Phantom Game (GhostWalkers 18)

He needed to know. If Shaker couldn’t sort through it and come out on the other side, along with Oliver and Tusker, with all those same aggressive traits, how the hell could he ever trust himself with Camellia? She was courageous and compassionate and far too good for a man like him—and that was without the enhancements Whitney had saddled him with. Why had Shaker ever decided to do something so stupid when he saw how Whitney had wrecked Oliver’s and Jonas’s lives?

Will you stop? You saved Jeff’s life. And you saved Kyle’s life. Why don’t you think about that instead of the negative?

She didn’t sound compassionate or sympathetic. His woman sounded exasperated. Even in the middle of what was one of arguably his worst moments, with his body still trying to overcome the aggression, she managed to make him love her even more.

Shaker shook his head weakly. “You can’t let them live, Jonas. It’s up to you now.”

Jonas rubbed his forehead. His head was pounding, screaming at him. “Tusker was dying, wasn’t he?” He was fairly certain Tusker hadn’t been the only one. Shaker most likely had known he was dying as well.

“Yes.” The admission was low. Muffled. “He didn’t have long. We knew we didn’t have much more time. None of us should have been alive.” Shaker didn’t open his eyes. “Abominations. All of us. You know, Jonas. And none of us should have children. They know better. Lily, Ryland. You. All of you know better. It has to be stopped.”

Jonas pressed his fingers to his pounding temples. How many times had those exact thoughts run through his own head? It wasn’t as if he could condemn Shaker for thinking what he’d considered so many times.

“You planned to turn everyone against each other. Hopefully kill everyone off.” Jonas made it a statement. “Somehow, you managed to plant your voice in with our team, didn’t you?”

“It was the only way.”

“You were never going to keep Lily and Daniel alive.”

“No, they were going to have to die too.” There was regret in Shaker’s voice. He coughed. Little bubbles of blood formed around his lips. “I never wanted to kill children or women, Jonas, but Whitney left us no choice. You know I’m right. You have to know all of us are monsters, and eventually we’re going to turn on the population.”

“Call off the mercenaries, Shaker. I know you have a way to send them away. They have no chance against two teams of GhostWalkers. They’d be slaughtered. Send them away now and I’ll consider what you’re saying. It isn’t as if I’ve never thought along those same lines myself.”

“My watch. Underneath. Pop the button up. Sends fail-safe to each captain. They’ll take the men and leave. They were told the possibilities. Money would be wired to their accounts.”

Shaker was panting so hard it was nearly impossible for Jonas to assess whether or not he was telling the truth. Camellia?

I think he is. Red says yes.

Jonas took a chance. What else was there to do? He reached carefully. Even in his present state, Shaker could be very dangerous. Jeff had come up on the other side of Shaker, staying at a respectful distance but ready to back Jonas up. Shockingly, Kyle was on the move as well. Jonas knew through his connection with the underground.

Sit your ass down, Kyle. You want to ruin whatever the hell Camellia did to patch you up? I’m a little too busy to perform some sort of mouth-to-mouth crap on you, he ordered as he removed the watch from Shaker’s wrist and popped up the fail-safe button.

When your woman decides to heal someone, Jonas, she does a thorough job.

For one moment, he thought about asking her to try to heal Shaker so he wouldn’t have to bear the responsibility of having murdered all three of the Borders brothers. He felt Camellia grow very still in his mind. Holding her breath. He wondered what she would do if he asked her. He knew it wouldn’t be fair to her or Shaker.

“How did you get your voice into the compound, Shaker?”

The man coughed again. “Lydia is our cousin. I was going to let Oliver’s death go, but then she found out how you murdered him. Told us Miller did nothing. That the entire team did nothing to save him. Knew then all of you were as fucked up as Tusker and me. Had to destroy everyone.”

“Team Two?”

“Couldn’t get her in no matter how hard she tried, even as a registered therapist.” Shaker opened his eyes and stared straight into Jonas’s. “You have to get rid of them, Jonas. I know it will be hard, but Whitney turned everyone in that first experiment into killers. You know he did. I couldn’t get it done, but you can. You’re strong enough. They trust you. Go back to your team and kill them all. Wipe them out. If you get the chance, do the same with Team Two.”