Ghostwalker 06 - Predatory Game

found that thrilling.No one had ever worried about her before.
    Lightning flashed again, this time rippling across the sky in a jagged bolt. Immediately thunder cracked so loud the trees and heavy brush shivered. Saber was drenched within moments of leaving the van, the cold penetrating through her thin clothing. She moved swiftly toward the house. She’d only been to Patsy’s house once before.
    Saber had been living in Jesse’s house about five months and his sister had wanted to make certain Jess was safe with her. Patsy had asked Saber not to discuss their meeting with Jesse, and she hadn’t, but trying to hide anything from Jess was next to impossible. He had eyes and ears everywhere and he’d known about Patsy and Saber’s meeting even before it was over. Of course Jesse hadn’t been happy about his sister trying to protect him, but Saber had instantly liked her for it.
    Saber slipped through the trees, approaching the side of the house. The rain poured down through the leaves, the pattern unmistakable, so when the discordant note was introduced, Saber sank back into the shrubbery near the windows and waited.Someone was patrolling around the perimeter of the house.
    She waited, crouched low, breathing away the stark fear Patsy radiated from within the house. Even the vicious storm couldn’t tamp down the energy of violence, rather the wild winds and streaks of jagged lightning seemed to feed it until her stomach heaved in rebellion. She prayed Jess was far enough away from the house that he wasn’t picking up Patsy’s terror, or there’d be no holding him in the van.
    As the guard approached, Saber dropped to her hands and knees. The guard was a short, stocky man with wide shoulders and an easy swing to his gait. He could handle himself and that wasn’t good. Saber willed him to stop, hoping she could get a hand on him, but he kept moving, watching the drive and all ways to approach the house. Panic began to creep in, flooding her system with adrenaline, and she knew Patsy was close to collapse.
    Fighting off the waves of dizziness, she waited until the guard was almost on top of her and then rolled out from under the brush, right at his feet, the gun in her hand as she squeezed the trigger and hit him dead center in the forehead. She kept rolling as he toppled to the ground, facedown in the small puddle of water collecting in the flower bed. She landed next to several small ornamental trees, the violent energy crashing over her, piercing her skull like a thousand knives.
    She tried to shut it out, pressing her hands to her head, but it was already inside, where she had no filters. There was no way to escape the pain, jackhammers pounding at her skull, the thunder of death, the silent scream of her victim. She rolled in agony, eyes closed, trying to breathe it away. She barely made it to her knees when her stomach rebelled, heaving over and over.
    She had to get hold of herself. She was extremely vulnerable and Patsy desperately needed help.
    Unfortunately, even with a shield, if someone was torturing Patsy—and Saber was beginning to fear it was so—then the violent energy would slide under the shield and debilitate her, as this energy had done.
    Only an anchor could draw violent energy permanently away. The shield simply kept her energy from alerting others that she was close.
    Ordinarily when she killed, she made certain her target was destroyed fast and with as little knowledge Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    or pain as possible. She introduced a natural means, rather than a brutal blasting away of life. She’d never killed using a weapon, although she was proficient, and she was unprepared for the backlash.
    She dragged herself to her feet, stumbling, her head still pounding, every movement jarring her teeth and sending shards of glass through her skull. This wasn’t going to be easy. She staggered around the flower bed to the window and unexpectedly the pain eased, and then disappeared altogether.She knew before she turned that she wasn’t alone.
    Jess! Relief and fear mingled together. She spun around looking for enemies. Jess couldn’t outrun anyone or hide sitting in his wheelchair as he was. But without the pain she could think with clarity and interpret what she was feeling much easier.
    He pulled her close to him, inspecting for damage. You can’t go in there alone, not after this. His voice was edgy, angry even, but his hands were