Night Shadow (11 page)

She headed for shore with swift, sure strokes and powerful kicks. The guy

was still in the water with her. Where, and how the hel he was

maintaining his breath under the water, was a mystery. All she knew was

that she’d be better able to fight him on land. Better yet if she could make

it to the bungalow and her Glock.

Lexi’s breath sawed like she was an asthmatic, her muscles felt like

rubber, and the freaking shore looked like it was a million miles away.

Quarter of a mile and closing.
Focus, Lexi. Focus!

Just as she thought she was going to make it, the guy popped up in front

of her.

His tanned skin gleamed like polished copper in the moonlight as he

stood, blocking her way. Lexi found her footing in the shifting sand as

wel . “Lexi . . .” His voice was so familiar, seductive. His large hands

reached out as though he were her lover and was about to caress her

face. She met his eyes. Green, sharp, familiar.

Alex.

But not.

Younger. Leaner. And dammit, meaner.

With an achingly familiar grin, his fingers closed around her throat,

exerting gentle pressure on her windpipe. She stayed frozen, unable to

move as she stared into the cold green depths of his eyes. The lightning-

fast move shouldn’t have shocked her, as he grabbed the hair on her

crown, forcing her head back. She knew it was her fault. Instead of

anticipating, and blocking his hold, she’d allowed it. She’d been
that

stunned to see a younger version of Alex.

Lexi didn’t give a flying shit
who
he looked like. He
wasn’t
Alex.

The water made it hard to maneuver. His fingers tightened, making

breathing next to impossible and almost tearing her hair out by the roots.

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Night Shadow

The moonlight wavered as Lexi’s vision blurred again. Using both arms

she exerted enough upward force to break his hold, then used her leg as a

pivot and pushed him backward.

She was already drawing her foot back as he bobbed up in front of her.

Lexi flew at him, using his own weight to push him under. Grabbing hold

of his hair, she pressed his head back, then used the side of her hand to

chop his exposed throat. With as much power as the resistance of the

water allowed, she head-butted him, striking his nose with her forehead

and following it with a short-armed jab to the larynx.

His eyes went wide with surprise, and he made a horrible gargling noise

as he started sucking water.

She sat on him, holding him under with everything she had. Body. Arms.

Legs. Most of the time the waves rushed over her head, but she kept

coming up for air. He didn’t. “Turnabout’s fair play,” she rasped.

For several seconds he bucked and heaved beneath her. But Lexi wasn’t

letting the son of a bitch up until he was damn well good and dead.

“Sorry to commandeer your place,” Alex said easily as he and Lucas

strol ed down the shel path back to the bungalow. It had been awhile

since the two friends had had more than a few minutes’ convo in months.

They were going to go their separate ways in a few, and Alex stil hadn’t

told Lucas what he’d wanted to tel him when he’d suggested dinner to

“catch up.”

“Like hel you are,” Lucas’s teeth shone white in the moonlight. “No sweat.

Most of the bungalows are empty right now. I’l find a be—What the hel ?”

He pointed at two figures entwined in deep surf. “Looks like Lexi out there

with some guy . . .”

But Alex didn’t stop to hear the rest. He recognized Lexi’s bright hair in

the moonlight, and far from a lovers’ tryst, she was battling someone with

everything she had.

He tried teleporting. No go. Fuck.

Kicking off his shoes as he ran, he gathered speed until he practically flew

down the beach. His Glock was in his hand as he hit the water. No point

shooting yet. He’d hit her for sure. But he swam like a fish, underwater,

close to the swirling sandy bottom, breathing easily.

He came up under them. Lexi and the guy entwined. Yeah. Looked like

lovers. The guy was naked. She had her arms and legs wrapped around

him. But the guy’s head was under water, his hair a floating dark cloud

around his moonlit pale face.

Alex’s heart did a double tap. It was like staring into a mirror. Distorted,

but no mistaking his own face. Jesus.

Lexi came under the water too as the guy twisted and turned until he was

on top, Lexi on her back on the sandy ocean floor. Her eyes were open as

she fought her opponent. For a second her eyes met Alex’s, before the

churning sand and agitated white water obscured her from view.

Alex grabbed the guy’s leg to hold him in place, and started hauling

himself upward. He could see the silhouette of the man’s upper body

44

Night Shadow

above the film on the surface of the water. Without hesitation, he fired a

single shot.

One moment he had living flesh gripped in his hand, the next . . . nothing.

The guy was gone.

Reaching down he grabbed Lexi by the upper arm, helping her breach the

surface. She came up gasping and choking. “Where is he? Where’s the son

of a bitch?”

He returned the Glock to the holster. “Thanks for saving my ass,

Alexander. Oh, you’re welcome, Lexi. Anything I can do to help.”

She turned to glare at him, water beading like diamonds on her lashes.

Her hair was slicked back against her skul . He noticed that her ears stuck

out a little. Christ, she looked adorable. Sexy. Madder than a wet cat.

“My ass didn’t need saving. I had him pinned—Oh, crap.” She lifted her

cupped hand. Water trickled between her fingers, sparkling in the

moonlight and leaving a black,
dry
residue on her wrinkled palm. “This is

him, isn’t it?”

Alex examined her hand. “If soot can be called
him,
yeah. I’l send that to

the lab.”

She shuddered as he scraped the dry dust off her wet hand as waves

lapped around his waist. “What
is
this thing?”

“No clue,” he said grimly, thankful y managing to have the wherewithal to

teleport the residue to Montana and the lab.

He attempted teleporting himself and Lexi, and this time he was

successful.

Lucas was waiting inside the bungalow. Alex held onto Lexi’s arms as she

swayed and answered Fox’s silent question. “We’re good. But we need to

talk. Which cabin are you going to bunk in?”

“Seventeen. Take your time.” Instead of teleporting, Lucas strol ed out,

closing the door behind him.

“Okay?” Alex asked Lexi who was holding onto the doorjamb. Her pupils

were jumping, indicating severe vertigo.

“Perfectly.”

Alex coughed over a disbelieving laugh. “Tel me what happened.”

“Can I grab two freaking consecutive breaths before I give you my verbal

report?” She jerked her arm against his hold.

“Take three,” he said magnanimously, inwardly glad she snapped,

because it meant she was alive and feeling good enough to give it back to

him. He loosened his grip on her upper arm slightly. When she swayed, he

swooped her up in his arms and strode over to the bed. “Might as wel lie

down until that passes.”

“Don’t put me on the bed. I’m soaking—Dammit, Alex. I have to sleep on

wet sheets now.” She glared at him, pupils dancing, gray eyes militant as

she tried to focus on him. “There’s nothing wrong with me. I’m hungry,

that’s al .”

He politely kept his gaze on her face, not easy since she was braless

under a soaking wet black tank top. Her small, full breasts showed clearly

through the thin material, her cold nipples hard little points poking against

the fabric. She wore a black bikini bottom. The tank was rucked up under

45

Night Shadow

her breasts exposing her flat bel y and skin that looked pale and baby

soft, and so smooth Alex imagined it would taste like vanil a on his

tongue.

Hel . “What do you want?” he asked gruffly. “I’l call room service.” There

were livid bruises on her throat; he could see individual finger marks on

her pale skin. He gritted his teeth.

She shook her head and then pressed her hand to her eyes, as if to stop it

from spinning. “Never mind. By the time they get here, I won’t be hungry

anymore.”

He sat down next to her. “Lift your chin.” She did as he asked and he

rested his palm against her damp, cold skin and took away the pain,

wishing he could kiss it away instead. “Tel me about your opponent out

there.”

“That’s too . . .Thanks. That feels much better. I don’t know who he was,

but the freakiest thing is he looked just like you.”

“That’s a start. Lucas reported that one of the room service waiters here

looked like me, too.” He got up to grab a towel for her and her voice

fol owed him to the bathroom.

“The guy looked exactly like you, minus a decade or so.”

“I know, I got a quick look before I turned him into an oil slick.” Alex

dropped the towel over her head and gave it a quick, hard rub until she

reached up and took over. “He must’ve been the waiter Lucas was talking

about. Said the kid was my double. Which begs the question, were they

one and the same, or two different . . . whatevers?”

Lexi shuddered and pul ed the towel down to lie across the back of her

neck. “You mean you think there might be more than two—” she waved a

vague hand. “Doppelgängers? Sons? Spawn?”

“Lucas told me the kid was in his early twenties. Match with who you

battled with?”

“Eighteen, twenty is about right, yeah.” She sat up, pushing her wet hair

out of her eyes. Her pupils and her gaze were steady now.

He nodded. “What else can you tel me?”

“He was strong. Determined. He came up on me totally unexpectedly.

Didn’t hear a thing.”

“Teleported or swam up to you?” He watched her squeeze the tank with

the towel, getting some of the water out of it.

“I don’t know. One moment I was swimming along, alone, minding my

own business, and then there he was.” She frowned. “Whatever, whoever

he was, it’s the same
whatever
as the guy in Moscow, isn’t it? The whole

black dust thing. Spooky. Like a ghost or something.”

“I can assure you. That guy was no ghost.”

She felt along her jaw. “He didn’t punch like one either.”

Alex laid his palm on her jawline, removing both the pain and the

developing bruise. Transference of the injury let him feel how hard the son

of a bitch had hit her. Feeling murderous, he ran his thumb over her soft

skin, skimming the firm outline of her lower lip before dropping his hand.

“Anything else?”

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Night Shadow

She blinked as if she’d been off somewhere else and suddenly

remembered where she was. “He had some sort of marking on his inner

arm. Let me find a pen, I think I can draw it from memory.” She flung her

long legs over the side of the mattress and padded over to the table by

the door, still trailing drips of water. Hanging the wet towel over the back

of a chair, she opened the drawer and took out a hotel pad of paper and a

pen.

She came back and sat on the wet cover beside him. Her skin was starting

to dimple with goose bumps and he wanted to dry her off, warm her up . .

. with more than another towel. Ah, man.

Keep on task, pal.

“Like you, he was left-handed. And I don’t need to point out that—”

“Al the tangos we’re encountering lately are left-handed as wel ,” he

finished grimly.

“Yeah.” She started drawing. “Did you know that less than ten percent of

the world’s population is left-handed? Or that statisti-cal y, left-handed

people have more home accidents because most everyday items are

designed for righties. The most dangerous being a knife, they—”

Watching her mouth move had him thinking about how soft and warm her

lips had been when they’d kissed. What the hel was wrong with him? He’d

never been this—distracted. With anyone. “More drawing, less talking.”

“Right,” she said, then stopped and held the pad up at arm’s length so

they could both look at her half-finished sketch. Lexi glanced up at him.

“What’s this look like to you?”

Al other thoughts stopped dead cold. “What the fu—It’s a goddamned
bar

code.
”

Seven

Los

Alamos

New

35 53 28 106 17 52 02 12 08

“L
os Álamos
is Spanish and means the Cottonwoods,” Lexi informed Alex

as they drove into town from the private airfield. “But
alamos
in
modern

Spanish actually means
poplar,
not cottonwood. The ancient Spanish who