Phantom Game (GhostWalkers 18)

Jonas could see she was genuinely shocked at Ryland’s response. She looked around the room, taking in everyone, her gaze resting on Camellia, who looked pale and worn. Ryland stood, looking menacing, filling the room with anger.

“Yes, Lily, this is a military matter. Just like the soldiers coming up the mountain to kidnap you and Daniel and wipe the rest of our team and Team Two out. Do you want to know why they’re coming? Why they would come?”

Jonas winced. Ryland’s voice was very low, never a good sign with him. He could infuse more fury into his tone than anyone could by raising their voice. He stalked her across the room, looking so menacing Lily actually backed away from him.

“Because you decided you didn’t have to listen to your husband and could do whatever the hell you wanted to do with our son. So now I’ve got a prisoner I’ve got to interrogate. Do you have any idea what that means? When one interrogates a prisoner quickly? One that refuses to give up information we need fast? Perhaps I should have you observe.”

Jonas’s heart nearly stopped beating. He’d never seen Ryland like this. Never. They’d lost men. They’d been hunted. They’d been trapped in cages with men drugging them, taking them to hospitals and murdering members of their team, and still, Jonas had never seen Ryland like this. He didn’t know whether or not to intervene. He could feel the absolute shock of the other men in the room as well.

He feels absolutely betrayed by her. He can’t conceive of what she’s done and the consequences to all of you, Camellia observed. Or the consequences to their relationship.

Jonas felt her understanding of what Ryland was feeling. She knew betrayal intimately. Once trust was broken, how did one get it back? Jonas looked at his commanding officer. He’d known him for years. He followed him because he believed in him. There were few men better than Ryland Miller.

Ryland was a simple man in that he was utterly loyal when it came to those he loved—just as Jonas was. Jonas had no idea what he’d do if Camellia had gone behind his back when they’d both agreed on a way to keep their child safe and done just the opposite. Wring her neck?

“I don’t think you would like the way we get information, Lily, but then right now, your opinion doesn’t matter very much to me one way or the other. As for this woman, she’s doing her best to save Kaden because we don’t have time to wait for a psychic surgeon because there is an army on the way to wipe us out.”

Lily shook her head. “That can’t be true.”

“I assure you, it’s all true,” Ryland said. “Especially the part where you betrayed your husband.” Ryland’s voice had dropped even lower. His eyes had gone almost pure silver, fixed on his wife.

Jonas moved to get into a better position to intercept just in case. Gator did as well. Ryland ignored both of them.

Lily put a defensive hand to her throat. “Ryland, no, it isn’t like that.”

“It’s exactly like that. There isn’t a way to put a spin on it, Lily. We had a discussion, we both agreed and you went behind my back anyway. You figured you could outsmart everyone, but you didn’t. There was a traitor planted in our home. Your good friend, Dr. Adams’s assistant, Lydia Fenamore, was paid to build up your trust and observe everything she could, including mapping what parts of Jeff’s brain were active and when.”

Lily kept shaking her head.

“You figured you would use Jeff instead of me because you thought I would never agree to what you were doing. You went behind my back, and you endangered our son and every man, woman and child on this team, as well as those on Team Two, through your own recklessness. You’ve gotten to be so arrogant, thinking you’re above everyone else with your enormous IQ. Who does that remind you of, Lily?”

She winced visibly, as if he’d struck her. Tansy gasped. Jonas wanted to hold up his hand and stop Ryland. There were some things you couldn’t take back. Implying Lily was like Whitney might be one of them. Lily was as white as a sheet.

“I don’t have time to discuss this with you right now.” Ryland was merciless. “You have to leave. Kaden has opted to allow Camellia to try to remove the bullet. She’s already managed to remove all of the poison from his body.”

Lily’s gaze jumped to Camellia. “You’re a healer?”

Ryland took her arm. “You are to leave now, or I’ll have Gator escort you to your room and lock you in, Lily. If you think I’m in any way joking, think again. You put not only our entire team and their families at risk but Team Two and their families as well. I have very little time to put together a battle plan. I don’t even know how many I’m up against. This isn’t one of Whitney’s supersoldiers’ experimental attacks to see what they can do. It’s all-out war.”