Phantom Game (GhostWalkers 18)

The Middlemist Red Camellia swept down, and this time, the branch moved against the breeze to brush her face gently. The roselike petals stroked her skin along the exact path he had envisioned caressing her. That gave him pause. He was no longer connected to that network through Camellia, yet somehow that mysterious plant knew what he was thinking. Not only did it know what he was thinking, but it knew what he wanted to do—at least in connection with Camellia.

And it did it. The plant fucking did what he wanted to do. It was reading his mind and then acting on his need. That was plain mind-blowing.

“Whitney taunted me.” Camellia shook her head. “All of us. He liked to pit us against one another. Eventually he split us up. Jonquille was put in this tiny little room because Whitney said she was too dangerous to be out any longer. Laurel was up in this attic where it was hot and the air quality was terrible. He did it on purpose because she had such trouble breathing, and he said her lungs should be better. She could barely stand up. I knew he wanted to keep us apart because he thought we were too close, too loyal to one another.”

“Wouldn’t that defeat his purpose of threatening you with another’s death if you tried to escape?”

“He clearly didn’t want to lose any more women, not when he could just poison us with the viruses and force us to return for the antidote. He began his campaign to undermine our trust in one another. Sowing little seeds of doubt, acting as if we told on one another. He even tried to convince me one of the girls had told the guards I wasn’t in my bed that night, not Beverly.”

“Had you told anyone you were going to try to escape?”

She shook her head. “I didn’t want anyone to have to lie to him. He always found out and his punishments were terrible. I planned the entire thing by myself. I even made it look like I was in bed by putting rolled up blankets under the covers.”

“Could anyone have seen you rolling the blankets and putting them in your bed?”

She hesitated. It was the first time she had. Her fingers twisted together in front of her until her knuckles turned white. Her gaze slid from his and flicked in the direction of the community. It was the tiniest of movements, but he caught it. Registered it. His gut clenched.

“It’s entirely possible, but it would be difficult to believe one of my sisters would tell the guards. What would be her motivation? By that time, we all knew getting in good with Whitney wasn’t a real possibility. He would never let us go. We weren’t there for money or power, like Violet. So what would be the point?”

She sounded more as if she was trying to convince herself than him.

He nodded, but that knot in his gut had become a fist. “But he did manage to make you have a little doubt, and that made you feel guilty.”

“I actually didn’t have any doubts,” she denied. “Not at all. I trusted in all the women. He separated us, but Marigold was a powerful telepath. I wasn’t quite there yet with my skills, but I was building up to it and could help her out. At night, we’d talk to all of the others no matter where in the compound he was holding them. We kept those ties strong. He had no idea we could speak to one another that way. When he devised his idiotic breeding program, that was the last straw.”

“And then the plan to have Marigold speak with Senator Freeman and ask for help failed,” Jonas said.

She shrugged. “Clearly, it would have failed anyway. Violet had her own agenda, as did the senator and Whitney. Violet betrayed all of us. Fortunately, Norton’s team helped us escape.”

“But Marigold didn’t follow the plan, and she didn’t go with you.”

Again, Camellia didn’t meet his eyes and the Middlemist Red dipped low. Camellia shook her head. “No, she went with Ken Norton.”

“That must have felt like a betrayal as well.” Jonas could see those betrayals were stacking up.

“I suppose it did, but she had feelings for him. None of us knew what that felt like.”

“But she knew you were still in jeopardy, and she didn’t ask you to go with them,” Jonas said, keeping his voice very low and gentle as he pointed out the obvious blow.

Her gaze jumped to his. She had hoped he wouldn’t connect those dots. She nodded, sucking in the side of her lower lip, then biting down with her teeth.

“I would think that felt like an even bigger betrayal than Violet’s, leaving you in the greenhouse and not having you leave with her and the team.” He didn’t even get a head nod. “When did you find out she had a twin sister, Camellia? When did you find out about Briony?”