From The Ashes (Life After War) (60 page)

In too much pain to pretend at that moment, Adrian grunted. “Yes, I did.”

Neil blanched. Another thing he’d kept from everyone.

“
Not everyone.”

Neil’s first thought came out of his mouth. “Why not me, boss?”

Adrian gave a slow, bitter smile. “That was the question I asked when those two flanked me through the dust storm, and you chose the Mess.”

Neil didn’t respond, locking down on his thoughts.

Adrian went back to his workout. “Is this a problem?”

“
No.”

Neil had accepted that Adrian was different a long time ago. It was the shock and embarrassment of discovering the leader had been reading their thoughts. That was how he was able to keep up.

Adrian quickly disabused him of the notion. “Her magic rubs off. I couldn’t do that before she came.”

Neil forced his mouth to work. “But you did, could do things?”

Adrian confirmed it. “My gifts are what I’ve always done, manipulate pieces into place. Before the War, it was used for government and personal purposes. Since then, it’s become a weapon to fight extinction.”

“
Who knows?”

Adrian’s face flashed sorrow. “Kyle, Seth, and the woman moaning in Brady’s arms right now.”

Neil was appeased. “We should keep it that way.”

“
Yes.”

There was a minute of silence, as Neil tried to figure out what he could offer in place of what Adrian was hurting over.

“
Do you… can you talk to me about it? Or Kyle?”

Adrian knew what he meant and shrugged. “When it boils, I may. All good right now.”

Neil understood the blond was still fighting and took hope from it. As long as he was strong enough to do the right thing, it might all work out okay.

The trooper left the hay room with a censored version of an explanation and a lighter heart. He wasn’t as upset over the love triangle thing now, despite knowing how badly it could go.

13

“
Recon team's on the way back, Boss,” Kevin called over the radio.

Marc woke instantly, looking down at Angela's sleeping form. She was curled on his chest, hands tight in his shirt so if he moved, she would know.

“
That means as much as the way she calls for you in her sleep,”
the inner man stated.
“Stop pushing now, or you'll force them together.”

Marc knew that to be good advice. He would try to act like nothing had changed.

“
So will he,” Angela stated sleepily, glad Marc had calmed down, “but it doesn't matter either way.”

She slowly sat up, locking eyes with him. “I'll say this once, Marc. Please listen.”

Marc nodded, expecting to hear a promise of fidelity.

“
I miss my baby.”

Angela didn't add anything, just let him put it together. It was an endless ache that she hadn't shared with anyone.

Marc's heart broke for the pain in her eyes, even as that inner voice said this was another clever distraction technique.

Angela snorted harshly. “That was earlier, Brady. This is real.”

Her eyes misted. “When we settle down and it's safe enough, will you...”

Marc was kissing her before she could finish the plea.

14

There was a group of camp members lingering around the QZ when the rookie recon team pulled in and more than a full team of Eagles, off duty, finding make-work nearby. Everyone wanted to see how Kenn had done with the females. The training session and classes were going awful–fighting, flirting, and repeated explanations taking most of the time. After Kenn’s words to the Eagles about it getting better, they were eager to see how the Marine had handled eight of them alone.

Angela and Adrian also needed that information. They were standing together with beers, watching as the excursion pulled into the QZ parking area. Behind them, Brady stood in the shadows, sweeping with his mental grid. Kyle lingered nearby, eyes on Adrian.

“
Welcome back,” Kevin greeted them on the radio.

The truck lights flashed in response, but when no oral answer came, the Eagles on duty moved closer. That wasn't Kenn's usual MO.

Angela also took a few steps forward.

The doors on the Excursion opened, and the females began filing out. They all headed to the rear in a hurry, and those watching observed eagerly. The women weren't fighting or even talking. They were... pulling a gurney from the rear.

Angela stopped Adrian from moving that way. “Hang on.”

They watched the females take up places around the gurney and heft it into the air. From the way it tilted dangerously, it was obvious that Kenn was on it. The women struggled to keep it balanced, Becky and Tracy directing the other six toward the medical camper.

Eagles rushed forward to help.

“
Let them be!”

Angela's shout froze the men who were only obeying centuries of training. They looked to her in confusion as the women hauled Kenn's unconscious body into the camper without dumping him out of the gurney.

Angela ignored their silent requests for clarification. They didn't need her to tell them what Adrian had been trying to teach them all along. Instead, she moved toward her rookies with a pleased smile that she made sure they each felt as they came back out of the camper.

“
Who has my sitrep?” she asked as they gathered around her.

Adrian grinned. He hadn't been sure about how she was handling them–he had let Kyle inside a lot more than she was doing with any of these women–but female Eagles would have to be handled differently in some area. He was coming to realize that through watching their reactions to her aloofness. It got results.

Angela motioned toward the mini Mess when none of them answered. “After each run, you'll meet me for a sitrep. Eventually, my XO will perform that honor.”

“
When do you want us there?” Sam asked quietly.

“
Ten minutes. And the first thing I'm going to want to know is what happened to your team leader.”

There was a round of uneasy, guilty looks exchanged among the eight females.

Angela raised a brow. “Saving one of you when you failed to listen to an order?”

Again, it was Sam who spoke, voice barely a mutter. “Not exactly. He, uh... forgot rookie rule Six D.”

Angela's mind pulled it right up.
Always account for the reactions of your team.

Her lips curved upward. “Caught in the crossfire?”

The females shared another round of glances–these all guilty.

Sam shrugged. “In a manner of speaking.”

Angela let them go. “Okay. Ten minutes.”

Samantha motioned toward the filthy Excursion. “Get the nets over to the holding chiller so John can run the tests.”

Angela noticed the immediate obedience and stored it. Apparently the women had worked some more things through, and Sam had come out on top. Interesting.

15

The mini Mess was crowded.

The group of rookie females hesitated in the flap as three teams of Eagles turned to grin at them.

“
Damn it!” Sam swore under her breath.

“
Understatement,”' Cynthia grumbled.

The six females behind them nodded in agreement. They all moved toward the center table with flushed cheeks and stiff bodies.

Angela had it set up for Li Sing to bring over beers and pretzels, a favorite of the returning teams. The small man moved happily through the crowded tables.

Sam took a beer with a tired smile, understanding they were being treated like full Eagles. The feeling would have been incredible if not for the report they had to give now.

Angela waited for them to get settled and then opened her notebook.

Sam and Cynthia automatically followed her lead, but Angela shook her head, motioning. “You'll use these from now on.”

Charlie dropped a stack of glossy notebooks onto the table and backed into a far corner to observe.

“
What happened to Kenn?” Angela asked, passing the books down the table. “I was just told he's awake and refusing to take an all-female team out of camp again. Ever.”

Eagles around them snickered. They'd already made bets on what had happened. If it was a threat to camp security, Sam and Cynthia already would have told someone.

“
Well?”

Sam cleared her throat. “We rolled north for a little while and saw lights.”

“
Kenn wanted to check it out,” Peggy offered, sitting next to her daughter.

They also looked like they'd managed to work some things out.

“
So we get the usual lecture about staying close, blah, blah, blah,” Crista popped up, trying to ignore Jeff's eyes on her. “But we kinda freaked out when we saw the rabbits.”

Angela opened her mouth to question, already missing a piece.

“
It's his fault,” Becky stated.

“
That's true,” Cynthia supported. “All he said was get the nets out and be ready.”

“
And we were.” Tracy flushed. “Sort of.”

“
It might have been okay if Tonya hadn't thrown her gun.”

“
Well, I thought shooting was a bad idea right then,” Tonya defended, hand coming up. “It's not like I could make out what he was screaming.”

Cynthia glared at the redhead. “None of us could, genius. It was just incoherent babble at that point.”

“
Stop.” Angela couldn't take any more. She turned to Samantha. “Start from the beginning.”

Sam drew in a calming breath. “The light was a small brush fire. We got closer and found a bunch of rabbits.”

“
Swamp bunnies,” Becky added wistfully.

Frowning, Sam continued. “The fire was flushing them our way, and Kenn had us get the nets out.”

“
Only he forgot to tell us what to do when the entire herd ran our way,” Crista stated.

“
Hopped,” Peggy corrected.

“
They panicked,” Sam said, trying to remain calm. “Nets dropped, women ran, rabbits bit and scratched. It was
lovely
.”

Angela ran a quick look over them. “Bit and scratched? You guys look fine.”

Sam glared toward Leslie. “
You
tell her this part.”

Leslie cringed. “I, uh... screamed,” she stated with an embarrassed grimace. “Loudly. And the herd turned... ran toward Kenn.”

“
Hopped,” Cynthia corrected.

“
Right, hopped toward Kenn. He shot a bunch of them, but man, were there a lot of rabbits.” Leslie flushed darker. “And so I suggested that we throw our nets.”

“
We realized it was a mistake when he started screaming.” Sam swallowed the laughter as best she could. Kenn under the netting with all those rabbits was the funniest thing she'd ever seen.

“
Sam yelled to cut him loose... So we all rushed over with our new knives,” Leslie informed her.

Angela groaned. The tables around them weren't even trying to contain their laughter. The sound of it was rolling across the camp. “What then?”

Sam wasn't capable of continuing. She had her head buried against her arm. They'd gotten a teammate hurt. Laughing was wrong.

Cynthia took over the sitrep. “He screamed some more, then we got him up and made sure he was okay. He said he was going to move the truck so that we could try again, and growled at us to gather the bodies of the rabbits and then take the live ones left in the nets and put them in the truck.”

“
So we did,” Tracy said quietly, seeing Cynthia wasn't going to get much more out before dropping her own head. “Man, was he pissed when he got in. Those rabbits were all over him.”

“
He ran out of there so fast!” Becky exclaimed.

“
Hopped,” Sam corrected without raising her head.

“
He did hop, didn't he? They were really latched onto him that time.” Crista shrugged. “Anyway, he was screaming again, and we didn't know what to do. We couldn't shoot them off of him. And then Tonya stepped right up like she had it covered. When she threw her gun, we all just thought
Hey! That'll work!

“
So they all did too,” Sam grunted from under her arm.

The mini Mess was an explosion of laughter, men on the floor all around them.

Angela was struggling not to join them. “And after that?”

“
Sam and Cynthia got us to stop throwing things, and we started using our boots on the ones that were still biting him.” Tracy didn't look up. “We're not sure who got him in the head. We were just kickin' away...”

Peggy was the only one capable of speech, and she finished the sitrep with a straight face. “We only dumped him twice on the load-up. All in all, I think it went pretty well.”

Chapter Seventeen