Lightning Game (GhostWalkers 17)

He didn’t like that she would have tried to winter in the cabin alone. Even with the two of them, Diego and him, if one had fallen ill or broken a bone, it would have been dangerous.

“You know that wouldn’t have been the best of ideas.” He got to his feet, towering over her, conscious of the difference in their heights.

“I would have hunted for food and stored as much as I could have. Then collected edible roots and plants and stored those as well. I could have made it work.”

“Too dangerous and you know it,” he repeated.

“What do you think I’ve been doing all this time?”

“What would happen if a group of males caught you alone out here and they weren’t in the mood to be nice?” The image of his sister’s dead body floating in the stream rose up to haunt him. He shut it down immediately.

“I suppose I’d have to kill them.” She shrugged. “I wouldn’t like doing it, Rubin, but I would if I had to, if things got nasty.” Again, she exhibited supreme confidence.

He let her lead the way, if for no other reason than to give his brother a break. “You seem to think you wouldn’t have any problem taking on a group of men and coming out the victor.”

“As a rule, I get a sense when I’m in over my head very fast. I did right away with you. Then I became aware of your brother and knew it was game over until I could figure out an advantage. You two don’t make it easy.”

“That’s good to know. I’m curious as to how you think you can gain the advantage when there are several men, Jonquille.”

She threw him a quick, secretive smile over her shoulder. “If I told you, that would take away my advantage, wouldn’t it? What if I have to escape and do both you and your brother in? You knew I was going to take off and you came after me anyway.”

“I had no choice.” He thought he had a good argument for defense.

“There’s always a choice.”

He laughed. “I believe I said those exact words to you. That isn’t very fair to throw my own platitudes back in my face.”

“Why didn’t you have a choice?”

“Because you’re my woman and I couldn’t very well let my one shot at happiness go running off into the woods never to be seen again. I’d already realized you were good, maybe even as good as Diego, at not leaving a trace behind. If that was the case, I wasn’t taking chances on losing out.”

She shot him another look over her shoulder, this time rolling her eyes at him. “I think mountain men are a little insane.”

He laughed again. “So I’ve heard.”

Jonquille was smooth on the trail, navigating it as if she’d been doing so from the time she was a toddler. She didn’t seem to look at the ground, but navigated by memory or feel. He wasn’t certain which.

What are you doing, Rubin? She’s a big question mark. Your exact match suddenly appearing out of nowhere and camping out in our cabin. How convenient. You aren’t thinking with your brain, and as long as I’ve known you, that’s never happened before. It’s too dangerous to have her around. You just asked a cougar to come play house with you.

I believe she’s quite a bit younger than I am, Diego.

This isn’t a joke. I need to know what you’re doing.

I think she’s a psychic surgeon. If I’m right, that makes three of us in the entire world. And possibly a fourth if Paul’s match is one as well. If what she says is the truth, she has to be protected. If it isn’t, we have to get her free of Whitney.

What we have to do is protect you, Rubin. If this is a setup, then we have to get you out of here. We can decide what to do about her when you’re safe. Once I know you’re good, I can scout around and look for signs of a team. They can’t be too far away. They wouldn’t leave her, especially if she’s with Whitney. He never trusts the women, even if he puts a virus in them.

Rubin sighed. Ahead of him, Jonquille laughed softly and glanced back at him over her shoulder. “The two of you really do spend a lot of time arguing telepathically.”

“That just started recently.”

She turned back toward the cabin, picking up the pace. “You can’t blame him for being suspicious. You have to be just a little bit, Rubin. To tell you the truth, I’m a little uneasy with all these revelations.”

“Why? You came looking for me.”

She was silent again. They were out at the edge of the trees when she halted, as if it was automatic to do so. She studied the cabin and the expanse of ground between them and the structure. “I did come looking for you. I went to all those conventions and listened to the speakers. No one resonated with me. Not one person seemed as if they could help me. Looking back, why is that? Many of them are considered the top experts in the field, and yet not one of them made me think they could help me. Only you.”