“No …” I answered numbly, thinking that was the right answer as I stared at the pool of blood now formed on the floor beneath me. My toxic, leprous blood. My blood is poison. I am poison. I will kill Caden.
Just like Sofie killed Nathan. Then I’d be like her, laying flowers on a tombstone. The pattern in the marble floor began to swirl and dance beneath me. I lifted my eyes to the gaping hole where Caden had run out. He was gone now. Would he come back? He would be smart not to. It was only a matter of time before I killed him …
“Evangeline!” Sofie called out sharply.
My head snapped up. “What?” I barked, the edge in my voice unintentionally harsh.
She tempered her tone. “How do you feel?”
“Like my arm was just sliced open,” I mumbled, all the while an inner voice inside me screamed at the top of her lungs—uncontrollable, incoherent screeching. I gave my head a shake, trying to silence the rising panic. “What happened?”
“Lilly cut you with a piece of glass,” Sofie explained, “and your blood is exceptionally potent now.” She wrapped another towel around my arm. “Damn it! I wish I could heal this!”
“Exceptionally potent?” I echoed her slowly.
“Yes, it’s more enticing than it used to be. There’s something about it … I can’t peg what it is … it’s harder to resist.” She finished tying the rag, her jaw taut. “There. That should stop the bleeding for now.” I winced. The rag was tight.
“This is another part of this change I’m undergoing, isn’t it?” I couldn’t keep the reproachful tone out of my voice.
She blinked several times. Minty irises lifted to touch my face—unconcealed, raw emotion in them—and back down to my arm again so fast I almost missed it. With a heavy exhale, she whispered, “Yes. I believe it might be.”
Another sign of what was to come. I stifled a sob. “Fantastic. So the Fates have wrapped my diseased body up into a nice big bloody bow for you all!” I was yelling now but I couldn’t help it. It was that or break down and cry.
“You’re not diseased,” Sofie’s voice was now tranquil again but her words flat, dead.
“That’s easy for you to say. It’s not you! It’s never been you going through this!”
She flinched as my callous words slapped her across the cheek. But I didn’t let up. I took it one step further. Reaching forward, I grabbed onto her forearm with my good hand and dug my nails into her flesh. Each word came out slow, precise, and sharp as a razor blade. “You need to fix this. Now!”
Her jaw clenched as she looked at me again, her face an ocean of worry and regret and defeat thinly veiled by her natural strength. She said nothing, though. What could she say? She’d try. That’s what she’d do. And when she did, well … there was a definite pattern here. Ask the Fates for help and they helped, with a side of “new curse” to screw you over in some other way. So she’d solve this—before or after my eyes turned yellow and I killed my friends with a graze of my finger, was up for debate. What next, though?
“What’re we going to do?” I asked softly, my voice, my words, my everything suddenly deflated.
She grasped my good hand in both of hers. “I will fix this,” she promised, her voice shaky. “Please, stay strong.” Her eyes squeezed shut and when they opened, any sign of the vulnerable Sofie was gone. “And you will go get this taken care of. Now. Ivan!” She called through gritted teeth.
Yeti Two appeared immediately. “Please stitch her up. The bathroom at the end of the hall is fully equipped,” she instructed as she tossed the remaining towels over the small pool of my blood on the marble. “And send in the staff to clean this up. Quickly.”
With a curt soldierly nod, Ivan marched over and seized my good arm without a word. I turned back to Sofie.
“Go!” Sofie ushered with a waving hand. “You’re safe with him. They don’t crave blood. Keep pressure on your wound.”
“Okay.” I turned to follow Ivan out the door. The crunch of broken glass under boots stopped me. My head snapped to the gaping window to see Mortimer and Viggo passing through. I waited. And waited, my heart hammering furiously. Come on … please … Please! A third figure came through. Ivan gripped my arm to support me as relief ransacked my body. Caden’s eyes were immediately on me. Beautiful jade eyes. He had come back to me. I hadn’t killed him. I felt a tug on my arm. My legs locked up stubbornly, no longer willing to follow Ivan. I twisted and shook my arm to no avail, desperate to break free and run to Caden’s side.