Phantom Game (GhostWalkers 18)

Her life had become pure hell after that, Whitney taunting her, demanding to know why she thought Beverly would ever care for her. For any of the girls. Reminding her they were worthless—nothing. That Beverly wouldn’t even be there if he weren’t paying so well.

Jonas snarled, low and loud. The spine-chilling sound of a lethal predator issuing a challenge.

Camellia surprised him by moving up beside him and putting her hand on his arm. She just stood there, not speaking, her palm resting on his forearm. He hadn’t even realized he’d stopped walking toward Jeff and Kyle. He knew they had to have heard the warning of the leopard, and they would know it was Jonas. It wasn’t as if actual leopards inhabited the Lolo National Forest. He should probably double-time it down to them before they got worried and came looking. Still, he didn’t move. This was the first time Camellia had voluntarily touched him other than when he’d kissed her.

“Whitney gets away with his bullshit because he has the backing of too many people in Washington.” He made the statement in a low tone, leaning slightly so he could nuzzle the top of her head with his chin. Her soft hair caught in the rough bristles along his jaw. For some reason, he liked that, feeling as if those strands bound them together.

“If it were just a few people in Washington, Jonas, he wouldn’t get away with so much, but he has the backing of people much more powerful than that. He made certain of that before he ever started out.”

Camellia didn’t pull away from him. If anything, she leaned closer, as if she needed comfort. He took a chance and swept an arm around her. No one wanted to be alone. He had an entire team around him. Brothers he could count on, and yet he still often felt alone. She was alone. She didn’t trust anyone for good reason. He knew it was only because of those two very strong and intimate networks they shared that he had a chance with her at all.

“You know a lot about him.”

There was the briefest of hesitations, as if she didn’t know what to do or say with him drawing her under his shoulder. She stood as if frozen, and then, very slowly, her body began to relax into his. He called that a huge triumph. Huge. He wasn’t going to push his luck beyond that. He just wanted to give her a little bit of comfort.

“After what he did to Ivy, I tried to learn as much as I could. I was beginning to get the warnings from the mycelium, and I realized he had enhanced me with more than he had told me. That was one of the reasons he had watched me so closely and continued to ask me so many questions. I reviewed all the questions he asked me. I rarely forget anything. Once I realized I was tapping into the underground network, I remembered all the research I’d done on mycelium. I always thought it was very cool anyway. Then I compared it to the human brain and the way our brains work.”

Jonas could see that she was very methodical. She took things one step at a time.

“After that, I looked into all the ways our bodies could possibly work the same as mycelium, so if I’m somehow picking up warnings, what sorts of information could it send me and how could I best utilize the entire network? Because mycelium is an enormous network. I have a good imagination, and I considered all the ways I could use such a vast network against Whitney. Listening in on his business meetings. Finding out where he would be so I could kill him. Little things like that.”

She turned her face up to his, clearly expecting condemnation, but he had none to give her. If anything, he understood more than most would.

“You didn’t tell anyone about the network, not even Marigold.” He brought the conversation full circle. He tried to think how he would feel if he discovered that Ryland or Jeff had completely betrayed him. Or withheld something vital, something as important as having a twin, from him for twenty years. Why would Marigold do such a thing? That didn’t make sense. She had to have known she could trust Camellia.

Camellia shook her head. “By that time, there was this little tiny doubt in my mind. I didn’t want it there, but Whitney had succeeded in planting that seed. Out of the blue, after taunting me about Beverly, he suddenly switched tactics and said maybe I was a fool for trusting all the other women. He would say it occasionally, implying there was someone who had their own agenda, just like Violet did.”

She was looking down at the ground, wearing such an expression. As if merely voicing doubt about Marigold—or any of the other women—at Whitney’s say-so was blasphemy.