Anathema (Causal Enchantment, #1) (35 page)

“
Y
ou’ve
found something already?” Amelie said, feigning enthusiasm. She’d
make a great actress.

Rachel ignored Amelie, her shrewd eyes
surveying the room, taking in everything. “You look like you’re
getting settled in,” she said slowly, her steely yellow gaze
falling on me and, more importantly, my close proximity to
Caden.

I swallowed the lump forming in my throat. That
gaze made me want to shrivel up and die.

Rachel’s eyes darted to the sleeping bag.
“Planning on napping while we run around, looking for this
portal?”

“
Oh, that … Sofie likes to prepare
for every possibility. She’s a worry wart.” I rolled my eyes
dramatically, trying my hand at acting as well. I was sure any
average five–year–old could have outperformed me, but I had to keep
her distracted. I didn’t want her noticing the two giant bags of
Merth. “Did you find anything?”

She ignored the question again, instead turning
a sickly sweet smile toward Bishop. “What’s wrong? Big Brown didn’t
tell you I was on my way?”

“
No, he’s busy searching the forest.
Like Eve told us to,” Bishop responded slowly.

Her lips twisted in an unflattering, pensive
expression. “Partway there, I asked myself what would happen if you
found this portal in the woods. Would you wait for me?” She stalked
slowly toward me. No one moved. Worried glances flitted between
them.

She stopped in front of me, taking a relaxed
stance. I forced my eyes up to meet hers, my terror likely shining
like bright neon lights within them.

Suddenly she was forcing herself onto Caden’s
lap, straddling him as if ready to perform a private show while
managing to shove me off the bench at the same time. Luckily Amelie
caught me before I hit the ground and made room beside her for me,
wrapping her arm protectively around my shoulder. My eyes dropped
to where the camera had been lying. It had vanished.

“
Of course Caden would never do such
a horrible thing as leave me. But the rest of you,” she threw a
hateful look at Amelie and Fiona, then a withering one in my
direction, “I don’t trust.”

“
Of course we’d wait for you,” Caden
insisted. I sensed the nervousness in his voice. He was having a
hard time hiding his shock at her return.

Rachel snuggled against him, her voice turning
sultry. “I couldn’t risk it.”

My stomach constricted into a painful knot at
the sight.

“
But what about searching New Shore?
It’s important that we find this artifact, and soon,” Caden said
calmly.

“
It’s taken care of. I met up with
two Council members on my way and sent them back to
search.”

“
What did you tell them, Rachel?”
Caden asked, his voice slow and even, but I saw the flash of alarm
in his eyes.

“
Oh, nothing important. They’re not
smart enough to put two and two together. Like they’d ever figure
this
out.”

Caden exhaled, visibly trying to control his
anger.

“
They were on their way here!” she
added quickly, a rare hint of desperation in her voice. “You should
be happy I’ve deterred them.”

Caden reached up to brush her hair from her
face. “Of course, yes. Good thinking.”

Don’t touch her with those hands!
I
screamed in my head.

A relieved smile stretched across her face.
“I’ll head back to New Shore in a week or so to double–check.
They’re getting eight others to help. You can come with me then, of
course. Your scouts will have covered these mountains.”

“
You shouldn’t have done that,
Rachel,” Amelie growled.

Rachel waved her hand dismissively in Amelie’s
direction. “We don’t care what you think. Do we, Hon?” she purred
into Caden’s ear, her arms wrapping tightly around him.

He smiled lovingly at her.

I clenched my teeth as I felt another spasm in
my stomach.
Caden was right. This is worse. Way
worse.

Amelie’s arm squeezed my shoulders.

“
We’ll have to test that comfortable
bed out later,” Rachel said, giggling seductively, discretion
obviously not part of her DNA. “Should be much more comfortable
than the last time …” She turned to appraise the bed Caden and I
had shared the previous night. Then her gaze fell on the mountain
bags.

My stomach—already battered from watching her
maul Caden—dropped to my feet.

“
What did you fill those bags with,
Evangeline?” her voice had turned sickly sweet. Rachel only
addressed me directly when she was torturing me about my feelings
for Caden, or if she wanted the truth. She likely assumed that I
couldn’t lie credibly. An accurate assumption, I’d say.

“
Bags?” I fought panic.

“
Yes. The bags. You’ve emptied them
of their contents, based on what I see here, and yet they’re full
again.”

“
Oh, yeah,” I stammered, feeling
Amelie’s arm squeezing me ever so slightly.

Fiona’s eyed narrowed, indicating she hadn’t
missed Amelie’s gesture.

Would it be that bad if she found out?
Yes, it would. It meant the Council would have fields of Merth to
inflict more pain. It would mean I couldn’t bring it back for
Sofie. And most important, it would prove we’ve been keeping
secrets from Rachel. That would be disastrous. But what else could
I tell her?

“
Flowers,” Fiona answered in her
usual placid tone, saving me.

“
Flowers?” Rachel’s face screwed up
in skepticism.

“
And plants!” I exclaimed before
adjusting my tone to sound calm. “You may have things that we don’t
have on Earth, and Sofie wants to study them, see if she can use
them for some of her witchy spell–casting. Hocus–pocus stuff. I
don’t get it.” I rolled my eyes. I knew my voice was trembling and
probably unconvincing, but I couldn’t help but be impressed with
how easily that lie had popped into my head. Maybe I was getting
better at this.

“
That much?” Rachel said her eyes
narrowing further in disbelief.

I shrugged. “She asked for any plant I didn’t
recognize. I’m not a botanist.”

“
Hmmm. Right.” She pursed her lips,
then turned her attention back to Caden, tracing his collarbone
with her index finger.

My shoulders, rigid with anxiety, began to
relax. My quick–thinking deception had worked.

“
Show me, Evangeline,” she demanded
in a crisp voice, not looking away from Caden.

I froze.

“
You wanna see a bunch of half–dead
weeds?” Bishop scoffed.

Her left eyebrow arched severely. “Show me,”
she repeated.

“
Um, sure,” I managed in a hoarse
whisper, my eyes darting to Caden. He didn’t dare look away from
her.

Rising slowly, I walked over to one of the bags
on shaky legs. I took my time, now in extreme panic mode and
condemning my cleverness. I started fumbling with the strings,
trying to think of some way out of this impending
disaster.

“
Here, let me help you. The knots
are tight,” Bishop called, suddenly appearing in front of me to
help unfasten one of the bags. From the corner of my eye, I saw
Rachel slide off Caden’s lap and take a step toward us.

Caden was right behind her, though, grabbing
her waist playfully and kissing the side of her neck as a means of
distraction. It partially worked. She stayed there to revel in his
affections but her snake eyes never left us.

I was too worried about being murdered at this
point to be upset by Caden’s actions. I watched nervously as Bishop
unraveled the knot. I frowned as he continued fumbling with the
strings, as if there was still a knot to be untied.
What’s he
doing?

“
Here, put your hand on that loop
and pull,” he instructed. I frowned. There was no loop. “Right
here!” he said impatiently, holding his hand out, palm up. I
mechanically reached over, and Bishop grabbed my hand and guided it
into the bag. From where Rachel stood, she wasn’t able to see what
we were doing.

I understood. “Merth only has to touch us for a
second to make us flop like rag dolls,” Bishop had said
.
Just the briefest of moments, and Rachel would be controlled;
restrained; no longer a dangerous problem. But I couldn’t screw up.
If I did, someone would likely die. It could be me, or worse, it
could be one of the others. Would it work, though? Would she fall
for it? We had no other choice. Committing myself entirely to the
unspoken plan, I twined my fingers around one of the
strands.

“
Damn knot,” Bishop cursed, gripping
my forearm tightly enough that it began to hurt.

“
You idiot!” Rachel sneered,
wriggling free of Caden.

As she strolled toward us, I noticed Amelie and
Fiona stealthily slide in behind her, grim determination in their
eyes. Caden moved forward as well, his jaw tight with anxiety, his
head shaking, warning us. Warning me not to risk it. It was too
late, though.

Rachel’s hand reached toward the
bag.

Bishop, still holding my forearm, whipped my
hand out toward her with lightning speed. Somehow I managed to grab
hold of her wrist, pressing the Merth tightly against her
skin.

In the next instant, four pairs of hands were
securing her. She let out one high–pitched shriek and then her body
went limp.

Amelie lifted her other arm up. I wound the
cord around both wrists and tied a knot, my hands trembling
violently the entire time.

“
Her legs too,” Caden instructed,
his voice now devoid of all emotion.

I reached in for two more cords and went to
work binding her legs at the knees and the ankles.
Will more
Merth mean more pain?
I wondered sympathetically.
Will the
thousand razor blade cuts turn into a million?
I gave my head
a shake.
You’re too soft, Evangeline. She’d do it to you in a
heartbeat.

When we finished, the previously deadly vampire
lay immobilized on the ground, all bound up like a pig ready for a
spit.

It was over. We were safe.

My knees buckled. I would have collapsed if
Caden hadn’t been there to catch me, scooping me into his arms and
swiftly gliding away from Rachel.

“
Are you okay?” he whispered
breathlessly as he placed me on the ground, deep concern in his
eyes.

I nodded, unable to speak.

He sighed heavily, leaning forward to press his
lips against my forehead, his hands squeezing my shoulders. I
closed my eyes, reveling under his touch. I could have stayed like
that for hours, but he pulled away. “Are you insane?” he yelled at
Bishop, his voice thundering in the cave.

“
Hey, it worked, didn’t it?”
Bishop’s responding yell—his display of anger such a rare
sight—matched Caden’s.

Caden bit his lip, thinking. When he spoke
again, it was at a normal level. “Can she hear us?” he asked
Amelie.

She nodded.

He strolled over to crouch beside Rachel’s
head. “It feels so good to be rid of you. To not have to pretend
anymore,” he hissed into her face. I saw confusion in her eyes.
“Every time you touched me,” he continued, shuddering, “I pictured
Evangeline’s face. It was the only way I could handle it. Enjoy
knowing that.” He straightened and was standing beside me again in
an instant, wrapping his arms tenderly around me.

I couldn’t help feeling a tinge of guilt for my
part in the trap. That was until I glanced down at Rachel to see
the raw fury in her eyes as she realized she had been deceived for
far longer than just today. That searing gaze burned across my
entire body.
Likely imagining tearing my limbs from me and
bashing my brains in with them,
I realized
.
I stepped
back into Caden’s embrace and squeezed my eyes shut as I buried my
face against his chest, but it was a long while before the
afterimage of those devil eyes faded from my mind’s eye. The feel
of Caden’s body against mine and his wonderfully natural scent
seemed to help.

“
What should we do, toss her into
the fire?” I heard Amelie ask dispassionately.

“
Sounds good to me,” Bishop sneered.
He reached down to grab her legs.

“
Wait—she’s not going anywhere, and
who knows if we’ll need her for something still,” Caden said
thoughtfully, still holding me.

“
I don’t know, Caden,” Amelie
answered warily. “It’s better if we rid ourselves of this problem
for good, here and now.”

Caden looked down at me. “What do you think?
She’s the biggest threat to you.”

I glanced at Rachel’s motionless body. “We
could wait until we’re sure. We can always get rid of her later.”
As the callous words left my mouth, a wave of revulsion hit me.
I could be like Viggo. A monster.

“
Okay. Well, I don’t know about the
rest of you, but I definitely can’t spend another second looking at
her,” Bishop muttered, grabbing her feet and unceremoniously
dragging her down a tunnel like an awkward piece of garbage, out of
our sight.