Conspiracy Game

Jebediah pushed her in front of him, pointing with three fingers toward the left hall leading to the courtyard. Briony crept to the wide, lace-covered doors and willed them not to creak as she pushed them open. At once the rain poured in, driven by the ferocious wind. At his tap on her shoulder, she turned to look at her brother.

Jebediah leaned close, put his mouth to her ear. “Get to the car.”

She knew he was going back for her brothers. Tyrel was going to wake them, but they should have been right behind them. Tyrel would have got them moving immediately, yet there was no sign of any of them. She hesitated, but Jebediah pushed her toward the night-the shadows. At his urging, Briony slipped into the courtyard among the overgrown shrubs and the windbent trees.

She took on the colors of the night, the stripes of shadow, black and green and a multitude of shades of gray. She moved with the wind, matching the flow of energy as leaves and twigs swirled around her in the midst of the storm. The mosaic tiles were slippery, so she abandoned the path and took to the grass and shrubbery, trying to avoid the branches as they swayed, reaching out with thorny brambles to catch her clothing. She was only steps away from the small hidden spot where Jebediah had secreted the car when the wind shifted subtly.

She caught a familiar scent and halted, looking around, trying to find her enemy. He was close. She could smell him, knew him by the mixture of sweat and cologne he’d worn in Sparks’s office. He wasn’t masking it, and she glanced up just as Luther leapt from the roof. He was blindingly fast, giving her little time to react. The best she could do was take one step to the side and strike him as hard as she could, hoping to knock his legs out from under him so he’d fall.

Luther caught her hair in his fist as he went down, dragging her backward with him so that she landed heavily on top of him. “I’m running out of patience with you,” he snarled. “Behave before I do something we’ll both regret.”

She slammed her elbows into his ribs, followed with the back of her head to his face. He jerked his head out of the way just in time, but she was already rolling back from him, scrambling to come to her feet. “Stay away from me.”

He feinted to his left and jumped to his feet, landing in a crouching position, his fist streaking out too fast to block. She tried to slip the punch, whipping her head to the side, but he hit her hard enough to send stars dancing momentarily in front of her eyes. Briony staggered back, slipped on the tiles, feet going out from under her, and went down.

Luther was on her in seconds, pinning her down, hand over her mouth. “Damn it, you gave me no choice. Stop fighting me. I was careful not to hurt you, but you keep this up and it’s going to happen.”

Briony went still. He was incredibly strong, and the more she struggled, the tighter he held her. She tried to curl into a ball; an attempt to protect the baby.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” Luther said. “And I certainly don’t want to upset you by killing your brothers, but you’re giving me no choice. You have to come back to the lab with me.” He brushed the hair out of her face and probed her swelling jaw with the pads of his fingers. “You shouldn’t have pushed me so far.”

Briony winced and jerked away from him. Her mind raced with ideas to get away. She had only seconds. He would be somewhat vulnerable when he shifted to his feet. It might be her only chance. She turned her head away from him, and colors danced for just a moment, yellow and red heat sensors, just a brief blur alerting her to the presence of her brothers. Briony quickly looked up at Luther, hooking her fingers in his shirt. “I’ll stop fighting you if you tell me the truth. Are they going to harm the baby?”

“No. No! Sparks should have told you. They want the baby alive. Both you and the baby are valuable to them. They don’t want to harm either of you. They can’t take chances with either of your lives. There are others who want you dead because they’re afraid of the power we wield.”

Briony scented her brother just as Luther turned, a whisper of sound warning him. Jebediah hit him hard over the head, knocking him from Briony’s body. Seth and Ruben quickly wrapped yards of duct tape around his legs, wrists, and mouth as Jebediah reached down to help his sister to her feet.

“You okay, honey?” He caught her chin in his palm to inspect the swelling. “He really nailed you, didn’t he?” He turned and kicked Luther in the ribs, using all his pent-up rage at the situation.

“He’s not conscious,” Briony pointed out.

“I don’t give a damn.”

“Did you hear what he said?”

Jebediah nodded. “I heard. They killed Tony because they thought he was the father of the baby. The rest of it is bullshit. Can you walk?”

She nodded. “Are there others? He couldn’t have been alone.”

Tyrel winked at her. “Seth and Ruben woke up. Both said they heard a voice warning them. They got the drop on the intruders and tied them to the bed.”

Luther opened his eyes and glared at her. The more he looked at her brothers, the more afraid she became. Even tied, Luther had powers and skills her brothers couldn’t conceive of.

“Let’s get out of here,” she suggested.

Jebediah wrapped his arm around her as he glanced at Luther. “I agree. We need to go now.”

Thought he was the father of the baby? She heard the voice, loud and clear in her head. Whirling around, she stared at Luther. Jebediah had been careless, and Luther was no fool. She could see the dawning comprehension on his face.

Briony dragged Jebediah to the car. “Hurry. They can’t follow us this time.”

Jebediah slid behind the wheel of the car. “Did you check for a tracking device, Ruben, like I told you?”

“I didn’t find anything,” Ruben said. “Maybe I missed it.”

“We’ll ditch the car,” Jebediah decided. “We’re not taking any chances.”

“He knows,” Briony whispered. “Luther knows about Jack. He knows Jack is the father.”

Jebediah glanced at her, put his hand over hers. “I’ll find a way to get word to him, to warn him, Bri.”

“Thanks, Jeb. I have no idea where we can go, do you?”

“Tonight we’re going to put as many miles as possible between Luther and us, and then we’re going to hole up for a while and sort this out. If we’re not moving, we’re not leaving tracks for them to follow. Let’s pick up another car and ditch this one as soon as possible.”

It was easier said than done. At night, with the storm still raging, it wasn’t easy to find another car. Jebediah wanted something fast with good maneuverability in case he had to try to outrun someone. Ruben stole a Mercedes and switched plates with a second one they found several miles up the road.

Briony covered her face with her hands, appalled that they had been reduced to stealing cars. She slept on and off, and her brothers took turns driving through the night and morning. They got rid of the stolen car, after first washing it inside and out, leaving it parked on a narrow, deserted street while they walked over to a little store.

Ruben hurried down the street to purchase another car at a used-car lot they’d passed. While they waited for him, her other brothers went inside the store to stock up on food and necessities. Briony opted to stay outside, needing a little respite from the constant company in the small confines of the car.

There were few people on the street, and she breathed deep to calm her churning stomach. “Come on, baby, don’t be making me sick this morning,” she crooned. “My brothers are getting a little freaked out by it.” As she talked to the baby, she noticed a man sitting in his car parked just down the street from the store. Her heart leapt, began to pound. At once she got up and started toward the store. They’d been followed.

The man got out of his car, removed his dark glasses, and walked toward her with long, confident strides angled to intercept her before she could make it to safety. “Ma’am, my name is Kadan Montague. I need to speak with you and your brothers about a matter concerning you and Jack Norton.”

Briony turned away from him, wary of the stillness in his eyes, the calm expression, but most of all, the instinctive knowledge that he was enhanced. He lifted his arm and his shirtsleeve pulled up, revealing the same tattoos Jack wore. She stared at them, knowing the strange dye only showed up using enhanced vision. “You must have the wrong person. I don’t know anyone named Jack Norton.”

Tyrel emerged from the store, knowledge flaring in his eyes, and he snapped a command at his brothers over his shoulder before hurrying to her. He took Briony’s arm and pulled her protectively toward him.

“It’s important, ma’am. Just hear me out. We can sit out in the open, maybe at that table over there.” Kadan