Phantom Game (GhostWalkers 18)

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Ryland stated. He stood up, all flowing energy, and paced across the room to the window. “Why would anyone want to wipe out both teams and murder the women as well? Who would do that?”

“Crawley says he works for a banking conglomerate.”

Ryland spun around. “Banking conglomerate? As in Jacob Abrams? He’s always been one of Whitney’s biggest supporters. He’s funded Whitney, allowed him to continue his experiments, given him sanctuary all over the world. Why would he suddenly turn on him?”

Jonas didn’t have an answer for that. “Jacob Abrams heads the conglomerate. I do know that much. I know he wants Daniel and Lily. It’s possible, even probable, he wants them to keep Whitney in line. Whitney is more of a patriot than Abrams is, and he doesn’t always cooperate, at least that was what little I got out of Crawley. The bottom line is Abrams has more money than even Whitney, and he bought someone who comes here. Someone we trust. Someone who is able to get close to Lily.”

Ryland leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest, leveling his gaze at Jonas. Ryland Miller had steel-gray eyes, and when he turned them on anyone with his piercing stare, it felt as if he cut right to the heart.

“Talk to me, Jonas.”

“I believe that someone figured out that Lily stored files she created on Daniel’s abilities in a dream she created with Jeff.”

Ryland went very still, a merciless predator in the room with them. His gaze switched from Jonas to Jeff. “I have the ability to dreamwalk. Why would my wife go to Jeff instead of me, Jonas?”

That tone was so low, it was barely heard. Every predatory animal instinct in Jonas reacted to that danger, his own aggression responding to match the rising threat in Ryland.

Immediately the sparks shot through his body, neurons altering, spreading, once again reversing the natural flow so that the need for a hot, violent response burst through him.

Camellia slipped her hand into his, her thumb sliding over the inside of his palm, that caress stroking along those same nerve endings inside his body. He let her take the lead in soothing him, even though he shifted his body so that he could slightly cover her smaller one. He didn’t like that he was sitting and Ryland was standing, giving his commander the advantage in a fight.

“I would imagine that you had forbidden any documentation of your son’s psychic or physical abilities. I say that because that would be what I would do under the circumstances,” Jonas answered honestly. He had known this wasn’t going to be easy. Ryland adored Lily. If she had actually documented Daniel’s abilities without the consent of her husband, there would be hell to pay. All of them knew that.

“Jeff?” Ryland’s tone was mild, but there was nothing mild about the way his very muscular body positioned itself as he turned to face the younger man.

Kaden stood up, a flowing of his tall, heavily muscled frame. He moved casually, partially placing his body between the leader of their team and those seated at the table. Jonas took the opportunity to rise as well, stretching, as if he’d been sitting for too long. He tugged on Camellia’s hand, taking her with him, all but putting her in a corner so she was protected on three sides, with him standing in front of her.

“Jeff?” Ryland said again. “Last time I ask you.”

“Lily came to me a few months ago, Cap,” Jeff said. “It didn’t occur to me that you weren’t aware of what we were doing. I wasn’t about to deny her. She’s Lily.”

“What exactly was it that you two were doing?” Ryland demanded.

Jeff didn’t hesitate to give a report. “Once a week we got together in a dream state. She would dictate her notes on Daniel and file them in her office in the dream. I would ensure she was safe in the dream. Then we would come back.”

“Who guarded your bodies while you were in the dream state?”

“We were locked in the psych room together. We both had messages to send to a guardian if we didn’t report back in half an hour. Lily had one that would go to you, and I had one that would go to Jonas. We never ran into trouble, nor did I feel it was likely we would.”

“You were taking a chance with Lily’s life.”

“I was following Lily’s directive, which I thought was your directive,” Jeff corrected.

“In all those weeks, or months, you never once asked me,” Ryland pointed out.

That was the flaw in Jeff’s reasoning. Jonas knew it. Kyle knew it. Camellia knew it as well. Jonas felt both Kyle and Camellia holding their breath. Waiting.

Jeff sighed. “I realized after a few weeks that it was possible you weren’t aware, Cap. I asked Lily several times, but she refused to give me a definitive answer. When I told her I was uncomfortable continuing and couldn’t without talking to you, she reminded me . . .” He broke off, shaking his head, clearly hesitant to tell Ryland what his wife had said.