Phantom Game (GhostWalkers 18)

Both Kyle and Jeff noted the way Jonas held her close to him, Jeff with a slight grin, Kyle with a lift of his eyebrow.

“My biggest fear is that Whitney will send someone after me,” Camellia answered the question posed in the first place. “And he will. There’s no question that he will. I’ve done my best to stay ahead of him and keep a warning system in place at all times so I have the ability to run. I’m prepared to fight if I need to do that. He underestimates women. I’ll admit, I’m counting just a little bit on that. Jonas has warned me that he can track me through the tattoo on my ankle. I’ll have to find a way to keep that from working, and I will.”

“Is there a reason you don’t want to throw in with us?” Kyle asked.

She shrugged, having anticipated that question and prepared her response. It was one thing to reveal her real reasons to Jonas, but she didn’t want to talk about Marigold to anyone else. “I’ve been alone for so long now that I’ve become uncomfortable in the company of people. I also don’t want to risk anyone giving me orders or performing more experiments on me.”

Kyle frowned and then jerked his chin at Jonas. “Do you honestly believe the man standing behind you would allow anyone to perform experiments on you?”

Camellia hesitated. She knew these men could hear lies. Jonas was completely connected to her. Still, she didn’t trust anyone completely. “I just met him. It’s clear Whitney paired us, but I still just met Jonas. I want to spend time getting to know him before I make decisions that will change both of our lives. I would hope he would want the same thing.” She didn’t dare look up at him.

“I need to know how you made me so sick,” Kyle said before Jeff or Jonas could say anything. “I really do. And why I’m the only one who reacted to what you did.”

She didn’t know how to answer him without telling him too much about herself and the underground network. Maybe it didn’t matter so much. This was Jonas’s team after all, and she really didn’t believe they presented a danger to her.

Everything was happening so fast, but the connection between Jonas and her was so strong, it was as if they’d been together for years and she knew him intimately. She knew there were parts of him she couldn’t quite see yet, just as he couldn’t see all of her, but total transparency was close if they continued to spend time together. And there was no hiding his true character. He might be a natural predator, enhanced into an aggressive, dominating killing machine when necessary, but his protective traits shone through.

“There was an actual reason we came to get the two of you.” Jonas intervened before she had a chance to decide how much to reveal about herself before she was comfortable. “The threat I felt, Camellia feels as well. And it’s now gone from a vague feeling to a definite threat, meaning it is coming closer. We both thought it might be a good idea to go find it rather than wait for it to get to us.”

Jeff, the smiling surfer with the deadly blue eyes, nodded. “Still not feeling it myself, Jonas, but you’ve never been wrong. We’ll have to send word to Rye. Just in case. Wouldn’t want to be taken prisoner or go down in a blaze of glory and have no one know where to start looking.”

Camellia turned her head so she could look up at Jonas. “You’re sending a message to your commanding officer?”

“To Ryland? Yes. We have to let him know there’s a real threat to the others, and we’re going to check it out and intercept it if necessary. Jeff and Kyle will come with us. We’ll leave signs for our team so they can track us in case we don’t make it back in a few days.”

Jonas sent reassurance slipping along her nerve endings, a soft stroking caress she felt all the way to her toes. Camellia sighed. He was going to win a lot of arguments with that move.

“Fine, let’s get moving then. I don’t like traipsing around during the day. And don’t leave any tracks. If you’re going to leave anything for your team to find, do me a favor and wait until you’re back on the main trail, and leave it there. Don’t point them in the direction of my home.”

“You heard the lady. Don’t leave anything for our trackers to find until we’re out of Camellia’s territory,” Jonas ordered.

Camellia stepped away from Jonas and immediately started to make her way back through the trees, avoiding a deer trail and the faint path that led to a hiking trail. There was a narrow stream running down the mountain about four hundred yards from the scattered trees, and she made for that, not looking over her shoulder to see if the men followed her. Once she got to the stream, she began to follow that narrow ribbon back up the mountain.