Christine Feehan - Conspiracy Game

You ready to do it again? Jack asked.

Briony tilted her head to look up at the cliff face. It seemed miles away, an impossible task. They were enhanced, but their arms and legs ached with strain, and one tiny misstep would kill them all. Jack nuzzled her neck, leaned in close, and smiled at her, but the darkness hid any light that might have reached his eyes. Makes you feel alive, doesn’t it?

Jack. I love you. I do. But you’re just a little bit crazy. And that was the thing. He actually was enjoying himself. You have ice water in your veins.

We have to make the top before dawn. We’ll need a lead time before they come after us. I’ll call in reinforcements at the next leg up , Ken said. But they won’t be here for a few hours, and we’re going to need a place to hole up and wait.

Jack nodded and studied the wall rising above him. The crevice runs through the rock about fifteen feet above our heads. It’s too wide farther to the left to use for anything but a finger-or toehold, but it makes a good boost to the next level.

Briony could barely concentrate on what he said-the need to wrap her arms around him and keep him safe was nearly overwhelming. She watched him spring up and over again, this time about a ten-foot jump, one easier than the last. She let herself breathe again when Jack hung above them waiting for her to join him.

The climb took hours, with a repeat over and over of their strange flying act. By the time they reached the top, all of them were exhausted, but exhilarated that they’d made it. They lay for a long time on the edge of the cliff, straining to breathe while they listened-and scented the wind for the enemy they knew would be waiting in the dark for them.

Jacktouched Briony’s shoulder and swept his hand up her arm to settle his fingers around the nape of her neck. Ken and he not only practiced such ascents, but had used them on occasion to escape enemies, but he’d never been so tense in a situation as he had in this one. Jack Norton didn’t get clammy skin, sweaty palms, or a churning stomach in combat. He was infamous for the ice in his veins and his complete discipline over his emotions when he worked, but now-everything had changed. Briony. He massaged her neck and leaned against her, absorbing the warm satin of her skin.

What is it?

She turned her head to look at him, her dark chocolate eyes filled with such an intensity of love his stomach seemed to turn inside out.

Damn, Ken, do men just make complete idiots of themselves over women? I feel like a fool every time she looks at me like that.

Jack felt more than a fool-he felt humble and undeserving, but most of all, there was a part of him that was afraid. If she left him, she’d rip out his heart and what was left of his soul. Sooner or later the rose-colored glasses were going to come off, leaving him naked and vulnerable to her scrutiny. She would see inside him, not just to the black violence always seething beneath the thin surface of ice he kept to cover it. No, she’d see the true monster-the one who didn’t feel-couldn’t feel.

Ken’s sympathy moved in his mind. Ken knew-he felt the same rage, and the same detachment. The monster was a legacy from their father they would never be free of, and any woman in their lives would have to live, just as they did, with that unspeakable demon.

Ken dropped a hand on Jack’s shoulder and looked toward the trees. We can’t stay in the open like this. It will be a good ten to twelve hours even with the teams scrambling to pick us up. We have to find cover and a defensible position.

Jack nodded and helped Briony to her feet. They moved fast in single file, staying to the trees and brush, careful not to make a sound. In the night, any noise carried, and they couldn’t afford to bring the enemy down on them. They needed as much distance as possible. As soon as they were a good mile from the cliffs, they began to pick up the pace, jogging now, using long, ground-eating strides.

Every muscle in Briony’s body felt fatigued, but there was satisfaction in knowing she’d not only used her circus training to escape Whitney’s men-but the very skills and abilities he’d provided. Even now, her enhanced muscles worked like a machine, carrying her fast over rugged terrain, and her vision enabled her to see in the dark when few others could have moved so quickly. And that was all due to Whitney’s experiment and the education he’d insisted on providing for her.

They jogged for two hours, took a break, and ran again, this time slowed down by the thicker brush and trees as they started downhill. Obviously Jack and Ken had a particular place in mind. They took cover a few hundred yards from a clearing. They hunkered down in a spot that had plenty of cover, with boulders, trees, and brush, but more importantly, depressions in the ground provided an added element of protection.

“We’ll rest here and wait,” Jack said. “The team is coming, and if we stay quiet, we might just get lucky.”

The men set about building a blind, a cavern of twigs and leaves where they could lie and rest while they waited. As dawn streaked the sky, Briony found tension rising and tried to cover it. Jack lay beside her, his fingers curling around hers, and on her other side, Ken appeared to doze.

How can you do that? Just go to sleep when we’re being hunted like animals?

Jack turned over to nuzzle her neck. Conserve energy, baby. That’s what it’s always about. Grab sleep when you can. We’re safe enough for a couple of hours. They have to figure out where we went before they can find us. He pulled her closer, his hand pressing her head to his shoulder until she relaxed. Briony had no idea how, but she drifted to sleep.

Shewoke to find Jack and Ken gone. She sat up, looking around her, heart beating fast. In the distance she could see Ken lying in the open clearing, talking softly into a radio. Jack was harder to spot, but she was beginning to know their methods, and she searched above, in the trees and rocks, knowing he’d be protecting his brother. She thought she saw him in a tree, but blinked, and when she tried to look closer, he wasn’t there. She nearly jumped out of her skin when he put a hand on her shoulder.

The familiar rifle was in his arms and his face looked grim. Ken returned, and there was a similar expression on his face. “Damn, Jack. I’m sorry. This is my mistake.” Ken shook his head in disgust. “We take it for granted we’re enhanced, and if they send anyone against us chances are the enhancement is only physical, but Whitney sent someone with psychic abilities too. I should have considered that possibility.”

“There was no way to know.” Jack shrugged as he crouched down beside his brother. “We had no choice; we had to use the radio to call our people in. Don’t waste time trying to blame yourself. They were bound to find us, Ken, and you know it. We have to move, and fast.” He held out a bottle of water to Briony.

“What happened?” Briony asked. She uncapped the bottle and swallowed quickly. The water was warm, but welcome all the same. She screwed the cap back on and offered the bottle to Ken.

“I had to use the radio and wanted to know how far out the extraction team was, but Whitney sent a radioman, a waver. They can sift through the frequencies at a rapid-nearly computer fast-rate, and hear anything being transmitted. Whitney’s people know exactly where the chopper is coming to get us, and they’re on the way, and they’ll get here first.”

Jack swore softly. “How far out is our extraction team, Ken?”

Ken shook his head. “Thirty minutes-too long. We’ll be dead by then.”