Bite the Bullet (Bitten Book 5) (10 page)

T
he drive to
New Orleans didn’t go as I expected. Then again, I wasn’t sure what I thought would happen.

The first hour, we made small talk until it became painful. Just when I was about to feign fatigue and close my eyes Asher said, “Tell me a memory from your childhood.”

We spent the next three hours talking about our lives. His interest in my past surprised me. Considering he’d been alive about five hundred years longer than I had, I figured my life would seem miniscule in comparison.

When I commented that we were only three hours from New Orleans, the conversation dried up. Asher turned on the radio, but there was an undercurrent of tension between us. With each mile we drove, it grew.

There was a zip of excitement in my blood and my nerves were stretched taut. We were heading toward danger, where we would have to weigh every word and every action.

As the minutes counted down on the GPS until we reached our destination, the more amped up I became.

“Are you scared?” I asked him.

Asher glanced at me. “Yes.”

“Me, too.”

He pulled over to the side of the road and turned to face me. “Do you want to turn back?” he asked.

I gaped at him. “What?”

“We can go back. Right now. The Council will find another way.”

“Why are you saying all this?” I queried, surprised at his offer.

I blinked at him as he cupped my cheek. It was a tender gesture and completely unexpected.

“Because I want you to feel safe, to be protected. I can’t stand the thought of anything happening to you.”

His words shocked me. Since our initial conversation, Asher had treated me as wholly capable and essentially equal. It never occurred to me that he might feel this way.

“I don’t think we can turn back,” I replied. Before he could pull away, I put my hand over his. “But I don’t want anything to happen to you either.”

He stared at me, but his mental barriers were up and I couldn’t read his emotions. Then Asher leaned forward and pressed his lips gently to mine. It was a simple brush of our mouths, but it sent shockwaves through my soul.

Somehow, we’d made a pact and sealed it with a kiss, yet I had no idea what it meant.

He released me and I watched in silence as he put the car in gear and steered us back onto the road.

“I feel like something big just happened,” I murmured.

“It did.”

“Mind telling me what it was?”

“In the simplest of terms, we just promised to take care of each other,” he answered.

“For how long?” I asked.

“As long as you want.”

*     *     *

“Where are we?”

Asher put the car in park. “The middle of nowhere. We’re about five miles from the address.”

My blood hummed beneath my skin. “And Conner says this is Alistair’s house, right?”

He turned to me. “Yes. Alistair assured the Council he was an ally but that’s clearly not the case. Remember, do not speak unless spoken to. Keep your face blank and as empty as possible.” He pulled out a small medallion. “This is the amulet Kerry made. It works like a glamour.”

He handed it to me. “You could wear it like a necklace, but it might be safer to keep it unseen. I don’t know much about Frederick but he might become suspicious if you wear it around your neck.”

I nodded. After thinking for a moment, I fastened the medallion around the strap of my bra and tucked it inside. Earlier, Asher suggested I keep my shirt unbuttoned at the neckline, so I double checked that the necklace wasn’t visible. I felt the metal of the pendant heat as it touched my skin.

“It’s getting hot.”

“That means it’s active,” he answered.

I watched as he pulled a ring out of his pocket as well. The silver setting was simple and held a round pale blue stone, polished to almost a mirror shine.

“If there’s trouble, crush this beneath your heel and hold your breath. As long as you don’t breathe it in, you’ll be fine.”

“Uh, what happens if I breathe it in?” I questioned, my brows lifting.

“Well, it will render a vampire or warlock unconscious for about fifteen minutes. I’m not sure what it would do to a human.”

“Holy shit, that’s some serious tear gas.”

He frowned at me. “I’m not sure that this is the best time to make jokes,” he commented.

I shrugged. “That’s what I do before a mission. It lets off a little of the energy from the adrenaline.”

“Fine, but all jokes stop as soon as we’re back on our way.”

He was all business now and I realized that this was his game face. He was treating me as an equal and a professional.

I did the same, putting aside my anxiety and fear. “Understood.”

Asher nodded and slid the ring on the middle finger of my left hand. He released me and put the car into gear. “Let’s go.”

The closer we got to the house, the stronger my sense of foreboding became. I wanted to tell him that I changed my mind, that I wanted to turn around, but an unexplainable instinct held me back. This confliction was tearing me in two; one part was telling me to run, frightened by the darkness I felt gathering over us while the other part was telling me to see it through, that the outcome would be worth it.

Asher turned into a driveway and my eyes widened as I took in the massive stone walls and wrought iron gate. It looked like something out of a Gothic horror novel.

As the car continued down the tree-lined drive, I almost expected to see ghostly women and men walking through the twilight. A flash of red caught my eye in the dying light. I turned my head, but the wide expanse of grass on the other side of the trees was empty.

Then the drive opened up and I could see the house clearly for the first time. Actually, it wasn’t a house. It was a mansion. Set amongst the trees, the structure resembled a hulking, stone box. Menace radiated from it and the stones seemed to whisper warnings that I couldn’t quite hear or understand.

“Oh my God,” I mumbled. “Do you feel that?” I asked Asher.

“Feel what?”

“This place is evil. It’s in every stone, every window.”

He looked at me oddly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Suddenly, I really didn’t want to go into that house, premonition be damned, but it was too late. The front door swung open and a slender blond man dressed in grey stepped outside.

He walked around the car and opened Asher’s door for him before doing the same for me. I fought to keep my face blank as he studied me closely.

“I can’t believe it,” he murmured. “You’ve broken her.”

The man stepped closer, invading my personal space. I sensed it was coming and had time to steel myself so I didn’t recoil. I allowed my eyes to focus on him briefly before looking through him. His skin was pale and his eyes were dark grey, the same color as his shirt.

Tendrils of darkness reached out from his body, an echo of the evil emanating from inside the house. Then I felt the weight of his thoughts and a taste of his power. He was a warlock, the blackest of black. This must be Frederick.

He lifted a hand, his fingers skimming the ends of my hair. I was grateful for the long sleeves I wore because goose bumps broke out on my flesh.

“She’s beautiful. The Master will be very happy to see her.”

God, I wanted to roll my eyes, but I refrained.
The Master?
How trite could you get?

“Thank you,” Asher replied, bowing slightly.

“I apologize for my lack of manners,” the warlock said, stepping away from me. “I’ve been researching the Five for quite some time and I never expected I would get the opportunity to inspect one so closely.”

I struggled not to look at them as they talked. The only other object to stare at was the house and I didn’t want to study it for too long. Instinct told me that evil that strong would steal bits of my soul if I gave it the opportunity.

“I’m Frederick.”

“Asher Leroux.”

They didn’t shake hands, instead doing that weird head bowing thing Asher had done before. I didn’t understand a lot about warlocks, but I wouldn’t want to shake his hand either.

“Please come inside. Someone will gather your bags momentarily.”

I didn’t trust his friendly demeanor, especially since I could feel the thread of smugness beneath it.

Asher took my arm in his hand. “Come along, Shannon.”

Obediently, I allowed him to lead me up the steps and into the house. As soon as I stepped over the threshold, I sensed it.

We’d walked directly into a trap.

I wanted to scream at Asher, to warn him. Instead, I waited a moment, watching as Frederick and Asher made small talk. When Frederick invited us into the parlor, I reached out to Asher with my mind.

It’s a trap.

He didn’t acknowledge me at first and I feared that Kerry’s amulet made it impossible for me to communicate with him telepathically.

I know.

I realized that I was no longer paying attention to my expression and managed to school my face into the blank mask I’d previously worn before Frederick turned around to look at us.

I’m sorry I didn’t warn you. I didn’t sense it until we were inside.

“Would you care for a drink?” Frederick asked Asher. After his examination of me, he acted as if I didn’t exist, as if I were merely furniture.

“Yes, please. Red wine if you have it.”

Frederick smiled. “I believe we have a lovely French Bordeaux,” he replied.

I couldn’t believe that he was going to accept a drink from that warlock.

You can’t drink that!

Asher’s head tilted toward me slightly in acknowledgement of my words, but he didn’t respond telepathically.

I followed his lead and stopped trying to communicate with him. I watched as Frederick poured Asher a glass of wine and brought it to him.

“Alistair will be joining us shortly,” he stated.

“And your master?” Asher asked.

I didn’t look directly at Frederick, but out of the corner of my eye, I could see his sly smile.

“Oh, he’ll be along later.”

I felt a presence behind me though I never heard a step. It was the only reason I didn’t jump when the vampire behind me spoke. This mask was more difficult to maintain in the face of so much malevolence than I’d expected it to be.

“Our guests have arrived. Lovely!” The man brushed past me. I got the impression of pride, greed, and lust. He wasn’t completely evil like Frederick, but he was without conscience, which was worse. All he cared about were his own personal wants and needs. He had no higher purpose. “At last we meet! I’m Alistair.”

His jovial bluster and outstretched hand were met with a cold stare from Asher. “Asher Leroux.”

The lack of enthusiasm from Asher seemed to throw Alistair off balance. “Ah, well, it’s a pleasure.”

Asher’s only reply was a regal nod. Using only his name, his intense blue gaze, and a gesture, the male I was rapidly beginning to consider my vampire had immediately stripped this arrogant, powerful being of his self-importance. I wanted to cheer.

Alistair moved to the decanters on the table behind Frederick and poured himself a glass of amber liquor.

“Was your drive pleasant?” he asked.

“Pleasant enough,” Asher answered shortly, setting his wine on the side table next to him.

I realized that he’d been holding his wineglass without drinking from it. His borderline rude behavior was to distract Frederick and Alistair from the fact that he hadn’t tasted the liquid.

That’s when I felt it. The source of the evil in the house was moving toward us. The sheer mass of the consciousness behind it made me want to drop to my knees. He was old, older than any of the beings in this room or any that I’d ever met.

Even without seeing it, I knew this being was unlike any I’d ever met.

Unable to stop myself, I slowly turned to face the door. I half expected a dark shadow to precede the evil that was coming toward me, but it didn’t.

He moved as silently as a vampire, gliding through the doorway with the grace of a dancer. He was beautiful, fair-haired and well formed, his appearance belying the sheer wickedness within his soul.

A smile slowly spread across his face when his eyes fell on me.

Then all hell broke loose.

M
y head spun
sickeningly when I tried to open my eyes. I bit back a groan and squeezed them closed again. I took slow, deep breaths in an effort to control the nausea that twisted my stomach. I was definitely concussed.

I heard several male voices murmuring softly nearby. The room we were in must have been large, because their quiet words echoed. It was cool, the air creeping beneath the skirt Asher had picked out for me to wear and making me shiver.

I took stock of my body. Other than the ache in my head, I didn’t hurt anywhere else. One of those fuckers had sucker punched me before they jumped Asher, and I’d been so distracted by Cornelius’ appearance that I hadn’t sensed it before it happened.

As the pain in my head began to recede, I gradually lifted my eyelids again. I was grateful that the room was dim because even the low light hurt my eyes. I blinked several times before I realized I was staring at the ceiling.