All that Planning
1
A lone wail of life split the tense air, pathetically weak.
Behind it, came a mother’s scream of denial.
“But is it the good one or evil?” Marc’s demon asked, cuddled with Angela’s witch in their mental hideaway.
“That has not been revealed.”
The demon chuckled, staring at her.
The witch held still. It was something he was prone to do for long minutes and after so much solitude, she understood. Not being alone anymore felt strange.
“Why do you come here?”
The witch made the air around them snap with flames. “Teaching, learning, enjoying. Many things.”
Marc’s demon reached out and took a hold of her arm. “How do I gain his trust, so he’ll let me roam the way she does you?”
The witch smirked, soul-searching orbs lighting up. “Would you like me to coach you on that? I’d have to stay close.”
The demon swallowed thickly at the images. “I have no problem with it.”
The witch cackled. “Your master will. Marc hates me.”
The demon agreed reluctantly. “Just stay in the rear. I’ll work on him.”
Marc waited by the camper door, worry growing. He knew Angela would be a wreck when she came out. Word had already gotten around.
“Is she okay?”
Marc stiffened. “If she isn’t, I’ll handle it.”
Adrian sighed, moving by him. “Yes, I’m sure you will. Where’s Conner?”
“With John. She asked him to help.”
Adrian didn’t argue. It’s what he would have done.
Marc watched Adrian until he and Kenn vanished into the shower campers, and then turned his back to them to keep from glowering through the window. How he hated that man!
The medical door opened and Angela stumbled out, looking ten years older.
“Need sleep.”
Down to words instead of sentences, Marc swept her into his arms and went to their tent. She began drawing from him the instant her arms went around his neck.
2
Adrian stared out the window, ignoring Kenn’s meaningless chatter as he got things ready. The pain of constantly accepting being turned away was enough to choke on. He wasn’t going to do it much longer.
“You ready?”
Adrian began stripping down. It was his first shower since before going into Little Rock and he’d been anticipating it.
“Make it hot. I want to sweat some of this shit out.”
Kenn adjusted the water and began laying out rags and small bottles. As he worked, he kept his mouth shut this time, sensing his boss was working on something.
Adrian appreciated the quiet. He had a lot to consider. For the first time since Las Vegas, he didn’t have to think about the herd first, but he still was. He needed to get into that bunker and kill whoever was in charge. Once that happened, Safe Haven would be free. Angela’s plan didn’t account for the return to their homeland–probably because she wasn’t expecting to make one, but Adrian had already seen parts of that surreal time, too. They would be gone for years, but eventually, this would become their home again.
“Angela will see to that,” Adrian murmured.
Kenn frowned. Everything about Adrian said Angela’s assessment was right. The real boss was planning to sacrifice himself for the good of the herd. Getting in and killing The Man was a great idea, but someone had to be left here, to lead, and even if she were hard enough, Angela didn’t want the job. Adrian had to stay. Someone else would have to die in his place and to Kenn, it didn’t matter who.
3
“Come on, boy!”
Matt groaned as his arm was yanked, stumbling to his feet. He’d passed out in a small cave around dawn and now felt like hell.
“Where are we going?” he demanded.
“To make a call,” Mitch answered cryptically. He’d found Matt’s hiding place easily enough now that he wasn’t drinking anymore, and grabbed the boy before the Eagles came.
“Who we calling?” Matt asked, trying to keep up as they struggled to the top of the incline.
“The government, of course. They need more details and we need a ride.”
Matt didn’t argue. He’d gotten through on the com truck CB, using the new channel that he’d learned in the Jr. Eagles, but he hadn’t asked for anything from the man who’d answered. He’d only wanted to expose Angela and those like her so that Kevin would be taken away. Now an outcast, Matt wished he’d asked for protection.
“A little quicker, boy. We can’t be up here in plain sight for long. One of the snipers will pick us off.”
Matt shivered. “What have I done?”
Mitch grunted, out of breath, but clear headed and hopeful. “You freed us, boy.”
Mitch tugged his son closer, helping the hungover teenager along. “Wish I’d done it.”
4
The fireworks were a mixed bag of emotions as they began. It drew the usual appreciation, but it also brought memories that people didn’t want to face and caused moments of tension. The expected musical accompaniment also stirred them up, and the Eagles observed people drinking and dancing in concern. Three hundred of them could do a lot of damage if things got out of control. What concerned them most were the conversations taking place. Some were openly against fighting the soldiers, while a few more were trying to gather people to leave with and form their own group.
“We’re losing people,” Rusty stated, directing Seth’s attention to the parking area. “We’re light two cars now.”
Seth scowled, but didn’t call it in. They had orders not to stop anyone from leaving.
“We’ll be short twenty come dawn if she doesn’t do something,” Rusty guessed, watching a small group go to their tents with furtive glances at the Eagles and Angela. He had loved his time on Seth’s team and would do anything to keep it from ending.
“More than that. Some of the men won’t come back.”
“Eagles?” Rusty questioned angrily.
“Self-preservation will thin the herd. That’s why we’re not to stop them,” Seth stated. “She’s lightening our load for the move and for the battle.”
“She’s also protecting the chain of command,” Kenn pointed out as he walked by, thrilled to rate his own shadow. “All of us have guards tonight. She’s worried. Watch your six.”
Kenn continued on his rounds and the men indicated that they would. The mood was tense and a bedtime story was only going to do so much. If Angela wanted to keep this camp together, she’d better do something by tomorrow at the latest. After that, half the camp would flee.
5
“Can you take over the Kai lessons for a while?
Jeff tore his eyes away from the group of females working out on the other side of the training tent. “Yeah, uh, sure.”
Neil slapped him on the arm, grinning. “Get to enjoy that ride yet?”
Jeff scowled. “I didn’t ask her out.”
Neil guessed what had happened next. “She went out with someone else.”
“Yes. He’s staring at her.”
Neil did a casual sweep and only found three men paying any attention to the dirty, sweaty women of Angela’s team. Marc, Adrian, and Zack.
Neil was surprised. “I thought he hated women.”
Jeff huffed angrily. “He changed, Neil, you know that. What matters is that she wasn’t bluffing.”
Neil snorted. “You thought she was? Oh, man, were you wrong.”
“No shit.”
Neil spent a moment thinking and then asked, “How many times have they gone out?”
“Twice.”
“She’s still fair game. Go over right now and offer to cook her a hot meal tonight.”
Jeff started to say he couldn’t do that, and then grunted, “What the hell. It’ll put an end to it, at least.”
“Exactly. You’ll know where you stand.”
Jeff walked toward the women who were doing pushups, eyes glued to Crista’s dirty ass. “I can do this. It’s going to go well. Relax and pay attention. You know how she stuns you sometimes.”
Neil listened to Jeff’s instructions to himself, shaking his head. The Eagle hadn’t figured out what he and Jeremy, and many of the others here, already knew. Love and lust made the rules. The best a person could hope for was a balance of the two that didn’t smother everything else.
6
Crista tensed at the Eagle moving her way, stumbling. It broke the groove.
“Take a five!” Cynthia snapped, guessing what was about to happen.
Crista knew Jeff was annoyed by her dates, but didn’t think it would come to anything. Over the last weeks, she’d discovered that Jeff was as stubborn as she was.
Guess he just doesn’t like me, she thought unhappily.
“Got any use for a hot meal?”
Crista looked around, sure he was talking to someone else.
Jeff stiffened as she acted like she was too good to talk to him. “What?”
“I’m just not sure what’s going on,” Crista answered sharply. “You haven’t spoken to me in a week.”
Jeff sighed. He was still learning how to be around people again. Even before the war, he’d isolated himself. “I’d like to make breakfast.”
Crista wiped at sweat self-consciously. “What?”
“What, what?”
Crista snickered. “You are so bad at this.”
Jeff’s face reddened and she smoothly slid in front of him before he could stomp off. “What are you making me for breakfast?”
Jeff stared down into those mischievous brown eyes, drowning. “What do you like?”
Crista groaned. “Anything other than fish.”
Jeff chuckled with her, observing the sun lighting up her skin. “I can do that.”
“Two minutes, ladies!” Cynthia called impatiently.
“When?” Jeff demanded, unconsciously leaning closer. “In the morning?”
Crista denied him regretfully. “I’m on duty or have classes for the next 12 hours. Dinner would work better.”
Jeff caught sight of Zack’s stunned face. “What will you tell him?”
Crista smiled, taking his breath. Jeff barely heard her answer.
“Nothing. I belong to me.”
7
“I want three teams sent out the day after tomorrow. We have to have everything on these lists.” Angela handed Kenn the paper. “Let Marc know who you pick to go on which run. He has final approval.”
Kenn put the paper into his book and added a note. “Are you okay? You look…”
“Rough?” Angela supplied tiredly.
“I’m only asking because that strip of gray in your hair is almost white. It’s so bright you look like you have a glow ring on.”
Angela sighed. “That explains why they were all staring at me, but I can’t worry about it now. You’ll take care of the supplies? We can’t win without the things on those lists.”
Kenn patted his notebook. “I’ve got it covered. We’ll bring in camp labor and teach them to protect us while we gather what we need. It’ll make them feel important.”
They are important, Angela thought, but didn’t correct the Marine. He was only capable of so much change at one time, as were they all, and he’d given her a confirmation of her plan without realizing it.
“Get the kids ready for a lesson tomorrow. I want them to spend time with the ants again.”
Kenn didn’t think Marc would protest like he had a little while ago. After everything else they were risking, it was little by comparison. The kids were in the training tent now, busy working. They’d begun with the odd instructions of ways to make friends with the ants so they could be trained, and the kids hadn’t stopped yet.
Marc had come up with a brilliant way of feeding the ants and training them to stay on the west side of Safe Haven’s perimeter. It kept them from losing tires to rugged ant holes, but more, it gave them a warning on that side of the sprawling camp. The ants were becoming more and more vocal with each passing day. Whenever there was a problem, the guards knew. Marc was able to keep them in one area by having the garbage dumped there. It gave the ants exactly what they wanted, and when there wasn’t much garbage, the Eagles went to a nearby town and dug some up.
The Jr. Eagle lesson time had been up for a while. Occasionally a guard would peek inside to make sure everything was okay or to deliver a snack. Some of the senior men realized Angela was keeping them occupied, but a few of the smarter among the camp also thought she was using them at the same time. It’s what Adrian would do and some of Safe Haven’s Eagles had recognized that pattern.
“We found prints,” Daryl stated, talking to Angela nearby. “We know where they’re hiding.”
Angela’s voice was eerie. “Justice will come to them through other means.”
“But the camp...”
“Will get to witness it,” Angela predicted, turning around.
Marc was standing behind her, waiting in the shadows until she was ready to be confronted, and Angela heaved a sigh of relief. It could be over now.
Marc, seeing firsthand how smart she really was, had already concluded that she was dangerous. Until today, however, he still hadn’t been able to see her as a monster in any way. That had changed.
She motioned the others back and went to him.
“Why didn’t you tell me you’d already seen this coming?” he asked.
“Because there was a plan on the list that I didn’t show to anyone. It’s the plan I decided to go with.”
“What?”
Angela pulled up the exact words she’d written. “Option E. Force one showdown that requires the enemy to stock up and call in men before they can attack. Make them scared and jumpy along the way, wear them down and then wipe them out. Their numbers will be decimated, camp morale will soar, fighters will come in, and Safe Haven will be free to live and grow as we please.”
“Not many men here could lead a team to do all that,” Marc stated slowly, mind placing clues.
Angela’s hands clenched into fists. “You could.”
Marc realized all at once that he’d been toughened up for this moment, that she’d planned it all.
“Why would you do that?” Marc demanded. “Why would you turn me into a killer of women?”
“She was concerned that there was only Kenn to handle such a threat,” Kyle interrupted. “I learned to get over my own revulsion to fill a slot on that doomed team, but only two Eagles who can do it? It’s only enough if…”
“Those men are lethal,” Marc finished. She’d done it on purpose, to tempt him into giving into his harsher nature.
Wake up! his demon growled. She did it to expose me. She wants me to kill for her.
“You’re a bad-ass Marc, one of the few true dangerous men still alive. She did it because Safe Haven needs you.”
“It’s done now, either way,” Angela stated coldly. “And I suggest we inspect it from their side.”
Kenn did just that. “It’s been seven long months for them, too. One bunker may hold enough food and water to sustain a large population, but I’d bet they were overcapacity with all those draftees and their family members slipping in and out. The food is running low, fights are starting, and those in charge know they’ll lose control unless topside is reclaimed. So they sent out a couple patrols to recon whatever they could find.”
“And what they found, was Adrian.”
“Yes. They heard the calls the same as the others out in this apocalyptic nightmare. They knew the Major was waiting for him, so it didn’t make sense to waste men and supplies chasing him down.”
“But he escaped. They probably already knew that from the Major’s silence. They could stay to their side, but they won’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because they need our gifts, but also because I challenged them,” Angela answered defiantly. “I drew a line in the sand and dared them to cross it.”
“Why?” Marc demanded.
Zack and the other Eagles waited for her to blow him off or blame something else, but Angela didn’t. All the lies would be cleared.
“Everyone assumed the troops would come for Adrian as soon as they discovered the Major’s death. I assumed the opposite. And if they didn’t come immediately, what would they do?”
Kenn answered, “Stock up and get ready.”
“Exactly. Adrian’s has been training me as a…well, a contingency analyst, I suppose. I examine the other side of the theory and on this one, I saw them coming for us right as we settled into the mountains for winter.”
Angela sent the image of a crippling explosion through the tent, the one from her dreams. “We would have lost almost everyone. I had to stop that, anyway I could.”
“What did you do, Angie?”
She met Marc’s eye without guilt showing, but inside, there was enough to drown her. “I gave up two of Safe Haven’s useless members and a few of the cowards who will slip off into the night while we prepare. I triggered the fight.”
“You did what?”
“I gave them Mitch and Matt,” Angela repeated tonelessly. “And I manipulated you into helping.”
“Yes, you did.”
Angela sighed grimly, but didn’t apologize. “Matt was going to hit us, either way. I delayed that hit, and then used it for our greater good.”
“What?”
“An attack, Brady, like with the balloon fumes. He was going to try to kill us all, including himself. The only way I could have stopped it was to have him removed.”
“And you couldn’t do that.”
“No. He had to prove the future. I had to know for sure that he was such a threat. When I understood he wasn’t going to be changed, I made plans based around it.
“And Mitch?”
“He was never going to quit, Marc. We delayed it so that Matt wouldn’t be alone in the end,” she explained.
“You set it all up!”
“Yes. I chose to sacrifice them to keep the camp alive and strong.”
“But they’re coming in force now, Angie!” Marc argued lowly. “Matt told them we were gearing up for a war and they’re coming in force to wipe us out. What have you done?”
“I gave us a chance,” she stated harshly. “We’ll get one shot where there wasn’t any before.”
“They’ll come in force,” he repeated.
“Yes, instead of tormenting us for the next decade or trapping us in the mountains when we’re unprepared. One fight for our freedom, one long, bloody battle instead of hundreds.”
There was silence for a moment where all of them realized she was right.
“What matters, is how they’ll come. Air or ground?”
Marc’s military mind was dragged into that against his will. He sighed heavily. “Give me a minute.”
Marc went to the far corner of the tent, staring at a corner in concentration, and Angela breathed a small sigh of relief. She’d expected this scene to be worse, but none of it mattered if he gave the wrong answer.
8
When Marc started to speak, all low conversations stopped.
“With all the extra bodies from the draft, they would have been short on space, which means short on standard equipment. Planes and tanks outside, under canopies. Those are now useless due to looting, weather, fuel and parts shortages. A full battalion after they hear Matt’s details on the Eagles and people here…”
Marc turned to the tense faces.
“Ground. They can’t transport that many men to an unsecured airstrip. Too much gas and too many unknown factors. Those planes are notorious for not being dependable. They’ll roll down 25 and take 40 straight in.”
Angela allowed herself to breathe. “Then we’ve got a chance to win. If they come by air, we lose unless we go underground and that will change Safe Haven in ways we can’t imagine.”
Marc stared at her for a long minute, judging, putting pieces together. When he finally spoke, it rang through the tent.
“I want Adrian’s approval on all of this.”
Angela sucked in a wounded breath. “Adrian’s out of the loop now. He can’t know our strategy. He plans to give himself up when they come, to save the rest of us.”
“He should!” Marc swore angrily.
“But it won’t save us,” Angela insisted. “What happens to the rest of the herd when one cow is diagnosed with a dangerous disease?”
Marc refused to give that answer.
“They would have killed everyone here. By letting Matt give them details, I’ve changed the rules of this game. They won’t try to kill us in one hit.”
“They’ll want to protect what they’re coming for,” Kenn guessed. “They may even try to negotiate.”
“Which is why you have to let me give myself up.”
Adrian limped into the meeting tent amid the protests.
Kenn went to his side, automatically shoving his shoulder under Adrian’s arm for support.
“What’s the benefit?” Angela asked, drawing more protests. She had no intentions of it, but their leader needed to feel like he’d done everything he could before the dying started.
“I can buy you time,” he stated, only looking at Angela. “And maybe I can even get close enough to throw their entire chain of command into disarray.”
“So you want to be our assassin?” She asked coolly.
“That and more,” Adrian confided. “And I’m not on a suicide trip. You’ve made sure it won’t work.”
“Yes, I have,” Angela responded vehemently. “I won’t give you up!”
Adrian’s eyes lit with need.
“Son of a...” Marc swore.
The Eagles shifted restlessly.
“Is this a bad time?”
They all turned to find Theo in the flap.
Angela sighed. “Come in. We can use the break.”
Theo held the flap for the others and the five men gathered in front of Angela, each with a folder in hand.
“We came up with a few things,” Theo explained. “We didn’t know if you might want to go over them before you finalize your plans.”
Nowhere near that, Angela waved a hand. “Let’s see it.”
“It’s more of a demonstration, but we didn’t think you’d want that type of noise right now.” He opened his folder and held out a paper. “How do you feel about using solar weapons?”
Angela studied the diagram eagerly, able to keep up with most of the scribbled notes thanks to Adrian’s training. She tilted the paper, noting the value and the downside. It was…
“Good. What else?”
Theo and his group spent time on the folders, but only gave her the details she needed the most. When they left the tent, all five were in Marc’s possession.
Angela glanced around the tent, feeling the power, the magic coming to her, to them all. “It will take them a month to reach us on their own, but we have to double that. If we’re working on them the entire time, that can happen. I want teams set up along their routes, waiting.”
“Like traps?”
“Like ghosts,” Marc interrupted, admiring her plan even as he hated it. “They leave the bunker with a thousand, but are minus hundreds by the time they get here.”
“And you can do that by yourself, can’t you Marine?” Angela demanded ruthlessly.
Marc frowned deeper, mind already a queasy blur of how. “Yes. Maybe half of them, if I had enough help.”
“That’s what we need, Marc. Half, by the time they reach the base or it won’t matter.”
Marc stared at her, holding his emotions in check. “I’ll handle it. Personally.”
Angela waved a hand at her top men as tears came to prick her lids. “The Eagles are at your disposal. Pick a team.”
She stared at him until he vanished from sight, then turned toward the main camp. American Waves was currently soothing people to sleep, Kevin’s calm voice reading them the bedtime story she’d chosen, and Angela paused to listen to one of her favorite parts.
“But I’m hungry, Mother. I really am.”
Soft chuckles floated through the camp and Angela continued on her rounds. One Hundred and One Dalmatians was amusing, easy going, but when the whirlwinds started, it would almost be a guide. It was yet another of Adrian’s techniques that she was using to manipulate them into the right places–movies and literature–but she was already sure it wouldn’t be enough. They needed a real miracle, the kind that was beyond even the descendants.
9
As Kevin continued reading, Angela went into the training tent for a few minutes alone to think. When he finished for the night, a call had to go out and she wasn’t anticipating an easy time of it.
“Neither am I.”
Angela jumped, but stopped herself from drawing. “What are you doing here?”
Adrian didn’t answer.
Angela spotted the table and chairs, the cooler and kit, and understood Kenn had moved Adrian here while they settled the camp.
Adrian took a small box from his pocket and set it on the table. “This is yours.”
Angela reluctantly took the chair across from him. Time alone with Adrian was dangerous right now. That awful, selfish part of her female heart was already asking what would happen if Marc didn’t return. Angela hated herself for it, but couldn’t stop her eyes from going to Adrian. Guilt flooded, hot and heavy and she snatched the box from the table.
Angela opened it and yanked the chain out. When she realized it was her own set of dog tags, inscribed, the emotion was almost palpable.
Adrian didn’t break it, instead, allowing the heat to build. It was the time he’d been waiting for and hoping wouldn’t come.
Angela stared at the tags, at the name and rank details. The dog tags meant more to her than if he’d given her a medal.
“Thank you.”
Adrian was on his feet and behind her in an instant. He took the tags and carefully slid them over. “You’re doing well.”
Angela closed her lids as he placed a kiss to the top of her head. “It hurts.”
Adrian stroked her soft curls, feeding, drawing. “I know. I gave you a hard duty. You’re handling it.”
Angela let the tears slip, but only a few of them. The feel of Adrian’s warmth on her skin was stunning in its perfection.
Adrian felt her shudder, hardened. “I meant it when I said I wasn’t hiding anymore. You should send me away from here before I wreck it all.”
Angela trembled with the stress, the fear, the anger. None of this was right.
“No, but it’s what we’ve been given,” Adrian whispered, reaching out to touch her skin. “It’s what you’ve been given.”
Angela pulled away, resisting his draw. “Marc was who I asked for, who came when I needed him. He’ll always be first.”
Adrian groaned bitterly. “It doesn’t matter to me anymore. Sharing, splitting you two up, my death. One of those has to happen for there to be any peace. The easiest is to remove me.”
Angela couldn’t stand the thought. “I could make you hate me, maybe…”
Adrian snorted. “Not unless you turn into Tonya and even she came around in this light. It wouldn’t work.”
“I could tell Marc and the Eagles.”
Adrian snorted. “They know. They’ve always known.”
Outside the tent, Kenn paused at their voices. Realizing who was inside, the Marine thought of his plans to help Adrian and took up a nearby post to direct people away.
“What do you want from me?”
Angela’s question was met with silence as the conversation became mental to account for their audience. Angela hadn’t noticed yet, but Adrian had.
I can’t give that.
Send me away.
I won’t do that...
I can make you, Adrian warned.
Yes, but not without tearing this camp apart. You have to take it.
Adrian grabbed Angela’s arm and pulled her up from the chair. He stopped himself from kissing her by mere inches.
Angela stared into his blazing eyes, hating him for forcing her to accept these feelings, for the witch whispering that his kiss would be like nothing she’d ever felt.
“You need me. They all know that, too.”
Angela wanted to deny the claim and jerked out of his hold. She stomped toward the flap, determined to hold out, to remain loyal to Marc.
“Get to the com truck and make the call. Kevin’s waiting.”
“No.”
Angela stopped, turning angrily. “What?”
Adrian flipped a thumb at the portable radio on the table. “I’ll do it from here.”
Angela understood how Adrian felt. She’d spent a decade pining for the one she loved. It was awful and ugly, but life did go on. So would Adrian.
“You think so?” he asked, picking up the mic, turning the system on.
He’d never felt this way before and for their kind, to be denied what they were craving so strongly was dangerous. It sent them into a number of emotional states, and all of them were hard to handle. Normally a substitute was found. Humans almost always reacted that way, but Adrian hadn’t found one that would satisfy him.
She’s coming, the witch whispered suddenly. The island woman is near.
Angela couldn’t control the waves of jealousy, but she did keep the information to herself when she realized Adrian hadn’t caught it.
“Make the call.”
Adrian keyed the mic in misery. He hated the order, even though it had been pulled straight from his notebooks.
“This is Safe Haven refugee camp. We are closing to new arrivals, due to the upcoming battle for our freedom. The government has crawled from its hole and demanded we surrender ourselves. We’ve refused. Go to ground for a while, my friends, and listen for our calls to resume.”
Adrian paused to gather the magic, to send out those powerful waves. “If you can fight, if you want to learn to fight, if you just want help take care of those who do the fighting, please, we need you… I need you.”
Angela found herself leaning closer, unable to fight the pull of so much power.
“Come stand with me,” Adrian seduced. “I’ll fight to the death for our country, and for our freedom–for you.”
Angela saw her hand rise toward his face.
Adrian’s eyes locked onto hers, drawing the desire, but also the duty.
“We have survived for this moment in time. The future of everyone rests with this battle. If we fall, they’ll hunt down everyone else.”
Adrian leaned back when Angela’s hand would have touched his jaw, fighting his own battles.
“In five days, Safe Haven’s walls will go up. If you want to be with us, get here before then. This is Where We Stand, America, or where we fall.”
Adrian hung up the radio and strange voices lit up the night.
“We’re coming in! Don’t shoot.”
“We’re still on the way.”
“I’ll be there in time!”
“You can send people to us until it’s over.”
The waves became garbled from all the offers of help and support, and tears ran down Angela’s face. Some were from the magic, from the power of experiencing it in person, but most of it was remorse. He’d broken her with just one call. If he took her into his arms right now, she would betray Marc and herself.
Adrian stood up, wanting, needing, feeling her surrender.
“Get out of here!”
Angela fled.
10
Angela climbed into the camper with a sad heart. Fate had decreed one to live and one to die. The tiny infant in the incubator wouldn’t have long. The glowing and growing baby in its mother lap would thrive. Which one was evil?
Angela held her arms out.
The young mother immediately flinched back.
Kyle took in Angela’s calm face and gently pried the baby from Jennifer’s terrified arms. “We can trust her. I promise.”
Angela braced for what she might find.
Kyle put the baby into Angela’s embrace, but couldn’t make himself step away. The urge to protect was already driving his reactions.
Angela turned her back to the nervous parents and gawked at Safe Haven’s first successful birth. For all they knew, it may even be the first live birth of the new world.
She saw the problem right away. The baby was perfect. Angela took in the shining skin, the glow of being freshly fed and cared for, and that wonderful scent that clean babies give off, but it was those red orbs she lingered on. This baby was one of them, no doubt there, and it already had their draw.
“Name?”
Kyle answered, sounding angry. “She said we’re not allowed to give one yet.”
Angela gave her approval, saying, “Wise to start off that way. You’ll talk to Adrian about it?”
“Yes, tonight.”
Angela smiled at the baby and was rewarded by a feeling of peace and calm. She let the mother inside come forward and hugged the infant close. “Welcome to Safe Haven, baby. May it become your home.”
Angela handed the newborn to Kyle and took Jennifer’s hand. She didn’t say anything, but the girl stiffened.
Kyle understood they were talking and reluctantly took the baby to the rocker. He had a good idea of what Angela was telling Jennifer. It was the same thing he’d been unable to force out right after the second baby came.
“I already know. I saw it during the delivery.”
Angela patted her hand. “You’ll have one. It is better than nothing.”
Jennifer didn’t care for Angela’s past and pain, only her future. “Can’t you do anything?”
“They were both supposed to die. I’ve saved one and have been banned from interfering with the other. I’d hoped it would be…quicker.”
Jennifer began crying and Angela let Kyle through. He didn’t scold, but she felt his anguish. Their pain was heavy and Angela asked again.
What would it take?
The witch tried to answer with compassion. Death surrounds one, while life flourishes in the other. This is the nature of our existence.
And if I do it anyway? Arrange for someone to help?
You’ll be damned for interfering with fate too many times. You’d have to give up this camp.
I won’t ever do that.
Angela left the camper without looking at the doomed infant in the incubator.
“What? What did she see?”
Angela didn’t pause to listen to Kyle telling more lies to the teenager. It likely wouldn’t be the last that he uttered.
“Kyle?”
Kyle viewed Jennifer with a blank expression. “This is the good one. Relax, breathe.”
Jennifer couldn’t trust him. She knew that in her heart without any voices whispering, but it didn’t matter. She needed to believe the baby was good, because if it wasn’t, the Eagles would kill it. She’d already heard the rumors and threats. She was sure Kyle had, too, which gave him another reason to lie.
Jennifer glared, picking out the flaring nostril and the pulse pounding in his jaw. He is lying. He doesn’t know what she saw.
Jennifer sighed and the sound of her misery nearly broke Kyle. She’d refused to talk after John stopped her labor the last time, saying they would handle it after the babies came. Now, the peacefully sleeping infant in Jennifer’s arms was the only thing holding her here and he knew it. Once the baby was a bit older, when she knew how to care for it, Jennifer would leave Safe Haven.
“Will you tell me before you run? Let me say goodbye?”
Jennifer gasped in surprise. “How do you know that?!”
Kyle sank down in the chair by the bed, crushed at having his suspicions confirmed. She was leaving.
Jennifer took in his immediate depression, but didn’t pick up any anger. He’d expected it, then.
“Please, Jenny.”
“No.”
Kyle didn’t react. The moment he’d dreaded would come in the next few weeks. Would he be able to let her go, not track her down?
Kyle stood up, unsure of his control now. He wanted to beg her forgiveness, try to explain, plead with her to stay. He did none of those things, only stared at his happy family as if they were locked behind a glass that he didn’t have the key to open.
He forced himself to speak. “I’ll pack your kit, make sure you have a reliable vehicle, some gear.”
He saw her surprise and her mistrust, and turned from the tent. “You won’t have to sneak out. The guards will let you go. Angela will tell them to.”
Kyle was out of the camper before Jennifer could respond. As he went, gently closing the door, he heard her burst into thick, painful sobs. Why was she crying like that when he was the one dying inside?
12
“You okay?”
Jennifer wiped at her face. “Fine.”
Conner dropped into the chair by her bed. “Liar.”
Jennifer scowled. “Not now, Conner.”
The teenager stared at her with his father’s insight. “You love him. That’s why you’re leaving.”
Jennifer’s mouth dropped open in anger. “Stay out of my mind, Conner Mitchel, or I’ll tell on you!”
Conner wasn’t worried, though he wasn’t ready for anyone to know his secrets yet. “If you leave, I go back to only having one friend here. That would suck.”
Jennifer tried not to relent. “Bull. The entire camp is your friend.”
Conner pushed out a bit of magic. “Not like you are.”
Jennifer snorted. “Save it for that camp whore you drool after.”
Conner flushed, but didn’t deny it. “Okay.”
Jennifer giggled. Conner was nice to be around. He didn’t carry enough of Safe Haven’s stress to be brought down all the time.
“That’s a little better,” Conner stated. “How’s the kid?”
Jennifer’s smile could have lit up a dead city. “Perfect.”
Conner rolled his eyes. “Good.”
Jennifer opened her mouth to ask a question, then closed it. She wasn’t sure she could take the answer.
Conner, who’d come at Adrian’s request, put his hand on her wrist. “I need to show you something. It’s not good or bad. It’s just the way it was. You ready?”
Jennifer had stiffened upon the contact, and she braced herself, instinctively putting her hand on her much flatter stomach. “Go on.”
Conner sent her an image he’d pulled from Kyle. “This is how he felt.”
Jennifer hissed in rage at the bodies moving apart and Conner forced her to observe the ending, the instant remorse of the mobster. As his relief source vanished into the shadow, Kyle hit his knees, crying.
Conner let go of that image and brought up a new one. This was Kyle refusing to be comforted again. The women had flocked to him after he’d broken with Tracy and Kyle had refused them all.
“He won’t tell you. He thinks that even one stumble was too much.”
“It is!” Jennifer snapped angrily, jealously, miserably. “I…I thought I could trust him!”
“Don’t you understand, Jenny? You can. What he did proves it.”
Jennifer glared until his meaning sank in. “You think he was going to hurt me.”
“So do you,” Conner confirmed. “So did he. That’s why it happened.”
Conner’s voice lowered into self-hatred that Jennifer recognized.
“We pull people in hard ways. When it’s physical, things can get dangerous. You learned that the hard way, but Kyle refused to give in. He went to a whore because he wouldn’t hurt you.”
Jennifer didn’t want to hear anymore. “He could have waited for me!”
Conner denied her again. “Not a man like that. He was a killer before, and then my dad taught him to be ruthless, to take what he needs or wants.” Conner got to the point. “He loves you, too.”
“I don’t love him!” she snapped, forced into feeling Kyle’s side. She’d refused to do so before.
“Yes, you do, and if you’ll give him time to prove it, you couldn’t pick a better man.”
“How can that be?” Jennifer demanded. “You just said he’s a killer.”
“Your killer, Jenny. Is there anything he wouldn’t do for you?”
“No,” Jennifer reluctantly agreed.
“Then put a claim on him, tell him your terms, and see where it goes from there. He’s not like Cesar. You know that.”
Conner left her alone to think, hoping he’d helped. If Kyle left Safe Haven, they might fall. The mobster was an invaluable asset that would only improve over time if he wasn’t destroyed by losing the only thing he wanted. That was all up to Jennifer now.