“You just complained the radios were shit, Kurt, and they are,” Parker said. “You do know why they want this woman. It’s not a big deal if you tell me. Who am I going to tell?”
“No one, because I don’t know shit. If I did know anything and it got out that I told someone, those soldiers would cut me into little pieces and hang me from a tree. They’re not anyone you want to mess with.”
Parker shrugged and patted his weapon lovingly. “A bullet kills anyone, Kurt, even them. They try to mess with me, they’re dead, same as anyone else.”
“Yeah, well, you don’t know these men. I see them every day and what they can do. Let’s go see what the vultures are feasting on.”
He isn’t going to talk. He’s too afraid of the squirrel men, Rubin conveyed to Diego.
My take too, Diego agreed.
Kurt took a step. It was the last step of his life. Rubin rose up behind him and slammed a knife into the base of his skull. Diego did the same to Parker. Neither man saw death coming, nor did they smell it. Very carefully, bodies held upright in front of them, Rubin and Diego looked toward the meadow. Luther was dragging the first body off the meadow. The second lay on the ground with an arrow sticking out of his chest.
Diego grinned at Rubin as he lowered Parker to the ground. “That old man. He’s got the skills. I might be right about the vampire thing. He might live forever. He hasn’t lost his touch.”
Rubin was respectful of the body of the soldier as well. Kurt was just doing his job. Too bad it was on the wrong side. “Luther definitely hasn’t lost his touch. We’re going to need a cleanup crew before this is over. I’m not into burying all these bodies myself.”
“You’re getting lazy,” Diego said and sat down abruptly, wiping his face with both hands.
Rubin gave him a quick look. He had no real idea what toll it took on his brother to use his psychic gifts. “That I am. Getting a little up there in age.” He sat down beside his brother and took in the view. “I love this valley. I always have.”
Diego just nodded. They sat together in silence for just a little while, letting the peace of their birthplace seep into their hearts.
14
Jonquille did her best to observe as much as she could about the men who had kidnapped her. The results were daunting. These were elite soldiers. They weren’t anything like the ones she’d seen Whitney create from the flawed men who’d agreed to genetic and psychic enhancements once they’d failed their tests. Those men desperately wanted to be faster and stronger than others for money. They believed they were superior already and being enhanced was just another step. Those men eventually went insane.
These elite soldiers were the exact opposite. She kept her eyes half-closed, watching the efficiency as they broke camp. They worked together as a unit, almost as one person. They were courteous to her when they spoke to her. They provided blankets to cover her when they rested and it was cold. When she had to go into the bushes, two guards went with her, but they turned their backs after receiving her word that she wouldn’t try to escape.
Jonquille thought long and hard about that. Why believe her? She had even considered escaping from them, but she’d always kept her word. It was a matter of pride with her. She detested that Whitney lied so much and used the girls’ emotions and their caring for one another against them. She had vowed never to be like him. Did that count when your freedom was at stake?
The leader of the elite soldiers came over to sit in front of her. He always had a relaxed air about him. He didn’t bark orders at his men, rather they acted as if they had a great comradery. In some ways it made her lonelier than ever. She didn’t have that. Well, she was feeling as if she had a chance of it with Rubin and Diego.
The men treated her with a kind of respect she’d never gotten from Whitney’s soldiers or guards. There were one or two who had sympathized, but they were quickly removed. These men acted as if she was their equal, not a lab project to be feared, or one to sneer at. Still, she wasn’t going to be lulled into thinking they were good when they’d kidnapped her, just because they treated her as a human being.
“My name is Sean O’Connell. I’m a major in the United States Air Force. I know the circumstances don’t look good, but we need your help. Finding you and getting a chance to talk to you seemed very slim. We thought once you were back with us at our home, you would see the dire situation we’re in and you’d agree to help us out.”
It was the last thing Jonquille had expected him to say. She sat up slowly, careful to keep her distance, very cognizant of the rifles pointed at her from the trees. The moment she got into an upright position, her head felt like it was going to shatter into a million pieces. Her stomach lurched, protesting the last vestiges of the drug in her system. She refused to allow any discomfort to show on her face.
The major didn’t appear afraid of her, but he still wasn’t taking chances. She pushed back her thick, wild hair as it settled around her chin. She had it short to keep it from going crazy when the storms came in, but it was still practically untamable. Rubin seemed to like it that way. She wished he was there now.
She lowered her lashes as if thinking about what Sean was saying, but really, she was judging how close his hands were to her. He was wearing gloves. The only actual bare skin she had access to was his face. The snipers could get a shot off before she killed him.
“How exactly can I help you? I’m sure Whitney has told you I’m his greatest failure. That’s the reason he left me alone.”
“Whitney has no idea what you’re capable of. We do. We are not affiliated with him.”
“Yet you’re obviously enhanced both genetically and psychically.” She wasn’t going to beat around the bush. “As far as I know, only Whitney is experimenting on human beings, and he’s doing that covertly. So, where did you come from?”
Sean sighed. “We would like to break camp soon and get to our destination. You could come with us willingly, or we will have to drug you again and carry you.”
“I’m not about to trade one prison for another. You tell me what’s going on before I make that decision. Otherwise you’ll have to drug me, and when I’m awake, all bets are off.”
Little fiery taps beat in her head. She dug her fingers into her thigh to keep from following the beat. She knew that the last time, one of the guards had suddenly watched her fingers and she had to force herself to stop midmessage. It was an obsessive-compulsive habit she’d developed in isolation, counting out rhythms on her thighs. Now it helped her cope, but if any of the others felt that light tapping in their mind, they might associate it with the tapping on her thigh and know she was receiving or sending messages.
Rubin wanted her to slap her body loudly when she was bitten by a bug. Or at least make a big deal about it in some way. They were going to shoot a transmitter into her bloodstream, one that wouldn’t transmit in the normal way. It would be undetected and the energy in her body wouldn’t devour it. She was already at capacity with these men and she could tell they put off very little energy, the way Rubin and Diego did. They would suddenly have flares of violent energy that swarmed to her, and then just as suddenly they would dissipate, sometimes before they reached her.