“What’s wrong?” Kai asked.
“What the hell do you mean, what’s wrong? My mosquito net is an insect playground this morning, that’s what’s wrong you insensitive, brain-dead hump of dung! Get them off my net!! Right…this…minute!!!” She didn’t care that her tone launched into hysteria. Was she supposed to stay calm while watching tiny, segmented legs poke through the holes in her net less than a foot from her face?
She didn’t think so.
“Oh.” Kai had the gall to chuckle.
How dare he laugh when her skin crawled as if the insects touched her rather than the mosquito net. “You think this is funny?”
“Umm.”
She heard the sound of feet moving over the ground, then the rustling of leaves.
“Close your eyes until I tell you to open them and don’t move.”
“Shit,” she muttered, but did as he asked. Pressure against the net caused the hammock to cant first to the left and then to the right. She thought she heard outraged chitters from the insects as they were brushed off. “Good riddance,” she muttered in Portuguese.
“Okay, all clear.”
The hammock settled back to neutral and she opened her eyes. Although she told herself not to, she glanced down and saw the ground swarming with the bugs as they made tracks for the nearest dark places.
Ugh. She really hadn’t needed to see that. Particularly not before breakfast.
She closed her eyes again. “Tell me when they’re all gone.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She didn’t have to see his face to know he was giving her a slightly mocking smile, she could hear it in his voice. For a super agent, he sure was dumb about women. And she’d set him straight on that…once she was over this little bout of trembling.
“Okay, all clear.”
Not taking his word for it, she opened her eyes and checked carefully to make sure that when she moved she wasn’t going to have a spider or other creepy-crawly dropping on her or squishing under her feet. Once satisfied the way was clear, she peeled back the mosquito net and rolled out of the hammock.
Then she launched herself at Kai, hands pummeling every available inch of him she could reach.
“How dare you laugh! How dare you go away and leave my net covered with those…those critters! You are lower than a dung beetle! You are a sewer slug!! Did you want to scare me?”
“Hey!” He threw up his arms to guard against her flailing fists, but didn’t sidestep fast enough to prevent her boot from connecting with his shin. “Ouch!” He reached for her, but she danced away.
“Did you put those bugs there because you thought it would be funny?”
“No! I swear. I didn’t see them when I got up to patrol. It was still too dark. Honest. I have younger sisters…” His voice caught and the smile disappeared from his face. “A younger sister,” he corrected. “I would never provoke you like that. Particularly not out here, where they’d never find my body if you retaliated.”
She smacked him one more time for good measure, not entirely sure she believed him. After all, he’d laughed!
She stomped off into the bushes in the opposite direction from her hammock, keeping a sharp lookout for more multi-legged beings, muttering about the stupidity of men as she went.
She completed her toilet without company and then went in search of some fruit for breakfast. Carrying her treasures, she walked back to the clearing. Kai had his collapsible pot sitting over a fire, steam rising from boiling water. She placed the fruit next to him.
With a conciliatory smile, he held out a cup of steaming coffee. But she could still see hints of laughter on his face. She narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.
“Are you still laughing at me, Paterson?”
“No!” He held up his free hand. “Not laughing. Honest.”
She pursed her lips, then accepted the coffee peace offering with a nod and lowered herself to sit next to him.
The liquid was still too hot to drink, so she blew lightly across the surface. “Why the change from sisters to sister?”
The flash of pain across Kai’s face made her want to take her question back. And yet, at the same time, it made her even more curious.
“I had two younger sisters. Jenna and Isabel.” He turned away, hiding his expression as he fussed with his backpack. “Two years ago, not long after I’d been accused of killing your father and stealing the microchip, fourteen-year-old Isabel, her twin Justin, and my parents were murdered. Jenna was…” He shook his head as if he didn’t want to think of what his sister had endured. “Jenna was left for dead, but she survived.”
And the grief was still so fresh for him, he’d slipped and said sisters, plural. Oh, Kai. So that’s what he’d been crying over during his fever.
Why were there no words adequate enough to express the emotions flowing through her at this moment? Sympathy. Grief for his pain. The age-old female need to comfort by offering him a hug. Guilt because he’d been investigating her father instead of protecting his family. And the uncomfortable knowledge that as Dr. Nevsky’s daughter, she must be a painful reminder of what he’d lost, and why he hadn’t been there to stop it.
She didn’t think Kai would welcome comfort. So she settled for, “I’m sorry,” knowing it wasn’t enough. And still, some instinct prompted her to ask, “Is your sister okay?” What she really wanted to know, was if Kai was okay.
He shrugged. “She’s doing better. She got married recently to an SSU agent.” He picked up one of the bananas she’d collected and turned it over and over in his hands, staring at it as if the piece of fruit held every answer he needed. “Niko’s been good for her. Yeah…she’s going to be fine.”
But he didn’t quite sound convinced, and she knew a part of him must worry about his sister. God, what must that be like? To have someone care so deeply about you that they worried? Susana had only heard twice from her mother after she’d moved out. Both times her mother had wanted money for a new research project.
She’d never even asked how Susana was doing.
Susana tightened her hands around the warmth of the metal cup. Jenna was lucky to have Kai looking out for her.
But what about you, Kai? Who looks after you? She bit her tongue so the words wouldn’t escape. She’d delved enough for today.
Kai tore open the banana. “Uh…thanks for breakfast.”
She acknowledged his abrupt change of subject with a half-smile and took a sip of her coffee. “Do you think we’ll reach the dig today?”
Kai glanced at the compass on his watch. “If we’re lucky.”
The jungle on this side of the river was thicker, making it harder to move forward. They’d only make the necessary progress if they could find another animal path to ease their trek. Or if they didn’t encounter any mercenaries.
“And then what?”
“I’ll use your radio to call for extraction. Then you show me the rest of your father’s letter.”
Although the prospect of returning to her dig made Susana’s veins sing with anticipation, she knew she would soon be saying good-bye to Kai.
And that thought tugged painfully at her heart.
Susana hummed softly as she lead Kai through the brush. Once upon a time, maybe the people of Amerinis had walked these woods as they traveled from the river to their homes. Or while tracking prey.
Two screeching monkeys tore through the trees to her right and Susana turned her head to watch them. Hmm. That was odd. The sun made that tree stump look like…rock.
She blinked. The image didn’t change. There appeared to be a solid square of rock just off this faint animal path she was following.
Susana moved closer.
Oh. My. God.
Carved into the rock were primitive pictures in the same style as those found at her dig. Susana bit her tongue so she wouldn’t squeal in excitement like a little girl. Instead, she knelt in front of the stone.
Dammit, she wanted her tools with her. Lichen a
nd vines had compromised the surface of the rock. Feelers from the vines had burrowed deep, separating the stone into sections. She wanted to scrape the covering away so she could look at the rest of the pictures, but needed to be careful that she didn’t dislodge any unstable pieces, damaging the pictures beyond repair.
Hands trembling, she pulled away as many vines as she could. When she moved around to the back, she saw a narrower segment partially buried in the soft earth.
She dug around the edges until she’d revealed a rectangle that, if set atop the larger block, would form an altar.
Susana sank back on her heels. “Oh. My. God!”
“Susana, what’s wrong?”
She stared blankly up at Kai, her mouth hanging open.
“I think I’ve found the altar for the fabled temple at Amerinis.”
Chapter 14
Kai would never forget the awed elation on Susana’s face when she’d announced her find, or her resignation when after an hour he’d explained that she couldn’t stay and explore further. His priority was getting her safely out of the jungle and back to the SSU so the chip could be removed. Every minute they lingered gave the mercenaries another chance to find them.
While he’d marked down the coordinates, Susana had covered the altar up and notched a tree trunk to help her find the place again, then reluctantly followed him deeper into the jungle.
Now the sun sat low in the sky and Kai had to concede that Susana’s dig was too far to make before dark. Between the extended stop to examine the stone of Amerinis and the denser jungle vegetation on this side of the river, they hadn’t made much progress today.
Kai called a temporary halt and left Susana sitting on a downed tree while he found a thick clump of bushes to use as a toilet.
When he returned, he didn’t see Susana. He searched the area again, fighting to breathe past the fingers of panic tightening inside his throat. She couldn’t be gone. There’d been no sign of the mercenaries since they crossed the river. And she knew better than to return to the place she’d found the altar.
Had she wandered off, looking for more signs of her lost civilization?
He listened for her, focusing until he became acutely aware of every small sound. Birds calling to one another. The drone of insects. The rustle of leaves touched by the faint breeze.
His own labored breathing.
Then he heard a rustling from the bushes to the right of the log where he’d left her. Susana’s head bobbed into view, then disappeared. He hurried over and saw that she was simply kneeling down beside the log, retying her boot.
His breath whooshed out of him, leaving him light-headed with relief.
He hated to admit it, but since the malaria attack, every time he was out of sight of Susana, he felt on the verge of losing himself. The seductive call of the jungle was louder when he was alone. An answering wildness pulsed in his veins, demanding to be released. It would be so easy to throw off the blanket of civilization. Free the savage inside him.
Finally allow himself to fully express his rage at what had been done to his family. To scream at the injustice. To grieve as he couldn’t allow himself to do now. Because in civilization there were rules. Rules that bound him in guilt and responsibility.
Being near Susana calmed him and muted the lure of the jungle. This morning when he’d awoken, the first thing he’d done was search out Susana to reassure himself she hadn’t left in the middle of the night. And each time they were apart today—whether it was to answer nature’s call or while Susana scouted ahead—he spent the entire time fighting a low-level fear that she’d leave and never return.
Like now.
He squeezed his eyes shut. But his thoughts kept spinning out of control. Imagining what it would be like to live with no restrictions. Free from the constant need to weigh every move and word for future repercussions. Free to take what he wanted and protect what was his by any means. Never again to have to hide who and what he was, even from himself.
Shit.
His control had to hold. He wasn’t a savage. He was a scientist. A man of reason. He didn’t want to feel these violent impulses. He damn sure wasn’t going to let them get the better of him again.
By taking the lives of the assassins he’d come too close to becoming one of the unprincipled men he hunted. He would not let his violent instincts rule him.
So fight it.
“Kai? Are you okay?” Concern sharpened Susana’s voice and drew a line between her brows as she walked toward him.
“I don’t need you to baby me!” His temper crackled and spit as if she’d thrown grease on the fire in his blood. His tenuous hold over his emotions slipped. His anger morphed into a potent urge to mate. To possess.
Susana’s eyes widened and she licked her lips. Leaned toward him.
His hands reached out and he made a low sound of need that sounded suspiciously like a growl.
Fear flashed across Susana’s face. She froze, watching him warily.
No!
He dropped his arms and stepped back, wrestling his instincts until every muscle in his body ached. A part of him wanted to let go. Wanted a violent mating. Anything to release the tension that had been building in him for days.
Yet he was terrified of hurting her. Scared that if he touched her, he wouldn’t be able to let her go even if she said no. Because the instincts were all about his satisfaction, no matter the cost.
He had to get away from her.
“Uh…Kai?”
“I’m fine,” he snarled. “Move out. We need to find a place to make camp.” He snatched up his pack with more force than necessary and turned his back to her. He sensed her confusion and waited, muscles quivering, until he heard her push through the vegetation.
Then he closed his eyes in relief. That had been too close. He didn’t know how much longer he could continue fighting his violent side. He’d been fighting for two years and he was so damn tired.
But if he didn’t win, Susana would suffer.
So focus on the mission. Get her to the SSU. Turn over the microchip. He used the words to spear through the darkness in his soul, chasing the savage back into its cage.
Above all, he had to protect Susana.
Saturday, Evening
Skies over the Amazon Jungle
Several miles from Susana Dias’s archaeological dig, the hatch of a C-130 cargo plane slowly opened. A man wearing a white lab coat tapped Rafe Andros on the shoulder, then pointed to the open door.
Rafe walked over to the hatch, leaning against the strong wind. He stared into the night sky, but his attention was on the conflict in his head, not on his impending jump.
Memories of a blond man with intense golden eyes teased him. The scientists told him the man was Kai Paterson. Rafe didn’t remember the name, but he knew the face.
He saw the light playing over the man’s face as they shared a beer in a shadowed bar.
Friend.
No. Target. His orders were to kill this man.
Ah, God, the pain in his head nearly sent him to his knees.
The man in the white coat had given him another injection half an hour ago. Rafe could feel the drug fighting to numb his mind. Each dose took longer to work, but he didn’t want the scientist to know that. Because then the man would use hypnosis and Rafe would be lost again. And when the hypnotic trance finally eased, he was terrified he’d have killed his friend.
Just like he’d killed one of his teammates.
The bright lights of the arena reflected off the sand footing, causing blinding glare. Rafe held Depaoli down. They were both bloody and bruised from their fight, but despite Depaoli’s massive injuries, he continued to snarl and snap at Rafe.
Still, Rafe had a moment of clarity. Wondered why they’d been fighting. He couldn’t remember. But there was no point in continuing. Despite his aggression, Depaoli was bleeding severely. He needed medical attention.
Rafe eased up.
Then a voice came over the loudspeaker. �
��Mr. Andros, you will kill him now. Take the knife out of its sheath at your waist and drive it into his heart.
No!
Yet Rafe’s hand moved to obey the voice.
Stop. Don’t do it! Rafe tried to grab his knife hand with his other hand, but his body obeyed the voice, not his mind.
The blade cracked through bone and muscle as it jabbed into Depaoli’s chest. Blood spurted as he yanked the knife out and drove it in again.
Rafe shook his head at the memory. Depaoli had relied on Rafe, his leader, to keep him safe. Instead, Rafe had killed him.
The scientists had been triumphant, knowing they’d finally broken Rafe. Knowing that finally he was theirs to control, mind and body.
Not now, though. Not completely. Something had changed over a week ago. He’d starting having moments when his mind and body were completely his own. By pushing through the headaches that accompanied those moments, he’d extended the amount of time he was free of the mind control.
But he pretended the scientists still held all the power, hoping he’d find an opportunity to escape.
The cold air buffeted him, tearing away the memories of the golden-eyed man. As if waiting for this exact moment, the drugs took control. His sense of self disappeared under a gray fog.
Nothing mattered but the mission.
The light next to the cargo hatch turned green. Rafe stepped out into the night and tumbled toward the ground. His parachute opened behind him and he automatically went through the motions of locating and steering toward his target landing site.
Once on the ground he had to hike ten miles to the archaeologist’s dig and set up an observation station. Once the woman and her companion arrived, he would radio the information to his handlers and wait for the order to kill.
Saturday, Evening
Amazon Jungle
Susana shifted position in her hammock. Kai had turned into a scary bastard this afternoon. When he’d returned to her during that last rest stop, the pulses of angry, violent energy emanating from him had sent ripples of goose bumps up her spine. His eyes had held a wildness she’d never seen before.
Betrayal (SSU Trilogy Book 2) (The Surgical Strike Unit) Page 13