Read Ghostwalker 04 - Conspiracy Game for Free Online

gathered closer, trying not to be noticed by the soldiers.
    As soon as she left the center ring, Briony raced for the bathroom and threw up what little she’d managed to get down earlier. She changed quickly from her skimpy, sparkly costume into a dark pair of jeans and a top. She could hear her brothers, laughing, excited, heading to the clubs to check out the nightlife. Kinshasa was reputed to have numerous nightclubs, and many people, in spite of the turbulent problems in the outlying areas, chose to travel there for the clubs.
    “You okay, Bri?” Tyrel called out. “You want me to stay with you?”
    “No, of course not, I’m fine,” she called back. “You have a good time, but be careful.”
    “Lock the doors after us,” Jebediah instructed.
    “Will do.” She wasn’t going to stay in the room and suffocate. She knew the Congo River was close. The rain forest would be still and quiet, at least away from people. She would be able to breathe again, but she knew better than to let her brothers know she was heading out. They’d lose their minds.
    Briony had utter faith in her ability to blend into the night. She could do extraordinary things—things even her brothers didn’t know about. She’d had rigorous training only her parents—and perhaps Jebediah—were aware of. She just had to make it through the city without being detected and get into the sanctuary of the rain forest.
    She tied a scarf around her neck and added a hat to cover the mop of blond hair. She could change her skin color, something her brothers found repulsive. It had started sometime around her sixteenth birthday, right after she’d been hospitalized for some strange thing the doctors said she had. It had taken awhile to learn to control it. The shading sometimes happened when she was upset or angry, but she could bring it on at will, matching her surroundings so she seemed to disappear.
    She hesitated just inside the door. She was afraid to face the onslaught of raw emotions.
    Walking through the streets, knowing she would be subjected to the intense emotions of the people, was a nightmare, but if she didn’t go and find a refuge, she wouldn’t make it through the next few days, and her brothers needed her to perform.
    Briony squared her shoulders and stepped out. She had studied the map of the streets and knew exactly where she was going. She was also certain she could fight off or outrun any attacker, so she strode with purpose, all senses alert to trouble, but walking briskly through the streets back toward the Congo River and the rain forest.
    Why was she so different? Why was she able to read thoughts and emotions if she were touching someone and feel them if she was near? Her parents had insisted on a rigorous, almost military training, very physical, for as long as she could remember, yet when her mother held her, she felt fear mixed with love. Did her mother fear her strange abilities?
    And if so, why had she insisted Briony develop them, yet keep them secret? Secrets kept her apart from her brothers and the other performers around her. Secrets and her extraordinary differences. She detested those differences.
    The streets were crowded, people everywhere, still late at night, many already preying on the night population, easy marks with too much drink and drugs. The smell of marijuana hit her hard. She was very sensitive to scents, had always been able to identify people and animals in near proximity to her before anyone else, and now the unwashed mingling with the overperfumed made her queasy.
    She made it through the streets without incident and followed the river into the rain forest, where she picked up her pace, jogging easily along a winding path that led to a deep stream feeding the river. She kept going along the stream, seeking a refuge, a place where she could curl up and just breathe in peace.
    It was hot and humid in the forest. She stopped to wade into the water and stood there listening to the sounds of insects,