Asylum

1. Safe




“Forgive me,” I whispered, knowing my words would never reach her ears. She was already gone. Safe—safe from this deadly atrium; safe from Mortimer and Viggo; safe from me.

Now for damage control.

I scanned the crowd of a hundred-odd depraved vampires, their wild eyes and expressions varying from bewilderment to crazed blood lust after the briefest scent of a human, until I spotted four familiar faces. The four who needed to survive. Relief flickered through me. Thank God for those pictures.

I closed my eyes, searching for one last thread of energy, just enough to cast another spell. There—a miniscule, glowing purple helix coil, much like a DNA strand, floating beside my heart. I grasped it with my mental hand, and yanked. It immediately took flight, shooting up to my fingertips. Armed with magic, I raised my hand toward the pyre burning brightly atop Veronique’s tomb. A thought brought embers soaring toward my fingertips as if magnetized.

Then I struck.

Sparks shot from my hand and erupted into flaming circles around Evangeline’s friends, forming a formidable barrier of protection—large enough not to ignite them but tight enough to keep them from leaping out and making a run for it.

“Sofie?” Mortimer hollered, his voice tinged with uncertainty.

I turned to see shock masking his face. He stood next to Viggo, both of them frozen like ice sculptures, struggling to grasp the events of the past ten seconds. I knew that confusion would quickly give way to understanding, followed by retaliation.

I’ll deal with them later. For my sister’s sake, they needed to survive; for my sake, in a subdued fashion. Another flick of my hand produced three flaming circles—one around each of them and the last around me. There. That should hold them until I’m finished.

Now, elimination.

From the corner of my eye, I caught the telltale silvery white hair and hideous face of a mutant. I shuddered; their very existence was truly repulsive, but worse—I knew the Merth-laced building couldn’t confine them. The last thing we needed were those monsters running loose in New York City.

Flames shot from my fingertips to ignite the hideous creature, consuming his body as if it were made from highly flammable fabric. His one shrill scream echoed through the atrium, sending a chill down my spine. I didn’t let it distract my focus, though. Spotting two more mutants, I quickly dispatched them as well.

Heads started to turn, the screams attracting the attention of the other vampires. Soon enough, they’d figure out the fate I had in store for them. Then I’d have mass hysteria and vampires hiding in every nook and cranny of Viggo’s palace. I didn’t have time to hunt them all down individually for dispatch.

I hurled sparks of fire freely from my fingertips toward any vampire in sight. Within seconds, dozens of flaming bodies crumpled to thrash on the ground, scorching the leaves and petals of the atrium’s plants and engulfing any vampires caught in their proximity. But I knew there were more vampires out there, blocked from my view within Viggo’s urban jungle.

There was only one thing left to do. I had to torch the entire atrium—and hope I could control the fire well enough to prevent the entire building from going up in flames. Inhaling deeply, reconciled to the plan, I raised both hands—

Only to be distracted by a body lying on the ground, bound by Merth—a vampire with jet-black hair and lemon eyes.

Rachel.

Jaw clenched, I pictured myself slowly tearing the flesh off her body as she screamed, only to allow it to grow back so I could do it again . . .

But there was no time for that. Sighing my disappointment, I raised a finger toward her, preparing to rid everyone of the viper once and for all.

“Caden, no!”

The scream stilled the spark about to fly from my hand. My eyes swung to the four flame-encircled figures in time to see Caden, his expression lost, vacant, step toward the flames. I gasped. He was going to kill himself!

With the last bit of magic I had left after Evangeline’s complicated transportation spell, I instantly extinguished every flame in the atrium before he could succeed. Caden stared back at me, resentment marring his stunning face—but unharmed. That’s okay. You can hate me. You’re safe.

A powerful hand grabbed me by the neck and hoisted me into the air. “Where is she?” Viggo growled, rage blazing in his eyes.

Despite everything, I laughed. I continued to laugh as I sailed through the air and slammed into a brick wall sixty feet away, my bones splintering on impact. Pain ripped through my body as I tumbled to the ground and lay in a heap, my face twisted in agony, awaiting the second attack that would surely begin before my bones had a chance to heal.