by Angie Fox
Holly stiffened. “There they are.”
I followed her gaze as a pair of overweight trolls walked in the door. They were dressed head to toe in red, with polished boots and the crest of the gods on each shoulder. Their uniforms would have been intimidating as heck, if these two didn’t resemble overgrown cranberries.
Their military haircuts made their pointed ears look even bigger. And their jowls shook with each heavy step.
“We’re scared of them?” Rodger snarfed. “I think I saw one of them at the airport working for the TSA.”
I glanced past Father to the table of nurses huddled together, talking and glancing at the trolls, who had managed to snag the prime table by the drink station.
“Be very afraid,” Father murmured. “They have the power to do terrible things. Once they find their pencils.”
“Pencils?” I asked. I didn’t want to imagine torture by pencil.
Father pushed his tray aside and leaned forward, elbows on the table. “Trolls always play by the rules. Evidently, HQ forgot to send number two lead pencils. Without their pencils, they can’t fill out their paperwork. And without the correct forms filed in triplicate, they can’t begin the interrogations.”
Unbelievable. “How do you know these things?”
Father shrugged. “It’s in the handbook.”
Rodger brought his head in close. “I don’t get it. We have a ton of number two pencils in supply at the hospital.”
“Not anymore.” Father winked. “Shirley and I hid them in the junkyard.”
Well, color me impressed. “Isn’t there something in the Commandments about stealing?”
“You mean rule number eight?” he asked with a shrug. “I think the Lord will understand.”
“You’re swiping stuff from investigators that could kill you,” Holly said. I gave her the Look. “What?” She held up her hands. “I’m just pointing it out.”
I pushed my chair back. “I’ve got to talk to Galen.”
chapter ten
He wasn’t in quarantine.
His tent was dark, the bed made. I grabbed a torch and stepped inside. Cripes. It didn’t even look like anyone had been in here.
Leta’s tent, on the other hand, glowed with lantern light. I jammed the torch back in the holder and went to her place. “Leta, it’s me. Dr. Robichaud.”
I pushed open the flaps. But her tent was empty too. The floor was strewn with pillows, blankets, even an empty water bottle. I snorted. You could tell she wasn’t regular military. Then I saw the discarded hospital gown and an icy hand gripped my heart.
It was almost as if they’d left in a hurry.
He might be gone for good.
The thought lodged in my throat.
I hoped the investigators hadn’t found them. Maybe they’d decided to take off, although that was bad news too. Galen might be okay to travel. Barely. But he wasn’t at full strength. And Leta was still recovering. A long way from healed.
I shoved the tent flaps closed. He could have come to me. We would have hidden him better, worked out an escape plan.
He took too many risks. It was all about the mission. The endgame. No doubt he’d throw himself under the bus the next time too.
Laughter erupted from one of the supply tents down the way. I stood with my hands on my hips, staring at the cascade of stars, not seeing any of them.
Yes, I’d wanted him to leave camp. I did. But after how things had ended between us.
I rubbed at the back of my neck.
Raw hurt pricked through my veins. It felt worse, because I knew I had no right to feel betrayed.
When he left the first time, he’d had good reasons that had probably saved my life. This time, he was saving a creature who would have been enslaved, killed without him.
And there was nothing I could do to make it better.
I trudged across the blackened desert toward camp.
The rocky soil crunched under my boots. I should have grabbed a torch. Then again, if I fell flat on my ass it would almost be a nice distraction.
Maybe this was good. The investigators could leave peacefully if there were no Galen and Leta left to find, or—I shuddered—more likely they’d start looking for a scapegoat or two to make it look like they were doing their jobs.
My tent was dark. It seemed I was the only one around who didn’t have a life, someone to be with. I banged in the front door and flopped down on my cot.
I was fine with being alone. I was. It was just pathetic how it had come about.
Torchlight flickered from outside. I hoped Galen was okay. I had that hollow feeling in my stomach that I got when he was deployed.
“Petra.” Galen’s voice sounded from inside the tent.
I sat up like I’d been hit with an electric charge.
“Relax,” he said, as if that would happen. I fumbled for the lantern above my bed. “Stop.” His warm hand closed over mine. “We don’t want anyone to see me in here.”
“Right.” Relief swamped me. He was alive. He was okay. I could practically feel his body towering over mine in the darkness. “You scared me half to death.”
“I figured you’d be more alert. But instead you went to bed.”
Yes, well, I wasn’t special ops. Besides, “I wasn’t going to bed. I was brooding.”
“Want me to build you a lair?”
Har-dee-har. I set the lantern on low, the tiny flickering light bathing us in shadows. It caught the outline of his face and the curve of his lips.
Merde. I’d been so scared when I thought I’d never see him again. Now having him here, with me, it was almost too much. He looked good enough to eat.
Perhaps I should just turn the light back out.
Instead, I cranked up my courage and prayed my voice didn’t shake. “What are you doing here? I thought you went back,” I said, as if I’d been hoping it were true.
I didn’t fool him for a second. “I needed to see you.”
“Why?” I stood, crossing my arms over my chest, as if that would somehow protect me from the intimacy of having him here, in the dark.
He smelled like the open desert in the evening and I found myself wanting to bury my nose in the crook of his neck. But I’d given up that right. Or rather, he’d taken it from me.
He moved closer, until we were almost touching. “I knew you wouldn’t come to me,” he said, his voice tinged with regret.
“I tried,” I said, and saw him smile a little.
Damn, he was so direct. Galen never hid from what he wanted. Maybe that’s why I couldn’t resist when he’d wanted me. “Look, I need to step back. I’m trying to keep my pants on,” I said, trying for a little levity.
His mouth quirked at that. “And you’re so confident I could get them off?”
I wasn’t going to debate him on that one. I eased away from him and walked toward the cold potbellied stove, trying to put some distance between us. It didn’t work. Galen’s presence permeated this space and everything in it.
“What are we going to do about the investigators?” I asked.
He stood completely still, like a predator. “I thought it would take them more time.”
“Just the opposite.” The entire camp was in danger.
People’s lives were at stake. These were my friends, my colleagues. I didn’t have a home to go back to anymore. These people were all I had left.
His face hardened as he considered his options. “We can’t leave. I talked with an associate who completed a similar mission last month. His dragon is gone.”
“Freed?”
“Guess again.”
“I understand why you can’t take her back, but I don’t know if it’s any safer here.”
He shook his head. “I don’t know what to do with her. She’s more dragon than human right now.”
Oh, lovely. “Where is she?”
“Out flying.”
“Damn it!”
“Calm down.” He strode over to me. “The webbing on her wi
ngs is just growing back. She can only fly low. Besides, Marc is with her.”
“You dragged Marc into this?” Wasn’t it enough that he’d seen us naked together? Well, Galen was naked, but I was well on my way, and—
“He wasn’t happy about it,” Galen said stiffly.
Understatement of the year. “You asked my ex to babysit your dragon after he saw us…” I couldn’t even say it.
Galen’s jaw tightened. “It wasn’t an easy conversation.”
“I’ll bet.”
“Listen, Petra. This isn’t how I’d choose for it to happen either. I’m just trying to be realistic here.”
Oh, well, then. “I’m glad to see you have everything under control.”
At least I was starting to piss him off too. “We can’t keep this secret much longer.”
“That’s my point.”
“Marc seems to have a way with her. He could help rehabilitate her.”
“We can’t hide her that long.”
His face hardened as he made his decision. He seemed to stand even taller, if that was possible. “You’re not going to like this,” he began, as if I’d liked any of it so far, “but we need to tell the camp.”
Did he just say what I thought he— “Are you nuts?”
If HQ learned we’d helped Galen and Leta, it would be fiery punishment all around.
His hands closed over my shoulders. “I’m not saying we come clean to the investigators. We’ll talk to your friends and colleagues here in camp. Let them help hide us. We’d be hiding in plain sight. It’s the only way.”
I could see one big problem right off the bat. “What about Thaïs?”
Galen swallowed. I could tell he was warming to the idea. “All except for Thaïs. No one tells him anything anyway.”
That was true, but my mind swam with everything that could go wrong. “It’s too much of a risk.”
Galen’s hands slid down my arms. “We don’t have a choice. We need their help. Besides, I trust them. Don’t you?”
“Mostly.” All except for Thaïs. “In case you haven’t noticed, I have a hard time with trust.”
He took my hands. “Then trust me.”
I stared at my fingers, entwined with his. Galen always did know how to pull off the seemingly impossible. I didn’t want to kick him out if Leta’s condition was going to put them both in danger. And our small unit always did pull together in a crisis, especially in matters of life and death.
His lips brushed my forehead. “People care about us.”
I savored it for a split second before pulling away. “There is no us.” I ran a shaking hand through my hair. “I suppose they’re going to find out anyway.” Nothing stayed secret for long around here.
He was getting too close. This entire situation was threatening to veer right off the cliff. It was against my control-freak nature to include the entire camp, but I wasn’t sure I had a choice at this point.
I couldn’t believe I was actually considering this, much less ready to organize it. “If we do it, I get to handle how the news comes out,” I told him. Damn. That sounded like agreement on my part.
Was I just crazy, or was it that Galen made me agree to do crazy things? Still, I had to have at least some concession to my mental health. “I’ll call a meeting. Tomorrow night at the rocks.” I stood facing him, hoping he’d listen, frightened out of my mind at what might happen between us if he didn’t.
He stared at me for a long moment, as if he knew how weak I felt. “Then we’re settled,” he finally said, “until tomorrow night.”
“Yes,” I said, wondering what exactly I’d just promised.
chapter eleven
As anyone would have guessed, word spread fast.
It still made me nervous—to tell the entire camp about Galen and Leta. But Galen was right. We needed help if we were going to pull this thing off. And so far, we’d kept it under control. I’d informed key people: Shirley, Rodger, Father McArio. We’d put up signs around camp, announcing the rendezvous.
What I couldn’t get was why people kept winking at me. I noticed it the next morning. By nightfall, I didn’t know what to think.
Yes, I’d asked everyone to meet me at the rocks at midnight. It was a logical, out-of-the-way place. I didn’t see what all of the snickering was about. Or why soldiers I’d hardly spoken to before—all men—were eyeing me like I was the last pork chop on the plate.
I’d just finished up my rounds in Recovery when Marius caught me. He lowered his chin, which made his sharp Roman nose look even more pronounced.
“Is it true?” he asked, as I signed out at the desk by the door.
I handed him the pen. “You’re going to have to get a little more specific than that.”
He hissed out a breath before drawing close. “Your group thing,” he said, glancing behind him, “at the rocks.”
Good. He’d been asleep all day and had managed to find out. “I’m glad you’re going to make it,” I said, opening the door for both of us.
It was chilly outside, but not terrible. Hopefully, we’d have good weather for the meeting tonight.
And that our revelation wouldn’t end in disaster.
The vampire looked stunned. “I’m not going.” He grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the torch-lit path, to the side of the building. “You’re not going either.”
“Hello, Marius. Grown woman, here.” I extricated my sleeve from his grasp.
He didn’t even notice. “This is completely out of character for you. I don’t care what is going on in your personal life, that”—he flung an arm in the direction of the rocks—“is not the answer.”
“Says you.” There was nothing else I could do. Second guessing would only make me more tense. “If it’s going to happen, I might as well take care of the whole camp at once.” I headed back for the path, making him follow.
I steered Marius toward the officers’ tents, waving to a group of clerks catching a smoke outside the supply tent.
The vampire was turning red around the ears.
I placed a hand on his arm. “Come tonight.”
Marius about choked.
“You need to, Marius. It’s important.” Did he feel like that much of an outsider? I gave him a gentle squeeze. “I really want you to come.”
The poor vampire had gone purple. “No!” he said, his voice pitching up an octave. His hands flailed, as if he could somehow pick the words out of the air. “I have had … concubines in Macedonia, a harem in Persia, countless orgies with beautiful mortals, but I am not going to take this coming from you. You are better than that. You are my friend. Even if you were the least bit attractive, I would absolutely, positively not get naked with you and—”
It hit me like a slap to the side of the head. “You think I want to have sex with you?”
“And the rest of the camp,” he barked. “What has gotten into you?”
It was disgusting and unthinkable and, “Ew!”
For seven years, everybody had thought I was a prude. I’d had a total of two boyfriends for about five minutes each and now this? This was what happened when I stuck my neck out.
Now Marius thought I was coming on to him? Well, I had news for the wannabe sex stud vamp. “I don’t want to sleep with you!”
“Good. Because I don’t want to sleep with you!”
That’s when we noticed people staring.
We started walking. Fast.
“Who told you this was an orgy?” I demanded, voice low.
He gave a strangled cry. “Ken, Frances, Emilio, Tonya, it’s on the camp bulletin board, for Lilith’s sake.”
“I don’t believe it.” I turned around and charged the other way, with Marius on my heels.
“Oh, for Pete’s sake,” he snapped before turning on his lightning speed.
“Lover’s quarrel?” A voice echoed from the path on the other side of the courtyard.
“Can it, Lazio!” I stopped next to the flagpole, hands on my hips.
&n
bsp; I couldn’t believe I had to deal with this. I mean, really—an orgy? I invite the entire camp to the rocks for a surprise and their minds immediately go to a giant no-holds-barred sexcapade?
I narrowed my eyes at the shadowed forms of Lazio and the rest of his buddies, guffawing at something or other.
Okay, maybe it wasn’t as surprising as I’d originally thought.
Dust swirled and torch flames blew sideways as Marius shot up next to me, flyer in hand. “See?”
I took it to the nearest torch, careful not to set the parchment on fire. In looping script, it said:
Meet Petra at the rocks
Midnight tonight
For a special surprise
Campwide fun! Everyone is invited.
“This isn’t so terrible,” I said, defensive. It looked like Rodger had written it.
Naturally, someone had scrawled “Bring your own condoms!” along the bottom, but this was the same crowd who snickered the one time we had All You Can Eat Sausage Sunday.
I held the flyer up for Marius to see. “This is about a meeting at the rocks. Not sex. It’s not like Rodger asked anyone to bring a pillow.”
The vampire squinted at me. “You really need to get out more.”
I folded the flyer and stuffed it into my pocket. “We have an announcement to make. You’ll see.” The meeting was in an hour anyway. I crossed my arms over my chest and sighed. “Maybe the possibility of sex will get more people there.”
Marius stared at me.
“Just looking at the bright side,” I pointed out.
Who knew the vampire could be such a prude.
“Hey!” Rodger waved from across the way. “Who’s in the mood for an orgy?”
Marius and I scowled at him.
Rodger planted his hands on his hips. “I was only joking, but I take it back—both of you really do need to get laid.”
Marius turned on his heel and left.
“See?” I said, pointing to Marius’s retreating form. “You scared the vampire.”
“We’ll talk to him later,” he said, handing me a torch. “Come on. Galen and Leta are already there with Father McArio.”