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his life had been compromised, until his outside skin reflected the dark shadows inside him where no one could see.
    The hounds have been unleashed, Kadan warned. Not one stayed to go after the senator. They’re coming after you. I don’t dare leave the senator, just in case this is a setup, but watch yourself. I’m not certain who your sniper is, or why he’s so important, but get the hell out of there. You’re in enemy territory. And he’ll be able to communicate with them if you don’t get him out of range.
    Copy that, Jack said. He’d dropped back even farther to protect them as they raced toward safety. And our him is a her.
    Ken didn’t bother to acknowledge. He splashed through three narrow streams and up a steep embankment, grateful for the fact that he was genetically enhanced. He could run long distances without fighting for air, and carrying the woman, as small as she was, was no problem. But soldiers coming up behind them were enhanced as well, and they carried guns. He tried to stay to the heavier foliage when at all possible, deep in the trees, careful not to expose his body as he ran toward the rendezvous point.
    The sound of the helicopter reached him. It was flying in low and fast. Kadan had held the other team off to give them the break they needed.
    They might double back on you out of sheer frustration, Ken warned Kadan.
    Nico flew over that stretch of land the corporation you were talking about owns. It’s a military training facility, Kadan announced. Watch yourself, they may track you in the air.
    Ken swore softly and moved into position just on the edge of the clearing, where he could stay covered by the foliage. Jack came up behind him, but faced back toward the way they’d come.
    “You need to get out of this, Jack,” Ken said. “I’ll have Nico drop me at a safe house and you get home to Briony. This most likely isn’t going to end well.”
    “I’m not running out and leaving you in a hornet’s nest.”
    “And what if we have to kill her? What then? Just go home and you’re out of it. You never have to tell her we found her sister.”
    “Lie to Briony? Live a lie with her? That’s what everyone else did to her all those years. I’m damned if I do. I promised her I’d always tell her the truth, and no matter how messy this gets, she gets told everything just the way it happened.”
    “You don’t have to be in it.”
    “We don’t change things at this late date. Briony wouldn’t want that and neither do I. Whatever you’re thinking, Ken, forget about it. If there’s a chance to pull Briony’s sister out clean, we’ll do it. If we can’t recover her, then we have no choice here and we’ll accept that.”
    “Briony won’t.”
    “She’s stronger than you think she is. She doesn’t want Whitney to get his hands on our children any more than I do. I’m not leaving, so drop it.”
    Ken kept his gaze on the helicopter as it dropped into the clearing. Nico was in the doorway, hands steady, eye to the scope to cover them as they ran.

CHAPTER 2

    Marigold Smith seemed to be floating in a sea of pain. It wasn’t entirely unusual to wake up that way, but this time her heart was pounding in utter and total fear. She’d botched her mission. She hadn’t managed to speak to the senator and plead their case. She hadn’t protected him, and when she was captured, she hadn’t managed to end her own life. She had no idea if the senator was safe, or if he’d been murdered. It wouldn’t be so easy for anyone to get through Violet to him, but then Marigold hadn’t considered that she herself be unsuccessful either. Briefly she let that failure shake her confidence in herself. She wanted to keep her eyes closed tight and just wallow in misery. She had been taken prisoner by the enemy, and it was too late to end her life and save the others. That left her one option—she had to escape.
    Her leg, her back, her chest, and even her hand throbbed and burned. Worst of all, she