Asylum (Causal Enchantment #2)(21)
Author: K.A. Tucker

“Amelie!” I warned sternly.

“I know, don’t kill them,” she drawled, rolling her eyes like a petulant teenager.

With that, Caden and I slid through the crowd toward the mutants, separating as we got closer and surveying the area around them for the others.

I was perhaps twenty feet away when the first waves of magic hit me. Someone was casting a spell. I searched the crowd for the source, and immediately locked eyes with Mage as she pushed her way toward me. Her panicked expression told me she could feel it too. “We have to get out of here,” I mouthed to her. She jerked her chin toward the nearest exit. I nodded, and turned to locate Caden and Amelie.

I came face to face with cloudy irises. A man stood two feet away, average-looking and on the smaller side, staring at me with empty, dead eyes—not dazed as if compelled; dead.

I turned in a full circle, seeing the others closing in, encircling us—eight zombie-like men in total. I watched with odd fascination as three hands floated up to seize my shoulders and arm. The instant their fingers made contact, I felt it—magic, oozing out of them. No emotions. No intentions. Magic. They were under a witch spell. What kind, I had no idea. Something hypnotic and very powerful.

I reached up and picked off one of the hands, quickly scanning it for markings before I dropped it. No Sentinel cross. These were just plain old humans under the spell of a witch, obviously intent on getting to me. It had to be Ursula.

I twisted and shook my body to toss the other two hands off me. I began moving forward, trying to push through the circle. The man directly in front of me reached toward the back pocket of his jeans. His hand returned, brandishing a knife. I couldn’t help it, I laughed. What did that idiot Ursula think a knife would do?

I prepared for the zombie’s clumsy lunge, one I could easily outmaneuver. Only it didn’t come. Instead, he turned the blade toward his own wrist and slid it across his flesh. Just as Mage had done earlier. Blood immediately poured out—fresh human blood. Ursula’s trying to get me to attack, cause a scene, reveal myself for what I am. My control was too strong for that. But there were ten vampires in here who could not say the same.

“No!” I screamed, sensing someone rushing in from my left—Amelie, unprepared for the sudden rush of fresh blood. Caden was immediately behind her, and gripped her in a headlock to restrain her. Her arms flailed wildly, her clawed hands scratching the air as she screamed in frustration.

The crowd was moving back as people sensed the commotion, saw the man’s wrist, the blood. If we could just get out of here . . . The glint of a new blade caught the corner of my eye. I turned to see the other zombies brandishing knives as well. With quick, intentional movements, seven more wrists were opened. The overpowering scent of blood hit me like a blow to the face. And then a shrill scream cut through the deafening music.

On the other side of the zombie circle, Bishop was holding back an equally ferocious Fiona. By the pained expression on his face, he was fighting his own urge. He wouldn’t be able to hold himself off much longer. We had to contain this mess now.

And just like that, it was too late. Four mutants dove into the circle before me, the fresh blood luring them. They attacked the bleeding men like hungry wolves, tearing and slashing with their teeth and hands. Drunk and stoned patrons stampeded toward the various exits, crawling, pushing, and screaming the entire way. Most couldn’t know what was happening, what with the strobe lights still pulsating and the music still pounding, the effects challenging their eyes and ears. But their human instincts told them to run and so they ran. Pandemonium had officially broken out.

Mage stepped in behind two of the mutants, too distracted by their victims to notice her. Her hands reached toward their backs, and their bodies arched, then toppled to the ground, leaving Mage with fists full of bloody hearts. Quick and definitive. Purposeful, that was Mage. Throwing the mutant hearts to the ground by my feet, she swiftly dispatched the other two mutants, equally engrossed and oblivious to what was happening. She tossed their hearts to join the others then, looking up at me, mouthed the order, “Burn it all.”

So much for a covert operation. But it needed to be done. All of this evidence needed to disappear without delay. Pushing Caden and Amelie back, I pulled forward a few dozen helixes and wove a fire spell, one hot enough to incinerate bones. I blasted the pile of bodies—both mutant and zombie. In seconds, nothing but ash remained.

A vast, empty basement now surrounded us, the music and lights still playing but no humans left. Caden and Bishop had their arms wrapped around the girls, who had calmed considerably. Everyone observed the bonfire with faces filled with quiet worry.

The music suddenly cut off, and I turned to see Mage stepping away from the speakers, still gripping torn power cords. “Jonah wasn’t here,” she announced. One mutant was still loose. Better than four, but still. He was free to roam New York City, to be noticed. “Did you see the witch?” Mage asked me. “I couldn’t find her anywhere.”

I shook my head. I had assumed it was Ursula before, but something about this told me it was bigger than a jealous witch out to get me. Whoever it was, they were clearly intent on revealing vampires to the world. “It’s time we got back home,” I said. Home. What a strange term for our Fifth Avenue vampire asylum. But it was the safest place for us to be right now. We needed to strategize. We needed an escape plan. And it was time everyone learned the truth about Ratheus.

6. Werewolves and the Possessed

“Are you trying to melt the snow with your super-powered stare?” Julian asked in a bored tone, his chin resting on his palm while he studied the game board on the small table between us. His other hand rolled a chess piece back and forth between its fingers.

“If I am, I suck at it,” I grumbled. The snow may actually have gotten deeper in the five hours since I’d sat down in this chair, even with the hot sun beaming down on it. It felt sauna-hot when it streamed in through the bay window of the great room, but out in the midst of the mountains in the dead of winter, it was still probably deathly cold. I didn’t know for sure, though. I hadn’t stepped outside in . . . forever, it seemed. “It’s Monday, right? Oh, wait—no. It’s . . . Tuesday?” I could feel my brows pulling together in frustration as I realized I didn’t even know what day it was anymore.

“Tuesday, I think,” Julian murmured absently, his focus on his next move.

Saturday, Max called from his resting place in a sun spot beside the table.

“Saturday?” I echoed, feeling my eyes bug out as I did the math. That meant a month had passed since Sofie exiled us here. A month with no communication with the outer world, whether through normal human means or otherwise. A month of wondering if my vampires still lived. I assumed they did, but I couldn’t shake that ominous feeling in the back of my mind that they were doomed, a belief that made me want to curl up in a cocoon and hibernate for the next several years.

That belief had also turned me into a wretched cabin mate. I didn’t realize it until I hit rock bottom two weeks ago. Each night, Julian and I took turns picking out the movies to watch and it had been my night to pick. When I rhymed off Old Yeller, The Perfect Storm, and Steel Magnolias, Julian finally lost it. He grabbed the hard drive and flung it across the room, then threatened to provoke Max into killing him because he couldn’t stand being trapped in this wooden hut with “Sulky Evie” for one more day.

Of course Max was on his feet and ready to oblige Julian just for the fact that he had raised his voice to me, but I quickly stopped the beast, realizing that I had become that whiny, miserable girl that I loathed. The girl whom I somehow had avoided becoming after my mother’s death, when I barely existed because everyone had been compelled to ignore me. Even after I found out about the curse, my optimism held. But here, exiled in the mountains and worrying about Caden and my friends, I had finally broken. Now someone would rather die than be near me.

After that night, I tucked the pictures I had so desperately clung to into my nightstand, only to be pulled out for emergencies. I made a conscious effort to force all thoughts of Ratheus and vampires out of my head—I tried, anyway. It was impossible. Jade eyes and springy blonde curls crept into my thoughts with every silent moment, and there were a lot of those, in exile.

“I’m going to go nuts,” I murmured, more to myself than anyone else. Rubbing my eyes, I turned away from the blinding glare of the sun reflecting off the snow to look at Julian.

Brown eyes glanced up at me before dropping back to the game board. “You and me both,” he mumbled as he moved a piece—I wasn’t paying attention to which one. “Your turn.”

In the month since Leo brought the disagreeable Forero son back from death, he and I had become what some might call best friends, whether we liked it or not. We ate our meals together, we watched movies together, we swapped books when the other was finished. We did everything together that didn’t require privacy. Sometimes we didn’t even bother “retiring” to our rooms, as Leo called it, but instead slept buried under blankets on either end of the sectional couch, finding comfort in each other’s presence. Those were the nights when the feelings of isolation were especially strong. I guess I didn’t feel quite as alone with Julian around. Sure, I was never really alone with a three hundred pound werebeast glued to my heels, ready to protect and serve, but having Julian around was different. There was a soothing aspect to it. That was the word to describe being around Julian: soothing.

Every once in a while, I’d find myself studying Julian’s face—usually while he dozed on the couch—wondering if I’d be this comfortable with him in different circumstances. If I’d talk so casually, laugh so freely, if I were sitting across from that face back in the real world, where we weren’t orphans and exiled by vampires; where I wasn’t pining over a jade-eyed Caden. With those full lips, olive skin, and chocolate-colored eyes, Julian was one of those guys a girl like me would probably fall hard for. But I hadn’t, thankfully. It would just complicate an already thorny situation, especially since it’d be one-sided. You’re not my type, he had said. That was for the best. Right now, I just needed a good human friend.

And so my new bestie and I sat in this chalet, day in and day out, looking for ways to occupy ourselves. The task was becoming more challenging with each sunrise. Our latest activity was chess. Julian had discovered a game board in one of the storage closets two days ago, and offered to teach me how to play. It quickly became obvious that chess wasn’t my game.

“Can I move the horse over here?” I asked.

“The knight?” he corrected me. “Yes, you can move him there . . . if you want to lose this game.”

My hand jumped away from the piece with his warning. I spent the next few minutes reevaluating my options while Julian took a turn staring vacantly out the window, deep in thought. “I wonder what summer’s going to be like here,” he murmured.

“Pretty. Long.” It was my turn to sound bored.

“And then another winter,” Julian continued, his tone flat.

“And don’t forget spring and fall in between.”

I glanced up to find him looking at me, defeat in his eyes. “Long,” he agreed.

I lifted my finger to my temple and made a circular motion. “I’m warning you . . . cuckoo!”

Julian gave me a crooked smile. “Take bets on who loses it first, you or me?”

I grinned. “Maybe Leo?”

Julian shook his head, chuckling, his deep dimples appearing. “No way. Not Davy Crocket.” Of all of us, Leo actually seemed to thrive here. Perhaps it was because he didn’t have to answer to Viggo’s demands at all hours of the day and night.

“Right. He’s rock-solid,” I said, thinking of the others. “Maybe Valentina?” My hand immediately to my mouth. “Sorry.”

Julian’s face turned solemn at the mention of his sister, who might already be nuts. We had seen little of her since arriving. She spent most of her time secluded in her room, her door barricaded with a chair. For protection, she said. I don’t think she did much else but sleep, based on her head of matted hair. Every once in a while she’d come out to get some icy air or grab a bite to eat. Or stare at me with those big, chocolate-brown eyes, long since transformed from innocent into something wild and calculating. I always smiled politely but otherwise I kept my distance.

I’m going to go crazy listening to you two jabber on, Max grumbled, rising to sit on his haunches. Max was not enjoying his time in the wilderness, much to my surprise. He said it was because there wasn’t a lot to hunt, this far up in the mountains. It meant traveling a bit, which meant leaving me for at least a day, a proposition he shunned immediately, even with the other dogs here as backup. As a result, he was starving and beyond ornery. Two weeks ago, his snark had reached unbearable proportions. I lost my patience, banishing him as I had the night he found Julian. He’d sullenly ventured beyond his comfort zone and stumbled upon a musk deer. When Max came back later that night, he was a much happier werebeast.