A Bite to Remember Page 0,110

she'd seen Lily's normal, hazel eyes, Jackie had assumed she was mortal. Boy, had she been wrong.

Jackie attempted to shake off the control Lily had over her mind, but wasn't surprised when she was unable to. They had concentrated on teaching her to keep her fangs in, bring her fangs on, and she'd even attempted to read Tiny's mind a time or two, but other than that she hadn't yet learned any of the skills Marguerite wanted to teach her that would have kept her safe tonight. Those had been next on the list of skills to learn. Unfortunately, it looked like the lesson had been left too long. She'd realized that the moment she'd opened the door tonight and felt Lily slip in to take control of her thoughts.

Jackie hadn't even had the opportunity to shout to Tiny or Marguerite for help. She'd opened the front door, blinked in surprise at the sight of Lily, then found herself turned into a puppet. All control of her body had just vanished and she'd found herself walking out of the house, pulling the door quietly closed, and walking calmly to a pizza delivery car in the driveway. Or, at least, it had looked calm on the outside, she was sure. Jackie certainly hadn't been feeling calm on the inside, and still wasn't.

Jackie had tried to fight off the sudden control Lily had taken of her mind, but it had been useless. As far as she could tell, Lily didn't appear to be having any more trouble controlling her than Cassius had when she was nineteen and still mortal, and Jackie promised herself that if she survived this night, she would make darned sure they taught her how to keep from being taken over like this again.

God, she hoped she survived. Jackie didn't want to die. There were a million and one things she still wanted to do before she died. But then, she supposed few people were ready to go when it was their time.

Unable to do anything else, Jackie stared straight ahead, and silently prayed that Tiny had wakened Vincent when he realized something was wrong. She wondered how long it had taken Tiny to realize something was wrong. Probably only moments, she guessed. Hopefully, in time to see her getting into the delivery car.

Jackie instinctively tried to turn her eyes to the left to peer at the delivery driver and actually managed it. Lily must have eased her control, she realized. But then, Jackie supposed it must take more effort to control two at once. Vincent had said it did. That might give her half a chance here, she realized, and wondered why Lily would risk having to control two people at once.

A moment later, Jackie recalled the day Sharon and Lily had brought the list to the house. Sharon had said Lily didn't drive. Jackie supposed that meant that she'd had no choice but to involve another person. While she could have forced Jackie to drive her wherever she planned to take her, presumably Jackie wasn't intended to return. Someone had to drive her there, so that she would have someone to drive her back. Had Lily hijacked someone else's mind to take the woman Vincent had fed into the hills, Jackie wondered. If so, she hoped the girl had not been conscious and frightened at the time.

Her gaze slid out the window, and Jackie wasn't sure if it was good news or bad that Lily didn't appear to be taking her into the hills. They were headed in the wrong direction.

"You can speak now."

Jackie turned her head in surprise at Lily's comment, then blinked as she realized she was able to move that as well as her eyes. Lily had eased her control considerably. Jackie tried moving other parts of her body, but it seemed she'd been given back control of her mouth and head only.

"You're an immortal," Jackie said abruptly.

"Wow. I can see why Vincent hired you, your powers of deduction are brilliant," Lily said dryly.

Jackie ignored the sarcasm and said, "Your eyes don't have the metallic gleam immortals have. I assumed you were mortal."

Lily laughed. It was an unpleasant, mocking laugh. "My eyes are silver-green."

"They're hazel," Jackie said.

"Look at me."

Jackie turned at the order and peered at Lily as she bowed her head and lifted a finger to each eye. She blinked in surprise as Lily removed something, then lifted her head to reveal beautiful sea-green and silver eyes.

"Colored contacts," Jackie breathed, feeling incredibly stupid.