Samurai Game (19 page)

“Have you spoken with Briony about Daniel’s ‘friend’? Maybe her twins do something similar.” Briony was married to Jack Norton, a member of GhostWalker Team Two.

Lily shook her head. “Jeremiah and Noah are a bit younger than Daniel. He’s nine months now and already walking and climbing. They aren’t far behind him either, from what I’ve seen. You know we get them together often because they seem to want to be together. Daniel often asks me to visit with them. At least their playdates wear them out.”

“Ryland told us a while back that you think they all have a secret language.”

Lily frowned again, nodding her head. “I think they’re all telepathic and they communicate silently, but they do have some kind of language built on sound. They definitely have a strong bond. When we were in San Francisco for Rose and Kane’s wedding, even though their child was just a few weeks old, the boys all were very interested and clearly tried to communicate with him.”

“That’s reasonable, Lily,” Sam pointed out. “You’re a strong telepath, Ryland is as well, and Jack and Ken Norton have been communicating telepathically with one another since they were small children, just like Daniel appears to be doing.”

She pressed her lips together, clearly still a little worried. “That’s true, and it all makes sense, of course. We suspected Daniel and the twins would be extremely gifted, but they’re infants. It makes it difficult to know what to do with them.”

“The boys are very happy,” he said. “I think that’s the most important thing. And because they’re intelligent, you can explain early why we take so many safety precautions with them.” He flashed her a small, teasing grin. “That way, when your husband barks out his orders, Daniel won’t want to rebel.”

Her return smile was a little reluctant. “Daniel already has that man’s number. With our son, he’s all bark and no bite.”

“Did I hear a rumor that someone else is pregnant?” Sam asked.

Lily glanced toward the door. Sam’s heart gave a strange little jerk. Was she worried about strangers overhearing what she might say? Did that mean Azami was still in the compound? She hadn’t come to see him yet—at least not that he remembered. He was fairly certain Lily had knocked him out to force him to rest.

“Mari, Ken’s wife, is pregnant. She’s having complications and I’ve put her on bed rest. She’s definitely carrying twins, which doesn’t surprise me. Her husband is a twin and they come from a long line of twins. She’s a twin as well. They’re keeping the pregnancy under wraps. They don’t need the added stress on her of Whitney trying to acquire her while she’s pregnant. She can’t fight. She shouldn’t get up at all, not if she wants to carry, so if there’s an attack on the compound, she’d be in real trouble. I’ve reinforced her cervix, but carrying the weight of twins, I don’t know. Obviously, I’m not an OB, but Ken and Jack thought it important to keep the news in the family for now. If her pregnancy gets any more complicated, we’ll bring an OB in. After it turned out Eric was working for Whitney, I just don’t trust any outsider now.”

“You take on a lot of problems with all of us, Lily,” Sam said.

“I never had a family, not a real one. Neither did Mari, or Flame, or any of the girls. You’re my family now. I worry about all of you. Flame’s cancer is still in remission and I hope we keep it there, but I still haven’t fully been able to help Nico’s wife, Dahlia, or Tansy, Kadan’s wife. She still has to wear gloves when she touches anything, and Dahlia occasionally slips up and starts fires.” She pushed both hands through her hair. “My father did a lot of damage to a lot of people.”

“It isn’t your responsibility to fix everything, Lily,” Sam pointed out. “No one blames you. I hope you realize that.”

She sent him a wan smile. “I know. It’s my nature to fix things.” She pushed a hand through her hair. “Jack told me his twins seem to know that something’s wrong and they reach for Mari. They like to lie on either side of her, near her tummy. They press very close and both make humming sounds. The thing is, it’s the exact same notes in a pattern, over and over. He thinks they’re talking to the babies.”

“That’s amazing.”

“They’re infants. Most babies their age wouldn’t even be aware of a pregnancy, let alone have knowledge that their cousins were in trouble.”

“So we tend to have little geniuses. Is that so difficult to believe? You’re one. Jack and Ken are extremely intelligent. I don’t know their wives that well, but I can’t imagine them falling in love with someone who couldn’t keep up with them.”

Lily nodded and swept her hand through her hair a third time, looking more agitated than ever. “My father would kill to get his hands on this information. Sooner or later he’s going to try to find a way to get to the babies, or at least find out about them. The moment he does, once he actually knows what they’re like, he’ll move heaven and earth to acquire them. I know he will.”

She pressed her lips together. “The thing is, Sam, I think he might leave Jack and Ken’s babies with them because from what I’ve read in his reports, he thinks they’re incredibly gifted, but he doesn’t necessarily think the same of Ryland. He wasn’t happy that Ryland and I—his first real pairing—worked. He didn’t think it would. I think he wants to take Daniel from us.” She glanced toward the door. “He knows I’d follow Daniel. I’d go back to Whitney just to be with my son.”

“Lily.” Sam gentled his voice. “Have you spoken to Rye about your concerns? That’s why we’ve moved up here. This compound is defensible. And Team Two is close to us. They’ll help us if we’re attacked.”

“Providing they aren’t being attacked at the same time.”

“There was already a concentrated assault and we handled it. Remember, honey, I got shot?” Sam tried a little humor.

Lily shook her head. “That wasn’t my father. I know it wasn’t. Do you really think he’ll do an all-out assault and risk harming one of the babies? No, he’ll find a way to penetrate, slip in and out without us knowing there’s even a threat.”

His heart stuttered. Azami and her brothers could just be that threat. She could easily get in and out without anyone knowing.

“We won’t let that happen, honey,” he said, meaning it. If Azami and her family had come to the compound to steal one of the babies for Whitney—and he very much doubted it—he wouldn’t let that happen.

Sam glanced up at the bag of blood hanging on a pole beside his bed. “Why more blood?” He figured it was time to change the subject and give Lily an emotional break. She had it tough and whether she knew it or not, GhostWalker Team One had her back and watched over almost more protectively than anyone else. In any case, he needed to be on his feet and figure out what was going on in his home. He couldn’t protect Daniel while he was lying flat on his back—assuming the Yoshiie family was still in the compound.

“It sometimes happens, Sam. You lost a good deal of blood before we operated and even with what I gave you a couple of times, you were still a little low. I really do want you to try to rest. The Zenith is helping you heal faster, but it’s possible you’re not manufacturing the blood as fast as you should. I’m wondering if it’s a side effect.”

There it was again—his opening to find out more information—but he kept silent. He didn’t want to ask and know one way or the other. If he stayed quiet, there was always hope.

“I want to get up.”

“No way, Sam.”

He grinned at her. “Haven’t you heard about me, Lily? I have this problem with the word ‘no.’ It just isn’t in my vocabulary.”

She put on her sternest look, which wasn’t nearly as stern as she thought. “I’m the doctor here, Johnson, and that means I know what’s best.”

His eyebrow shot up. “
Johnson?
Is that all you’ve got? I bet Ryland thinks you’re all cute when you get serious on him. Of course you know what’s best. Nevertheless, I’m getting up. My butt’s growing to this bed.”

Lily burst out laughing. “You’re impossible. You’ve been down less than a week, you nut.”

“No way.” He sent her another coaxing grin. “Are you sure? It feels more like a month. Where is everyone?”

“They’re locked up in the war room. And no, you can’t go.”

There was that word again, but he wasn’t going to point it out to her. If she didn’t take the needle out of his arm, he was going to do it himself the moment she left.

As if reading his mind, Lily sighed. “I’ll take it out, but I’ll shoot my husband if he allows you to do anything but sit in a chair. You got that?”

“Hmm. Shooting Rye. I could get behind that one, Lily. The man is annoying when he’s throwing out orders, which, by the way, is all the time.”

“Tell me about it. He orders me around as well.” But she was laughing again, her eyes soft the moment she spoke about her husband.

Sam had always loved to see that open affection Ryland and Lily had for one another; now he felt a little envious. He had never thought to want a woman to look at him like that until he’d met Azami. Every time he closed his eyes, he could see her face. He could taste her in his mouth. Once, during the night, when he’d woken up in a sweat, close to screaming, the nightmare of that small child being tortured and out of his reach, he felt the brush of her hand and smelled the scent of her.

“Take this thing out of my arm, Lily.” He hesitated. “Please.” He was getting up and if she didn’t cooperate, he was going to leap out of the bed right in front of her, but sometimes one could get a lot more from Lily by being nice—and polite.

“Stop rushing me, Sam,” she snipped back, as if he was her brother.

He liked that about Lily. She rarely took offense when the men became bossy with her—which was often—but she still did what she wanted, ignoring them. Lily definitely went her own way and she always had that quiet air of confidence about her.

He deliberately made growling noises under his breath, making her laugh as she fussed over the bags hanging on the stand.

“All right. What a grump,” she added, as she took the needle from his arm. “And stay off your feet. You might heal fast, but trying to heal that hole in your body in a few days is asking just a little too much—even of Zenith.”

He couldn’t help the wince. He felt as if he might be lying to her by not making inquiries, but he was determined to find out if the Yoshiie family was in the compound and if they were, just what they were up to. He owed Azami the chance to explain the Zenith and anything else she could before he gave her up to Ryland.

Lily left him with one more admonishing look and he breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t want her sticking around to witness him trying to get out of bed. He knew it wasn’t going to be a pretty sight. Just changing position took his breath away. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and waited until his vision cleared. His mouth still felt parched, as if he could never again get enough to drink. Breathing deeply, he put a little weight on his feet. The room spun, receded, and righted itself slowly. Gritting his teeth, he stood.

Black swirled in front of his eyes. White stars shot straight at him, great comets soaring and rolling. His stomach lurched. He’d been shot more than once. Knifed twice. He’d even had a brief stint with electric shock, but he’d never felt quite so weak. Was that the loss of blood or the crash after using Zenith? Good question for the doc. He forced more air into his lungs and waited for the world to right itself because there was no way he was crawling back into bed.

It took a few minutes for his legs to gain strength. The pain in his abdomen was easy enough to push aside, but the invading weakness wasn’t as cooperative. He took slow steps over to the bathroom, grateful the distance wasn’t far. He had to breathe deeply with every step and stop twice. Sam cursed under his breath. By the time he entered the war room with his team, he had to get this under control. It didn’t help that his body broke out in a sweat and small beads dotted his skin.

Cold water helped. He took a brief, cool shower, taking care not to disturb the glue holding him together, sitting on the chair someone had thoughtfully provided for him. They’d all had their share of wounds, so it wasn’t hard to try to figure out what a fellow wounded soldier might need. He sank back onto the bed and rested before he attempted to dress, but at least the lurching stomach and sweats had receded. His knees weren’t nearly as wobbly. He didn’t bother with shoes—bending over was too difficult to contemplate. He was a little proud of himself for walking in a straight line down the center of the hall without staggering or even listing to one side.

Sam pushed open the door to the war room. The large table was circled with his team members, who all looked up, various expressions on their faces. Most relieved, some a little shocked, and his captain openly scowled at him. Tucker and Gator, his two best friends, both grinned at him. Tucker jumped up to shadow him back to the table, ensuring he wouldn’t fall on his face and humiliate himself. Everyone, including Sam, knew what was coming.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing, Sam,” Ryland demanded, bringing knowing grins to everyone’s face. “If my wife finds you up, she’ll skin both of us alive.”

Tucker’s grin widened.

Sam shrugged. “She knows.”

“Didn’t you need another blood transfusion this morning?” Tucker asked, a hint of innocence in his question.

Sam knew there was nothing at all innocent about the inquiry. He was deliberately stirring the pot—which meant Ryland.

Sam shot him a look that promised retaliation. “Go to hell, Tucker.”

Raul “Gator” Fontenot nudged Kadan. “He looks a bit like a ghost, don’ you think?”

Sam tried his famous stare down, but truthfully, his legs felt a little rubbery. He pulled out a chair and allowed himself to drop into it, stretching his legs out in front of him to ease his protesting body. More than anything, he wanted to ask about Azami. How was she? Was she still in the compound? Did they have the Yoshiie family under house arrest? Had anyone questioned her regarding her psychic capabilities? What about the second-generation Zenith?

It was impossible to lie in bed and wonder what was going on with her. He woke up thinking about her, and dreamt about her when he wasn’t having nightmares, but he damn well wasn’t asking—not them and not Lily. Not anyone who would notice it was entirely out of character for Sam to make inquiries about a woman.