Conspiracy Game (GhostWalkers 4)

"I won't, Jeb." She put her hand over her already rounded tummy. "But that doesn't change the fact that we won't be able to protect the baby indefinitely. I'm not willing to let Whitney, or anyone else, take my child for experiments. I'm a strong person. I'll do whatever I have to do to keep my child safe. Where else can I go? You tell me and I'll do it."

"They offered protection, Briony," Jebediah reminded her.

"And what do we know about them? That man--Kadan--was enhanced both psychically as well as physically. I not only felt the difference in him, he admitted it. And I had the feeling he was more powerful than Luther. What's to say he wasn't sent to bring me back? We don't know. At least you know Jack Norton. He saved your life. You told me he's got integrity and that he'll never stop if he takes on a job. I'm going to ask him to take on this job, to keep me safe until the baby is born. He can teach me how to hide, and once I have the baby, I can disappear. We should be able to figure out a way to make that happen. People disappear all the time."

"What if he says no?"

"He owes us that much, but if he's that big of a bastard," she shrugged, "then I guess we'll investigate these people and try to figure out who the good guys are."

"Look me in the eye, Briony," Jebediah challenged. "Look at me and tell me you aren't harboring any girlish fantasies about Jack Norton falling in love with you. This is no fairy tale and he's no Prince Charming. The last thing you want is to try to live with a man like that. I'm terrified of leaving you alone with him."

She touched her brother's arm. "I have no silly notions, Jebediah. You know me. I have above-average intelligence; I'm enhanced, and I certainly have more than my share of pride. I read the file on me thoroughly, especially the part where I would react to a certain scent. Jack said I'd be a liability and that he wasn't the kind of man to have a woman around. Those are almost his exact words. Obviously, whatever it is between us was simply manufactured by this doctor so we'd have a child. It has nothing to do with emotion and everything to do with scent. I was inexperienced and got caught thinking Jack could love me. He made it very clear he can't. I won't make that mistake twice."

"It scares me more that he actually might fall in love with you, Briony. He would take over every aspect of your life. You saw a glimpse of him, a tiny one. He isn't an easy man. He's got demons on his back, and they aren't going to magically disappear. I hate saying these kinds of things to you, but Jack is different. When we're out there with guns in enemy territory, we're praying we don't come up on anyone, and if we do, that he doesn't spot us, because we don't want to have to pull the trigger, but Jack..." Jebediah shook his head. "He doesn't give a damn either way."

"Believe me, I respect your opinion, Jeb. If you say he's dangerous, I'm not stupid, I believe you. But I also see how much you respect him and his abilities." Her body shook with sudden adrenaline pouring in. "No one is going to take my child away from me. I can be absolutely ruthless if I have to be. And Jack Norton will underestimate me, just like everyone else does. I'll have the advantage."

Jebediah hit the back of his head several times against the seat in frustration and slammed the flat of his hand against the steering wheel. "This sucks. I should be able to protect you myself. How could something like this happen, and why the hell didn't Mom and Dad suspect something was wrong when Whitney demanded all that specialized training for a child? No one makes a child stay under water for long periods of time and do all the crap you had to do."

"I enjoyed it," Briony pointed out. "If I hadn't enjoyed it, they probably would have objected--just like they did when Whitney demanded I go for field training in Colombia." She flashed him a wan smile. "At least I'm equipped to handle anything thrown at me."

She looked out the window again, at the surrounding wilderness. She loved the outdoors. She loved the night. But--Briony sighed. Right now, darkness made her feel vulnerable instead of cloaking her in safety as it normally did. The trees and shrubs took on a sinister quality, rising high and dark and ominous, as if lurking in the shadows were monsters ready to leap out and devour her.

"I've spent my entire life feeling a coward--always afraid--but this situation is truly terrifying." She blinked back the sudden tears burning behind her eyes. "I've never been without you and the circus. I knew I was different; Mom used to tell me I had to hide it all the time, and maybe that was the appeal of Jack Norton. I finally found someone like me. The moment I laid eyes on him, I knew he was like me. I wanted to belong. Just once."

"Damn it, Briony, you've always belonged with us. Always. We wanted to have a sister as much as Mom and Dad wanted to have a daughter."

"I know that. It has nothing to do with adoption. You're my family and always will be. I didn't feel unloved--just different." She struggled to make him understand. "I didn't have to hide who I really am from Jack. He saw me and I saw him. I didn't have to hide the fact that I'm stronger and faster and can see people in ways others can't. More than that, I didn't hurt." She closed her eyes. "Can you imagine what that was like for me? For the first time I could be around someone and not know what they were thinking or feeling. Emotions didn't swamp me or make me sick. It was such a relief."

"I wish to hell we could give that to you, Bri," he said.

"I know, Jeb. And I know you all love me."

"That same appeal is going to be there when you see him again," he warned.

She turned her head to look at him. "I know. But I'm not so inexperienced this time. He was honest with me, and you and I both know how tough I am. I look fragile to the world, but I've got the baby and you and the boys, and I'm not going to ever sell myself short. I won't get caught in the same trap twice." She looked around her at the trees swaying with the rising wind. "It's very dark, Jeb, and I'm determined to go through with this, so let's just get there, feel him out, and get it over with."

"Has it occurred to you he might decide he wants the baby?"

"Of course I considered that. What would he do with a baby?" She turned her gaze on her brother, and this time the fire in her eyes made him wince. "I'll do whatever I have to do to protect my child, Jebediah. Jack Norton, or anyone else, isn't going to take this baby away from me."

Jebediah swore under his breath as he started the SUV. "I knew you were stubborn, Bri, but I had no idea you were impossible."

Briony rested her head against the seat and kept her eyes on the scenery passing by. She prayed she was doing the right thing. Jack Norton terrified her on so many levels. She'd waited until after three kidnapping attempts, three, before making the decision to contact him. And it wasn't because he might want to kill her--or take the baby. It was because Jack Norton was the only person in the world she feared might take her over. He was stronger, dominant, definitely light-years ahead of her sexually. She had voiced aloud to her brother the hurtful things Jack had said, just to remind herself, to keep them in front of her so she wouldn't be taken in again. It was all too obvious to her that she would be swallowed up by Jack's dominant personality if she wasn't careful.

Don't come near me again. Not ever, because I'll never be able to give you up twice. Had she heard him whisper that as she was coming out of her sleep, or had it been an inexperienced girl's last hope? Maybe it had been her own warning system, screaming--shrieking--at her to stay away. Self-preservation demanded she obey, yet she was sticking her head right back into the lion's mouth.

The Lolo National Forest was on all four sides of them, completely surrounding the property they were trying to find. The mountain was lush with trees, and she often caught glimpses of wild animals.

"I think this is it, Briony," Jebediah said, slowing the SUV and staring at the narrow trail leading off to his right. "You have to be absolutely certain this is what you want to do. I think we follow this creek for another four miles and we're there. Once we arrive, it will be too late to change your mind."

For a moment she couldn't breathe. She held up her hand and her brother stopped the vehicle. Briony jumped out and was sick, over

and over, leaning against the door, while her stomach protested the need to ask Norton for help. Pride alone dictated she stay away from him, but to have to ask him for protection--Briony shook her head as she took the cloth Jebediah handed her. The idea of leaving the safety of her family when she needed them the most, to go to a man who didn't want her, left her cold inside.

"You all right?" Jebediah rubbed her back in sympathy.

"Don't tell him about the baby. Let's tell him about Whitney. We can see how he reacts."

"If we even get that close," Jebediah said. "Be careful, Briony. We could get killed."

"I know." She nodded her head, her stomach cramping again. "I'm sorry I'm putting you in danger. Maybe I should walk from here."

"Not a chance. If you go in, I do too."

A sound awoke him, something out of tune with the familiar night noises. Jack lay for a moment fully alert, all senses flaring, seeking the disturbing break in the rhythm of the night. He rarely slept for any length of time, and always very lightly. A low, one-two hoot--like an owl, without the proper resonance--sounded from somewhere nearby; not the yard, more likely the forest just before the entrance to his home.

Jack dropped his feet to the floor in complete silence. He caught up his jeans and shirt, pulled them on, and strapped on a long leather sheath containing a razor-edged knife. A Smith and Wesson in his hand, he padded silently to the door. He moved down the hall unerringly in the dark and eased through the door to his brother's room.

He touched his twin's shoulder lightly. Ken was already alert, dragging on his jeans, aware of the need for silence. They used hand signals, as they had since they were children, preferring to use telepathy when distance separated them. Ken caught up his rifle, a night scope, and a box of shells.

Jack chose to leave by a side door, moving into the night silently, stealthily. He signaled Ken to high ground and then made his own way through the yard, a shadow among the shadows, first a boulder, then a tree, a part of the night.

Once in the cover of the forest, Jack picked his battleground carefully--good cover, good escape routes, a clear shot for Ken. Jack whistled softly, calling in the intruder. Ken would use a scope to get the exact number of intruders.

"Jack." The voice was a soft hiss of a sound. "It's Jebediah, Jack," the voice continued. "Jebediah Jenkins."

"Come on in," Jack said softly into the night, a challenge more than a welcome. He closed his eyes briefly, fighting back the memory of Briony, of soft skin and sheer ecstasy, a haven of pleasure that took him outside himself and the hell he constantly lived in. He was never going to be free of her.

He's not alone. Ken's voice filled his mind.

Jack sighed softly. Surely Jebediah wouldn't be a big enough fool to come after him because he found out about Jack sleeping with Briony. The idea was too childish for words, and not Jebediah's style. Let them come, Ken.

The wind shifted just a bit, just enough for him to catch their scent. Need slammed into his body, pheromones spinning out of control, enfolding him in her feminine allure. Briony was with Jebediah, and her scent called to him, heady and intoxicating, threatening his tight control. Jack let his breath out slowly. How could he ever give her up a second time? He wasn't a man who lived by rules. He wanted Briony, and the temptation to take her, to keep her, to tie her to him irrevocably was overwhelming. He had no doubt he could do it. He'd warned her. Why the hell hadn't she listened? And what was wrong with her brother that Jebediah didn't keep her safe--away from Jack, a continent away?

Jack waited there in the darkness, seeing the heat of their bodies before they stepped through the foliage to approach him. He needed to be watching Jebediah, but he couldn't take his eyes from Briony. Stay on him, Ken. I've got the girl.

She was everything he remembered and more. He'd filled his nights and his days with the memory of the feel of her skin, her body surrounding his, the fierce, almost primitive need to possess her. Stark, raw emotion surged and poured through his veins until his blood pounded with heat. Mostly he remembered the way she looked at him--as a man, so that he could see himself in her eyes--the man he should have been, if he'd met her years earlier. She looked like the most beautiful woman in the world to him, and here he was, up in the mountains where no one would ever be able to take her away from him.

Her hair was short and thick, platinum and wheat, sassy and inviting so that he itched to bury his face in the soft strands. Her eyes were as large, as beautiful as he'd remembered, so dark they were nearly black. As she and her brother approached him, she reached out to Jebediah, taking his hand, as if she was afraid. Jack could see the strain around her mouth, the shadows in her eyes. As she neared, he caught the minute difference in her scent. Even more feminine, as if chemical changes in her body had occurred since he last saw her. He remembered his own scent mixed with hers, powerful and appealing. The raw sexuality of their union, lust and overwhelming emotion mixing until they were both so wrapped in one another they were locked in another world.

Damn. He wanted her with every cell in his body. Every part of his brain. She walked out of the night looking too young. Too innocent. Too soft and sweet for a man like him. She was the epitome of everything he wasn't, would never be. Home. Family. Children. She was good and he'd lost that so long ago. All he had left was his honor, and if she didn't get the hell off his mountain, she'd rob him of that. She'd fight his possessive nature and eventually he'd break her spirit. In that moment, as she came closer, he truly hated the monster he had become.

"What the hell do you want?" he spat out, remaining in the shadows, knowing Jebediah wouldn't be able to spot him. He was less certain of Briony. He knew she was every bit as enhanced as he.

Jebediah and Briony exchanged a long look. Jack could smell their fear. It oozed through their pores and permeated the air around them. The tension shot up a notch. Jebediah stepped protectively in front of Briony, and that annoyed the hell out of Jack. He wanted their fear, but at the same time, if anyone was protecting her, it should have been him. She belonged with him.

"If you came to challenge me to a duel because I fucked your sister, Jebediah, you're a hell of a lot stupider than I gave you credit for." The words were out before he could stop them. The rage, usually hidden deep, boiled over with Briony being in such close proximity, his craving for her driving him to stupidity. He detested standing there watching Jebediah put his hands on her. For a man with the need of tight control, she was dangerous, shattering Jack's every protective shield. He needed to drive her away. Even as the thought came, his heart sank. It was too late for him--for her.

Fierce anger clouded her face, and she leapt across the distance at him, her hand moving so fast it was actually blurred. The slap was loud, reverberating through the clear night. Fear galvanized him into instant action. "Down, Jeb, get down!" He yelled the command even as he slammed his body hard into Briony, driving her backward to the ground, covering her smaller frame with his larger one. Stand down! Stand down!

The bullet tore through the tree right where Briony's head had been, splintering wood and sending bark raining over them. Jack kept Briony pinned down, holding her still beneath his body. He knew she could feel the merciless hard-on pressed so tightly against her stomach, and it gave him the utmost satisfaction to see the edge of fear mingled with her fury. His fingers dug into her shoulders and he gave her a little shake. "Damn you for your stupidity. Did you think I wouldn't have someone out in the shadows with a scope on you? You could have been killed."

His body blanketed hers. Imprinted onto hers. Wanted hers. The scare of nearly losing her sent a deep tremor through his body, shaking him. He was never shaken, yet just her closeness had him off balance. Damn it to hell, Ken, don't you shoot at her again. I'll fucking kill you myself.

His brother's amused laughter echoed through his head. It was a warning shot.

My ass, that was a warning shot.

"Get the hell off of me." Briony's eyes, so dark with anger, nearly threw off sparks.

"I forgot what an utter bastard you are. Get off now." There was a definite threat in her tone.

Somewhere deep in his gut, the admiration rose, just as it had when she'd shot a man to protect him. Briony might be sweet and innocent and far too good for the likes of him, but she was a fighter through and through. "Or what?"

Behind him, Jebediah sat up cautiously, looking around him for the shooter. "Or I'm going to beat you to a bloody pulp. Get off of her."

The shadows shifted with the trees, the moon spilling across her face. Jack saw the swelling, the bruise spread across her jaw, chin, and cheek. He'd noticed the gauze wrap on her arm, but someone had hit her? Raw fury poured through his body--raged ice cold and deadly. "Who hit you? Damn it, don't lie to me either. If your brother dared lay a hand on you..."

"My brother wouldn't hit me, you moron. Let me up now."

"Get the hell off my sister or I'm going to knock you off of her," Jebediah threatened, uncaring of the shooter.

"Who hit her? Tell me now, Jebediah, or Ken's going to blow your brains all over the place."

"A man named Luther hit me. Get off before I hurt you," Briony snapped.

"What were you thinking bringing her here?" Jack demanded, ignoring the threat.

"He was thinking about saving your life, you jackass." Briony shoved at the wall of his chest, this time hard enough that it rocked him. Touching his chest brought back the memory of fresh knife carvings, of kissing her way down the jagged wounds, lower and lower until...She slammed her mind closed on her wayward thoughts.

Jack had forgotten how strong she was. "That was thoughtful of him. Who is Luther and who wants to kill me?"

"Who doesn't," Briony snapped. "You're hurting me. Get off."

Jack shifted his weight immediately, dragging her up with him, retaining possession of her arm when she tried to get to her brother. "Who is trying to kill me? Jebediah, stay right where you are. You wouldn't want my trigger-happy brother to take another shot at you."