Anathema (Causal Enchantment, #1) (27 page)

“
Which part, being pulled down a
pitch black, underwater rabbit hole, or being pummeled by a
waterfall?” he retorted sarcastically.

The truth was, I had already forgotten about
those minor distractions; my mind still reeled from the feel of his
body against my back as he pulled me through the murky abyss and
his strong arms as they held me tightly, protecting me. I wasn’t
about to tell him that, though. “All of it,” I answered
instead.

He muttered something incoherent, rolled his
eyes, and shook his head at me.

My rigid muscles finally started to
unlock.

“
Good God, Caden. Her lips are
blue!” Amelie had stealthily swum up. Her normally raspy voice
sounded condemning, and she glared at her brother in
disapproval.

I defended him. “It’s okay! I’m
fine.”

Amelie rolled doubtful eyes. “Did he show you
the Merth, at least?”

I nodded, another surge of guilt souring my
stomach at the thought that I was keeping my secret from her when
she was so willing to share theirs.

“
Cool, huh?” Amelie threw a
mysterious glance at Caden, then dove under the water and swam
away.

I sighed, wishing I could read them like Sofie
could read me. My teeth had finally stopped chattering, but my
fingertips, when I reached up to scratch my nose, were shriveled.
“I need to get out.” I held my wrinkly hand up in front of Caden’s
face, scrunching my nose in disgust.

“
Wait right here.”

Caden’s arms slid out from around me. I watched
his chiseled body as he leapt out of the water and disappeared down
the tunnel. He returned thirty seconds later with the plush red
blanket under one arm and several large chunks of wood tucked under
the other. He had a vibrant fire blazing in seconds. Hoisting me
out of the water, he wrapped me in the blanket and led me over to
sit next to the flames. He slid in directly behind me, his legs
stretched out on either side, and began rubbing my arms and
back.

Although I didn’t mind the doting, I knew I was
taking advantage of his unwarranted guilt. “Thanks. I’m good now.”
He ignored me, continuing to half dry, half warm me. “Really. I’m
fine. Don’t worry about me.”

“
We should change those bandages on
your hand, too,” he murmured.

“
Oh, to be invisible …” I mused
sarcastically.

He pulled me back toward him until I was close
enough that his inner thighs touched my hips and his chin hovered
over my shoulder. I was sure I felt warm breath tickling against
the nape of my neck.
But he doesn’t need to breathe, does
he?

“
Are you still cold? You’re
trembling,” Caden murmured.

“
Nope, I’m good,” I muttered, heat
crawling up my cheeks.
The opposite, actually.
I squeezed
my eyes shut and focused on my breathing.

I heard a lid pop and opened my eyes to see
Caden rifling through a medical kit. It was enough to distract me
from Caden’s inadvertent torture for the moment. I raised a
querying eyebrow.

“
I found this earlier in my bag,
along with a note. Courtesy of your maternal vampire, I gather?” He
grinned.

“
Seriously?” I frowned. “What’d the
note say?”

“
That I should keep an eye on your
stitches because you’d be preoccupied. She didn’t say with
what.”

You. I’m preoccupied with you,
dummy.

Caden gently unwound the bandages. It had been
three days since the attack. I think. It was getting hard to keep
track of time. The cut was healing nicely, the old woman’s stitch
work impeccable. Caden held my hand tenderly in his, inspecting the
wound from several angles. Then, ever so lightly, he drew a circle
around it with his index finger. “Does that hurt at all?” He turned
his face slightly so his mouth was next to my cheek.

“
No,” I squeaked.
How can he not
know what he’s doing to me!

Sighing, he began wrapping my hand up in new
bandages.

“
Cannon ball!” Bishop yelled in
warning. I looked up in time to see him plummeting from atop one of
the highest boulders. He splashed into the lake, sending an
enormous wave radiating outward. Luckily we were out of
range.

I gasped. “The rocks!”

Caden’s body began to shake. He was laughing at
me. When I remembered why, I started giggling as well. Of course
Bishop would be fine—the jagged rocks might not be. “I keep
forgetting. You all seem so … normal,” I said, turning slightly to
steal a glimpse at Caden’s face, which could never in a million
years be described as
normal
.

Amelie leapt off the same boulder, landing on
Bishop’s back and tackling him underwater.

“
They’re close, those two. Amelie
reminds him of his own little sister. She didn’t survive the war,”
Caden explained, tossing the old bandages into the fire.

A movement to my left caught my attention.
Fiona slyly darted from a hidden alcove to tackle Bishop the second
he emerged from the water. Amelie popped up then and tag–teamed
against him.

“
And Amelie and Fiona … I think
those two share a brain,” Caden added.

I laughed. “Have they always been so
close?”

“
Instantly. Just like how they’ve
attached themselves to you.”

That same guilty pain twisted my stomach again
with the knowledge that I would choose Caden over them, if I had
to. But I so desperately didn’t want to. Why couldn’t I bring all
four back? Why did I have to choose?
Because anything else
would be too easy, Evangeline
.
And nothing comes easy for
you.

I leaned against Caden’s chest, my eyelids
drooping, suddenly exhausted. Not pendant–cooling,
universe–changing exhausted, just plain tired from the day’s
excitement. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d actually slept.
But I didn’t want to sleep. I didn’t want to leave them.
Ever.

Unfortunately, my yawn didn’t escape their
notice.

“
Come.” Fiona beckoned to Bishop as
she hopped lithely from the water. “Let’s see if we can blow up
that air mattress.”

Bishop jumped out of the water and, slapping
Fiona’s butt playfully, tore down the tunnel. Fiona chased after
him, howling with laughter.

When I turned back, Amelie was out of the water
as well. “I’m going to help Fiona, otherwise Bishop’s liable to
distract her,” she said cheerily, leaning down to give me a quick
hug before turning to skip down the tunnel and out of
sight.

I smiled, wondering what they’d be like if they
were surrounded by humans, their primal hunger tested daily. Would
Bishop be a loveable, obnoxious goof? Would Fiona be so laid–back?
Would Amelie still leap around like a silly girl, throwing her arms
around me in affection? And Caden, would he still vanish into the
woods to pick me flowers?

Would they feed off humans?

I wondered if we would be friends. That was
what they were—friends. My first friends in years, and they were a
bunch of vampires. The first guy I couldn’t be near without going
weak in the knees, and he was a vampire. And I didn’t care. Right
down to my core, I knew there was no part of me that was bothered
by that. I wanted to be with them forever.

But could they be lying about everything?
Pretending?

“
Go to sleep,” Caden whispered,
sliding back so I was lying down, my head resting against his
lap.

“
I’m not tired,” I said through
another yawn, fighting heavy eyelids.

He smiled down at me, his green eyes twinkling.
If only it meant something more than general
friendliness.

A delirious giggle escaped me.

“
What?” he asked, his brow
knitted.

“
Nothing,” I murmured.

I felt his fingertip trace my upper, then my
lower lip.
This can’t be innocent. He can’t be this oblivious
to my feelings. Would he act so flirtatious, knowing?
I
started playing the day through in my head—the flowers, the doting,
the gentle nudges and touches. Maybe he did have feelings for
me?

With every ounce of energy, I held Caden’s
gaze, trying to read those impenetrable pools of jade. But the
pools finally blurred as I lost the battle with my eyelids. I let
them rest, reveling under his touch.

I was certain my eyes had closed for only a
minute. But when they opened again, daylight peeked in from the
cave entrance. A pit full of ash from a night’s worth of logs sat
beside me, the flames barely flickering anymore. I inhaled and
grimaced, the mixture of chill air and stale smoke
unpleasant.

I was still on Ratheus. Lying on a mattress. In
a sleeping bag.

“
It’s high quality. The label says
‘Good to minus twenty–five degrees Fahrenheit,’ so you should be
toasty.”

I rolled over. Caden lay on his back beside me,
one arm supporting his head,
The
War of the
Worlds
open in his other hand; he still wore the sky blue
shirt and jeans he had on earlier. “Imagine, humans being
exterminated, their blood devoured, the end of the world. How
ridiculous.” He smirked.

My heart skipped a few beats. He was lying
so close
to me. Only a hundred layers of flannel, fluff,
and a Gortex–like exterior stood in our way. And clothes. My hands
roamed my body, feeling flannel and sweats. “Where’s my bathing
suit?” I asked, feeling my cheeks heat.

“
Amelie changed you. Bishop and I
were nowhere around,” Caden confirmed quickly, his face
solemn.

A small sigh of relief. “I’m still here,” I
said, half question, half statement.

“
Yes. Is that a bad thing?” He put
the book down and reached over to twist a strand of my hair between
his fingers.

“
No …” I smiled shyly.

His finger slipped down my cheekbone to my lips
then, that mysterious smile on his face. “No,” he repeated, leaning
in to press his forehead against mine.

I think my heart stopped beating altogether.
Such intensity in his eyes, so tempting … I leaned forward and
kissed him. Just like that—no warning, no invitation.

For a second I was sure he was responding, but
then he pulled away. “Evangeline, no,” he murmured softly. “I
didn’t mean for that to happen.”

Oh God. Oh no!
My stomach constricted,
nausea swelling through me as I felt the blood drain from my face.
I swallowed repeatedly, sure I was going to be sick, the crushing
realization that I had misunderstood him overwhelming. Of course he
didn’t like me
that way
. How could I ever entertain such a
ludicrous idea? And now I had ruined it, made everything between us
unbearably awkward.

I had to get away.

I started wriggling furiously, trying to work
myself out of my sleeping bag. Thanks to a secure zipper pulled to
the top, I was trapped. With a little focus and maneuvering, I
managed to free my arms, only to have Caden grab them.

“
No, don’t,” he pleaded softly. I
struggled in vain to break free of his grasp. He finally pinned me
down onto my back and leaned over me so our faces were
level.

“
I’m sorry, that was stupid. I don’t
know why I did it.” I averted my gaze, fighting the tears that
threatened to spill from my eyes.

“
No, it’s my fault,” he
whispered.

“
No.
I’m
the idiot who
misread everything.”

“
You’re not an idiot and you didn’t
misread
anything,” Caden said through clenched
teeth.

I frowned.
I didn’t? Does that mean
…
Hope stirred
.
I looked up at him, questioning.

That hope was instantly trampled with his next
words. “Listen to me carefully,” he began with cold, determined
resolve in his eyes now. He spoke slowly and clearly. “It can’t
happen. You and I
can’t
happen. We will
never
happen.”

A hard, agonized lump filled my throat. I
squeezed my eyes shut and concentrated on breathing. A single tear
slipped out and ran down my cheek. Then another. And another. I
took a deep breath. When I was sure I’d suppressed any other tears,
I opened my eyes. Caden’s were now shut tightly, his jaw clenched
and his lips pressed together as if fighting an inner demon. He
hadn’t moved from his position; he still hovered over me, pinning
my arms down.