Lightning Game (GhostWalkers #17) -Christine Feehan Page 0,16

she said, “so there really isn’t much point to these questions.”

The way his eyes remained on hers made it impossible to look away. Her stomach did a strange little flip. She felt, rather than saw, Diego turn to look at her over his shoulder. Apparently he didn’t like the way she refused to answer his brother.

“I’d like to understand what he did to you. How it works.” Rubin’s dark eyes were velvet soft, fathomless, an endless pool one could get trapped in.

She shrugged her shoulders. She made every attempt to look as if it didn’t matter that he couldn’t help her. That he hadn’t shattered her with his casual denial or his treating her like she was a science project.

“I’m sure you understand that after years of being Whitney’s experiment, I’m over having anyone even consider me in that light. I’m really sorry for invading your space. I wouldn’t mind something to eat if you have enough. In the meantime, I can pack fast and be out of here tonight. I’m used to traveling.”

Rubin shook his head. “You didn’t finish telling us about who you thought might be following you.”

“Whitney? You must have escaped his laboratory,” Diego guessed. “He doesn’t like his girls to get away from him. You had to be one from the first group with Lily, Dahlia and Flame, right? They’re all married now.”

Jonquille didn’t react to the news. That was twice they’d referred to Dahlia. She wasn’t certain if they were trying to trick her or not, but she wasn’t going to give anything away. Maybe she shouldn’t stay for dinner. She could go a day or two without food. She’d certainly done so in the past. She could use her hunting and fishing skills once she put distance between them.

“I have no idea who might be following me, but I don’t think it’s Whitney. His supersoldiers have never been very patient. I’ve given these men the slip a few times, and they always work out my back trail, and the next thing I know, they find me. I knew I wouldn’t have too much time here before they worked it out.”

“Your best guess?”

“We aren’t the only government with insane scientists who want to use weather for weapons. I backtracked and laid up on a hillside a couple of months back just to get a look at them. They’re carrying weapons I’ve never seen before. I was privy to some of the top secret military weapons we have, but these guys …” She shook her head. “I didn’t want to tangle with them. I laid down partial tracks that would be extremely difficult to work out, so very believable. They would have to spend time unraveling that trail before they lost it completely.”

There was confidence in her voice because she was confident. She knew she’d been careless around Rubin’s cabin for her own reasons, but there was no going into those reasons with either one of them. There were no tracks leading to the cabin, and none of the locals had seen her.

“High-tech weapons,” Diego mused. “And you were privy to top secret weapons but had never seen these before.”

“Whitney always had the latest in weapons. He had an entire department dedicated to thinking up weapons. So yes, I’ve seen a lot of new designs, but nothing like what they have. I speak several languages. These men all spoke English, but they also had a code they were using that was only theirs.” She frowned. “Unique. Only to them, I’d guess.”

She watched as Diego and Rubin looked at each other for a long moment. Diego didn’t look happy. Rubin’s expression gave nothing away.

“You’re very good in the woods to be able to mislead a team like that,” Rubin said.

She shrugged, wary all over again. “Whitney wanted each of us to be able to handle ourselves in any environment.” That had to be common knowledge, especially if it was true that some of the girls that had broken free from Whitney had actually married Ghost-Walkers from the teams. “We trained for all situations.”

She was particularly skilled in the mountains and woods. She had an affinity with animals and she was never lost or turned around. She could be absolutely still for as long as she had to be and blend in with whatever terrain she was in. She was small enough to use animal trails to navigate unseen, leaving no trail.

“You sound like an asset to me,” Diego observed. “Stay for a while and help me protect