Phantom Game (GhostWalkers 18)

Abrams thinks neither of our teams is worth much, Kyle added in his thoughts. Whitney would lose his mind if he knew Abrams’s consortium had hired mercenaries to kill the Nortons’ babies. He’s left them strictly alone, believing Jack and Ken would raise them to be the kind of GhostWalkers the country needs. Clearly, Whitney hasn’t shared information with Abrams about the Norton twins having babies.

But then, Jeff contributed, Abrams isn’t a patriot. He’s all about power. He backed Whitney’s genius because everything Whitney did turned to gold. Abrams didn’t care if what Whitney did was legal or not. He didn’t care if he experimented on children or put women into breeding programs. He especially didn’t care if Whitney was creating babies in petri dishes and splicing nonhuman DNA into their genetic code just to see what would happen.

Jonas took up the narrative on Abrams. I don’t know how true the rumors are, but Team Four supposedly shut down a very hot virus that had wiped out an entire remote village in Indonesia. That virus was developed by men working for Whitney. Those men took off with the virus, selling it to someone who had been paying them all along for information. Those people were traced to what we believe is part of Abrams’s coalition.

Following the trail through the trees laid out in his mind by the mycelium network was easy. It seemed almost as if LED lights were illuminating his way. He didn’t have to use his eyes. The guidance system was so completely integrated through his mind and body, but he could clearly see the trail laid out in front of him, right down to every branch, loose rock and patch of uneven ground that lay in his path.

It took time for him to notice the trail smoothed itself out as he ran. One moment it dipped significantly just up ahead, and then it was straight as he raced over it. When Jeff, who was bringing up the rear, crossed it, the ground once more dipped.

You seeing what I’m seeing, Camellia? He ensured he asked her on their private communication path. There were some things he didn’t think were best to share with Jeff and Kyle—not that he didn’t trust them, but just as in the case with Lily and Jeff, secrets had a way of creeping out of closets.

The mycelium is helping us, Jonas. They know we’re in a tight situation. Red is communicating with the network.

That didn’t surprise him. She’d told him Red was going to help. The fog was gradually climbing to greater heights. It looked and felt very real, rising upward in churning masses, the bank so long and thick, mingling with what appeared to be clouds heavy with potential rain.

They climbed quickly to a higher elevation, and the heavy forest began to thin. Blue, Camellia’s Great Gray owl, lifted off a snag, gliding low to the ground just in front of Jonas, effectively blocking him from continuing along the trail. He stopped instantly and signaled to the others to melt into the fog. The forward scouts were coming.

Camellia, you have to let Antonio and Trace know they’re about an hour out, Jonas said. They’re on the main trail at this point, but that doesn’t mean they’ll stick to it. If they go off of it, you’ll know, right?

Yes. I’ll wait to warn them until we know if these men are enhanced.

Jonas remained upright, frozen in place, hidden in the dark purple fog. Kyle was a few feet from him, lying prone in the vegetation, eyes locked on the trail. Jeff had gone up a tree. The fog hadn’t quite covered him yet, but somehow, the clouds reached him. Jonas was certain that strange phenomenon was Camellia’s doing. She manipulated weather to a degree using Middlemist Red. Camellia herself was nowhere to be seen. Like Jonas, she could simply disappear—even from him. He wasn’t sure whether to be impressed or bothered by that. He decided to be impressed.

The first scout appeared on the trail within five minutes of Blue’s warning. He was a short, stocky man with a natural, easy pace that told Jonas he was definitely enhanced. He turned his head this way and that as he jogged, only occasionally looking ahead at the trail through the fog. That also told Jonas he could see through the dense, roiling fog, something few could do.

One scout coming through the trees to the lead scout’s right, Camellia reported. The lead is obviously trying to direct him but isn’t able to see the ground, because he’s on the trail and this one is off of it. There’s a lot of swearing going on. There was amusement in her voice.

“Cut the crap, Simon,” the one in the forest snarled. “Give me the trail and you take this route. I keep tripping over rocks and downed trees you didn’t see. I’m going to break my neck.”