Page 140 of Midnight Coven

He fought back a wave of nausea mixed with rage, a powerless feeling that brought him up and down on a volatile seesaw he could feel interacting with the mind of the Stranger.

Violence lived there.

So far, at least, Nick only wanted to aim that violence at one person, though.

It hit him at one point that the doppelganger had come up with that name, “Stranger,” on his own. He’d come up with that. He’d decided to call himself all on his own.

That was pretty fucking weird.

He called himself “the Stranger.” He called Nick, “the Shadow.”

A psychiatrist could probably write a whole book on this whackjob.

Nick frowned.

When he glanced at Morley, he saw his friend had gone totally pale.

Despite his driving, which never wavered, the old man looked like he was going to be sick. Or maybe have a panic attack… or a stroke.

He was so pale, Nick actually got worried he could be having a stroke.

It hit him suddenly that Morley hadn’t slept. He hadn’t ended his shift. The sun was out above them, just like it had been in the painting, with white, dense, cumulous clouds dotting the horizon over the mountains. Morley wasn’t getting any younger.

What was he? Sixty-seven? Sixty-eight?

Was he older than that? In his seventies?

Or was he younger and just tired and wrung out?

Nick was so bad at guessing human ages.

He was especially bad at guessing human ages that ranged older than any he’d managed to attain while he was alive. Since Nick only made it to forty-four as a human before he got turned, that meant he was shit at guessing the ages of basically anyone older than that.

“Are you okay, man?” Nick clasped his arm. His California accent strengthened, almost without Nick noticing it. “You want me to drive? I can take over.”

Morley glanced at him and shook his head.

Then he grunted a little.

He forced a faint smile, and Nick again felt a flicker of worry.

“No. I’m good…man,”Morley joked. His smile widened. “You sounded like someone out of an old movie just then. Are you regressing back into your human form, Tanaka?”

Nick wanted to joke back with him.

He wanted to throw a crack back at the old man, if only to keep their spirits up.

He wanted to find it as funny as Morley did, but somehow, he couldn’t.

There was something there.

It was more than just an accent.

It was… something else.

A whole feeling.

Something was different.

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