Asylum (Causal Enchantment #2)(16)
Author: K.A. Tucker

My eyes went wide and I gasped. Ratheus. A war between humans and vampires. He was right. How could I have forgotten about that? I was so wound up with my own situation that I hadn’t connected the dots.

“They likely wouldn’t,” Leo continued, trying to mollify me. “The easier thing for the Sentinel to do is bomb the Manhattan building. That would eliminate ninety-five percent of the vampires on Earth. They’d just have to pluck off a few more . . . ”

I felt the blood drain from my face as a vivid image sprang into my mind of Viggo and Mortimer’s palace exploding—with Caden and the others trapped inside. If Caden died, if Sofie died, I’d have no one left. The very thought forced tears to my eyes.

“Oh, Evangeline, I’m sorry,” Leo exclaimed, softening at the sight of my distress. “I don’t mean to sound blithe. I highly doubt that’ll happen. As long as the Sentinel is left in the dark about what’s going on inside those walls and about the venom issue, there’s no reason they’d do something so drastic.”

“But what if they find out?”

“Who’s going to tell them? No one,” Leo assured me, adding sarcastically, “You’re here. Otherwise I’d be worried.” I answered with an irritated scowl. Now was not the time for teasing.

“Is that what happened on this Ratheus?” Julian asked me softly. Despite the detail I had gone into earlier that day, I hadn’t gotten into specifics about Ratheus with him. I wasn’t in any mood to explain those details now, with my body numb, my heart aching. So I simply nodded. “Humans against vampires. The humans lost. They can’t win,” I said, my voice hollow.

The room fell quiet as we all absorbed the full weight of the situation. Well, what we thought may be the situation. Julian shifted around on the couch as if unable to get comfortable. He likely wouldn’t be able to—most people become overly sensitive when words like “war” get thrown around.

Finally Julian did speak. “So, how do we stop this from happening?”

“We can’t do anything, up here in the mountains. Absolutely nothing.” Leo paused. “Sofie needs to keep the Sentinel calm and the witches uninvolved, for starters. We can’t let any of them know what’s going on inside those walls. Nothing about the venom issue.”

“Right,” Julian murmured, adding slowly, “because if they can kill all these Ratheus vampires in New York in one blow, no more could be created.”

“Right,” Leo confirmed. “They’d likely attack with full force, trying to eradicate the lot of them before they could create more.”

“In fact, from Earth’s standpoint, it would be best if they did do it. Because then there would be no retaliation. The general population would likely never even find out vampires exist,” Julian surmised.

No wonder he’s in med school. He’s catching on way faster than I ever did, I thought, even as despair flooded into me. They were talking about my friends and Sofie and why killing them would save the world. No . . . that couldn’t happen. There had to be another way.

“And what happens if this Sentinel and the witches don’t find out? If everyone’s all happy and quiet, no one kills anyone?” Julian asked Leo.

“The Sentinel isn’t going away. Not unless they’re all hunted down and killed. The witches certainly aren’t going anywhere. Whether they fight now or fight later, it’s . . . inevitable. But if they fight later . . . once the vampires are released and able to breed more vampires to build an army . . . ” Leo shook his head. “Not good.”

“Ratheus will happen,” I whispered. I dropped my forehead into my palms. This conversation had gone from horrible to catastrophic. My friends were never going to live in quiet peace, even after they conquered their blood lust. After everything they’d been through, after a war and seven hundred years of waiting, the course of their lives could now possibly repeat itself. “Are we doomed, Leo? I mean, is this our fate? Are we destined to end up like Ratheus?” I asked, barely above a whisper.

The lines on Leo’s forehead deepened as he frowned. “I’m not a fan of fate. It breeds concession—a nasty human weakness. Besides, there are clear differences between Ratheus and Earth, the biggest one being Sofie’s magical blunder. Now, if they were parallel planets, on the other hand . . . ” He took a haul on his pipe. “Doom would likely be the operative word.”

“Right.” Earth is not Ratheus, I repeated mentally, the reminder helping calm my racing heart. A tiny shred of hope, but something I desperately needed. If Caden could just hang on until Sofie released them, they could go into hiding, somewhere away from the Sentinel. Even here. And if we could get Veronique out of their tomb, Viggo and Mortimer could leave New York, vanish from the radar. Then this Sentinel would have nothing to hunt. Or wouldn’t they? I recalled Leo’s words. “You said ninety-five percent of vampires. Not a hundred percent.”

Leo winked.

“Ugh! Leo, you said no more secrets. There are more? I thought those three were it! Where are the other vampires and why don’t they help?”

Leo tapped his finished pipe into an ashtray. “Viggo has made enemies. They won’t come within a thousand miles of him.”

“Surprise, surprise,” I muttered.

Leo barked a laugh. “That’s right. You’re not the only one Viggo has screwed over.”

“What’d he do?” Julian asked.

“Like I said before—Viggo was not the first vampire, but he’s now the oldest.”

“That means he killed off an older, more powerful vampire? Why?” Julian asked. “So he could be the oldest?” When Leo answered with a noncommittal shrug, Julian asked, “How?” Leo’s head was shaking before he answered, his eyes widening momentarily, as if strained. Our barrage of questions was starting to annoy him. “I haven’t the slightest clue. It took some extraordinary manipulation and acting on his part, I’m sure. But he is one devious creature.” Leo stood with an exaggerated stretch. “Let’s save the rest of this talk for another night. We’ll have many of them yet. Max, you’ll walk Evangeline upstairs?” Leo didn’t wait for an answer, of course. He shuffled by, lightly patting my head. “Get some rest, Evangeline.” He nodded once to Julian. “Night.”

Julian nodded back, and his eyes followed the old man all the way to the stairs. We sat in silence in the great room, brooding over the possible end of the world.

Suddenly feeling the cold, I tugged my blanket up to wrap it around myself. I burrowed into the corner of the sectional and pulled my feet up so I was curled into a tiny ball, even then wishing I could just disappear. Julian, who had moved to sit beside me while talking to Leo, leaned back until he was half lying, half sitting and threw his own blanket over himself, but he didn’t return to his corner of the couch. Yesterday’s awkwardness had completely vanished between us, leaving us comfortable with one another. I rested my cheek on the cushion behind me and quietly studied Julian’s profile as he stared ahead into the night, deep in thought. All traces of his scowl were gone. He was good-looking; really good-looking. And yet there were no sparks as I gazed at him now. Nor did I feel anything from him toward me, given his earlier proclamation that I wasn’t his “type.” Nothing hung between us and I was happy for that. I wonder what Amelie would think of him? I smiled to myself.

Julian turned to catch me smiling and frowned. “I didn’t expect smiles after that news.”

The reminder wiped any trace of happiness off my face. I shook my head. “I was just thinking about . . . something unimportant.”

“Well, what are we going to do?” Julian asked.

There was that word—we. Not “you,” but “we,” as if he were joining me in this struggle, sharing in my fears and pain so I didn’t need to bear them alone. I had another ally. “I don’t know. You heard Leo. We can’t do much here. We just have to hope the secrets remain hidden, that no one who could use this information against them finds out. And then when we get out of here, we find a new life. You’re welcome to come with us. Sofie made sure I had lots of money.” I wasn’t going to tell him how much. That would just sound like bragging.

“Right.” Julian snorted. “Live with a bunch of vampires? How exactly do you do that . . . ” His voice drifted off as understanding slackened his face. “You’re not going to . . . turn yourself into one of them? I mean, I guess that would make the most sense, but . . . ” His tone betrayed his disapproval.

I shrugged noncommittally, as Leo had earlier, averting my eyes. I knew the answer. So did Julian. He didn’t need me to say it.

He wouldn’t let it go, though. “How can you even think of doing that? Choose to kill humans, to drink blood!”

A tremor ran through my body. “I don’t want to think about any of that,” I muttered.

“Well, you need to! You need to think about what kind of life that is!” He was no longer talking quietly but almost yelling. Max’s head lifted, cobra-like, and he eyed a warning at Julian. “I’m sorry, Max,” Julian said, lowering his voice as he addressed the dog—a strange thing to watch from a different perspective, “but she needs to think about what she’s giving up before she goes and does something stupid!”

“It’s not stupid!” I retorted, but my voice was unconvincing. Maybe Julian was right. Maybe it was stupid. Maybe it was downright insane. All I knew was that the idea of becoming one of them wasn’t half as scary as the idea of losing all of them, an idea that had just come to life, thanks to Leo. I wasn’t sure I could live as a vampire, but I was now one hundred percent positive that I couldn’t live the rest of a human life without my vampire.

A touch on my calf made me look—Julian’s hand on top of my blanket, patting my leg soothingly. “Please don’t cry. I hate it when girls cry. My sister always cries. It’ll be okay.”

I hadn’t noticed the tears streaming down my cheeks until now. I lifted my hand to rub them away, but Julian’s thumb was already there, gently erasing one as it rolled down the bridge of my nose. “I just feel so . . . trapped.”

Julian smirked. “Yes, I know the feeling.”

Of course he did. His life had been irrevocably changed as well. He had lost his parents, he had by all accounts nearly frozen to death, he had listened to the same devastating possibilities as me. And yet here he was, trying to make me feel better. Poor Julian. He’s stuck in here with me—a sniveling, self-pitying crybaby. Suddenly I felt foolish. There was nothing we could do about the outside world while we were here. Sofie would have things under control. She would protect Caden and the others. She would keep the peace. My only job was to stay sane until I did see Caden again.

“At least we’re trapped here together.” Julian gave my leg another pat. “It’ll be alright, you’ll see. Nothing will happen. No witches casting spells. No Sentinel attacks. Right now, boredom will be our worst enemy.”

I nodded firm agreement. “You’re right. We’ll be fine.” I swallowed the painful lump in my throat. God, I hope you’re right, Julian.

I turned in soon after, craving the comfort of my pillow, and privacy, but I was far from sleep. My mind spun in ten different directions, replaying parts of the earlier conversation that I had forgotten until now. “Hey Max, what other nonhuman things are out there?” I asked as I crawled into my double bed. The sheets held the cold, even with a fire blazing in my hearth.

Oh, this and that. The bed creaked with the weight of Max’s body as he leaned up against the frame.

“Stop being evasive, dog,” I grumbled, knowing my reference to his original species would prick his ego.

I’m not. I’m protecting you from unimportant information that will unnecessarily frighten you. You sleep poorly as it is.

“Well, I want to know! I’m ordering you!”

Warm air puffed onto my face as Max snorted loudly. On the grounds of protecting you and myself, I choose not grant your request.

Max had figured out the loophole for denying my order; he was now basically pleading the Fifth. “Since when did dogs start following the Constitution?” I muttered. He answered with that funny grunting sound I recognized as dog laughter. With a huff, I rolled over to put my back to him, pulling the covers up over my ears to shut Max out. I spent the rest of the night trying to fall asleep. And failing.

5. Transformation

“Thirty-two days, Sofie!” Mortimer groaned. “Thirty-two days, penned up in here.” He waved his arms around the atrium, now an urban war zone, thanks to my temper tantrum. “How much more of this can we bear?”

Thirty-two days and counting since the day Evangeline had returned with an army of vampires. It felt like thirty-two years. I had done six more blood runs since the first, all at night, all uncoordinated, all old-fashioned thievery. The several trucks that had gone missing had made it to the news, only building on the speculation regarding the explosion and multiple deaths outside Reggie’s Red Cross. I couldn’t do much about it. Compelling and erasing paperwork took time and required the freedom to move about. I had neither. Not that it mattered anymore. That first run to Reggie had made it clear that the Sentinel was aware of us, and they had at least one witch—likely Ursula—helping them. They had to be wondering what was happening within these walls that would require so many trucks of blood. Maybe if we stayed in here long enough, they’d get bored, I thought sardonically. Fat chance. That group had lingered from generation to generation, passing on secret truths and missions, breeding hatred for us. They knew how to lie in wait.