Atlas (The Atlas Series) Read Free Page B

but patience wasn’t exactly her strong suit.
    That’s when she saw the woman again.
    She was down the street, standing there, holding her briefcase. The woman couldn’t have been more than three hundred feet from where Kala stood.
    Kala wasn’t going to let it pass this time. Unarmed, Kala ran toward the woman.
    The woman didn’t move. It was like she wanted Kala to confront her.
    When Kala was within ten feet of the woman, she slowed to a stop.
    “What do you want?!” Kala yelled at the woman aggressively.
    The woman smiled at Kala and Kala felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise.
    “Not you, dear,” the woman said as if sharing some inside joke with no one in particular.
    Kala walked slowly toward the woman.
    Eight feet.
    Six feet.
    Four feet.
    The woman held her hand out to stop Kala from coming any closer. “That’s far enough, Ms. Hicks.”
    Shouldn’t have said her name.
    Kala leapt the final three feet and had this woman in a headlock before the woman could react. “How do you know my name?” Kala whispered harshly in the woman’s ear.
    “Stay away from Jack,” the woman warned.
    Though Kala had the upper hand, hearing this made her push the woman away from her.
    “Are you sleeping with him?!” Kala accused. Now she was pissed. If this woman was a scorned lover, or worse, another lover, Kala would have finally figured out what was wrong with Mr. Perfect. Jerk!
    Before Kala could move, the woman was suddenly in her face. Her eyes were bright blue and glowed slightly.
    Glowed! Kala had never seen anyone’s eyes glow before!
    What the hell was in that tequila?
    Hallucinogens. Definitely hallucinogens.
    Kala instinctively moved like a cat and was behind the woman, holding the psycho’s arms behind her back.
    The woman seemed shocked that Kala was able to capture her. “I see what Jack sees in you,” the woman admitted.
    “Let’s see what you have in this briefcase,” Kala grabbed the case and shoved the woman away.
    Kala opened it despite her years of training that taught her to take it to the Compound where they could handle it safely.
    Aside from a pen and a single piece of paper, there was nothing in the case.
    Nothing.
    Kala tossed it aside and wondered how her instincts could be so off. Then she said what she dreaded the most, “So what? You two a couple?”
    “No,” the woman answered simply. “But we will be if you don’t ruin it for him.”
    Great, a stalker , Kala thought to herself.
    The woman’s eyes glowed again.
    What was going on?
    Kala stood in attack stance.
    “Not this time, little one,” the woman scolded Kala like she was three-years old.
    Before Kala had a chance to make a move, the woman disappeared.
    Completely.
    Kala thought she was going nuts. One minute this woman was standing in front of her and the next Kala was standing by herself on the sidewalk.
    “You call a cab?”
    Kala turned to the street to see a taxi waiting for her.
    “Um, yeah,” she said, reeling from what just happened.
    Kala still wasn’t sure what had just happened. She sat down in the taxi and told the cabbie the Compound address.
    The driver nodded and they drove off.

Chapter Two
    Kala stared out the taxi replaying the last ten minutes. The woman had seemed obsessed with Jack. Warning Kala to stay away from him was the standard jealous girlfriend threat. But it had seemed like more than that.
    And her eyes freaking glowed ! Kala still didn’t believe that she’d seen that right. Maybe the street lamp had hit this woman’s eyes at an angle that made it look like they were glowing?
    But then she vanished from thin air.
    By the time she arrived at the Compound gates, Kala was convinced that someone had slipped her acid or some kind of drug at the bar. What she’d seen was impossible. Kala wouldn’t be surprised if she had made up the whole lady thing in her head. Kala was a jealous person. It made sense that she’d hallucinate a stalker business lady with glowing eyes that could