The shooter was a duplicate of himself wearing green cammies and carrying an older-model submachine gun.
Shay kept an instinctive grip on the MP5, training it on his twin. In his hands, his gun always remained steady. Always.
“Who the hell are you?” he said hoarsely.
Nothing but a guarded look.
Fine. Shay fired a spray of bullets at his doppelganger’s feet. The man jumped and yelped. A dark stain spread on his groin, the ammonia smell of urine hitting Shay’s nostrils.
“Next time, I aim higher. Who the hell are you?”
The man seemed to struggle with his composure. Then he gave a slow smile, as if the neurons in his brain finally began to fire and connect.
“I am what you were. The charmer. The smooth ladies’ man. The man who let down everyone he loved, everyone who counted on him.”
The other gave a cocky grin Shay had seen in the mirror. A dizzying sense of unreality began fogging Shay’s mind.
“I am the man who cares only for his own pleasure. The man who let his little brother die. Call me...Mr. Dark Side. I am you, Samuel Jackson Shaymore.”
A kaleidoscope of memories swirled. In the other, he saw everything he’d been; the carefree man who’d easily seduced ladies, who used his powers to get what he wanted, the youthful boy-man who thought only of the erotic delights Kelly offered...
The person who failed to see the truth of what Kelly’s father was, what Kelly’s people were, and adhere to his first duty—protect his family.
The man who’d failed to save his little brother.
Waves of pain shocked him, the memories so thick he wanted to claw them away. Once again he heard the chant that echoed through his mind after he’d fought the flames, desperate to get to Pete, his parents....
“Such a sweet little brother. He died calling your name,” the other murmured.
The other was him, the man who’d failed time and again. The self who was failing now as a SEAL, couldn’t control his powers, would soon get kicked off the team...
Then he heard Kelly’s voice, clear and strong, override the chiding self-incrimination.
“You’re my only hope, Sam. Not because you’re a navy SEAL, but because I know the strong, dependable man who wouldn’t let a raging fire stop him from storming into a burning house is the only one who can stop them.”
Chin up, hands steady as he jerked his gaze forward. To his target. Himself.
Who was now running away, zigging and zagging through the forest. That little interlude gave him time to escape.
“Mr. Dark Side, meet Mr. Bullet.” He fired.
A hail of bullets spat out of the MK5, hot shell casings coughing out of the gun. One skimmed his neck, burning him. But it was too late. The doppelganger vanished into the forest.
Dammit. He broke radio silence. “Alpha One, this is Bravo Two. Over.”
Dakota’s voice crackled. “Sitrep, Bravo Two. Over.”
Recovering his composure, he spoke harshly into his throat mic. “Code red, hostile is paranorm. Doppelganger.”
He paused and added, “Bastard knew my history. Over.”
LT’s voice crackled in his ear. “Roger that. Smoke-check ’em? Over.”
“Negative. Target is Oscar Mike.”
He hadn’t killed the enemy but had let him escape. Dammit, he was a good operator and no stranger to surprise. He was a SEAL.
The radio crackled. “Charlie Mike. Rendezvous at the SUV. Over,” Dakota said.
“Roger that. Bravo Two out.”
Dakota gave the green light to tail the SOB’s ass. Knew he could find him. Shay squatted down, studied the ground. If he shape-shifted into a wolf, he could more easily track the enemy. Tension knotted his stomach. Already filled with adrenaline, he feared the results of shifting. Uncontrollable. Feral. A beast who would not stop, could not stop.
The stench of urine mingled with the heat, decaying vegetation and the dust. Shay focused on the ground, opening all his senses. Each broken branch and disturbed leaf alerted him to the direction his twin had taken.
The man might look like him, but he sorely lacked the ability to mask his trail. Not a SEAL, that’s for damn sure, Shay thought.
He followed the trail as it snaked through the woods downward to a stream. The radio crackled into his ear. “Alpha One, this is Charlie Three. Target acquired, ready for download by Bravo Two,” Sully said, giving the coordinates.
Dammit. But the team needed him. Shay gave up the chase, moved down the hill and joined up with Renegade and Dakota. “Find your twin?” Renegade asked.
Shay shook his head. “How many targets?”
“Three, including yours and Sully’s. Smoke-checked one.” Dakota looked around. “Kelly was right. We were set up.”
By their own commanding officer. Shay’s stomach roiled. The game had changed, and they needed answers. Now.
They headed downhill through the trees. In a clearing, Sully trained his submachine gun on a very frightened bald man in military fatigues. Not a duplicate.
The SEAL scowled. “Stupid rock can’t even shoot straight. Tried to fry me with magick but missed and hit the tree.”
“Where are the others?”
“Dead, except for Shay’s doppelganger,” Dakota said. “Is he talking?”
“Only to cry for his mama.”
“Question him, Shay,” Dakota ordered.
Keeping his gun pointed at the prisoner, Sully and the other SEALs backed off. They knew what he was about to unleash.
Shay closed his eyes and released his magick full bore, for the first time in months. Power rippled along his forearms to his hands. Blazing white with energy, his palms pulsed with magick. Sparks sizzled from his fingertips like Fourth of July fireworks.
If he released too much, he’d trigger an uncontrollable inferno of magick. But this time, he knew he could control it. “Who are you, and who sent you?” Shay asked.
The man’s wide blue eyes filled with hatred. He lifted his hands as if to surrender.
“Elemental filth,” the prisoner muttered.
Then he began a chant of ancient Celtic words Shay remembered from summer solstice rituals. He glanced upward at the darkening clouds. Virulent hatred etched his face as the man began shouting the chant. Clouds scudding overhead turned black and threatening. Thunder boomed.
Oh, hell, not this. Shay’s Mage senses tingled.
“Sully, kneecap,” Shay ordered.
The SEAL shot the prisoner. The man screamed and yanked his hand downward. Shay’s jaw dropped as a black ribbon of pure energy from an overhead thundercloud slithered downward, directly into the Mage’s hand.
He was a SEAL. Nothing ever surprised him. But this...
