From The Ashes (Life After War) (87 page)

“
That's what I told him,” Marc stated.

Mitch stared in sudden suspicion. “You don't like me.”

“
Like? No. Believe in? That's different.” He leaned forward. “I have a fondness for Matt. I'm going to help Cyn and Angie straighten him out. I can do the same for you.”

Marc sat back. “Or you're leaving–today.”

Mitch wanted to take the offer, but was sure it would be hard. The man inside was shouting, but the alcohol was burning, calling.

“
Take your time,” Marc encouraged. He took another long drink of his sweaty beer. “Mmm. I have one or two on average a week, but I always want more.”

Mitch stared, trying to process what that meant.

Marc sighed regretfully, aware that he had attention now. He dumped the remaining beer onto the ground near the table. “But I'm a man and
I
make the choices.”

Mitch got the point, and it wasn't enough.

Marc tossed out one of his own secrets with a sense of relief. “I used to be a drinker, too–a heavy one. It got me in trouble.”

Mitch gaped in surprised. “You're a alcoholic!”

Brady gave him an embarrassed shrug. “Like most of us, I hate that word Mitch.”

It made Mitch believe. No one else but a fellow addict would know how dirty that word made them feel. “Me, too.”

Marc stood up, stomach rolling. “Finish that bottle–enjoy it. When it's gone, either go get a shower and a lot of coffee, or say goodbye to your son and get out of this camp. It's your choice, but make it today, or I'll do it for you.”

Marc quickly got out of sight and hearing distance, and allowed himself a minute to vomit. His CO had given him a much harsher lesson than the one Mitch was receiving–making him drink from dawn to dawn for three days straight. As a result, he loathed any type of alcohol in the mornings.

3

Angela ducked through the flap, nodding to Kyle, who looked as bleary as she felt.

“
Got a minute?”

Angela kept going. “Not really. Walk with me?”

They had five men in the medical tent with gunshot wounds, one with a high fever of unknown origin, and three with minor bone breaks. It had been a rough mission. Twenty four confident, well-armed men had come into this city with her. The same number had come out, but none of them were the same.

Marc fell in. “What’s the hurry?”

“
Adrian’s awake and calling.”

Marc forced himself to sound as if he liked being in charge of Adrian’s herd. “I need some things from you.”

“
Like what?”

“
Don’t know what to tell people about Conner, for starters.“

Angela went to Kevin, who was on duty over the first truck. “I need a 24-hour guard put on Matt and Cyn in here with me. You'll need to cover the shifts for each person you move around.”

Kevin's gaze went straight to the new patch of gray showing from the side of her ponytail. It was noticeable.
Damn.

She gave Kevin a short head shake, and the Eagle understood that she didn’t want her men to know the side effects of using so much magic.

Wondering if the sharp man at her side had missed it, Kevin took out the notebook Adrian had given him not long before they’d gone into that cursed city. He wrote as he spoke. “I’ll have it taken care of.”

She sent him a silent request.
“How long? I need it before… I need it soon.”

The Eagle immediately vowed to work hard on the mental lessons he was going to be a part of when he reached the next level. “Fifteen minutes.”

Angela felt his silent despair and refused to offer false comfort. “Good.”

She went toward the shower camper next.

“
Angie.”

Hearing Marc’s growing concern, she grunted. “Give me some time to get him settled first. For now, he's the only survivor from Little Rock that we were able to bring out with us.”

Angela got a chill at seeing Marc write down her words. Why?

“
Because it means he knows you’re my replacement.”

Angela fought Adrian’s weak words in her mind.

“
Are you okay?” Marc was frowning deeply.

“
No, but at least I’m not dying. What else do you need from me?”

“
Mostly, to know how he’s going to be able to be in front of the camp, so I can get it ready.”

“
With our help and good, old fashioned drugs. I’ve got that much covered.”

“
Why am I still in charge of the camp and not Kenn? Isn't he the XO? Your new XO?”

Marc hadn’t meant to ask, but didn't call it back.

“
Because Kenn’s still in the QZ,” Angela hedged, not wanting to do this right now. She couldn’t spare the time to convince Brady. She was still working on herself.

Marc protested that quietly as they neared Doug, the guard on the shower. “He could have been cleared and out of here by now. Adrian didn’t want that. Why?”

Stalling, Angela looked at Doug and the arm she’d put in a cast and sling last night. “Are you sure you should be working already?”

Doug’s demeanor was one of grief. “Couldn’t stay in there anymore.”

Angela understood completely. “I need some things, and I need some men to assist me for the next few days. Men that I can trust and who can trust me in return. Is that possible?”

Doug's tone was satisfied. “All of us.”

Doug’s gaze flicked to Marc briefly, and Angela gave her approval silently.
“With care.”

The big man understood. “Adrian told us to follow you, not Kenn, if anything ever happened to him. He said for us to make Kenn fall in line behind you–where he belongs.”

Angela had suspected what Adrian was doing, but never that he’d taken it this far. “I didn’t know.”

“
He didn’t see the need to upset everyone unless it was needed, but he was adamant that you would protect our lives better because…”

“
Because of my gifts,” she tried to finish, a bit bitterly.

Doug frowned. “Because you value life the way he does. He even said…”

Doug stopped, glance flicking to Marc again. He gave her the rest of it silently.

“
He said in another life, you would have been given this duty first, not him, and that he would have been honored to follow you.”

Marc studied them with a feeling of loneliness that he hated. Here it was–that ‘only for the boss’s ears’ shit.
The real boss
, his mind whispered.

Marc walked away from them, drawing Angela’s attention. “Hey? Don’t you still need an answer on Kenn?”

Marc didn’t stop. “I have it now, don’t I? I’m tending the herd until you’re caught up enough to handle both sides of the tape. Kenn’s not even in the picture anymore, and no one knows it, not even him.”

Marc scowled deeper. “That's why he set me up in the cage! Adrian needed them all to see that I'm hard enough for this place.”

Angela stiffened her shoulders, doing what she had to. “Say it, Marc.”

“
I'm
your XO.”

“
Yes.”

Marc marched toward the big camp, slightly shocked at receiving the position without ever expecting it. He was also furious at Adrian for giving him this when he held such deep a hatred for their blond leader. “Call me if you need anything,
princess.
”

Angela didn’t have time for his self-righteous anger. The weight that was settling onto her shoulders was far heavier than any she’d ever carried. She was in charge of Safe Haven. This was
her
camp.

Angela straightened her sore shoulders, stretching them out to balance the awful load. When she thought she could handle it, she met Doug’s gaze. “I will do everything I can to keep these people alive, and that includes Adrian. I don’t want his place.”

Doug already knew that. “You’re the Boss now.”

Behind Doug, the senior Eagles began stepping out of the shadows, showing their unity. Team leaders and their XOs were appearing, giving her their support, their loyalty. Their thoughts rang in her heart, held her up under the weight of the role she’d been given.

“
He was right to choose you.”

“
We trust you to guard his dreams.”

Angela let a single tear trace her cheek. She’d come a long way from Cincinnati.

Angela found Neil waiting nearby. She knew what was coming and tried not to let it bother her that the camp was staring at them in small, nervous groups from the tape.

“
Got a few things for you,” Neil said, holding them out.

Angela blew out a tired breath and started to tell him now wasn’t the time, but he didn’t let her.

“
You’ll wear this at all times, and keep it by your head during sleep.”

He helped her put Adrian’s cleaned radio and belt on over the filthy clothes she hadn’t taken the time to change yet, and then handed her a small cig box with a snap lid.

“
This is an alarm. Open it for a smoke, and we know to come quietly.”

Angela grunted, heart frozen with pain. “I’ve had the course on protecting him, Neil. I know what’s it’s for.”

She shoved it impatiently into her back pocket, adjusted the headset and keyed the mic. She let go just as fast. “What god-awful name did you guys pick?”

Neil’s lips twitched in the barest of smirks. “We stuck with his.”

Angela snorted without amusement. “Raven to Kyle. Have someone help Conner into the main medical tent.”

“
Copy.”

She looked at Neil in annoyance. “Next?”

She reminded him so strongly of Marc on his second day in Safe Haven that he smiled despite the heaviness in his heart. “Questions. You provide the answers.”

Angela planted her feet firmly, as she’d seen Adrian do so many times, and found the stance almost comfortable. “Hit me. I can take it now.”

End of Book Five

Notes from Angie

After that trip, I’m exhausted.

As I’m sure you noticed, Kendle and Luke didn’t spend much time with us in this edition. I tried to write it in and played with the chapters until I was frustrated enough to realize it just didn’t fit. I hope you’ll pick up a copy of their complete story when it’s released. Once you read it all together, I hope you’ll understand why I couldn’t jump back and forth again. After what Kendle went through with Ethan, she deserves no less than an Author’s (and Reader’s) full attention.

Did you enjoy our journey this time? I’m rather fried at the moment and can only hope I’ve done it justice. The final choice on that is, as always, up to you. I’ll be watching the reviews and website comments, and resting up to bring you the next leg of Safe Haven’s arduous adventure. The Mountains they’ve been hoping for (and dreading) are coming next.

Will Adrian live? Most of you already know the answer to that by reading the prologue at the start of this series. No worries. Safe Haven still has a need for that troubled leader. So does the new Guardian, who can’t wait to return the camp to his capable hands. Only, there’s a problem with that. The camp
likes
Angela in charge.

So do I.

When will you get the next book in this series? As soon as I can, but at least a year. I rushed this one the first time, and if my Beta readers hadn't told me the truth, you'd be unhappy. I'm taking the summer off and plan to come back in the fall for the final episode of Bachelor Battles.

To my Betas: You saved me.

To my Facebook Crew: I adore you

To my readers: You honor me with your time and belief. Thank you.

To Sharon: Thank you for all your time and hard work. I know editing my messes can’t be easy.

Have a wonderful year, and please, tell me what you think! I need those words from you more than I can explain. You can even reach me directly on FB, where I sometimes shoot the shit with readers and forget about these voices in my mind for long seconds at a time.

Angela White on Facebook

Also, there is now a new website for this series, where you'll be able to find all the thing you're looking for in one EASY to use place. I built it myself and hope you like it.

The Life After War website

Tiredly sweeping the darkness for my Eagles,

Angela White

Teller of Stories

Extras

Book 6 Sneak Peek

Deleted Scenes

Interactive Bonus

Book 6 Sneak Peek