me left.”
“Ekabela had you cut like that?”
“Sliced into little pieces and then he skinned my back. Peeled it right off, like those deer on the senator’s porch.”
“So you had every reason to want Senator Freeman dead.” She made the statement quietly, watching his face for a reaction.
“I still want him dead.”
CHAPTER 3
“ Well at least you aren’t lying to me.” Mari held her breath, afraid to move. She’d gone from suspicion to belief and now she had to backtrack. Why would anyone be stupid enough to send in a skilled sniper to protect the senator when he clearly had a reason to see him dead? It made no sense.
Ken shrugged his broad shoulders. “Why would I deny it? I thought about killing him and saving everyone the trouble. So did Jack. But it smelled too much like a setup to me. If someone managed to kill him, we were right there, patsies to take the fall. Why would anyone order us to protect that man?”
“It doesn’t make sense,” she agreed, noncommittal.
“Out of curiosity, how can you be trained as a sniper when you’re not an anchor? Briony can’t use a gun against anyone without terrible repercussions.”
“I have an anchor. He draws the aftermath of violence away from me.”
“Your spotter.”
She nodded, watching his face. Shadows flickered in his silver eyes, turning them charcoal gray, giving them a smoldering appearance, as if any moment they might shoot flames. A muscle ticked in his jaw. He wasn’t quite made out of stone, as he would have her believe.
“Is your spotter paired with you?”
Was there an edge to his voice? Not really, but there was a heightened alertness in him. “No, he’s a friend. Was any of my unit killed back there?”
“I didn’t ask. I can have Jack find out for you. It was odd that the moment you were shot, everyone in your unit backed off the senator and fell back to try to protect you. Why would they do that?”
Sean had to have been injured. He had been closest to her and should have gotten to her position before the enemy. She sent up a silent prayer that he was still alive. He was a good soldier and the closest thing to a male friend she had. “I can’t answer that.”
“I seem to be giving you a lot of information, but you aren’t giving me anything in return.”
She was giving more than she should have, and both of them knew it. “If it was just my life I was risking, I might tell you what you want to know. I don’t have any loyalty to Whitney, or I wouldn’t have gone AWOL and tried to get to the senator.”
“You’re protecting the others, the women, aren’t you?” Now there was an edge to his voice, the ice cracking just a bit, enough to let out a wave of heat. “He’s going to hurt them if you don’t return.”
She said nothing, her heart pounding. Was she that transparent? Whitney would kill one of them. He’d started with seven, all raised together in that miserable compound, a life of duty and discipline where few things from the outside world were permitted and everything was recorded. They’d learned to move in the shadows and time the cameras to avoid detection. They’d learned to talk late at night, congregating in the bathroom with water running and signing their conversations, until Marigold had discovered she could build a telepathic bridge and they could all communicate that way. Those women were her family. She’d accepted her life and had pride in her abilities, until Whitney had changed everything.
Cami had protested and tried to escape. She’d been caught and Whitney had ordered a name drawn. One of the other women, Ivy, had been taken away, and a few minutes later they heard shots. There was blood on the walls, but no one had seen the body. They tried to tell themselves he hadn’t really killed her, but no one tried to escape after that.
“That’s why you tried to kill yourself. If you were dead, he wouldn’t have a reason to punish the others. And your unit knew he might kill
“Ekabela had you cut like that?”
“Sliced into little pieces and then he skinned my back. Peeled it right off, like those deer on the senator’s porch.”
“So you had every reason to want Senator Freeman dead.” She made the statement quietly, watching his face for a reaction.
“I still want him dead.”
CHAPTER 3
“ Well at least you aren’t lying to me.” Mari held her breath, afraid to move. She’d gone from suspicion to belief and now she had to backtrack. Why would anyone be stupid enough to send in a skilled sniper to protect the senator when he clearly had a reason to see him dead? It made no sense.
Ken shrugged his broad shoulders. “Why would I deny it? I thought about killing him and saving everyone the trouble. So did Jack. But it smelled too much like a setup to me. If someone managed to kill him, we were right there, patsies to take the fall. Why would anyone order us to protect that man?”
“It doesn’t make sense,” she agreed, noncommittal.
“Out of curiosity, how can you be trained as a sniper when you’re not an anchor? Briony can’t use a gun against anyone without terrible repercussions.”
“I have an anchor. He draws the aftermath of violence away from me.”
“Your spotter.”
She nodded, watching his face. Shadows flickered in his silver eyes, turning them charcoal gray, giving them a smoldering appearance, as if any moment they might shoot flames. A muscle ticked in his jaw. He wasn’t quite made out of stone, as he would have her believe.
“Is your spotter paired with you?”
Was there an edge to his voice? Not really, but there was a heightened alertness in him. “No, he’s a friend. Was any of my unit killed back there?”
“I didn’t ask. I can have Jack find out for you. It was odd that the moment you were shot, everyone in your unit backed off the senator and fell back to try to protect you. Why would they do that?”
Sean had to have been injured. He had been closest to her and should have gotten to her position before the enemy. She sent up a silent prayer that he was still alive. He was a good soldier and the closest thing to a male friend she had. “I can’t answer that.”
“I seem to be giving you a lot of information, but you aren’t giving me anything in return.”
She was giving more than she should have, and both of them knew it. “If it was just my life I was risking, I might tell you what you want to know. I don’t have any loyalty to Whitney, or I wouldn’t have gone AWOL and tried to get to the senator.”
“You’re protecting the others, the women, aren’t you?” Now there was an edge to his voice, the ice cracking just a bit, enough to let out a wave of heat. “He’s going to hurt them if you don’t return.”
She said nothing, her heart pounding. Was she that transparent? Whitney would kill one of them. He’d started with seven, all raised together in that miserable compound, a life of duty and discipline where few things from the outside world were permitted and everything was recorded. They’d learned to move in the shadows and time the cameras to avoid detection. They’d learned to talk late at night, congregating in the bathroom with water running and signing their conversations, until Marigold had discovered she could build a telepathic bridge and they could all communicate that way. Those women were her family. She’d accepted her life and had pride in her abilities, until Whitney had changed everything.
Cami had protested and tried to escape. She’d been caught and Whitney had ordered a name drawn. One of the other women, Ivy, had been taken away, and a few minutes later they heard shots. There was blood on the walls, but no one had seen the body. They tried to tell themselves he hadn’t really killed her, but no one tried to escape after that.
“That’s why you tried to kill yourself. If you were dead, he wouldn’t have a reason to punish the others. And your unit knew he might kill
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