I appear in front of him. “The demons say you look like a strawberry who wants to be eaten.”
“Am I sexy, though?” he asks as I move on, causing Nolan to lose me again.
“Dammit. The only time I can hear your mind is when you’re saying ridiculous shit!” Nolan snaps before he closes his eyes and I realize he’s finally getting serious.
“Stop.”
I slam to a stop.
“Ha. I got you now. Turn visible.”
I do as I’m told and fall into the bliss of him controlling my mind. It’s so quiet. It’s so peaceful, it’s so…
Ahhh, Ellison. Beautiful, pleasant, sweet Ellison.
“What’s going on here?” Ellison asks as he enters the room.
Nolan gives him a peculiar look, but it’s immediately erased by Landon’s gasp. “Who is this? AUGUST! AUGUST! Who is this man!?”
“Uhh… it’s Ellison?” Even August is confused.
Landon partially hides behind August. “No, no, no… did someone infiltrate Ellison’s body? Replace him with a different man? August, I feel extremely uncomfortable.”
Nolan drops his hold on me, so I hurry over to Ellison.
“Ellison’s skipped over Zaddy and gone straight to GrandZaddy, just the way I like it,” I say as I give his little sweater vest a tug.
“I am never speaking to any of you again,” Ellison decides.
“What did I do?” August asks.
“I am never speaking to Landon or Asmodeus again,” Ellison clarifies. “Now what are you doing?”
“Seeking forth the essence of our ancestors,” I explain, planning to throw him off the trail with a bit of wordage.
His eyes narrow. “My suspicions have grown. Speak.”
That’s when Pocket Lint bites the fur of Nemesis’s tail and the cat jumps, startled. Zacia scampers onto the scene and smacks Pocket Lint back.
“No! Be nice or I will make you repent by spending a whole day with Ellison,” I threaten.
“Asmodeus Death,” he says, and he knows that deep tone gets to me. “Do not ignore the question. What is going on here?”
“I was having Nolan practice his ability to control others on me. It was my idea. I thought it’d be fun.”
“Why would that be fun?” Ellison asks.
“It’s nothing weird like how you were controlling an illusion while we had se?—”
Ellison clamps a hand over my mouth before I can say more, but the look on Nolan’s face tells me he heard it all. Maybe he even got to see it reenacted in my mind because the imagery sure is dancing there.
“Fine. Continue your shenanigans. I have a few more things to deal with here and then I’ll be done,” he says as he heads out.
“Back at it, then,” I say to Nolan.
Nolan’s quiet for a moment before nodding toward the door. “He’s leaving the facility without you.”
“Of course he is,” I say. “Pocket Lint, assemble!”
