Anathema (Causal Enchantment, #1)

by K.A. Tucker

18. Choices

  “Viggo,” Mortimer warned, a wary eye on the dogs. He still seemed flabbergasted by Max’s new allegiance to me.

  Viggo ignored him, standing fast with my pendant in his hand, hysteria twitching on his face. “You are going to help us because you want to help yourself. You’re going to bring these friends of yours back, right?”

  I stood frozen. Caden. Amelie. Fiona. Bishop. Their faces flashed in my mind.

  “You’re going to go out and look for this portal for the pendant,” he continued. “Check every rock, every cave, every city.”

  “The place is crawling with vampires. I’m dead if they get hold of me,” I replied warily.

  “You’re dead if I get hold of you.” Viggo’s lips curled into a hideous smile.

  A chorus of deep, menacing growls sounded but no one paid any heed.

  “How many vampires are left on this Ratheus, anyway?” Mortimer interjected.

  “I don’t know. I don’t think there’s been a census done lately,” I answered sullenly, my eyes glued to Viggo. Murderer.

  “My, someone’s finally found her tongue. When did you become so grating?” Viggo asked with an infuriating smirk.

  “When I found out you murdered my mother.”

  “Didn’t you explain, Sofie?” Viggo’s eyebrows lifted, but his focus remained on me. “That was Sofie’s fault. She deceived me.” The gleam in his eye turned my blood ice cold. “Don’t ever deceive me.”

  “You want to be free of us, don’t you?” Mortimer added, a hint of desperation in his voice.

  I faltered. “And will I? Be free of you once I bring them back?”

  “Absolutely.”

  I don’t believe you. But it didn’t matter. Either I refused and Viggo wrenched the necklace off me right here, right now, leaving Caden and the others in Ratheus for eternity, forever beyond my sight, or I risked dying by going along with this. Highly probable risk but just a risk, all the same.

  “So you want me to just wander around until the necklace starts talking to me? What if I get caught? So far, the two run–ins I’ve had with the vampires of that world haven’t exactly ended well. Remember? I almost died both times.”

  “But that was before. You are so much wiser now, and the necklace has properly adjusted. I’m sure you’ll do just fine,” Viggo assured me, smiling. He stepped away, releasing the pendant. “So it’s settled?”

  If I release Veronique and she chooses Mortimer, then this will be worth it. “I’m glad you’re feeling good about this plan, given you’re not the one who’s going to die,” I grumbled. “And if I die then this whole plan is finished and you have no hope of ever turning Veronique.”

  Mortimer raised an eyebrow at Sofie.

  She sighed. “If the lapse in time continues as it’s been going, with you staying longer and longer away from here … I’m afraid you’ll one day—soon—simply not return. Then it won’t matter. You can’t survive long in a place like that.”

  “That’s why I was hungry … and tired,” I thought aloud. It also explained all the supplies for me that Sofie had packed. She had known it would happen. That or she took the ‘be–prepared’ Girl Scout Motto to a whole new level. “So every time I go over now, I’ll be there for longer and longer and eventually I’ll stay there forever?”

  Sofie nodded.

  Would that be so bad? I wouldn’t have to help my mother’s murderer find true love. And I could stay with Caden, Amelie, Fiona, and Bishop. In a cave, with no electricity, no running water, no food.

  Four vampires and one human, living together in harmony. No, five vampires. Ugh. Unless this Rachel thing ended and she went back to whatever crypt she belonged in. Who was I fooling? She wouldn’t go anywhere. Not before she tore the flesh right from my bones as I watched, screaming.

  There would always be the constant threat of death. No, not threat. Inevitability. Even if I evaded death by Rachel or some other vampire, it would catch up to me eventually with age. A vivid image popped into my head then—a wrinkled old woman in a black string bikini struggling to shuffle into a hot spring lake, watched with disgust and pity by four young, beautiful vampires. It made me shudder. That’d be worse than dying.

  Unless …

  “What would happen to the necklace if I stayed there forever? Would it keep protecting me? Like, from their venom?” I asked Sofie. Could I be … turned? The very idea made my skin crawl, but I had to know.

  Her eyes flashed knowingly. “It could keep working, not realizing that you can’t return to Earth anymore. That, or kill you. Which one it will be … it’s a toss–up.”

  Old or dead. I sighed. Well, that ended that idea. I could handle the caveman life if it meant spending it young and with Caden, but the alternatives—old and wrinkly or with Rachel—were unthinkable.

  So that left me helping the vampire who’d murdered my mother or letting him kill me. Could I get away? Could I bring them all over then escape? Hope sparked for only a millisecond; he’d hunt me down. I’d spend the rest of my life being the prey of a desperate two thousand–year–old vampire. “The rest of my life” would prove much shorter than expected.

  I swallowed the painful lump in my throat. “Okay.”

  “Okay?” Viggo’s brow rose incredulously.

  I nodded.

  “Fabulous!” That deceptively charming smile was back. I saw through it now, though.

  “Is there anything you need?” Sofie asked softly, sadness in her eyes. “I can go pick up some supplies.”

  I hesitated. “A wet suit.” Viggo and Mortimer looked at me suspiciously. “In case this portal is underwater,” I quickly added. Or in the cave with the Merth, which was exactly where I was headed. I was going to bring back as much Merth as possible so I could wrap myself in it.

  Hello, Max’s deep voice boomed clearly in my head.

  My eyes widened.

  Still not ready?

  “No, I’m not ready to hear voices in my head. I’ll never be ready to hear voices. But that won’t change anything, will it?” I muttered bitterly, turning onto my back in bed to stare up at the ceiling. So I was having a conversation with a dog. So what? Plenty of people talk to animals.

  Leo had moved my things—whatever hadn’t been damaged—into another suite. The furnishings were similar here to those in my previous room, but the magical vibe was gone. The Bloody Quarters, I mused, my eyes scanning the rich red walls and fabrics. If those giant leopards had been massacred in here, the carnage would have blended in nicely.

  I reached over and touched one of Max’s massive paws. “How can I hear you?”

  Because you’re my master now.

  “What does that even mean? How am I your master?”

  I don’t know. It just happened. Mortimer used to be my master and now you are.

  “And how do I talk to you in my head? You know, telepathically?”

  You can’t. I don’t know why, but it’s only one–way communication.

  I nodded, somehow disappointed with the limitation. “Sofie said you watched over me?”

  Yes.

  I brightened with an idea. “You need to show me what you saw, Max,” I urged. “You have to if I’m your master and I order you, right?”

  I heard a loud groan of annoyance. You’re sounding like Mortimer already.

  “Oh … sorry Max.” I smiled sheepishly. “But it’s important.”

  What would you like to see?

  I thought for a moment. “My mother? Before …” Before she was murdered. “I need to get that image out of my head. Please Max.”

  That picture show began in my head again. This time I was looking through a window at a girl of maybe five, her long blond pigtails tied with peacock blue satin bows, sitting on a stool in a small kitchen. She was savoring a batter–covered beater as if chocolate was the most heavenly taste ever created. A blonde woman, her back to the girl, was loading a tray of cupcakes into the oven to bake. She turned, offering a dimpled smile and a laugh to the little gi
rl.

  My mother.

  Warmth warred with stabbing pain in my chest. My memory hadn’t done her justice. I had forgotten how beautiful she was, with her shoulder–length, sandy blonde hair and infectious smile. Even at a young age, I’d noticed how she turned heads. But it wasn’t just her looks. She also had that charismatic, clever personality that won people over in seconds. The room would light up when she walked in. At least for me, it always did.

  Images began flashing in my mind again. Faces … faces I recognized as those in the foster homes I had moved through in my youth. Mrs. Boulding, the Avon lady. Mr. Billsbury, the drunk. Mrs. Clairmont, the evangelical loon. The Darlings. They had been relatively normal …

  The images went on and on, a candid viewing of my transient life until it stopped with the image of me stumbling in front of Newt’s Brew. Watching the scene from Max’s point of view, I saw Sofie’s pricey lantern fall over and smash without ever coming into contact with my leg.

  Magic. It had all been staged. A chill swept over me.

  But that wasn’t the most unsettling discovery in all of this. “How did I not see you?”

  I didn’t want to be seen, Max said matter–of–factly.

  Of course. A three hundred pound dog lurking in my apartment and prowling the streets after me, and my Spidey–senses never kicked in. But Eddie, the crazy homeless guy, had seen him.

  “How often were you watching me?”

  There was a long pause. You were never alone.

  The sudden urge to vomit hit me like a tidal wave. I bolted to the washroom. After several minutes of staring at the white porcelain toilet bowl—nothing was coming up, it was just my nerves—I gave up and stumbled back with the awful knowledge that there had been a pair of eyes on me for my entire life, and I had never suspected it.

  “Max, show me everything you remember,” I demanded.

  I remember everything.

  “Okay, the important things.”

  I lay down on the bed, my eyes staring at the ceiling without seeing it, getting a play–by–play of my childhood through the eyes of a dog. Some memories were specific, like the Halloween I dressed in a penguin costume—my mother’s favorite animal—and waddled out the front door, only to fall flat on my face and give myself a bloody nose because the costume bound my feet together too tightly. Other images were vague—me, sitting in my room, crying quietly as I clutched a framed picture of my mother. I had done that often in the early days.

  Max showed me another flash then, one that didn’t require a replay for me to remember every second. I had just turned thirteen and was at home watching reruns on television, what I normally did while waiting for my mom to get home from work. The doorbell rang. Is your father home? a policeman asked when I opened the door. I shook my head. Do you have any family you can call? I shook my head, frowning, wondering what was going on. The female police officer smiled gently and asked me to wait a second while she called someone on her radio. Child Services showed up not long after, sending me to my room to pack a bag of things.

  That was the night Viggo murdered my mother.

  The images stopped.

  “How are you doing this?” I asked Max.

  I just can.

  “Show me more, then. Show me everything.”

  He obliged.

  Me, studying alone in the library for hours. Me, alone and leaning against a chain link fence after school, reading a book as all the other kids hung out together. Me, alone in a park, swinging so high that I looked ready to sail off. Me, always alone.

  Bitterness swelled. Of course I was alone. Viggo had made sure of it. What would my life have been like without this blasted curse?

  I stared vacantly at Sofie as she walked into the room, another mountain bag slung over one shoulder as if it were filled with cotton balls.

  She has your best interests at heart, Max said.

  “How do you know that?” I answered.

  Sofie looked up at me, frowning. I shook my head dismissively. “Oh.” She smiled, glancing over at the dog sprawled on the king–sized bed. “Ready to go? It’s time to strap you in.”

  With everything that had transpired—the attack, learning the devastating truth about my mother and my life—I hadn’t had a second to think about Ratheus … about Caden’s rejection. It seemed so trivial now, yet my stomach tightened all the same, a wave of nausea draining my face of blood.

  But, in the end, it wasn’t trivial. Hope that Caden might feel something for me, that I could save him and the others from their isolation, was all I had left. I had lost everything else because of this curse. Something good had to come of it.

  Was there something more than friendship there? His words had been so contradictory. Was I reading too much into them, hearing what I wanted to hear—what I needed to hear? There had to be some twisted reason that had brought him—a sweet, kind, gorgeous, down–to–earth creature—together with the anti–Christ, Rachel.

  I dragged myself off the bed to sit in front of the bag.

  “Great,” Sofie said cheerfully, affixing the straps.

  I frowned at her. She was way too cheery.

  Viggo’s listening, Max said. They think she’s keeping secrets from them. They don’t trust her.

  “Wonder why,” I grumbled. Sofie glanced up, shushing me with her finger.

  Sofie wants me to tell you to stay put. Don’t go looking for the portal.

  “But what if—” Sofie’s hand clamped over my mouth, accompanied by a severe glare of caution.

  You’ll never find it and you’ll just be putting yourself in danger. It will find you.

  My mouth opened to speak but snapped shut when Sofie’s mint eyes flashed with another stern warning. Did that mean she knew where it was? I nodded once, my eyes darting suspiciously between the two of them. Did Sofie ask Max to relay the message earlier, or could they also communicate? I was dying to ask, but I couldn’t. I’d ask Max later. I had something more important to ask.

  “Sofie?” I said, hesitant. “Do you think there’s any way I can bring more than one of them back?”

  “I wish I could say yes or no,” she murmured. “There’s a chance, though … There. One done.” Her hands moved to the next strap. “You’ve really taken to them, haven’t you?”

  “No,” I lied. Viggo didn’t need another way to hurt me. I caught Sofie’s knowing smile. “It just seems cruel to bring one back and leave the rest there.”

  “Yes. It would be,” she agreed. “Let’s hope you don’t have to make that choice. Either way, I wouldn’t mention that part to them. For your sake.”

  I listened to the clock ticking as Sofie finished buckling me in.

  Sofie opened her mouth to speak, then hesitated. “I know they’re your friends,” she began, “but please be careful. You’re such a trusting girl, Evangeline.”

  Desperately gullible. That’s what I was.

  Fiona had a torch burning within seconds of my arrival. “Let me help you with that!” She started on the straps of my backpack.

  “It’s so good to see you,” I exclaimed, smiling with genuine happiness. It vanished the second I saw jet black hair in my peripheral vision. My body went rigid, a prickly sensation filling my lungs. Rachel was back. And wearing an outfit Sofie had purchased for her. “Hi Rachel.” I held my breath and forced a smile, hoping it looked authentic.

  She looked at me like a snake studying a mouse it was seriously considering for dinner. Did Caden mention to her that I threw myself at him? No, I’d already be dead.

  I heard myself exhale, all fear of Rachel vanishing as Caden walked in. My heart practically leapt out of my chest and a big, dumb grin that I couldn’t control stretched my face. I was filled with a volatile mixture of anxiety and excitement. All I needed was that returning smile, a glint in his intense jade eyes that would tell me all was okay. That we were okay.

  His eyes skimmed over my face—no smile, no wink, no sign that he even recognized me—before he strolled over to Rac
hel. He wrapped his arms adoringly around her, nuzzling into her thick mane of black hair, whatever aversion to public affection he had before clearly gone.

  My smile slid off my face.

  “What did you bring us?” Rachel asked, her cool lemon eyes passing over me, giving me chills.

  “I … Stuff,” I mumbled.

  “You’re back!” Amelie exclaimed, suddenly appearing to skip over and give me a big hug.

  I nodded, unable to form words.

  “Did you bring blood?” Rachel’s eyebrow arched severely.

  “Are you nuts? No! She’s not bringing us human blood,” Fiona snapped, her normally placid face showing rare annoyance. She untied the strings and knots and began pulling items out of the bag.

  “Boots!” Amelie cried in delight, hoisting a pair of brown leather riding boots. Fiona had a matching pair. There was a third set for Rachel. I wanted to burn those.

  “Mine!” Bishop shouted, startling me, as an acoustic guitar appeared. I had barely noticed him stroll in, even when he stopped to ruffle my hair. Seeing his genuine pleasure, I felt a tiny ball of warmth swell in the pit of my twisting stomach. Sofie had listened to every word I’d ever said about them.

  “Check it out!” Bishop tossed the instrument to Caden, who caught it with one hand. Letting go of Rachel, he strummed the first few notes of some song.

  “You play too?” I asked, giving him a chance to acknowledge me.

  “Of course I do.” His voice was detached and cool, his expression remote, his eyes not leaving the guitar strings as he spoke. He may as well have smashed me over the head with the instrument.

  “Stupid girl,” Rachel mocked, laughing at my wounded expression.

  “Show us how to turn this on.” Fiona shoved a portable DVD player in my face, forcing my attention to her. It gave me a chance to hide the pain on my face. She grabbed my hand and squeezed it. Sympathy. Caden must have told them.

  “Oh, this … for movies,” I stammered. “There’s a bunch of battery packs as well, to keep it running.”

  “Are any of them good?” Amelie interjected, holding up a collection of DVDs.

  They were trying to distract me, to keep my mind preoccupied. A very considerate, if useless, act. “Um, yeah. I mean, no. I mean—” I couldn’t think straight. “I don’t know.”

  “Has she always been so stupid, or is this new?” Rachel said to Caden, loud enough for me to hear.

  “I know. The witch could have looked a little harder,” Caden responded, reaching out to grab her hand and pull her into an affectionate embrace.

  It was a razor–sharp verbal stab. I dropped my gaze to my hands, salty tears welling in my eyes. I couldn’t take much more of this.

  Fiona’s hand grasped mine again and squeezed as Rachel giggled wickedly, likely pitying me. I dared one more glance at Caden, one more gaze at that beautiful face before I accepted the instant and horrible demise of my fantasy and moved my focus to the dark reality of my situation: my death if I didn’t find the secret of this spell.

  My eyes crawled up along Rachel’s back, over Caden’s arms, still wrapped lovingly around her, to his perfect face. To see his eyes glued to me, a strange look in them. What is that look … pity? No, pleading. But for what, exactly?

  Rachel’s hand massaged Caden’s chest and abdomen seductively, her fingers curling into claws that raked over him hard enough to leave impressions in his shirt. I shut my eyes, a mixture of revulsion and anger flaring, though I knew I had no right. He wasn’t mine. He was Rachel’s, as ghastly a proposition as that was. She could do whatever she wanted with him—to him. But telling myself that did nothing to ease the pain of the knife being twisted in my heart.

  I opened my eyes. Rachel’s face was now burrowed in Caden’s neck, her attention otherwise occupied. I glanced up at Caden’s face again to see that same pleading look, only more intense. I’m sorry, he mouthed slowly.

  My eyes went wide in surprise. Sorry for what? For morphing from sweet and affectionate to exhibitionist asshole?

  Amelie loudly cleared her throat. I turned to look at her. She stared hard at me, as if sending me a message telepathically. I’m not your pet, Amelie! I don’t know what you’re trying to tell me!

  Something very strange was happening here and I hated it. I wanted the last trip back, with its laughter, its ease. Its time with Caden. No Rachel. If only there was some way to make her go away again …

  “Sofie says I can bring you back with me,” I suddenly blurted without thinking.

  Everyone’s eyes bugged out, Caden’s in horror.

  A plan was forming in my head. My own web of deceit. The very idea of lying to Amelie, Fiona, and Bishop made me ill but I had no other choice. I needed Rachel gone. I’d explain afterward. “Sofie thinks the answer is somewhere out there and someone needs to go looking for it,” I continued, my voice trembling.

  “What the hell does that mean?” Rachel’s face screwed up.

  “Well …” Think fast, Evangeline, or she’s going to see right through your sloppy efforts! “You know how the statue just appeared, out of nowhere? Sofie’s spell put it there. To create a point of origin. But something else also appeared. A portal for my necklace. It will tell me how to bring you back with me.” Not you though, Rachel.

  “She’s lying to you,” Caden said, throwing a panicked glare in my direction.

  I ignored him. “It could be a scroll, a book, another statue. Whatever it is, you’ll know. It won’t look seven hundred years old.”

  “Where do we start?” Amelie leapt onto her feet, her typically animated personality in overdrive.

  Rachel was more wary. “It could take years to find it, if at all!”

  “No. It wants to be found.” By you, Rachel. Go fetch. “Sofie thinks it’s either in the mountains or in a city. Somewhere still inhabited, where someone who was familiar with the city could find it.” Like you.

  “The only city left is New Shore,” Fiona began.

  “Hey, isn’t that where you went, Rachel?” I asked innocently. “You know it really well, don’t you?”

  “Yes, but there’s nothing like what you’re talking about there.” She bit her lower lip. “I’ll have to do some searching …”

  I have her.

  “Maybe I’ll go look around during my trip there next week.”

  No, it has to be today. This instant! I silently screamed, my thumbs squeezed so tightly within my fists that I thought I might break them. “That’s a problem …” I said, pausing to formulate my next lie. “Sofie said that we’re running out of time. I only have a few more trips before the spell wears off.”

  “Oh my God! We better start looking!” Amelie exclaimed. “Come on! Let’s go! I’ll take the north mountain, you take the south, Fiona,” she rambled.

  “We can go to New Shore,” Rachel said, her arm around Caden.

  No, not ‘we’! Just you! I reached over to grab Fiona’s hand, squeezing hard, wishing I could take a time–out and explain everything.

  “What about using Scout and the others to search?” Fiona said. She hadn’t picked up on my panic. I wanted to cry.

  “Of course! Great idea, babe!” Bishop cried, kissing Fiona.

  No, no, no! This plan wasn’t going how I wanted it.

  “Of course Caden is connected to half of our guard around here, so he needs to be here to communicate,” Fiona said slowly.

  My panic escaped through my mouth in a long sigh. I glanced over at Fiona, who winked at me. She understood. I fought the urge to hug her, silently begging her forgiveness for lying.

  “But, I just got back!” Rachel scoffed, a horrified expression on her face. “We’ve barely seen each other!”

  “Fiona’s right,” Caden said, taking Rachel’s hands in his and staring into her eyes. If he was indeed feigning great disappointment at the idea of being apart, his acting skills were impressive. Rachel began shaking her head in response. “We need all the help we can get in these mountains and the valleys.�
�� He cupped her chin. “Plus, as long as Evangeline is here, we should have as many of us as possible around for protection. You know New Shore best, out of anyone. And you’ll have no problems searching it, being part of the Council. No one will question you.”

  Rachel’s bottom lip curved down in a childish pout.

  “Think of this new world … human blood,” he whispered.

  I could see the uncontainable lust flash in her eyes with the mention of human blood. Her dangling carrot. That Caden had previously renounced the act of killing humans didn’t phase her. “Fine. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” With one obscenely long, mauling kiss for Caden—one that I didn’t watch, instead locking eyes with Fiona—Rachel vanished.

  I exhaled slowly, covering my overjoyed smile within folded hands in the small chance that it may be inappropriate. The ball of anxiety over Caden still sat prominently in my stomach but at least now I’d have a chance to find out what the hell was going on.

  “Let’s do this!” Bishop announced.

  “Wait.” Fiona’s eyes narrowed, communicating silently with him, nodding toward the cave entrance. With a slight frown of concern, he nodded and walked over to stand by the entrance, staring out into nothingness—listening or smelling, I assumed.

  We sat silently, waiting for Bishop’s sanction. My eyes flitted over to Caden to catch him staring at me, expressionless. His eyes dropped.

  “And she’s gone! Crossed over the first mountain,” Bishop announced in a booming voice.

  I had to figure out how to do that with Max, I promised myself.

  “Okay Evangeline, what’s going on?” Fiona asked.

  At the same time Caden yelled, “I told you not to say anything!”

  “Don’t get mad, everyone,” I said, my hands out in a sign of peace. I had just lied to a group of vampires about the one thing they desperately wanted. The gravity of that began to sink in.

  Amelie, Bishop, and Fiona’s eyes darted between Caden and me. “You knew about this?” Amelie’s raspy voice was full of shock.

  I took a deep breath. “I lied,” I began. She turned, her angelic face crestfallen, the brightness in her eyes fading. “Not about taking you back!” I quickly added. “Before, when I told you that I couldn’t take you back, I lied.”

  “So you can?” Amelie’s emerald eyes began glowing eagerly again.

  “Sort of …” My eyes darted to Caden, looking for help. He turned away, jaw clenched and eyes closed.

  “Well, which is it?” Amelie cried in frustration.

  “That’s the tricky part. I don’t know exactly how to do it.”

  “So all that stuff about the portal was a lie?” Bishop said slowly and evenly.

  “No! That was true! Sofie said there’s no use in looking for it, though. We’ll never find it that way, she said. But … there’s more.” I paused, dreading this part. “I don’t know how many of you I can bring back. That’s why I didn’t tell you.”

  “But … there’s hope?” Amelie began pacing. “Maybe you can bring us all back?”

  “Yes! Maybe. I mean, Sofie thinks I can.” A lie. A little white lie but a lie all the same. One I prayed would never be proven wrong.

  “Bring us all back so we can kill you when we get there?” Caden leaned against the cave wall, his expression blank, his voice flat.

  “We won’t kill her, Caden!” Amelie glared at her brother.

  “My sister, the eternal optimist,” Caden sneered. “And if she’s wrong, you’re the one who pays.” He pushed himself off the wall and turned, his back to me now like a slap to my face.

  My eyes roamed the group, studying expressions full of optimism, shock, angst, and horror as they silently played the situation through in their heads. There was a long pause, then chaos erupted. Amelie and Fiona began giggling and hopping around like sugar–high children, hugging each other. Bishop grabbed me and repeatedly tossed me into the air until I was sure I would puke.

  I looked over to where Caden stood calmly, seemingly apathetic to the prospect of leaving Ratheus. Or leaving with me, that paranoid part of me whispered.

  “So what’s the plan?” Amelie asked when she and Fiona took a break from bounding around.

  I shrugged. “Sofie said to wait and, when the time was right, we would find the portal. It needs to be soon, though.”

  “Why?” Caden quickly asked.

  I explained the curse’s warped sense of time.

  “Are you saying that if we don’t figure this problem out soon, you’ll die?” Caden asked, his voice still unnaturally calm, that unreadable expression on his face.

  I nodded. He averted his gaze to the floor again.

  “Is there any chance that the portal is out there in the woods?” Bishop asked.

  I shrugged again. “Sofie doesn’t think so, but I guess it wouldn’t hurt to search, right?”

  “We’ll have some of our pets check things out,” Bishop agreed. “It wouldn’t take them long. It will stretch our perimeter guard, but we should be okay.”

  “Okay, so what do we do in the meantime?” Amelie asked.

  I turned to Caden. “Can you take me to the place where the Merth grows again?” I asked softly. “Sofie needs it.”

  “Sure. Anything for Sofie.” The sarcasm was impossible to miss. He disappeared down the tunnel, carefully avoiding my eyes.

  Sending Rachel away hadn’t changed anything, I thought bitterly.

  “We can’t go in there. It’s too painful for us weak little girls,” Amelie explained with an apologetic smile. She and Fiona stood on the ledge by the waterfall.

  “And you’ll have to pick it yourself. Merth only has to touch us to make us flop like rag dolls,” Bishop added, squeezing my shoulder.

  “That’s okay.” I smiled, glancing over to see Caden approaching us. He had vanished for a brief time while we were gathering the mountain bags and I was changing into my wet suit.

  He stopped in front of me. “Let’s get this over with. I hate being near this wretched stuff.” He picked me up as he had the other day. I buried my face in his chest again, only this time the awkwardness was unbearable.

  We were through the waterfall and standing beside the sea of Merth in seconds. I looked up at Caden and Bishop’s faces. As much as they tried to disguise it, they couldn’t hide the pain in their eyes. They each trailed behind me with a canvas bag, careful not to make contact with the swaying cords as I hastily yanked the delicate strands of Merth and stuffed them in the bags.

  “These are too pretty to pull out,” I murmured.

  “Pretty enough to sedate an army of vampires,” Bishop responded wryly.

  There’re only three vampires I want to sedate, I thought as I worked. Funny; Sofie didn’t make that list. Maybe I was crazy after all.

  Both bags—the one I’d brought tonight and the one from before—were filled in no time. There was still a sea of silver growing. Enough to fill a hundred of these bags if I needed to …

  A shout from Bishop made me turn in time to see Caden crumpling into a patch of Merth. I gasped, recalling his description as I realized one of the strands had grazed his leg: A thousand razors cutting into his flesh. I ran to him and grabbed hold of his arm, pulling with every ounce of strength I had. Somehow I got him out.

  Dropping to my knees, I cradled his head in my lap. “Are you okay?” I asked, pleading.

  His eyelids flickered open. He gazed up at me.

  “Caden?”

  Silence followed—seconds that felt like hours—then I felt a hand on the back of my head. Caden pulled me down to kiss me.

  And then he abruptly broke off, murmuring, “Sorry.” He was on his feet and moving away from me in a flash. “I got caught up in the moment. I didn’t mean to do it.”

  “No, of course,” I said, scrambling to my feet. I glanced around for Bishop. He had vanished. I looked back to Caden, and my heart went cold. His jaw was taut, his full lips pressed tightly together, and torture was alive in his eyes. “It’s okay
. I know! You just want to be friends. Go ahead! Say it!” I fought tears but they escaped anyway. I furiously rubbed them away.

  Unexpected amusement flashed in his brilliant green eyes. “You want me to lie to you?”