Read Night Shadow for Free Online

twelve years to see them all. And in less than an hour a
    group of nut jobs wants to blow up over a thousand people and all those
    priceless artifacts?”
    “Apparently so.” He lifted his hand, using one finger to brush a snagged
    strand of her bangs off her eyelashes. He did it so absently, so casually,
    that she was shocked by her visceral reaction to the light touch.
    She blinked hard. Focus, Stone. It was the chil y breeze making her entire
    body shudder, not his inappropriate physical contact. “You seem
    extremely calm about it.”
    “I’m not. But going off half-cocked isn’t going to achieve anyth—Good
    evening, ladies,” he said easily to the four men who suddenly appeared
    out of thin air. “Which of you has the schematic of the building? Daklin?”
    Lord. Asher Daklin. A regular T-FLAC operative, although there wasn’t
    anything regular about him. Like Alex Stone, Daklin’s very presence
    commanded attention. Six feet plus of lean, broad-shouldered male with
    attitude. Lexi had supplied research on some of his ops. He’d always been
    polite, but guarded. And seemed solitary, not chatting to anyone after
    he’d requested information.
    His hair was shaggy and way too long. The light and dark strands
    fluttering against his strong face in the fitful breeze should have made him
    look effeminate; instead, the movement of the strands made his face
    appear harsher and even more male. His fal en-angel mouth curved in a
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    Night Shadow
    faint smile as his glance swept by her, paused as he tried to put her in
    context, then moved back to Alex. One brow lifted in faint question.
    “We should shield,” a swarthy man with a hooked nose and the eyes of a
    saint said softly, he too glancing briefly at Lexi. She recognized him as
    one of Alex’s team from the file she’d been given to study on the flight to
    Paris. Ruben Ginsberg. A wizard.
    Lexi had no idea if they were “shielded” or not, since everyone looked the
    same as they had seconds before. Maybe shielding meant no one else
    could see or hear them?
    Barely two inches over five feet and rail thin, almost emaciated, the
    Chinese man in his mid-sixties standing next to Ginsberg produced a 3-D
    holographic image of the building cut into cross sections with a
    surprisingly graceful flourish of his hand. Lexi had to admit wizards had
    the coolest toys.
    This had to be Li-Liang Lu. Also a wizard, he looked as innocuous in the
    flesh as he had in his dossier.
    The sixth member of the team was Finar Kiersted, a stocky wizard with
    piercing light blue eyes, and—despite having just celebrated his thirty-
    ninth birthday—a brush of pure white hair, cut military short. He looked as
    though he’d been chiseled out of a block of unyielding stone.
    Four wizards and two regs.
    The shimmering blue image hovered in the air between them as they
    circled the hologram to see the best way in. She had a strong feeling
    she’d be the one standing in the cold outside. She couldn’t teleport any of
    the hostages, so she was no use to them. But then, neither was Daklin.
    But he was here because he was a bomb disposal expert, so they’d
    probably take him inside with them.
    No complaints from her. She was here. That’s all that mattered.
    Experience would eventually get her closer to the action. Determined to
    absorb everything she could and learn from these experienced operatives,
    Lexi stepped in a little closer, memorizing the hallways and air
    conditioning vents. Her photographic memory would come in handy if any
    of the men became turned around once inside the building.
    Her heart pounded, and her chest ached with suppressed excitement.
    Taipei. Amazing.
    She looked like a frigging daffodil in a cactus patch, Alex thought,
    suddenly annoyed that he’d had to bring her along. This wasn’t
    babysitting anymore. It wasn’t as though he didn’t work with women in
    the field. He’d been teamed with several female operatives. His favorite
    was Cooper. A crack shot