Bite the Bullet (Bitten Book 5) (9 page)

“Hello?”

“Ivie, it’s Shannon.”

“Are you okay? You never call unless it’s our scheduled night to talk.”

“Yeah, I’m okay. Look, I don’t know if Lex told you what’s going on, but I’m helping Conner and Asher with something.”

There was a long pause. “Um, no,
Lex
didn’t say a damn word about it to me.”

I could feel her irritation coming through the phone line and assumed Lex was sitting next to her, likely receiving a nasty glare.

Sure enough, she hissed, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

She must have had the phone covered, because his reply was muffled too much for me to understand.

“Ivie?” I asked. When she didn’t answer, I called, “Ivie!”

“Sorry, Shannon. I was listening to some lame excuse about safety and not wanting me to worry.”

“Okay, so I’ll give you the Cliffs Notes version. Asher is working as a double agent and he’s pretending he kidnapped me, bit me, and has me under his control. We’re doing this to draw Cornelius out and hopefully end this war before it spreads and innocent people die.”

“What? You can’t do this. It’s dangerous—”

“I’m sorry you’re upset, but it’s done. Now, I have to act like Asher’s pet and I want to make sure I understand what I need to do.”

“But, Shannon—”

“Ivie! I have limited time and I need to know what to do. Can you put Lex on the phone?”

“I’ll put you on speaker,” she stated. “Because I want to know what in the hell is going on starting
now
.”

I wanted to tell her not to be too hard on him, but I didn’t have time.

“Lex?”

“I’m here.”

“I need your advice.”

“Of course.”

The man could say a lot with few words. “Asher and I are going to meet Cornelius in New Orleans tonight. I’m pretending to be under his control and because Cornelius wants proof that he actually has one of the Five. I want to make sure I know how to behave. I can’t risk doing something that will give us away.”

“You can’t fake being a vampire’s pet, Shannon,” he replied. “It would be obvious immediately.” His deep, lightly accented voice was mild, as if we were discussing a barbeque on Sunday rather than dealing with a centuries old vampire who wanted me dead.

“Kerry made an amulet that will give any supernatural being the illusion I’m under Asher’s control.”

He was silent for a long moment. “This is a dangerous game the two of you are playing.”

I heard Ivie make a sound, but she didn’t speak.

“I know. That’s why I called.”

“You will have to follow his every command, without question or argument. You can’t show a physical reaction, even when he asks you to do something distasteful or that makes you uncomfortable. You must appear be a blank slate, no emotion or response other than what is asked of you. Do you think you can manage that?”

I wanted to tell him I’d been in a similar position before, but kept my mouth shut. Ivie still didn’t know much about what I did for a living and I didn’t want her to start asking questions right now when I didn’t have time to answer. “I can.”

“Shannon….”

“Trust me, Lex. I can do it. I know it won’t be easy, but I can.” I also had an idea. “Thank you.”

“Shannon, I’m worried about you,” Ivie interrupted.

“I know and I’m sorry to worry you, but I have to do this.”

“No, you don’t,” she argued.

“Ivie, I promise you. I know what I’m doing. Now, I probably won’t be able to call you on Wednesday for the next week or two, but I’m sure Lex will let you know I’m okay. Right, Lex?”

“I will,” he promised.

“I have to go, but I’ll call you as soon as I can.”

Without waiting for Ivie to respond, I hung up the phone. There would be hell to pay for that later, but it couldn’t be helped.

Tossing my cell on the bed, I left the room and found Asher next door, packing clothes into a bag similar to the one he’d given me.

“Hey, can I talk to you for a sec?” I asked.

He looked up from the shirt he was tucking into the duffel. “Of course.” When he took in the expression on my face, he asked, “Is this about something Lex said?”

I hadn’t thought. If I could hear Asher when he was on the phone in his room, then he could definitely hear me.

“Yes,” I answered honestly. “He said that I would have to be emotionally blank and to show no reaction, even if you asked me to do something I didn’t want to.”

Asher nodded. “That’s true, but I thought you understood that already.”

“I did, but he reminded me of something that I used to do on assignments. It will be easier to maintain the facade if you could tell me what to expect before it happens.”

“I can’t predict what Cornelius will do, Shannon,” he began.

I shook my head. “I know, I know. What I mean is that I usually wore an earpiece so other operatives could talk to me during an assignment. We could do something similar, only you could speak to me telepathically, right?” I asked.

He seemed to be thinking about it. “Yes, I could. Since I’ve bitten you, it should be easy to establish the connection.” Asher hesitated. “But do you understand that you’ll have to drop your mental shields for me? I’ll be able to hear your every thought, but you might not know mine. It will require you to trust me completely. Can you do that?”

I realized that I already did. Somehow, I knew he would never hurt me. “I can. I mean, I think I already do.”

He looked surprised. “You do?”

I nodded. When he didn’t speak, I asked, “So, how will this work?” I’d spent so many years learning to keep vampires and witches out of my head, that I wasn’t sure how to go about letting one in.

“Can you focus on me as you lower your mental guard?”

“I can try.”

Taking a deep breath, I centered my attention on Asher. Then I hesitated as second thoughts filled my mind. “I’m not sure if I can do this after all, Asher,” I mumbled, doubts seizing the conviction I’d felt just moments ago.

This would shift the balance of power between us radically. He would know things about me that no one else did, yet I knew nothing about him.

“What’s wrong?”

“Tell me something about yourself that no one else knows,” I blurted out.

“What?”

“You’re going to know things about me that I’ve never shared with anyone, and the thought is freaking me out a little. I need you to reciprocate here.”

I hadn’t been truly vulnerable with a man in years and this was a hell of a way to end the drought.

Asher stared at me blankly for a moment. “Like what?”

I hesitated, but an idea quickly came to me. “When was the last time you cried?” I asked.

Asher was silent. Just when I thought he wasn’t going to answer, he said, “When my sister died. It was at the turn of the 20th century. She decided…” he paused and cleared his throat. “She decided to meet the dawn.”

Though it had been over a hundred years, I could feel the freshness of his pain. It hurt him to talk about it, even now.

“Were you older than her?” I asked.

He nodded. “By about one hundred and fifty years.”

My eyebrows went up in surprise, but I didn’t say anything.

He noticed my expression. “It’s not an uncommon age difference among vampire families. And usually they’re half siblings.” His smile was sad. “That wasn’t the case with Agnès. My parents didn’t intend to have another child and she was a…surprise. My parents were absent, but I made sure to come around and spend time with her. But,” he looked down at his hands, “it wasn’t enough. She was only thirty when she died.”

God, what kind of fucking selfish assholes were his parents?

“I’m sorry, Asher.”

He shrugged and rubbed his hands together. “It broke my heart to lose her.” When he looked up at me, his blue eyes were dry. “I haven’t cried since.”

I nodded, unsure of what else I could say. I hadn’t exactly chosen a good topic.

“Does that ease your fears?” he asked.

“Yes,” I whispered. “It does.” I blinked rapidly as tears formed in the corners of my eyes. I no longer wondered why Asher closed himself off. After what he’d been through, I couldn’t blame him.

His expression softened when our eyes met. “Don’t cry for me, Shannon. Life is full of loss, especially when you’ve lived as long as I have.”

That may be true, but it sounded to me that Asher took responsibility for those losses, even when he shouldn’t.

“Do you want to ask me anything else?” he asked.

I shook my head. He’d shared more of himself than I expected and the apprehension that plagued me moments ago was already sinking beneath the weight of my premonitions. I could trust him. The fear was due to my own vulnerability, not from my talents as a sensitive. “No, I’m ready,” I answered.

He nodded, his expression patient and kind.

For the first time in years, I consciously dropped the wall I’d erected around my mind. One moment, my mind was mine alone and the next, he was there.

Asher was both right and wrong when he said I wouldn’t know his thoughts. While I couldn’t differentiate his individual thoughts, I could feel his emotions. Anger and sorrow swirled around me, but beneath that—yearning. Asher wanted many things, but he also wanted me. Then there was the regret. So much in his life that he wished had been different. Centuries of disappointments and loss. The emotions swamped me, wave after wave taking me under until I was overwhelmed.

I could imagine how he felt, but experiencing it was so much more.

I swayed on my feet and Asher was suddenly in front of me, his hands on my arms.

“Are you okay?”

His worry shoved everything else back.

I shook my head, not in a negative response but in an effort to clear my head. “Give me a second,” I whispered.

I concentrated on breathing and letting his feelings coexist with my own rather than letting them take over. It took a few minutes, but I regained control.

“I’m okay now,” I stated, my voice stronger than before.

“What happened?”

I laughed, but it ended in a sigh. “Well, you were right about me not being able to hear your thoughts, but I can definitely feel your emotions,” I answered.

Immediately, the sensation of drowning in his feelings lessened as if he’d closed a shutter. I could still sense them, but it was much easier to breathe.

“Better?” he asked.

“Much.” Now that I wasn’t distracted, I could feel his presence in my mind, like a shadow.

Can you hear me?

I almost answered aloud before I realized that I was hearing his question in my head rather than through my ears. Though I often used my gifts to my advantage, I’d never been able to communicate telepathically before.

Yes.

Asher nodded.
Good. I’d like to try something, but I want your permission first.

What?

The expression on his face did nothing to put me at ease.

I’m going to try to control your movements and your speech. Will you allow me?

My eyes widened. I loathed the idea of giving up my free will, which was exactly what he was asking me to do. “Asher, I—”

He slowly stepped back, withdrawing from me both physically and mentally. “I understand. I’m only curious about how your mind works and if your gifts make it impossible for a vampire to control you.”

When he put it that way, my own curiosity was piqued. “All right. Dammit, now I’m wondering the same thing.”

It was an epiphany, the realization that I trusted him enough to give him complete control over me.

As quickly as he’d slipped out of my mind, he re-entered. It felt natural, as though he belonged there.

Ready?

I nodded.

It was an odd sensation as he took over, as if he was a hand and I was the glove.

I felt my own mouth open and heard my own voice come out, but I had no control over it. I was also speaking with a horrible accent of some sort. “Come with me if you want to live. Hasta la vista, baby.”

Internally, I smiled, but my mouth didn’t respond. While it freaked me out, I appreciated Asher’s efforts to make this seem less intrusive and more humorous.

Suddenly, I executed a deep, graceful curtsy. “May I call you master?” I asked breathlessly.

I laughed, surprised when the noise burst from my throat. Asher looked shocked as well. Though he was still in my mind, he no longer had control.

“What happened?” I asked.

Asher studied me, admiration gleaming in his eyes. “Apparently, you can break my hold whenever you want. I didn’t release you, but you laughed on your own anyway.”

“That is so cool!” I exclaimed. “And surprising.”

His eyebrows lifted. “It is surprising. Second to Finn, my skill at controlling humans and other vampires is the strongest among our population in Dallas.”

That was even more amazing to me. “Really?”

“Yes. I’m very interested to find out what else you’re capable of, but now isn’t the time. We need to get moving.”

At his words, the sense of foreboding I’d felt off and on for weeks returned, stronger than before. As I left his room, I wondered if this was just a warning of some sort or a sign that the final battle was imminent.