Asylum (Causal Enchantment #2)(23)
Author: K.A. Tucker

“Oh, no one.” I shook my head, waving my hand dismissively. “I’m just being stupid. I—”

Max’s murmur cut me off. I don’t believe it . . .

I sighed impatiently. “What don’t you believe now, Max?”

There was a long pause. How could we have missed it!

Max was rattled—such an uncommon thing that it sent shockwaves of panic through to my core. “Missed what, Max?” I asked evenly.

I have to warn him, Max muttered. Stay here. Stay away from the cabin until you hear from me again! Max raced past us and disappeared, galloping through the deep snow toward the chalet.

“What? Warn who?” I said aloud, replaying my last words to Max. I had made that insane suggestion about—I gasped, and threw my hands up toward Julian. “Help me!”

Julian had me on my feet in seconds. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know,” I answered abruptly, setting off toward the cabin. It couldn’t be true . . . but if it was, then Leo was in danger.

“Yes, you do. You know something!” Julian pushed.

“No time to explain!” I called back, now several feet ahead of him. “We have to get back.” The truth was, I couldn’t explain this to Julian until I knew if it was true. How could I tell him his sister was—no, not until I knew it was true. How had she found us?

Thankfully Julian stopped asking and caught up to me. Walking in snowshoes was easy; running was impossible. I settled on speed-walking. By the time we got back to the chalet five minutes later—the longest five minutes of my life—I was panting.

The side door into the great room hung limply off its hinges, the victim of a giant werebeast’s impatience. “I guess our werewolf will be fixing that?” Julian commented as we shook off our snowshoes. Julian carefully pushed open the broken door and held it for me to pass through.

We entered a war zone. Everywhere my eyes landed, they touched destruction. The antler chandelier once suspended over the dining table now sat in a broken pile on the floor beside my feet. Every piece of furniture was upturned, legs broken, torn material oozing stuffing. The fireplace looked as if someone had blown chunks of stone from it with a cannon. And the windows—every one on the far side of the room was smashed, leaving a deadly minefield of shattered glass to navigate through. Frigid air poured in.

All of that became irrelevant as soon as I saw Leo lying on the floor, a wide gash on his forehead making a bloody mess of his face. Valentina towered over him, her stance defensive. The dogs stood unmoving, watching her from various points in the room. Get out of here, now! Max screamed inside my head.

“No!” I cried, panic pinching my voice.

Julian stepped inside. “What the . . . ” He fell silent as he took in the destruction.

“Julian,” Leo called weakly, struggling to rise. “Get her out of here. Run!”

Valentina’s foot landed on Leo’s chest, shoving him back to the floor. A wicked smile touched her lips as she gazed down at the old man.

“Val! What the hell is going on? What are you doing?” Julian cried. When she didn’t acknowledge her brother, he screamed, “Valentina!”

Her head whipped around to regard him curiously. “Oh, right.” She smiled. “I guess I go by that name too.” She turned and took two steps toward us, her icy gaze landing on me. “Though if you want my attention, you’re better off using my real name. Ursula.”

I felt my back hit Julian’s chest as I stumbled backward.

“She’s gone mad,” he whispered.

“Not exactly,” I whispered back, trembling. “That’s not Valentina anymore.”

Ursula responded with a throaty laugh.

Clever witch, Max said. She was ready for us. He still hadn’t moved from his position. None of the dogs had. Surprising. I figured they would have quartered her by now.

“It was exhausting, using my powers and cutting my arm every day for the spell to mask my identity from those canines.” She looked down to Leo and gave his ribs another forceful nudge. “And this relic.”

Max had sensed it all along. He had sensed something “off” about her, but he couldn’t figure out what it was. And I had chastised him for being unkind.

“And thank God this young little thing decided to come into that garden when she did!” Ursula gestured to her body. “I may have had to do housework here if I ended up in one of those maids’ bodies.”

I gasped at that revelation, remembering when Valentina had stumbled, that first day in the atrium. That hadn’t been an innocent stumble; that was Ursula infesting her body! Ursula had been with us from the very beginning.

“Who’s Ursula?” Julian whispered, his tone somber; he realized we were in real danger.

“A bad person,” I whispered back, none too quietly.

Another throaty laugh. “I’m not so bad, once you get to know me. Sofie has filled your head with lies. That’s what she does.”

Run, Evangeline, Max warned again.

I locked eyes with my canine protector. Do something! I silently pleaded.

“He can’t help you,” Ursula said. “None of them can move. I’ve made sure of that.”

“What do you want?”

Ursula chuckled. “Many things. For one, I want out of this godforsaken hellhole, and this bastard won’t give me any clues as to how and when I can do that.” She kicked him again, earning a groan.

“Please stop doing that,” I pleaded, tears welling up in my eyes.

She continued on as if I hadn’t spoken. “And then I want to see the pain and suffering in Sofie’s ugly green eyes when she watches me kill you.”

My breath caught in my lungs. I barely felt Julian’s hand settle on my shoulder.

Evangeline, run—both of you. Get as far away as quickly as possible. She’ll need to break her spell to stop you and then we’ll have her. Run.

“Get behind me.” Julian’s voice was barely audible.

All we had to do was run and this would all be over. I shifted my weight.

“Stop!” The shrill scream froze me in my tracks. “Try to leave here, and this place goes up in flames. Everyone dies. Not as poetic as my original plan, but . . . ” her lips curled into a bitter smile, “Sofie will suffer, all the same.”

Everyone would die because of me. I couldn’t have that.

I gave Max my best “what now?” look, wishing I could communicate telepathically to him.

I guess she’s smarter than I gave her credit for. An exaggerated sigh followed. There’s one other way . . . Throw something at her.

What? My confusion must have played across my face, because he continued.

Injure her, and whatever spell she cast will break. Witches can’t hold their spells when they’re attacked. I’ll reach her before she can recast. I hesitated. Look at Leo! He’s too hurt to use his magic to protect himself! Hurry!

My eyes darted to my gravely injured guardian. His eyes were now closed. Was he dead? Desperation washed over me. I scanned the area nearby for objects, and my eyes settled on a jagged antler by my feet. If I could impale her with the sharp end . . . Taking a deep breath and summoning every last ounce of courage, I psyched myself for the drop and the precise throw I’d need to execute, one I doubted I could do with accuracy. I tensed, preparing for the dive—

And went sailing away from my target to land several feet off to the side, broken glass crunching under my weight. I was now level with Leo, lying only ten feet away from me. I glanced back to see Julian charging toward Ursula, a jagged piece of the chandelier held out in front of him.

Her eyes widened in surprise, then immediately narrowed. With a quick glance down at the unconscious Leo, she decided something. Her hand lifted toward Julian, her lips moving.

Oh, shit! Max moaned. Tell him to throw it. Now!

“Throw it!” I shrieked, echoing Max’s command. From the corner of my eye, I saw Leo’s lids flash open, his eyes now bright, alert. His lips were moving quickly but I couldn’t hear him over the sound of rushing blood in my ears.

Julian roared as he swung his arm back to launch the antlers at her—just as a purple light shot out from Ursula’s outstretched hand, heading straight for his chest.

I stopped breathing altogether and squeezed my eyes closed, waiting. Expecting the shriek of pain, the thump of a body hitting the floor.

Instead, I heard a drumbeat.

7. And So It Begins

“Do you feel that?” Mage hissed as the six of us made record time back to our Fifth Avenue base, distancing ourselves from the ring of suspicious ashes and incoherent babbling of rave attendees at the underground club. It would certainly make the news later today.

I did feel it; it was impossible to miss. An awesome amount of magic was being channeled somewhere nearby, more than anything one witch could summon. It only strengthened my concern that this went beyond Ursula’s meddling. “I don’t know what they’re planning, but we need to get inside now, and scaling the wall with each of you will take too much time.” Everyone nodded their agreement. With that, we headed straight for the main door.

Getting back into Viggo and Mortimer’s fortress was easy. I punched in the code—Evangeline’s birthday in two different formats—and ran in, Mage’s limp body draped over my shoulder. I didn’t give a second’s consideration to leaving her within the Merth this time. We had bigger issues than a vampire with magical abilities.

Mage was alert and dropped to her feet as soon as I stepped into the atrium. We found Viggo and Mortimer in their customary warding positions on either side of Veronique, but their normally controlled expressions gave way to shock as they watched us enter from the outside. It was such a rare sight. “What the . . . .” Mortimer began.

“Hold on a sec,” I called, already on my way out.

In seconds I had Evangeline’s friends safely inside. It took only that long for Viggo and Mortimer’s shock to disappear. Now they wore glares that could have incinerated me, if they had any sorcerer magic in them.

“In private?” Mage suggested before Mortimer could explode. She accentuated the suggestion with a pointed stare at the horde of Ratheus vampires surrounding us.

The anger slid from Viggo’s face immediately, replaced by a fake grin and a polite gesture toward the library door. “Certainly. Right this way . . . ”

Mortimer uttered not a single word. He spun on his heels, jaw visibly clenched, and grabbed the elbow of a sickly-looking Ileana as he passed her. The six of us trailed behind them into the library, Mage shutting the French doors behind us.

Viggo turned to the witch. “A sound barrier, if you would be so kind, Illie?”

I caught the fleeting wince, likely due to Viggo’s nickname, but she nodded and quietly went about casting the common spell. I watched Mage’s eyes follow the purple-hued bubble as it expanded to reach the outer walls of the room. I can’t wait to sit down and learn about that vampire’s uncanny sense for magic! It was beyond annoying.

Only after Ileana nodded to Viggo did Mortimer react. I knew it was coming; I expected it—yet the vicious blow that instantly shattered my jaw caught me off guard all the same. The crushing pain dropped me to one knee where I remained, waiting for my bones to mend themselves. Five seconds later I was on my feet again, throwing a catty response at him. “Haven’t you heard it’s not nice to hit ladies?” I couldn’t help it, though I knew I was only throwing fuel on already roaring flames.

“Lady,” Mortimer grated through clenched teeth, “you belong in Hell.”

“I have to agree with you on that one,” Viggo murmured, his back to us as he gazed at Veronique’s painting above the mantel. He turned, the fireplace poker gripped casually in his hand. He lifted it up to show a glowing point, as if it had sat within the flames.

“What are you going to do, Viggo? Brand me?” I joked, trying to defuse whatever panicked reaction he was hoping to get from me.

“What would be the point of that? You heal too fast and you’re tough as nails, you old hag,” he retorted with a condescending smile. Instead he grabbed Ileana by the back of the neck and pulled her close. Without pause, he pressed the poker to her cheek. The smell of burning flesh curled everyone’s nostrils up in disgust. The young witchling’s eyes began to tear up and she let out a howl of pain. “Quiet, now! You are here to be our eyes and ears, Illie. Your one task is to watch that devil woman over there. And yet somehow she managed to escape, unnoticed. And with five vampires! What do you have to say for yourself?”

Tears streamed down her cheek as she tried to muffle her screams. Finally her knees buckled from the pain. Viggo kept her on her feet.

“It wasn’t her fault,” I said. “You had her busy trying to break spells she can’t break.”

A wicked smile touched Viggo’s lips. “You’re right, Sofie. It was your fault. Much like every problem around here is. But—” With a flick of his wrist, Viggo forced Ileana’s face to turn. He shifted the poker to her other cheek. “Since you obviously take some sort of masochistic pleasure in being beaten, I thought punishing someone else would be more effective.”