Bite the Bullet (Bitten Book 5) (24 page)

“Thanks.”

He looked at me in surprise. “For what?”

“For letting me discover my limits on my own and not pushing me to quit until I was ready.”

“You have to decide what your limits are, Shannon, and when you’ve exceeded them. If you need your powers during a fight, you need to understand exactly what you’re capable of or you might overestimate your abilities. That would be more dangerous than you pushing yourself as you did today.”

I nodded in agreement because he was right. “I’m hoping it’s like a muscle, the more I use it, the better my strength and endurance will get.”

“It will likely be that way. Or it could be your age.”

“My age?”

“You’re a new vampire, Shannon. Granted you’re more powerful than any newly born I’ve ever seen, but your powers will grow as you age. It will probably take more than practice. It will take time.”

I nodded again. “That makes sense.”

Asher smiled at me. “Why don’t you go to the room and take a shower while I put the weights away? I’ll be there soon.”

“No problem,” I answered, following him into the house and trudging up the back staircase.

Donna was coming out of the library as I walked past.

“You were really amazing this afternoon,” she stated. “I think I spent more time watching you than reading the book Kerry gave me for research.”

I smiled at her. “Thanks. It’s exhausting.”

She leaned against the doorjamb. “Don’t push yourself too hard, okay? Believe me, you’re powers will keep growing as time goes on. I’m always surprised when I do something I haven’t been able to before, and I’ve only been a vampire for a few months.”

“I need to know what I’m capable of,” I insisted.

She nodded. “I agree, you do, but you’ll be no good to any of us if you wear yourself down to a nub before the winter solstice.”

“I just feel like I’m running out of time.”

“Hey, you’re the one who keeps saying we win,” she retorted.

“Yes, but—”

“No buts,” she argued. “You and the Council are doing a great job of getting everything ready. You’re double and triple checking everything. It’s not as if you’re chilling by the pool because you don’t think we can lose.” She stepped forward and put a hand on my arm. “Cut yourself some slack, get some rest, and enjoy some sexy times with your new smoking hot vampire mate. Taking a break will help you more than running yourself ragged.”

I sighed because I knew she was right. I was quickly heading toward burn out. “You’re right, you’re right,” I admitted. “I’ll go do all of those things right now.”

“Now who’s sharing too much?” she teased me.

I rolled my eyes at her and headed toward the guest room. The cold sweat was drying on my skin, making it itch. “See you in the morning.”

“Night!” she called, disappearing around the corner to the master wing.

I was already showered and drying off when Asher came into the bedroom.

“Well, there goes my idea of taking a shower together,” he said from the doorway.

I wrapped the bath sheet around me and tucked the corner between my breasts. “Sorry, I was itching like crazy from the sweat drying.”

He came over to me, dropping a light kiss on my lips. “Sounds uncomfortable.”

I watched as he walked away from me and stripped his shirt over his head. The muscles in his back flexed as he tossed it aside. He was a Greek statue in motion, lean muscles flexing and stretching beneath his golden skin. I couldn’t take my eyes off him as he unbuttoned his pants and shoved them down to his ankles, taking his underwear with them.

In the last two weeks, I caught myself staring at him like this a lot. He was graceful and beautiful, the physical embodiment of poetry. There was just something about him that made it difficult for me to take my eyes off him.

He glanced over his shoulder at me, smiling. “Are you sure you don’t want to join me?”

God, he knew exactly what kind of effect he had on me.

Without taking my eyes off his, I dropped my towel to the floor and watched as his eyes trailed over my body.

Then I took Donna’s advice. I cut myself some slack and headed back into the shower for some sexy time with my smoking hot vampire.

O
ver the next
two weeks, we tried to find Rhys, but it was as if he’d vanished off the face of the earth. The shadow that had followed me around for weeks before the night I nearly died had returned.

I could feel the darkness growing, urging me to do something.

I also had a sinking feeling that Rhys’ absence wasn’t by choice. I wondered if Cornelius had learned that he was helping us and decided to take his brother out of the equation once and for all.

I mentioned my concerns to the Council, but there was nothing we could do unless we figured out where in the hell Cornelius was. Unfortunately, because he didn’t use technology, it was proving to be incredibly difficult to locate him.

I had to trust my vision and believe that Rhys would be there the night of the final battle.

Now it was just days before the solstice and we were going over final preparations before Ricki and Ivie arrived. A Council member I’d only met once before at Kerry’s house, joined us. Gabriel Crow was a tall, dark man with cold, intense black eyes. I didn’t want to call him emotionless, but I felt nothing from him. No sadness, no happiness. He didn’t seem good or evil. Just nothing. It was if he didn’t exist inside the shell that was called Gabriel. He was like an abyss with no end.

It was unnerving, but Conner and the other vampires seemed to trust him. I decided that, if they could trust him, so could I. After all, he’d helped us deal with Joanna when she’d tried to kill Kerry.

We were going to call Lex and Calder, so that we could bring them and their mates up to speed on the entire plan. Ivie and Ricki hadn’t been to the mansion once since we decided to ensnare Cornelius. I’d been keeping them updated, but this was the final meeting before the solstice.

Tomorrow, we would bait the trap.

The plan was actually pretty simple, despite all the hours of research we put in. We would lure Cornelius to the ballroom, where Kerry would be waiting to complete the ritual. Ricki, Donna, and Ivie would head straight for the basement apartment and the protection offered by a steel door that no vampire could breach. The rest of us would fight.

It wasn’t elaborate, mostly because we couldn’t predict exactly how Cornelius would attack. That was the danger of setting a trap with live bait. The bait didn’t always fare well.

We were confident Cornelius would attempt to infiltrate the house by impersonating Rhys. The only problem would be differentiating between the two.

“Are we ready to begin?” Conner asked the room in general.

When everyone gave their confirmation, he picked up the phone and punched in the numbers. After he had both Lex and Calder on the line, he hit the button for the speakerphone.

“Let’s begin.”

*     *     *

Two hours later,
we were done. The plan was set and tomorrow they would be here.

Conner invited Gabriel Crow to eat dinner with us, but he politely declined before taking his leave.

I was surprised when we went downstairs and found a huge meal laid out on the table in the dining room.

“We’re going to enjoy tonight,” Conner insisted. “We’ve worked hard the last three weeks and it’s time for us to relax, at least for the next few hours.”

I grinned at him and Donna leaned over and gave him a big kiss.

“You’re amazing,” she murmured.

He kissed her again. “So are you.”

We sat at the table and passed around dishes, serving ourselves. The food was delicious and the company wonderful.

I ate, drank, and laughed more than I had in months. Duncan and Luca joined us halfway through the meal and I realized how much I’d missed them.

As the meal wound down, we carried our coffee into the living room and continued talking.

“What do you think it will be like when all this is over?” Donna asked. “Everything has changed.”

Conner shot her an arch look.

“I just mean that our lives will be different now, with all of us settling down,” she continued.

“I’m looking forward to opening the shop again,” Kerry shared. “Oh, and having our usual coven meetings. Well, maybe not the usual coven meetings. I’ll be shaking things up a bit, so I’m sure they’ll be a lot more lively.”

I grinned at her. I could only imagine what the older, more conservative coven members would have to say about Kerry’s plans.

“What are you going to do, Shannon?” Donna asked.

I thought about it for a minute. “Well, I’d like to go back to work. I’ve missed it.”

I felt Asher’s shoulder tense where it touched mine. I glanced over at him, but his face was suspiciously blank.

“I feel the same way,” Donna confessed. “I’m sick of never being able to leave the house.”

Conner cleared his throat, giving her a pointed look.

“It’s a beautiful house, Conner, but I’m tired of never seeing the sunshine. Or having anything to do. Hell, I’d be happy to go have a cup of coffee with one of my girlfriends without an armed escort.”

He pulled her deeper into his side and kissed her hair. “I know, lass. It’ll be over soon.”

“We’ll still spend time together, right?” Kerry asked, her gaze darting between Donna and I.

“Definitely,” I answered.

“Are we going to start having dinner parties?” Donna asked, looking horrified.

“Isn’t that what we did tonight?” I fired back, smirking at her.

“Well, shit. It’s too late. We’ve become old married couples. Next thing you know, it’ll be all about Bridge Night and the country club.”

I shook my head at her exaggeration. “I seriously doubt that.” I gestured at Conner and the rest of the vampires. “Do they look like they play bridge to you?”

Kerry laughed. “She has a point Donna. Now, Strip Poker Night, I might be able to support, but only if Duncan and Luca join us.”

Duncan stared at me with wide eyes but I just shook my head. There was no way Conner or Finn would go for that.

We talked for a little while longer, but I wasn’t paying much attention to the conversation. Something was bothering Asher, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on what. He’d been tense since I mentioned going back to work when this was over.

Finally, I got to my feet. “It’s been fun, y’all, but I’m tired. I’ll see you in the morning.” I glanced down at Asher.

“I’ll be up later,” he murmured.

Interesting. If he thought he could avoid talking about whatever was bothering him by staying up late, he was going to be sorely disappointed.

“Okay. Night.” I leaned down and kissed him.

“I’m going to bed too,” Donna stated.

Everyone called good night as we left the room. Donna didn’t say anything until we got upstairs and out of earshot of the roomful of vampires.

“What’s going on with you and Asher?” she whispered.

“I’m not sure. He got tense after we talked about going back to work.”

Her eyebrows lifted. “That doesn’t sound good.”

I shook my head. “I’m trying not to speculate about what it could be. With Asher, you never know. I mean he seems to understand me so well. Surely he knows that there’s no way I could stand sitting around the house all day. I’ve been doing it for the last couple of months and I’m about ready to lose my mind.”

Donna nodded. “I understand completely. I mean, I’m working from home right now, and I love it. I can actually sit around in pajamas all day and do everything I did at the office. Still, it would be nice to meet you or Kerry for lunch once in a while or go to the bookstore.”

“We’ll be able to do those things again. Though I have to admit, the idea of working in PJ’s does have its appeal.”

She grinned at me. “It’s kinda awesome.”

“Well, I’m going to go get ready for bed and wait for Asher to show up so I can find out what’s bugging him.”

Donna hugged me. “Night, babe.”

“Night.”

We went our separate ways. I washed my face, brushed and flossed my teeth, and put on my pajamas. Then I got out my Kindle and settled in to wait for Asher to come upstairs.

When he hadn’t arrived within an hour and my eyes were getting heavy, I set a little surprise for him by the door and turned out the light. I shouldn’t have gone to the trouble of setting that trap, because now, as I laid in the dark, I was wide awake when I’d been sleepy just moments ago.

I wondered what was bothering him. Asher never shied away from difficult conversations with me before. It made me nervous that he seemed to be avoiding me now.

It was unnerving how quickly I’d become used to his honesty and his ability to understand me. He slid effortlessly into my life as though there were a space already there for him.

I was beginning to fear that it wasn’t the same for him. Was I uncompromising?

The answer was staring me in the face. Asher repressed his urges to boss me around “for my own protection” because he knew I didn’t like it. Yet I had no idea what I might have done to upset him.

I sat up, pulling my knees to my chest and wrapping my arms around them. It seemed I was doing all the taking in our relationship and the thought wasn’t a pleasant one. I hated the idea that I’d been selfish, but that seemed to be exactly what I was doing.