The next few seconds happened in a blur. The spine-tingling sound of shattering glass came a split second before I felt movement within my grasp. Bishop, moving! I heard Sofie shriek, “No!” just as I flew back. Something wrapped tightly around my neck, choking me. Strong fingers grasped my chin with thumb and forefinger on either side.
“Let me go or I’ll kill her,” Bishop’s low menacing growl turned my blood icy cold. He was now standing behind me, cool breath breezing against my cheek. I must have misheard him, trying to play the words back in my head. No, he didn’t say that. He couldn’t be threatening to kill me. This was Bishop!
I watched with terror as Mage, Caden, and Sofie all moved forward in even, cautious steps, equidistant apart.
“Think, Bishop,” Caden said slowly, his hands spread out in front of him. “That’s Evangeline you have there. You’re not going to kill her. You care about her.”
“Don’t tell me who I care about!” he spat back, and his pain coursed through my body like a live wire. “We’re all going to die. Evie’s going to die. Better now … quicker … than later and more painful.”
Caden crept forward with the others. “No, Bishop, it’s not—”
“Don’t come any closer!” Bishop’s voice cracked with the shouted warning.
Caden’s eyebrows raised, his hands moving up in a slow surrendering motion. “No, Bishop. Not better. Think about it. Think about how you would feel. Evangeline—” Caden turned toward me. “What do you want, Evangeline? Do you want to die?” I could see growing panic beneath the serenity. I had seen this look once before. Right before Rachel attacked me.
It took a few tries but I found my voice, as shaky as it was. “No … no, Bishop. I don’t want to die. Not by you. Please. I thought you were my friend. Please don’t kill me.”
“I am your friend,” Bishop whispered, agony lacing every syllable. “It’s because I’m your friend that I’m doing this.”
“What? Threatening to kill me?” I wasn’t sure if that would work but I instantly knew what might. “Fiona would be horrified, Bishop,” I added so softly, hesitant to even mention her name.
His grip tightened for just a moment, and then I felt myself flying forward, thrown into Caden’s arms, as if the aim were intentional. Caden was ready for it, pulling me in protectively, holding me upright as my knees gave way.
Cautiously, I turned back to find everyone else gone. A loud crash followed by snarls exploded from the hallway. I watched with trepidation as Mage and Sofie stalked back moments later, dragging an immobile Bishop between them. Max marched close behind, favoring his right hind leg. He must’ve ambushed Bishop from the shadows.
“What just happened?” Caden demanded to know, his tone low and menacing. “How …”
Sofie’s mint eyes shifted to me, studying me silently for a moment. “I don’t know,” she finally said. “Somehow Evangeline’s touch broke the binding spell.”
“No! No, I didn’t!” I cried out defensively. This wasn’t my fault! This couldn’t be my fault! Quickly remembering the night before, I threw out, “I touched him last night and it was fine!”
“It’s okay, Evangeline,” Mage said. “We know you didn’t mean it.”
Sofie sighed. “Are you sure you don’t feel any different than you did yesterday?”
She knows something. “You already asked me that, Sofie … and, no, I don’t. Why do you keep asking me that?”
Sofie ignored my question, looking at Max instead. “Max, do you sense anything different with her?”
You’re blurrier, Max responded.
I translated.
“Yes, that much we can all sense,” Mage said. The four of them exchanged a look.
Sofie stepped forward, closer to me. “I can sense something else. Something I can’t put my finger on. I don’t want you to panic, Evangeline, but,” she hesitated, clearly not wanting to continue.
“Tell me!” I demanded.
“You’re changing somehow. It’s like the Tribe’s magic is getting a stronger hold of you. Perhaps … morphing.”
My breath caught. “What do you mean ‘morphing’? Like morphing … into one of them?” Memories of jaundiced eyeballs and rotten teeth swarmed my mind. Their lethal touch … I stared at my hand, nestled within Caden’s. Would this simple act kill him one day? Would I not be able to touch Caden? Or anyone? “Oh my God,” I whispered, unable to catch my breath.