Lightning Game (GhostWalkers #17) -Christine Feehan Page 0,85

horned owl emerged out of the darkness close to his head, flying low and fast, shooting in and out of the trees.

Rubin and Diego both dropped to the forest floor and made their way to the heavier growth of trees a hundred feet in the middle of the grove they were passing through.

Company tracking us, Rubin announced. Two of them. In the trees. Freaky little squirrel men. That’s how I think of them. They jump from one tree to the next so fast, they remind me of flying squirrels.

They are fast, Diego agreed. Chandler blew up the plane that was taking that first team back home so they couldn’t share what they knew about the GhostWalkers. But then he wasn’t very happy with this team because they didn’t want to run his private missions for him, the ones that would make him money. He wanted another team, one that was loyal to him. Chandler started noticing his team wasn’t quite as up to par as he would have liked.

Rubin hissed his displeasure with the unknown Chandler. He was even worse than Whitney. Do these soldiers think they’re committing to the actual GhostWalker program?

I believe so, yes. They’re pulled from every branch of the service and have to undergo and pass all testing. In any case, this first team is after Jonquille, and they are determined to acquire her at any cost. Five of those they consider expendables have some link to Jonquille. Each has something different. It was all genetic material that Whitney had slated for disposal but gave to Chandler to study in case it helped him in the development of his lightning weapons.

Again, Rubin took time to think that over. That’s how they track her. Get someone in her general vicinity and then seed the clouds to draw her out. What do they need her for? They’ve gone to a lot of trouble to get her.

He went up a tree, using his hands only, careful not to leave any trace behind that he had stopped moving and was settled, waiting for the assassins coming up behind him. Very slowly, so that he didn’t disturb any foliage or bark, he placed his pack in the tree and shifted positions again, knowing this particular oak would entice one of the squirrel men to use it as a springboard to the next one.

Rubin waited in silence. The wind ruffled the leaves of the trees. A light rain began to fall. The frogs increased their chorus to a joyful, loud cacophony of sounds. He could pick out the individual species, males calling to females, females enticing males. He heard the rustle of mice in the leaves on the forest floor. The skitter of lizards running over trees. Raccoons chattered at one another and skunks shuffled through the brush. Life moved in the forest.

He didn’t move. Like the great horned owl that elongated its body and was frozen and still during the day, essentially becoming part of the tree it rested in unseen, Rubin was nearly invisible. The tree nearest his shivered, leaves shaking off droplets of water, and then something heavy landed nearly at his feet.

The man was lean and wiry, a compact combination of muscle and bone. He paused for a moment, taking a breath. Behind him, the tree came to unexpected life, Rubin materializing behind him, catching his head in a merciless lock. The squirrel man went crazy, knowing he was in a life-or-death struggle, throwing himself backward, trying to break the hold Rubin had on him. Rubin twisted, breaking the neck with his superior strength, lowering the body to the crotch of the tree, wedging it there so he could examine it.

One down, Diego. Radio is in the ear. Fingernails are longer than usual, and he’s wearing special open-toed shoes that allow his toenails to work the way a squirrel’s might. He’s got venom sacs located along his ankle. Strange place for it, but that means a scratch with his toenails probably could kill, if this venom is lethal. We have to assume it is.

I noticed that the toenails and fingernails were extremely thick on the assassin I was interrogating, Diego said.

That’s how they climb so well and cling to the branches when they land. The clothes they wear are aerodynamic as well. Each piece is streamlined, almost glued to their bodies, although very weatherproof. The vest looks more like you might expect with a wing suit, which when they leap gives them the appearance of a flying squirrel.