They looked at one another in exasperation. Malichai was beginning to think the vice president knew a little more than he was letting on. “Looking into it” was code for the paperwork was lost and someone else was ultimately going to take the blame if they couldn’t bury the entire mess under a top security clearance.
“Can he get to the president?” Ezekiel asked.
Joe shrugged. “My guess is, whatever enemies want to get rid of the GhostWalkers are going to block Major General the way they always do, without even knowing what he wants, from seeing the president. He’ll also have whoever Liam Hamilton’s friends are blocking him as well. With both keeping him from seeing the president, we’re not going to see much help from that direction. The only other thing we can do if we think we’re going to need it is to call on the other teams. They can be here immediately, but we’ll have to call them in now if we want them. If necessary, one of their commanders may be able to reach the president when Major General can’t.”
Malichai resisted the urge to rub at his thigh. His leg hurt all the time and with Rubin working on it, the pinpoints of burning heat that moved slowly up his bone turned his stomach, adding to his discomfort, but he would have endured anything to save his leg. He knew Rubin was giving him his best. At times, there was pain etched onto Rubin’s face. He hated that for his foster brother. Hated that he had to take on whatever he was healing, if only for a few moments. The breaks in the bone were painful, Malichai could attest to that.
“We can’t afford to allow this to get away from us,” Ezekiel advised. “I think we should handle it with the ones we’ve got now. Our team and Team Two, and the SEALs—we’re lucky enough to have Ken and Jack know the men running those teams so they’re willing to help us out. We need to know the faces of those on our teams. If we don’t, one of Callendine’s can slip through.”
Malichai tried to concentrate on what his brother and Joe were saying. Ezekiel made a good point. They usually worked in a tight unit, with only their own people. They worked fast and efficiently and didn’t worry about using their skills or enhancements because all of them were enhanced. They would be in a public situation and some of those they were working with were not classified to know about GhostWalkers and what they were.
He rubbed his temples and immediately Amaryllis put her hand on his jaw, her thumb sliding across his lips. He glanced down and found himself caught by the look in her eyes. She had unusual eyes, shaped like a cat’s, so blue they looked as if she wore tinted contacts, but they were real, a deep, shining blue like the deepest sea. Dark lashes, thick and long, only enhanced the feeling of looking into two mysterious, hypnotizing jewels. He blinked and tried to laugh at himself for the nonsense he was thinking, but it was impossible to look away from her.
“We’ll stop them, Malichai. Whatever those people are planning, we’re going to stop them,” she said softly. “Whatever it takes. That’s what we do.”
In spite of the constant pain in his leg, in spite of the growing fear that he would lose his limb forever, his gut stopped the terrible churning. She was right. They had no choice. They were GhostWalkers. They were soldiers. They stood in front of those who couldn’t defend themselves. They would do whatever it took to stop Callendine and his men from blowing up a building with innocent people in it.
Malichai tucked a stray strand of her silky blond hair behind her ear. Just looking at her face gave him a semblance of peace.
“I’m glad you chose our bed-and-breakfast, Malichai,” Amaryllis said. “How did you choose us?”
He knew she was trying to continue to distract him from the work Rubin was doing on his leg. It was taking so long. Rubin was so silent, but little beads of sweat had broken out on his forehead and a couple of times, it looked as if he might have swayed with weariness. Ezekiel had moved closer to him, as had Mordichai, just in case he needed support. Neither touched him, or distracted him from his work, but both looked somewhat anxious.
“The girls and Nonny chose,” Malichai said. “And the little vipers. They had various places, one in Hawaii, a couple in Florida, I don’t know. I was letting them find vacation spots for me because I really didn’t care, and they were having a good time doing it. I never heard such laughter and nonsense as those girls trying to send me away.”
“That’s true,” Gino said. “I was with him and even Zara, my wife, was in on it. I love to hear her laugh, and the women were in the kitchen at the table with maps and brochures of resorts, and they had all kinds of plans for Malichai’s vacation. I believe ocean fishing was involved. Then they’d go off into some crazy fantasy about what would happen to you, like the fish pulling you overboard, and that one would be nixed, but laughter would ensue big-time.”
“Was it Pepper who actually chose San Diego and this bed-and-breakfast?” Malichai asked. “She was there with the little vipers. They’re never left out. Thym was on the table next to Cayenne. And little Cannelle, we call her Elle, was sitting in Nonny’s lap and Ginger was in a chair, hanging over the table, right by her mom. They were holding court as usual.”
“It wasn’t actually Pepper,” Gino said. “It was Thym. She told them you had to go right here. And she held up the brochure with the bed-and-breakfast advertised. She kept saying it every time someone chose somewhere else. Once, she got tears in her eyes and insisted. Finally, Nonny took the brochure and said Thym had chosen and that was where you were going. Thym’s little face lit up like you wouldn’t believe.”
“That’s right,” Malichai said. “I forgot that. I knew Nonny had the last word. Thym doesn’t talk much. Neither does Elle. Ginger does all the talking for the three of them. It was Thym. Those little girls are gifted.”
“Maybe in more ways than we ever suspected,” Mordichai said. “You say Thym was very insistent. Is it possible she knew you would meet Amaryllis?”
“How could she know that?” Malichai asked. He tucked Amaryllis’s hand close to him, the one with his ring on her finger.
“Hell if I know, Malichai, but how do we do what we do?”
Malichai didn’t have an answer. He shrugged. “If that little one can figure out where we can find the right woman, you need to sneak her those little round cinnamon candies she loves so much and Pepper frowns on. Maybe she’ll point you in the right direction for finding your woman.”
“You just want me to make Pepper mad,” Mordichai protested.
“You ever see her angry? Pepper doesn’t get upset and she doesn’t get angry.”
Ezekiel cleared his throat. “When she’s in labor, that might not be true,” he clarified. “Especially if your name is Wyatt and you were the one who got her pregnant.”
“With twins,” Gino said. “That seems to be a trend with GhostWalkers. Quite a few have twins. I’m fairly certain my woman wouldn’t be thrilled if I got her pregnant with twins.”
Amaryllis tightened her fingers around Malichai. “Yeah, I wouldn’t be that happy.”
“You remember that,” Mordichai said. “Or you’ll get yourself in trouble.”
The laughter was genuine and eased some of the tension in the room and the pressure in Malichai’s chest. “What did Pepper and Wyatt name the twins?”
“Grace, after Nonny, and Fleur, after his mother.”
“That’s so beautiful,” Amaryllis said. “I love their names. I don’t have a mother or father.” She looked at Malichai.
He shook his head. “I think a lot of little girls are going to be named Grace after Nonny.”
Ezekiel inclined his head. “I have to agree with that. She’s going to have an entire slew of little grandchildren running around all with the name of Grace.”
They laughed, but Malichai thought it might be true. He certainly would want to name a daughter after the woman he admired so much. “How is Pepper doing with all those little girls?”
“I think a better question is, how is Wyatt doing with
all those little girls?” Ezekiel corrected with a grin. “The little viper trio think the babies belong to them and insist they take care of them. Wyatt is concerned about accidental bites. Pepper is exhausted trying to keep up with the feeding. Nonny, as always, is the calm in the center of the storm. Wyatt has at least two little girls on him at all times, although I think Diego is now having to hold babies whether he likes it or not.”
Malichai nearly choked on the water he’d been sipping on. Diego? Holding babies? He’d like to see that. He snuck a glance at Rubin, but if Rubin was aware of the conversation floating around him, he showed no signs of it. His face really showed signs of strain now. Of pain. It put things instantly back into perspective for Malichai. Talk of home and family had helped keep the worry of losing his leg at bay, but one look at Rubin, and he knew it was no small battle to try to save his leg.
Hours had passed and Rubin had worked steadily. He’d paused only to drink a little water and rest before taking up the task again. He didn’t talk the times he rested. He didn’t look at any of them, Malichai included. That was unusual for Rubin and boded ill as far as Malichai was concerned.
Amaryllis had to leave him, going back to work, making certain the guests had dinner and they were all reassured that everything was just fine, and they would be able to use the front entrance very soon. The fight that had broken out concerned the military, and the family would be leaving soon so no other enemies would be trying to get to them.
Because Trap and Cayenne were in the basement and just about every guest was aware someone was down there, and nurses came and went, they decided a good explanation was that Trap was a part of a team terrorists had targeted to assassinate. Those coming after him had been stopped before they could get to him and his family. His family was being moved, and that would take the threat away.
Most guests were very sympathetic and wanted to meet with the hero and shake his hand. That was impossible because his identity and that of his family had to be kept secret. Those who knew Billy were very upset and Tania and Tommy were particularly distraught. They raged at Amaryllis, Tania screaming and crying until only Tommy could comfort her, pulling her into his arms and letting her cry on his shoulder while Amaryllis stood by helplessly. She’d told Malichai she felt terrible, as if she was somehow at fault. She expected the two to leave the inn, but they didn’t, they just went to their rooms and refused to come out. The other guests heaped flowers and cards of sympathy at their doors. Amaryllis didn’t know whether to leave them there or clean the hallway, so no one tripped or got hurt.
Malichai wished he was up so he could help her. She was already looking tired and strained, having to run the entire inn on her own without Marie. Making decisions for her friend wasn’t easy. She texted her often, but knowing the bed-and-breakfast was targeted by Callendine and his crew had to put extra pressure on her. She was worried about the guests—and Malichai.
Trap, Cayenne and little ones are away safely, Draden reported. Shylah and I are returning to the inn to help out. Will be there in under an hour.
Malichai breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn’t realized how worried he was about those babies. They were in a safe house, surrounded by an army of guards and the best medics the GhostWalkers had. Paul Mangan, the only other psychic surgeon, a young man on Team Three, had been flown from San Francisco to San Diego to help Trap out. With him had come two other members of his team, Javier Enderman and Gideon Carpenter. They looked unassuming, but Malichai knew they were there more for the protection of Paul than anyone else, and both were extremely lethal individuals. He was grateful they were with Trap and his family.
Good hunting, Trap added.
Take care of your family. Malichai couldn’t help putting his hand on top of his hip, wondering if the next time he saw Trap he would have a leg or if it would be gone.
Rubin suddenly stepped back and staggered. Ezekiel caught him and guided him down to a chair. Mordichai handed him an open bottle of cold water. The room went eerily silent. Rubin didn’t seem to notice that they all waited for his assessment, like he hadn’t already given it. Malichai didn’t necessarily want to hear it again, not with his brothers in the room. Not with Ezekiel standing so close to him.
He wasn’t going to fall apart. He knew what Rubin was going to say because he’d watched his foster brother’s face. He knew that bone was Swiss cheese. The damage to it was accelerating. Ezekiel, like Rubin, was going to sideline him, but if he was going to lose his leg permanently, then what difference did it make? He’d rather go out on a mission than lie in a bed feeling sorry for himself.
Rubin drank half the bottle of water and then pressed the cold bottle to his forehead. He stretched his legs out in front of him and leaned back, his eyes closed. “You have one hell of a high pain tolerance, Malichai.” There was respect in his voice.
That was the last thing Malichai expected him to say and it embarrassed him. “It does hurt,” he conceded. “I guess I should have warned you.”
A faint smile curved Rubin’s mouth, giving his face that younger look he usually had. Right now, his color was nearly gray. “I don’t think even a warning would have prepared me. That bone is disintegrating at a rapid rate. If second-generation Zenith caused this, we all have to stop using it until Lily can figure out why and what happened.”
“Could it be I have an unusual reaction to Zenith? An allergy like Trap or Wyatt suggested?” Malichai asked. He didn’t know why he wanted the explanation to be a simple one. One he could understand.
“It’s possible. That’s not my field of expertise. I only repair things that are broken or damaged. The rest of you is strong and healthy, but that bone, which has always been extraordinarily dense, has been chewed through with tiny holes. The attack on it is nothing I’ve ever seen before. I tried to send the pictures of what I was seeing through Joe to Trap, Wyatt and Lily. I don’t know how successful that type of thing is going to be telepathically, but if this destruction is from Zenith, seriously, Malichai, no one should use it.”
“How do we prove it, one way or the other?” Malichai asked.
“Hell if I know. That’s all Trap, Wyatt and Lily. But your leg.” Rubin sighed and rubbed his temples with his fingers, looking down, not straight at Malichai the way he normally would have. He was frowning.
Ezekiel glided closer to Malichai. “What about his leg?” He sounded grim.
Rubin looked up then. He shook his head. “The truth is, I just don’t know. We’re working with something none of us has ever seen before. Joe and Amaryllis worked on that bone twice before I got to it and already the fracturing was severe.”
“Because he had to fight a supersoldier, Rubin,” Ezekiel pointed out. “It wasn’t like he was lying in bed twiddling his thumbs.”
“Zeke,” Malichai said softly. “This isn’t anyone’s fault. Rubin just spent hours trying to save my leg. If I have one at the end of all this, it’s due to his work.”
“I know that. I do. I’m sorry, Rubin,” Ezekiel apologized immediately. “This is just hard to understand. We’ve been using Zenith, and no one’s had a problem. He used it before on that same leg and didn’t have a problem.”
“We don’t actually know that,” Rubin contradicted. “The pitting in the bone could have started then, just maybe not as aggressively. Like a buildup of an insect’s poison in the system. That happens with some insects. The first time you’re fine. The second time makes you sick. The third time kills you.” He tipped up the water bottle and drank more.
Malichai was grateful to see that some of the lines of strain were beginning to recede from his face. “Let’s just get to what you think the chances of my keeping this leg are, Rubin, and be real. I want to hear real.”
Rubin nodded. “I don’t know any other way to be. You shouldn’t be putting any weight on it. We’re going to have to watch you all the time. Joe and Amaryllis will have to be vigilant, checking to see
if the hairline fractures start returning even with you babying the leg. If you have to move around, you have to do it on crutches, keeping the weight entirely off the leg. I meant what I said. I think you should be sidelined for this entire mission, but I know that’s not going to fly with you, so it’s the control room with your leg up.”
“Then what? So I rest it. So I stay off it. What is that getting me, Rubin?” Malichai asked before Ezekiel or Joe could tell him he didn’t even get to be in the control room. Or the van, as it would more likely be.
“I don’t know.” Rubin sounded tired and very discouraged.
Malichai had never heard that low, velvety voice so worn. He avoided looking at Ezekiel. His brother knew Rubin every bit as well as he did. If Rubin didn’t have a clue how to save his leg, no one did.
“We have to rely on the three brilliant minds to figure out what the hell is going on and how to counteract it and hope that they can do it before whatever is causing this accelerates the damage faster than the three of us can repair it.” Rubin’s eyes suddenly met his. “Can you take the pain, Malichai? When it’s eating through your bone like that, can you take the pain?”
Malichai felt the other members of his team looking at him. His brothers. He felt their compassion. Their anger. Their feelings of helplessness. He felt all those same emotions. Already, his hand was rubbing at the knots on his hip, the knots that formed from trying to ease the ache that was always present in his leg. That ache that would slowly accelerate into a steady pain until it was so bad he could barely think.
He thought of the alternative. That soldier in the street, the one with the sad eyes and the vacant face and no leg, begging for food, just for something to eat. It had been cold and Malichai had been shivering continuously, but Ezekiel had stolen a jacket for him. The soldier had a jacket but no blanket. There were blankets in the space they claimed as their own. There was food. Malichai had made his way there, rolled up his portion of the food in his blanket and returned to the soldier and offered it to him.