Covert Game (GhostWalkers #14)

“Did something I say upset you, Zara?” Ezekiel said.

She heard the genuine concern in his voice. It was impossible not to see it on his face. “I think I’m still a little afraid of everything, Zeke.” Deliberately she used the shortened, friendlier version of his name. “I never want to have to steal from people again. It felt wrong when I was doing it and even though I have the gift, I’d rather find better uses for it.”

“Tell me you won’t mind screwing with Trap,” Ezekiel said. “Wouldn’t that be great, Gino, to pull a prank on him just once and he wouldn’t be able to figure it out?”

“When you confessed, and eventually you’d have to, he’d probably shoot you,” Gino pointed out and took a long slow pull of his beer.

“It would be worth it.”

“After Trap shot you, he’d have Cayenne roll you up in silk and hang you from a tree upside down. All the others would laugh and point and take pictures to send to the other GhostWalker teams before he relented and got you down, fixed your wound and then dumped some kind of burning liquid into it just to remind you not to fuck with him.”

“You’re right, damn it. He’d do all that.”

The two men grinned at each other. Bellisia and Zara exchanged a look.

“Are they joking?” Zara asked, needing confirmation, because it didn’t sound like they were.

“Nope,” Ezekiel said. “That’s Trap.”

“And Cayenne will do anything for that man, even take one of us down if she has to,” Gino pointed out.

“I believe your woman threatened to end me,” Ezekiel said.

Gino took another drink from the bottle. “True. She can get wild on me, but if I recall, it was only after your woman threatened to do me in permanently for a very small indiscretion.”

“It wasn’t small,” Bellisia chimed in. She sipped at her lemonade. “You were trying to get into my sister’s very pretty undies. She always wears really pretty underwear, which just pissed off Whitney, but he gave up throwing them out.”

“I brought home underwear for you and the others every time I came back,” Zara said, piously, loving that she was part of the camaraderie. “And really, should we be talking about my underwear? I came with zero pairs.”

Bellisia feigned horror. “Are you telling me that you’re going commando right this minute? Zeke, cover your ears.”

“You were the one who brought up my panties and how Gino wanted in them,” Zara said. “And I have plenty. Gino has very good taste in underwear and other … delicate garments.”

“Gino, you are a despicable kind of man,” Ezekiel said. “Looking to get into your woman’s underwear.”

“It wasn’t her underwear I was looking to get into,” Gino clarified.

Ezekiel raised his beer to his friend, and Gino raised his back before they drank. Bellisia and Zara laughed together over the ridiculous conversation. Zara was just happy that she and her beloved “sister” had come to an understanding.

15

Z

ara sat outside on the porch after dinner with the women while Trap, Ezekiel, Gino and Wyatt went into the laboratory. She didn’t even care that the topic the men were discussing was her. They’d asked her hundreds of questions and she didn’t want to be with them anymore. She’d spent yesterday answering queries most of the day until Gino finally called enough. She was grateful to him, because discussing anything relating to Zhu or Whitney was upsetting. Talking about how she could steal from the machines and seeing their faces light up made her uneasy, so she was doubly grateful Gino recognized she needed a break from the men.

She found herself sitting beside Nonny with the other women surrounding her. It felt good to be in female company and she was glad that she had gotten to the point that she could totally enjoy herself without the safety net of Gino right there. It was restful. Pepper had already put the triplets to bed, and the women were watching the sun set over the swamp. She found she loved the nights there even more than the days. Being surrounded by the women she was growing to care about made for a perfect evening.

“Gino mentioned to me that when things settle down, Zara, that all of us, Nonny included, should have a girls’ night,” Bellisia said. “I’ve never been on one and don’t know exactly what girls are supposed to do.”

They all looked at one another, apparently clueless. Zara broke the silence. “He talked about that, and I should have asked him. I was waiting to ask you. He mentioned drinking.”

“I would have said I was too old.” Nonny tapped tobacco into her pipe from a spicy-smelling cloth bag. “But if you girls don’t know what that is, then it’s my duty to show you. As soon as the boys say it’s safe, we’ll go. It’s fun.”

“Gino said they’d come along but stay in the distance,” Zara admitted, half expecting the others to be upset.

“Did you think those boys would let you go unescorted when Whitney spends half his time trying to get you girls, sends his soldiers to try to scoop you up when no one is looking or just plain when he’s feeling onery?” Nonny asked.

“I didn’t know what to expect,” Zara said.

“Zeke would skin me alive if I went into town without him or one of the others,” Bellisia said. “He’s not half as protective as Gino, and no way would he let me go.”

“Not Wyatt,” Pepper said, rubbing her belly.

“Trap wouldn’t either,” Cayenne said. “But then I wouldn’t let any of you go without an escort. It really is too dangerous. Whatever girls’ night is, we’ll have to do it with the men across the room from us.”

“Being all macho,” Bellisia added, rolling her eyes.

Zara really loved having the other women around her. She was used to female companionship, but spending the evening in such a picturesque place with them was surreal.

“This is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” Zara said, gesturing toward the river, meaning it.

The trees were black silhouettes against a fiery red orange backdrop. The sun had poured fire into every space around the stationary objects. The pier appeared black, the trunks and knees of the cypress trees rising out of the water were black so that the red in the sky only accented them. The moss hanging like fringe from the branches seemed like a lacy black shawl against the red.

“Is it always like this?”

Nonny shook her head. “Sometimes, it’s purple or gold. Other times it’s a combination. It’s never the same and yet, you can always count on the swamp to be the same.” She took her pipe out of her mouth. “I’ve never wanted to be anywhere else.”

“I can see why,” Zara said.

“I love it here because I’m surrounded by water,” Bellisia admitted. “Everywhere I go, I can just slide into the water and feel my body absorbing it. It’s a perfect location for me.”

“I love it because the girls are safe here,” Pepper said. “Wyatt convinced me that if we raised them here, not only would they have family to watch over them and love them, but we wouldn’t have to worry so much about them making a mistake and hurting someone. This place has been a miracle for us.”

Zara glanced over at Cayenne. She was looking out into the swamp, her face impossible to read with the shadows playing across it.

“I love it because Trap is here,” she said softly. “He feels like home to me.”

Zara hadn’t thought of it that way. She didn’t know what home felt like. She smelled it in Nonny’s house. That smell of fresh bread and spices. Nonny’s pipe. She heard it sometimes in Pepper’s soft laughter when she was talking to the triplets or Wyatt. It was only when she was with Gino that Zara truly relaxed. Was that because he was already home to her the way Trap was to Cayenne? She knew it was certainly becoming that way, and that sometimes, she could barely breathe without him.

“Nonny, this place definitely makes me feel safe and happy,” Zara said. “It’s magic.”