Red Zone (Red Zone 1)

“Sorry. Carry on.”

“Right, so, the thing is…” He ran a hand over the top of his head, a sure sign of anxiety. “Ah, to hell with it, see for yourself.”

He stepped away from the mirror. She felt him come up behind her and hold onto her waist to steady her. Or perhaps catch her when she passed out. Which wasn’t unlikely. Because Friday was stunned by what she saw.

Trembling, she trailed a fingertip under her left eye. The eye that was now a mirror of Striker’s reptilian one. As she moved her hand, she spotted the image of a tiny diamondback coiled inside her upper arm. It was smaller than Striker’s tattoo, but there was no missing the fact it matched his. Her heart stuttered. This had to be a dream. Right?

“Oh my goodness…” She ran her finger over the image on her arm, barely touching it. Her eyes met Striker’s in the mirror. “Is it a real snake? Like yours?”

“We think so. It’s a baby right now, but the handbag said it will become a full-grown female a year from now.”

The diamondback rubbed against her legs in an affectionate move.

“The handbag says you’re welcome,” Striker said in disgust.

Friday took a step closer to the mirror, studying her eyes. It was strange to see herself with one blue and one yellow. “How did this happen? It took a hundred years for you to change.”

“We don’ know, bébé. That’s what you need to find out.”

A surge of excitement rushed through her, and her ever-curious mind started to overrule the shock. “Will I be able to see heat signatures like you do?”

“We think so, but you’re in the early stages. The snake is still developing within you.”

“You know, I kind of knew this,” she muttered as she studied the image of the snake on her arm, “I felt something happening inside me. I thought it was the Interferan. I didn’t realize it was this. Now it makes sense. Will my snake talk to me, too? Will I be able to call it out the way you do with Sam? Will I have to eat rodents? Are we permanently joined because of this? You and me, I mean. Not me and the snake, because that’s obviously permanent.”

With a grin, he covered her mouth with his palm and cocked an eyebrow at her. “Welcome back, chère. I’m sure you’re gonna have lots of fun playing around with your DNA. It should keep you occupied enough so that I don’t have to worry about waking up with chocolate-flavored balls.”

She barked out a laugh against his hand. This was real. She was alive. Changed, but alive. And, to be strictly honest, she was more than thrilled with the changes in her genetics. She matched Striker now. They were a pair. Just like their rattlers. No wonder he’d laughed at

the matching tattoo idea. They had something far better than that; they had matching animals. She turned in his hold and threw her arms around his neck.

“I’m alive!”

“Yeah, you are.”

“And I have my very own snake. How cool is that?”

“Super cool,” he laughed.

“I have a snake!” she shouted excitedly, and laughter echoed back up through the caves to tell her the team had heard.

“Oh.” She wriggled from his hold and reached down to pet the diamondback. “We need to think of a name for my diamondback.”

“I’ll get right on that,” Striker said drolly, as he picked up his other half and headed for the closet in the corner.

“Where are you going? What are you doing with Sam?”

“Getting rid of the audience.” He threw the hissing snake into the closet and slammed the door. He stalked back toward her, his eyes filled with molten heat that melted her insides. “You can name your snake later. Right now, you have other things to do.”

“Like what?” she teased.

He flashed a sexy smile. “Like anything I want, anytime I want it. We have a deal, remember?”

“Oh yes.” She nodded solemnly. “I would never shirk on a deal. What exactly do you want, Luke Boudreaux?”

He clasped the nape of her neck and pulled her to him.

“You, Friday Jones. I want you.”