Will do. I'll need to be up another thirty or forty feet before trying it.
Briony watched with her heart in her throat as Jack looked up the sheer cliff face. Before he could react, she caught his hand and tugged, lifting her face to his. This was a life-and-death gamble--a struggle they might not survive--and she wanted him to know how important he was to her.
Jack framed her face and kissed her gently. We'll get through this.
I know. She poured her trust into her mind. If anyone could keep her safe--it was Jack. She felt his concern for her and smiled. I can do this, Jack. I know I can.
He nodded, kissed her a second time, and looked up at the sheer face rising above him, frowning a little. The crevice was to his right, and he had to leap up and jam his arm into the narrow opening. He'd done it once before successfully, but it had been full daylight. He crouched low and sprang, arm outstretched, fist closed tightly.
Beneath him, Ken waited to spot him. If Jack missed and came crashing down, he would only have a sliver of hope to keep him from hitting the ground below the outcropping.
The edges of the jagged rock face ripped and peeled back his skin as Jack slammed his fist hard into the tapered crack. Blood seeped down his arm, and his shoulder nearly snapped as it took the brunt of his full weight. He took a breath to still his rapidly beating heart, and slowly let it out, easing the pain away from his mind while he searched with the toes of his boots for the two-inch ledge he knew was there. It was a relief to find the tiny jutting rock to help take the weight of his body. Insuring his fist would hold tight in the crevice, he glanced down below him, free arm outstretched back toward his family.
Ready Ken? Briony?
Briony swallowed. Ready for what? They hadn't told her what they expected yet, but Ken tugged at her arm, drawing her away from the safety of the steep wall. She moistened her suddenly dry lips. Tell me what to do.
Climb up onto Ken's shoulders and crouch to get extra spring. He'll help launch you. You have to hit my wrist, baby, just like your work. I'll catch you.
One-handed. In the dark. Briony blew out her breath, rubbed one hand soothingly over her rounded tummy, and stepped onto Ken's bent thigh to get to his shoulders. Once in place, it was easy enough to keep her equilibrium. He was strong, his shoulders broad, and she was used to working with balance. She remained in a crouch, judging the distance, waiting for Jack's signal.
Go.
Briony burst into the sky, launched by her own powerful leg muscles as well as the extra push from Ken. She flew straight up, arm outstretched, gaze locked on her target. Her palm slapped Jack's wrist, fingers curling tight as he caught her in a viselike grip. Feel for the ledge with your toes. It's only a couple of inches wide. Reach with your free hand and feel for the crack above your head. With his enhanced strength, he pulled her up beside him.
Briony stretched her toes and ran her foot along the wall as far down as she could, feeling along the rock face until she felt the tiny outcropping. She had to maintain her balance as she slid the fingers of her free hand up toward the crevice to find the edge. I've got it, Jack. You can let go.
Jack didn't want to let her go. They were thirty-five feet in the air, clinging to the side of a sheer cliff with rocks below. He wanted to shield her body with his, wrap her up in his strength, but it was impossible and Ken was waiting.
A blast sounded closer, and this time the crown of a tree exploded in the distance, shattering the night, the trunk cracking with loud groans before splitting with a grinding sound and falling to the ground.
Jack ignored the orange and red flames and leaned down toward his brother. Go.
Ken didn't hesitate, leaping with a smooth, practiced motion and gripping Jack's wrist hard. Instead of finding the ledge and planting his feet for safety, Jack began to swing him back and forth like a giant pendulum.
Briony watched in horror as Jack threw Ken up and over at least ten feet from where she clung to the cliff face. She couldn't tear her gaze away as Ken reached out with both hands, clawing at what appeared to be a smooth surface. His fingertips dug in and held. He hung there for a moment catching his breath, brow pressed against rock as he began to move his feet cautiously, looking for the widening crack where he could place his feet.
Your turn, Briony.
Jack's voice was a caress, but a shiver of protest skittered down her spine. I think I'm going to be sick.
Wrong time, baby. He held out his hand to her. I'll let you know when you need to release. Ken will be waiting. You've done this kind of thing a million times.
She glanced back at the tree burning in the distance far below them and squared her shoulders. Jack reached back for her and she told herself she had no choice. They had to get up the cliff if they wanted to survive. She leapt and caught his wrist, kicking out with her legs to help Jack swing her, just as Ken had done. Once in the air, instincts took over and she helped create the arc needed for the flight.
Go. The command came and she released, flying toward Ken and the huge expanse of rock. She did a graceful dive, arms outstretched, waiting for the familiar smack of flesh on flesh, the satisfying sting as they came together. Ken caught her wrist in a solid grip and held her for a moment while she caught her breath.
That was great, Briony. The toehold is just to the left of your foot. Keep feeling for it. You're almost there. Ken guided her to the safety of the small crevices.
The moment she was secure, she looked back down at Jack, her heart beating too fast. How are you going to make it without help? It's too far on your own.
Ease over to the side to make room between you. I'm coming up.
She reminded herself he'd done it before, but her mouth was dry and she felt close to panic as he slowly removed his fist from the crack and turned completely outward to face them. Even with the tiny ledge, he maintained his balance, but she could barely breathe with fear for him. She felt concentration in his mind, and in Ken's mind, and then Jack launched himself into the air, crouching precariously and using enhanced calf and thigh muscles to propel him into the air and over toward his brother.
Instinctively, Briony reached for him, using one arm to anchor her body while she stretched the other toward him. Ken was closer and bent back, the fingers of one hand digging into the ledge as the fingers of the other closed like a vise around Jack's wrist. Briony caught Jack's shirt, and they drew him up beside them so that all three pressed tightly against the cliff breathing heavily.
You ready to do it again? Jack asked.
Briony tilted her head to look up at the cliff face. It seemed miles away, an impossible task. They were enhanced, but their arms and legs ached with strain, and one tiny misstep would kill them all. Jack nuzzled her neck, leaned in close, and smiled at her, but the darkness hid any light that might have reached his eyes. Makes you feel alive, doesn't it?
Jack. I love you. I do. But you're just a little bit crazy. And that was the thing. He actually was enjoying himself. You have ice water in your veins.
We have to make the top before dawn. We'll need a lead time before they come after us. I'll call in reinforcements at the next leg up, Ken said. But they won't be here for a few hours, and we're going to need a place to hole up and wait.
Jack nodded and studied the wall rising above him. The crevice runs through the rock about fifteen feet above our heads. It's too wide farther to the left to use for anything but a finger-or toehold, but it makes a good boost to the next level.
Briony could barely concentrate on what he said--the need to wrap her arms around him and keep him safe was nearly overwhelming. She watched him spring up and over again, this time about a ten-foot jump, one easier than the last. She let herself breathe again when Jack hung above them waiting for her to join him.
The climb took hours, with a repeat over and over of their strange flying act. By the time they reached the top, all of them were exhausted, but exhilarated that they'd made it. They lay for a long time on the edge of the cliff, straining to breathe wh
ile they listened--and scented the wind for the enemy they knew would be waiting in the dark for them.
CHAPTER 20
Jack touched Briony's shoulder and swept his hand up her arm to settle his fingers around the nape of her neck. Ken and he not only practiced such ascents, but had used them on occasion to escape enemies, but he'd never been so tense in a situation as he had in this one. Jack Norton didn't get clammy skin, sweaty palms, or a churning stomach in combat. He was infamous for the ice in his veins and his complete discipline over his emotions when he worked, but now--everything had changed. Briony. He massaged her neck and leaned against her, absorbing the warm satin of her skin.
What is it?
She turned her head to look at him, her dark chocolate eyes filled with such an intensity of love his stomach seemed to turn inside out.
Damn, Ken, do men just make complete idiots of themselves over women? I feel like a fool every time she looks at me like that.
Jack felt more than a fool--he felt humble and undeserving, but most of all, there was a part of him that was afraid. If she left him, she'd rip out his heart and what was left of his soul. Sooner or later the rose-colored glasses were going to come off, leaving him naked and vulnerable to her scrutiny. She would see inside him, not just to the black violence always seething beneath the thin surface of ice he kept to cover it. No, she'd see the true monster--the one who didn't feel--couldn't feel.
Ken's sympathy moved in his mind. Ken knew--he felt the same rage, and the same detachment. The monster was a legacy from their father they would never be free of, and any woman in their lives would have to live, just as they did, with that unspeakable demon.
Ken dropped a hand on Jack's shoulder and looked toward the trees. We can't stay in the open like this. It will be a good ten to twelve hours even with the teams scrambling to pick us up. We have to find cover and a defensible position.
Jack nodded and helped Briony to her feet. They moved fast in single file, staying to the trees and brush, careful not to make a sound. In the night, any noise carried, and they couldn't afford to bring the enemy down on them. They needed as much distance as possible. As soon as they were a good mile from the cliffs, they began to pick up the pace, jogging now, using long, ground-eating strides.
Every muscle in Briony's body felt fatigued, but there was satisfaction in knowing she'd not only used her circus training to escape Whitney's men--but the very skills and abilities he'd provided. Even now, her enhanced muscles worked like a machine, carrying her fast over rugged terrain, and her vision enabled her to see in the dark when few others could have moved so quickly. And that was all due to Whitney's experiment and the education he'd insisted on providing for her.
They jogged for two hours, took a break, and ran again, this time slowed down by the thicker brush and trees as they started downhill. Obviously Jack and Ken had a particular place in mind. They took cover a few hundred yards from a clearing. They hunkered down in a spot that had plenty of cover, with boulders, trees, and brush, but more importantly, depressions in the ground provided an added element of protection.
"We'll rest here and wait," Jack said. "The team is coming, and if we stay quiet, we might just get lucky."
The men set about building a blind, a cavern of twigs and leaves where they could lie and rest while they waited. As dawn streaked the sky, Briony found tension rising and tried to cover it. Jack lay beside her, his fingers curling around hers, and on her other side, Ken appeared to doze.
How can you do that? Just go to sleep when we're being hunted like animals?
Jack turned over to nuzzle her neck. Conserve energy, baby. That's what it's always about. Grab sleep when you can. We're safe enough for a couple of hours. They have to figure out where we went before they can find us. He pulled her closer, his hand pressing her head to his shoulder until she relaxed. Briony had no idea how, but she drifted to sleep.
She woke to find Jack and Ken gone. She sat up, looking around her, heart beating fast. In the distance she could see Ken lying in the open clearing, talking softly into a radio. Jack was harder to spot, but she was beginning to know their methods, and she searched above, in the trees and rocks, knowing he'd be protecting his brother. She thought she saw him in a tree, but blinked, and when she tried to look closer, he wasn't there. She nearly jumped out of her skin when he put a hand on her shoulder.
The familiar rifle was in his arms and his face looked grim. Ken returned, and there was a similar expression on his face. "Damn, Jack. I'm sorry. This is my mistake." Ken shook his head in disgust. "We take it for granted we're enhanced, and if they send anyone against us chances are the enhancement is only physical, but Whitney sent someone with psychic abilities too. I should have considered that possibility."
"There was no way to know." Jack shrugged as he crouched down beside his brother. "We had no choice; we had to use the radio to call our people in. Don't waste time trying to blame yourself. They were bound to find us, Ken, and you know it. We have to move, and fast." He held out a bottle of water to Briony.
"What happened?" Briony asked. She uncapped the bottle and swallowed quickly. The water was warm, but welcome all the same. She screwed the cap back on and offered the bottle to Ken.
"I had to use the radio and wanted to know how far out the extraction team was, but Whitney sent a radioman, a waver. They can sift through the frequencies at a rapid--nearly computer fast--rate, and hear anything being transmitted. Whitney's people know exactly where the chopper is coming to get us, and they're on the way, and they'll get here first."
Jack swore softly. "How far out is our extraction team, Ken?"
Ken shook his head. "Thirty minutes--too long. We'll be dead by then."
Briony gripped Jack's hand. "What do we do?"
"We fight. We have no choice, baby; we have to fight. If we don't keep them off of us, they'll run us over in minutes--and it's going to be a gauntlet, baby, nothing less. Whitney's going to drop his team between us and the only extraction point and force us to fight our way through. He's coming at us with everything he has because he's running scared now. There's a possibility that you'll slip out of his hands. Once we reach Lily's, he won't be able to get near you." He closed his eyes briefly trying to tell her. He couldn't shield her from this one and he had to keep his mind open to her in order to convey commands.
Her hand brushed his face. She easily read his distress, but was uncertain why he was looking at her with such apprehension. "We've come this far, Jack; we're going to make it."
"I know. I wouldn't let anything happen to you--it's just that I have to do everything in my power to protect you--no matter the cost."
She stared into his gray eyes, reading a plea for understanding. Briony leaned close to kiss him. "The cost had better not include a scratch on your body. You've got enough scars. Be a little careful, Jack." She lifted her head to smile at Ken. "You too. Let's just get out of this and get to wherever we're going. Where are we going?"
The brothers exchanged another, almost despairing glance. She obviously hadn't understood what Jack had been trying to say. He could only hope she wouldn't turn away from him in horror when she discovered the real Jack--the one he kept hidden.
"We'll head to Lily Whitney's, the place Kadan told you about," he explained grimly. "She'll send a cleanup crew to the house; we'll make the necessary repairs and set up a better alarm system. We'll have to turn our home into a fortress if we go back."
"Tell me what you want me to do," Briony said.
There was so much trust in her eyes, Jack had to look away. This was battle, an all-out war, and it wasn't going to be pretty. There were the three of them against a helicopter filled with soldiers. Ken and Jack had limited ammunition and weapons, and every bullet was going to have to be a kill.
The sound of a helicopter grew louder as Whitney's men approached.
Infantry taking up positions at nine and twelve o'clock, Ken reported.
Jack handed Briony a gun and several clips of amm
unition. Don't waste this, baby. Shoot to kill. He caught her chin, looked into her eyes. You understand me? You shoot to kill. Ken and I will shield you from the repercussions. Not the emotional ones, that was impossible, but they'd do what they could.
Helicopter's coming in. They could see it hovering over the thick grove of trees, whipping winds so that the leaves and branches swayed. Thick ropes dropped from the open doorway and several men began a fast descent toward the safety of the trees.
Briony stifled a cry of alarm when the first shot rang out, followed closely by a second and then a third. Jack reached up and yanked her down so that she lay prone on the ground between the two men. Three of the descending soldiers dropped instantly, crashing into the heavy branches. Ken calmly fired a fourth shot, and Jack took out a fifth soldier. It happened so fast she didn't do more than stare, gun in her hand.
The helicopter veered away in an effort to protect the remaining soldiers. Both Jack and Ken fired at the retreating mechanical bird, placing their shots with care and precision. Almost immediately black smoke billowed and the helicopter spun out of control.
Go! Jack yanked her back up, pushing her in the direction of the clearing. Stay to cover but keep moving forward.
They ran several feet and the ground soldiers suddenly swarmed around them. For a moment, Briony felt despair--it seemed impossible to break through their lines--but then Jack lobbed a grenade and took her to the ground, covering her body with his while the world blew up around them. That fast, he was on his feet, firing from the hip and running with her again.
Briony realized both brothers were shielding her body with theirs as they ran, and that they anticipated where the enemy would be and what they would do. Experience counted far more in actual battle than she'd realized when training. By the time she aimed, one of the brothers had already fired. They kept moving forward, lobbing grenades, firing at the soldiers, always in motion. Smoke swirled thickly around them, and men screamed in pain. For the first time in her life, she was in a real combat situation, and it was horrifying.