“Merc,” her father breathed out. “I should have known they’d send him in first.”
“Why? His military profile doesn’t look much different than the rest of his team.” Other than the fact he was at least two inches taller and fifty pounds heavier in solid muscle than their team leader, which put him at a solid six-feet-five inches tall. She’d memorized every detail about each of TF-S operators.
“I trained him myself when I still worked for the CIA. He’s deadly and dangerous. He will lie, steal and kill to win. I’ve never seen a man more ruthless. You can’t trust him for one second, do you understand?”
“Yes, of course, father.” She’d never heard him so worried. Even when they discovered Mayhem’s ambush, he’d been calm and collected. He was always thinking ahead to the next step, ever the strategic mastermind.
“Yes, what?” He snapped, grabbing her arms in a tight grip.
“Yes, Mr. J.”
“You can’t let that slip, not once. If they find out you’re not Caroline, they’ll torture you until you break. I’ve told you how much Cotter likes to torture his victims, haven’t I?”
Nightshade swallowed down the hard knot forming in her throat. “Do you think he hurt my sister like that?”
Silence. That was his answer.
She knew her father wouldn’t lie to her, just like she knew how much getting Caroline back meant to him. If it was too painful for him to talk about… “I’m going to burn that bastard alive.”
Mankel eased his grip and patted her on the shoulder in a rare show of affection. “Stick to the plan. Don’t deviate. You can’t allow your emotions to cloud your judgment.”
“Have I ever?”
“I remember a time.”
The memory slammed into her in a flash. She’d been twelve and training on the underground range with her team. When she’d missed her target by nearly two inches, her father had ordered Storm, the youngest on their team, to hold the target. If Nightshade missed her next shot, she could easily kill Storm. She’d balked. Her teammates were like her sisters.
Angered by her refusal, Mankel made Storm switch places with her, knowing she wasn’t nearly as good a shot. Nightshade had taken a bullet to the shoulder.
“I will follow your orders.”
He hooked a finger over his lips, studying her with an intensity that made her want to squirm. “Yes, I believe you will. I know I don’t say it often, but -”
He paused and Nightshade held her breath. Would he finally say it? Would he tell her he loved her?
“I’m proud of you. I trust you to carry out this mission.”
She sucked in the disappointment and lifted her chin. “I won’t let you down.”
Her father disappeared down the hall and she rushed from the security room in the opposite direction. She stopped in front of the locked doors to her sister’s bedroom. She wanted more than anything to cast off the burka and stride in there fully free to sit by Caroline’s side. But Nightshade wasn’t free. And neither was her team.
She quickly picked the lock and silently opened the door. The smell of fresh jasmine filled her nostrils as she strode into the room. Tall white columns created a path through the entry way before spreading out into a huge oval shaped room, topped with a golden dome and surrounded by large open archways out onto the balcony. Caroline sat with her back to Nightshade, staring out at the thousands of stars dusted across the clear night sky.
Stopping behind her sister, Nightshade sucked in a deep, silent breath. For the first time in her life, she was afraid to move forward. She’d taken down rebel army leaders and genocide-enacting fanatics without flinching, but finally facing her sister turned her into a mass of turbulence.
She clenched her hands into fists and then released them, willing some of the tension to leave her body. This might be the only time she could ever speak to Caroline. She wouldn’t chicken out now.
She strode around the couch, registering how Caroline stiffened when she realized she wasn’t alone. Nightshade grabbed the heavy velvet curtains and pulled them shut, forming a barrier between them and any possibility of eavesdropping. Then she gathered her willpower and turned to face her twin.
Anxious dread crept across Nightshade’s chest. This was the moment she’d dreamed about since the day her father had revealed the truth. She had a twin sister, kidnapped at birth by a powerful and deadly US senator bent on revenge.
Her whole life she’d lived thinking she was alone. Not anymore.
She gripped the front of her burka and slowly eased the material up and over her head, tossing it to the floor at her feet. She’d deliberately dressed in the same clothes as Caroline, a loose black linen tunic and pants, in preparation for her mission to pose as her twin and allow Task Force Scorpion to rescue her and send her back to Cotter.
Caroline gasped and shot to her feet, wavering. Her sister’s continued weakness for the past few weeks had been a constant source of worry for Nightshade, who’d never had trouble healing from injury. Even after all the treatments and medicine, Caroline’s cheeks remained hollow, her skin pale.
Fighting back the nearly overwhelming urge to go to her, Nightshade held perfectly still to allow Caroline time to study her. After what seemed like hours, Caroline took a tentative step in her direction, her frail hand inching through the air between them. Nightshade braced, registering that she herself trembled in anticipation.
