Way of the Shadows (Shadow Agents 8)

Now two have survived.

That wasn’t acceptable. He’d have to correct that situation.

Jenny would be easy enough. She didn’t have any fight in her. But Noelle... Now, there was his challenge. He’d take her out first. Her and the agent who seemed to always be at her side. The fellow thought he was some sort of protector. No, he was just a dead man walking, and he didn’t know it.

He’d kill Noelle and her shadow.

It was just that the shadow had seemed familiar to him. Something about the man’s profile. His voice. I feel like I know him.

His breath heaved from his lungs. The snow fell harder.

A storm...it would be the perfect cover. When the snow fell so heavily, no one would be looking for an attack.

No one would see him. Not until it was too late.

Chapter Six

The snow pelted down on their cabin. Noelle pulled the oversize coat closer to her body as she glanced back over her shoulder. Thomas shoved the door closed, pushing his shoulder into the wood, then securing the lock.

It was cold inside, but cold wasn’t the reason why Noelle was shivering.

Her past was coming back to her, and the images that kept flashing through her mind didn’t make any sense. They couldn’t be real. Not unless—

“I’ll get the fire going,” Thomas said as he stalked toward the large fireplace. “You should head upstairs. Get in a warm shower. Wash away the ash and get some feeling back in your limbs.”

There was no emotion in his words, and he wasn’t looking directly at her. She found, right then, she couldn’t take her gaze off him.

He bent near the fireplace. A few moments later, flames flashed up.

A shudder shook her as she remembered the fire that had nearly taken their lives.

Still crouching, Thomas glanced back at her. The gold of his gaze reminded her of the fire. “Go on upstairs,” he said again. “You’re shaking.”

“It’s not from the cold.” Well, okay, perhaps part of it was. She crept closer to him and to the warmth of the fireplace. Her hands were fisted in the pockets of her borrowed coat. “I need to ask you some questions.”

He looked toward the stairs. “The power might not stay on long, not if the storm is as strong as I’m thinking it will be. You should shower first, then we can talk.”

She braced her legs and straightened her shoulders. She’d waited long enough for this conversation. “Tell me about the first time that we met.”

His eyelids flickered as he slowly rose to his full height. He wasn’t looking at the stairs any longer. He was focused on her, and his stare was guarded. “Why does that matter?”

“Because I... I remember your voice.”

His jaw hardened.

“I can hear your voice in my head. You’re saying that...you’ll always be with me.”

He didn’t speak.

“But you’ve never said those words to me.”

He turned back toward the fire.

“At least, you haven’t said them since I started with the EOD. So that means you had to

tell them to me before Mercer brought me on.” She was trying to keep her voice even and calm, but her heart was galloping like mad in her chest. “And the only before for me, the only time I don’t remember, is the forty-eight hours of my abduction.”

He looked back at her. His expression was unreadable. “You’ve had one hell of a night. We both have. After you’ve slept, I bet things will be clearer for you.”