“Hudson, calm down. It isn’t her fault we’re in this mess. What are you worried about?”
“This Diego she’s talking about. The colonel’s brother. He’s known, Sean. He can shoot the wings off a fly. They say he’s a GhostWalker. That he can disappear and then suddenly he’s right in your face and knifes you, slices you from the belly up. Then before you even drop to the ground, he disappears again.”
“That’s what they say about him, do they?” Sean asked, gritting his teeth. He scowled at Jonquille. “Is Diego Campo a Ghost-Walker?”
“If Diego Campo was a GhostWalker, wouldn’t that be considered classified information? Technically, all of you are GhostWalkers, and so am I. By definition, it’s someone genetically and psychically enhanced. I believe we all fall into that category.”
The little flicks were back, rapid but short. Diego had found them. He was lying up on the hillside, Sean in his sights. Give the word, he’d pull the trigger.
No, no, no. She was adamant and fast reacting just in case.
Both Hudson and Andrew rubbed their temples and then the back of their necks. Jonquille winced. She didn’t like that she’d answered so quickly, compounding the problem. She was too close to the two men to use telepathy, not when they would feel what she was doing.
He’s going 2 shoot U.
Her heart accelerated. She remembered his earlier messages to her. She was to treat the shot like a bug bite. That meant she would feel whatever he was shooting at her. She couldn’t believe Diego was right there, out in the forest, so close. She wanted Rubin, which was stupid. Rubin didn’t need to be anywhere near the elite soldiers. Luck eventually ran out, and Diego and Rubin were outnumbered by quite a few.
Where are U. She couldn’t help herself, she had to ask.
On the heels of that burst of fiery flicks, she was shot with a high-powered rifle. The sound was muffled, barely discernible. The sting as the object entered into her body was terrible. She slapped her hand over the entry point and scowled. It burned like hell. A drop of blood told her the tiny object had entered a vein. Or the artery in her neck.
Sorry, I know that hurts, Lightning Bug. It was the longest and sweetest message Rubin had sent her so far. I’m with Luther. All soldiers here departed.
She didn’t know how to feel about that. Rubin and Diego had killed the entire ground crew and now there was no way for the plane to land. She didn’t mind that the plane couldn’t land. She did think it was nearly impossible for them to kill so many when it was only the two of them. She was relieved that Luther was still alive.
“We need to get moving, Jonquille. Are you willing to cooperate with us?” Sean demanded. “Walk on your own without trying to escape?”
Jonquille nodded slowly. She needed to stretch her legs and back. Her insides hurt from the drug in her system. Everything hurt. She didn’t want more of the drug in her system. She was careful to keep all movements slow so no one thought she was a danger to Sean, but she did put her legs out in front of her.
“I can walk. I just need to stretch. Every muscle feels sore.”
Her neck throbbed. She was almost afraid to take her palm away. She rubbed and then massaged the back of her neck so no one was suspicious. Even turning her mind inward, trying to find whatever device Diego had put into her body, seemed difficult, as if her brain was still a little sluggish from the drug. The only things she could “see” when looking inward were occasional flashes of light in her bloodstream, like butterflies dancing. Now she was really getting fanciful.
“I’m sorry, Jonquille.” Sean sounded as if he meant it. “People react to the drug in various ways. We knew we had to put you out fast. According to the file we have on you, you can be rather dangerous. We didn’t want you to feel as if you had to defend yourself and put you or any of us in a situation where someone could get hurt. We had no way of knowing that you were meeting anyone up here. You’re always alone.”
That was the truth. And she hadn’t really planned on meeting Rubin and Diego. She was going to lead these people and the others she thought might be following her away from the Appalachian Mountains, and she would kill as many of them as possible before they killed her.
She was over experiments. Completely, utterly over them. Heat shimmered around her. The air crackled. Tiny hairs on the back of her neck stood up. She felt energy, white hot, swirling like her life’s blood flowing through her veins. That feeling of power was familiar to her. Around her, dimly, she heard shouts. Men scrambled. She saw them, although her vision was different, not at all her usual eyesight. This was like a veil of silver over everything.
Her captors were running, looking over their shoulders back at her, and she could make out the fear on their faces. They were fast too, little blurs as they ran. Still, they gave off energy now, where before it was so low it was difficult to even pick up on. Now the energy surged fiery and fierce, great dark streams of it rushing to her, as if she were a magnet, collecting from all of the men, feeding the bright white-hot storm inside her.
“Jonquille.” Sean’s voice was calm. “What’s wrong? Tell me what upset you.”
She turned her blurred, silvery-blue vision on him. He was the last man standing. He was alone, one hand up as if to placate her. In spite of his calm exterior she could see the lines of strain around his eyes and mouth.
“Experiments.” She could barely get the word out. “Get away from me.” She needed open ground to make everyone safe. “Not running.” She wouldn’t break her word. She indicated to him that she was going toward the one clearing so she could get out in the open.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him turn toward Hudson and Andrew. Yeah, she’d been right about the two men. They were the ones that could read her. Maybe it wasn’t so easy when her mind was consumed with chaos, with the need to explode with the buildup of blazing energy. Anyone coming near her would be killed. It was that simple. She was trying to save lives, not run away.
Her legs were so rubbery, not at all steady and sure as they’d always been. She could barely trust them. Without thinking she reached out to him. Rubin. It was a cry for help.
The moment she did, she felt the two men go on alert. “She’s trying to contact him. Rubin Campo.” Hudson ratted on her immediately.
“She sounds very distressed,” Andrew said. “Very. I’ve never heard her like that. She’s always in control. Let her talk to him. We can’t stop what’s happening. She’s trying to protect us. We can’t help her walk, and she’s definitely struggling to do that. That damn drug is the problem, Sean. It’s affected her muscles.”
Jonquille forced her mind to concentrate on just getting one foot in front of the other. She couldn’t think about the buildup of electricity and how the white-hot energy was zipping in circles around her midsection in a fiery display like the Fourth of July. She had to get away from the trees. From humans. She couldn’t start a forest fire or kill these men. She didn’t know if they were good men or bad ones yet.
Right here, Lightning Bug. Rubin’s voice soothed her. You’ve got this.
Just his voice allowed her to take a real breath, drawing air into her burning, raw lungs. Having trouble walking. Drug messed me up. Is there a way for me to combat it? Don’t want to hurt anyone. So close to drawing the lightning.