Page 127 of Fractured Souls

Holy hell.

“T-Tasha?”

“You fight a lot better than someone who trained at the Agency,” Tasha said softly. “Took me by surprise. You both showing up here took me by surprise, and that doesn’t happen a lot these days. I thought you were dead, Alexis.” If she felt any sort of emotion at that, she didn’t show it.

Damn. That was a bit cold. Tasha had always been reserved, but now she was impossible to read.

Alexis began to tremble. It was definitely Tasha, all right, but this woman was different to the quiet, sincere girl she’d known as a child. They were like chalk and cheese; she the outgoing one, Tasha quiet and intense, more interested in her shell collection and her fantasy novels than going down to the field to play football with the boys.

But they’d been inseparable, practically joined at the hip.

Tasha had grown into a formidably beautiful woman, a stranger. There was a hardness to her that Alexis had never seen before. Her blue eyes were cold and calculating.

What happened to you, sister?

Alexis was surprised, relieved, and wary all at the same time. They had a lot to catch up on… if the circumstances would allow.

But first things first. “Where’s Maman?” she demanded. “Where are Kylian and Felix?”

“Safe,” Tasha said. “I can’t tell you much more than that right now. You need to trust me. May I get up? I won’t do anything. I’d be stupid to try and fight him.”

“Yeah, you would,” Alexis agreed. The power behind Tasha’s attack had surprised her, but no human was a match for a First Division warrior. She understood that now.

She shared a look with Nythian.

“She is dangerous,” he warned. “I didn’t detect her presence, and that is very rare. She’s stronger than an ordinary human, and she fights like she’s had extensive training.”

“You can tell all that just from a few seconds of—”

“Yes.” Nythian lifted his boot. “Get up,” he said coldly. “You know what will happen if you try and attack her again.”

“Why did you attack me?” Alexis was confused and a little hurt.

Tasha winced as she pulled herself up off the floor. She was about a head shorter than Alexis, petite but fit like an athlete. And something about her arms was definitely weird. The death-touch hadn’t worked on her.

Strange.

“I just wanted to talk,” Tasha said with a shrug.

“Some way you’ve got of starting a conversation.”

“I didn’t know if you were friend or foe. I wanted to make sure you’d stay quiet first. I didn’t expect you to fight like that. You’ve obviously had some training. You’re probably close to my level now.”

“You thought I could be your enemy?”

“Look who you’re with.” Tasha nodded in Nythian’s direction.

“He’s with me. He isn’t the kind of Kordolian we were taught to fear. He’s nothing like them.”

“Says the detective who was almost killed by Kordolians.”

Alexis froze. “How did you know that?”

“I’ve been keeping watch over you, Alexis. You think it was just coincidence that you survived all those assassination attempts on Earth?”

“You?” Alexis stared at Tasha, her head spinning. “What are you talking about? What could you do against my attackers?”

“A lot.”

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