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  There had been a brief hope in the beginning, after all their outgoing CB calls, that someone might come for them, but he’d waited over a week and only heard survivors begging for help. When the power had gone off (he’d been surprised to have it for almost two weeks), they had left, unable to wait anymore as supplies ran low. Clearly, they were on their own, a Marine and a cadet adrift. What to do?

  We’ll find a group to travel with, he decided, not looking forward to the boy’s reaction. The teenager expected them to go straight to Ohio, to his mother. Kenn sighed, automatically blocking his thoughts even though Charlie was snoring softly. He had never seen anything…different in the boy, but he was always careful. In a few years, the teenager would be the same age his mother had been when they’d met, and her gifts had been strong then. Angela had denied him access, but this sullen child wouldn’t be that strong.

  Not that Charlie had any idea what was coming. Talk of magic was forbidden in their house, even the book and movie kind. Kenn had been careful from the very beginning–just in case the power ran in every generation. There was still a chance to control it, and his role of stepfather was driven by that thought. It was part of why he had insisted Charlie become a cadet. More time to create a bond, it also gave Angela time to heal.

  Despite his easy touch, Kenn and the teenager weren’t exactly comfortable with each other, but Charlie knew who was in charge and they were able to work as a team. It also helped that they both liked to win the annual father-son events hosted at different bases each year. They’d been in Arizona this time, at Fort Defiance for the contests, and they’d cleaned up, winning over half the competitions.

  Though they had different last names, Kenn had never let anyone assume he wasn’t the child’s biological parent. They were both tall and stocky, with the same high-n-tight cut, and bright blue eyes, though the regulation hairdos were a bit too long now. Dressed alike, there was definitely a resemblance. They even had the same way of staring directly at someone while listening or talking, not glancing away. When they averted their gaze, they were lying.

  I won’t say anything yet, Kenn decided. He wasn’t ready to tell Charlie that his mom was likely dead, and they weren’t going home to find out.

  Leaning uncomfortably against the drafty wall, third-year cadet Charles White had fallen asleep while cleaning the gunk from under his nails. He was dreaming of his mother.

  She was telling him how to handle Kenn, but more importantly, she insisted she would find him, no matter where he and Kenn were. They were over twelve hundred miles apart, but his mom was special, different. She could do things that most people could only dream of, and though no one else knew…so could he.

  Chapter Four

  The Mother and the Magic

  January 18th

  Cincinnati, Ohio

  1

  “I can’t keep them from you much longer,” the preacher warned quietly.

  He held the first dirty glass door open and as they moved down the bare, littered hall, his dusty black robes flared out behind them like an evil shroud.

  Angela’s wary gaze went over the faded Special Forces tattoo on his wrist, and she told herself she could do this, even if he and the rest had been soldiers. She had to show them that she couldn’t be taken.

  “I don’t need your protection, Warren.”

  Her stomach churned when his voice lowered another notch in response, becoming urgent.

  “You’re wrong, my child. Soon, they will insist you stay, and if you are not under my guardianship, like the others here, I will not be able to help you.”

  The tension thickened as they neared the main lounge. She knew Warren’s subtle threats weren’t idle. If they didn’t try to keep her here, he would, probably the next time she came.

  “Maybe today,” he confirmed, and the pale female nodded before stepping into the lounge where seven unwashed, tense males waited for them with heavy beards and thick frowns.

  “Hello, gentlemen. How goes your day?” Her tone was polite, unafraid compared to her thumping heart, but she wasn’t encouraged when they only grunted and kept gaping at her like something on a store shelf that was just out of their reach.

  “Over here,” Warren gestured, leading her to a blanket-covered child of about ten–his daughter.

  Angela’s dislike of the greasy hypocrite eased a little with the love she could feel. He was a weak man, easily tempted she was sure, but he feared losing the flushed girl. It was beating in his thoughts, and Angela was gentle as she pulled the dusty blanket down.

  “How long has she been like this?” she asked, shining the penlight around her neck into the unconscious child’s mouth and eyes.

  “Five days, a week. It all runs together now.”

  “I hear ya,” Angela agreed as she pulled on gloves.

  “Is it the radiation sickness?” one of the men behind them questioned loudly.

  There was silence in the very dirty but otherwise undamaged administration lobby as they all waited for her to answer. These men were all that remained of the technical college’s teaching staff, though Aaron, the bald man with the constant scowl, had only been a groundskeeper.

  “No.”

  “Praise the Lord!”

  There were murmurs of relief and disbelief that changed to frowns when she started running her hands under the child’s stained clothes.

  “What are you doing?” the father demanded, leery as he stepped closer with a worn black Bible now in his beefy hands.

  Angela ignored his tone, thinking the slicked brown and gray hair had probably been an attempt to show her he could “clean up.” She wasn’t impressed.

  “Where’s her injury?” Angela’s breath streamed out, visible in the cold air.

  Warren’s gaze lowered, dropping to her red lips, and his grip on the holy book tightened.

  He pointed, and Angela rolled the sick girl over on the dusty couch, exposing the ugly, swollen gash.

  “This is causing the fever. The red line coming over her shoulder is a sign of an infection. If those lines get to her heart, she’ll die.”

  “You can stop it? Help her?”

  Hot gazes lingered on her slender hips and the long black braid that brushed against the floor as she knelt down.

  Feeling the increase of testosterone in the room, Angela concentrated on the words instead of her fear. “I have to clean it first to be certain, but I believe so.”

  Relief flooded Warren’s face. He was glad he hadn’t waited any longer to seek the (witch!) doctor’s help. Amy was the only family he had left. He would kill himself if she died.

  “We’ll try not to let that happen,” Angela unthinkingly responded and had to force herself to keep working as if nothing had happened. He’d just gotten his confirmation.

  Warren froze.

  She ignored her pounding heart and the sound of glass breaking in one of the rooms above them. “I need some things. Two bowls of hot water, rags, and a sheet.”

  Warren exchanged awkward looks with the other men before turning to Aaron. “Get what she needs from my share of the supplies.”

  The man moved reluctantly and Warren turned to Angela, willing himself to ignore her pull, to feel only loathing for her strangeness. He could have in the old world. He’d been so strong then! He had been high in the parish before the war, a stoutly religious widower for a decade. It was a long time to go without even the soft caress of a woman’s hand, let alone any intimate contact. Then the war and this woman had come together. Years spent resisting sins of the flesh should have prepared him, but now, when The Judgment had come and gone, leaving his faith crumbled at his feet, this demon had been sent to tempt him…and her lure was stronger than any he’d ever known!

  These men might have already forced anyone else to stay here. The medical skills were as valuable as water, but Angela was different. She knew things there was no way she could, unless the Demon of Souls possessed her. All the men, especially Warren, dreamed of claiming her and controlli
ng that unknown power.

  Angela kept busy laying out what she needed and avoided making contact with any of the pitifully thin men ogling her every move. She had never seen young males here and suspected that was on purpose, like in the old Mormon colonies where the average marrying age for a girl had been thirteen.

  Angela discreetly let the witch inside listen to Warren’s thoughts. The big decisions in this group belonged to him. She knew he wanted to keep her here for himself–that his warnings came from hoping she would accept his offer of protection so that he wouldn’t have to fight the others for her. The men of the world were now like the animals–in extreme competition for a mate (slave, whore)–and she knew if she encouraged even one of these starving contestants, they would all begin fighting over her. Humankind had fallen backward in evolution to nearly the caveman days, and she needed to be as impersonal as she could.

  “I’m giving her three shots. One’s for the pain. Don’t mix any other dope with it, even if she cries. She’s too weak for the stronger stuff. One will help fight the infection, and this last one will bring down the fever. She should probably have a tetanus shot too, but not for a few days.”

  She did it quickly, feeling the father wince behind her, but the little girl didn’t react at all. “Now, we’ll dig that piece of metal out of her shoulder.”

  Warren came to help, leaning closer than she was comfortable with.

  Angela was glad she was able to force herself to control her flinch. Showing weakness here was a mistake.

  “Have you heard anything from your Marine?”

  Warren saw the woman tense for a split second, considering her options, and was impressed with the icy control that fell into place, even as he frowned. Did she know her man would be in danger the second he returned? There were already people watching.

  “He’s on the road.”

  There was only silence in response, and her worry grew.

  It only took Angela a couple minutes to pull the small, rough piece of car hood from the child’s bleeding shoulder, clean the wound, and start putting in the neat stitches.

  “I’ll leave medicine, but be careful of those lines. If they fade, she’s getting better. If they keep spreading, get her to me right away.”

  Warren paled at the needle moving in and out of his daughter’s skin. In the heavy quiet, Angela heard the thoughts of the other men clearly.

  That’s it. That’s his weakness.

  Aaron was right. We’ll use the girl.

  Angela wanted to warn the preacher that he was in danger, not for his sake but for his daughter’s, and it was a struggle to remain silent as she peeled off the gloves and gathered her supplies.

  When she turned, Angela didn’t meet his eyes. “Keep her lying down when you can and try to feed her more. You know where I’ll be if you need me.”

  Angela felt the tension thicken as she turned toward the door. The two men plotting against the preacher were blocking her way out, had witnessed more in her reaction than she’d wanted them to. As she had the thought, Aaron joined them.

  “You’ll be here!” the bald man informed her hatefully, moving closer. “You’re not leaving!”

  Angela swallowed bitter fear, but followed the demon’s voice that said to stand pat, to call their bluff. “Move and I’ll hold my tongue.”

  Seeing only fear in their body language, Angela realized they were sidekicks with no real kick to them. “Let me by. I already have an owner.”

  Aaron’s bitter face twisted at the reminder of her man, the Marine. “Not anymore! You’re mine!”

  As he grabbed her arm, the terror was nearly overwhelming, but the years spent in hell allowed Angela to handle herself. These men were threats. Her man was deadly…and not here to stop her from using her gifts.

  Closing her eyes, Angela concentrated, and raw power began to hum through the cold lobby of the college.

  Aaron’s face changed from anger to terror as he glanced down and found steam rising from where their skin had made contact.

  He jerked away, gasping at the sight of red and black blisters forming on his skin. “She burned me!”

  He spun toward the other men, who saw nothing but flinched anyway, and Angela headed for the glass doors, heart racing. She kept herself from running only because of the voice whispering that if she showed fear to a dog, it would bite. It was simply in its nature.

  “Stop her!” Aaron screamed it at the others.

  When the two men came toward her, Angela froze. It wouldn’t take much kick to do her in, but if she let the witch out, used her power, someone might die.

  Trust me, the witch whispered from inside her mental cage. I’ll only help you.

  Scared and unsure, Angela let the demon come forward for the first time in over a decade, but kept a tight hand on the cell door.

  The witch locked eyes with Warren. “Defend what you believe to be yours, man of a silent God!”

  The command was one the widower couldn’t refuse, and he stepped between Angela and the two men reaching out to take her arms. “She’s mine!”

  The two teachers only hesitated for a second, but it was enough time to give Warren the edge. The religious man had survived the jungles of Laos, and he planned his actions, steeling himself to fight for her.

  During this drama, Aaron stumbled from the room, slinging his arm around wildly to dislodge the bugs that only he could see.

  The two men reached for Angela again, and Warren swung, knocking the rival on the right off his feet. He kneed the moaning man in the face and swung again, ducking a clumsily thrown punch. The second hit landed on the other teacher’s temple, knocking him to the dirty floor, where he stayed.

  “Mine!”

  Breathing rapidly, the preacher turned to Angela, but she cut him off. “Your reward is information. Those two,” she waved a hand at the unconscious men, “and Aaron, plot against you. Be careful. Between them and the cold in here, you’ll be dead inside a month.”

  Shoving the witch back, Angela slipped past him and out the door. Raised voices came from the dim lobby behind her, and she moved steadily but kept herself from running down the sloping, cracked pavement to her car. The pain in her gut, she ignored. There would be time to cry later.

  Footsteps crunched, and she slowed a little to let Warren catch up, scanning the sickly crabgrass instead of the desperate faces of women and girls watching her exit from the upper windows of the college. The guilt was heavy, but she didn’t stop. They needed a hero, and that, she wasn’t.

  “Thank you. I had no idea.”

  She dug through her bag as Warren caught up. “There are still plenty of people left who are willing to sacrifice anyone to get what they want. That hasn’t changed.”

  The female healer handed over two small bottles of pills, being careful not to touch him. “Instructions are on the label.”

  He pocketed the medication and opened the door of her muddy red Tempo, falling into the suitor mode he usually handled her with, so he could…what? Form a new plan? Probably.

  “You’ll kill them?” she asked suddenly, hoping to get a genuine answer.

  When he shook his greasy head, she knew he was about to lie.

  “Vengeance belongs to God. I’ll vote against it.”

  Angela said nothing, tensing instead at a distant gunshot before quickly sliding behind the wheel.

  Warren saw her reaction as he shut the door and he leaned down. “You would be safe here with us, with me.”

  Angela pretended not to hear the personal invitation or the threat, as she snapped on her belt. “I think of it sometimes, but I can’t. My man, he’s strict, like you. He said stay, so I will.”

  The leader smiled at what he assumed was a compliment from a well-trained woman, age lines giving him the appearance of an evil cartoon badger. “You’re sure he will come?”

  Angela struggled not to frown at Warren’s tone. She’d been right to be so careful. He was planning a murder to get her. “Yes.”

  �
�You will go hunting for him, though, go to meet him?”

  She shook her head, the lie and horrified tone falling easily from her heavy heart, “No, never. He said he’d come, and he will!”

  There was such firmness in her words that Warren couldn’t hide his disappointment, and Angela looked away from the silent plea. She already had a jailor. She was careful not to wound his pride, however, knowing that could easily push him into trying to force her to stay, and then people would get hurt.

  “You’ll bring her over next week for the shot?”

  “Yes.”

  The wind gusted suddenly through the open windows, the heavy draft catching her long braid, and his fingers were there to catch it, holding its softness for a brief second before handing it back.

  He forced their hands to touch and Angela smiled her thanks, stomach rolling.

  She started the engine. She couldn’t wait to be gone.

  “You’re sure she’s not got the sickness?”

  “Yes, she should be fine in a few days.” Angela lit a cigarette and stared everywhere except into his needy, intimidating face. Aaron had forced her to show that she would defend herself, but instead of the leeriness she’d been hoping for, the vibes from Warren were stronger. Had that been the plan all along? To discover what she was capable of?

  “What do I owe you?”

  “Nothing,” she answered, sounding calmer than she felt. “That world is gone. Come by next week.”

  Angela shifted into gear and rolled slowly away, mind relieved when the preacher echoed her short wave without any signs that her quick exit had offended him. She hated to come down here, hated it that one of these times she might have to fight to get out, but Angela knew that even if they hadn’t insisted, she would have come anyway. Her doctor’s heart simply wouldn’t let her do anything else. She would help everyone she could and pay the price later.