Adrian's Eagles: Book Four (Life After War) (49 page)

“Among other things. Tell me about the people. I’ll send a team for them.”

“We met them right before Kenn found us. They have our predator problem, too.”

Angela told him the story quickly. “If Marc had been alone, she wouldn’t have helped him, but she was fair. Even gave us the supplies we traded for, trusted us to leave our part of it where we said it would be.”

It was no coincidence, them being so close to where Kevin said the den was
, he thought. Fate was providing another opportunity.

“I might be able to convince her to come back with us.”

Adrian was quiet, considering. No one would like it, but she was an Eagle and a member of Kyle’s team. The Slavers were at their old site, still on the far side of the Cheyenne River. It would be at least a week before the Mexicans could get back to the state line, no matter what route they took. More than enough time for a quick team to roll in, wipe out a wolf den and evacuate any nearby survivors. Still, it was a risk. He would have a… talk with Dog about his assumptions.

He heard her sigh resignedly, ready to accept the “no” she expected and he felt his plans shift again. She wanted more and he would give it to her.

“Okay. I’ll tell Kyle, you tell Brady.”

Angela was surprised into a challenge of his honesty. “And Kenn?”

“Will be taught to handle it.”

Realizing he meant it, she smiled, lighting up the cabin with happiness. Her first overnight mission. She frowned. Wasn’t he afraid she would be in danger?

“Terrified.”

Angela liked the connection that sometimes allowed him to pick up her thoughts, like with Brady, but the honesty meant more. “Maybe they gave up.”

Adrian slid his sunglasses into place. “Maybe.”

“But you don’t believe that?”

He shook his head. “No, be careful. We need you with us.”

She glanced toward the long line of people behind them, heart warming. “I need to be here. It’s where I belong now.”

“How’s the training going?”

She didn’t whine. “Okay.”

Adrian wanted more details, but didn’t push. Instead, he listened and could hear her thinking about how hard it was to train with all the eyes on her.

“Thank you, for adding me to the tests,” she said quickly, not wanting him to know it was really only one set of eyes that bothered her. She used to be so comfortable with Marc around…

“
Uhuh
.” Adrian grunted. No one knew yet. Even the Eagles wouldn’t be told until the last minute. Which was good, because he didn’t have it all worked out yet.

Angela didn’t tell him she didn’t either, but at least there was a bare plan in her mind. When they settled for the night, she would attend the ‘leaders only’ meeting and get thing rolling.

She started to ask if Kenn would be told she was taking the level test, but they were both stunned into silence at the horror coming into view.

The schoolhouse was small and old, clearly unused even before the War. It was two-storied, with thin trees and high grass, surrounded by open land… and birds. Big black crows, feasting on bodies. Hundreds of the flying carnivores flew around the area, fighting, falling.
The remains are drying up,
Angela thought, failing to get an accurate estimate as the crows changed position rapidly

“Convoy halt.”

Angela jumped at the call, and was glad when Adrian hit the private communication button on his belt. “There are tracks up here. Four, fall back and search for survivors.”

“Copy.”

Angela spotted the deep skid marks in the muddy weeds as Adrian picked up the main mic again. “Radio silence is over. Get my waves rolling, Mitch, now.”

5

Adrian had them make camp just after their normal time for evening Mess, aware that people hadn’t adjusted to the new hours yet. By making their departure time later here and there, they would spend more daylight hours aware of their surroundings and less night time when they could be attacked without warning… like with the wild dogs that he now suspected were responsible for the death-scene they’d rolled quickly by. Those four-legged creatures were a threat they couldn’t see coming.

That thought had him sweeping for Angela’s shadow as she opened the door. Anything might lurk in all those stalks. “Wait.”

“He’s right here.”

Adrian nodded tiredly. “See you later.”

Angela swallowed an automatic response, frowning at herself. “I’ll be in the training tent after the Leader’s meeting. I’ve got a game calling for me.”

Adrian chuckled, sensing a wall of determination slowly gliding into place. “You’ve done your work. Now it’s time to play?”

Angela ignored the part of her heart that didn’t want to leave his side yet. “Sort of. It’s also a workout for my patience. Kenn’s still got that damn high score and I want it!”

Adrian laughed as she and Seth moved into the slowly forming camp. They hadn’t spoken much beyond the obvious things they’d seen and it had been peaceful. It had also been torture, strictly keeping his eyes off the skin showing from under that black tank top. He saw Kenn getting out of his Bronco with a gunnysack, Zack emerging from the passenger seat with folders. The Marine would put the photos in his tent later and Adrian was dreading them, yet dying to know what his enemy looked like up-close.

Because of her injury, Angela wasn’t supposed to be taking her level test this time around, even if she were a man. But the public schedule just posted said she was indeed going to, and word had already traveled Safe Haven. The Eagles were more than upset.

They stood in small clusters, smoking and watching her steps with angry eyes. Their thoughts were full of fear, worried over who would be sacrificed so she could play games with Adrian. Angela’s pride had her head up. After tonight, they’d see her differently.

As soon as the camp was settled in, Angela headed for the training tent, for the meeting she wasn’t allowed to attend. It was the top Eagles, all in one place, and she wanted to talk to them.

When she got to the large tent, the team leaders and their backups were currently arguing over who would give her the cage match. They were pissed at finding out from the sheet, but not at Adrian for withholding the information. At Kenn and Brady, who they saw as the reason the blond had to lie about it. Angela couldn’t argue. The camp wasn’t showing any signs of concern, only her Marines were.

“There’s no way, not against any of us!”

“She’d get hurt.”

“One hit and she’ll be done.”

“And then one of us will be gone, ‘cause the camp won’t let that fly.”

“Maybe you’re all underestimating her.”

Kenn was surprised to hear Kyle defend the idea. He’d been quiet so far, listening eagerly, but now he snorted. “You really think she could last in the cage with me?”

Kyle’s cold voice said what all of them were thinking. “She survived you beating on her for years. Who knows your weaknesses better?”

Kenn was in Kyle’s face a second later and everyone in the training area stilled.

“You should be careful!” Kenn growled at the tanned man in hatred.

Kyle nodded, letting his own personal fury show. “And you should have been banished!”

“Stop it!”

Angela’s voice echoed through the tent, drawing everyone’s attention, including the two men about to start exchanging blows.
This has to stop now
, she thought, as an awkward silence fell. First, how to get rid of Kenn?

She shrugged out of the rookie jacket and tossed it at the Marine, who caught it on-the-fly. “You still want me to quit?”

The red-faced man was aware of the dirty looks going from her shoulder to him, and kept quiet.

“Well tough shit! Your wants don’t matter here anymore.”

Kenn’s face became ugly and he threw the jacket to the ground. “I’m already aware of that, you sneaking bitch!”

He pushed his way angrily through the men as Angela walked towards the center of the tent and slid onto the edge of the gun table.

“My joining has caused a split among Adrian’s Army. I told my team on the very first day that I’d bow out if it endangered his dreams and I meant it. If I have to resign to fix this, I will.”

“Adrian wants you right where you are,” Seth stated firmly.

“It’s causing fights and I won’t be the reason his plans fall.” She paused, encouraged that they seemed willing to listen. Even Zack was keeping his mouth shut.

“The women here want this too. They’ve come to me already, given their support. They’ll follow me in and I know that’s another part of what holds you back. I understand better than you might think, but let me ask you something. Did you really and truly
like
the women of the old world? Didn’t you get tired of being the reason everything was wrong, carrying all the weight? It doesn’t have to be that way now. We can share it. All you have to do is teach us.”

She saw Jeremy start to protest, but stop and shook her head. “Please don’t hold back. I prefer blunt honesty over political correctness. It saves time.”

The Eagle grunted. “Most of us don’t think you should have to. Men are the protectors here and that’s the way it should have been all along. Might have been part of what was wrong before.”

“I agree.” She surprised them. “Most females would still want their old lives back, but for some of us… the War unlocked prison doors. The women who came out are a new generation, searching for where we belong.”

Jeremy didn’t betray himself this time, but she read it anyway. “I know. You don’t think a woman, especially one who looks like me, can take the hard choices, constant training, and nasty battles, right?”

There were nods, some reluctant, some not, and Angela smiled. “That’s why I’m here. I’m hoping to make a deal.”

“What sort of deal?” Chris asked warily. “We won’t steal Adrian’s thunder.”

“And I wouldn’t take it if you did,” she confirmed firmly. “If I fail the cage, I’ll resign. If I pass, I get treated like any other Eagle.”

There was silence for a shocked moment, and a face filling with worried anger that she would have to talk with privately. “Before the War, we were all something else. Now, we’re soldiers in Adrian’s Army and I want that place as much as any of you.”

“It’s about more than you, though,” Jeff spoke up and his neutral tone was something of a surprise to Zack. “If one of us hits you, we get banished and it won’t matter if it’s in the cage or during a workout.”

Angela came back fast. “That’s a law for camp members. I’m an Eagle.”

“The camp only sees that you’re female,” Zack pointed out snottily. “What happens if you draw Kenn’s name for the cage on a level test? He can’t make any exception by Eagle rules, but by camp law he’ll be banished.”

“Not if I kick his ass.”

There were disbelieving snorts from a lot of the men. They’d seen him take down Doug.

Angela didn’t back up her words with boasting. When her silence caused the smiles to fade, she went on. “If I had… teammates, who were willing to teach me, I’d have nothing to fear from him or any other man. And that, the camp would support completely.”

Angela added another layer of pros before any of them could give a con. “If they know a woman wants this life, they’ll let her have it because of Adrian’s rules, but only if she’s accepted.”

“You’ve already got Adrian’s support. You don’t need the Eagles.” A high-pitched voiced called out from the back, causing heads to turn, “Just do what I do and keep your head down.”

Angela’s hard eyes found the man in a back corner, alone, and ignored the Witch whispering for her to let it go. “You don’t get it, Ray. If I did like you, I wouldn’t have his support, and honestly, why are you still here, when they don’t want you either?”

The man flushed, hands coming up. “I want a place by his side, too. They have no right to deny me that!”

“They have every right. Your very presence in this tent tonight is a lie. You pretend to not be something that you are, so that you can keep being something you’ve been ashamed of your entire life. You hide from your team and from the camp. Even around Adrian you’re too close-off. With that kind of web around you, being hit on in the shower is the least of their worries. You have no trust with them and I won’t live my new life that way. For me, it’s all,
openly
, or nothing.”

The Level One Eagle wanted to argue, but moved for the door instead, muttering about female dogs under his breath.

Angela silently thanked Ray for his unknowing help. He might be Kevin’s right hand now, but the man would never be a true leader here until he stopped running from who he really was and he really wanted.

“I won’t be treated like that and stay anyway. If I lose the cage match, I’ll pull out.”

There was another silence and Seth raised a brow, hiding his grin. Damn she was good. “And what exactly do you mean by treated like one of the team? ‘Cause sometimes, that’ll be hard no matter how well you fight.”

“Let Adrian make those calls. It’ll be his choice then, like it should be anyway.”

She moved toward the flap, rotating her sore arm. It felt different with the stitches out. “You could even make it a semi-private match, so the camp doesn’t see this first one, only the Eagles. That way, whoever might hit me won’t get in trouble and I still get my chance to prove I belong in his army too.”