Toxic Game (GhostWalkers 15)

His fingers settled around her arm and he gently pulled her into him. The way he did it centered her, his touch a whisper against her skin, no more, yet she found herself tucked in close to his body. There was heat just like in her mind, as if inside Draden was a fire, burning hot and out of control, threatening to consume both of them.

She didn’t know where she got that image, but it was there in her mind, which meant he got the same one. This is embarrassing.

Why? I am hot right now. I want to kill every single one of those fuckers. Most of the time rage for me is ice, but not this time. They killed every man, woman and child in that village. Those people were peaceful. They tried to live their lives in the best way possible, not asking for anything from anyone. You bet I’m hot.

Put that way, she understood. They were testing the virus. I’ve been tracking the men who created it.

He pulled out of her mind abruptly. She knew because she felt bereft. Starkly alone. The feeling was raw and ugly after having him there with her. She wanted him back, and that wasn’t an intelligent response. She needed to stand on her own two feet at all times. That was what made her strong. Depending on someone else only made for weakness. With what was coming, she couldn’t afford to be weak.

Do you know who they are? Their identity?

He was back, sliding into her mind so easily, as if they had been communicating telepathically for years. She could tell he was one of the rare anchors. He could draw psychic energy to him, so others wouldn’t overload on it.

Whitney employs several top scientists. Most have their own labs scattered around the world. He oversees every project, gives his consent or nixes experiments. He’s the banker, so if he doesn’t approve, it isn’t done.

At least, that was in theory. Shylah knew differently now. Three of Whitney’s protégés worked together in his laboratory in France, but they broke away and set up a remote lab here in Indonesia. Two were Americans and one was Indonesian. Whitney talked about them often and how brilliant they were. In the last few months, he’s been angry with them.

Do you know where their remote lab here is located?

She nodded. It’s several miles from here. They’re gone and have been for a couple of days.

I’ll need to see it, if we can get there without infecting anyone.

I can take you there.

Do you know what the fight was about, the one that created a big enough rift that would cause the three scientists to leave Whitney and his endless supply of money?

Whitney nixed their project. They wanted to create new viruses as weapons. Whitney was violently opposed to the idea. He’s all about creating supersoldiers, not destroying the world with a pandemic.

His scientists have gone rogue and you were sent here …

To kill them and destroy their work. It wasn’t exactly sexy telling a gorgeous man that you came to kill someone, let alone three someones. Shylah was a weapon. She had no problem with killing the three men responsible for the creation of such a horrific virus as the one that had been visited on the people of Lupa Suku.

The Milisi Separatis Sumatra had to have gotten the virus from them.

Draden tapped her thigh. Up high. Her heart nearly stopped.

The boat’s around the curve. You stay here, and I’ll go see how many of them I can take out. It shouldn’t take me long. If I haven’t come back …

I’m going with you.

That isn’t necessary. I work better alone.

That hurt, especially as he’d been treating her as a fellow soldier. Doesn’t matter how well you work alone. I’m better that way too, but we can’t take chances. With two of us going after those in the boat, we’ll get all of them.

His fingers tightened around her arm. Let’s do it then. You follow my orders.

She took a breath and went under again, allowing him to pull her toward deeper water in the middle of the river. Why should I take orders from you?

Are you an officer?

I should be. Whitney wouldn’t allow that.

Amusement flooded her mind. A man after my own heart. Keep the little rebels in the kitchen.

Watch yourself, hotshot. You may be the best-looking man on earth, but I’m behind you wielding a very large knife and I’m not afraid to use it.

Bloodthirsty wench. At least you have a knife. Kitchenware, presumably.

He powered through the water like a rocket. The boat with the MSS members was chugging along slowly, spotlighting both banks in an effort to find where Shylah and Draden had come out of the water. It would probably be smarter to allow the terrorists to think they had drowned, but already, they were close to catching up. She could feel the vibrations of the engine.

You wish it was kitchenware, soldier. It’s big enough to be a machete and twice as sharp. I could give you a little nick, so you could test how sharp.

Woman, save it for the enemy. There was a small pause. You ever do this before?

She’d gone up against Whitney’s supersoldiers when he wanted to test her and his newest model soldiers. It was either be victorious or die. Whitney’s experiments were useless to him if they couldn’t perform to his expectations.

Yes. In the water as well as out. I’m not Bellisia, but I do all right. She preferred to drop from above and kill whenever possible. That didn’t mean she couldn’t come out of the water. She was genetically enhanced, and that meant Whitney had thought about whatever she might need. Don’t worry about me, Draden. I can keep up.

For the first time, his fingers slipped from her arm. Strangely, whereas she’d wanted his hand off her, now she felt as though she was completely alone again, and Whitney was testing her. She didn’t like the feeling and wanted Draden back.

We’re coming up on the boat. You take the left, closest to the bank. There are six targets. Three on each side. The spotter has to be taken out immediately. He’s on your side. I’ll take out the commander. The four will begin shooting. If you’re hit, go to deep water and hunker down. I’ll come for you. I’m a doctor so …

I’ve been infected with the virus. A quick death is preferable to that kind of

death.

Maybe. Don’t count me out. I want to see their lab. In any case, one step at a time. Take the spotter and then the one on the far end of the boat. Don’t work your way down the line. Middle man is the weakest.

How would he know that? They’d been underwater the entire time the boat chugged past. He’d been talking to her. He couldn’t have seen those in the boat. She hadn’t.

You didn’t look. It’s no big deal. If you think you can’t do this, you need to tell me.

Was that exasperation in his voice? She wanted to kick him. It wasn’t like she was having the best day of her life, and it was a perfectly normal question. Men like you are the reason I like to work alone. I didn’t say I couldn’t do this, nor did I imply I was worried about doing it. What’s the countdown?

Prickly, aren’t you? I was just looking out for you. Are you in position?

Shylah had to swim just under the boat to keep from being seen. It wasn’t difficult as the boat was really going slow. The spotter had his light high and pointed to the shore, so they could examine the bank for any sign of them emerging.

On go. Three. Two. One. Go.

He didn’t believe in playing around. She surged out of the water, plunged her blade through the spotter’s heart and then sank below the surface before the body had time to fall. She swam toward the front of the boat and her next target.

Draden had taken the commander, yanking him into the water, stabbing him through the throat and heart, letting him go and slitting the throat of the man closest to him. Shylah’s foot kicked a body as she rocketed up and stabbed her target just as he let loose a barrage of bullets where Draden had disappeared beneath the surface.

Her breath caught in her throat, terrified that Draden might be hit and she’d be left alone with the virus eating her internal organs, turning them to mush. She pushed away from the boat and went back under before her target toppled over the side, almost onto her. She dove deeper, swimming to the end of the boat again. Draden was coming around, converging on her target as well. All three of his were down, leaving only one more.