Resistance (19 page)

“Maggie’s my right-arm man,” Reena explained and returned
her attention to her good friend, confidant and bodyguard. “Why didn’t you use
our secret call and let me know you were here? You scared the crap out of us.”

“And interrupt your ménages?” Maggie chuckled as she gazed
up and down first at Cade and then Blade, raising her eyebrows the way she
always did when pleased about something.

Ménages? Reena’s cheeks warmed. Exactly how long had Maggie been
lurking around out here? How did she know they were having sex? Maggie was a
pretty good tracker and had a lot of patience. This was one of the reasons
Reena had picked her for her top bodyguard. But why hadn’t she made herself
known?

Maggie had been with Reena since the Resistance started.
Unaffected by the X-virus, Maggie and her twin sister Jolie had pretended they
were sick and dying along with their mother and grandmother. Their
overprotective brothers had insisted. They’d all been told rumors of the
government taking unaffected females into government labs, and their brothers
didn’t want the same thing to happen to Maggie and Jolie.

So the two sisters hid from everyone. Living as recluses in their
grandfather’s home, not daring to go outside or even look out the windows. It had
been hell, but they’d learned the art of patience and admitted hiding had been
worthwhile because the last thing they’d wanted was to be Claimed. When their
grandfather and brothers joined the Resistance, they’d brought Maggie and Jolie
in too.

Unfortunately, Jolie, a plastic surgeon, had been kidnapped
while on assignment. Rumor had it she’d become a sex slave to some powerful men
in Saudi Arabia and had subsequently been killed. Maggie had been devastated.

“I’ve brought some huge news,” Maggie said. And by the way
the woman’s blue eyes flared with barely contained excitement, Reena knew the
news must be big.

“Brace yourselves for this one, guys. The Unites States
dictatorship has fallen.”

* * * * *

By the stunned shock on both Will and Cade’s faces, the two
men were still reeling from the news Maggie had dropped about half an hour
earlier. As the four of them sat at the cabin table nursing coffees, Cade and
Will listened intently and with obvious extreme interest to Maggie’s tale.

“The International Initiative, or the II as they call
themselves, walked right in and took over.” Maggie laughed. “A military coup. Just
like that. Or so we’ve been told. And I haven’t even gotten to the best part
yet.”

Reena wasn’t sure she wanted to hear any more. It was all so
overwhelming. They had a new government. Dare she hope this government would be
better than the last one that’d taken power in a similar fashion?

Her tummy did somersaults as she tried to figure out what all
this would mean for the Resistance. They’d secretly been studying the
government and toying with the idea of overthrowing the dictatorship themselves.
The Resistance’s plans had now changed. They had a new enemy to infiltrate and would
have to start all over collecting information on them. Maggie had said they
were a relatively new group—the II. A group Reena had never heard of.

“They have sent a formal invitation to the Resistance and
other factions who wish to free woman. They want liaisons from all pertinent
groups to attend a meeting to discuss the future of women and girls in the
United States. They want our input into a global plan. Everything is on the
table, including the Claiming Law and women’s rights.”

Shivers swept through Reena. She should’ve been jumping for
joy at this news, but she couldn’t conjure up any excitement or happiness.
Perhaps because she’d been fighting for so long and she’d grown cautious. Maybe
too cautious?

All three of them were watching her carefully. The men waited
for her reaction and Maggie bubbled with an abundance of joy that surprised
Reena.

“Did it ever occur to you this might be a trap, Maggie?” she
asked her friend.

Shock splashed over her friend’s face and her mouth dropped
open in stunned disbelief. Guilt raced through Reena for bursting the woman’s
bubble.

“Been thinking the same thing,” Blade said in a cool,
controlled voice.

“Was hoping someone else would broach the subject, myself,”
Cade replied. “Didn’t want to bring anyone down.” He sipped his coffee,
averting his eyes from Maggie, who shot both men and then Reena a scalding glare.

“A trick? You think this is a trick?” she snapped.

Oops, the bubble had burst.

“The government could have made up the ruse in order to draw
all leaders out into the open,” Blade suggested.

“Okay so listen, guys. I didn’t fucking well hoof it all the
way in here just to get a load of pessimistic bullshit from you three,” Maggie
snarled. She turned her attention to Reena. “And you should know the Resistance
better than this. We wouldn’t accept anything at face value. Our people confirmed
the story. It’s happened. Change is coming whether you like it or not. I
realize you came out here to help you get over your burnout.” Maggie let her
gaze wander to Cade, then to Will and then back to Reena. “And I would be
pissed off, too, having been interrupted with these two men—who, by the way,
you haven’t formally introduced. Not that I don’t know of them. But let me get
to the point before any introductions and explanations. Either you send someone
on your behalf to this initial meeting, Reena, or I’m bloody well going in your
place. This is history in the making, damn it! I, for one, don’t want to be
left out in the cold. I’ve been there for too damned long. I want to get on
with my life.”

Reena smiled inwardly at Maggie’s spunk. Her feistiness was
another reason why she’d picked Maggie as her right-hand woman. Lately Maggie
had been understandably sad about her sister’s death and Reena was glad to see
a little of the old Maggie shining through.

“Okay chill, Mag,” Reena said softly. “I want you to debrief
me tonight. We leave first thing in the morning.”

* * * * *

“Do you think what Maggie said is legit?” Cade asked Will, joining
his friend outside on the front porch. Maggie had brought a knapsack full of
food and the two women were preparing dinner while catching up on Resistance
information and gossip. The gossip part was when both men excused themselves.

“As legit as anything can be these days.” The frown Will had
been toting since they’d been interrupted by this Maggie chick only deepened.

Yep, Blade was just as pissed about Reena returning to the
Resistance as Cade.

“You’ve heard of this group?” he prodded.

Blade nodded. “SKULL thought they were irrelevant. Obviously
they were wrong.”

“Red seems intent on going to the meeting on her own, forgoing
a liaison. What’s your take on that?”

“Over my dead body,” Blade growled.

“Good, then we’re of the same mind.”

Cade smiled. Having Will work with him was good. The two of
them should be able to convince Reena of the dangers. She was more important
than ever to the Resistance. She would have to be protected at all costs.

Fuck. If he didn’t miss his guess, he and Blade had just
joined the Resistance.

* * * * *

The four of them had a feast of fried steak, boiled potatoes
and fresh green salad. Due to the excitement, Reena didn’t get more than four
hours of sleep during the night. She’d nestled between Blade and Cade, but out
of respect for Maggie they hadn’t had sex. The need to reach out and touch
them, to have the two of them make love to her again, made for a restless night
at best.

As the gray light of dawn cracked through the frosted
windows, Reena awoke and was the first one out of bed. A moment later, Maggie’s
sleepy voice uncurled from beneath the bundle of blankets piled on top of the
pull-out couch in the living room.

“Morning,” she said cheerfully. That was Maggie, always
happy first thing in the morning.

Tyler had mentioned how irritatingly cheerful their brother
Mac could be in the mornings. Perhaps Reena should play matchmaker and hook up
Maggie and Mac? She shook those thoughts aside. She had more important things
to do, such as get ready to attend the meeting the II had set up for the day
after tomorrow.

Last night had been fraught with arguments between her,
Maggie, Will and Cade. They had been adamant about her not going in person. But
she’d faced dangerous situations before and she would face more in the future.
Now was not the time to hide.

Besides if the II was smart, they wouldn’t take her out. If
they did, the Resistance would only turn her into a martyr, and martyrs were
harder to fight than a real woman willing to negotiate.

“Morning,” Reena replied, keeping her voice low so the men
wouldn’t be disturbed. She quietly stoked the woodstove with kindling and old
newspaper. It took only a few seconds for the hot coals inside the stove to
light. Gray smoke curled and then bright orange flames erupted, quickly
devouring the paper.

“It’ll be a few minutes for the coffee. Did you sleep well?”
Reena asked. She placed a couple split logs onto the crackling fire and quickly
closed the stove door.

“Like a rock. This fresh country air beat the crap out of
me.” Maggie chuckled and stretched her long johns-clad arms out from beneath
the blankets. She quickly stuck them back underneath. “Too cold,” she grumbled,
keeping her voice low. “No wonder you cuddled up with two hot guys to keep
warm.”

Reena rolled her eyes. Maggie wasn’t about to let her forget
she’d shacked up with a couple of hunks.

“You’re pooped from skiing through all that snow. I only
went half a mile last night and my legs are killing me,” Reena complained.

“But you should be in great shape. Especially your legs,
curling them around your lovers’ waists while…”

Maggie wiggled her eyebrows and, despite the heat flaming
her face, Reena maintained firm eye contact with her friend.

“Which leads me to my question,” Reena said. “Exactly how
long were you lurking out there and why would you think anything was happening
in here?”

Maggie smiled knowingly, sweet dimples popping along her
cheekbones.

Oh damn.
She’d been around long enough, that for was
sure.

“You really should pull your curtains,” Maggie suggested.
“All I needed was my powerful binoculars, a melted patch in your frosted
windows and settling on a perch off a nearby cliff and I could see everything,
sweets. You were okay and entertaining a couple of hunks, so I just gave you a
little bit of fun time while we kept an eye out for enemies. It wasn’t easy, I
might add. With the fall of the government and us getting cold asses out there,
I was biting off everyone’s head, just like you’d been doing before you left.
God! How do you run everything on a daily basis without going nuts?” Maggie
shook her head in frustration. “We waited until we figured you were running low
on food before I came in. Anyway, I didn’t know your men were so handy they
could use margarine as lube.”

Shit!

Reena’s face grew even hotter. She laughed quietly at being
caught with her pants down and two men literally thrusting into her.

Maggie’s voice turned serious. “Anyone could have been
watching, Red. You should have been more careful. We came across a camp
littered with frozen dead bodies. The only reason we saw them was because an
arm had frozen poking right up out of the snow. Scared the daylights out of me.
A little digging around and we found more bodies. I’m assuming you had
something to do with that?”

“We did. Those men caught me. Cade and Will saved my life. I
figured I was safe with them here,” Reena admitted. A sweet warmth raced
through her at bragging to Maggie about her two men.

“Well hell, girl, as long as you had some fun. That’s really
all that counts, right? A little R & R—”

“Maggie,” Reena warned. The last thing she wanted was for
Maggie to compare R & R with what she’d experienced with Cade and Will. R
& R had been forced on her. What she had with Cade and Will was special and
to be treasured.

Maggie shoved her blankets aside and began dressing. “Okay,
okay. Sorry. We were all just so worried about you when you didn’t check in at
the predetermined times…”

“Like I said last night, the phone was busted. Blade’s been
trying to fix it. He hasn’t been successful.”

“There was nothing wrong with it when I tried it outside. I
got a signal right away,” Maggie said.

Reena blinked in surprise.

“You guys had gone to sleep and I snuck out for a pee. Took
the phone with me to see if I couldn’t figure out what was wrong. But it works
fine. Didn’t you ever try it?”

No, she’d trusted Will when he said he hadn’t fixed it.
Reena froze as Cade and Will’s soft snores grew louder…along with the beating
of her heart.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, of course I’m sure. I was able to make contact with
HQ and let them know you’re okay. Will did a good job of putting it together.”

An icy coldness swept through Reena. She mentally
backtracked to when she’d last seen Will working on the phone. Actually, he
hadn’t been near it since a couple of days ago. Blade had fixed it and never
told her?

“By the weird look on your face I take it you didn’t know?”
Maggie asked, suspicion lacing her voice. She stood beside Reena, her eyebrows
scrunched in a severe frown.

Reena shook her head as the cold sank deeper into her body.
Did Cade also know the phone was working? Maybe he’d forgotten about the phone,
just like she had. They had been kind of busy. She’d never noticed whether or
not he had questioned Blade about it. Maybe they
were
in cahoots
together?

Had Blade called in her whereabouts? Was SKULL sending
another assassin because Blade couldn’t kill her?

Reena stared at the two men on the bed. If Blade or Cade was
expecting company, they wouldn’t be sleeping so soundly, would they? Unless
they thought they had her in the bag, so to speak?