Ryland was a simple man in that he was utterly loyal when it came to those he loved—just as Jonas was. Jonas had no idea what he’d do if Camellia had gone behind his back when they’d both agreed on a way to keep their child safe and done just the opposite. Wring her neck?
“I don’t think you would like the way we get information, Lily, but then right now, your opinion doesn’t matter very much to me one way or the other. As for this woman, she’s doing her best to save Kaden because we don’t have time to wait for a psychic surgeon because there is an army on the way to wipe us out.”
Lily shook her head. “That can’t be true.”
“I assure you, it’s all true,” Ryland said. “Especially the part where you betrayed your husband.” Ryland’s voice had dropped even lower. His eyes had gone almost pure silver, fixed on his wife.
Jonas moved to get into a better position to intercept just in case. Gator did as well. Ryland ignored both of them.
Lily put a defensive hand to her throat. “Ryland, no, it isn’t like that.”
“It’s exactly like that. There isn’t a way to put a spin on it, Lily. We had a discussion, we both agreed and you went behind my back anyway. You figured you could outsmart everyone, but you didn’t. There was a traitor planted in our home. Your good friend, Dr. Adams’s assistant, Lydia Fenamore, was paid to build up your trust and observe everything she could, including mapping what parts of Jeff’s brain were active and when.”
Lily kept shaking her head.
“You figured you would use Jeff instead of me because you thought I would never agree to what you were doing. You went behind my back, and you endangered our son and every man, woman and child on this team, as well as those on Team Two, through your own recklessness. You’ve gotten to be so arrogant, thinking you’re above everyone else with your enormous IQ. Who does that remind you of, Lily?”
She winced visibly, as if he’d struck her. Tansy gasped. Jonas wanted to hold up his hand and stop Ryland. There were some things you couldn’t take back. Implying Lily was like Whitney might be one of them. Lily was as white as a sheet.
“I don’t have time to discuss this with you right now.” Ryland was merciless. “You have to leave. Kaden has opted to allow Camellia to try to remove the bullet. She’s already managed to remove all of the poison from his body.”
Lily’s gaze jumped to Camellia. “You’re a healer?”
Ryland took her arm. “You are to leave now, or I’ll have Gator escort you to your room and lock you in, Lily. If you think I’m in any way joking, think again. You put not only our entire team and their families at risk but Team Two and their families as well. I have very little time to put together a battle plan. I don’t even know how many I’m up against. This isn’t one of Whitney’s supersoldiers’ experimental attacks to see what they can do. It’s all-out war.”
He led her to the door, ignoring the tears in her eyes. Lily went out and Ryland closed the door on her. Jonas handed Camellia a bottle of water. He didn’t know what to say. Apparently, no one else did either. There was a long silence. Ryland paced back and forth like a wild animal in the small confines of the room. Jonas hadn’t noticed that the room was all that small until Ryland began to act like a caged tiger.
Gator stepped all the way to the back of the room, his eyes meeting Jonas’s in the shadows. There was pain there. Jonas felt it too. No one wanted to see Ryland and Lily at odds, especially now, when everything was going to hell fast.
“Do you really think you can get the bullet, Camellia?” Tansy asked, her voice hushed, even in the silence of the room.
Camellia leaned her head against the wall and took a drink of water. “It’s in a very difficult spot. I can see why the doctor was reluctant to attempt surgery. I do think it might be possible to float it out of there. Once I do, I would have to break it up into small enough pieces for his body to get rid of it. Or find a way to break the bullet down altogether. That might be possible as well. I won’t know until I study it.”
“Are you a psychic surgeon?” Kaden asked bluntly.
“I don’t even know what that is, exactly,” Camellia admitted. “I know when I’m near someone ill, I feel as if I have to help them. I didn’t have the ability when I was in the labs with Whitney. It may have been just developing, but it wasn’t strong, not like now. I had no idea it had gotten so strong. I’ve been alone so much, avoiding people so he couldn’t track me, that I really haven’t had much experience healing humans. Animals, yes. Humans, no.”
“Kaden,” Tansy whispered, her voice a protest.
“I’m not going to wait for death, Tansy.”
“If we wait, you have time for a psychic surgeon to get here.”
“Not anymore. There’s a battle coming, or have you forgotten? I trust her, baby. She got rid of the poison in me when no one else could have done that,” Kaden said.
“I couldn’t read anything on the silverware, Kaden,” Tansy whispered. “Nothing at all. That makes no sense and I don’t like it.”
Jonas heard. They all heard. He exchanged a smile with Camellia.
How did you manage that?
You don’t leave prints or impressions behind either, do you? she countered.
He was careful not to; that’s why he didn’t. He didn’t leave tracks. He wore thin gloves in order not to leave behind fingerprints. He looked down at his hands. His hands were rough. Scarred. Unlike Camellia, his body was a road map, and that included his palms. He looked closer, turning his hands over. Was there a thin film over his skin? Barely there? Barely noticeable. It was unseen to the human eye. He looked at it with a bird’s vision. His palms and the pads of his fingers appeared to be shiny, definitely covered in a very thin film.
Jonas rubbed his hands on his thighs. He’d never noticed the phenomenon before. When he looked at the material along his thigh, it was dry. His palms still appeared shiny. What is it? Is this something from the mycelium network that I don’t know about?
Camellia smiled up at him and took another sip of water. She shook her head slowly. You always look annoyed when you discover the tremendous gifts you’ve been given, Jonas.
He raised an eyebrow at her. Do I? He knew he did. This was something new. Something good, but another something new.
You know you do. I’m really tired. Let’s finish this. We can talk when we’re alone.
“We still have to talk to Crawley,” Jonas said to remind her he would still have to finish interrogating the prisoner after they finished with Kaden. “Camellia, are you ready to try this?”
She nodded and took his hand. “Don’t worry, Tansy. If I don’t think it can be done, I won’t even attempt it. I don’t want to be the one to cause him harm.”