Phantom Game (GhostWalkers 18)

Lily had hurt Ryland. Really hurt him. In some ways, what she’d done was a betrayal. Jonas wrapped his arm around Camellia’s waist and drew her to his side. Betrayal seemed to be all around them. How was he ever going to persuade her that relationships were good? That family really did have one another’s backs? At the moment, they weren’t giving her the best examples.

11

You really have no desire to see Marigold Norton?” Kaden asked, handing Camellia a bottle of water as they walked down the hall toward the dining room. “I would have thought she would be the first person you would want to see.”

Camellia sent him a small smile. She knew a gentle interrogation when she heard one. Kaden was doing his best to sound friendly, but no matter how he put things, he was still asking pointed questions. Kyle kept pace beside her, refusing to get checked out by a medic. He claimed he didn’t need one.

Ryland had insisted Jonas go with him to interrogate Crawley. She wouldn’t want to be in Crawley’s shoes when Ryland and Jonas confronted him.

“No, I’m quite content to stay here with Jonas for the moment. I’ve been up for twenty-four hours and I need to rest. When he gets back, he said we’d go to his home and get some sleep. I’ll be very grateful to do that.”

“He didn’t say how the two of you met.”

“I would have thought that was obvious.” She sent Kaden another small smile when he opened the dining room door for her. She glanced at Kyle. He reached over her head and held the door after Kaden opened it.

The dining room had several tables and chairs set up in it. A buffet counter with food warmers separated the kitchen from the dining room. The low pass-through window that spanned the length of the buffet made it easy for the cook to fill the warmers when food was prepared. To the left of the warmers were plates and utensils. To the right were bins to place the dirty dishes in.

“Kyle. You leave and come back with a beautiful woman,” a tall man with reddish-colored hair called out from where he was seated at one of the tables. He shook his head. “Only you.”

“Ian McGillicuddy, this is Camellia Mist, Jonas’s woman,” Kyle said. “Letting you know up front, he’s staking his claim and he’s serious about her.”

Ian raised one eyebrow. “When that man decides to make a move, he doesn’t mess around. Pleased to meet you, ma’am.” He half rose from his seat to give her a little bow.

Up close, Camellia could see he was extremely tall and he had freckles that didn’t make him look boyish, even though they should have. His emerald eyes were gorgeous. They moved over her, not with a man’s interest, but with speculation and judgment, as if he were wondering if she was good enough for his friend. She quite liked him for that appraisal.

“Please call me Camellia.”

The man sitting beside him stood up, sliding his chair back. “I’m Tucker Addison, Camellia. It’s nice to meet the lady who managed to conquer Jonas.”

Tucker Addison was a very imposing man with dark bronze skin, black eyes, military cropped hair and roped muscles that rippled beneath his tight tee when he moved. In spite of being a giant of a man, he had a gentle smile.

“I’m not sure I can actually claim I conquered him,” Camellia denied. “But we do work fairly well together. The man can take down the enemy fast.”

There was one woman in the room. She had unusual platinum and gold hair that she wore long. Her eyes were blue but had a silvery sheen to them. She wore faded jeans, a blue T-shirt and thin gloves. Camellia found her vaguely familiar, as if she should know her. She rarely forgot anyone, and she reached into her memory to find a picture of the woman.

Kaden guided Camellia away from the men and toward the table where the woman waited. Camellia, for some reason, felt a warning in Kyle’s hand on her back.

What is it? They’d established their own connection. She wasn’t worried that Kaden might overhear them, although she could tell he was unusually good at telepathy.

Before Kyle could answer, they were already at the table, and the woman stood, her smile genuine, one of welcome.

“Camellia, this is my wife, Tansy,” Kaden said. “She was with you when she was a child, but Whitney put her up for adoption when she was five.”

Camellia immediately pulled up the memory of that little girl, with her mop of white hair and her inability to be touched or to touch anyone without severe repercussions. She looked happy and healthy.

Be very careful, Camellia, Kyle cautioned. She has the ability to read people’s secrets if she touches you, or anything you’ve handled.