At the mention of blood, a chorus of growls and deep inhalations rose from the crowd of depraved vampires. My attention darted to Evangeline’s friends again to see their eyes morph in anticipation.
“Settle down, everyone!” Mage’s stern voice rang out above the noise. “Don’t behave like wild animals.” As if her words had a tranquilizing effect, the noise in the atrium quieted to a low murmur.
“Now tell me, dear Mage, because I am in awe of your power . . . Are you the first?” Viggo asked. The first . . . he meant the first vampire.
Mage ignored him, turning to direct her next question to me in a sharp, direct tone. “Why do you believe Viggo wishes harm to Evangeline?” She was focused. She wanted information. But why did she care?
“Yes, Sofie,” Viggo interjected, his brow creasing as if he were confused and hurt. “Why, exactly? We made a deal. Once our sweet Evangeline brought back a vampire, she’d be free to go with her extorted money and her little friends. Remember?” he asked innocently. “So why exactly don’t you want to finish the spell? Don’t you want to release your sister?” He gestured at Mortimer. “Are you punishing us for something? Or,” his eyes narrowed, “perhaps you want more money for yourself?”
I sighed, absorbing the onslaught of accusations. There was no point in continuing the eighteen-year-old lie anymore. They wouldn’t find Evangeline. But I had to lay the truth out carefully. “The spell isn’t over.” I held my hand up in surrender as the words left my mouth, focusing now on Evangeline’s friends, hoping to explain before they exploded, before they decided I should die for deceiving Evangeline. To my surprise, my confession brought no reaction. Nothing, aside from a flicker of mild surprise in Amelie’s emerald eyes. From Caden and the cute couple standing behind him, nothing. Their expressions were stony, indifferent. Strange.
I did get a reaction from Viggo and Mortimer, though. “What?” they screeched in unison, Mortimer’s voice two octaves above his normally deep, ominous level.
I adjusted my stance as I explained, expecting one of them to fly at me. “The pendant can’t come off Evangeline yet and I need the pendant to release Veronique.”
“And when can it come off?” Mortimer whispered, hovering over me, his glare icy enough to freeze a normal person stiff.
“When I figure out how to get it off Evangeline without killing her,” I answered, matching his coolness.
“You’re choosing that girl over your own flesh and blood?” Each word left Viggo’s mouth with slow, sharp precision.
The accusation pierced my heart as surely as if he had stabbed me. “No, that’s not true,” I began, but I faltered, the guilt of my betrayal a weight on my shoulders. I loved my sister. I ached to see her. But Evangeline . . . She may as well be my own flesh and blood, for what she had come to mean to me. I had watched her grow from a tiny, soft baby into a beautiful, gentle woman. I would carve a path of destruction through anyone who wished her harm. I would protect her until my very last second of existence.
“How long have you known?” Mortimer hissed.
Always. The moment the Fates answered my Causal Enchantment, I knew each and every step that needed to take place. But I didn’t answer Mortimer. Instead I locked eyes with Viggo, relishing the moment as recognition passed across those callous, two-thousand-year-old eyes. Recognition that he had been played a fool. I didn’t need to answer. I just smiled.
Viggo’s eyes narrowed to slits. His lips pursed into a tight smile that evolved into a grimace as he stared intently at me. I knew he was visually tearing out my throat, weighing the value of the desire, deciding if it was worth keeping me here. And he could easily dispose of me if he wanted to; without my magic, I was no match for the ancient demon’s strength. In the end, he only sighed. “Well played, witch.” His lips parted into a wicked smile. “Now it’s my turn.”
He flew toward Caden with superhuman speed. A gasp caught in my throat, his intentions immediately clear to me.
Caden met him face-on, as if expecting the threat. Of equal height, they stood chest to chest, regarding each other as predators would before a battle. “What will happen, do you think, when Evangeline finds out her precious Caden is dead?” Viggo purred, shifting his weight, preparing to pounce.
No, you mustn’t harm him. He is Evangeline’s life. It will kill her. I haphazardly pushed Mortimer out of my way as I edged forward, terrified that my sudden movement would serve as a catalyst.
Caden’s head tilted back, his Adam’s apple protruding sharply as he broke out in boisterous laughter.