Shadow Game (GhostWalkers) Read online

  Her blue eyes drifted over his face, returned to his glittering gray ones. Am I supposed to believe you can’t hide your true nature from me? I see only what you want me to see.

  I’m not shedding tears over his death, I’ll give you that, but I did not order anyone to kill him.

  “Peter Whitney was my father and I loved him. I’m crying over him.” And she was, deep inside where no one could see. She felt alone. Bereft. Vulnerable.

  His thumb stroked again, sent heat curling through her, sent her pulse skittering. I would be a fool to kill the one man who might save our lives. Aloud he murmured to her softly, “I’m sorry he’s missing, Lily, sorry for your loss.” His other hand moved up to slide over her hair, lingering just long enough to steal the breath from her lungs. You left me alone. I couldn’t comfort you. I felt you, Lily, your sorrow, but I couldn’t comfort you. You knew I was there when it happened, I knew the truth. There was never a need to cut off contact with me. You needed me, and damn it, Lily, I needed you. You should have talked to me. I understand the need to stay away, but you should have talked to me.

  She didn’t want to acknowledge that, the implication of his words. She didn’t need any more complications in her life. She didn’t need or want Ryland Miller. She concentrated on gathering information. How were you there with us? My father had no telepathic ability, how could you connect with him? How could you break my connection with him?

  I connected through you, of course. Your distress was so strong you touched me, even here in this prison designed to keep me from touching other minds.

  Her heart jumped. His answer suggested a connection between them. A strong connection. She struggled to understand. Lily stared at him for a long moment, feeling her way, trying to see beyond his mask to the man beneath it. She studied him critically. He wasn’t particularly tall, but he had wide shoulders and a muscular build. His hair was thick and so black it was nearly blue. His eyes were ice cold, the color of steel. Merciless. Slashing. Eyes so cold they burned. His jaw was strong, his sculpted mouth tempting. He moved with fluid grace, power and coordination, a hint of danger. He was pure magic to her, he had been from the moment she had laid eyes on him. And she didn’t trust something so instant and so strong.

  When Colonel Higgens was here before with my father, could you read him? Was he involved in my father’s death?

  Every muscle in Ryland’s body went taut under her inspection. Her gaze was direct, assessing, speculative. It was so Lily. Being in her head gave him the advantage of knowing her far more intimately. Her brain processed information at rapid rates of speed, but when it came to something personal, she was much more cautious, taking her time before deciding on a course of action. He wanted to crush the silk of her sable hair in his large hands, to bury his face in the fragrant strands and inhale her. She smelled fresh, like a bed of roses. Her hair glinted with lights—glossy, so shiny, even with the blue lights, he was captivated.

  Higgens made no secret of his dislike of your father. They didn’t agree on anything. I can pick up his emotions when he’s broadcasting anger but he never gets close enough for me to touch. And he’s careful to keep his possessions out of my reach. I didn’t detect any plots against your father.

  Her eyes were almost too large for her face, thick-lashed and incredibly blue, unexpected with her dark hair. And her mouth…He had spent far too much time fantasizing over her mouth.

  Lily took a deep breath and let it out slowly. His gaze was unexpectedly hot. Hungry. Devouring her. And his thoughts had suddenly turned to erotic fantasies. She tried to ignore it, tried not to let it affect her. Her gaze shifted momentarily to the surveillance cameras. “I’m taking over his research. You have to be patient. I’m not my father and I have to backtrack to catch up.” She said it for the benefit of the cameras, and the ever-present watching eyes. “I’m coming into this cold.” Her wrist was hot where his thumb had caressed it. “Stop looking at me that way, it isn’t helping.” She paced away from the cage and then turned back to face him almost resolutely.

  Ryland watched with interest as she looked at him coolly. She had been rattled for a moment, but just that fast she recovered, turning into a cool, haughty ice princess. He wanted very much to shake her up again. “I can’t help what I feel when I’m around you.” He pitched his voice low, a husky invitation to hot sex and wild times.

  Lily blinked. Color tinted her cheeks but she met his gaze steadily. He had to give her that. She was courageous.

  She stepped to the bars, gripped them with her fingers. “Have you even bothered to wonder why we’re so connected? It isn’t natural.”

  Ryland studied her face for a long moment then covered her hands with his own. “It feels natural.”

  His voice had a way of whispering over her skin like the brush of fingers. Lily’s stomach flipped, her heart doing a curious meltdown she couldn’t control. “Well, no one feels this much physical attraction without some kind of enhancement.”

  “How do you know?”

  She tilted her chin at him, her eyes beginning to smolder a warning. “Well? Have you? Do you feel this sort of connection with every woman who walks into a room with you?”

  That look in her eyes made him want to pull her right through the bars. The urge to kiss her was so strong he leaned toward her.

  Lily shifted away from him in sudden alarm. “Don’t!” She glanced again toward the camera. “You know this isn’t real. Think with your brain, not other parts of your anatomy. We have to know everything that’s going on, not just the pieces of the puzzle.”

  She was right. The attraction went far beyond anything he had ever experienced. It bordered on obsession. His body was hard and hurting and he knew better. It didn’t seem to make much difference though. From the first moment she’d entered the room, he had been wrapped up in her. “What do you think it is?”

  “I don’t know but I’m going to find out. My father was acting strange that last day, do you remember? He asked me to come here. I was busy and said I had to make it another afternoon, but he insisted, practically ordered me to come.” She lifted her fingers, signaling to let her go.

  Their voices were pitched too low to be overheard, and both were careful to keep their faces turned away from the cameras so no one could read their lips, but body language could just as easily betray them. Ryland complied with her request very slowly.

  Lily took one step back in an attempt to allow both of them to breathe. Skin-to-skin contact served to deepen the physical attraction, the chemistry between them arcing with electricity, sizzling so it seemed alive to her. “He didn’t tell me anything about you or what they were doing. I walked into the room and saw you and…”

  There was a small silence as they stared at one another. In a rare display of agitation she pushed her hand through her hair. Her hand was shaking and he instantly wanted, needed, to pull her into his arms and comfort her. “The earth moved,” he finished quietly. “Son of a bitch. Lily, he was watching us together. That damned cold-blooded scientist was watching us like two insects under his microscope.”

  She shook her head in denial, but he could see she was computing. She couldn’t have it both ways. Either her father had expected something to happen between them when she walked into the room, or he hadn’t. Ryland closed his eyes momentarily against the glimpse of her raw pain. It was bone deep and overwhelming. What had possessed him to make such an accusation? She’d lost her father, she didn’t need to learn what an all-out bastard the man was. He had crushed her with his careless comment.

  “Lily.” He said her name very softly, a whisper of a caress. An apology. He breathed it, so that it sounded sensual. So that it connected them intimately.

  “Stop it!” she snapped in a low voice. “If this isn’t real, if we’re being manipulated in some way for an experiment, we need to know.”

  “Maybe it isn’t that,” Ryland suggested, wanting it to be real.

  “I anchor you, that’s all. That’s probably all it is
. We’re different and I have some kind of emotional magnet in me and it enhances…” She trailed off, her mind obviously attempting to fit more pieces of the puzzle together for a logical explanation. “That’s got to be it, Captain Miller….”

  “Ryland,” he interrupted. “Say my name.”

  She had to take a breath. He managed to turn the mere speaking of his name into something intimate. “Ryland,” she agreed. How could she not? She felt as if she’d known him forever. As if they belonged. “We’re attracted and somehow our special gifts enhance what we’re feeling. That’s got to be it. It’s the way you smell.”

  He burst out laughing. The sound was so foreign to him he was as startled as she was. “You’re trying to explain away our rather explosive chemistry by calling it enhanced pheromones? That’s priceless, Lily.” She could even make him laugh in the midst of everything. Lily Whitney was an extraordinary woman and quite unexpected.

  “Well,” she pointed out, “pheromones can be nasty little traps for the unwary.”

  He shook his head. “I think we’re just attracted to each other, but we’ll leave it there if it makes you feel better.”

  “Whatever the reason, Captain”—a brief smile lit up her eyes as she corrected herself—“Ryland, I think we have enough on our plates without that.” She raised her voice to a normal level. “I’ve read all the reports my father generated for the colonel—I was given copies—but there’s no data at all stating how my father accomplished what he did.” She looked at him very steadily. You heard what he said to me. He believes you’re a prisoner here. I can’t find the laboratory he spoke of before they murdered him…. She faltered for a moment, and he felt the wrench in the vicinity of his heart. I need the information in that room if I’m going to help you.

  “You don’t actually think you can find a way to reverse the process when your father couldn’t do it?” You have to find it, Lily. Whatever is there is important to us. I don’t know if my men can survive on the outside. And if Higgens has his way, some of us will be terminated. I have a feeling I’m number one on his list.

  Lily turned away from him, afraid the shock would show on her face. “I don’t know if I can reverse it, or even if it’s necessary, but consider this: You and the others have had terrible side effects. Is it possible one of the side effects is paranoia?” Lily willed him to act out a part for the camera. If she couldn’t convince Higgens she was impartial and willing to go along with whatever the colonel wanted, the possibility of her being excluded was very real. I’ll find the room, Ryland, but we have to buy ourselves some time. You have to appear somewhat cooperative or Higgens might move before we’re ready. Surely you have a contact in the military I can go to. She had a feeling Ryland might be right, that Higgens wanted to go forward with the experiment and Ryland Miller stood in his way.

  I don’t have a clue who I can trust. I trusted Higgens. Ryland paced the length of his cage, as if contemplating the question. He raked both hands through his hair, playing to the camera. “I hadn’t considered that. Colonel Higgens was always behind us, but when he locked us up and separated us, I felt as if…” Deliberately he trailed off.

  “As if he had deserted you. Left you alone. Cut you off from your command.”

  Ryland nodded. “All of those things.” He sat down heavily in a chair and regarded her with glittering eyes and the beginnings of a smile in his mind as he teased her. You rich types can act with the best of them, can’t you? He admired the cool way she played her part, the cool way she handed him cues and lines. With her brains and quick thinking, she would fit right into their team.

  Do you have a prejudice against money? She actually teased him.

  Only because you have too much. It puts you out of my league.

  Lily ignored his response, the only sane thing to do. “I think the possibility of paranoia induced by the experiment is a possibility we have to consider.”

  He nodded. “I want to see my men. I want to know they’re all right.”

  “That’s not an unreasonable request. I’ll see what I can do.” Now you’re trying to get to me.

  I’m trying to make you laugh. Your sorrow is weighing on me like a stone. Ryland pressed a hand to his temples.

  Lily was instantly contrite. She’d felt the shards of glass on more than one occasion from strong emotions she couldn’t block out. Telepathic communication was difficult and prolonged use was downright painful. She went to his cage and once more gripped the bars. “I’m sorry, Ryland, I can’t help grieving over my father’s disappearance. I’m hurting you, aren’t I? Would it be easier if I put the glass barricade up to protect you?”

  “No.” He rubbed his throbbing temples one last time as he came out of the chair, stretching as he did so, a lazy ripple of muscle she couldn’t help but notice. “I’m fine. It will pass.” He crossed unhurriedly to her, took her hand in his.

  The jolt hit them both like a lightning bolt. Lily half expected to see sparks flying. “It isn’t going to go away, is it? We just…” She trailed off, unable to think clearly with him so completely focused on her.

  For the briefest of moments his white teeth flashed at her. “Fit.” He supplied the word for her. “We fit.”

  She tugged to free her hand. Ryland retained possession, a glint of male amusement in his eyes. Deliberately he raised her knuckles to the warmth of his mouth, swirled his tongue over and between each separate bone.

  She shivered at the sensuous contact. Fire sparked and raced over her bare skin each time his tongue tasted. He lifted his head, his gaze meeting hers. Everything in her went still; even her heart seemed to cease beating. The amusement in the depths of his eyes was gone, replaced by stark possession. It glittered there in plain view for her to see. A challenge. A promise. Her breath caught in her throat.

  The camera. She reminded him, struggling to pull her hand away. He held on to her. “What’s your relationship with Roger?”

  The question threw her, completely taking her by surprise it was so unexpected. There was an edge to his voice, his eyes gleaming with icy menace. She blinked at him. “Roger? Roger who?”

  “Roger, the tech I make so nervous he wants the guards in here with their guns.” There was the merest whip of contempt in his voice. “As if that would help him in time.”

  “What does Roger have to do with anything?”

  “That’s what I’m asking you.”

  Are you completely crazy? I’m trying to help you. There’s a major conspiracy going on and a murderer running around loose. Roger is completely beside the point.

  “Dr. Whitney?” The voice floated over the intercom. “Do you need assistance?”

  “If she needed assistance, pal, it would be apparent,” Ryland snapped, glaring up at the camera, daring the unseen observer to reveal himself. Roger is the point. He was drooling over you.

  “I don’t require assistance, thank you.” Lily smiled for the camera as she yanked her hand away from Ryland. I think being in that cage has finally gotten to you. Will you focus on what’s important here?

  This is important to me.

  “Ryland.” Couldn’t he see the chemistry between them had to be artificial? Enhanced in some way, the way his psychic abilities had been enhanced? He could tune in with much more clarity around her. She was obviously an amplifier.

  I’m sorry, I know I’m distressing you, but it’s getting worse. I feel like some caveman, wanting to drag you off by your hair or something. Honest to God, Lily, I hurt like hell. Just answer the damn question and give me a little reassurance.

  Lily studied his face. He had suffered. He was suffering. “Why doesn’t any of this make sense to me?” She asked it softly, afraid of the answer. Her world had always been balanced, necessarily so. Her father was a man who’d protected her from the outside world, yet at the same time, gave her every opportunity to expand her mind and gather knowledge. He’d opened so many doors for her. He’d been kind and considerate and loving.

  She knew that Ry
land Miller believed her father had betrayed him and his men. Her father had conducted an experiment on human beings and something had gone terribly wrong. She had to find out exactly what it was and how it had been done. The attraction between Ryland and her was threatening good sense on both sides. She was a practical person, logical and serious. She easily put aside emotion when it was called for.

  “It doesn’t make sense to me either.” God damn it, Lily, I’m being eaten alive with jealousy. It’s ugly and uncomfortable and I don’t like myself very much.

  Roger is a good man, a friend, but I’ve never laid eyes on him outside this building. Nor do I intend to do so.

  Ryland pressed his forehead against the bars of the cage, taking in a deep breath to steady his roiling gut. There were tiny beads of sweat on his skin. “What the hell is happening to me? Do you know?”

  Lily shook her head, her fingers itching to stray to the unruly spirals falling across his forehead. “I’ll find out, Ryland. This has never happened to you or to any of the men?”

  He lifted his head and looked at her and there was a mixture of turbulence, anger, and despair. “Kaden is able to draw the angriest and most violent emotions away from the rest of us so we can cope better. I think he’s like you in some way. When we’re out in the field together and he’s with us, things run smoothly and all the signals come in clearer. We have more power to project. At least three others are like him in varying degrees. We try to keep one of them with the others at all times in the field when we’re working.”

  “And the man who died recently in training?”

  Ryland shook his head. “He was alone and he ran into the wrong people. By the time we got to him it was too late, his mind was gone. He couldn’t handle the overload of noise. We can’t turn it off, Lily.” Can you turn it off?

  She knew he wasn’t asking for himself. She knew his concern was for his men and she admired him for it. She could feel the weight of his heavy responsibility nearly crushing him. I’ve learned over the years to build up barriers. I live in an environment that is very controlled. It allows me to rest my brain and prepare for the bombardment the next day. 1 believe you and the others can be taught to build barriers.