Deadly Game (GhostWalkers #5)(25)
Author: Christine Feehan

Ken tightened his arm around her and lowered his face until his warm breath fanned her cheek—until she was enveloped in his scent and her body began to respond. She tried desperately to focus on the pain in her leg, on her dire situation, on anything but the feel of the muscles in his arm, the heat of his skin so close to hers.

Are you doing this on purpose? Because it’s low.

Don’t defy me just to prove some silly point. You need the water to keep you healthy. Drink it.

She turned her head to glare at him, her lips inches from his, her gaze locked with his. It was a good thing she was telepathic, because she had no air left in her lungs to breathe—or talk. Has anyone ever mentioned to you that you’re a complete ass?

I believe my brother has done so on many occasions.

She nodded her head. Well. Okay then. As long as someone has.

She took a small sip of the water and let it trickle down her throat, surprised at how parched she was. The drugs were beginning to leave her system, and things were much more sharply in focus. Time had passed. She understood why they had kept her knocked out as they moved her from place to place, probably one step ahead of her unit, but she had no idea if it had been hours or days.

Panic gripped her for a moment and she fought it down. The five women left in the compound were her only real family. Well, there was Sean and a couple of the other men who had not been caught in Whitney’s web of deceit. But she’d been raised with the other women. They were all close, sisters. They had no parents, no other friends, so the bond between them was strong. In the end it didn’t matter if she was on the same side with Ken and Jack, because she had to go back. She couldn’t leave the others to face possible death at Whitney’s hands.

She was absolutely convinced Whitney had begun a descent into madness. He might have started out a brilliant scientist, but somewhere along the way he had become convinced he was far smarter than anyone else and his ends justified his means. Rules weren’t for him. He had too much power and too little accountability.

Mari drank more water. She had to regain her strength. “How long did you keep me out?”

“A couple of days,” Jack answered. “We can’t have you calling in your unit, and they’ve been hard on our heels.”

She flashed him a brief smile, deliberately leaning back against Ken’s arm, determined to show him—and herself—that she could be in control of her physical feelings. “They’re good.”

“Not that good,” Jack disagreed. “They don’t have you and we do. Had we been looking for you, we would have found you.”

“You’re so arrogant.”

Jack’s eyebrow shot up. “That isn’t being arrogant. It’s a fact.”

“I’m tired and my head hurts.” She glared up at Ken. “Probably from where you slammed your elbow into me.”

“I remember. And you didn’t even thank me for saving your life.”

“I would have preferred you being a lot gentler about it.” She was joking, trying to lighten the situation—or stall for time, she wasn’t certain which—but a shadow crossed Ken’s face. Up so close to him, she caught that fleeting reaction to her words.

Ken laid her back on the pillows. “You’ve been out a couple of days. We’ve been leading your unit away from anyone who could get caught in the cross fire.”

Mari glanced at Jack. They had a plan. Whatever they were doing, she couldn’t be a part of it. “I have to get back. You don’t understand. If I don’t go back, Whitney is going to hurt one of the others. I can’t let that happen.”

“Give us the location and we’ll go in and bring them out,” Ken said.

She pushed at his chest. “You know I can’t do that. I won’t sell them out. I have no idea who you really are.”

His glittering eyes met hers like the slash of a sword. Cold. Possessive. Very frightening. Her pulse began a frantic rhythm. He showed little emotion, and that had been frightening, but this seemed worse. Behind his mask, his mind was working fast, calculating, formulating, processing data every bit as fast—or faster—than hers did. What other attributes had Whitney brought out in him? What other genetic code had Whitney slipped into his body—because right at that moment he looked more predator than man.

The throbbing in her head increased. She caught the exchange between Jack and Ken. A single look, no more, but it was enough. She took a deep calming breath and relaxed her mind and body. Sean? Anyone? Are you out there? Her head was hurting not because of the elbow, but because someone was out there, calling, using telepathy, and the Nortons had been alerted.

Ken’s hand slipped around her neck, his fingers sliding to her pressure point. She tried to stop him, but it was a lifetime too late. She could feel the waves of dizziness, the room spinning away from her, and everything went black.

Chapter 6

“ They’re coming, Ken, let’s get the hell out of here,” Jack said. He snapped open his radio. “What the hell is taking you so long, Logan? Another couple of minutes and we’re going to be in a firefight. Nico’s trying to lead them away, but if you don’t get here, all this is for nothing.”

“I’m about five minutes out, running without lights.”

Ken had already plunged the room into darkness before taking up a position beside Mari. He felt for her pulse, his fingertips sliding in a caress over her smooth skin. He was sick with fear for his brother and Mari. Ever since he had inhaled her scent, the monster so carefully locked away had grown stronger with each moment spent in her company. He was jealous of those men, Brett and Sean. It was ugly and sharp and cut with as much pain as the slice of the knife into his skin.

He knew Jack, knew Jack would do exactly as he warned and kill her should Ken try to take himself out of the equation. Jack had effectively removed Ken’s choices. And it was impossible to be alive in the world and know another man was holding Mari, kissing her, touching her. He nearly groaned aloud. She had brought his body painfully to life when Ken and the doctors had been certain he had been ruined. But even if she had, what did that mean for both of them? Hell, just because his c**k was hard didn’t mean the damned thing could work anymore.

Jack pressed a hand to his head. “They’re calling for her and they aren’t being quiet about it.”

“They must be searching in grids and using more than one helicopter or they couldn’t cover so much territory so fast,” Ken added.