Read Online Elektra by Yvonne Navarro - Free Book Online

chlorine-scented water of the indoor swimming pool. Frightened, she dragged air into her lungs and dove under again, searching for the deeper green of the Pacific Ocean, the natural saltwater scent and the sting of the cold—
    A memory, Elektra thought almost wildly. That’s all. She rotated her body and stared upward, seeing the sun sparkling through the blue-green water overhead. Feeling better, she spread her arms and felt the ocean water’s resistance against the surface of her skin as she propelled herself along horizontally, staying underwater until her lungs demanded oxygen. More confident now, Elektra scissored her legs and angled upward, pushing up and into the cold air—
    She was eight years old, and already training in the martial arts. Strong for her size, determined and stubborn, but even she sometimes ran out of energy, even she sometimes just couldn’t take anymore. The pool water was cool around her, but she was hot inside, overheated by the effort of treading water for so long with her thumbs held above the water’s surface, keeping herself upright by the power of her child’s legs alone. Her father, Nicholas, stood at the edge of the pool and watched her with an eagle’s eye, making sure she didn’t slip, that she didn’t rest. Her mother, leaning back in a lounge chair, watched from a few feet away.
    “Keep pedaling,” her father ordered. “Five more minutes.”
    But she was so tired, so small. She wanted so much to please him, but even so, she could feel her hands sinking, over and over. Each time she would bring them back up and try to keep them there, but they never stayed that way; each time they fell back below the surface of the pool.
    “No!” her father yelled at her. “No hands, Elektra! Don’t be lazy—only use your feet!”
    She pushed upward again, felt her hands drop.
    “Don’t be a girlie! Come on—let’s go!” He was ranting now, driving her on and on and on. “Push, push, PUSH!”
    She could feel her body giving out, her leg muscles burning until the limbs were too heavy to move. Even so, even as she sank and swallowed water, then came back up, sputtered and sank again, those same exhausted eight-year-old’s legs tried to do what her father wanted, trying to propel her upward again and again and again….
    She surfaced again and thankfully found herself out of the old memory. To drive the last of it away, Elektra swam hard for the shore, pushing herself to her limit, cutting through the water like a shark. The outside air tingled against her already cold skin but it felt invigorating rather than freezing, one more thing she could use to ground herself in the here and now and leave the past behind. She shook the water out of her hair as she climbed the stairs to the beach house, sending salt-laden droplets in every direction. She was reaching for the doorknob when she froze.
    Someone was inside.
    Elektra’s acute hearing easily picked up the footsteps and listened as someone lightweight moved quickly down the length of the living room. Without making a sound, her hand twisted the knob and pulled open the door only enough for her to slip inside the house, then she shut it silently behind her. The living room was draped in muted shadows, lit only by the heavily filtered light striping through blinds closed to keep out the intense midday sun. A quick glance to the right and Elektra picked out a box cutter lying next to a wad of tape she had yet to throw out. She moved toward it on the balls of her feet, shifting her weight and feeling the floor like a predatory cat stalking the bird that would soon become its next meal. In another two seconds Elektra had the box cutter in hand, up and aimed, and before the figure even knew there was someone else in the room, she whipped it through the air.
    Thunk!
    Elektra heard a gasp of surprise right before she reached over and snapped on the lamp on one of the end tables.
    “Jesus!”
    Elektra folded her arms and regarded the girl