Allegiance (30 page)

“Uh …”
She’s asking me?
What was I supposed to say? Should I even trust her? This allegiance thing was unsettling. My eyes darted between Lilly—such an unassuming, unthreatening child vampire—to Mage—the all-powerful, ancient vampire—quietly analyzing every detail of her surroundings. If Sofie was already giving Lilly orders, then she must trust her allegiance to me. That was my answer. I needed to trust her.

“If Sofie said so, then yes, Lilly. She knows better about these things than I do.”

Lilly answered with a curt but respectable nod of acceptance.

Lilly was going to New York. Lilly who had pledged her allegiance to me. Lilly, who would do as I asked. This was my only chance … “I need to speak to Lilly for a brief moment, alone.”

Lilly didn’t miss a beat. “Get our things ready, please, Kait.” Kait and the others marched away without question.

My side wasn’t so obedient. “Please?” No one moved. “Alone!” It came out in a bark.

“God! Give a girl a wraith and some crazy powers and she thinks she runs the show …” Amelie muttered.
Crazy powers …?
She stuck her tongue out at me at the same time as she hooked arms with Julian, dragging him away, seemingly recovered from whatever had hurt her before.
No, not whatever, Evie. You. You hurt her
. After I dealt with Wraith, and with Lilly, I’d find out what I had done to her.

My demands hadn’t moved the rest of them. Caden’s mouth opened and then clamped shut with a furtive look at Bishop. He was trying not to appear too possessive but he was dying to argue with me. I wouldn’t give him a chance. I wouldn’t give any of them a chance.

“Leave now!” Manners were useless with them.

“I’ll go check on Sofie.” Mage’s dark eyes drifted in the direction of the courtyard. “This must be … difficult for her. And keep Wraith away from Julian,” she reminded. “He won’t bounce back to life like the rest of you.” With that, she quietly walked to the same door Sofie had all but stumbled out.

“We’ll be around the corner if you need us. Just holler,” Bishop said, throwing a warning glare at Lilly.

Are you about to do something stupid and get yourself into trouble? Seeing as that’s your usual MO these days
, Max asked. He still hadn’t forgiven me for my earlier escape. I’d have to make it up to him. But not now.

“How can I possibly do something stupid? I have Death chaperoning me. I think I’m good.”

Max sauntered away with a snort, leaving Lilly and me alone.

We stood in the hall, four feet away from Wraith’s entrance. Wraith filled the doorframe with his looming presence. He said nothing, he did nothing. He just waited. For an order. For someone to kill.

“You’ve wanted to ask me something since the cemetery,” Lilly whispered with a timid smile. I couldn’t help but gape at her for a moment.

I swallowed, nodding. Once these words left my mouth, there would be no turning back. Someone out there would know what I had done, what I was hiding. They could judge me and I was afraid they’d be right. Either way, I had no choice. I needed help. Warily, I checked over my shoulder for eavesdroppers.

“They’re out of range, if you whisper,” Lilly confirmed in a low hum.

Still, I leaned in until my mouth was next to her ear. She waited patiently as I took a deep breath. “I need you to find a way into Viggo’s place.”

Lilly frowned. “Okay, but you told me to listen to Sofie and Sofie says to stay—”

“Her sister isn’t in the tomb anymore!” I hissed and then caught myself. Baby blue eyes expanded with shock. I watched her struggle to replace the veil of calm. I noticed she had a harder time doing that then the adult vampires.

“How do you—”

“I’ll explain later,” I said. “But I know. I know they’re torturing her. And I know that no one can find out what’s happening, Lilly. I mean no one. I’m trusting you to help me get her out.”

I watched her set her jaw, deep in thought. Tiny hands clasped onto mine and squeezed. “Okay, Evangeline,” she agreed with a curt nod and a comforting smile. “I’ll find a way in there without raising any alarms. I promise.”

“I mean it, Lilly. No one can know. I don’t even want you telling Kait or the others. I need you to do this one on your own. This is just you and me, kid.”

Her mouth twisted pensively, the wheels turning in that twelve-hundred-year-old brain of hers. “Just you and me.” She liked the idea of that, I could tell by the twitch of a smile across her lips. “You can count on me.” She leaned in to give me an awkward hug—like she hadn’t given one in a century and didn’t know how—and then she vanished.

I wasn’t alone for two seconds before Bishop, Caden, and the others showed up.

“What was that all about?” Caden pressed.

“Oh … stuff.”
How was I to answer that?
I dropped my gaze to the floor and spotted a full bottle of port by my feet. Bishop must have put it there before we discovered Wraith’s hideout. I grabbed it and rushed to bring it to my lips, taking a long, intense swallow.

“Evie! Tell us!” I avoided all eye contact, instead studying Wraith. There he stood, waiting patiently, staring.

Wiping a dribble off my chin, I finally threw out the first thing that popped into my head. “Ratheus.”

“What about it?” Amelie asked.

“Um … I wanted to make sure she knew how bad it was.” That was the one thing I knew about that she didn’t. Still, it was a feeble attempt at an excuse and I knew it the second I caught the glimmer in Caden’s eyes. He said nothing, but I could tell he didn’t buy it.

None of the others picked up on it, though, ready to move away from this spot. Bishop let out a heavy sigh, draping his arms around my shoulders to clasp in front of me. Leaning in, he whispered, “Next time, I’ll believe you when you say there’s a secret door, okay? How about you don’t feel the need to prove it?” His lip grazed my lobe, sending shivers through my body. Shivers that he shouldn’t be able to give me. Shivers that only felt right when it was Caden giving them to me. Shivers that Caden couldn’t give me while this game of the Fates existed. Maybe he’d never be able to again, if my metamorphosis finished.

“So what was that back there?” Amelie asked.

I frowned. “What, where?”

She rolled her eyes. “When I was holding you and you decided you needed to jump in between Death and a vampire? It was like you electrocuted me.” Her angelic face scrunched up as she rubbed her wrist. “Hurt like Hell. At first, I thought you were going to kill me.”

“I don’t know,” I answered quietly. That was a lie. I knew. Maybe it was that time. I stared down at my hands, at my fingertips. They seemed so dainty, so normal. What a deception. They were quickly becoming something deadly. With each passing day, the end was nearing. The disease was waiting to unleash itself, waiting to strike down everyone I loved. And when it struck, who would be the first victim? Would I be touching Bishop or Amelie or Caden when the magic decided to finish off my transformation? Would their faces shrivel up as I watched them die?

I shook Bishop’s arms off in a panic and leapt forward to press my back against the opposite wall, staring at a line of worried faces. “Please don’t touch me,” I whispered hoarsely. “None of you. Please don’t risk it.”

“Evie …,” Bishop began, stepping forward, hands outstretched.

“No!” I shrieked, throwing my arms up to block him. “No … I can’t bear the idea that I may kill—” I choked over that word, “one of you. Please … I just need some space to deal with all this right now.”

“Okay, Eve. We understand,” Amelie said softly, reaching forward to give Bishop a pat on the back. “Don’t we, Bishop?”

He nodded, the crease in his brow deepening. “Of course.”

Caden and Julian stood side by side, watching me quietly, saying nothing. I didn’t have to worry about them. Julian wouldn’t touch me for fear of earning Caden’s wrath, and Caden was good at keeping up pretenses with Bishop. I wished it were as easy for me …

I dropped my gaze, unable to meet any of them in the eye. I was lying. Lying to every single one of them in one form or another. It was exhausting. I wanted it all to go away. I squeezed the neck of the wine bottle.

I had my answer. For tonight, anyway. Tonight, I would make it all go away. I was going to get drunk.

I poured another healthy dose of that burning sweet syrup down my throat, praying I’d quickly succumb to whatever magic powers it held.

“Let’s get out of here,” Bishop stepped forward. “Can I at least walk next to you?”

I nodded. He jutted his chin down a hall I had not been down yet. “There’s a kick-ass wine cellar that way, if you want to see it?” he grinned.

More wine meant more liquid therapy. “Lead the way, oh wise one.” We began walking. I halted. I was forgetting something. I turned back to see Wraith gingerly poke his head out the door. One long leg tentatively stepped across the threshold, as if he half expected to melt. I guess I couldn’t blame him. His entire existence confined to one room was enough to drive anyone crazy. When his leg didn’t melt, I swore I caught a hint of a smile. If Death was capable of smiling.

I rushed forward to catch up to Bishop. The others followed behind like silent shadows, including Wraith. When I walked, he walked. When I stopped, he stopped. Several feet away but never too far. Much like Max, Wraith was my bodyguard. A life-sucking, unshakable bodyguard who was bound to me until I died. I brought the bottle to my lips once again, taking a more liberal chug. It wasn’t nearly so sweet anymore, nor was the burn so fierce. In fact, I was growing fond of its taste. The warm sensation flowing through my limbs relaxed me.

“So, Wraith,” Bishop began and when I turned back, I saw that mischievous look in his eye. He was the old Bishop again, from the days of running through the caves. I missed it so dearly … “Should we call you Wraith? Such an awkward name. How about just ‘Death’?”

Amelie sniggered from her twenty-foot distance. Even Max snorted in my head.

“I have been given the name Wraith,” was all he said, ending any potential fun at his expense.

“Well, he’s a barrel of laughs,” Bishop muttered.

Peeking over my shoulder at him, studying the way he marched in a perfectly straight line—back straight, arms stiff—I wondered what Nathan had been like when he was alive. Certainly nothing like Wraith. There was no way Sofie would be in love with a lifeless, humorless android. I guess I shouldn’t expect Death to have a personality, though. Another tip of the bottle … another drink … What would I do if the Fates did this to Caden? To stand next to the empty shell of him, to have his gaze pass over me without a second’s thought?

My insides recoiled. I glanced back furtively to meet beautiful jade eyes. Four of them? I squinted. No, two eyes … What if those beautiful eyes were lost to me forever, as I thought them to be not long ago? I sighed and took another long pull on the port. My tongue felt thick. I rolled it inside my mouth and then smacked it against the roof to wake it up. Funny … my jaw didn’t hurt anymore.

11. Tempting the Fates—Sofie

A plump snowflake settled on the bridge of my nose. More flakes followed, tickling my eyelids, lips, fingers. Their crisp wetness was a welcome relief as I knelt before Nathan’s tombstone. Night after night, I lit a candle for his resting bones under this tree while I knew that abomination lurked inside.

And now … that abomination was trailing Evangeline, ignorant to my existence, to the unconditional love that I held for its human inspiration. All it cared about was whether I was a threat to Evangeline or not. And if it decided that I was? Dispatch me … like a housefly.

Bitterness leeched into my bones. As much as I wanted to blame the Fates for their twisted games, I had no one to blame but myself for this one. It was here, in this spot five years ago, that I cast that disastrous enchantment. Just after Viggo discovered Evangeline’s existence and ran her mother down with a car. So distraught with the turn of events, I wasn’t thinking straight. I couldn’t have been. If I had, I never would have done it …

That night, the anniversary of Nathan’s death, the only night of the year that I dared visit the chateau, sweeping through the courtyard in a shroud of secrecy to light a candle and beg in vain for his forgiveness. That night, though, on my knees, my heart shattered into a million pieces for Evangeline’s suffering, fueled with hatred for Viggo, I pleaded with the Fates. I begged for the ultimate guardian. Someone who would exist for the soul purpose of keeping my dear girl safe, who could not be stopped for any reason, by any creature—mortal or otherwise, magical or not. To this day, I can’t help feel the urge to bash my head against a brick wall when I replay that criteria, that ask of the Fates.

It didn’t take long for the Fates to answer me. After visiting Nathan’s tombstone—distraught and weary—I stumbled into Nathan’s music room. That was another yearly ritual of mine. When I stepped inside that room, I could still hear Nathan plucking the strings of his violin.

No music played on this night, though. The second I stepped into the dark room, I spotted the lone figure sitting on the Victorian couch, a dark shadow under the moonlight’s stream. Unmoving, back rigid, hands layered on his knee. His cheekbones, his hair, his lips … it was Nathan. I dove forward, falling to my knees, grasping his hands, thanking the Fates for their generosity, their kindness. How stupid of me … So overwhelmed, I didn’t sense the wrongness about him, that cold, rotten air that tainted his surroundings.