My mouth dropped open. Was it true? Before I could answer that, Jason burst into the room, panting.
“He’s awake,” Jason gasped.
“Edward’s awake?” I just stared at him. There was no way he could have metabolized the latest dose of drugs that fast unless…
An animal scream came from down the hallway. I felt like I would wet my pants. This was bad, very bad. “Jason, go get the chains from the other room. We must restrain him.” Jean-Claude ordered. The man moved to do so. Fetching my bag, I got out a set of knives and the Firestar. We needed to subdue Edward; not maim him. “Anita.” It was serious for the vampire to use my real name. “Stay here until I call you. I do not want you to get hurt unnecessarily.” He was out of the room in a flash, moving with that speed that always amazed me. I was left clutching the gun. Sounds of struggle came from the other room, and I was suddenly afraid. Did this mean that Edward was indeed going to be a shifter now? I shuddered at the thought.
“Anita!” It was Jason’s voice, distorted, more growling than anything. He’d probably shifted at least partway to contain the deranged assassin. Knife in hand I ran into the hallway. Edward and Jason were in a standoff, neither one taking eyes off of the other. Jason was in man-wolf form. Next to him Edward looked almost fragile in his nakedness. Then I saw the blade in his hand. I gave a small gasp; it was the six-inch knife I usually wore in my spine sheath. How the hell did he get it? There was no sign of blood yet, so I waited for something to happen.
Edward saw me standing with my knives and my gun, anticipatory look on my face. Using that as a distraction, Jason tackled him around the waist, rolling with him on the floor. I dropped the knives and used both hands to aim the Firestar at the scuffle. “Jason, don’t hurt him,” I cautioned. “Same goes for you, Edward,” I added for good measure. Suddenly Asher appeared with handcuffs. He frowned at the two men.
“I am supposed to break this up?” he commented to no one in particular. The vampires were being awfully calm about this. Silently and efficiently, they reached into the tangle and each grabbed a human limb to haul Edward back. He didn’t struggle while they chained him. Jason, on the other hand, crouched growling until Jean-Claude merely looked at him. Chastised, the man-wolf slunk off into another room. Jean-Claude and Asher held Edward between them like some sort of perverted trophy.
“Now what?” I asked.
“I shall try to break the bond that ties Edward to his controller,” Jean-Claude said. “Asher, please see to Jason.” The blond vamp gave a slight nod and left us. Edward stood unassisted but hung his head. His arms were behind his back, chained heavily. He seemed feral now; his body tense with contained energy. I looked to Jean-Claude expectantly. His eyes had gone drowning midnight blue. “Let us take him into the bedroom.” I was creeped out, but I followed him back into his room. Once inside, he led Edward to the far wall where I noticed for the first time a hook high up above my head. Jean-Claude raised Edward’s bound hands and the chain fit into the hook. I didn’t want to know why the hook was there anymore. Really. A brush of power hit me then from the men. I closed my eyes and once again saw Belle Morte, through Edward’s eyes, I assumed. Her gaze locked with mine in the vision and she lashed out at me with power, but Jean-Claude was there to stop her. As suddenly as she appeared, she was gone in a snap. My eyes opened to see Jean-Claude drawing back from Edward. There was a fresh bite mark on the assassin.
“What the hell did you do?” I yelled at the vampire.
“I have broken the hold my Mistress had on him,” he explained, voice sluggish. He’d gotten a high from the blood. Bastard. “Edward should be back to himself shortly.” Grinning like a contented cat, he held out his hand to me. I shook my head. “Come to me, ma petite. I will not bite.”
“Fuck you.”
He grinned wider. “Ah, that is a better idea.” I glared at him. Usually he wasn’t this direct. I had no sense of the ardeur either, so he was being annoying all on his own.
“Edward is okay now?” I asked shortly. A nod. “Is it safe to unchain him?” Another nod. Rolling my eyes, I went over to undo the chains and get Edward some clothes. Walking over to him, I was overcome with a sense of unease. Head bent still, he was motionless, breathing slowly. I laid a hand on his arm but pulled away like I’d been burned. There was a presence not his own lingering like a fog. Slowly, carefully I brushed my fingertips to his skin and used the marks to sort of feel around in his mind. Whatever was there, it wasn’t Edward. Alarmed, I dropped my hand to my side and backed away from him. I bumped into Jean-Claude. His _expression was blank, just this side of drugged. My heart pounded in my chest. “Jean-Claude?”
”Ma petite,” he whispered, lips pulling back enough to show fang. That did it. I bolted from the room, not bothering to find my weapons. Was everyone going insane on me?
“Asher!” I shouted, still running. He stepped out in front of me and I nearly knocked him over. “Jean-Claude’s acting weird. I think Belle Morte got to him too.” Asher’s eyes widened in alarm. “Don’t just stand there! He’s coming after me.” He glanced down the hall. Jean-Claude was standing a few yards away. It seemed like he was swaying slightly, unsteady on his feet. “Asher,” I repeated. He moved closer to the other vampire. I just stared.
“Ma cherie,” he began. “Jean-Claude is of his own mind. He appears to be drugged. Did he drink from Monsieur Edward?”
“Yes.”
“What drugs were used? It should have to be something very strong to subdue a Master as powerful as this one.” Shaking his head, the vamp turned his perfect side to me. “We should put him in his bed to sleep it off. The same for Monsieur Edward.”
I moved to help lead the raven-haired vampire to bed. Edward got to crash on the couch. After a while Asher and I left them to rest. As if it were contagious, Jason dozed in the corner, having snuck in unnoticed. I was tired. I couldn’t take much more of this. Asher seemed to read my mind. “Come, let us sit in the fireplace room,” he invited. I wasn’t going to say no. He soon had a fire blazing, warming me to the core. I sighed, relaxing into an overstuffed chair. Across from me in another chair, Asher sat gazing at me through a curtain of his lovely hair. Just when I thought we’d broken him of the habit, he’d started doing it again; hiding his scars.
“It’s only me here, Asher,” I said softly. “You don’t need to hide.”
With a practiced toss of his head, he flicked his hair behind him, exposing his whole face. “Is this better?” His tone was neutral. I let my thoughts fill my eyes so he saw. I thought he was gorgeous, imperfections and all. I think it made him more beautiful. He softened and wasn’t so stiff anymore. “Thank you,” he whispered. He sighed then. “If you would please inform me of this…situation we seem to have averted, I would be grateful.”
Where to begin. “How much do you know?” I asked.
“Nothing. I only know that Monsieur Edward was not right earlier and that you needed my help in that.”
“Gee, that’s an understatement.” I took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. “I’m not too sure of any of this now, but besides possibly being under Belle Morte’s control, Edward may be contaminated with leopard lycanthropy.”
There was a moment of silence as Asher seemed to digest this news. I knew he and Jean-Claude were terrified of Belle Morte, and the thought that she was using the most dangerous man we knew as a puppet…well, it wasn’t a good thought. He finally spoke up. “How do you know he has been infected by a lycanthrope? Perhaps it was a story concocted to catch us off guard.” His ice-blue eyes were intense. I think the idea of Edward as a shifter terrified him too. I shook my head. “No, I saw the claw marks. There’s no way that could have been faked. Of course, a real leopard could’ve done him and I wouldn’t know the difference. But you saw him in the hallway; he was like an animal. There’s still something not right with him. I sensed it when I touched him.”
Asher looked grave. “If Monsieur Edward is under the control of Belle Morte or even one of her next in command, we may be in very big trouble. She is not only powerful, but calculating.” He shuddered. “If she is using him, it is for an evil purpose indeed.”
“I don’t get it though. Edward tried to seduce me first, then he tried to kill me. It didn’t seem like a wholehearted attempt. It was more of an afterthought.” I pushed my hair back. Remembering the tryst with Edward gave me a headache. Asher peered at me.
“Are you alright, ma cherie?” he asked me, concern on his face. “You went pale all of a sudden. Would you like a cup of coffee?” When I nodded he stood and walked out of the room to the kitchen, I presumed. He returned a few minutes later with a steaming mug which he placed on the table in front of me.
“Thanks,” I said, grateful. He knew me well enough that I didn’t need to taste the coffee to make sure it was prepared the way I liked. I blew across the top to cool it. “To answer your question from before, I’m not sure I’m alright.”
“What is wrong?”
He’d find out sooner or later, so I told him. “I had sex with Edward.”
“Oh, my,” was all the vampire could say. I agreed. “Does Jean-Claude know?”
“Yes. He doesn’t seem angry with me about it. It was the ardeur; it hit me while Edward was sweet-talking me.” I frowned. “I wonder if he’ll even remember once this is all over with.”
“Perhaps.” Asher patted the seat next to him. “Come here, ma cherie, and I shall give you what comfort I can.”
I obliged him, moving from my chair to sit on the couch with him. He turned to face me and spoke seriously. “Do not blame yourself for anything that has happened. This is something that goes far beyond you. I believe this may be the Council’s way of…punishing us for past events.”
“But why would messing with Edward be punishing you guys?” I protested. “If they’d sent him to just kill me, I’d understand that. Why he’s suddenly in love with me is puzzling.”
Suddenly Asher’s eyes went wide. “Anita, are you still taking…how do you say…the birth control pills?”
“No. I’m not sleeping with anyone that could get me pregnant.” A chill ran up my spine. “Oh, shit,” I hissed.
“My thoughts exactly,” Asher replied.