Passing by a full-length beveled mirror, I faltered. Sallow green eyes gaped back at me. My hair, naturally smooth and silky, drifted in disarray. Awkward creases riddled my fitted black and silver tube dress. Strange, for me. I didn’t need to work very hard to turn the awed heads of every man, woman, and child I passed. I never looked like this . . .
I sighed. Evidence of my current frazzled state over being separated from my girl. For eighteen years, until the first night her curse sent her to Ratheus, she was always within a minute’s reach, always under my careful watch. And now she was thousands of miles away.
I hated it. I hated Viggo and Mortimer for making me do it. All I have is a picture, I thought bitterly as I pulled a folded four by six from the only pocket in my dress. I had swiped it from the stack of prints I developed for her. In it, she was sitting on a bench, gazing off to her left and smiling. Likely at Caden. My finger traced the lines of her face, memorized long ago. How much like her mother she looked, with her blonde hair and dimpled smile. Longing tore at my insides. If I was honest with myself, I missed her more than Nathan. I missed her more than my sister.
I sensed his entrance a split second after he appeared in the corner of my eye. “I thought I made myself clear,” I began, taking time to fold the picture and slide it back into my pocket. “No one is to enter this room.” I turned to level Caden with a flat gaze. Perfect. We’re alone. Finally. Now’s my chance. Except he’s too far away. I took one step forward, then another, slowly edging in without rousing suspicion. He wouldn’t take kindly to being violated like this if he knew what I intended to do, I was sure. I just needed him to remain unaware for thirty seconds so he wouldn’t bolt or attack me. And, if his motives for Evangeline proved wicked . . .
Caden suddenly and unexpectedly appeared inches away from me with speed to rival Viggo, his powerful hands tightly gripping my biceps. “Where is she? I need to see her,” he whispered, desperation in his voice. His thumbs dug painfully into my flesh.
I had to tilt my head to meet his eyes. God, he’s strong. How am I going to do this without him knowing? He certainly was a darling, I had to admit as my eyes roamed his features, delicate and masculine at the same time. I could see why Evangeline had fallen head over heels for him. “Why would I tell you?” I began, mentally plucking several helixes and readying them, wondering if I could carry on a conversation while dissecting him. Doubtful, but I’d have to try.
“I need to see her,” Caden forced through clenched teeth.
“You used her and then tried to kill her,” I spat.
Raw pain flashed in his eyes. He cocked his head to the left, toward the door. Checking for eavesdroppers. When he looked back at me, it was with grim determination. “Why don’t you find out for yourself? I know you can do those kinds of things, witch,” he grated, his own suggestion clearly an unpleasant one.
Did I hear right? Is he . . . volunteering to be explored? I felt my mouth twist with doubt. No . . . he couldn’t be. What vampire in his right mind would—
“Do it now!” he urged, his voice breaking, despair shining in his jade eyes. “Quick! Before they find us!”
I didn’t need any more prompts. With reckless abandon, I drove magical tendrils into his body, infiltrating his thoughts, his emotions, his pain, everything about him. I navigated through his past, through his human life, downloading his every hope, his every fear, his every desire as if they were all part of a computer program, the visions flashing in my mental eye, the emotions swarming my heart.
I felt my eyes widen as Evangeline’s angelic face appeared, as I rifled through his memories of her, from the unconscious, frail creature lying on the cave floor to the moment her pendant locked within the statue’s grasp in Ratheus. And then the atrium . . . Evangeline stood smiling at me. No, at Caden. Her smile faltered as Caden’s overwhelming desire to kill her took control, as he lunged. The images ended with a mix of unruly desire and raw pain. Caden’s.
He’d lied to Viggo. He truly loved her.
I gasped as my magic released him. “She’s safe,” I whispered breathlessly, relief flooding my soul as my hands flew to his cheeks, suddenly the cheeks of an angel in my eyes. He may want to kill her, but he wouldn’t break her heart—perverse but comforting. “You need to get out of here now, before they find us together,” I whispered in a rush. Now that I knew his love for Evangeline was pure, I was that much more desperate to protect him. I couldn’t give Viggo a reason to try to kill him. “I left Rachel in the atrium with a body, but who knows how long that will keep her occupied. And God only knows where Mage is.” At least I knew Viggo and Mortimer wouldn’t be lurking. They had been all but glued to the atrium, to be near Veronique, their erratic paranoia that she was in danger growing tenfold.