Phantom Game (GhostWalkers 18)

That’s not what happened, Jeff protested. That was a nightmare. A persistent nightmare. How could this man know about a nightmare I had? My God, Jonas, this is on me.

Camellia felt his intention or, more than likely, the underground network and Red did, as Jeff had one arm wrapped securely around the branch he was stretched out on.

Don’t you dare move, Jeff, she snapped. You’ll give everyone away. This isn’t on you any more than it’s on anyone else.

It’s my nightmare. There’s more. It’s so ugly. I couldn’t get it out of my head. I had it for months. I was afraid to go to sleep at night.

There was so much pain in Jeff’s voice, Camellia closed her eyes, wanting to weep. She wanted to cry for all of them, Shaker, Tusker, Angel included.

This is on me, Jeff, not you. I’m the one who killed him. Jonas said it so quietly, Camellia nearly missed the confession.

“It’s hard to kill a GhostWalker,” Angel continued. “We don’t just die like everyone thinks we should. Oliver suffered and Jonas wanted him to. He tore out his jugular. He’s an animal, Camellia. A time bomb. They keep him because he’s useful to them. And if they keep him after what he did, you have to wonder how many other time bombs they have on that team. Do you have any idea the havoc he could wreak on the main population? Or the rest of us for that matter.”

Camellia took several deep, calming breaths, trying to sort through everything she’d learned and what they still needed to know. How much time did they have before Shaker gave the order to attack? She knew Gorman and Lewis had shifted their positions. The changes were subtle, but the underground network had sent their locations to her. She was concerned for Jonas. She didn’t know what Pops or Lowell were up to, or Shaker and his brother.

“You took all this to Abrams, and he was so sympathetic he sent an army? He’s a man who wants to hide in the shadows, Angel. He definitely believes himself superior. To you. To me. Probably to Whitney. Why would he ever agree to send mercenaries to help you wipe out Ryland Miller’s team, even if he wanted Lily and Daniel?”

“Abrams is just like every other entitled asshole, Camellia,” Angel said, his voice filled with contempt. “He does think he’s superior. He gives orders, and everyone blindly obeys him. He doesn’t even look at his security detail. They’re beneath him, even though they’re expected to take a bullet for him. It doesn’t occur to him that any one of us would ever consider turning on him. Or that we would take his shit for a reason.”

“A reason? I lived alone, giving up my need for a family in order to keep from having to take anyone’s crap ever again. What would be your reason when you have so much power, Angel? Especially all of you combined?”

She was careful to keep her tone curious. She was curious. Even a little shocked. Angel seemed intelligent. Why would he follow Abrams when he wouldn’t need to do so?

“Abrams has money and power. Not only that, Camellia, but he belongs to a small consortium that pretty much rules the world. They have a hand in influencing the world’s markets. They can take down governments, all behind the scenes, of course. If we control Abrams, we have control of that.”

Camellia’s stomach did a hard somersault. “Shaker’s voice.”

Angel nodded. “Shaker takes a lot of shit from some of the others. We keep our circle tight so there’s no chance of it getting out that Shaker controls Abrams. He only uses his ability when it’s in our interests. We move pieces around on the board, making certain the GhostWalkers are protected when they would have been left wide open. That sort of thing. We tried to shut down some of Whitney’s worst experiments. Abrams would be so angry at Whitney, not even realizing he was the one behind the orders.” There was amusement in Angel’s voice.

“Shaker persuaded Abrams to send you here with the mercenaries. Why would you give all that up for revenge? You know by coming here, you would lose everything. You could never go back.”

“Jonas murdered Oliver and they did nothing,” Shaker snapped, for the first time speaking directly to her. “I knew Oliver was unstable. When I heard he died, I accepted his death, but then this report came in, and it was disgusting to me that an entire team betrayed his trust. His best friend betrayed his trust. I’m his brother. Was I going to do the same? Not on your life.”

“I get what you’re saying. I do. If I believed this one report rather than talking to Ryland Miller myself and asking him questions, then I might be out for revenge . . .”