Anathema (Causal Enchantment, #1) (40 page)

That night, I wasn’t traveling to Ratheus with
a giant bag of supplies strapped to my body. I wasn’t traveling
there with fear of Rachel. I was traveling there for Caden, to see
his smiling face, to cling to him tightly, and to tell him that I
loved him.

Complete darkness met me. I waited quietly.
Someone always came to meet me within seconds. Not this time,
though.

“
Caden?” I called out. Silence.
“Caden? Amelie?” I called again, louder, my voice unsteady.
Maybe they’re all out hunting.
I took a few cautious steps
forward, my hands groping the obscurity in search of a cave
wall.

My fingertips grazed something solid. It wasn’t
stone. I poked and prodded it. It had some give. Like hard,
muscular flesh.

My hand recoiled. “Guys? This isn’t funny. Come
on, please light a torch,” I called, my voice shaky. “Or bring me
my flashlight.”

Soft laughter. Someone was trying hard and
failing to contain glee. More snickers and titters joined the
first.

“
Caden?” I whispered, my eyes
darting about the dark in vain. I heard flint striking rock and a
flame erupting behind me. A wave of relief washed over me. I
turned.

Rachel stood five feet away from me, Merth
free, her sadistic, lemon–yellow eyes dancing with
excitement.

I
stared in horror as
Rachel’s lips pulled back in a heinous smile, revealing perfectly
symmetrical white fangs.

“
I’ve been waiting for you,” she
purred, casually taking a step forward.

Every muscle in my body went cold and rigid as
terror gripped me. My mouth dropped open to scream but only a
pathetic, strangled gasp escaped.

Cackling viciously, Rachel took another step to
stop within arm’s reach. With wide eyes, I watched as her arm
extended slowly and she gripped my chin in her hand, her thumb and
forefinger clenching either side of my jaw. With no visible sign of
exertion, she lifted me up off the ground. Her hold tightened,
eventually bringing tears to my eyes. Still she squeezed, ready to
crumble my bones to dust.

“
Alright, that’s enough,” a male
voice softly chided.

After a long pause and a low growl of
displeasure, Rachel released her grip. I dropped to the
vine–covered ground.

An army of torches lit the area around us then,
the warm glow revealing a hollow, decaying room at least three
stories high. There were gaping holes where windows and a ceiling
likely once existed; the stone walls had crumbling heaps of stone
at their bases. Thick roots heaved the concrete floor, and assorted
vines and weeds had found homes within the fissures. At one end sat
a large, rectangular stone on a raised dais. An altar,
perhaps.

I barely noticed any of this, though, my
attention riveted on the group of alluring onlookers surrounding
me. Vampires.

Somehow feeling returned to my legs and my feet
started sliding backward, trying in vain to get away from Rachel’s
poisonous gaze, even though I knew it was pointless. I backed into
something. Or someone. Holding my breath, I slowly
turned.

Piercing white irises gazed back at
me.

This time when my mouth opened, an earsplitting
shriek escaped.

“
Calm down,” the vampire mutant
requested, cringing. It was too late for that, though. I was
shaking uncontrollably. My eyes darted to his long, skeletal
fingers as they reached for my shoulder. I flinched under the
bone–chilling temperature of his skin, so unlike Caden’s warmth. He
retracted it, instead raising both hands up in front of him, palms
out, in a gesture of peace. “We won’t hurt you. Look! Over
there—your friends are right over there.”

It took some effort to peel my focus away from
his gaunt face, but I willed my eyes to follow his spindly finger.
Slumped on the floor next to my statue, bound with Merth, was
Caden. Amelie, Fiona, and Bishop were on either side of him, all in
the same hopeless predicament.

“
No!” I cried, locking eyes with
Caden, watching his eyes shift from inconsolable grief as they fell
on me to the worst rage conceivable as his gaze flicked to Rachel.
I did breathe a sigh of relief to know they were still alive. For
now.

A diminutive female vampire with Asian features
stepped forward. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Evangeline,” she
said in a soothing, motherly voice. She didn’t look much older than
me, though I knew better. With her long, poker–straight ebony hair,
black almond eyes, snow–white skin, and blood–red lips—the contrast
as striking as it was sinister—she looked like a Geisha. But I knew
none of it was makeup. She smiled warmly as I regarded her—a
seemingly genuine smile, unlike one of Rachel’s toothy
sneers.

“
Hello.” My voice was unsteady and I
was shaking violently, but I couldn’t seem to stop
myself.

“
I imagine seeing Rachel was a bit
of a shock to you, having disposed of her so effectively the last
time you were here.”

My eyes darted over to Rachel to see her
seething, intent on freezing the blood coursing through my veins.
I think she may succeed
.

“
You should have killed her then.
She’s quite angry.” The vampiress chuckled.

I hazarded another glance at Rachel in time to
see her top lip curl back in a truly atrocious smile.
That
mouth touched Caden once.
I wanted to gag. She wasn’t
beautiful. She was a venomous snake.

“
No harm will come to you under our
protection, though,” the vampiress assured me, her voice as smooth
as fresh–churned butter. “My name is Mage. This,” she rested her
hand on the white–eyed vampire’s forearm, “is Jonah.”

I glanced at him but quickly averted my gaze,
my skin crawling with repulsion.

“
Not to worry. We understand it will
take some time to become accustomed to his face. It can be
frightening. Especially after your previous experience with that
lunatic, Jethro.” Mage glided closer to me. “You should have come
to us sooner, Evangeline. This—” she gestured around the giant,
roofless room “—is the Council.”

My eyes trailed her hand, taking in the group.
There were sixteen vampires in total counting Rachel, Mage, and
Jonah; eight females and eight males of various races, including
two more of the white–eyed mutants. And they had helped themselves
to the clothing I brought over for Caden and the others.

I squirmed as sixteen pairs of brilliantly
colored eyes studied me, the first human to stand before them for
so many centuries.
Are they wondering what my blood tastes
like? Are they picturing how to best torture me to get the answer
out of me that even I don’t know?

“
You’re probably wondering what
happened while you were away, correct?” Mage raised a pencil–thin
eyebrow. Her mannerisms reminded me of a grade school teacher I
once had—benevolence but with a hint of severity. It had been
impossible to judge that teacher’s mood accurately. Mage didn’t
wait for my response before speaking again. “You see, we caught
wind of this intriguing treasure hunt Rachel had sent some of our
Council members on. It sounded … interesting, but a tad bit
suspicious. We’ve been hearing whispers of strange things happening
in the mountains—disappearances, fires, werebeasts. As the
governing body, we became …
concerned.
So we decided to
get the truth right from the horse’s mouth, so to speak.” Mage
chuckled as if she had made a joke. “We knew Rachel was up in
Jethro’s mountain,” her firm gaze slid over to Caden, and she
smiled sarcastically, “with her ‘soul mate.’”

I cringed.

“
After some initial confusion, and a
rather abrasive bear that I needed to deal with, we sorted
everything out.”

“
Big Brown?” I whispered, my eyes
bulging.

“
Yes, what a waste.” Disappointment
flashed across her delicate features. “He was quite the fighter.
Took three of my Council members out.”
My Council members. So
Mage is the leader
. That meant she had to be powerful.
“Luckily I got there to deal with him before any more perished,”
she added casually. My eyes widened, understanding her meaning.
Very powerful.

“
Anyhow, your friends seem to have
this gross misconception of us and our values. Just a
misunderstanding, really. Right, everyone?” she asked, smiling
sweetly, her eyes zeroing in on Caden. She couldn’t possibly expect
an answer from them, of course. They were bound and being
tortured.

“
Why are they bound, then?” I asked
meekly.

“
Oh, that! Well, we didn’t want them
doing anything rash when you arrived, before you had a chance to
meet us and see that we are friends.” She paused for effect. “Would
you like them untied?”

My head moved mechanically up and
down.

Mage nodded once toward Jonah. He strolled over
to them and, hooking his finger under their bindings, effortlessly
pulled them off.

That’s right
.
The mutants are
immune to Merth.

All four were on their feet immediately. I took
a step forward but faltered, glancing first at Rachel, who looked
ready to pounce, then at Mage.

“
Go ahead!” Mage prompted, ushering
me with both hands.

I didn’t waste another second in hesitation. I
bolted forward to throw myself at Caden’s chest. He immediately
wrapped his arms around me. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered, planting
a tender kiss on my forehead.

I heard a loud hiss and shouts and then the
world spun as Caden whipped my body around, burying my face in his
chest to shield me from whatever was happening behind us. He held
me like that until the commotion died down. When his arms loosened
their grip, I resurfaced to find Amelie, Bishop, and Rachel forming
a protective ring around me. I peeked over Caden’s shoulder. Rachel
had been forced to her knees, four Council members restraining her.
She glared at us like a feral animal, her pupils so prominent that
her eyes looked completely black.

“
Now, Rachel, we discussed this. If
you can’t behave, we will have to assist you,” Jonah calmly warned,
dangling a cord of Merth dangerously close to her nose.

“
Of course, Jonah,” she said through
gritted teeth. It took a few seconds but she managed to compose
herself, even producing a semi–genuine smile. The bodyguards
released her with doubtful expressions on their faces.

“
Go on now, Caden. Please tell
Evangeline the truth, as we discussed. She needs to know that she’s
safe,” Mage instructed in an even voice.

I looked up at Caden’s face to see him staring
defiantly at the vampiress, his jaw taut. They remained like that,
the silence growing more awkward as the seconds dragged on, until
Amelie’s raspy voice spoke up.

“
We’re all fine,
Evangeline.”

“
And of course they wouldn’t hurt
you. You’re much too valuable,” Fiona added excitedly—too excitedly
for Fiona’s normally level demeanor. She sounded
hysterical.

I caught Jonah’s white eyes touching hers.
There may have been a hint of warning there, but it was impossible
to tell. It was impossible to read anything in those dreadful
eyes.