From the Ashes

by Angela White

  Instead of a flinch at the reminder of her role in Cesar’s death, Cynthia smiled in a soft, understanding way that Adrian hadn’t thought her capable of.

  “Just do the best you can. I know I’m not her.” Telling him that she knew of his growing obsession with Angela–and she was a willing substitute.

  Positive that’s exactly who she would become in his mind, Adrian motioned her toward his bedroll. “You’ll be satisfied when I’m finished.”

  “Yes,” Cynthia moaned eagerly, lust riding her. “That’s what I need.”

  Adrian waited for the reporter to kneel on his bedroll, dimming the other emotions, as need–raw and thick–coursed through his hard flesh. When she started removing her shirt, revealing sun-kissed skin flecked in blood, Adrian let the grateful man inside free. At this moment, he needed a release and an escape. Cynthia needed to be rewarded, brought into the light. It would be a few hours well spent.

  Kyle and Neil exchanged knowing glances when Cynthia didn’t come back out, but neither of them begrudged the personal moment. Cynthia had ended things publicly with Jeremy before he started his sniper shift, and this definitely hadn’t been Adrian’s idea. He’d barely tolerated the reporter.

  As they moved outside to fill the perimeter gaps, the two senior men also understood that there wasn’t anything that Adrian would deny Cynthia now–even the truth of who he’d been, if she asked for it. Adrian’s slug to the forehead had brought Cesar down, but it had been the last shot fired. Without Cynthia’s brutal bullet to the back to throw off his aim, Cesar’s second shot would have hit Angela in the forehead. It had gone high by an inch and trimmed Adrian’s arm. Cesar might have gotten lucky there and killed them both. Cynthia was about to be a camp favorite.

  The landscape around the country club was alive with swirling movement as a fog bank rolled in.

  “We’re good?” Neil asked.

  “Plan’s solid.” Kyle shrugged. “We just keep waiting.”

  Neil frowned. “I’m doing mine job high.”

  Kyle watched Neil pull his jacket closer against the chill and pick a tree. The trooper scaled it as if he’d been doing that sort of thing all his life. They’d changed a number of times in last six months. First, as a result of the war, and then again from joining Adrian’s army, but also when Angela had come. Now, they would adapt once more.

  5

  “She’ll live.”

  Noise filled the chilly lounge at John’s call from the door, pulling Angela from her sedative-induced sleep and she opened her lids to find Marc staring back. Few things had ever looked as good to her.

  “They just learned the news,” Marc explained.

  Angela heard the happy sounds from a distance, heavily medicated, and tried to joke, “Shoulda asked me.”

  Hard to talk to the dead. Marc swallowed the thought, closing dusty, faded blinds against the late afternoon glare. “We’ll remember that.”

  Ready to face a fear, Angela bit her lip and slowly reached over to grasp her other hand.

  Afraid of what she’d find, Marc observed in horror. She thought it was gone.

  “The infection started…and I still can’t feel it,” she explained hoarsely, trying unsuccessfully to prevent relieved tears. “I didn’t know what I’d do.”

  Marc dropped his forehead to hers, unable to speak. How many times had he heard that during his years as a government killing-machine? It never got easier, but to hear it from the woman he loved! Marc plugged his wounds as best he could.

  Angela rubbed at her cold fingers restlessly. There wasn’t even pressure when she squeezed. Without her gun, she wasn’t an Eagle.

  Maybe that’s why Adrian didn’t say a single word to me during the surgery, and why he hadn’t been in since John finished or taken a shift as heater. He doesn’t want to tell me that I’ve destroyed part of his dream by being too hurt to continue.

  “I won’t quit,” Angela swore weakly. “He’ll have to take my jacket.”

  Her strength drew respect from Marc, and her next words allowed him to glimpse how far ahead she had already planned her future as an Eagle.

  “I made Level One with the left, two weeks ago. I might be okay with that… He might let me stay.”

  Refusing to ask if she had known she would be injured, Marc smoothed her hair down. “I think so, too.”

  He’d had hours to think about Adrian’s words–“It’s limited by gender.”–and finally caught the tone. Adrian might not be able to bring her back from the edge of death, but he could do something for her. Marc would bet on it.

  Under the full edge of the painkillers, Angela carefully lifted her good hand and guided Marc’s mouth down to hers.

  Ever so gently, Marc kissed her…and his rage faded another notch.

  The drugs pulled, and Angela dozed with the taste and smell of Brady to guide the way.

  6

  Marc stepped out into the chilly hall and turned to see Cynthia leaving the lounge.

  Behind her, Adrian lifted a gentle hand that curled into her wild hair and tugged her back for a soft kiss and lingering hug. It was done openly, reinforcing her new acceptance.

  Marc gave Adrian a nod of approval as the leader left Cynthia to head outside for guard duty. Adrian knew how to reward his people–there was no doubt there–and the reporter certainly deserved whatever rewards she chose.

  Marc studied Cynthia, wondering if she felt as satisfied as she looked. When she moved closer, he noted the tiny smile on her swollen lips, the careful tread that spoke of a deep, close sexual experience. Yes, Adrian had served her well.

  Good. Marc sent a wave of pleasure and light with his grateful smile. “I’m in your debt.”

  Cynthia flushed under his approval, feeling her body wake (she was attracted to Adrian, but Marc still sent her heart into heavy thuds) and pushed it back. If she longed for the same from Marc–and I do!–he would try to give it, but Cynthia would never endanger her new life that way. Getting between him and Angela, in any manner, was strictly forbidden.

  “She would have done it for me,” Cynthia stated finally, unable to help wondering if Marc’s thick arms would have held her so closely, so perfectly.

  “Yes. You’ve honored her,” Marc agreed. “She’ll return the favor.”

  Cynthia shifted against the hardness a the floor that her feet hardly ever touched now, thanks to the war. Adrian had said the same thing to her, and she would never forget the sound of his voice in her head.

  Marc’s troubled gaze went to the door where Angela was being kept warm by Billy. It wasn’t hard to share these hours with the men that he couldn’t help but partially hate. Her agony was a torment they deserved to experience, too.

  Cynthia pulled Adrian’s shirt closer around her shoulders, flushing darker at the smells of their passion. “If I had to, I’d do it again, only I’d be faster.”

  Her pitch lowered to an achingly familiar tone of determination.

  “Next time, I will be faster.”

  “He sure found some strong women to play these roles,” Marc snorted bitterly.

  Cynthia’s chin went up. “To fight for his dreams!”

  Not letting Marc’s churning emotions rub off, the reporter stepped around him, going to where she had her bedroll wedged between two long tables. She was one of them now, and that was enough. Her need to see Adrian hanged had vanished the instant she’d saved Angela, and unlike the muttering man now going outside, Cynthia already knew they were a set. No matter what had happened in their pasts, you didn’t get Angela without Adrian, and when that bloody fighter recovered, she would make that clear to Marc.

  Content for the first time in her life, Cynthia drifted to sleep with the magical sensation of Adrian’s touch lingering on her skin and in her heart.

  7

  As the sun sank under a crimson sky, Marc found Adrian standing on the porch–in the open and once again tempting fate.

  “She’s wondering why you haven’t taken a shift–worrying over it lik
e she’s done something wrong.”

  Adrian didn’t turn from his post in the darkness, and Marc moved to his right–the place he was more worthy of than Kenn, but didn’t want.

  “She thinks she’s not an Eagle without her gun.”

  “She’ll always be an Eagle,” Adrian stated firmly.

  Marc hated him for it. “Yes.”

  “What do you need?” Adrian pushed, wanting this moment out of the way. Two mutts and one perfect bone...

  “I know why you’re avoiding her. With those weak mental walls, she’ll blast right through and finally see what I’ve always known. What you’re hiding from all of them and her.”

  Silence.

  Marc was grateful she hadn’t been taken–so much that the jealousy was barely there. “What matters is, does Angie know how you feel about her?”

  “No,” Adrian responded quickly. “That was never among my reasons for her special attention. It still isn’t.”

  “And when she does?” Marc insisted forcefully. “There’s no way you’ll hide it forever.”

  Adrian looked at him, expression saying everything Marc had feared and more.

  “I won’t do that,” Adrian promised. “Unless...”

  The warning rang as thickly as the promise, and both men understood the battle line. As long as Angela was happy with Marc, Adrian would stay away. If she called out, even once, another war would start.

  Marc, who had said something similar to Neil when he’d first joined Safe Haven, understood completely. He blew out a stream of smoke, respecting the honesty and the control that it would take to stand by such a vow. “I’ve got your post. Go take a shift and tell her what she needs to hear.”

  8

  “Thank you.”

  The sound of Angela’s slightly energized voice had Adrian calming as he entered her room. John hadn’t lied just to give them all hope.

  “I enjoyed it.” Billy didn’t censor his words as he rose up, understanding Adrian was his relief. “Even covered in two-day dried blood, you still smell like vanilla.”

  Her careful chuckle was a wonderful sound.

  “You’re biased,” she joked.

  “Yep.” Billy slowly untangled himself. “She’s all yours, Boss.”

  Adrian locked down on the moment with Marc, but too late.

  Angela’s startled gaze flew to his and in her mind, Adrian read the truth that she’d been hiding. She was aware of the spark between them. She felt it as much as he did, but unlike him, she hadn’t considered their future.

  Before either of them could break the spell, Billy’s joking quip drove it in.

  “All yours until she calls for Marc in her sleep, anyway.”

  Angela dropped her eyes. She knew it all with that one glance, but her choice had been made decades ago. “It’ll always be like that.”

  Adrian took Billy’s place as her heater, good energy swaddling her in strength before they even touched. “He’s a lucky man.”

  Angela tensed, as she had with the others who’d provided this intimate service for her, but there was no urge to distract him with meaningless chatter. Adrian had saved her life. They now had a bond that would never be broken. She even hoped he let himself enjoy being so close–something that would never happen again–but doubted that he would. The Eagles and Marc might worry over Adrian’s persuasive charm, but as he carefully covered her with his jacket, Angela was sure that Adrian would never destroy them all that way.

  Unable to resist taking his only chance to feel what could have been, Adrian let his guard down, power reaching out.

  Brilliant blue and gold touched…then connected in a breath-stealing match of indescribable perfection.

  The world we could have created together! The love she has to give! Adrian’s hardened heart broke from the loss.

  Angela tried to keep her walls in place, but that golden light sank into her as if it belonged there. It rattled doors to every place in her heart, including those already given Marc’s name. She didn’t allow any of them to open.

  Adrian refused to acknowledge the anguish of her choice. He’d known it would be this way from the minute he had realized he wanted her. Her love for Marc was too strong to allow any other man to slide into his place.

  Billy paused on his way out. One vivid blond, the other deep ebony, the sight of Adrian and Angela so close was striking. They look like lovers who’ve been kept apart for a tormenting amount of time, Billy thought, softly closing the door. What a pair they would have made.

  “I’m sorry you were injured,” Adrian stated when they were alone.

  Angela didn’t answer. She didn’t need Adrian’s apology, only his words of her future.

  Adrian hid a grin. She still wanted to be treated like an Eagle. “You’ll use the recovery time to pick a team from the recruits that will come out of the woodwork now.”

  “Don’t want my own team,” she protested. “I like being with Kyle. He’s good.”

  “He’s lethal. So are you, Angie–or you will be when you let go of society’s rules and start really following mine.”

  “I don’t like violence,” Angela argued, hating that it was a lie. She adored violence if it had a righteous purpose.

  Adrian didn’t snort. “Good at it for someone who doesn’t like it.”

  “I could be good at murder, but should I?”

  “Yes. For this time and place, we need it.”

  Adrian waited for another protest. When it didn’t come, he wasn’t sure about trusting it as acceptance. Women didn’t usually work that way.

  “You’ll always be a part of Kyle’s team, but these recruits will be yours, the way Kyle is mine–all of them willing to do anything for you. Imagine the possibilities.”

  Angela was. How could she not? Once again, he was offering her everything. “Why not have Neil do it? The trooper’s heart is pure enough to make good calls, despite his confusion over Samantha.”

  Adrian smiled, showing beautiful white teeth. “Would you like to pass this honor to someone else?”

  Trapped, Angela chuckled through the twinges. “No. I wanted it weeks ago, when the senior men started talking about how to blend females into the teams.”

  Adrian gently shifted so he could look down at her. “I told you that we would do great and terrible things together. You’ve survived the terrible. Now, it’s time you got some of the great.”

  Angela teared up, so beholden to him that she couldn’t find the words.

  Adrian wiped them from the corners of her eyes with a loving touch. “You’ve done your duty. Take this time off to enjoy what was accomplished. You’ve earned it.”

  “And so has Marc,” he stated, steeling himself against the jealousy. “He’s coming around to the dream, though, he may never admit it to me. And there’s no longer an abusive Marine standing between you. This is your time.”

  Angela frowned, suddenly feeling extremely sleepy. “Always hated that saying. Doesn’t make sense.”

  Adrian recognized the defensive response, but didn’t comment on it. “That means your happiness comes first for a while. Think you can do that?”

  “Unlikely. Someone will have to show me how.”

  Adrian slammed the door between their minds before she caught his thought–I’d give almost anything to have that honor.

  “Marc has it covered,” Adrian forced himself to say. “Trust him.”

  “I do.” Angela drowsed in Adrian’s warm embrace, drugged and starting to heal. For the first time since being shot, she wasn’t in agony, puking, or crying. It was wonderful.

  Adrian didn’t say more, instead watching as she drifted. Her strength was amazing. She would have been the perfect woman to help him lead.

  That thought followed Adrian as he rested his head on his arm and tried to sleep. Fate hadn’t gifted Angela to them to be claimed. She’d been sent to protect his people and he would keep that in mind when the longing grew. Angela wasn’t meant to be his or even Marc’s. She belonged to Safe Haven
and they would all protect her while she helped guide them to safety.

  9

  “Gunfire in the perimeter! Shots fired!”

  “Shit!”

  “Look out!”

  Angela jerked awake, groaning, and found Adrian sitting up with his gun drawn.

  She turned her head to find Marc in a set position between them and the door, and groaned again–this time in groggy frustration. “We didn’t get them all?”

  Neither man bothered to answer, since it was obvious that they hadn’t.

  “I need a gun!”

  Adrian nudged her left hand, and her fingers curled awkwardly around the butt of her backup weapon.

  Bang! Bang!

  “Fall back!”

  “Get her outta there!”

  Crash…

  “Fire!”

  The noises outside the room weren’t comforting and Marc motioned to Adrian. “Let’s roll.”

  Adrian swung Angela up into his arms as quick and careful as he could.

  She gasped, painfully molding herself into his grip.

  “Here!” Marc shoved a vest over her head as Adrian carried her toward the window.

  The front of the country club was in flames and eerie shadows ran through the foggy smoke, firing at each other.

  Angela tried to help as they lowered her out the window between vested Eagles. Her single left-handed shot, aimed at a Mexican sombrero, went wild and plunged into the hood of their vehicle.

  Angela was quickly shoved inside the truck and the Eagles surrounded it. When the door slammed, but her driver didn’t leave, Angela realized Adrian was making a stand here. With her in the center. Angela stayed low and rode the waves of pain, knowing there was no safer place she could be.

  A fresh volley of gunfire lit up the night, sharp and loud. Men screamed, and more shadows flew through the darkness, forcing their attackers into the light of the burning country club. It was another of Marc’s plans, this one done to make the enemy think there were less men. Those Eagles had been hidden around the perimeter and now, they moved in to trap the enemy in a barrel-shoot.

  Behind Angela, another rig pulled up and Jeremy guided Cynthia into the vehicle, then joined his team.