Page 71 of All Saints Day
I can see her rounding her lips over her teeth, clamping her mouth shut—taking a deep breath to fill her lungs with clean air.
But Susan reaches forward and pinches Louise’s nose with surprising force.
On instinct, Louise's mouth pops open, and she gasps.
Seeing my opening, I spritz Louise with the contents of the atomizer—a pale lavender cloud curling its tendrils around her as her gasp tapers into a chain of wet coughs.
Susan and I wait until the mist clears before removing our masks.
I can tell by the way Louise's pupils have expanded—the change in her scent—that the drugs have taken hold.
Susan stands back, her shoulders nearly against the large windows, arms crossed over her chest as she watches me work.
Louise blinks unsteadily, her nostrils flaring as I get close enough for her to catch my scent. I can see the twinkle in her eyes, the enchantment. Her iris, green apple, and pink pepper scent carry the notes of poppy, rose, thyme, and oud of her bonded fated mates.
Though we do not yet share the bitten bond of pack, I can smell the undercurrent of my own musky scent intermingling happily with theirs, along with the memorial note of Michael's plum brandy—like a ghost in the room with us.
Her eyebrows furrow slightly as she takes me in. Already she can tell that these aren't the suppressant melters I’ve dosed her with—it's something completely different—but the drugs are still taking a toll; the connection of our mating bond still fuzzy, not yet open wide.
“No more threats, Louise, no more games. The higher-ups are going to release the virus soon, whether they’ve found a cure or not.”
Louise just shakes her head, still silent.
“Just like Lowry said, you'll go to a breeding camp. There'll be no hope for you. Your last chance to escape that fate lies here with me. With us.”
Louise appears to look through me, and I can see her breaths becoming deeper and more ragged, almost a panting.
I take a step closer and reach up for her wrists, bound to the St. Andrew’s Cross with two heavy iron shackles.
I lean in so that our noses almost touch, so that Lowry's attention is drawn instinctively to our faces, a breath away from a kiss.
When I'm certain that Lowry won't notice, I allow my index finger to skate over the ring of bite marks that loops from the heel of Louise's right hand up to her right thumb.
As my touch glances Sébastien's bonding bite, I canfeel her shudder beneath my touch—I can feel her like a warm hand running along the shell of my subconscious.
There, that's it. We're not quite connected, but it's just enough for her to hear what I need to say down the bond.
Louise's eyes flutter open and lock with mine, the two of us suspended in silence as I allow my mind to reach for hers across the misty fields of our fated-mate connection.
Don't give her everything, but tell her you're the cure. Tell her about the designation switches. Pretend as if the suppressants have broken you. That might buy us enough time. Accuse me of being the White Knight and refuse to continue collaborating with me. Lowry won't like it, but she'll have something to take back to the higher-ups. Something that will keep you safe—even if only for another few weeks.
Louise tilts her chin up to face me, the tip of her nose ghosting alongside mine—our lips brushing against one another.
“And what do I get out of this?” she asks.
Somewhere in the back of my mind, along the bond, I can feel the others trying to push through—trying to convince her to shut me out.
Luckily, I don't have to be the one to answer this question.
Susan, clearly uncomfortable with having to watch me work at this close of a distance to Louise Penny, pushes off of the windows and takes a few steps toward us.
“My previous offer is still good. If you help us. If you cooperate, you will be provided for. You will not be allowed to re-enter your public life, but if you so choose, you could be relocated to any number of?—”
“Gilded cages?” Louise interrupts, a dreamy quality softening her voice and features from the drugs.
Lowry's lips press into a thin line.
“Call it what you want, but I don't think it would be so bad to be held up in a Château in the Loire Valley for the fall, a villa in Bali for winter, or a mountain lodge high in the Rockiesduring the summer and spring—all of your needs cared for, all the alphas you could want or need on offer.”
