- 'What's the matter?' I asked in one breath, as I looked up at him, suspecting things must be serious.

- 'Aria has disappeared,' he said in a quavering voice as he picked up his phone.

He had to realize from my silence that I didn't know who he was talking about because he added:

- 'She's Charles' granddaughter, she's only eight years old...'

- 'Oh, my God! Are they starting to attack the children now?'

I was shocked. Even though I didn't hold Charles in my heart, that little girl didn't deserve this. No one deserved this. Not even him.

- 'Yes, we no longer have a choice, we have to try it,' he said in a pleading and resigned tone. 'If you still agree, of course...'

I didn't even answer him, merely stared at him and his stupid question.

- 'I admit that the main reason I discouraged you from doing something so risky is that there was a good chance they were all dead... You know that?' he asked me gently with a little apologetic glance.

There again, I answered nothing and simply stared at him while waiting for him to continue.

- 'At that time, I thought it wasn't worth it, even though I wanted to know what happened to them as much as you did. But now... it's different. Aria's kidnapping changed the game. She's just a child and she's only been missing for two hours. We still have a chance to find her alive.'

- 'If you are willing to do it, you know very well that I am as well,' I replied in a voice that I hoped calm and determined, before looking him straight in the eye so that he would know that I would not flinch.

- 'Well... Come here,' he said nicely, sitting on the couch and patting the spot next to him.

I joined him a little shaky. I was about to do something very likely irreversible, it was quite nerve-racking. It had to be done before Worth arrived. We didn't know the potential side effects and we may need time to recover from them. But we didn't have any time, so we might as well do it as soon as possible. It would also save us from overthinking, which was not bad. We both thought so; although we didn't exchange any words, one look had been enough.

Jude pulled a small knife out of a sheath cleverly hidden in his sleeve (this man was a real armoury, my god!), drew me against him with his right arm, then slightly cut his left wrist, as I had done a few days before, before putting it under my nose.

- 'Drink up.'

I remained frozen. Unable to do anything else but watch the blood flow lazily from the wound, so small that it was already closing again.

- 'You know, I deliberately portrayed the worst possible scenarios to discourage you, but the truth is that we have no idea what to expect. It may not be so bad or permanent after all,' he whispered gently in my ear.

I could not determine precisely who he wanted to reassure most, him or me. However, it didn't matter much. I had this brilliant idea, it was now my turn to accept the responsibility. I took a deep breath to calm myself, then approached his wrist, notched again, to my mouth.

I quickly realized that breathing was a bad idea, the sweet, metallic smell of blood made me nauseous. So I held my breath, closed my eyes and put my mouth on the wound. It wasn't flowing enough for me to really "drink", so I just licked the wound a little like a cat licking its milk and fortunately, because it was a horrible experience from start to finish.

I had to fight every second against the desire to spit it out and against my increasingly violent gags. After a time that seemed endless to me, I pushed his wrist as far away from me as possible and tried to breathe as best I could through my mouth so that the smell would not make my nausea worse.

- 'It's all right... It's over,' he whispered gently as he stroked my arm in a soothing back-and-forth gesture.

- 'I have to rinse my mouth,' I managed to say as I rushed to the bathroom with an uncertain gait.

I did this as quickly as possible and avoided looking in the mirror. As this was not enough, I feverishly searched the furniture under the sink and found a toothbrush still in its wrapper, as well as toothpaste. I brushed my teeth and tongue three times with my eyes closed. The pinkish colour of the foam I had noticed at first convinced me not to look again, otherwise I would end up with my head in the toilet bowl. When the horrible taste had completely disappeared and I could finally breathe more normally again, I was struck by several things.

The smells seemed... amplified. For example, I could guess all the components of the shower gel placed on the bathtub at the other end of the bathroom, despite the closed bottle. Secondly, I felt like a veil had been removed from my eyes. Everything seemed much clearer and above all much more detailed. Finally, I felt Jude's presence as never before. I knew he was in the room, even if he didn't make a sound and the door was closed, I was sure of it. I could even say that he was sitting on the bed, head in hands and panicked.

This was enough to distract me from my new senses. I had seen Jude give in countless times to anger, sometimes to despair but never to panic. What was scaring him so much? I stepped out of the room and approached him gently so as not to surprise him.

- 'Are you all right?' I asked him.

- 'My God, what's with the incessant humming? I feel like I'm no longer alone in my head,' he complained.

I opened my eyes wide. Oh, boy! Jude seemed to share my overdeveloped psychic perceptions, yet I didn't detect anything special. Then, as if they were only waiting for me to finally take an interest in them to manifest themselves again, they overwhelmed me. The sensations were much more intense than before and my action radius seemed much wider!

I caught a flood of emotions and sensations from the different animals in the surrounding countryside - we were not far from a herd of cows. It was... both exhilarating and invasive. I was still wondering what to think of this and how to manage this new level of perception, when a new set of emotions came over me. I began to feel panic, misunderstanding and I felt a dull and old fear invade me. It was totally new to me, confusing and disturbing, and especially wrapped in a familiar scent, I suddenly realized I was picking up Jude's emotions live... Shit!

Under the impact of my own panic, this time I forced myself to rebuild my defenses and close my mind to all external perceptions. I was so shocked and so afraid to perceive things that I had neither the desire nor the right to know, that I wanted to close myself off as completely and hermetically as possible to external aggression, although I had never been able to do so until now. After an indefinite period of time and much effort, there was finally silence.

It was at that moment that I really understood the strength with which I was restricting my own perceptions. Although Charles and Jude had already told me several times, I had not really become aware of the extent and strength of my mental control. I now recognized the value. What a relaxing silence, it was almost deafening because... there was nothing left! It was so unexpected and unusual for me, that for a moment I didn't know where I was. Then, before I collapsed on the carpet, I preferred to sit softly on the bed to regain my senses.

What had just happened to me? Had I really "heard" another person's emotions? It had never happened before, or I didn't realize it, which I doubted very much. So why now and why, for the first time too, was I able to completely disconnect myself from my "abilities"? What an idiot... The infamous side effects inherent in my ingestion of Jude's blood. He had inherited my ability to perceive emotions, and I had inherited his extraordinary self-control. Not to mention that it must have boosted my own abilities.

Everything seemed to be jostling in my head. I was in shock. A ton of questions were looped through my brain. Would this be permanent? Was it only about Jude or also about other shapeshifters, even humans? Surely noticing that I was not behaving as usual, Jude straightened up and looked at me, his eyes half closed, as if he was suffering from a horrible migraine. This brought me back and I finally convinced myself that the answers to all these questions would appear on their own soon enough anyway. For the time being, I had to explain to Jude what was happening to him, because it must have been confusing for him who was used to be in control of everything.

- 'You are experiencing how I feel... if I don't channel my "skills".'

- 'No, it must be something else,' he interrupted me abruptly. 'I've never felt anything like this before, even before my first metamorphosis.'

- 'Well, that's how it manifests itself for me. Although I think you're enjoying the enhanced version from our blood exchange.'

- 'How can you not go crazy?' he grunted as he took his head in his hands, with the unconscious intention of stopping the noise in his head.

He had to see the worry in my eyes, because with an obvious effort, he lowered his hand to gently grab mine. He was about to open his mouth, certainly to apologize, when he suddenly closed it and looked at me with an astonished and relieved look. Then without saying a word, he let go of me, could not contain a wince and took my hand almost immediately, holding it so tightly that he hurt me. He realized it almost instantly and loosened his grip without letting go of me.

- 'Apparently, it helps you to touch me,' I commented unnecessarily.

- 'Yes. As soon as our skins came into contact... it was silent again.'

- 'Yes,' I replied dreamily. 'That's also new to me.... Silence. Usually it's more like a kind of continuous background noise, that's what I constantly experience. I'm so used to it, I don't even care anymore. But silence is new... relaxing but disconcerting in its own way, and I think it's because of you, in a way.'

- 'What do you mean?' he asked me suspiciously, taking care not to let go of my hand.

- 'Since I drank your blood, all my senses are amplified and so are my perceptions. But I also found that my defenses are much stronger, surely a consequence of your control freak mania,' I mocked without being able to help myself. 'On the bright side, there's no reason why you can't do it yourself very quickly.'

- 'For that, you'd have to explain how to do it.'

So I began to explain to him how to gradually close his mind to external aggressions, and he quickly reached a more than acceptable level in a very short time. Nevertheless, it took him a lot of effort, which is why he still had his hand in mine at the end of this little exercise, and it didn't seem to please him. This guy was a control freak, and needing advice, especially from me, to be able to control himself, it made him angry. He suddenly freed himself from my hand and went with a raging step into the kitchen where he drank a glass of water. Probably to calm his nerves.

I followed him more calmly and realized that my usual background noise was gradually returning. Goodbye silence... I was both disappointed and relieved, because it meant that it was only momentary and that what we feared most had apparently not happened. Suddenly a little lighter, but a little less patient with Jude's attitude, I joined him in the kitchen.

- 'All right,' I said to him a little angry. 'What you feared most didn't seem to happen. You will not be chained to me for eternity. So you can relax.'

I was a little offended by his reaction.

- 'What do you know? It already seems more than intimate to me if I have to hold your hand so I don't have a migraine,' he grunted in an acerbic voice.

- 'Welcome to my world,' I said coldly.

His sole answer was to stare at me and start to pace, while he massaged his temples with an overwhelming look.

- 'Stop being a child! I've been living with it since I was seven years old and I didn't die from it. Moreover, it is apparently transitory, because I have had a sample of your senses and your " super-control " for a dozen minutes, and it is already fading away, so you can relax.'

For a minute I thought he was going to explode, then he clenched his fists and certainly counted up to ten in his head, before breathing deeply. He then slowly reopened his eyes, looked at me and started to smile a little, meaning: "You have patronized me and you will pay for it! »

- 'Right, given your melancholy outbursts and recurring nightmares, it's a real miracle that you're still with us, apparently.'

- 'If being deliberately mean and hurtful helps you, good for you! Personally, I find it counterproductive,' I told him haughtily, resolute not to let him get to me so easily. 'Did all this at least have the desired effect? Because, as you so kindly pointed out not so long ago, time is running out for your friend.'

I hadn't intended to be so petty, because I wanted to find that little girl as much as he did, but I refused to let him treat me like that, being hot and cold as he pleased. I wasn't his whipping boy, those days were over; never again. If my comment surprised or hurt him, he didn't show it.

- 'I think so... although all these parasite sensations disturb me a lot. We'll have to run a test to be sure.'

His phone beeped a little.

- 'Worth is here.'

The three of us were in the small living room, which was getting on my nerves, again. Worth sat heavily on the couch, without even trying to hide his weariness and discouragement. It's true he looked exhausted. Huge rings circled his eyes and his wrinkled clothes from the day before, which he had probably slept in, did not help his condition. He looked about ten years older.

- 'The metal trail has not given anything and will not give anything conclusive if it cannot be cross-referenced with other data. They are metals commonly used in different types of paint and are not very difficult to obtain. You're going to have to tell me a little more, or there's not much I can do for you.'

He had not let go of my eyes and was trying to ignore Jude. However, I suddenly saw him open his eyes and look more closely at the two of us.

- 'What happened?' he asked, immediately more alert and with his cop voice.

- 'Why do you want something to have happened?' Jude replied in an anything but friendly manner.

- 'I just feel it, that's all. Call it a sixth sense, if you will, but it is generally quite reliable. Moreover, your reaction just confirmed it. How can we work together if you don't trust me?'

He had stood up and stared at Jude.

- 'I can pay you back the compliment. You don't trust me any more than I trust you. I'm sure you spent half the night checking my identity and background,' he said. 'Am I wrong?'

Worth replied nothing, but his silence as well as his little grin spoke volume. I decided to intervene to divert his attention. This guy had unusual perceptions. I had already had doubts several times, but this time it was confirmed. I decided to talk to him about the plan, even though we hadn't discussed it with Jude beforehand. After all, it wouldn't be any worse to have a member of the police know about it, if I were to disappear without leaving a trace.

- 'Jude has already taken great personal risks in involving you,' I said, 'and even if we told you more, you wouldn't progress more. We are in a blur, that's why I had an idea to finally understand who they are and where to find them. As well as, I hope, the missing persons. But we would need you and your skills to implement it.'

Fortunately for me he did not perceive the lie contained in my last sentence and simply watched me with a dubious look, waiting for me to continue my explanations. I gave him the main points without going into too much detail. He understood at once and reacted almost as quickly and negatively as Jude had.

- 'You're crazy! I'm surprised that you support this,' he shouted at Jude, while standing up with a smooth movement.

- 'Don't think I'm thrilled,' he muttered. 'But...'

- 'Anyway, even if I wanted to, which I don't, I couldn't help you. Not officially anyway. My superiors would never allow a civilian to be used as bait when we have absolutely no idea what we're getting into. I will not risk your life and my career. It's far too risky for us all.' he concluded, giving me a sorry but decided look.

He apparently did not realize that he had interrupted Jude, who was looking at him with an attitude that definitely belonged only to him. Nevertheless, he continued his sentence, imperturbable, as if he had never been interrupted.

- 'An eight-year-old girl just disappeared. Do you really think I would consider, even for a second, letting her do it, if it wasn't for a case of absolute necessity?' he replied as if he was talking to a moron.

His answer annoyed me tremendously, but I preferred not to acknowledge it and was interested in the inspector's reaction. Because even if he didn't help us, we could manage, but what if he decided to hinder us?

- 'How is it that the police don't know in this case?' he asked suspiciously.

- 'Because people like me don't usually call the police. But now we're lost and I'd appreciate your help... unofficial,' Jude said.

It seemed as if he had just swallowed a lemon and it was obvious that this confession was costing him. Worth looked at the both of us in an angry, irritated, and then finally... resigned look. And then I knew we won.

- 'As I know very well that with or without my help you will do it anyway... might as well do it with me. But if you want to play the bait without any training, you will wear a microphone and a GPS tracking system, and that's not negotiable. But I guess that was already part of the plan?'

I remained silent for a moment and looked at Jude in dismay, who sent me the same look. What a bunch of idiots! We hadn't even thought to involve Worth and the police surveillance systems.

Noooo! Instead, we had rushed heads down into an inextricable and potentially dangerous situation for both of us. That'll teach us to rush without thinking. As we did not react, he continued to speak as he walked towards the door.

- 'I'll need some time to put together a team of people I trust and then I'll get back to you.'

Jude seemed to come out of his momentary despondency and called out to the inspector as he was about to leave.

- 'Do you have any news about the bullet?'

- 'The technicians didn't know where to start, so they preferred to wait until I brought them the fragment I had told them about. Do you have it?' he asked, reaching out his hand towards Jude.

I handed it to him and he left. He was to call us within two to four hours to set up an meeting point to put the tracking devices on me. I think we could use this time to refine the details and maybe discuss a little bit about what had just happened between us. Jude simply gave me an unreadable glance before locking himself in the bedroom. As the next few hours promised to be very long and lonely, I decided to lie down on the couch and try to rest.