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“Mac I want covering fire for that old woman and those two children when they start across the field toward us,” I said.
“Captain if we give them cover fire we'll give ourselves away,” Mac said.
I gave Mac a look that said I wouldn't accept anything in this matter but what I asked for, when I asked for it. I couldn't risk these peoples lives just to try protecting the lives of a few men who if these people died would likely die as well.
Mac called our unit together and had them spread out so their fire would seem to be coming from multiple directions. The little girl took off at a dead run straight toward me and gun fire erupted from every side but ours. I gave the signal and the men started firing wherever they saw gun fire from the enemy. The girl was half way to me and the old woman and boy took off at a slower pace, but again straight at me. They reached the mid point between the house and me, and the house evaporated into a ball of flame. I looked over at Mac as though to ask what happened only to see as much confusion on his face as I felt.
When I looked back to see if the old woman and boy were still alive I felt the heat from the house exploding spread and was starting to make breathing difficult. I couldn't leave though, not until the old woman and the boy were safe in my care.
The little girl stood next to me fear in her eyes as she stared at my face. It was as though she feared me more than she feared what was happening about the house blowing up.
“White Lotus, grandmother said you will help us,” she said.
“I'm sorry, I'm not The White Lotus, but I will see you are safe until we have returned to our base, if you and your grandmother and brother will trust me,” I said.
“Yes, you are right to say you are not The White Lotus, but can you say you are not the daughter of the Lotus? No! To deny who you are is to deny the power granted you, and all will be lost,” the old woman said.
I wanted to say I wasn't the daughter of the Lotus, but I couldn't get the words out. I couldn't deny being the daughter of the Lotus, Chris had made me so when he bit me so he would have the strength to do what he needed. That bite had done more to both of us then either of us knew, but we wouldn't know for years to come the full extent.
“Min Li, she is the sister of the Lotus and the wife of your brother,” the old woman said.
The wife of her brother? No that wasn't right I was to be the wife of Major Christopher Jacobs, but not until the right time. The only man I had ever dreamed of marrying was Chris, and Chris wasn't brother to these people, at least not in a sense I understood.
The Hidden Rose Page 45