[MAX]
Dylan and Danny Carmichael were fraternal twins, and to anyone who saw them they were as different as night and day. While both of them towered over me — as well as most others they encountered — Dylan was just an inch or so shorter than Danny. Dylan made up for the height difference with his broader shoulders.
Dylan had blond hair, Danny's hair was as dark as midnight. Danny had eyes that looked like liquid gold and could see straight through you; Dylan's eyes were like blue flames and his stare was flat out immobilizing. Dylan tended to have scruff; Danny was usually clean shaven.
They shared the same high cheekbones and sharp jaw, but Danny had thicker eyebrows, and Dylan's nose was a little bigger due to a break that hadn't healed quite right.
Dylan was the soldier to Danny's spy, and they complemented each other near perfectly. The only problem I ran into when it came to their twindom was the frequency with which they utilized their so-called twin telepathy, which never failed to annoy me on the best of days.
Today was not the best of days.
"You guys aren't going to get into another brawl, are you?" Danny asked wearily. He'd already been seated in the lobby of the small airport when I'd arrived, and he didn't look too keen on moving any time soon.
Dylan appeared to have been pacing when I'd approached, but the moment he saw me he went still and his shoulders tensed. We faced each other in unmoving silence until Danny spoke.
Dylan leveled me with a stare. "Are we, sweetheart?" His eyes dared me to start as much, which told me he hadn't forgotten — and he wasn't so sure if he was ready to forgive yet, either.
I scoffed and never broke eye contact. "As much as I'd love to lay you out again, pretty boy, we've got bigger problems to deal with."
"Yes, you're both very scary," Danny muttered. When I glanced his way I saw he was sprawled out in his seat, his long legs well out into the aisle as he stretched so much that his propped up elbows were the only reason he hadn't slid out of his chair.
"You look like a toddler," I said as I sat in the seat to Danny's right.
Dylan, in turn, sat in the seat to my right.
I pulled out my phone and both twins were dutifully ignored. I had to go through the information that Reznor had sent me, and now was as good a time as any, given even one of the brightest technological minds in the world couldn't force a phone to properly, consistently work at thirty thousand feet mid-flight. (And no, in this particular instance, wifi was not an option for me.)
In spite of the fact that I was locked in on my phone as I scrolled through the files I'd been sent, I could feel when both of the twins gazes darted between me and each other. In my periphery I could see the curious glint in Danny's eyes that suggested he was torn between a power nap and pestering me.
And I already knew that all Dylan needed right now was an excuse to push my buttons.
I wasn't in the mood.
"So," Danny said as he sat up just that little bit more, "what's in Beijing?"
I didn't spare him a glance. "A problem."
Danny hummed at that and glanced past me at his twin. "Is anyone involved in this problem aware that we're coming?"
"No."
"Of course not," Dylan muttered. He'd crossed his arms over his chest but otherwise looked relaxed in his seat. To his credit, he wasn't trying to read over my shoulder.
