Ghostwalker 05 - Deadly Game

Until they knew what Whitney was up to and whether or not Mari was really on their side, they just couldn't take the risk.
    How could you warn him off of me like that? What kind of threat could I possibly be to my sister? That's what you did, isn't it? I'm a prisoner, surrounded by trained GhostWalkers, and I have a broken hand and leg. You must think I'm really good.
    Shaking with anger, she stared up at Ken's expressionless face. He was every bit as cold and unfeeling as she'd first thought him. He'd managed to fool her because Whitney had set it up that way, made her vulnerable to him. Whitney so loved his little jokes. He loved to feel superior, and she'd defied him so often. This was probably his punishment – to make her believe she was close to seeing Briony. She'd been right not to think about her, not to hope.
    Mari, we have to protect her until we know for sure.
    She wouldn't listen to that caressing voice, so velvet soft and playing through her body like a musical instrument. Not again – never again. Her throat felt raw and her eyes burned, but she stared up at Ken defiantly. Let him try to defeat her. Nobody, not even Whitney, with all his humiliations and his tricks, had defeated her.
    Wouldn't you want Briony protected? I don't want you to say her name. She's dead to me.
    She's not my sister. My sisters are back at the compound waiting for me, and believe me, I'll get back to them. There is no Briony. It was a trick, a fairly vicious one at that. I accepted her death a long time ago.
    He wasn't going to use her sister to hurt her. She had to put everything out of her head except her desire to escape. If she didn't do it soon, before they arrived at their destination, it would be nearly impossible. They were going to a fortress; she'd heard Ken say so.
    Ken knew better than to touch her, and yet, even without touching her, he knew what she was thinking. He was catching images, emotions, impressions she wouldn't want him aware of. Something is happening that I don't understand, Jack. I know what she's thinking and I don't have physical contact. And she can do the same with me. It isn't perfect, but we're picking up the gist of it as if there's some sort of silent transmitter between us. Do you have something similar with Briony?

    Jack shook his head and shifted his weight slightly, leaving his gun in an easier position to pull out should he need it.
    Mari shut out everything around her. The swaying vehicle. The pain. The fuzziness in her brain. The men. It was hardest to block out the image of Ken and the mask that was his face. Those eyes that always stared directly into hers. She forced her thoughts down a long, dark tunnel, bringing in waves of water to wash away random thoughts. She needed to focus on only one thing. The steering wheel. It was her only chance. She planned out every step carefully and then locked on to the wheel.
    She couldn't actually see it, so she built the image in her mind. She could see it clearly, feel it in her hands, hard and smooth, ready to do her bidding. She tested it just once, a very small little movement to the right. The vehicle jerked to the right and then was back on track, running smoothly down the road. It wasn't a freeway, more of a back road. And that meant there would be foliage.
    "Would you mind opening a window? I can't breathe." Not too pitiful, just the right balance of neediness and defiance. She didn't dare look at any of them; they were too skilled, so she kept her face averted, her fingers gripping the sheet.
    Logan hit the button to bring in the night air. She inhaled, taking in the scents of the evening. Trees for certain. Lots of them. Grass. Animals. Oh, yeah, if they were heading for a city, they were taking the back road in. She could so deal with that!
    Whatever you're thinking, Mari, don't.
    She wasn't going to talk telepathically to him again. It was a shade too intimate for her liking. She had to find a way to break the mesmerizing sexual web he'd trapped her in. "I have no way of knowing this isn't one of Whitney's traps. He loves to play with people's minds."
    "How so?"
    "He knows what I think about his breeding program. It's common knowledge the other women are following my lead and resisting. It would be just like him to pair me with you, use my own body against me, to punish me, to force me to do his bidding." She glanced at him, when she knew it was a bad idea. The night hid the mask covering his beautiful face, leaving him looking