by Angela White
Adrian understood Samantha’s hidden meaning now and grunted, “Leave us.”
The doctor didn’t need to be told twice. The others thought Adrian would be able to help her, but the doctor didn’t care at this point. He’d been up for almost 36 hours. He had to have sleep.
Theo closed the divider, letting himself relax. Adrian was a bastard, but he loved Angela. If there were anything that could be done, he and Marc would handle it.
I need you.
Marc appeared in the dim cavern a minute later. He obviously hadn’t been far. His expression was grim, telling Adrian he suspected Angela’s condition.
Marc read it from Adrian’s mind, grunting his agreement as he took the place on the opposite side of her bed. Her pale face and all the bandages sent fresh waves of guilt through Marc. He should have been here when she got the news.
“She needs to stay out for a while,” Marc said, still reading Adrian’s thoughts. Upset and confused, Marc loathed Angela’s misery. He hadn’t realized how badly injured she was.
“Would it have mattered?” Adrian asked evenly, trying to pull energy that he didn’t have yet.
“I don’t know,” Marc answered. He gently took Angela’s hand in his, aware that he was being cold, but unable to help it. The guilt was crushing. He didn’t know any other way to handle it.
Adrian strained, trying to open the doors to zones that were forbidden. “If you can’t accept it, let her go. Don’t make her feel worse with your doubts and silent accusations.”
“I don’t just blame her,” Marc said, shoving into Adrian mind to help pry open the forbidden door that held Adrian’s captured life forces. It contained too many to count, Marc was certain. “I blame you for bringing her into this.”
Used to Marc’s hatred, Adrian didn’t respond to the jab. “She’s an amazing woman. Get over yourself and be here for her.”
Marc yanked on the door angrily in response and it swung open, mentally knocking him to the ground as power swarmed out.
Adrian directed the stream towards Angela, taking her other hand. Her body lit up with brilliant colors of every shade as the men concentrated.
The souls screamed as they were forced into a new holding cell to be used as their host deemed fit. Marc winced, while Adrian rejoiced at their use. Very few of the captured essences had been innocent. He’d only chosen to use one that was for Peggy so that she would understand the horrible favor she’d begged of him.
Adrian let go first, slumping to his knees. His heart thumped wildly in his chest, squeezing. He couldn’t do that again, for any reason, or it would all be over.
Marc sighed as the last of the force rushed through him and into Angela. He staggered backwards and dropped into the nearest chair, watching Adrian clutch his chest. “You gonna die now?”
“Maybe,” Adrian forced out through the odd thumping, the tightening muscles that made it hard to breathe. “You?”
“Good as gold,” Marc retorted, not wanting to feel any sympathy for his rival.
“Yeah, that’s you,” Adrian ground out as the pain receded. He tried to control his ragged breathing. “Last fucking boy scout.”
Marc grinned. The lights were still swarming over and throughout Angela. His smile faded. How do we go on from this?
“Put her first,” Adrian suggested.
“I’ve always done that!” Marc snapped, but it held no heat. He was too tired.
“You’ve tolerated, followed orders, and killed for her. That’s not the same.”
“I’ve given everything I have,” Marc insisted. “Everything she demanded. It’s never been enough.”
Adrian had a hundred insults he could have tossed. Instead, he chose sarcasm.
“Yes, I’m sure it’s rough, being her soul mate, the only man she ever loved. Hard life.” Adrian leaned his head on the mattress as Marc prepared to fire back. “Maybe you’re right. You’re not man enough for her. You can’t keep up and she knows it for certain now.”
Marc lunged from the chair and left the cavern before they were brawling over Angela’s body.
Adrian didn’t move. He wasn’t confident that he could.
“You shouldn’t push so hard.”
Adrian’s hand found hers, clasping it loosely. “I’m sorry.”
“The bleeding stopped,” Angela said groggily. “I can feel it.”
Adrian didn’t ask about the other repairs, content that she would survive. Even dark magic could only do so much. There was a limit to everything.
Angela allowed the darkness to reclaim her, comforted that Marc had been here at all. She needed him so much!
Adrian caught that thought, but he didn’t have the energy to send it to the wolfman. He drifted off still slumped on the rocky floor with his head on the mattress.
2
“I need a complete update,” Marc stated, regarding the cold tent. He’d waited a few hours and then brought leadership topside for this meeting to be sure they had privacy. The lower level men and rookies were currently flexing their muscle below, but carefully. No one wanted to lose the authority so soon.
“She left me her notebooks, so I already know, but you’re going to tell me anyway. No more secrets!”
Relief went through the drafty tent and the two dozen men and women got out their own books.
Marc was a bit surprised by the reaction. They all had something to contribute. How had he missed so much? I thought I was doing well.
“We’ll go from back to front,” Marc chose, taking out a fresh notebook.
The tent flap opened, admitting Adrian. He quickly zipped it up as the meeting exploded in shouts.
“Get lost!”
“Shoot him!”
“You’re not leadership!”
Adrian held out a brown envelope, effectively silencing the noise, but not the hatred. “She sent me. I didn’t want to come.”
“Good!” Zack snarled. “We don’t want you here!”
“Your boss does,” Adrian replied tiredly. “Tell her.”
Adrian’s lack of fight stopped Zack’s next words. He snatched the dreaded envelope that had caused everyone else to fall silent.
When Zack brought it up, Marc quickly ripped it open. He wanted this over. “He’s going to take notes. He won’t speak unless spoken to.”
Marc let the paper fall to the cold table, sitting down as the rest of leadership protested. Adrian’s freshly rotated guards being outside the flap, in the cold, made them all even angrier.
“Send them down,” Kenn ordered. “Someone from this meeting will escort him.”
Adrian nodded in approval.
“Not me, you asshole!” Kenn snapped as he noticed the response. “I don’t want anything to do with you.”
Adrian lowered his head and took a seat in the far corner as Kyle told the two men to take five. He made sure Marc would have a hard time viewing him through the small crowd. He wasn’t trying to hide. he was trying to be considerate.
If you were considerate, you’d blow your brains out in front of MY army! Marc thundered in his mind.
“I told her this was a bad idea,” Adrian stated stiffly, flushing. “She insisted. I’ll gladly go, right now. Just say the word.”
Marc shut his lids, fighting for control of the tiger. He was almost at his limit for all of this. “Doctor, you first.”
“Finally! I do require sleep, you know.” The man stood up, reading from his book. “We have nine patients. I examined all of them myself. They’ll survive. Some of the wounds are serious and they’ll need recovery time, but even Angela’s prognosis is now positive.”
The doctor wasn’t being as hateful toward Angela as usual. He looked at Marc, who shook his head. He didn’t want more details than that.
“Is there anything you need down there? A list of things, maybe?” Marc asked.
“I’m still putting that together,” the man admitted. “It’s been a busy few days, in case you hadn’t noticed.”
“You can go,” M
arc told him, tone cold.
The doctor stood up. “As soon as I tell you one thing, ‘Mr. I’m the leader’ now. If you go without seeing her first, I’ll call for a leadership vote. The way people are feeling right now, anyone could be elected.”
The doctor stormed out of the chilly tent as attention swung to Adrian.
“He’s optimistic,” Adrian muttered. “I’d be hung long before the vote.”
“Yes, you would,” Marc agreed. He moved on. “Jennifer?”
“Our team, along with the help, has been clearing a path out of these mountains. We’ve also done some scavenging. The crates are in Angela’s private semi.”
“How far have you gotten?” Marc asked, noting the route on the map that Angela had included in the notebook.
“Five miles.”
Seven, Adrian sent silently.
Jennifer glared at Adrian. “Make that seven miles. The help kept working during the beginning of the storm.”
“Don’t do that!” Marc shouted. “No more secrets!”
“I have information,” Adrian responded calmly. “I have no idea how you want me to do this.”
Marc violently scratched the next item off his list. “Seven miles. Anything you need to tell me or need from me?”
“I’d like to second the doctor’s parting request,” Jennifer tried to joke. “Don’t go without talking to her. She needs you so much more than she does some outsider.”
“Duly noted,” Marc responded dryly.
Jennifer gave Kyle a warm look as she left. She flashed Adrian a glare of hatred. Jennifer still felt he should have been executed for his betrayal. Escorting him around like a privileged rat was enough to make her blood boil.
Marc skipped Cynthia, who was here to take notes for her next edition. The newspaper was already extremely popular because of her accusing tones. It said she was on the inside and still watching out for them. People liked that.
“Zack?”
Zack cleared his throat. “The front gate is an entire loss. We have guards posted again now that the storm has let up, and the snipers are doubled. I think we should keep telling everyone we’re closed to refugees until we get the gate repaired–at least a week.”
“Anything I need to know? Anything you need to get it done?”
“I think we have everything we need, except for plans. The engineering crew is already working on it. Ozzie has that information. I do need to tell you that the camp is very unhappy you let Adrian in here without a vote. You’ll need to give them something on that to finish calming them down. Otherwise, people are relieved the avalanche took the bad guys this time instead of us.”
“Let me know if that changes,” Marc ordered. “You’re going to take over topside Point now?”
“Yes.”
Marc marked it off his list. “I’ll stop by in a bit.”
Zack left and Marc looked at Dexter. “How are things below?”
Daryl had been assigned to Point in the caves, and Dexter had been doing a good job as his right hand.
“Running smoothly, considering all the action,” Dexter responded. “We have the Keeper in the brig down here, with double patrols, and two sentries are following our traitor. No crime reports during the chaos and all members are accounted for.”
“Consumption numbers yet?” Marc asked, reading from Angela’s notes.
“In the next couple days. She said we have to send out the food crews the second the storm clears.”
“You’ve talked to her?” Neil asked. He didn’t know she was awake. Sam hadn’t mentioned it.
“She told me before she was taken. We assigned people,” Dexter explained. “They’ll need a day to prepare.”
“We’ll handle it,” Marc stated. “Anything else?”
Dexter didn’t want to get involved in more drama, but he had certain loyalties to maintain, like everyone else here. “When is he leaving?”
Marc placed his hands palm down on the table, pinning Dexter with a harsh glower. “Do you think I want him here?”
Dexter shook his head.
“Do you think I’ll have him gone as fast as I can?”
“Yeah, sorry. I had to ask.”
“No, you didn’t,” Marc reprimanded. “Daryl’s jealousy over Cynthia is unfounded. He hasn’t glanced her way in months. Tell him I said that.”
Dexter flushed, leaving the cold tent.
“Who’s next?” Marc asked.
Greg stood up. “I’m sorry.”
“She wasn’t assigned a shadow down there,” Marc stated. “She sent you out to protect the gate. You’re not in trouble.”
“Well, I feel like it!” Greg blurted miserably. “I’m so sorry.”
“I can’t absolve you from something you haven’t done,” Marc stated as kindly as he could. “Go see what she wants you doing now. I don’t have any notes on it.”
Greg’s exit was quick and quiet as the few remaining people waited for Marc to pick the next update.
“Oswald?”
Ozzie stood up, expression hurt. “What did I do to you?”
Marc grinned. “Not a damn thing, I’m happy to say. Fill me in.”
Ozzie laughed. “Cool, man. Okay. We got, like, a huge amount of damage, but not in structural places. Give us a week and we’ll have it all running again. The idiot had no idea what he was doing.”
“Good thing,” Neil muttered.
“As for the gate, we do have enough supplies, but Angela told me last week to come up with a better design and like, Jennifer helped. We drew this.”
He held out a paper that Marc gestured for him to keep. “I have a copy here. It’s very good–nice and tight. Two weeks for this one, right?”
“Yes. We’ll try our hardest to have it finished in ten days, but two weeks guarantees we will.”
“She isn’t going to close the gates for two weeks,” Kenn commented. “You saw her, still taking in people even after the attacks.”
“They’re our people, grunt,” Adrian scolded, unable to remain silent. “If you were out there, you’d want in too.”
“You have no authority here,” Kyle reminded Adrian icily. “Don’t speak unless spoken to.”
“I’ll make the design choice today,” Marc interrupted the coming argument. “Anything else? You guys need anything?”
Ozzie shrugged. “Just time, man.”
The former surfer left the tent, forgetting to zip it behind him.
Kyle glared at Adrian.
Adrian got up and zipped it with a face like stone. Angela had known he would be treated this way. She’d told him he owed it to these men to face them, and so he was, but it wasn’t easy.
“You’re up,” Marc stated, studying Kenn.
Kenn winced at the wording. Angela’s voice echoed in his head, reminding he’d sworn to never cross her.
“She had me deliver messages, keep track of plans, encourage people to stay quiet. Cynthia and I handled it for her during her shifts. She used Kendle sometimes during the evenings.”
Marc’s profile darkened. “Kendle was part of this?”
“She carried messages, supplies. She hated it.”
Marc believed that. Even though it had caused trouble, Kendle would still have loathed taking orders from Angela. The boss had been paying Kendle back after all.
“The radio is mostly quiet,” Kenn continued. “We’re waiting for orders there. Until then, we’ve gone to ground.”
Marc motioned for Kenn to leave. He couldn’t stand to hear either of those voices right now.
“Aren’t you going to ask if I need anything?” Kenn demanded suddenly. “Because I served my time and I’m legal again!”
Marc glowered at Kenn, sending the thought none of them needed to hear to know. You shouldn’t be.
Kenn flushed and spun for the flap. “I hope you don’t go down and talk to her before you go. That’ll seal it up for her and then we won’t have to put up with your shit anymore. She’s the power here. It’s certainly not yo
u!”
The words filled the tent with awkward silence as Kenn left.
Adrian zipped them up this time without the glare.
Marc read the last few notes, and then looked at Cynthia. “You should go now. Anything I need to know?”
The reporter had already been gathering her papers. “I want to go with you.”
“For yourself or for the paper?” Marc asked.
“Both,” she answered, but didn’t elaborate.
“I’ll let you know,” Marc answered, marking it off his list. Of course, he would let her come along. She was carrying a child that Angela had deemed too evil to be born. Cynthia had more rage than he did and they both had a perfect target for it.
“I agree with Kenn, by the way,” Cynthia stated, going to the flap. “Angela was much nicer before you two became a legal couple. You’re not good for her. Let her go so we can all have peace again.”
Leaving them shocked, Cynthia exited, zipping the flap.
“What the hell?” Neil swore. “This whole camp has flipped!”
“Stop,” Adrian advised. “He’s hanging onto his control by a thread. Finish this so he can do what he needs to.”
Neil glanced up to find Marc’s eyes burning with a hot fire than even sex couldn’t extinguish. Neil had never seen his friend so furious.
“Do either of you need to tell me anything?” Marc was able to force out passed the fury. He agreed with Neil. Everyone had gone insane.
Neil stood up quickly, swallowing his rant. “The trains have stopped. We assume the storm has slowed them down.”
“How far away?” Kyle asked.
“Two days at the speed they were going, but they could reach the station right down the mountain in a few hours if they roll faster. Train is a very point A to point B type of travel.”
“Anything else?” Marc needed to know.
“Not from me.” Neil headed for the flap.
“Stay,” Marc ordered.
“Sure.” Neil obediently sat back down, expression curious.
Marc looked at Kyle.
“We killed roughly three dozen refugees that survived the avalanche. The bodies were put outside the gate, but the ants didn’t come out of their cave for them. At last sighting, the majority of the colony was wiped out in the tunnel collapse. We’re considering them threats again.”