After three months, the newly revived Resistance army now numbered twenty-five people. Some of them could die, and she didn’t know how she would deal with it if any of them did, but she would go forward with this plan.
Without announcing herself, Deja walked into the tent. If Faith and Trake were having sex, Deja would have probably joined in if she was in the mood. However, Trake wasn’t home, as he’d decided to visit each of the fighters and help them get mentally prepared for the next day’s action.
“Hey.” Deja closed the tent flap carefully behind her.
Faith waited expectantly, sensing Deja’s need to talk and pleased she was the one Deja came to.
Deja sat on the cot next to her.
“Hey,” Faith responded with a smile.
Deja continued to stare without speaking.
Faith cocked her head to one side. “What? You’re acting weird.” She wanted to take Deja in her arms, but Deja seemed as if she really needed to get some words out.
“Thank you,” Deja said simply.
“For what?” Faith asked hesitantly.
“For setting me free.”
Faith gave a nervous laugh. “Come on, Deja. You’re not serious.”
“I am being serious.” Deja leaned forward so her lips touched Faith’s.
Faith opened her mouth to receive the kiss, feeling lightheaded at the connection, more so than ever before. She didn’t know what was happening, but she liked it. She surrendered to the kiss, until a thought tugged at her brain.
She placed her palm on Deja’s shoulder and gently pushed her away. “Wait, I need to know what you mean.” She searched Deja’s face for clues.
Deja looked surprised then she smiled. “It’s just that I woke up this morning…you know, I’ve done this preparation for action many times before. You’re different in the days before an operation because anything can happen.” She looked at her hands in her lap. “You think about what you need to do; nothing else matters. Except this time…” She raised her head to meet Faith’s eyes. “Except this time, this time I feel good about what’s coming up.”
“I’m so glad.” Faith sent Deja a big grin, but Deja didn’t return it.
“The only thing I don’t like is that you’re going. I would die if anything happened to you.”
Faith shook her head. “I would die if anything happened to you,” she replied passionately, wanting to pull Deja into her arms and not let go.
Deja reached out, cupping Faith’s cheek in her palm. “No, dear heart, please don’t…I’ve done a lot of bad things, hurt a lot of people. That’s why I came to thank you for bringing me here.” She made a sweeping motion with her hand. “To this.”
Deja took both of Faith’s hands between hers and squeezed tightly as she held Faith’s gaze. “I didn’t realize how much it’d changed me until I woke up this morning truly happy. Thank you, Faith.”
She wrapped her arms around Deja’s neck and pulled her into a heated kiss.
The tent flap opened and Trake walked in. “Hey, do I get some of that?”
Faith broke the kiss and addressed him, “Get undressed.” She looked back at Deja, giving her a wicked grin.
Faith didn’t know what would happen tomorrow. All she knew was she had two people left in the world she truly loved. It was hard for her to express her feelings other than to use her talents to please. She wanted to bring pleasure to them both. They deserved it and so much more.
Faith was ready to play.
* * * *
Opening the door to dorm W8, Faith prepared to confront the prisoners…and Carrie, if the woman was still here. It had only been three months since Faith had left the prison camp, but it seemed like a lifetime ago. During that time, she had been combat-trained and had strengthened her resolve to fight the tyranny of the New Washington regime until she died. Rather than being scared of death, she felt she was now really living.
When faced with deciding what the first operation for the group would be, Faith had known she didn’t want to simply go out and start killing people. Their first military action had to be symbolic.
The only way they would end the New Washington dictatorship was to have it collapse from within. Experience at the Resistance camp showed her people were simply afraid to fight back; however, as soon as they saw people starting to act, many would join in. Releasing the prisoners in her former prison camp was the symbolic act the newly revived Resistance needed.
Faith looked around the noisy room while holding her pulsar assault rifle. As people noticed her, the room grew quiet. Faith’s eyes searched the room for Carrie’s bunk. She hadn’t come here specifically for that woman, but she hoped to see her. If not, she hoped the woman had been released, not killed.
Faith’s gaze finally fell on Carrie, but the woman was in bed, unmoving.
Faith quickly made her way over while calling out, “This is a prison break people! Run for the exits and head to the Resistance camp in the Frederick Hills! Resistance Army soldiers will find you and guide you the rest of the way!”
The prisoners simply stared at her, and she wasn’t surprised they didn’t know how to escape. She’d been in their position not too long ago.
Faith continued to make her way toward Carrie, who was bruised and beaten. However, the woman sat up at the sound of Faith’s voice. Relief washed over her, because it appeared the woman could move. Faith knew she wouldn’t have been able to carry Carrie out.
Faith looked around at the crowd of women, who weren’t moving, but merely staring at her. She didn’t need them all to escape to make her point, but she did need at least some of them to run for the hills.
She briefly considered Trake and the rest of the force hitting the other dorms. Were their charges also standing around unmoving?
Faith pointed the pulsar rifle at the ceiling and blasted a light fixture, causing it to fall to the floor with a shattering crash. Several women screamed at the loud disturbance.
“Goddamn it, people! Move now!” Faith yelled.
The women closest to the exit started toward the door, and Faith glanced at the women near her who were still not budging. She waved her gun at them. “Move it!”
Startled, they headed for the exit.
Faith looked down at Carrie as recognition crossed the woman’s face.
Carrie offered a smile, but stopped with a wince as her battered cheeks creased. “Hey, you came back.”
“Tired of stealing pillows?” Faith gave her a quick grin.
“Yeah, sorry about that…” Carrie sat up, holding her side in pain.
Faith motioned her to move faster. “Forget about it. Help me get these women out of here.”
Carrie got to her feet and used her influence on the mass of women to get them to evacuate.
After ensuring the women’s dorm was empty, Faith made her way to a utility building. Inside, she nodded to Deja, who held a very large pulsar assault rifle pointed at two guards who sat handcuffed on a bench. Faith recognized the guards as Pala and Lyna.
The goal had been to walk in and walk out. The Resistance would attack the camp and kill as few guards as possible, but Faith had another plan for these two.
Deja sent a meaningful glance to her watch. They had been at the camp for nearly twenty minutes. At thirty minutes, all teams were ordered to pull out.
“I don’t have much time,” Faith began. “We’re not going to kill you if you don’t resist. However, I’m giving you a chance to come with us.”
The two guards looked at each other with wide eyes.
“You’re serious?” Pala exclaimed.
Faith nodded. “You only have one minute to make up your mind.” She looked at Lyna, who she’d made a connection with during her first time in the camp. “You can live free with us, no Morality Courts. You can be yourself.” She hoped the woman got the message.
The political benefit of having even one guard join them would be very valuable; however, unlike Carrie, this move was personal.
&n
bsp; Lyna stood. “I want to go.”
Pala pulled in her legs and released them with a kick to Lyna’s knees, knocking her into Deja and turning her so Deja’s back was momentarily to Pala.
Pala swung her handcuffed wrists over Deja’s head, wrapping the chain around Deja’s neck, choking her. Pala pulled harder, drawing a muffled gasp out of Deja. The two women thrashed around wildly.
Faith pointed her pulsar rifle at Pala, looking for a clear shot. She briefly considered trying to physically pull Pala off Deja, but Deja was much stronger than Faith, and Deja apparently was no match for the guard.
Faith got off one shot as Pala quickly rolled away still holding Deja in a straggling grasp.
Lyna grabbed Pala in a headlock, choking her. “Let her go!” she yelled at Pala, as Deja’s eyes rolled to the back of her head and her body slumped.
Faith dropped her rifle and futilely grabbed for the chain, focused only on freeing her friend.
Defenseless against Lyna choking her, Pala still didn’t let up on the pressure around Deja’s neck.
Faith realized her mistake. She should have taken Pala out with the rifle. Now she reacted on instinct. Reaching behind Deja’s head for Pala’s face, Faith dug her fingers into Pala’s eyes as hard as she could. Revulsion washed over her as Pala’s eyeballs sank into their sockets. Anger at Pala overwhelmed Faith, allowing her to push the revulsion away and press her fingers in deeper.
As Pala’s hold on Deja went slack, Faith pulled the chain from her friend’s neck.
Deja fell limply into Faith’s arms, her head at an unnatural angle.
“No! No! Deja!” Faith shouted as she clutched her friend to her chest. “Stay with me! Please, don’t leave us!” she begged.
Koll threw open the shed door with his weapon raised, his eyes scanning the scene. Lyna raised her bound hands in surrender as Pala’s body lay in a heap at Lyna’s feet, and Faith huddled on the floor with Deja.
“Faith, we have to go!” he yelled.
Faith hugged Deja closer, rocking her, unable to fight the tears welling in her eyes. They rolled down her cheeks swiftly.
“I can carry her,” he offered in a softer tone, reaching for Deja.
Faith released her reluctantly. She knew the truth; Deja was dead. Faith had lost another member of her family, but she wasn’t giving up on the future of the Resistance.
She looked at Lyna. “Let’s go!” she choked out through the constriction in her throat.
Epilogue
Faith found it amazing this building had stood for all these years, through many wars, revolutions, and governments. Whoever occupied this building, this house actually, was always known as the leader of Washington, D.C. Now the Resistance occupied it, having thrown out its previous occupants.
Faith held her daughter as she walked into the Oval Office of the White House and observed as Trake planned strategy with the commanders of the army for obtaining peace. Perhaps the fighting would go on for her and Trake’s lifetime; however, for little Deja, sleeping quietly in Faith’s arms, there would be a better day.
Trake glanced up and sent her a smile.
Faith returned it and gently waved Deja’s tiny hand at him. Then she walked through the busy White House, full of officials and managers of the Resistance, toward the North Lawn. The Resistance had grown a lot in the three years since the raid on the prison camp where Deja had lost her life.
As Faith had instinctively known, the symbolism of freeing the political prisoners had ignited the immigrants of New Washington. They’d been less afraid to fight back.
The Resistance had always been there, organizing and training, and the cost of keeping peace against the constant civil protests had put a strain on the monarchy and weakened its support among the lower level Aristos. In a massive weeklong demonstration organized by the Resistance, the people had stormed the White House and physically removed the leaders.
Reaching a window overlooking the North Lawn, Faith glanced out at the thousands of people massed in Lafayette Park. They were lined up in front of temporary buildings with signs that hadn’t been seen since the days of the old United States:
Elections.
About the Authors
Suzanne Graham has always been an avid reader and diary writer. After inheriting boxes of romance books from her aunt, she decided to try putting her own stories on paper. Suzanne met her husband, a fellow American, as an exchange student at the University of Warwick in England. They are proud parents of three boys. In her spare time, you can usually find Suzanne on the living room couch reading romance.
Suzanne loves to talk to her readers and can be found at www.suzannegraham.blogspot.com.
Michael Graham writes romance novels in Los Angeles, California.
Also Available from
Resplendence Publishing
Anna and the Three Generals by Suzanne Graham
Profortuna Series, Book One
Having spent the last twenty-five years devoted to science, elite bio-researcher Anna is now faced with her mandatory mating on the un-breathable planet of Profortuna. Anna’s research on how to sustain life in the bio-domes is vital, but it also makes her a target of the Open Air Society.
Convinced the Council has found the most appropriately brain-heavy men on the planet for her mates in order to perpetuate their superior intellectual genes, Anna is shocked to find three high-ranking military men waiting for her in the reception room.
Just as Anna’s sexuality is awakened by a kiss from one of her mates, terrorists from the Open Air Society attack her lab, and the three Generals act quickly to protect her. As they shuttle her to the other side of the planet, Anna comes to know her mates intimately as three men of distinction. But can they fulfill her secret wish to find old-fashioned romantic love?
Orion Rising by Kris Norris
Dark Horizon Series, Book One
Captain Kell Halloway thought his days of fighting the good fight were over. After years of following orders in what he thought was the name of peace, he’s broken all ties with the Coalition and is determined to make amends for his mistakes. Captain and sole member of the Orion, he’s living a life of existence, running supplies and cargo across the heavens, hoping to find some shred of redemption. That is until he discovers a stowaway…one that turns his world upside down.
Sage didn’t plan to sneak aboard a ship, but an untimely insurrection forces her into action and into Kell’s arms. A stolen kiss turns out to be more than she bargained for, and she’s left facing a new problem—one much more dangerous than the squadron of soldiers still hunting her.
But the clock is ticking. She has only one chance to free a colony under an unjust rule, and only one man to turn to for help.
Freefall by Bella St. James
New Realities Series, Book Three
Clancy Reed knew the rules of the Underground. But when the beautiful Jezebel banged against the makeshift medical facility door, begging for sanctuary, he not only crossed the line but totally obliterated it behind him. He should have called for a transfer crew and immediately sent her out of town. But something beyond her beauty and artificially enhanced sex appeal spoke to him.
When Nadine Cooper seized an unexpected opportunity to run from the government that used her as a sex spy, her only concern was leaving the past behind. The last thing she expected when she arrived at the gritty warehouse was a field operation that made her feel normal for the first time in her life – and a man whose kind hands and caring voice touched something deep inside her.
Their acquaintance should have gone by protocol: Twelve hours of recovery and then a permanent separation. But when the enemy comes to their door, their only choice is to go on the run as the world around them drops into a freefall.
Lost in Dreamland by Cheryl Dragon
7th Kind Series, Book Three
Secrets have haunted Bonnie Hastings’ life, but the answers were always hidden from her. After a close encounter, aliens leave her on the military base,
Dreamland, and she’s found by her college boyfriends—three men who left her five years ago and have a secret of their own.
Group love was once part of Bonnie’s rebellion, but now, it looks like a big setup. She needs to discover what’s going on because there’s no escape from Dreamland. Of course, Bonnie doesn’t want to give up the three sexiest men she’s ever met—they just have to prove their love is real and tell her the whole truth.
The Hunter’s Surrender by Kaenar Langford
Maddie Graham is a bounty hunter who likes to keep a low profile. But her stellar reputation has brought her under the keen eye of the Tentalians who feel she’ll be a fitting brood mare for their king. Little do they realize that kidnapping Maddie will be the easy part. She’s far more dangerous than they thought, and it has nothing to do with her hunting skills.
King Rochar and his consort, Santara, aren’t sure what to expect with Maddie. Living on an all male planet, they’ve been taught to view women as mere vessels for future children. But they soon discover Maddie is as feisty as she is compassionate, and her presence threatens to unravel the very fabric of their civilization when they realize she means much more than they’d ever thought possible. As the moment approaches to choose their destiny, will they fall victim to their sense of duty, or will a new order rise with the ringing of the Soprac bells?
Story contains graphic scenes of m/m and m/m/f sex. No warning, only encouragement.
Trinity by Katie Blu
Working alongside her childhood friend, Tarrel Dolan, Neela Pharr has been on security detail for the emissary of Elara for several years. The need for Prillian ore is greater than ever as tensions between outer worlds mount. After years of cultivating a relationship with King Thrax of Prill, diplomacy is collapsing and weapons are in play. But King Thrax thows out an offer: mining rights, in return for the use of Neela’s body.
Faith's Revenge (New Reality Series, Book Four) Page 10