Allegiance (Causal Enchantment #3)(48)
Author: K.A. Tucker

So my choice was their fate. “You okay with it? I know how much you love vampires.”

A quick check over his shoulder at Amelie and he whispered, “I’ll get used to it.”

Brilliant green eyes appeared suddenly as Amelie dove in, throwing herself at me. “I’m so glad you’re back! We were worried. You took forever to wake up! Like an entire day! Julian and Veronique were conscious in an hour!”

I grabbed Amelie’s wrist. “Where is she? Where is Veronique?”

“Here,” came the melodious voice. My head whipped around to find two forms strolling in, arm in arm. I gaped openly. Veronique—a mass of bruises and burns and stringy clothes—was now healed and spectacular, her shiny ringlets cascading down her back, her figure full and supple.

Veronique, Julian, and I, transformed. Veronique safe and with Mortimer. I sighed. I don’t believe it! Sofie had fixed it. Caden said she would, and she did. Never again would I doubt her.

“There is nothing you can’t do, is there, Sofie?” Dark glances flittered about the room. My scalp prickled. Something was wrong. I scanned everything again, analyzing further. Broken chunks of wood, narrow halls carved out of dirt surrounded us.

“Where are we? Where is everyone else? Where’s Mage and Kait, and Max’s brothers? The wolves? Wait!” I spun around, in search of my shadow. “Where’s Wraith?” I promised myself then and there that I’d stop being a jerk to him. I wondered how he handled apologies.

“Wraith’s gone, Evangeline,” Sofie informed me softly. “He was here to protect your mortal life. That is no longer an issue.”

“Oh.” A trace of regret gnawed at me, one that surprised me. I never got to say goodbye.

“And the others are out, trying to … contain the situation.”

I frowned, earning a sigh from Sofie. “A lot has happened in two days, Evangeline. Right now, we’re in an old mine outside the city.”

“Why? To keep us from human blood?” I forced a laugh. “This is a little dramatic, don’t you think?”

“It’s temporary, but it was the best form of safety we could find while we waited for you. No one will find us down here.”

“Who’s looking? We won against the witches, right?” No answer.

A gaggle of knowing looks connected and passed over my head. Like a domino of disaster, it finally hit me. We had bigger problems than witches and Sentinel.

“Veronique chose Mortimer,” I said.

“Veronique chose Mortimer,” Sofie echoed, her hands folding over each other in front of her face, as if in prayer. I turned to see matching masks of guilt painted on the loving couple’s faces.

Swallowing the terror bubbling up from the pit of my stomach, I whispered, “What has Viggo done?”

Sofie’s stare bore into my soul, gripping it with icy fingers. “All paths will lead to one fate.” She said it as though quoting someone. Maybe she was. “Viggo has started the war.”