Predatory Game (GhostWalkers, #6)(87)
“No, I couldn’t leave one of them alive. They tortured my sister. What would you have done?”
Logan swung his head around, his gaze meeting Jess’s. The easygoing mask slipped to reveal the predator underneath. “If I’d gotten to them first, they would have died hard and mean. They were lucky.”
There was a moment of silence. Logan turned away as Jess heaved himself back into his chair. Jess wiped at the blood on his face, his hand lingering to hide his expression. Having walked made sitting in the chair all the more difficult, as if it was the first time all over again. His lungs burned for air and he fought down rising panic. He didn’t dare look at Logan. He needed out of there. He needed Saber.
The back door was still open and he thrust at the wheels hard, propelling his chair out onto the porch. It was light outside, and raining hard. The wind felt good on his face, but the tightness in his chest didn’t go away. He heard the door of the van slam and looked up.
She came to him out of the rain, water plastering her hair around her face, slicking back the springy curls. Her eyes were enormous, almost purple, her mouth inviting. The sight of her shook him, warmed him, eased the terrible weight in his chest. She had bruises coming up on her face, her cheek was a little swollen, and she walked with a limp, although she was trying to hide it. She was the most beautiful thing he’d ever laid eyes on. Her gaze locked with his and his heart somersaulted at the relief there. The shimmer of tears—for him.
“You made it.” Her voice was husky, as if she might be choking.
“Was there any doubt?”
She stopped in front of him, swallowed hard and shook her head. “No, of course not. But it’s good to see you.” She pressed her palm to the cut on his head. “Since we’re taking Patsy to the hospital, you can get this looked at.”
He didn’t tell her he was using an experimental drug for an experimental program and he needed his own doctor, he simply caught her hand and pulled her to him so he could taste her wild, exotic flavor and lose himself in the dark excitement of her soft mouth.
CHAPTER 15
Saber really didn’t like Dr. Eric Lambert. He and Lily Whitney-Miller had arrived at the house with Captain Ryland Miller in the evening after things had settled down in order to take care of the cut on Jess. She expected to dislike Lily, knowing the woman knew all about her past, yet it was Lambert who set off her initial alarms.
Unlike Lily, Eric Lambert wasn’t a GhostWalker. He might work with them, but he had no firsthand knowledge of what they suffered, what their lives were like. He studied them, and he patched them up when they went down, but the bottom line was, he experimented on them—just as Peter Whitney did.
The GhostWalkers were government assets. Resources. Weapons. They thought of Lambert as their friend, but he thought of them as a top secret arsenal. It was next to impossible to watch him interact with Jess and Lily as if they were his friends and colleagues while listening to his elevated heart rate and smelling his fear every time she got near to him. And it was tempting to get near him. To offer her hand when she knew he was so afraid. And damn Jess for telling Lambert about her abilities.
She stared out the window in Jess’s bedroom into the rain, wishing everyone was gone so she could go yell at him. Pick a fight. Make it easy to leave. Lily and Lambert knew. And if they knew, eventually the government would come knocking on the door and expect her to do a little job for them. She’d told Jess it would be like that, but he’d given her up anyway. He was too trusting, thinking everyone was his friend. A big happy family.
Moron. Idiot. Naive. She pushed the heel of her hand hard against her forehead. What is wrong with you?
Saber? Jesse’s voice sounded in her mind.
Whoops. She was really distracted to make such an amateur mistake. It was exactly how she’d given herself away in the first place. She was so connected to him, she barely noticed when she reached for him anymore.
Well, you’re an ass. You told that slimy little doctor Lambert about me. I told you what would happen once everyone knew. He’s a government man. In a couple of weeks we’ll be getting a knock on the door and an engraved invitation to some social event where I’ll get to use my special talents for the good of mankind.
That’s not true, baby. First of all, Eric’s not like that and he’s not “everyone.” Second, I didn’t tell him. He doesn’t know.
He knows.
There was a small silence while he digested that. Are you certain? You’re tired and maybe a bit cranky.
Saber sucked in her breath. Cranky? He thought she was cranky? Her blood pressure was shooting through the roof, she wanted to scream at him, but she forced a calming breath to stay under control. He knows and I’m not cranky, I’m angry. I can fight one enemy, but not several, not all at once. He’s government all the way and he’ll trade all of us in in a heartbeat if he’s given the order.
Frowning, Jess cast a brief look at Eric Lambert. The doctor looked the same as he always did, laughing with Lily, teasing her about how she looked as if she’d swallowed a basketball. Saber didn’t know him and she was so worried about anyone finding out about her past. There was no real way Eric could have known. Saber was seeing things where they didn’t exist. You’re paranoid. And exhausted. Why don’t you go to my room and lie down. Eric’s sewing up the cut and they’ll leave. We’ll get some sleep and you’ll feel much better.