Ghostly Game, page 36
A collective gasp went through the GhostWalker team. Before Gideon could stop her, Rory was up and leaning over the balcony. He didn’t know why, because she couldn’t see anything from there; at least he didn’t think she could, and everything was happening so fast.
Rhianna, get up against the wall. Press tight against it. There was hard authority in Rory’s voice.
Westlake ran straight at Rhianna. She’d dropped to the sidewalk, the bullet in the calf taking her down, but strangely there was no blood, not a single drop. Gideon viewed her from overhead, his vision usually sharp, but he seemed to look through a gray veil when he tried to see the sidewalk.
Westlake appeared frantic as he cast around for his victim. He couldn’t find her, and he had to keep going. He ran around the corner right into what appeared to be a teenage boy on a skateboard, who nearly clotheslined him. The kid swept on past Westlake as he went down, choking and coughing but still clutching his revolver.
Larrsen came around the corner, ignoring Javier, who had hopped off the skateboard and gone up onto the sidewalk and was kneeling. Westlake fired several shots at Larrsen as other officers raced to back up the detective who called out orders to Westlake to put his weapon down.
Westlake shouted obscenities at Larrsen and fired again.
“What did you do, Rory?” Gideon asked. “Javier’s with her now. Whatever it was, you can undo it.”
She shrugged and sank down again on the bench. She was breathing heavily. Don’t let anything happen to Larrsen.
Gideon was more worried that Rory had overtaxed herself. Rhianna had been a distance away. They were all waiting for a report on her condition from Javier. He’d shown restraint in not killing Westlake when he could have. He’d followed Mack’s orders, which wasn’t always the case.
“I think Larrsen and the police have it under control.” He was watching the scene closely, although a big part of him was keeping an eye on Rory’s physical condition. Another part was waiting to hear how Rhianna was doing.
“John, throw the gun down. Hands behind your head. You know there isn’t any way out of here,” Larrsen said patiently. “You know the drill.”
“You’re not arresting me. I’m a detective. You don’t have the authority to arrest me.”
“Put the gun down.”
Westlake fired at him repeatedly. When his gun was empty, he drew a second one, put his head around the pillar and took careful aim. Several shots were fired at the same time, and his head snapped back, bright red blood blossoming from his temple, the top of his scalp and his eye.
Larrsen sighed and hung his head for a moment, watching the body topple.
Does Rhianna need Paul, Javier? Mack asked.
No. There was relief in Javier’s voice. Rhianna could have taken that bastard if he’d gotten near her. Rory gave her an out, so she took it. It’s a flesh wound, nothing serious.
Thanks, Rory, Rhianna added. I have to say, that was very cool that he couldn’t see me. He looked right at me too. He couldn’t see the blood on the ground either.
Gideon flashed her a small grin. “Red, I can shield myself, but I’ve never been able to shield my team or any other member of it. And certainly not from a distance. You just did it without even thinking. How can you know how to do that when you don’t remember your past?”
To his consternation, her finger pressed hard into the spot above her left temple. This time, Gideon felt the sensation she’d told him about. He had stayed connected to her mind ever since he’d brought her out of the warehouse, unable to make himself completely let go. Paul was correct when he said the sensation had become agonizing. His woman had a very high pain tolerance.
“Don’t answer that. Don’t even think about it, Rory.”
I need to think about it, Gideon. She was back to leaning her head against him. I went back through the images in your head of what Paul went through to save me. He transfers whatever the injury is to his body in an exchange. That’s why it’s so dangerous and he’s so weak afterward.
“Yes, that’s how it works. He performs surgery using his mind, not physically. In doing so, there’s a huge risk to him. There are only a very limited number of people in the world who can do such a thing. We guard them carefully. No one, not even those above us, knows of their skills. It would be too dangerous if word ever got out.”
He’s talking to me about undoing what Whitney did to my lungs. Or attempting to. He isn’t sure what it is yet. But that could be fatal to him. I’ve lived with my lungs this way for as long as I can remember. In my nightmares, I was the same way, so apparently, Whitney must have planted whatever he did when I was a child. Risking Paul’s life seems unnecessary when I’ve been doing this for so long.
“He’s a doctor, Rory,” Gideon said as gently as possible.
She was trying to make him understand she really didn’t mind. It wasn’t about being a martyr. She didn’t believe Paul should risk himself.
Put aside the fact that he’s needed, Gideon, and just look at what a good person he is. He’s kind and considerate. He’s a good man. He looks out for everyone. There isn’t a good enough reason to risk his life. I’m not in danger.
“That isn’t true, Rory. You are. At times, you can barely breathe.”
He opened my airways and gave me better medicine.
“Every time I think I couldn’t love you more, you say and do things that make me know why I fall harder every moment I’m with you.”
Rory glanced up at him from under the long dark reddish lashes with a look that made him feel like her white knight when he was anything but. Still, he’d take it.
“We’ll put that aside for now and let Paul talk to you about it.” He sank down on the bench beside her. “Do you want to discuss removing the shield you cloaked yourself with as a child? Paul can help you with that. At the same time he does, the rest of the team can prevent Whitney from finding you in a permanent way. You will remember your past, including the horrors of his experiments. You would have the memories of girls you grew up with. Rose remembers you. She’d like to become reacquainted with you. There isn’t any pressure, Red. If you never want to be part of the GhostWalker family with me, I’ll be fine as long as I have you in my life.”
The shield is already coming apart, Gideon. I’m remembering more and more. The nightmares are more persistent. The sensation of my skin peeling away has become worse, and now instead of just this odd crackling and tingling feeling, there’s real pain, as if the skin is ripping apart.
“Paul said you put the shield in place so long ago and you were so young that it became part of your physical makeup. That would explain the ripping and tearing sensation you’re feeling now. He would clarify it better than me, but it sounds as if the shield is pulling away from your skin.”
A visible shudder went through Rory, so Gideon put his arm around her and pulled her beneath his shoulder.
It sounds as if it will be very painful to shed it all the way.
“I’ll be with you, Rory.”
I’m not sure I want you to be. I don’t like you hurt. You do enough for everyone. I told you before, someone needs to look after you, and I want to be that someone.
His heart turned over. She could seriously melt it that easily. She made him feel things he hadn’t ever thought possible. He brushed a kiss on top of the thick pile of hair. “I’ll be with you regardless. I can’t seem to be away from you, Red. In any case, if you think you want to do it, we can ask Paul to talk with us about how best it can happen.”
Gideon hesitated. Rory seemed more comfortable with his teammates. During the time she was in bed recovering, they had done breathing sessions together. She hadn’t objected. Rhianna and Ethan had dropped by casually just to see if she needed them to sneak into her apartment building and bring her anything. Javier came every day. She hadn’t met all the team members, but she knew all of them had rushed out to look for her.
“How do you feel about the others helping us through Paul removing the shield?” Gideon did his best to sound casual.
I’ve been giving it a lot of thought. They’ve really done their best to help me. I thought it would be good to meet them. Maybe a couple at a time to see if I want to run for the next state.
“That’s not going to happen, Rory, not without me.” Gideon made it a decree.
21
Two days later, Gideon remained quiet while Paul talked to Rory about shedding the shield that had been with her since she’d escaped Whitney. He believed it would be better for her if she allowed the team to surround her. They would help with breathing and lock out any chance that when the shield fell completely, Whitney might get a glimpse she was alive.
There would be pain, and while Gideon would help control it, if there were others there, they could ease the discomfort as well. Rory didn’t want anyone else to suffer on her behalf. Gideon had known all along that would be her objection, but he stayed out of the discussion. Paul was patient and very gentle in the way he worded his facts. He didn’t come at Rory from the emotional place Gideon would have.
Mack, as team commander, was also present for the discussion. “Rory, we work better as a group. We fit seamlessly together.”
“But not me. I’m not part of you.”
Gideon nearly blew it by objecting. He just managed to keep his mouth closed.
Mack gave Rory a small smile. “You might have a legitimate argument, honey, if you hadn’t cloaked Rhianna so quickly and from a distance. You couldn’t see her. You didn’t really know her, and yet you took control and seamlessly fit with her. If you aren’t part of us, how did you manage to do that?”
Rory’s long lashes fluttered, and she turned her green gaze a little helplessly to Gideon as if asking him for the answer. He took her hand. “No one is hurrying your decision.”
Talk to me, Red. What are you thinking?
I’ve been giving this a lot of thought since you first brought it up to me. Why would I have such a reaction to meeting your friends when they’ve been helping me? You know I have nightmares and deliberately made a point of remembering every one of them. In all of them, Whitney berated me and told me I endangered the other girls. That I shouldn’t be near them. He said it over and over. Drilled it into me.
Gideon had shared a few of those nightmares with her. He knew Whitney reveled in repeating himself to Rory that she was useless and a danger to the others.
Intellectually, I know Whitney is still influencing me. I still have his voice in my head telling me I’ll endanger my fellow GhostWalkers if I’m around them, even if it’s subconscious.
Gideon groaned. Subconscious is worse than having him yelling in your face. And then I made it worse by adding to that worry, playing right into his hands by fearing you were programmed by him to kidnap Sebastian.
He had. He should have realized all along that he had reinforced Whitney’s assessment of Rory’s worth. He had made her feel that she would endanger the other GhostWalkers, that she was inferior to them, just as Whitney had.
I’m sorry, Red. I played right into his hands.
No, I did. I’m an adult. I’ve been stuck in my childhood.
We all carry the scars of our childhoods, thinking we aren’t worthy. He still did. He probably always would.
Rory’s green eyes moved over his face. I don’t want Whitney to have any influence on me.
Gideon smiled at her. “Let’s get it done, sweetheart.”
Rory took a deep breath, turned to Paul, and nodded. She’d already made up her mind to take down the shield. She knew she was going to spend the rest of her life with Gideon. She could barely bring herself to be away from him.
“You said one thing at a time. All right, let’s get it done,” Rory said.
Paul was an intelligent man, and he didn’t give Rory time to get nervous and back out. His palms moved up to the left side of her head, right over the spot where the sensation was always the worst for Rory.
Gideon merged with Rory, staying connected in her mind. He opened a telepathic circle to his teammates so they could join and begin a deep meditative breathing. As Paul carefully began separating the layers of skin, Gideon and the others felt the same sensations with Rory, the sickening horror of her skin cracking and splitting all over her body. The illusion was so real that Gideon twice looked down at his own skin to make certain he wasn’t becoming a lizard. That earned him a little giggle from Rory. How she could manage to be amused when it hurt like hell, he didn’t know, but he appreciated her sense of humor.
Blood began to trickle down the side of Rory’s head. Sweat beaded on Paul’s forehead. Gideon’s teammates breathed without stopping in that same rhythm. Rory twice began coughing, her lungs spasming. Gideon pressed her palm to his lungs with one hand to lead the way for her while he handed her the inhaler with his other. He’d made certain it was close. He knew pain could bring on breathing problems, and this operation was very painful.
As the skin separated from the shield, images tumbled into her mind. Gideon swept them to the side, keeping her memories away from the others, blocking them for her. Those were private—her past. If she ever wanted to share, that was for her to do. He would protect her until she decided what she wanted to tell others about herself. He’d broken trust with her once; it wouldn’t happen again. Rory was vulnerable right now, and while she was, he would guard her, stand in front of her and protect her even from the family he loved.
She used her inhaler, taking in the medicine while the GhostWalkers breathed for her. Once the first few thinning layers of skin were peeled away, Gideon could see how embedded the rest of the shield was. In places, it was thicker, stubbornly holding. Paul was patient, gently loosening the skin until he could cut around it as if he held a laser in his hands.
The moment the entire device dropped, the GhostWalkers erected a barrier between Rory and the outside world, jamming the dust chips installed in the tattoo on her ankle. Mack scanned the tattoo, looking through the leaves and berries to find the hidden trackers so they could destroy them. Paul did the same throughout her body, meticulously searching for any other trackers Whitney may have secreted in her that he would have to remove. Once Mack had destroyed the ones woven into the tattoo and Paul declared her free of any internally, Gideon’s teammates left the breathing circle one by one.
Mack helped Paul to one of the guest bedrooms, and Marc Lands attended to the bleeding laceration on Rory’s head. After he left, Gideon simply lifted her into his arms and put her into their bed. She was so exhausted, she didn’t do more than cuddle into him and close her eyes, drifting off immediately.
Rory woke twice, crying, clinging to Gideon as he pulled her over his body, holding her close, his hands framing her face both times.
“I remember him. I remember him.”
“Look at me, Red.” Gideon waited until her wild gaze settled on his steady, calm one. “I’m right here with you. Whitney can’t get to you.”
Another sob escaped. “What if he gets to you? What if he takes you away from me?”
“He can’t take me away from you.”
“He knows people high up in the government, people who will have you go out on missions. They can set you up, Gideon. I know he does that kind of thing when he wants soldiers to disappear.”
She had too many memories rushing at her too fast. He wrapped his arms around her and rocked her gently. “Sweetheart, my team sticks together. You know how Javier is with me. Do you honestly think he’s going to let anyone hurt me, especially now that I have you?”
Gideon brushed caresses down the side of her head until she fell into a fitful sleep, her body sprawled over his.
The second time she woke, she came awake fighting, trying to roll off the bed, calling for him, her voice strained. Choking. Coughing. In her mind, it was Gideon choking, not Rory, and she couldn’t get to him. She tried breathing air into his lungs the way he’d done for her, but he was too far away.
Gideon easily subdued her, holding her to his chest with his arms, wrapping his legs around hers. Pushing his way into her frantic nightmare.
Red, open your eyes. Feel me with you. The real me. You know my voice. You know my touch. Whitney can’t separate us. He doesn’t have any idea you’re alive or that we’re together. Even if he did, he knows what I’m like. He thinks he’s the smartest man in the room. Because he does, he also has a very healthy fear of the kind of predators he created.
Rory stopped struggling and lay passively over his body, her heart pounding against his. Very slowly, she lifted her long lashes, as if afraid that when she did, she would see something besides his blue eyes.
“That’s right, sweetheart,” he coaxed aloud. “Look at me. See me. I think we should have had Paul peel back the shield a little at a time rather than the entire thing at once so you wouldn’t get swamped with so many childhood memories.”
Her eyes searched his for a long time before she laid her head on his chest again. It’s like reliving my childhood all over again. Whitney is a horrible man. He really hated me. I tried not to think about him or the things he said and did to me before I fell asleep so I wouldn’t have dreams, but I couldn’t help it.
“I can make you chocolate, Rory. We can go up to the roof and sit outside. Paul won’t be happy, but if it stops your nightmares, I’ll risk his wrath.”
She pressed a kiss over his heart. I think it’s good to get it over with. I’d rather sift through all the memories with you right here to help me sort through them. You keep me from losing my mind.
Gideon was grateful she trusted him enough to rely on him. “Go back to sleep, then, sweetheart. Whitney can’t get near you here. He can’t get to either one of us.”
