, but we’ve got men tracking, so that number will go up.”

  “Pull them off of it. We have other work for them,” Angela ordered, moving to the next cot in the line of wounded left to be tended. They were arranged in order of seriousness. Peggy and Doug had organized a quick triage, but it was still chaos.

  “You want us to let those people go, then? Not look for them?”

  Angela peered down the row. “Yes. Tell Marc I said those who stayed are our priority now.”

  Three cots over, Adrian winced, but didn’t contradict the order. She was right and it was a choice that he wasn’t sure he would have been able to make.

  “Keep going,” Angela ordered curtly.

  Kevin cleared his throat. “Marc’s…talking to the two surviving assassins. He’ll come straight to you when he’s finished.”

  Angela didn’t respond and the Eagle went on, “Neil and Jeremy have our backup radio under constant monitoring. All static. Our perimeter has been shrunk, all posts are overloaded, and Li Sing has hot drinks rolling out of the mess. He says it’s a tea to help calm everyone down.”