Ruthless Game

by Christine Feehan

  In position, Top. One by one, his team reported in until he was certain they were ready.

  Mack glanced at his watch. On my mark. Three, two, one . . .

  He exploded into action, shooting his guard in the back of the neck, and instantly teleporting to the second station. The wrenching of his bones was incredible, almost like the g-force in a jet. There was a split second of disorientation, as if his body wasn't quite all there, but his finger on the trigger was steady, and he'd fired the shot before the first body hit the ground. Guards crumpled around the entire estate. He crawled forward to retrieve the dart, all the while fighting the blackness that threatened to engulf him and the bile rising in his throat, protesting the disorienting feat.

  Rhianna's first dart went in smoothly. She immediately set herself for the twisting anguish of her body, as if it was being torn apart, as she teleported to the next section of fence. Struggling to breathe when the air had left her lungs in a rush, she shot the dart even while the soldier was still blurry. He went to his knees, his eyes wide, one hand coming up as if to slap at a stinging bee. She felt her own body crumple and she went down, the taste of blood in her mouth.

  Breathe. You're holding your breath.

  Rhianna cursed silently. It would have to be Javier in the control room, able to see her thrashing like a fish out of water on the ground, gasping for breath. She should have known he'd be watching her. She dug her hands into the dirt and propelled herself forward to retrieve the dart. She still had to go back to the first guard and remove that evidence as well. She tried to push herself to her feet, but there was no way to get air. She fell again.

  Rose. Get to Rhianna, Javier commanded.

  Rose retrieved the dart and glanced to her right. Rhianna was a force to be reckoned with. She couldn't imagine that the woman would need help with anything, but she sprinted across open ground without questioning the order. Rhianna had already retrieved the dart from the second guard. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. She pointed toward the fallen guard in the section of fence just down from her. Rose saw that the man had fallen in the center between the two fences.

  She didn't hesitate, leaping straight up to grasp the chain-link just below the barbed wire. Twisting her body upside down, she pushed off with her hands. Clearing the barbed wire, she jumped in between the two fences, landing on her feet beside the body. Retrieving the dart, she reached down to take the man's ID, as all the rest of them had done. Souvenirs to give to Cesar Lopez. She sent word that she and Rhianna had both completed their tasks. When everyone had checked in, Mack gave the signal to proceed.

  Phase four complete. We have a go.

  Rose had to repeat the process she'd used entering the fences, leaping straight up and gripping the top of the fence just below the barbed wire, and once again turning upside down to thrust herself in the air like a rocket to clear the pointed barbs and land on the other side. One by one the other members of her team cleared the fence, descending on the barracks for the next phase. Rose waited for Rhianna. The other woman stumbled to her feet, swayed for a moment, and then her body went ramrod straight.

  Sheer guts, Rose knew. Psychic talent could take a tremendous toll on all of them. Teleportation was a nasty business. In combat, a soldier dug deep and never--ever--let his team down. Rhianna was up and over the fence, wiping the blood from her mouth with her arm. She flashed a grin at Rose. The two of them sprinted for the barracks, joining the rest of the team already converging on the building.

  Javier and Lucas in the control room were their eyes and ears, using the security cameras set up in the barracks against the guards.

  Two up playing cards in the first room on your left. You've got three in the pool room straight ahead of you, the hallway dead-ends to the pool room. One in the kitchen just to the right of the pool room. Four in their bunks.

  All of them had studied the layout of the barracks, but with Javier's voice whispering in their minds, the maps were even clearer. They had to enter unseen into each room and either gas or dart the occupants. If darts were used, they had to be retrieved. Each guard would have to give up his ID,in order for Cesar Lopez to return them. This was a psychological assault rather than a physical one. They planned on completely destroying Cesar Lopez. The plan was risky and called for precise timing, something that Lopez--that anyone--would believe impossible. They were ghosts entering his personal stronghold, slipping past every guard, into his very home. He would never feel safe again. Over time he would question himself, and he would lose confidence in those guarding his family. They would strike at his mind--and instill sheer terror in his heart. Cesar Lopez would understand that he was vulnerable--that his entire family was vulnerable.

  Rose was particularly grateful that Kane didn't treat her any differently than he did his other team members. He didn't hover, didn't guard her as she feared he might. If anything, they all took extra care to stay close to Paul. He pulled his weight, handling each phase of the assignment as everyone else did, but she noticed the team members seemed to watch out for him a little more than anyone else. She found herself doing the same thing. She noticed Rhianna did as well. If anyone had asked her why, she wouldn't have been able to articulate why exactly, but he seemed out of place in the environment--far too sensitive for this kind of work.

  Rose and Jacob released the gas into the room where four guards were sleeping in bunks. Kane, Gideon, and Rhianna took the three playing pool. Mack and Paul darted the two men playing cards, and Ethan did the same with the one in the kitchen.

  Phase five complete, Mack reported. Entering house for final phase.

  Javier studied each room. Most of the occupants were asleep. Bodyguards sat outside the rooms of Cesar and his son. There was no camera in Cesar's bedroom, but every other bedroom had surveillance. His two daughters were still visiting together in the conservatory while their husbands slept in the bedrooms. Two of the teens had gone to the kitchen and were getting snacks, while a third sat in Cesar's den and watched porn. A guard stood outside the conservatory, but no one had followed the teens. Javier relayed the information to his team.

  Rose had one job. Kane shadowed her through the labyrinth of halls, up the stairs to the master bedroom. The other team members were each assigned to specific rooms and families. She had to believe they would do their jobs, one by one, putting every household member to sleep and collecting some kind of evidence to show Lopez. Kane held up his hand, and she halted at the top of the wide staircase. The house was dark but for a few dim lights. It enabled them to use the shadows, sliding from one to the other in complete silence.

  The whispers in her head began coming fast. Done. Done. Done. Still she waited, breathing in and out, amazed at the capabilities and unity of such a large team working together. Whitney's idea had been two-man teams. He had stressed that the larger the number, the more room for error, and yet this unit of men--her unit--had penetrated the head of one of the largest and most dangerous cartels with an intricate and daring plan.

  You have a go, Mack said.

  At the soft order, Kane, lying prone on the floor just feet from the guard, shot the arrow into his neck. The guard tried to slap at what he thought was a stinging bug, but the needle had entered his bloodstream, and the fast-acting concoction had him slumping over, his semiautomatic slipping from his hands. Rose caught the gun and lowered it to his lap. Kane removed his ID. This was going to be the most dangerous moment. There were no cameras. They had to enter the bedroom without detection, put the wife to sleep, and have a talk with Cesar.

  The door was bolted, and it took Kane a few precious minutes to pick the lock. They were on a time line. The guards had to wake up before sunrise, and all of them had to be gone and out of Mexico before that happened. Kane inched the door open and went in on the floor, rolling to the right of the bed--the woman's side--staying in the darker shadows. Rose came in after him, softly closing the door behind her. The bed creaked, and she froze, lying in plain sight if Cesar happened to look d
own.

  She counted to sixty and then began a slow crawl to Cesar's side of the bed. He would be armed and wouldn't hesitate to shoot. He was sleeping facing her, and she smiled as she slipped her hand under the pillow to remove his gun. A knife lay on the bedside table, the hilt pointed toward him where he could easily grab it. She waited until Kane had darted the wife and slid into the darkness. She knew his knife was out and ready to throw.

  She crouched down, presenting a smaller target, lifted Cesar's knife, and placed it ever-so-gently against the artery pumping in his neck. "I think you should wake up, now, Senor Lopez," she announced softly.

  The eyes snapped open, instant awareness there.

  "I wouldn't move if I were you, but take a good look at my face. I want you to remember me, to know who I am."

  No one wanted Cesar Lopez to remember them. The eyes burned with arrogance, with fury, with the promise of reprisal. Rose smiled at him. "I think, before you go all macho on me, you might consider that you haven't looked at the condition of your wife."

  His gaze flicked toward his wife of forty years. He couldn't turn his head, but he could see the outline of her beside him.

  "She's sleeping soundly. I want you to really think about this situation you've found yourself in, Senor Lopez, because if you don't, some very bad things are going to happen to you and every single person you love."

  The door opened, and dark shadows flitted in and out of the room, dropping IDs on the bed between his legs. The IDs raining down on him were from his guards, his son, his daughters, their spouses, and eventually something taken from each child supposedly safe in his home.

  Rose leaned in close. "As you can see, we could have killed every man, woman, and child on your estate and in this house. Everyone. You don't know us, Lopez, but we know you, and we know where all of them live. No one else knows we're here but you. They'll all believe they fell asleep. You can tell them whatever you want when you give them back their IDs and whatever else we've confiscated from them as proof that we could have killed them. Call off the contract on me. Walk away and pretend I don't exist. You and I won't have any more trouble. If you don't, my friends and I will be back, and believe me when I tell you, you don't want any part of us. Not now. Not ever."

  She allowed the knife to slide against his skin. His breath caught in his throat and he stiffened, fear creeping into his eyes, his body turning to a shuddering mass of jelly. He could see the shadows of men, moving in his room, but he could never identify them. They'd invaded his inner sanctuary, and they'd proven they could kill everyone. He swallowed hard and nodded his head.

  "Don't disappoint me, Lopez. Don't ever get stupid. Even if your people found and killed me, my people would take everything and everyone you care about. And then they'll kill you. They're ghosts. You'll never see them coming, and then it will be too late. Do we have an understanding?" She kept her voice very even, very soft. Almost gentle.

  His eyes were nearly all white now, his terror mounting. His body had broken out in a sweat. All the arrogance had faded as he faced his own mortality. There was no refuting anything she said. The proof was strewn all over his bed.

  He nodded again, this time vigorously enough to have the knife cutting into his skin had Rose not been cautious.

  "You realize we'll have to put you to sleep like the others," she said, almost as if she was talking to a child. "Just in case you try to convince yourself that you were having a nightmare, I'm cutting your dose in half. You'll wake up first and see all the proof lying on your bed. You can walk around your house and see the guards, your children, and your grandchildren sleeping peacefully. And you can thank me, Lopez. I'll only have compassion for them this one time. Look into my eyes so you know I'm telling you the truth. Anything--anything happens to me, and they're all dead."

  He believed her; she could see it on his face. She pressed the needle into his neck and watched him watching her as the drug took him.

  Phase six complete. Let's go home, she informed Mack.

  CHAPTER 20

  The scent of flowers permeated the air. Rose inhaled deeply and turned her face up to Kane's. His piercing gaze met hers, and her heart nearly stopped and then began to pound. Would it always be like this? Such an extraordinary, overwhelming love that shook her every time she looked at him?

  "Do all brides feel like this on their wedding day?" she murmured, waiting for him to bend his head to hers. She couldn't look at him without wanting to be kissed, and Kane always knew what she needed--or wanted. Even the boots she'd left behind in the store were now safely in her closet--a gift from him. He seemed to like giving her gifts. No one had ever done that before, and sometimes she didn't quite know what to say or do when he presented her with another package or left something on their bed.

  He didn't disappoint her, his arm sliding around her waist, drawing her close to him, so she could take him deep into her lungs before his mouth touched hers. The familiar butterflies fluttered in her stomach. She would always-- always--love kissing him. The world dropped away in spite of the noise of so many voices, so many conversations swirling around them. Three GhostWalker teams had come to help celebrate their day and to catch up with one another.

  Kane had given this to her--this incredible wedding and a memory she never considered she would ever have. It wasn't the white wedding dress right out of the magazine that Jaimie and Rhianna had found for her or the tuxedo on Kane that made him look like her very own handsome prince that meant so much. It was these people--her people--surrounding them, celebrating with them. They'd come from all over, filling the warehouse, the one Gideon and Paul and been renovating.

  The warehouse had been transformed into a sparkling world filled with elegant chandeliers and ice sculptures, dazzling things seen only between the pages of a book but never experienced. The men were incredibly handsome, just like in the fairy tales, while the women, dressed in beautiful gowns, were breathtaking.

  Kane pulled her into his arms as the music slowed into a sweet, dreamy rhythm so that she rested her cheek against his chest and let herself melt into him. They danced past the playpens where Jack and Briony Norton had placed their twin sons. The two boys, Jeremiah Ken and Noah Jack, followed the action with interested eyes, occasionally turning their heads toward each other as if in silent communication.

  That was the strange thing, Rose decided, about the babies, the way they seemed so completely intent with each other, as if they were silently communicating. Daniel Ryland Miller, Ryland and Lily's son, was there as well, a strong boy with his mother's eyes and his father's commanding features. Sebastian lay on his stomach watching the other babies soberly, and they all seemed to be very interested in one another.

  "You don't think, at their age, Kane, that the babies could already be telepathic and communicating with one another, do you?" Rose murmured speculatively against his chest.

  At once, all four boys turned their heads toward her, as if they'd heard her, their eyes bright and interested. Her breath caught in her throat. "Kane, I think they can hear and understand me."

  He turned his head to study the expressions on each of the babies' faces. Each of the boys was watching them intently. There was no doubt that they looked more intelligent than blank, but he didn't know yet the developmental process with babies. He glanced at the mothers of each of the boys. Briony was whispering to her husband, Jack Norton, as Kane swept Rose past them. Both parents turned to look with that same speculation they were feeling at their twins and then at the other two boys. Ken and Mari Norton immediately followed their lead when they'd been cuddling together in a corner, which meant Jack or Briony had alerted them to the difference in the babies.

  "It stands to reason that all of them would be strong telepaths, Rose," Kane said gently, turning her hand against his heart.

  His steps directed her easily around the dance floor, so that she felt as if she was floating. She felt like she could do anything when she was with him. The intricate steps were easy with his strong
direction.

  "Jack and Ken, as well as Ryland and I, are all natural telepaths. Briony and Mari probably are as well. Lily is. And you have talent as well."

  "Not strong," she denied. "I can tap into your talent."

  "Nevertheless, it follows that our children are going to be very adept and strong in that area. Don't be afraid for them, Rose. Everyone in this room will stand for those children. We'll love them and guide them and provide everything they need to grow strong and healthy. They'll know they're loved. If anything, the very child Whitney was looking to create might be his downfall. They're bound to inherit strong loyalty genes, to us and to one another.

  The way our teams work will only reinforce that. All of us scored high in the protection area, so my guess is, so will they. This is going to work, Rose."

  Rose snuggled closer, nuzzling his throat, her heart contracting. The room was filled with so many GhostWalkers, it made her feel as if she wasn't so different from normal. Her child would grow up with them, with all these men and woman who would understand if he--and the other children born--were strong telepaths.

  "I'm so happy," she murmured as they danced past Ryland and Lily.

  Lily caught her whispered confession, and she nodded her head, flashing a beaming smile.

  "You look so incredibly beautiful, Rose," Kane said, pulling her closer. "I'll never forget the way you looked walking toward me. I never thought that I'd have a woman like you in my life. It's all there etched in my brain. And now, the way the light pours over your hair, the way all that silk shines, so black it's nearly blue. The world disappears when I'm holding you." He brushed a kiss over the top of her head.

  "You make me feel like a princess, Kane," she admitted. "In my wildest dreams, I could never have imagined this moment."

  He stopped her in the shadows and found her mouth almost blindly, pouring his love into her. A tremor ran through her body. Love was such an overwhelming emotion. She could barely think straight when she was kissing Kane, so she gave it up, wrapping her arms around his neck and dragging him closer, giving herself to him.