Asylum(17)

Didn’t anyone tell you that vampires can be a tad obsessive?

Sofie was . . . obsessed with me? With a heavy sigh, I headed to a lounge chair beside the stone hearth and pulled my legs up to sit cross-legged. “Relax and enjoy life,” I whispered to myself again, as if repeating Leo’s words enough would somehow make this feel like a vacation. Maybe I’d get to enjoy all two hundred-odd books, given that I’d be “relaxing and enjoying life” in this asylum for years, I thought bitterly as I cracked the cover. The faint new book scent that wafted from its pages soothed me, at least.

After restarting the first page a dozen times, I realized I wouldn’t be putting a dent in my personal reading challenge any time soon. My attention kept drifting to New York . . . How far away was I from Caden? Was it day or night there? What was happening? Had Caden’s feelings for me changed?

“What the—” Julian’s low mutter distracted me from my musings. I quietly shut my book and looked his way. He hadn’t moved from his spot and he was intent on something outside. A moment later the side door opened and Valentina stepped through, her normally olive-colored cheeks glowing a vibrant red and her big brown eyes glassy-looking from the frigid temperatures. She wore nothing to protect her from the elements but mitts, a light sweater, and a pair of boots, the undone laces dragging as she walked.

“Are you insane?” Julian exploded, storming toward his little sister. “What were you doing out there? You could have frozen to death!”

“I went for a quick walk. It’s pleasant out,” Valentina answered excitedly in that high-pitched, childish voice of hers. I felt my eyes widen with shock at the same time that Julian’s did. How anyone without a balaclava and a fur-lined body suit could ever call minus sixty degrees “pleasant” was beyond my understanding.

“I have to agree, Valentina,” Leo said sternly in his Irish brogue as he entered the room. “Only an idiot goes out in these temperatures without good reason. Don’t leave this cabin again without being properly dressed, and only with someone’s knowledge.”

Valentina turned to regard Leo, her bright eyes narrowing ever so slightly with displeasure before they relaxed. “Okay,” she agreed, smiling sweetly. If Leo’s severe reprimand ruffled her, I couldn’t tell.

“Why would you . . . ” Julian’s voice drifted off and he shook his head at his foolish sister one last time before turning to Leo, his expression wary. He opened his mouth to speak, but hesitated. “Do you know what happened to our parents?” he finally asked, his tone more respectful than yesterday’s. Leo’s blunt threat must have forced him to check his cockiness.

The wrinkles in Leo’s heavily creased forehead deepened. He nodded. “That’s why I came in here.” He paused. “Unfortunately, your parents didn’t survive. There were just too many . . . of them to control.”

“Too many?” Julian repeated, confusion in his eyes.

He hadn’t seen the horde of Ratheus vampires appear, I realized. He had been inside. The guy really had no idea what had happened.

“They died quickly, if that’s any consolation. I’m sorry.” Contrasted with his callousness the day before, Leo’s soft tone indicated authenticity. I noticed he wouldn’t use the term “vampires,” though everyone in the room knew exactly what they were.

I hazarded a glance at Julian to see hollow shock in the eyes that stared back at Leo. Instantly, I pitied him. I knew what he was feeling. It had consumed me only five years ago, the night I received news of my mother’s death. He was now an orphan. At least he still had his sister . . .

Julian’s brown eyes slowly slid first to the dogs, then to me. The muscles in his jaw tightened. “How are you involved in this?” he asked, barely above a whisper.

Max was instantly between us, his lips curling back to expose razor-sharp teeth. He snarled a warning.

“Calm down, Max,” I said sharply.

There was no need. Max’s ferocity—normally enough to make anyone wary—went unnoticed. Julian continued to stare at me with haunted eyes. When he spoke again, it was more to himself than anyone else. “They will all die. Every last one of them.” With that he stormed off, his words a swift kick to my stomach.

Movement beside me drew my eye. Valentina peeled off her sweater and tossed it haphazardly over a chair as she walked over to the couch nearest to me. She seemed surprisingly . . . fine.

I hesitated. “Are you okay?” I asked as gently as possible, moving to sit beside her. I hadn’t spoken to her since the day I helped her up from the cobblestones after her fainting spell.