Even as he said the words, Gabriel revealed the weapon.
It was a laser, all right, and a lot bigger than the one she held.
"I'm not firing it, just using it to place you under arrest. You willingly admitted you murdered General Blaine and the shifter impersonating Kathryn Douglass, and you more than likely murdered the real one as well."
Josh raised an eyebrow. "You were floating about up there for longer than I thought."
"I guess I was. Raise your hands or I will shoot."
Josh flexed his fingers. And suddenly the stirring wind seemed to be a whole lot hotter. Fear raced through her.
"Josh, no!"
The words were barely out of her mouth when a bright blue beam of light lit the darkness. Her heart seemed to lodge somewhere in her throat, and her fear intensified until it seemed her entire body shook under the force of it. It wasn't just fear for Josh, but her own safety as well.
Why, why, why?
The question rolled through her mind as the normally swift and deadly blue beam arced across the night in seemingly slow motion. Josh watched it, eyes narrowed, moving only when it seemed too late. The laser sliced through his forearm, skimming through his jacket and shirt before burning a trail along his skin.
She knew, because she felt it. Pain ripped through her, and she staggered backward, gasping in shock and dropping her laser to the ground. Sweat broke out across her forehead, but she clamped down on the scream that bubbled up her throat, so that it came out more like a hiss. She grabbed her wounded arm with her free hand, supporting it carefully.
"What the hell?" Gabriel's voice was soft, but it hinted at pain. He, too, had felt the burn of the laser, but indirectly through her. "Sam, are you okay?"
"Yes." She stared at her brother as the final pieces began to fall into place.
"Two halves of a whole," he said softly.
She closed her eyes. Took a deep breath. The pain of the laser burn was fading, but not the deeper pain that came with realization. She might not remember everything, but she knew enough.
"That's why you saved me," she said. "You cannot exist without me."
"Sam, you want to explain what's happening?" Gabriel said.
She glanced at him. The laser was still held straight and steady. He might not know what had happened, but he was still intent on capturing Josh.
Not realizing—or maybe not caring—that Josh would never, ever, allow himself to become someone's prisoner again.
Not knowing that in trying to maim or kill Josh, he'd be doing the exact same thing to her.
"You felt what I felt," she told him.
"I know that. But why the hell were you feeling what he was feeling?"
She wrapped her fingers around his arm. If he tried to fire the laser, she'd feel the movement of his muscles. Would try to stop him.
"Josh and I are twins. Two parts of a whole."
He frowned, and glanced at her quickly. "Fraternal twins.
So?"
"So, we are military creations, born in a lab from sources that were not human." She hesitated, and licked her lips. "Our life forces are connected and combined. If he dies, I die."
His shock was evident in the way his muscles tensed.
"That's not—"
"Just as it's not possible for you to feel when she is hurt?"