Allegiance(3)

It didn’t matter. What mattered was that Veronique had been released from her protective cocoon and was now in the clutches of our enemies. No one except Caden and I knew.

I pumped Caden’s hand once in a nervous gesture. His responding squeeze pulsed serenity through me. With every fiber of my being, I knew we had to keep that knowledge buried. If Viggo, Mortimer, or Sofie found out, blowing up a square block of Manhattan would be the least of our problems. From what Caden had told me earlier, that retaliation was exactly what could spark the end of the world.

“Well, there’s no reason we need to go to France. North America has enough cover for us,” Viggo muttered sullenly.

“You know why, and you agreed to go along without complaint, remember?” Sofie answered through clenched teeth. Viggo had that effect on her. A permanent effect.

“Yes, I recall. On penalty of death … And I warned you we’d be better off creating our own group of young followers than trusting her,” Viggo pressed.

Her? Who is he talking about? What are they conspiring over now? I looked at Caden but he shook his head. Not now, he was saying.

“We don’t have time to babysit a bunch of blood-crazed babies!” Sofie spat back. “This could spiral down in months! Weeks! Days! We have no idea what they’re planning …”

“That’s exactly how the mess in our world began,” Mage added in a low, steady voice. “One trigger, one attack, and our fate spiraled out of control. Are you trying to end this world faster, Viggo?”

Viggo sniffed but otherwise remained silent, moping. His words finally clicked in my mind. Young followers. Viggo’s strategy was to create an army of vampires to fight against the witches. Now I understood. I watched Viggo and Sofie share a silent look. Tension sat heavy in the air, as thick as smog. I didn’t know what was going on, why Viggo was here, why Sofie trusted him, why Viggo seemed compliant to Sofie. Viggo, compliant? And what was that “penalty of death” comment? Sofie was always threatening Viggo with death. What made him listen this time?

It seemed that Sofie had somehow appropriated the role of leader now, instead of ceaseless rival and combatant. I figured it had something to do with her continued control over Veronique’s situation, being the only one who could release her. But still, this was beyond bizarre … How long had I been unconscious for?

Amelie broke the pending conflict with her sweet, excited voice. “We had a city named Paris. It had the best shopping and nightlife and …” Her eyes twinkled with delight as she reminisced, her cheeks crinkling in a large smile. But then something dawned on her and her voice trailed off. “I guess they’d be the same Paris, right?”

Mage offered Amelie an apologetic smile and a slight nod. I had caught little bits of how the ancient Council leader had compelled them all to believe it was a different world by the name of Ratheus. It wasn’t, though. It was Earth in an alternate universe. Same Paris, same world, same doom.

And I would be an instrumental part of making it happen again. That fact burdened me like a concrete block on my shoulders in the bottom of a lake. All I wanted was Caden, my friends, and a life without the handcuffs of this curse. Was that too much to ask? I’d already lost so much. Part of my childhood, my mother …

A soft finger running along my bottom lip drew my attention to Caden. Beautiful, sweet, thoughtful Caden … I had him … Had I known what my choices could spark, would I have chosen differently? Would I have left him in Ratheus? Deep down in my heart, though I abhorred admitting it to myself and could never confess it to anyone else, the answer was no. And now my selfishness could lead to the demise of the world.

Mortimer’s booming voice yanked me from my silent torment. “We’re not going there to frolic about, Amelie.” The dark, brooding vampire had remained the silent observer in the entire exchange between his rival and his redheaded nemesis. In fact, he had remained in a corner, silent, for most of the flight.

Amelie scowled at Mortimer’s brusque reminder. She turned away from him, seemingly disgusted, to peer down at a dozing Julian. The scowl instantly disappeared, replaced by a grin of unabated adoration. A grin that slid into my heart like a long, thin needle.

So glad to be back with Mr. Chuckles, Max grumbled in my head, no doubt referring to his previous master. With a sigh, I smiled and leaned down to give the giant werebeast’s thick neck a squeeze. My guardian, my sanity, my friend, all in the form of an immortal canine who could communicate telepathically and hadn’t left my side in over a month, risking his safety for me countless times, saving me from death more than once. It was because of him that I had survived for this long. Max, Sofie, Julian, Leo … all of them had played a hand.