Chapter Four

  Add One More

  1

  Sam slowly led her men away from the tent. “Where are you guys due at?”

  “Guard duty,” Neil answered, thinking of the coming chore. He wasn’t anticipating it.

  “I have some rounds to make and people to talk to,” Jeremy stated. “Duty over Angela at noon.”

  Samantha went toward the livestock pens. “I’ll be around for a while, listening. Call if you need me.”

  Both men let their gazes roam her hair and body, but there wasn’t lust, only longing in their expressions.

  “You two need a friend.”

  They turned to find Kyle nearby, helping set up the extra medical tents that John requested. Jennifer had sent him out as soon as he’d gotten some rest, knowing it was where he wanted to be.

  “You know what I mean,” Kyle continued, not giving either of them a chance to block the image he was about to thrust upon them. “Someone blonde and blue and completely forgettable to occupy your downtime. Once you have that, this situation eases and brain functions return.”

  Jeremy wanted to ignore the words, but Neil, set to face one of his worst sins since the war, had to listen.

  Kyle didn’t bother keeping his voice down. Changes were flying through Safe Haven, and Samantha and her triangle was merely a tiny corner of the controlled chaos. “She doesn’t expect you to be loyal unless she chooses one, and you’ll both know that moment–if it comes. I wouldn’t count on it.

  “What the hell has this camp become?” Neil questioned harshly. “Nothing is like it was.”

  “It’s not meant to be.” Angela appeared behind them, voice set. “We’re constantly changing and adapting. Nothing stays the same. That lesson held true long before the war that we survived.”

  Angela went to where Samantha had stood so happily between them. “The limits of the old world were just that–limits. We don’t have them now. And we probably never should have.”

  “You mean marriage and monogamy?” Jeremy asked curiously, aware of Kyle observing her in satisfaction.

  “I think free will means making the choice based on what’s right for you, and that none of these differences are wrong. We’re supposed to be this way. Some are life mates, soulmates; some are one night stands or quick breeding moments that produce amazingly gifted offspring. None of us are right, and none of us are wrong.”

  “Doesn’t feel that way,” Neil muttered.

  Angela tried not to patronize. “And that’s your choice to make, but don’t base it on society’s rules. If you two can be okay with the setup, so can everyone else.”

  Neither of them spoke and Angela filled in the silence with hard truth. “No, I can’t read that far ahead, and even if I could, I suspect you already know what’s there. It’s both or none for her, and that isn’t likely to change.”

  Enjoying the few fireworks that were still being lit, Angela went to the medical tent, where Adrian and Conner were the only patients. Everyone else had been switched. The extra tent Kyle and his team were working on was for any new arrivals John wanted quarantined from the rest of them.

  Kyle waved at Daryl to take over the tent stocking, and joined Neil and Jeremy as they started walking toward the main camp. “Remember who you are and all you’ve done for these people as they hassle you. That should be enjoyed with pride, gentlemen. You are going against the known and accepted in search of happiness and adventure beyond what any of them would ever have the sand to try.”

  Neil and Jeremy both teased him about the wording, and Kyle let their friendship sink in and start healing his own wounds. They were finally working on the same goals again. Things would be easier on them, in some ways, so long as they had each other.

  2

  “What are you doing here?”

  Neil paused at the hostile tone. “Seth didn’t tell you?”

  Becky’s shadow left and she realized Neil was her protection on this shift. Her mouth opened, face reddening.

  The trooper prepared to duck.

  “I hate your guts. You know that, right?”

  Neil went to take up Jeff’s post, feeling her glare. “Yeah.”

  “He hasn’t forgiven you either.”

  Meaning Seth. Neil’s control over his guilt slipped a bit. “I don’t need it from him.”

  Becky accepted that reluctantly. Until now, Neil hadn’t shown any remorse, only left her alone. He was careful whenever they spent time around each other and that was it–like nothing had happened.

  “Can I say it or would you rather I shut up and stood my post?”

  He is trying to atone, Becky realized, and didn’t care one way or the other. “Say it if you want. It won’t change anything.”

  Neil took the steps that brought him into range for what had to happen next. He slowly took off his hat, hard face cracking with misery.

  “I’m sorry.”

  Tears traced down her cheeks despite thinking she didn’t care, and Becky clenched her hands to keep from sobbing. She didn’t want to feel anything for him!

  Neil was having trouble reading her through his own pain, and chose to give everything that she might need. “But only for what happened–for making you his target. I’m not sorry for wanting you.”

  Neil braced for the coming blow. He’d arrived at a tolerable place with himself through all of it, but for that wall of guilt to lower, he had to follow through. “Or that sometimes, when I watch you bonding with Seth, I still do.”

  Slap!

  Neil didn’t react, willing her to keep going. It was the only way to give them both relief.

  Becky started to cry heavily and Neil gave a final shove. “I’m also sorry I wasn’t your first. I used to dream about it.”

  Becky understood that on some level this would help her, but the pain! She’d spent the last months in hell and part of it had been the used feeling–not from the rape, but from how easily Neil had changed his mind about her.

  “I got pregnant from it, Neil. Angela and Anne took care of it a few weeks ago.”

  Neil was instantly crushed. “What can I do? I...I can leave! I’ll be gone the second Adrian takes...”

  “Stop it!” Becky drew in a calming breath as he stared in miserable shock. “I need you. Here.”

  Neil smothered his own desperation to respond to hers. “Anything. Name it.”

  Becky took another step into the new future that had been so brutally carved out for her. “At some point, I’m going to ask for what you denied me.”

  Neil’s mouth dropped open as Becky jerked him into reality.

  “I love Seth and he loves me, but I’m pretty clear on human nature now,” she stated harshly. “I’m always going to feel cheated, always going to wonder what might have been if Samantha hadn’t come to Safe Haven.”

  Neil waited, not sure if he could refuse her or follow through. He had no spark for Becky now. Right?

  “Forgiving and forgetting are things I can’t do yet, but I’ve hurt enough to know that being cheated festers inside.” She turned away. “At some point, I’m going to be recovered. To get there, you’ll have to help me.”

  Neil forced himself to think around the guilty shock, amazed and dismayed by her new maturity. With that plan to follow, and Seth and her team to lean on, she could have more than a future as a camp relief source. It was horrible that so many of the former slaves were choosing that route, but Neil hoped more time in Safe Haven would help them understand they were worth more than that. With Becky, she’d been flirting along the moral lines long before Rick. Peggy had wanted her settled down, but Becky had wanted the danger and excitement of real life. She’d gotten it and then some.

  Neil forced himself to speak. “Whatever you need, Becky.”

  He saw her fists clench and expected anger. The fresh tears were a surprise.

  “I need to hear that name and not want to die.”

  Her shoulders shook and Neil reacted like the gentle-hearted man that he was. He took her arm and pulled her into his embrace.

  “God, I’m so sorry!”

  It was a heavy, hurtful moment for them both–one that might let hatred fade and forgiveness begin.

  3

  More than tired of the firecrackers and thumping music, Marc spotted Charlie lingering near the tent area and slowly made his way over. Getting through the partying camp members wasn’t easy. Too many of them wanted to offer congratulations and gratitude for looking after things while Adrian was gone, and for not being like Kenn. It was tiresome considering the day’s work, tiresome and annoying. It made his view distort and he suddenly saw them all as mad harpies sent to suck the life out of Adrian’s gifted people.

  Marc realized that was how his demon saw them. Before he could question, he joined Charlie. He didn’t need to know, didn’t have to have any personal contact at all.

  More of the silent treatment, huh? the demon commented sarcastically. Like that’s new.

  Charlie glanced up curiously.

  Marc immediately turned his attention. “Where’s Tracy?”

  Charlie took instant offense. “Why? She in trouble?”

  “Why? You gonna lie for her?”

  Charlie hadn’t expected the abruptness, but he refused to lie. “If I had to, if she was in enough trouble.”

  Marc raised a brow and the teenager flushed.

  “Mom knows.”

  “Good,” Marc stated, wondering how awkward that conversation had been. “Should I repeat the question?”

  “She’s cleaning up Hilda’s mess. She got sick after lunch.”

  Marc’s frown started growing and Charlie hurried to add, “Hilda’s the only one. We checked.”

  Marc visibly relaxed, but Charlie caught the mental note to verify it and knew Marc would before the night was over.

  “Are you okay waiting for her so openly?”

  Charlie flushed.

  Marc sighed. “Pushing limits while your mom’s busy. Smart and stupid, kid. You know that, right?”

  “Yes, but…” Charlie’s voice was strained with the effort of holding in so many new emotions. The urge to take the trader’s life was something that stayed in Charlie’s mind, whispering, but he’d figured out that his obsession with Tracy was helping him control it. He had other highs to reach.

  “I didn’t meet her earlier and I do it every day. When I don’t get to, I feel like...like I betrayed her somehow. She doesn’t feel that way, or at least she never acts like it, but I have to have this time with her. I have to at least have…”

  Charlie snapped his mouth shut, but it was too late. He knew by the way Marc’s mouth tightened into a line.

  Marc thought of the trip here, of being sure he’d never get Angie and desperate for even a single moment of glory to remember. And in that instant, there had only been one thing he wanted from her.

  “A kiss,” Marc said it in a shocked, hushed whisper. “To determine if it’s magic–if she still…to tell if she’s the one.”

  Charlie started to protest, but Tracy came from the tent then and he immediately went to help her dispose of the waste.

  Marc stared, relieved when they went in separate directions.

  Charlie’s step was light, grin large despite the ugly chore he was performing. Very few things could make a person happy while carrying a bucket of vomit, and it kept Marc’s gaze on him.

  He’s up to something. Follow him, the demon ordered.

  Reluctantly, Marc did.

  4

  Kenn ducked into the bathroom and sat down with a grunt. Li Sing’s food tasted great going in, but coming out sucked.

  The port-o-let was hot and stinky, but Kenn preferred it to the crowded campers in the mornings and he’d made it a nightly ritual. After this, he would shower, check in with the violent new XO, and stay at Adrian’s side until dawn.

  Footsteps crunched outside the stall comfortingly, people calmly passing, and Kenn finished up. He was anticipating serving Adrian while he recovered and enjoying any extra power he might achieve.

  Kenn opened the door and went outside.

  His foot tangled in something and he brought the other boot in front to keep from falling.

  Barely saving himself, he took another step.

  A sharp tug on his tangled foot sent him sprawling this time.

  Kenn landed, hands down, in something wet and reekingly familiar.

  Laughter exploded from the few witnesses and Kenn gritted his teeth as he shoved himself up.

  He jerked his foot free of the jump rope and slung chunks of vomit from his hands.

  An accident, he decided, picking out the rope and no one around except the guards. Some kid dropped his toy as he threw up the day’s breakfast.

  Kenn turned for the showers, face a furious red. He was almost to them when he remembered that sharp tug.

  He turned to glower, but there were only a few Eagles in sight and none of them was looking at him now.

  “An accident,” he muttered, jerking the door open. “A clever one.”

  Marc came from the shadows, nodding at the Eagles who’d witnessed it all. Instantly feeling better, he was still chuckling as he motioned Zack to have his boys clean up the mess. Some justice was being dispensed.

  Marc noticed Becky and Neil in deep conversation outside her tent and filed it. He swept the shadows for Seth and didn’t spot any of the cop’s team. Where were they?

  Marc finished his rounds of the main camp and went to the QZ. He avoided the medical area, instead, finding Kevin.

  “Things okay?” he asked, joining the man as he stood duty over the farthest QZ perimeter.

  Kevin sighed. “Out here, sure. In there…”

  Marc could feel the tension. “Anything new happen?”

  “Just a quick fight between Jax and Paul. Probably over Leslie. Angela has them working under supervision. They were on duty.”

  Marc wasn’t surprised. He also wouldn’t be when Leslie chose to follow Samantha’s example and claimed them both.

  “What else do you have for her tonight?”

  “Nothing after the meeting,” Kevin answered. “Kyle said she’ll be beat, to send her to your bed.”

  Marc approved. “All posts covered?”

  “Yes, and we’ll have extras until word comes from John.”

  “Good. Who did they tell you to call if something happens overnight?”

  Kevin gave him a pointed look. “You, but only if I had to.”

  “That works.” Marc started to go to the next post, and turned around. “Did she send Seth out?”

  “Yes. He and his team are shadowing the surviving women, making sure they aren’t going to return later.”

  Marc wondered what Angela had told them to do if the snake women chose to return.

  Kill them all, of course, the demon supplied. She knew the Eagles would follow your choice.

  Marc left before he could confirm that. He didn’t want to view her or himself that way.

  5

  “Are you happy now?”

  Samantha smiled at the question, stepping aside so that Marc could join her in the tent. She hadn’t heard him tap, but was sure that he had.

  “More than I ever thought was possible.”

  “And your men?”

  Samantha winced. “They’re…adjusting.”

  Marc had questions, but the one he needed answered, he refused to let through his lips.

  Samantha gave him a quick weather report, hoping he would let it go. Marc was the one person here that it bothered her to lie to, and if he asked the right questions, things could get tense.

  “So just rain?”

  “Yes. It looks to clear out in a couple days.”

  “Good.”

  Marc didn’t leave, instead observing as she resumed her casual pacing and listening. Samantha had a deluxe tent filled with boxes of weather equipment at her disposal, but Marc knew the report had come from her mind.

  “Can you talk to nature, Sam?” he asked quietly, in awe at the thought. “Communicate, I mean.”

  She gave a short confirmation. “I won’t, not without something to offer.”

  “Adrian already asked that,” Marc guessed.

  “No,” Samantha corrected. “He already knew. I suggested barter when we ran from the fire.”

  “And he told you to what? Find out what we need to make a deal like that?”

  “He told me it made us a bigger target to even try. It can’t be done without our compete surrender.”

  “Surrender?” Marc asked in confusion.

  “Our extinction, boy scout.”

  Marc flinched at the common name. He wasn’t that, not anymore.

  “You can understand why I won’t try?”

  Marc grunted, heading for the flap. “Mind your protection or Seth will double it.”

  Sam stuck out her tongue at his back and then grinned at herself. She didn’t plan to be isolated tonight. In fact, just the opposite.

  6

  “Blonde and blue and completely forgettable.”

  Jeremy hated the words still ringing in his mind, but that didn’t stop him from trying to spot a viable candidate as he walked through the camp.

  Too tall…too thin…too much perfume. Doesn’t talk enough…hates men.

  Jeremy’s gaze landed on the Sisters. The six-woman group had gained three new members, and the shortest among them had Samantha’s exact shade of hair. It twinkled in the light of the center campfire.

  Jeremy reluctantly drifted closer.

  The women were practicing their gun stance and didn’t notice when he joined the rear of the lesson. He studied the short blonde, comparing her weight, shape, and general rear profile.

  That could work, he thought.

  Bridget felt him staring and peered over her shoulder.

  Jeremy studied her features gently and realized she fit Kyle’s words. She was pleasant to inspect and nothing else–completely forgettable.

  Jeremy smiled at her before he could stop himself. And then he turned away. If it got to be too much, he’d find her. That heart shaped ass under those cut-off jeans would be kept track of by the single Eagles, but for Jeremy, it was just a way to know her–a marker in place of the name he didn’t have yet. Her face, he couldn’t have recalled before he was out of sight.