Phantom Game (GhostWalkers 18)

She didn’t ask Jonas if he could, that would be like rubbing salt in wounds. The fact that she could feel Angel’s emotions would only make it worse for Jonas. She refrained from sending him soothing caresses, instead treating him with every confidence that he would believe she was his partner.

“Again, I can see why you would think that,” Angel conceded. “Come out into the open. I’m not going to harm you.”

“Why would I believe you when you came here with the express purpose of killing babies? Of killing women who did you no harm? They didn’t, did they? Your leader just sent one of your men chasing my voice into the forest to find me. He won’t. You know he won’t, but still, he had to look.” This time she threw her voice into a different part of the fog, one closer to Shaker, one on the opposite side of the clearing, away from where Kyle was lying so still.

“I can understand why you wouldn’t trust me, but you aren’t part of that team, unless you’ve hooked up with Jonas.” There was accusation in Angel’s voice.

She remained silent for a few moments. “Why would you think I would have anything at all to do with any member of a GhostWalker team?” She poured genuine puzzlement into her voice. She knew Shaker would be the one to analyze her tone. Why should they think that of her? It didn’t actually make sense.

“I was just considering clearing out before Whitney sent his soldiers after me when all hell seemed to be breaking loose. Normally, I wouldn’t get involved, but I’m not about to stand by and see innocent children killed to protect my freedom.” All of that was the strict truth, and Shaker would hear that in her voice. “Quite frankly, I was spying on you to see what I could do in the way of sabotaging you.”

“The owls are yours,” Angel said.

That’s how he found me. Blue gave me away for certain. Gorman was uneasy from the beginning, and when Blue got so upset, Angel and Gorman knew someone was here. Blue looked right at me, Camellia said.

“Yes, they go with me everywhere I go. Gray is very steady, but Blue can get upset. The fight for territory was disturbing to her, especially when all of you were here, and she knew I was . . . concerned.” Deliberately, she hesitated before she described her own state of mind. “Clearly, I was affecting her.”

This time, no one ran to try to get to her, but the two men who had made their way around the helicopters eased to the ground on their bellies. One—she believed it was Pops—used his hands to propel himself easily over the leaves and twigs without making any more noise than a lizard might. She couldn’t see much of him in the dense fog, but the underground network mapped his progress for her. His enhancements allowed him to travel quickly without sounding like a human moving around.

They’ve got to have something else directing them, Kyle said. Gorman was about to use the owl’s vision, but suppose someone else is using an animal’s hearing or sense of smell?

Camellia hadn’t thought of that. Jonas, is that possible? Do you have anyone on your team that uses animals or reptiles like that?

Not other than the way Kyle did. I haven’t even heard a rumor of it, Jonas admitted.

“Whitney paired you with Jonas Harper. Are you aware of the pairing?”

Camellia had the feeling that soft, calm question was a trap. “Yes. He was hiking on the trail with two other men. I felt a tremendous pull toward him right away and knew Whitney had to have paired us. It was a very scary moment.” She was careful to stick strictly to the truth. Their first meeting had been frightening.

“He has skills in the mountains. It took all of mine to make certain he couldn’t find me.” She had been hidden in the mist, just as she was now. “At the same time I became aware of him, he was aware of me. I hadn’t expected to stumble across someone I was paired with.”

“He’s a monster beyond anything you could ever imagine, Camellia,” Angel said. He leaned against a large downed tree trunk. “I know you’re somewhere up here. They can look for you all they want down below, but you’re here. I feel you close to me. You want to know why? Because Whitney paired us together. We belong. I can take care of you. Give you everything you want. A family. You always wanted a family. I studied everything about you.”

“You don’t know anything about me. I would never, under any circumstances, go back to Whitney or put myself into someone’s hands that would kill children. I want children more than anything. For a man to ruthlessly come here with the idea of murdering innocents sickens me.”