From The Ashes (Life After War) (32 page)

Angela was instantly intrigued. “Which one?”

The lowly spoken name was a shock, and Angela immediately left the tent.

Was he kidding?

Was he… right?

Damn.
Would Adrian be as surprised as she was by that name?

4

“
Will you give your approval?”

Adrian had been expecting it. “You've thought it through?”

“
Yes. She needs someone.”

“
To help or to have?”

“
In the old world, I would have never considered it.”

Kyle’s gaze remained steady, but Adrian wasn’t convinced. The mobster knew he was walking a fine line. “And yet, here you are, claiming an underage, pregnant stranger.”

Adrian’s angry comment demanded an answer. Kyle’s was defensive. “She pulls at me like no one I’ve ever met. She’s brave and strong, and she doesn’t deserve the treatment she’s getting. I promised her she’d be safe here.”

Kyle muttered softly. “But, mostly, because I
need
her.”

Adrian sank into the chair he’d first picked out in Vegas, the edges tattered and torn.
Like my heart
, he thought. They'd just come from the funeral. The service had been the same for the camp as it had been for the Eagles, only the crowd not as big. Many in the camp were still sleeping off the sinkhole interruption.

Lexa would have been an Eagle. He’d told her that once as she’d writhed beneath him in orgasm. Her quiet strength had drawn him repeatedly to her comfort. Of all his after-war women, she was the one he’d thought might make him a father again. He hadn’t loved her exactly, not like he could Angela if things were different, but he’d honestly wanted
her,
and that was more than Adrian could say of many of those brief relief moments.

Lexa might even have been carrying his child. John wouldn’t have put it in the report if she were. The elderly doctor had known, had sacrificed the medical tent to him once so that the crippling need could be eased. Lexa had been a safety net that Adrian had taken for granted. Had Nature singled her out because of him? The odds were high.

Adrian let Kyle off the hook, too consumed by grief to continue being a hard-ass. “It’s a good match. She’ll have your name and the protection that comes with it. And there won’t be
any
contact until she’s sixteen.”

Adrian wasn’t in a comfort-giving mood. In fact, he appeared to need some, and the mobster understood why. Losing two females that you were sleeping with was a hard blow for any man to take, let alone one who cared about life the way Adrian did. That was part of why Kyle had chosen to talk to him now–for the distraction.

Connie’s body had been found further down in the sinkhole, her red top visible once the sun rose. She’d been a distant member of the camp, one who hadn’t really wanted to be a part of it at all with her anti-social views. Kyle had only seen them together once, right after Angela joined, and he wondered now if it had been because of Connie’s long black hair and pale skin.

The mobster forced his mind to the issue at hand, thinking Adrian's 'tent' day would be full. “What do I say when they ask why?”

“
The truth. You want to be the father of her children–these and future.” Adrian held out his hand. “Congratulations.”

Kyle shook it, and also his head. “She hasn’t said yes.”

“
When do you plan to talk to her?” Kyle thought of her in his tent, secure with Dog at the flap. He had a quick rookie session to do and then he would spend the rest of his day with her. “Tonight or tomorrow.”

“
And you’ll explain? Expectations should be clear up front.”

“
I expect to marry her.”

“
And do you plan to sleep with her? ‘Cause if so, you need to make that clear during your talk. If not, she’ll assume you’ve made this offer to protect her from all men, including yourself.”

Kyle thought about it, starting to understand.

“
She’s been horribly abused. Right now, she probably thinks she’ll never want another man to touch her. Best tell her up front, give her time to get used to the idea. Otherwise, you’ll be able to say it’s your right as husband, but she’ll hate you for being tricked again.”

Kyle got it clearly this time. Adrian was right. He would be totally honest and tell her what he expected for their future. There would be a lot of time before, but unless she said no, it would happen, and the real start of it would come tonight, when he followed Charlie’s unknowing advice. The same age, Charlie had given him a glimpse into Jennifer’s possible thoughts that he hadn’t considered, a way to be sure she never forgot him. He’d said she and Dog got along so well, it was almost like he was her pup.
That's my way in.

Adrian saw the glaze of obsession. He’d have to make sure the mobster wasn’t a threat, and the feeling was ugly. It was a side of Kyle that he and no one else had suspected. The other small disturbances in his camp would slowly sort themselves out, but this one was just as dangerous as the Seth and Becky bomb waiting to hit. In fact, they were identical slugs from the same double barrel. Hopefully not to be shot yet, though. His herd was awfully twitchy.

Adrian knew he would have to do something about the jumpiness, something to soothe his people. He had the Eagles now including a ground-sweeping pattern during their rounds, but knew that wasn't nearly enough. He also needed to squash some rumors of magic in camp–these not coming from Angela helping Jennifer and John. The few who'd been in that tent weren't a problem, and he had no idea which of his wild cards was stepping out of line, only that it wasn't the elder ones.

Tap Tap Tap.

Adrian forced his mind to the coming lesson. He would worry about all of that after he spent a few minutes feeling male–feeling human. Being responsible for so much death was slowly eroding his faith.

“
Come in.”

5

“
These things that I’ve gone through, they’ve changed me in ways that are scary.”

Adrian studied her thoughtfully. The main lesson was over, but not finished. “You mean for the worse.”

“
Yes. I can be so cold now,” Angela confessed. “Is it supposed to be that way?”

“
It has to be that way. How else would you be able to make those hard calls that affect everyone’s lives?”

Angela was quiet, considering. She’d come up with that much on her own, but there was more to it, and she needed that.

Adrian knew. “No, it’s not morally correct. Nothing about being a leader is. You’ll lie to one in order to satisfy the other and buy time to make ends meet.”

She was horrified. “How the hell does that work?”

He shrugged, sweeping their quiet camp through the open flap. “It helps to have fate on your side.”

“
Do we?”

Adrian met her gaze. “
You
answer that.”

Angela laughed. “Not me, Bubba. Better ask the Witch.”

He chuckled.

They sat at his folding table, sharing a joint as the cool breeze rushed over hot skin. Angela understood her session wasn’t over when he nodded toward the bubble.

“
Seal us up.”

She did it awkwardly, bringing the shield over Safe Haven into a solid form. She let go of it as quickly, hoping the ever-growing camp hadn’t noticed.

Angela immediately felt his mood improve, and his stress level lower.

“
Why is that?”

Adrian shrugged, handing her the thick joint. “Sometimes I wake up at dawn and its right after the War. Except there's never any light–day doesn't come and I’m alone, trying to keep them all alive. The things you do drives those ghosts back.”

Angela understood, but was also sure it was more than that. “And maybe to prove you’re not crazy, that all of this is really happening?”

He flinched from her astute observation, and Angela smiled coldly. “Don’t ever let them know you have those kinds of doubts. You’d lose them.”

Adrian knew her warning to be a valid one, but instead of answering, he leaned back and closed his lids. “What am I thinking?”

“
The ocean is dangerous. Again.”

He looked at her curiously, and she shrugged, almost blushing. “I pick things up.”

“
You had to be searching to know that.”

“
Listening.”

“
To me?”

“
Like everyone else here,” she admitted nervously. “I just have an advantage.”

“
Okay.”

Angela stared in surprise. “You’re not mad? It’s an invasion of privacy.”

He shrugged again. “You’re not Tonya. Trusting you is easy.”

Unlike myself
, he thought. His mind these days was either on her or Arkansas. Both produced excited longing… and dread.

Angela was picking up many of his thoughts, aware that he would only allow her to be his comfort, his guidance, in matters that were personal. None of the others played this coveted role for him.

“
We could leave sooner instead of staying for a break, get there faster.”

Adrian sighed, sorry she was getting the negative from his thoughts. “I need a reason for the camp.”

She closed her eyes, concentrating on her lessons. What had Doug said about getting a large group of people to agree on something? Oh, yeah. Tell the truth, and if that doesn’t work–lie.

“
Tell them you saw carcasses with sores.”

“
Where?”

She pointed to a small thicket of brambles that they could see through the flap. “Rabbit.”

He stood up. “Come on. You can help with the rearranging on your way to handle Matt. We'll head out after the level tests are finished instead of staying the two other days.”

Angela sensed he wanted her close and got out her notebook, falling in on his right. “What’s first?”

“
You tell me.”

She concentrated. The camp. “We have to try to get them to
want
to go.”

“
Write it down. Word for word, Eagle. These people are tired of traveling. Extra travel has to be their idea. Unless it’s a crisis, don’t order them to do anything.”

Adrian kept talking, walking her through how to accomplish it, and Angela copied it tirelessly, obeying the instinct that said want it or not, she would have use of this later.

6

“
My mom wants to see you.”

Charlie had told him it would happen. The adults wanted the details now that they’d cooled off enough to stand hearing them.

By daylight, the sinkholes had swallowed their torches and grown to nearly the edge of the perimeter tape. Adrian had gotten them up and moving immediately. As they rolled by, cameras had snapped almost continuously, some from the camp and a few from the Eagles.

“
When?”

“
Now.”

Matt paled. This was where he found out his future in Safe Haven–if he had one.

Charlie hated the tension. “Try not to worry so much. She understands you have a drinking problem.”

“
I don’t have a…”

When Matt stopped, Charlie didn’t push.

“
What’s gonna happen?”

“
I hope you’ll be punished and cleared, but I don’t know. Your dad’s in trouble too.”

“
Yeah. I’m sleeping in the l-livestock truck again.”

“
Let’s not talk about it anymore, okay? Just tell her everything, and this will be over before you know it.”

Matt planned to do exactly that. There wasn’t anything else he could do.

“
What’s it like, to have a mom and d-dad again?”

Charlie swiped at hovering insects. “Different. I’ve never had both.”

“
But, Kenn…”

“
Was never my dad.”

Matt shrugged. He would have taken either of the men in Charlie’s life compared to his own. “What’s it like to have both?”

Charlie realized that was another thing Matt envied and tried not to get upset. He didn't want to fight now that they were talking again, but he’d also been on the other end enough to understand it was hard not to be jealous when you had so little hope for your own future. Adrian and the Eagles would change that for Matt, but he had to prove himself worthy first, otherwise they’d never give him the chance to atone.

“
It's cool. My dad trains me on the things she can’t do, and she covers my... gun classes.”

“
Sucks about her getting hurt.”

“
Yeah…”

Matt frowned. “I thought you were pissed.”

“
I was. I still am a little, but a lot of things are better now.”

Matt
wished he could say the same. “What type of training are you getting?”

“
Self-defense from my dad. Common sense stuff from my mom.”

“
Like what?”

“
Where’s the hidden object, figure out the right path–stuff where I have to add up the clues for an answer.”

“
Is she easy on you?”