Page 21 of Vampire Visions

“You should have separated those two,” I chastised him. “We’ll have to wait for them to stop mind fucking each other long enough to take their turns.”

Sloane looked up at me with a devious grin. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I wasn’t doing anything.”

“You lie,” Novak accused. “Wait. Did you say I’m with Sloane?”

Palmer and I both looked at each other. “I’m telling you now. This is a bad idea,” I whispered to him.

“Yes,” Sloane said as she wrapped her arm around Novak’s waist. “We should-”

“Make a bet?” Novak finished for her, nodding his head. “Something fun.”

“When we win,” she began, smirking as she tapped her left index finger on her bottom lip. “I’m changing your hair color for 24 hours.” She nodded her head, making her mind up on the spot.

“Two hours,” Palmer shot back.

“Twenty.” Novak narrowed his eyes at us.

“Six. Final offer.” I looked pointedly at both of them. Knowing how her deals worked, I added, “And not pink. I looked terrible with fluorescent pink hair. Never again.” I pointed my finger at Sloane. She lifted her hand to cover her mouth, hiding the smile I knew she wore.

“Agreed.” She rolled her amused eyes at me. “And if we lose?”

I looked at Palmer to see if he had any ideas. His eyes were glued to hers, brows low over his lashes as he concentrated. Then he turned to me. Softly he inquired, “Can ya beat her?”

I tilted my hand from side to side. “Fifty fifty chance here,” I confessed. “We’re pretty evenly matched, so it’ll come down to you and Novak.” I shrugged my shoulders.

He nodded his head. “Safe bet then,” he concluded. “Okay,” he spoke to Sloane and Novak. “We’ll bet the same. Hair color changes for six hours and no pink.”

Sloane eyed me as Novak began to rack the balls. “Your call, Trouble,” he told her.

“Agreed,” she answered Palmer wearily before turning to Novak. “I don’t think I like this, though,” she whispered.

I laughed before I could stop myself. She was competitive when she had something to lose, and she knew she couldn’t always beat me. Sloane and Novak stood facing each other, clearly having a mental conversation amongst themselves. Brows raised and furrowed, Sloane gnawed her lower lip, and Novak grinned while shaking his head.

“You know we can see you guys having a conversation, right? You’re not even trying to hide it,” I called out.

“Can ya hear them?” Palmer asked me. “She seems ta only hear the filthy things I think about.”

“No,” I admitted. “She has me closed out. The only one she ever keeps the connection open with is Jack, but I think that’s out of habit. They’ve had that link since they were kids.”

“How does it work for you, Love?” Palmer pointed his questioning gaze to Sloane. “Is it the same as Novak’s mental abilities?”

She leaned her hip against the pool table while she thought about it. “My mental connections work like a door.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I haven’t really thought much about it, but that’s the easiest way to explain it. It’s like… you can close your door, but if I’m on the other side, then I can open it. You could slam the door in my face all day long, but if you don’t lock it, then I’ll just keep opening it back up. So, the only time, say, Jack wouldn’t be able to open his side of the connection between us would be if I locked it.”

She paused to think more about her explanation. “The connection is nailed shut after the door is locked. So, I wouldn’t receive Jack’s thoughts anymore and he wouldn’t receive mine, unless I opened it back up since I was the one who locked it in the first place. The same would go for him, if he was the one who locked me out.”

“And how does the connection open back up? Just open the door again?” Palmer studied her intently.

She signed. “The re-opening of the connection can happen one of two ways for me: either I can unlock it myself, like opening the door, or it will open back up over time, distance, etc. It isn’t a permanent thing. It’s only temporary.”

“How would you permanently lock someone out?” Novak asked, and Palmer perked up. Probably filing all this information away so he could add it to those notes I knew he had stashed away somewhere.

Sloane swallowed. She looked a little uncomfortable with the question, but she took a deep breath. Her answer was softer than I expected. “In order to make it permanent, I would have to completely break the mental bond I shared with someone. I’ve been told that it would be an unpleasant experience for both parties, but I’ve never personally done it. I only make those deep mental connections with people I can trust fully, or my hounds. Being linked together the way Jack and I are? It’s an intimate thing. When we’re together, and not paying attention, we literally share every thought that crosses our minds. After sharing for so long, I learned how to filter what can be heard by him, but if I’m ever upset or angry, then it becomes harder.”

“So, no,” Novak acknowledged with a slow shake of his head. “Not like a regular vampire at all. I mean, I can pick and choose when it comes to listening, but I can’t make long lasting connections like you have with Jack.”

“Huh,” Sloane huffed out as she went to grab a black cue. That was all she said. I knew we’d get no more of an explanation right now. That was how she was. She’d drop a load of information down, but never give you all the details. She’d expect you to work the pieces out on your own. Then come back when you thought you had it figured out so she could give you more information that changed all your views. It wasn’t an endless cycle, though. Eventually you’d get to a point where she thought you were close enough. That was when she would spell it all out. If you were lucky, you’d have that “ohh” kind of moment. If not, then you’d spend the next few days rearranging all the puzzle pieces, trying to make squares fit into triangles.

She’d learned that from Lucifer. It was a bad habit, but not the worst the ancient fallen angel could have taught her. I knew it would come in handy when she took some of her titles and left others in charge under her command. Truthfully, I just wish she wouldn’t do the same thing with us. There was no reason to not explain things to her mates in full. Though I knew the whole story, it wasn’t my place to tell them everything. She would do that when she trusted them completely and not a day before.