Rogue Darkness by Dianne Duvall

Becca frowned. “No one should imitate me. I should be the one to do it. I’m the one being targeted, after all. And having a bunch of look-alikes running around posing as me is creepy.”

Nick frowned at his stepdaughter. “If Reed had taken you the second time, he would’ve rendered you unconscious with a bite, just like he did before. You wouldn’t have been able to stop him from stealing you away.”

“I would’ve if I’d carried a tranquilizer gun.”

“You aren’t proficient with weapons.”

“I’ll get proficient with weapons,” she countered.

Nicole admired Becca’s courage and determination but agreed with the others that the teenager shouldn’t be involved in this. Her lack of experience could very well get her killed or captured, leaving them with no way to find her. “I’ll do it,” she stated calmly.

Everyone turned to her.

Sean scowled. “What?”

“I’ll do it. I’ll pose as Becca and see if anyone takes the bait.”





Chapter Five





When everyone stared at her, Nicole shrugged. “Sean just mentioned the other day that she and I look like sisters, so I’m sure I can pass for her with the right haircut, makeup, and clothes. I know all of Becca’s mannerisms because we hang out together. I’m also well-trained in combat and fighting vampires. And I already have experience with both.”

“No,” Sean protested.

Nicole continued as if she hadn’t heard him. “I can move into her dorm. Becca no longer has a roommate and keeps a low profile, so I think I can get by without anyone noticing the switch. I’ll go through her daily and nightly routines, and we’ll see if anyone attacks.”

“No way,” Sean insisted.

She turned to him. “Why not? It’s not like I’d be in danger. I’d be armed. And I’m sure you’d insist on shadowing me.”

“Hell yes, I would.”

She smiled. “Then there you go. We have a plan.”

Frustration darkened his features. “That isn’t what I—”

“Actually,” Chris interrupted, “that’s not a bad idea. They do look alike. And Nicole knows how to handle herself in combat.”

“Which would help her how if one of Reed’s vampire buddies takes her and bites her?” Sean demanded angrily.

Chris waved a hand in dismissal. “Nicole is excellent in a crisis. You should know that since she’s saved your ass in the past. That’s why she was special ops before she became your Second. If a vampire bit her, I’m confident Nicole could tranq him before she passed out.”

“Not if he sees her draw the gun.”

Melanie raised a finger. “I could load several autoinjectors with the tranquilizer and give them to Nicole. Anyone who takes her would be far less likely to notice those, particularly if Sean is chasing him.”

But Sean continued to shake his head. “Why can’t Zach or Jared pose as Becca instead? They’re both shape-shifters.”

Jared glanced at him. “I don’t know Becca, so I doubt I could impersonate her believably.”

Zach nodded. “Same. Impersonating specific humans is far more difficult than assuming the form of generic animals. You have to get the look, the voice, the walk, the laugh, and a hundred other things right to succeed. If I had to impersonate another male Immortal Guardian, it wouldn’t be as much of a stretch. We bear similar appearances, builds, and voices, so I’d only have to tweak a little here and there and get the accent right. But posing as Becca would be a challenge. Nick could do it because he’s known her for years. Nicole knows her almost as well. We don’t know how long Becca has been targeted, how long she may have been watched. Nick and Nicole are the only obvious choices.”

Chris leaned forward. “And I don’t trust Nick to keep his temper in check. I want to know what the hell we’re dealing with here.”

Everyone looked at Seth.

“Could this be related to the troubles Nick and Kayla faced in Texas?” Seth asked.

Chris shook his head. “That occurred to me. But the network cleaned that up months ago and left no loose ends.”

Ethan frowned. “What happened in Texas?”

“Kayla was in a car accident,” Seth told him. “While at the hospital with her, Nick bumped into a man he hadn’t seen since shortly before the war in Vietnam. The old man recognized him and wanted to know how Nick had managed to not age a day in the decades since their last encounter.”

“He was tenacious, to say the least, and caused quite a few problems,” Chris added. “But we took care of it and tied up all the loose ends.”

Nicole looked back and forth between them. “Could someone have unburied his memories like what happened with that mercenary group?”

Seth shook his head. “He’s dead. And his eldest son, the only other member of his family who encountered Nick, believed his father was confusing Nick with Nick’s grandfather because the old man also suffered from dementia.”

Chris nodded. “Henderson has been monitoring things in Texas and has seen no sign of new activity on that front. So I don’t know what this is.”

“Well,” Nicole said, “the only way to find out is for me to pose as Becca.”