Asylum (Causal Enchantment #2)(7)
Author: K.A. Tucker

I hazarded a glance at Julian to see hollow shock in the eyes that stared back at Leo. Instantly, I pitied him. I knew what he was feeling. It had consumed me only five years ago, the night I received news of my mother’s death. He was now an orphan. At least he still had his sister . . .

Julian’s brown eyes slowly slid first to the dogs, then to me. The muscles in his jaw tightened. “How are you involved in this?” he asked, barely above a whisper.

Max was instantly between us, his lips curling back to expose razor-sharp teeth. He snarled a warning.

“Calm down, Max,” I said sharply.

There was no need. Max’s ferocity—normally enough to make anyone wary—went unnoticed. Julian continued to stare at me with haunted eyes. When he spoke again, it was more to himself than anyone else. “They will all die. Every last one of them.” With that he stormed off, his words a swift kick to my stomach.

Movement beside me drew my eye. Valentina peeled off her sweater and tossed it haphazardly over a chair as she walked over to the couch nearest to me. She seemed surprisingly . . . fine.

I hesitated. “Are you okay?” I asked as gently as possible, moving to sit beside her. I hadn’t spoken to her since the day I helped her up from the cobblestones after her fainting spell.

Confusion flashed in her bright doe eyes while she worked to comprehend my meaning. “Oh! You mean because of my parents? Yeah, I’m fine. I figured they were dead.”

A small sound escaped me and my jaw dropped. Had I heard her wrong? She must have realized how callous she sounded, because she quickly added, “I was so sad last night that I cried myself to sleep. It’s out of my system now.” Her tone held zero sincerity. How could anyone be over their parents’ deaths in a night? Shock! That’s how! I finally realized. That was the only explanation.

I glanced over at Leo; he wore a perplexed frown. Good; it wasn’t just me who found the entire exchange strange. Shaking his head, he walked back toward the kitchen, muttering under his breath. I thought I caught the word “fool,” but I couldn’t be sure.

She’s not right in the head, Max mumbled. And she smells . . . off.

I shot a disapproving look at the giant dog. Of course she wasn’t right in the head. She’d just found out both her parents were murdered by vampires!

With a heavy groan, Max dropped to the ground in front of the fireplace and closed his eyes. I knew he was still listening intently.

“What’re you reading?” Valentina asked, eyeing the book I still clutched. Before I could answer, she spied the deck of photos sitting on the coffee table. A picture of Caden sat on top. “Oh. He’s hot!” She reached over to grab the photo. The sleeve of her black shirt slid up, revealing what looked like a fresh burn on her forearm.

“What happened?” I exclaimed, wincing as I leaned in to inspect the wound, at least four inches long and two inches wide. A large red X was branded in the center.

She quickly pushed her sleeve back down, mumbling, “I got too close to the wood stove.”

I winced again. “Do you want Leo to look at it? I’m sure he could help you.” I started to rise, ready to fetch the warlock for his magical healing powers.

“No, I’m fine!” She vigorously waved Caden’s picture in front of my face, forcing my focus away from her arm. “Who’s he?”

I smiled shyly. “That’s Caden.”

“Is he a vampire?”

I hesitated, then nodded.

“He’s really good-looking. Does he have a girlfriend?”

“Um . . . ” Yeah, me. Except he tried to kill me. Inconsequential point, really. What was he to me now? A boyfriend-in-waiting with a bad habit he needed to kick before he could be anywhere near me? How pathetic. I felt my cheeks flush.

“Oh . . . ” She smiled knowingly. “Too bad for me.” She leaned back on the couch, crossing her arms behind her head. Her wound didn’t seem to bother her and she certainly wasn’t acting like she’d just found out her parents had been murdered, even if shock was numbing her reaction. She seemed . . . triumphant.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked again.

“Yup! Hey, do you know why we’re here?” Valentina shifted in her seat. “I’m assuming that witch, Sofie, is involved, but I have no idea why.” I heard bitterness as Sofie’s name touched her lips, but it was so brief that I barely noticed it.

I grimaced. “Because of me.”

Valentina’s thin, perfectly-shaped eyebrow arched.

“I’m so sorry,” I blurted under a wave of guilt. “It’s my fault you’re here and that your parents are dead. I was supposed to bring a vampire back for Viggo and Mortimer so they could—”

Hey! Max’s sharp warning cut my words short. Don’t tell her a thing!

I turned to regard the paranoid werebeast. “Seriously, Max, who’s she going to tell out here?”

She’s on a need-to-know basis and she doesn’t need to know.

When I turned back, Valentina’s eyes looked as if they were about to pop out of their sockets. I realized what I must look like to her. “I’m not crazy! I really can talk to him,” I said.

“How? I mean, I knew he wasn’t normal but . . . ” she whispered, looking at the dog with a mixture of intrigue and concern.

Look who’s talking, Max grumbled sarcastically.

“Telepathically. Well, only one way. I can hear him in my head but he can’t hear me. I haven’t figured it out yet. Anyway, no one can explain it. It just happened.”

“But, you’re . . . human, right?” She continued in a whisper, her brown eyes still wide.

“Yes.” I added with a chuckle, “At least I think so.”

“Wow. That’s the coolest thing!” she exclaimed. “Does he have any other special powers? Is he magical?”

“I don’t know if magical is the right word for him. But he does regenerate like a human vampire and he doesn’t age.”

Okay. Enough about me, Max interjected.

“What’s he saying now?” she asked eagerly. “What has he said about me?”

Max’s deep, sarcastic chuckle boomed in my head.

“Umm . . . ” I squirmed, searching for a lie. “He thinks you’re really nice.”

And brainless. Don’t forget brainless, Max added.

I ignored him. He wasn’t normally this rude. He must be really hungry.

“Aw. That’s so sweet.” She leapt off the couch and skipped over to pat Max’s head, earning a disapproving grunt. “What’s he’s saying now?”

“Nothing. He’s purring like a kitten,” I answered, cutting off the voice in my head and grinning at the big beast. I stood, afraid I’d have to use my body as a shield for Valentina any second. But Max clambered to his feet and walked to the opposite corner of the giant room to gaze out the window.

“So,” Valentina continued, “you were saying this is your fault?”

“Oh, yeah.” I hesitated at another sharp warning from Max. “I made a mistake and we were in danger. Sofie saved us.”

“But why’d she send us here?”

“Because I have something Viggo and Mortimer want and I can’t give it to them yet.”

“What is it?” Her brown eyes widened with excitement.

“I . . . ” I hesitated, glancing over at Max, who watched us intently. Do not tell her. The less people who know, the better. Please. I couldn’t miss the pleading in Max’s voice now. I decided to listen to him. “I . . . um . . . can’t say. Sorry.”

She sighed. “That’s okay.” But she sounded disappointed. As if deciding to probe from a different angle, she asked, “What do they need with the thing you have?”

“My, you ask a lot of questions,” Leo interrupted as he strode back in to the great room. “More than Evangeline, and I didn’t think that was possible.”

My thoughts exactly, Max called from his corner.

Valentina gave Leo a tight-lipped smile.

“Why don’t you go check on your brother? At least one of you is suffering appropriately,” he suggested.

What is wrong with these two? I shot Leo a disapproving frown. Valentina had just found out her parents were dead. They could show a little more compassion.

“I’m sure he’s fine. I’m going to take a nap.” With that, Valentina took off, leaving me gaping at her slender back as she climbed the stairs.

“People sure deal with shock in different ways, don’t they,” I murmured absently.

“I’m beginning to think it would have been wiser to leave them with their parents in New York,” Leo muttered, settling in one of the armchairs across from me.

At the mention of New York, something suddenly clicked. News of their parents’ death and the guilt I felt for my part in it had distracted me—until now. “Wait a minute.” My exclamation drew Leo’s gray hawk eyes to me. “How did you know his parents were dead?”

Leo’s lips twisted into a smile. “I was wondering how long your curious mind would take to pick up on that.” He chuckled. “Remember the communication spells I told you about?”

I nodded, dropping back into my chair.

“Well . . . ?” Leo lifted an eyebrow and waited.

When I finally put two and two together, I gasped. “You’ve talked to Sofie!” I lunged forward and grabbed his withered hands. “What’s happening out there? Is Caden alive? Is he mad at me?”

Leo gave me a reproachful glare. “Why on Earth would he be mad at you? Give your head a shake, silly girl.”

I averted sheepish eyes. “Because I told him it would be fine, and it wasn’t. Worse, I think he actually believed me.” I looked back up into Leo’s eyes, now full of pity. “Are they okay?”

The old man squeezed my hands. “Yes. They are fine. Struggling, as is expected, but still alive . . . so to speak.”

“Have they . . . ” I struggled to move my next words past a painful lump in my throat.

Leo continued softly, “They’re doing whatever they need to, in order to survive. Let’s leave it at that.” He released my hand and patted my head, accompanying that with a sympathetic smile. Then he leaned back in his chair, pulled the wilderness magazine out from under his arm, and flipped it open, clearly signaling the end of the conversation.

Accepting that, I opened my own book, but savored a small burst of joy at the news that Caden and the others were still alive, that Viggo and Mortimer hadn’t killed Sofie. They’re doing whatever they need to, in order to survive, Leo had said. That meant drinking blood. But whose blood? Aside from Julian and Valentina’s parents, of course. I shuddered at the vivid images that conjured. My choices, my needs, had left Julian and Valentina orphans. And what about Rachel? Was she still hog-tied by Merth, or roaming free? Free to murder my friends or Sofie, as soon as her psychopathic mind decided it was a good idea . . . Those lemon-yellow eyes flashed in my mind. My stomach tightened at the memory of her clawing at Caden, back when she believed they were a couple. Caden had told me she was the most dangerous vampire I’d ever meet. And now I had brought her to Earth, to leave plenty more orphans in her wake.

“Oh, muffins!” Leo exclaimed with over-exaggerated glee, yanking me from my fretting. My nose caught a delicious scent as Magda slid a tray of freshly baked muffins onto the dining room table, and I realized he was being literal. “Come, Evangeline. You must be starving.”

“Not really,” I mumbled.

He jumped up and, grabbing my hand, pulled me toward the mountain of warm, soft treats—no doubt hoping to distract me. Leo didn’t wait for me to choose one; he handed me a chocolate chip muffin with a wink, knowing full-well it was my favorite kind. That same odd mixture of creepiness and flattery raised my short hairs. They’d catalogued my every like and dislike.

I wasn’t hungry, but I knew who might be. Impulsively, I grabbed another and a bottle of water and headed to the staircase, certain that my peace offering would do little to alleviate the pain that I had caused, but needing to do it all the same.

“I wouldn’t, if I were you . . . ” Leo called, finishing with a cluck of disapproval.

I turned to answer him and jumped, startled, as a canine face appeared immediately behind me. Max, already on my heels. “I was just going to get changed.”

“Sure you were.” Leo smirked, shaking his head as he took a bite of his own muffin.

Max’s razor-sharp claws clicked against the hardwood steps as he trailed me up the stairs. I breathed in the mingled scent of cedar and muffins. Under normal circumstances I would find the aroma comforting but now, as I headed toward the one person under this roof whom I should avoid—whom I’d been told to stay away from—my stomach churned.

None of this was your fault, you know, Max said.