Page 35 of Dark Flame

“Everything good?” he asked.

“All good, Kane,” said Gable. “Our friends won’t be found. I asked some willing bears to help us out. It’s almost hibernation time, so they were happy to oblige for some extra calorie intake.”

“Damn, dude, that’s some wicked stuff,” said Kane, smiling.

“It’s helpful,” laughed Gable. “I once asked a herd of goats in Afghanistan to cause a disturbance for our unit so we could escape. It was pretty cool watching them leap around like crazy so we wouldn’t be seen.”

“I made sure there was no evidence,” said Garrett. “I had the wreckage moved far enough out to sea that it can’t be found.”

“You can do that? Move things that far?” asked Kane in amazement.

“I can’t, but the wind can,” he said, smiling. “I’m still not sure exactly how it works, but I pretty much have a vision in my mind of where I want it to go, and it goes.” Kane laughed and shook his head.

“Nice work, gentlemen. Get a shower, some food, and rest, not necessarily in that order.” The two men walked toward their cabin, but Spook stood stock still next to Kane.

“It was her,” he said resolutely.

“Talk.”

“All of the men worked for Viskoff. I had to do some tracking with their phones but found a trail that led me to her. They didn’t really know what they were looking for, only that they were to kill anyone fitting the descriptions of one of us. They had folders and photos of every one of us in their e-mail, but dear sweet Karena left out the special powers part of our profiles.”

“Fuck!”

“Fuck indeed, my friend. It appears she put out professional hits on at least nine of us. I’m not sure she knows where the others are or that they’re with us. The six men were working separately and decided to combine forces when they weren’t having any luck.

“They e-mailed her three days before we found them, saying they were headed north but didn’t say where. They did not relay anything further to her. I sent a message from them to her saying they were in central Saskatchewan and were tracking us down.”

“Nice work,” smiled Kane. “Do you think she’ll buy it?”

“I have all the right communication components. I’m going to wait a few days and tell her that they killed four of us. It would be too obvious if I told her they got all of us at once.”

“No. No, you’re right. I just don’t know which four,” he said, shuffling from foot to foot.

“I think it should be four of the women. It would seem obvious that they could easily get to them.”

“Obvious? Hell, brother, I’m not sure what you’ve been looking at, but those women would be as difficult to kill as any of us. But, and this is a big but, I agree. However, I say let’s throw in Regan. He had the data of all of us in his head. If he’s gone, she has no way to get that information back again.”

“Good idea. Okay, I say Regan, Ivy, Isobel, and Valentina,” said Spook calmly.

“Valentina, huh?” grinned Kane.

“Shut the fuck up, asshole,” Spook looked angry at first and then grinned at his friend. “You’d do the same for Aislinn.”

“I would, but that’s kind of the point. I don’t let Aislinn out of my sight, and I’ve noticed you do the same for Valentina. Maybe we should choose another one of the men. Maybe Regan, Ivy, Isobel, and David?”

“David what?” came the voice behind them.

David stood behind the two men, his arms folded, waiting to hear why his name floated in the air. Kane turned calmly and repeated the discussion with David, watching him nod and groan.

“She’s definitely going to want Regan more than anyone,” said David with a furrowed brow, “but I also know that she has always wanted Isobel. She is the ideal weapon. I think Garrett is the better choice. They’re pretty much inseparable, and she knows they were planned to be together.”

“That makes sense,” said Kane. “I guess I’m oblivious to the love connections. I didn’t even notice.”

“They’re pretty quiet about it,” said David. “I think they’re both concerned that if one of them gets killed, the other won’t be able to handle it.”

“What do you mean? I mean, we all have to grieve in death, but what would make their situation more unique?”

“A few of the others that killed themselves? They didn’t commit suicide because of their skills, or at least that wasn’t the only reason. They committed suicide because they found their mate only to have them torn from them either by Viskoff or suicide. They just couldn’t fathom life without their partners. It’s part of the DNA sequencing they did to all of us.”

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