“Boy, were they wrong,” I muttered, imagining their last few moments of life and shuddering. “Sorry,” I added.
“Yeah.” Julian’s voice was hollow. “But luckily they didn’t learn anything valuable to the Sentinel while they were there.”
I felt my eyes widen as realization dawned. No, but you have. Julian knew everything there was to know. Everything that I knew, I had stupidly divulged to him. Enough to harm the vampires. Enough to destroy everyone I cared for.
Max pushed through the curtain then, water splashing out of the bowl as he tried to balance it upright within his jaws. He walked it over and leaned down to within Julian’s reach.
“Thanks, Max,” Julian murmured, taking the bowl. He lifted his head enough to drink from the edge of the bowl, his worried eyes locked on me the entire time.
If only you knew, Max, I thought, my focus shifting back and forth between the two of them.
When Julian finished, he half-placed, half-dropped the bowl on the floor and wiped the water from his chin with the back of his hand. “For what it’s worth, I regret ever agreeing to it.”
Regret what? Max piped in.
“Sure you do, now that you got caught,” I answered bitterly.
Caught doing what? Max asked, his tone agitated.
“No . . . now that I know you. Now that I know the whole truth and what could happen if this comes to blows.”
I pressed my lips together as I weighed my options. I could tell Max right now and end any threat Julian could ever become to Caden and the others. But . . . he had saved me from Ursula. He had attacked his own sister—her body—to protect me. I owed him. I didn’t have to trust him. But I needed time to think things through. While we were exiled to yet another remote part of the world, he couldn’t cause too much trouble. It would only take a few words from me to end him. “Nothing, Max,” I finally said, adding with an air of triumph, “You’re on a ‘need to know’ basis.”
Max grumbled in displeasure but said nothing.
The worry in Julian’s eyes lifted slightly. You’re not off the hook, you liar. I turned my back on him. Hugging my chest to my knees, I lamented over everything. At least I didn’t feel like a complete idiot this time. The Foreros had fooled everyone, not just the ever-gullible, naïve Evangeline.
Uncomfortable silence filled the hut as I stared at the mud wall for what felt like hours. Finally I heard the soft sound of snoring. Good. I could easily avoid talking to him for the rest of the day if he wasn’t awake.
9. Illusions
It was my first time in Viggo and Mortimer’s jet cabin since the trip to New York with Evangeline. With four vampires taking turns pacing around in it, three of them beside themselves with grief over the loss of Fiona only hours ago, it didn’t feel quite the same.
Escaping from the Fifth Avenue palace had been easy, but not graceful. Since crashing through an army of witches to escape behind the wheel of a car was too risky, even in the Hum-V, we used the sewer system access from the garage, weaving through muck, rats, and other vileness for a mile or so to resurface in Central Park. From there it was a simple act of grand theft auto and tripling the speed limit to get us to Viggo’s airfield in record time.
We likely could have run to the plane in the same amount of time, had it not been for Bishop. Mage struggled with the broken-hearted vampire every step of the way. All he wanted to do was turn around and dive back into that battleground to avenge Fiona’s death, a reckless move that would mean certain death for him. I even tried a few calming spells on him, but none seemed to work, his anguish overpowering all. I found myself wishing that Mage could compel him to follow peacefully. In the end, Mage kept Bishop alive with brute force, dragging him kicking and screaming through the tunnels, her tiny arm around his broad neck in a headlock. Their difference in size almost made it look comical. I was surprised she bothered, but I felt grateful that she did. Losing one of them would be hard enough for Evangeline. Losing two . . .
Now we flew south toward the remote South American island where Evangeline waited, guarded by a group of demons created in one of my magical blunders. A part of me overflowed with joy that I would finally see my girl again. And when we did meet, it would be without the mask I had so stoically worn to hide my true feelings for her, to alienate myself from her. I would no longer need to lurk within the shadows to be near her. Life would be different now.
I sighed. No, life was not yet different. I needed to be a long way off from joy right now. I had failed to break the deadly curse hanging over her. She was still hunted and now Viggo and Mortimer knew exactly where she hid. I silently admonished myself for not moving the tribe from their original location. It had seemed like too much of a hassle at the time, the island was so isolated, so perfect for concealing that sort of creature. Evangeline was still in great danger, until I figured out how to lift that blasted curse. Then Caden could transform her, something I was sure she wanted, and she would no longer be a fragile human.