Camellia inclined her head. Her fingers inside Jonas’s hand curled into a tight fist. “His problem was very specific.”
“His problem was life-threatening and would have killed him,” Logan stated. “Will you at least take a look at Mari for us and tell us if you think you can help her? She has a clotting disorder that is extreme. We believe it was brought on by too much exposure to first-generation Zenith. If you can’t help her, it’s no different than every doctor who has assessed her condition so far.”
It’s up to you, Camellia. I can get you out of it. Tell them you’ll do it when we get back from going up the mountain. Anything at all. You tell me what you want to do.
Jonas waited. He hated that she was put in this position. He felt as though almost from the moment they’d met, he’d put her in one precarious situation after another.
You haven’t put me in any situation I didn’t choose to be in, Jonas.
He knew the moment she’d made up her mind to go to the other compound. The silky brilliant pink liquid raced through his veins, soothing the dark purple and turning the ruffled edges back the correct way so that the fluid flowed in the direction it was meant to, easing the tension from his body.
Camellia sighed. “I don’t know how much time I have or if I can actually help you, but it won’t hurt to take a look.”I prefer that you’re with me, but if you have to leave now, I’ll catch up.
Like hell I’m going to leave you.“We can run up the mountain later if we have to, Camellia. I know you’re nearly as fast as I am. Let’s get this done if we’re going to do it.”
Briony gave a little hiccup as her husband and Logan instantlycame to their feet, clearly not wanting to give Camellia or Jonas time to back out of her decision.
I don’t feel any animosity or danger coming from these people, Jonas. They feel nothing but friendship toward you.
Jonas sent Kyle a look that meant he’d better make the right choice. “You coming?”
Kyle nodded. “Jeff and I brought a truck. Room for you and Camellia. We can follow Logan, but we’ve got to move. We don’t want to get too far behind schedule.”
Jonas followed him down the stairs, signaling to Nicolas and Ian they were good and were going with Team Two willingly.
“Honey, you really didn’t have to do this,” Jonas said as they traveled along the rocky trail. The roads never held up for long. Every winter, the snow tore up every road they’d created, so there were bumps and holes until they fixed them.
“She has children.” Camellia leaned her head against Jonas’s shoulder and closed her eyes.
Jonas was okay with that. “Camellia brought up a very good point. Our team is willing to send our women and children to Team Two to guard for us, and yet we’re acting like they’re the enemy. We’ve got snipers on them, and every time I’m near them, I want to rip into them.”
Kyle tapped the steering wheel and glanced at Jeff. “Yeah, she’s got a point. I can’t help but get a little tense around them too, but I don’t have any idea why or when it started happening.”
“Gotta agree,” Jeff said. “Weird acting like we trust them, but not really trusting them. As far as I know, they haven’t done anything to earn our distrust.”
Jonas slid his palm over Camellia’s thigh. “And this thing with Ryland and Lily. Rye said things to Lily that one of us might say because we’re idiots with women, but Ryland isn’t. He not only compared her to Whitney once, but he did it twice.”
Kyle and Jeff both gasped. “No way,” Jeff protested. “No way would he do that.”
“Something isn’t right,” Jonas concluded.
Camellia kept her eyes closed. “Someone’s found a way to drive a wedge between everyone. I have no idea how, but your team seems to be infected by it. Team Two isn’t.”
There was silence in the truck. Jonas sighed first. “Ryland is planning to move our families to Team Two’s compound for safety. The troops coming at us aren’t enhanced. They’re mercs hired by the conglomeration. Only those leading them are. Since my woman is probably right about her suspicions, and something may have been done to try to turn us against each other, I’m going to text Ryland about the possibility and suggest in the nicest way possible that the situation between he and Lily may have developed because of this very thing.”
Jeff drew in his breath. “Could get you killed, bro.”
“You might rethink that last part,” Kyle added.
“Rye wanted an advance force to take out the enhanced leaders before the troops ever made it to the compound.” Jonas shrugged, trying to sound casual as he sent off a text. “He might never get the chance to yell at me.”
“By advance force, you mean you, Kyle, Jeff and me?” Camellia asked with a faint grin.
“A couple of others might come with us,” Jonas agreed. “Then we’ll face the larger force with both teams.”
“That will take some coordination on the battlefield,” Kyle said. “Signals are spotty at best on the mountain. You know that, Jonas. No matter how well we work on the equipment, we just don’t always get what we want. Not everyone is telepathic on both teams. Bridging for everyone takes tremendous energy, and sometimes that fails.”
“Jonas and I can handle communication for everyone,” Camellia said without opening her eyes.
