Lewis moved, his boots stomping on the vegetation deliberately as he approached Jeff. Leaves and twigs snapped and crackled beneath his weight. He began to sway slightly, his body seeming to disintegrate and rematerialize in the fog.
Those connected to Jeff were able to see Lewis and his mesmerizing effect. Camellia felt her heart lurch. There was something wrong. Shaker’s voice continued to try to weave his spell on them. Pops scooted closer to where some of Tusker’s bats had returned and found Jonas with their echolocation. Lowell had begun some odd movement, swinging away from Jonas at the last moment, which should have made her happy, but instead, it made Camellia so uneasy she wanted to leave her new location and rush down to help out.
Jeff suddenly launched himself skyward just as Lewis rushed him. The wicked-looking blade that had been concealed up against Lewis’s wrist slashed upward toward Jeff’s belly, but it missed him entirely. Jeff sliced with his own knife as he came down behind Lewis, the blade cutting deep, right through the jugular. Jeff kept going, jogging away from Lewis, heading toward Kyle along a narrow deer trail.
Keep your eyes on him, Camellia, Jeff warned.
I’ve got him, Camellia said.
She expected Lewis to go down, but he didn’t. He clamped his hand over his neck, the blood pouring between his fingers. Turning his head toward Shaker, he let out an odd cry that was muffled in the fog. Shaker turned toward him, and as he did, she could see the absolute pain on his face. Shaker sent a single sound back into the fog. The note matched that same sound.
Camellia analyzed the way the musical note twisted and moved in the rolling fog as it rushed back to Lewis. Sound could do so many things, including kill. Shaker didn’t kill with his voice. He could persuade with it. What else could he do? Was it even possible to repair a wound with sound? She doubted it, at least not the sort of fast-bleeding mortal wound Lewis had. Already, Lewis had dropped to his knees. That pain on Shaker’s face had told the tale. He knew it was a lost cause, but he was willing to try.
“Shaker,” Camellia whispered into the fog, “take your brothers and go home. This is so wrong. It’s all wrong. There’s no need for more deaths.”
“I’ll get to you soon enough,” Shaker whispered back.
There was no sense in trying to talk to him. He was so certain Jonas had murdered his brother and that Ryland and the rest of Team One had covered it up. Why they would do that made no sense, but then what Shaker was doing made no sense either.
Contact Team Two’s men and tell them it’s a go. Take out the advance scouts, Jonas ordered Camellia. I had hoped we could get Shaker to call them back, but he isn’t going to listen to us. We have to stop them before they get to the compound.
Camellia tapped into the underground network and sent the green light to Team Two, who were waiting to take out the four enhanced scouts. She wished them good luck and then turned her attention to Lowell, who had turned away from where she thought Jonas had been.
Jonas, he’s moving back toward Kyle and Jeff.
I’m on him. Jonas sounded completely confident.
She didn’t understand how he could be so certain of himself. Shaker might not be able to disappear into the fog, but like them, he could use it, and he was adept at using it. Tusker could hear a whisper of sound. There was no hiding Jeff’s movements from him. Jeff didn’t care if they heard him. He wanted them to know he was going to protect Kyle.
Camellia turned her attention to Kyle’s wound. The mycelium network pushed close to the surface, allowing Red to bring one of the flowering vines right over Kyle’s shoulder where the spear had entered. Petals of a blossom pressed around the blade.
Hold very still and don’t try to pull away even if it hurts more, Kyle. Camellia didn’t see how it could hurt more.
Pops was easing closer. In the thick mist, there was no way for Jeff or Kyle to see him, but she made certain, through her connection with them, that she provided Pop’s exact location. He was coming up behind Kyle’s head, going in a wide circle so that he had already entered the forest and was out of the clearing. Unlike Lewis, he didn’t make a sound. He was more like a giant lizard, at home on his belly, claws gripping the soil and moving him as quickly over a surface as if he were jogging on two feet. Pops was an unknown, and that was a little terrifying. She would have to trust Jonas and Jeff to keep him off of Kyle while she tried to prevent Kyle from bleeding out.