Page 34 of Power of Shadow

In the hallway the emergency light is flashing like crazy. A man in a bathrobe jumps out of the neighboring apartment, sleepy and confused. I pass him as though nothing has happened.

After a few steps, my eyes drop and there she is, standing in her unbreakable black mask, looking up. At me.

Following my instincts, I rush down the stairs. Jump down several steps at a time to catch up with her, but when I reach the ground floor, there’s no one there.

Fuck!

“Too slow, Jackal,” she sing-songs, and I press the device to my ear. “Too slow... Maybe next time? Over and out.”

There’s a crackling sound in the speaker, and I have no doubt she destroyed the device. I would have done exactly the same thing. She’s so incredibly similar to me. I’m speechless.

Throwing the walkie-talkie in the corner, I take off my mask, and slip out the back door onto the street.

The sound of fire engine sirens grows closer with every beat of my heart. Still, a stupid smile spreads across my face.

Chapter 7

Ashley

When I wake up, it’s already afternoon. That isn’t like me because I’m an early bird. Or rather, I’m a night owl. My job requires flexibility, and staying up all night is nothing unusual.

Before I get out of bed, I think back on the past events and a smile comes to my lips.

It’s a shame I didn’t see his face when he found Eve’s apartment empty. It was a surprise to me too, but no one else needed to know about it. But when the alarm went off...

It must have been a million-dollar view!

When I set the alarm, I did it deliberately to annoy him, to have some fun at his expense.

I’m not ready to admit to myself that he’s in my thoughts more often than I would like.

And then he saw me at the bottom of the staircase when he was still between the second and third floors. That’s when I realized how strong his hunting instinct was.

Except that I’m not the prey. I never intended to be. Even when I ran away from him again, the shadows swallowed me up and I disappeared.

Who’s the cat and who’s the mouse here?

I laugh at the thought, pleased with myself, and get out of bed.

Zoe’s in her room when I find her. Of course, she’s staring at one of her three computer screens.

Most of the time, I have no idea what she sees there, in the strings of letters, scripts, or whatever it is. I don’t know shit about it. I’m not a genius like her.

Sometimes, she’s drowning in chats with shady characters like me; sometimes, she’s busy coding secret information on commission. But like I said, I don’t have a damn clue about it.

After walking into her room, I jump on her bed and stretch my muscles.

“Hi, sis,” I say. “How’s your day?”

She peeks over her shoulder. “I found out some interesting stuff about the victim of your sticky fingers. Elijah Montgomery, son of George and Elisabeth Montgomery, thirty-one years old. Only child. Man whore. More women swoon over him than over Channing Tatum.”

“I could have googled all that.”

“Exactly. Isn’t that strange?” She turns to me in her chair. “The truth is, everyone has a side of themselves that’s visible to those who look at them, but also another side they keep hidden.”

“You know what? I don’t understand what you’re saying, Zoe.”

“What I’m saying is that if I do enough digging online, I can uncover archived documents, bank records, medical histories, personal connections, and even past exam errors. But—but when it comes to him, everywhere I turn, I hit a wall. I find nothing.”