Camellia pressed her lips together. She wasn’t the best at communication. She barely knew how to act around people. If Lily and Ryland, who clearly loved one another, could get to this point—so far apart—that a betrayal of this magnitude could take place, what chance could she possibly have with Jonas? They both had so many issues.
On the other hand, she and Jonas shared connections no one else had. They had the obvious pairing Whitney set up, just like the one he had clearly set up between Lily and Ryland. That had worked for a long time for the other couple. In addition to that, however, Camellia and Jonas had the underground mycelium network. They could communicate easily, feel what the other felt and know one another’s thoughts. They also would know what the other needed as far as mental and physical health. Most important, they were connected through Middlemist Red.
Middlemist Red was inherently sensitive. She lived in both of them. Granted, the dose Whitney had put in Camellia was far stronger than what he’d put in Jonas, but Red ran through both their veins. The connection between them was extremely strong because Red was so powerful. The plant had the ability to hide, which gave them that ability. Jonas had tapped into it often. He just hadn’t realized why he could disappear into shadows, mist and fog, not any more than he had comprehended that his early warning system came from the mycelium running beneath the ground.
“Ryland will never forgive me, and I can’t blame him,” Lily said. “And if anyone dies, I won’t be able to forgive myself. I’ve considered leaving Daniel here and hiking up the mountain to find this army coming at us and turn myself over to them. Maybe they’d turn back and be satisfied with just me.”
“You know better than that,” Camellia said, alarm spreading through her. Lily not only sounded desperate; she felt it as well. She was liable to do anything when she felt so hopeless and guilty. “The man Ryland and Jonas are questioning was sent to kidnap you and Daniel. The ones coming up the mountain aren’t here for you or your son. They plan on killing everyone they find here and at the other compound. That includes the women and children.”
Lily’s breath hitched audibly. “Marigold can’t be moved. We could try it, but if she starts hemorrhaging again, it could kill her. We’ve tried all kinds of medication, and nothing has worked so far. The road isn’t smooth, and airlifting her is out of the question.”
She ran shaking hands through her hair and stared with despair at Camellia. “Why would these men want to kill us all to begin with? Surely Whitney didn’t order it.”
“No, it doesn’t appear as if he did. Some bank conglomerate that wants to force Whitney to do their bidding. He’s too much of a patriot for them. According to Jonas, these people think Whitney will cooperate with them if they have you and Daniel.”
“They’re wrong. He would never sell out his country. He’s completely insane in so many ways, Camellia. He believes he should be able to go to any country, including the United States, and take female children that he claims no one wants. He buys them, so in his mind, he owns them. To him, those children are worthless until he gives them greatness and purpose by experimenting on them.”
“Why is it that so much of the world thinks females are mostly useless?” Camellia asked, suddenly feeling so tired she just wanted to slide down the wall and go to sleep.
“I haven’t been able to figure that out,” Lily said. “Not when so many women have made such amazing contributions to the world. Of course, as far as Peter Whitney is concerned, the only valuable contribution any female can make is what he deems necessary.” There was bitterness in her voice. She looked at Camellia. “I believed him for years, you know. Looking back, I remember you and Flame both warning me that he was lying to all of us. I don’t know how he managed to keep me so blind to the differences in how he treated all of you compared to me.”
“Sometimes it’s really hard to face the truth.” A part of Camellia had always known Marigold wasn’t telling the truth about the night of Camellia’s disastrous escape attempt, but she’d refused to acknowledge her suspicions. She loved Marigold like a sibling, and she’d clung so desperately to that familiar bond. It was so much easier to lie to herself than consider the horrific possibility that Marigold didn’t love her the way she loved Marigold. Or that Marigold didn’t feel that same loyalty toward her.
Lily nodded. “I should have made Ryland understand how important it was to me to capture the memories of our son growing up. Things that have nothing to do with science. I shouldn’t have let his words hurt me to the point of trying to hurt him back. That’s what it was, I was striking out at him for his refusal to listen to me and the horrible things he accused me of, and then I just let it get too far. I was afraid to tell him what I’d done.”
“You know you have to have this conversation with him, Lily,” Camellia said as gently as she could. “He’s angry right now, and he’s hurt, but you two have to talk to each other. You have to do it for your son and for the two of you. If you tell him the truth, everything you told me, he still may be angry for a while, but he’ll forgive you. If he’s everything you’ve said he is, then he’ll forgive you.”
Camellia hoped what she said was the truth. She was fading fast. Really fast. “I’m sorry, Lily, but I’m so tired. I need to find a place to sleep. In spite of the circumstances, it was really good to see you. I hope we meet up sometime again.” She had no idea what she was planning to do or where she would be staying, so she wasn’t going to commit.
She glanced up at Kyle, who immediately came over to help her off the floor. Only then did she realize Kaden and Tansy were close, most likely waiting to ensure that Lily was taken care of. Camellia was too tired to do much more than lift a hand in a wave before following Kyle down the hall and through the maze that led to the outside parking lot.
13
Jonas had a sprawling cabin on the very outskirts of the fortified compound Team One had built together. Each of the men had their own home, mostly because they required alone time, but the main building at the center was easy to defend. The homes had escape routes leading to the fortified building as well as to the roads, the surrounding forests, the vehicles and all forms of transportation.
Jonas’s cabin was one and a half stories with extremely high ceilings. Each log was meticulously scribed to lock into place with another. That was no small undertaking. Kyle told her they’d all helped. They’d used wood that was naturally dried. The forest was old, and trees would stand for up to five years after dying. Jonas had an affinity for the trees in the forest, and he seemed to be able to find the right logs for the cabin. By using the naturally dried wood, it made the cabin sturdy and extremely stable. There was no moisture to dry out so that the wood would shrink, causing structural problems. Kyle explained the process to her as he gave her a quick tour of the house.