Lightning Game (GhostWalkers 17)

“Rubin keeps saying you’re as good as I am in the woods,” Diego pointed out. “That’s a good enough reason.”

“It’s the truth. I’m probably better,” Jonquille said.

Diego snorted. “Not on your life.”

Jonquille sobered, the smile fading. “If you really want to talk about trust, Rubin, then let’s get practical. We need to know if Whitney has sent a team coming this way. We also need to know how close this other team is as well. You’re insisting on meeting with your patients. I agree with Diego on this one: I think you should give it a pass, but I also know that pull that just won’t let you go, so I understand that you have to see them.”

“What are you thinking?” Rubin asked.

Rubin, Diego cautioned.

Hear her out. I know she came up here with those intentions.

Why not take the team out before they got up here?

Because she already figured out that Whitney probably sent a team as well and she was hoping to pit them against each other.

Diego was silent for a minute. Yeah. I didn’t see that one coming.

Jonquille sighed. “Do the two of you ever get tired of arguing? I could just go into the other room or step outside if you don’t want to speak telepathically.”

Diego glanced at Rubin sharply. “She knows?”

“She knows. You’re probably not very good at it.”

“I’m good at it. You’re the one not guarding your thoughts around her.”

Jonquille got up and went over to the countertop where the berry cobbler was sitting out. She scooped some into a bowl, got a spoon and returned to the rocker.

Both men frowned at her as she began eating very slowly, obviously savoring every bite. She looked up, arching one eyebrow at them. “What? I thought I might as well enjoy dessert while the two of you put on your little act. You don’t usually fight. That’s easy enough to see. I don’t know why you are now. If you’re insisting on seeing your patients, Rubin, you don’t need either of us to do that.”

She licked the spoon and then took another slow bite, as if contemplating, before she continued. “Diego and I can either go together to find how close the team of whoever they are is, or we can split up and one of us searches for them while the other looks for signs of Whitney’s men. Presumably, Whitney will send his best mountain men after us.”

Diego frowned, thinking it over. “You might be right, Jonquille. That might be the best way to handle it. Even if you were rude enough to get yourself dessert and not any for me, I have to say, you have a decent enough plan.” He got up and scooped himself up a much larger helping of the cobbler, and sat down with an air of satisfaction.

Rubin studied their two faces and then shook his head. “Seriously? You think I’m going to fall for that? Nicely played, the two enemies falling together into some sort of uneasy alliance, but I’m not buying it for one minute. You’re not leaving me here safe and sound, looking out for my patients, while the two of you go off hunting the enemy together. Do you think I’m an idiot?”

He got up and just took the rest of the cobbler, not bothering with a bowl. “When we go hunting, I’ll be hunting with you. We’re sticking together. This doesn’t bode well for our future, Jonquille.”

“I was planning on taking seconds,” Jonquille said, indicating the cobbler with her spoon. “I took a very modest first helping.”

“You don’t deserve a second helping for conspiring against your future husband with my brother,” Rubin informed her.

Jonquille rolled her eyes. “I don’t have a future husband. In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m a human lightning rod. Kissing me might be a little dangerous.”

Diego groaned. “You just had to go and issue that particular challenge, didn’t you?”

Rubin immediately turned his dark eyes on her, looking at her mouth with intense scrutiny. She had a beautiful mouth. That lower lip was especially intriguing. Jonquille drew herself back into the rocking chair as if she could make herself smaller, and held up the spoon as if to ward him off.

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“You were the one who didn’t think it was possible. I assure you, not only is it possible, it’s going to happen, and very soon. In fact, you have berries on your lower lip and I’m thinking I might have to lick them off in another minute.”

“You might end up lit up like the Fourth of July if you try it,” she pointed out, sounding a little faint.

Diego groaned again. “Haven’t you learned anything? He thrives on challenges. Don’t say that to him. Just wave him off or something. It’s bad enough that he figured out you were trying to protect him. Now he’s going to be watching you like a hawk. Since he lumped me into your conspiracy, he’ll be doing the same to me. I won’t get away with anything.”