Stealing Shadows

'Will he? You expect him to be rational, then? When he sees what you've done, what it's cost you?'

'I'll be fine.'

'Do not try to trick me,' Bishop said. 'Climb inside my mind and I'll shove you out.'

'I know.'

'Do you?'

'Yes.' She smiled faintly. 'But don't worry. Your secret is safe with me.'

For the first time, his voice softened. 'Never mind me. Cassie, this is crazy. Even in top condition, with all your strength, your chances would be slim against Vasek. Like this, drained and exhausted and so scared for Ryan you're hardly thinking straight, you have zero chance of coming out of this alive.'

'I have the best reason in the world to survive. Willpower counts for a lot, you know that as well as I do.' She paused, then added, 'But in case something happens, tell Ben…'

'Tell him what, dammit?' Bishop demanded roughly when her voice trailed into silence.

Cassie shook her head. 'Never mind. I should have told him myself when I had the chance.'

'I hate melodrama,' he snapped.

Despite everything, Cassie laughed. 'Yes, I rather thought you would. Don't worry, I won't subject you to any more of it.'

They were silent for a few minutes, and then Bishop said abruptly, 'Cassie, I want you to promise me something.'

'If I can.'

'Once you're in, don't let go of the lifeline. No matter what Vasek says or does, no matter what he shows you, do not let go of me.'

'All right. I'll do my best.'

'So will I,' Bishop said grimly.

Silence fell, broken only by the crackle of the fire and the creak of Danny's shoes as he shifted uneasily from one foot to the other. Cassie sat in the chair and stared into the fire, and Bishop watched her. Danny watched them both. And he was the one who nearly jumped out of his skin when the phone in his hand rang.

He answered, listened intently, then said, 'Yes, sir,' and without turning off the phone said to Bishop, 'I'm to leave the line open. Sheriff says they're as close as he dares get, and they'll move in in exactly five minutes.'

Cassie got up and went to sit on the sofa so she could get the boots, hardly noticing when Bishop came to sit beside her.

'Don't let go of the lifeline,' Bishop repeated.

She picked up the boots, held them against her with both hands, and closed her eyes. Bishop watched her, speaking the instant he saw the telltale flicker of her eyelids.

'Talk to me, Cassie. Are you in?'

'I'm in.' Her voice was hollow, distant, and Bishop frowned.

'Does he know you're there?'

'Yes. Yes, he knows.'

'What was the deal with the music box?' Ben asked, watching his captor pick up yet another sharp implement from the cart and study it. 'Cassie thought Mike was using it to block her. But it was you, wasn't it?'

'Of course it was me. Michael has no more telepathic ability than you do. I was using it to distract Cassie – and to keep Michael focused on rituals. It was necessary.'

'In order to maintain your control over him?'

'Why are you stalling?' Bob asked curiously. 'Is another hour of life so important?'

'Did you ask that of your other victims?' Ben countered.

'A few. Most were incoherent, however, so I've never received a satisfactory answer.'

Despite the chill of the room, Ben could feel sweat trickling down the side of his neck. It hadn't been difficult to keep the monster talking, but he had the uneasy idea that it was still very much a question of who was toying with whom.

He wished he could reach out to Cassie. Touch her. But even if he had known how to do that, there was no way Ben wanted her there in the room.

What he was afraid of was the very real possibility that Cassie would find her way there anyway. If she knew he was missing, she would reach out, and thanks to his walls, it wouldn't be his mind she touched. If this insane monster was even half right about the connection between him and Cassie, she would inevitably touch that dark evil.

Ben knew how much of herself she had risked for the relative strangers of Ryan's Bluff; what would she risk to save the life of a lover?

It terrified him.

All he could think to do was keep the monster talking, keep looking for a chink in that armor of self- satisfaction. And hope he could find some way to free himself before Cassie came looking for him.

'I can give you a coherent answer,' he told his captor. 'Another hour of life is important. Another minute. Even another second. Because as long as there's still some time, there might be enough time.'

'Enough time for what?'

'Enough time for me to kill you.'

Bob stared at him in astonishment for a moment, then began to laugh. But the laugh cut off abruptly, and he rose to his feet, the knife in his hand seemingly forgotten, that earlier look of distraction gripping his features. His eyes had a distant, unfocused look. And his voice dropped to that caressing note that made Ben's skin crawl and his blood run cold when Bob murmured, 'Well. Hello, my love.'

'He knows you're there?' Bishop demanded.

'He's… surprised,' Cassie murmured. 'He didn't think I'd noticed the boots.' She was silent a moment, her features twisting in revulsion. 'Oh, God. The things he thinks. His mind is so dark, so… evil. He has no soul.'

Bishop glanced at his watch. 'Can you see through his eyes, Cassie?'

'No.' She sounded unsettled. 'He's… he's holding me too deep.'

'Holding you?'

Her voice was hardly a breath of sound. 'He wants me to see… his secret places.'

'Cassie, listen to me. Try to back away. Try to see through his eyes.'

'I want to. I want to see Ben.'

'Try. Very carefully.'

There was a full minute of silence, and then she flinched. Her eyes opened, the pupils enormous and blind.

Ben knew the connection had been made, that Cassie or some part of her was there. He didn't know if she could see him, but it was obvious to him that his captor was in a kind of trance, eyes blank, all his concentration turned inward.

He wouldn't get another chance.

'Cassie?'

'He won't let me see. He… likes this. Likes having my voice in his mind. He wants me there… always. The door. He's going to shut the door – '

Bishop reached over and grasped her wrist strongly.

'Cassie? Hold on to me, Cassie. He can't close the door if you don't let him.'

Her breathing slowed and grew shallow, and the pallor of her skin deepened until even her lips were drained of color. 'I'm… trying,' she whispered. 'He's so strong… so strong. He's getting angry, furious that I would… defy him--'

'Hold on to me, Cassie. Don't let go.'

You came to me. I knew you would. I had to come. Yes. We belong together. No.

Vasek felt an instant of shock at her calm denial, then a hot and satisfying rush of rage. Yes. We belong together. I belong with Ben. Utter certainty. You're confused, my love. But it's all right. I'll show you the truth. He used his abilities to surround her presence with himself, to hold on to her and begin pulling her deeper, and to try to cut off the way behind her. Cut off her escape.

I'm not your love. Of course you are.