Anathema (Causal Enchantment, #1) (43 page)

“
Is everything alright,
Evangeline?”

I bolted out of my chair, startled by the male
voice—the tone familiar but the accent, a thick Irish brogue, new.
Whirling, I found myself opposite a wall of faces. Leo stood
closest to me. Behind him were eight other people that I recognized
as Viggo and Mortimer’s staff, as well as Julian and Valentina
Forero. In the far corner stood two men with enough facial hair
that they could be mistaken for a pair of mountain yetis.
One
of them must be the Irishman. But why did the man speak to me as if
he knows me?
Save for Leo and the yetis, everyone looked as
confused as I felt.

Max came trotting in from the hallway to stop
at my side, followed by his pack mates. “Max?” I croaked with
relief, throwing my arms around him. He responded with an
affectionate nuzzle against my cheek.

The Irish voice spoke again. “No doubt you’re
all confused right now …”

I gasped when I saw whose lips were moving:
Leo. His grandfatherly demeanor and distinguished British accent
had vanished, replaced by a leprechaun–like Irishman. “I’ll explain
everything later, but know it was either this or death. Darlene?”
He addressed one of the older maids who stood in a daze, dripping
yellow latex gloves on her hands. “There’s a clipboard on the table
out there in the hall, with instructions.”

Darlene stared at him for a moment longer,
bewildered. Obviously I wasn’t the only one shocked by Leo’s dual
personality. That, or she was still trying to wrap her head around
the fact that she had been scrubbing a toilet only a few seconds
before and was now in a log cabin in the mountains. Finally she
nodded and, slowly peeling off her gloves, shuffled out of the
room. The other seven staff members trailed close behind
her.

That left me, the dogs, the Forero kids, the
two yetis, and the man who looked like Leo standing in the large
room. “Valentina, Julian, please see Darlene about your
accommodations,” Leo said to them. “You’ll need to share a
room.”

“
Where the hell are we, butler? And
where are our parents?” Julian snapped.

Leo strolled over to stand in front of the
future drug lord, a triumphant smile on his face. “I’m not the
butler here, Julian. Here, in these mountains, I’m God. Piss me off
once and you’ll be tossed to the wolves faster than you can blink.
Your parents are vampire fodder. The only reason you’re not is
because of Evangeline’s naivety. Understand?”

My eyes bulged, listening to Leo deliver the
threat.
Where did the sweet, old grandfatherly butler
go?

Julian and Valentina disappeared in seconds,
the message clear. Satisfied, Leo turned to the two yetis,
addressing them in some odd language that I had never heard before.
The yetis grunted in unison and left out a side door.

I was now alone with Leo, wary of what other
surprises he had in store for me. I watched him calmly walk over to
one of the bookshelves. He pulled down a book and began fanning
through the pages until a thick envelope popped out. Plucking it
from the pages, he placed the book back in its rightful place, then
walked over to me. “Here.” He handed the envelope to me. My name,
written in Sofie’s floral scrawl, adorned the front. “This should
make a few things clearer.”

I stared dumbly at him. He ignored my
dumbstruck expression and continued. “I’ll be getting settled in.
If you need anything, just holler.” He gave one of the
dogs—Remington, I recognized by the dark blue collar—a scratch
under the chin, then strolled away, a knowing smirk on his
face.

When he was gone, I turned to Max. “Who is
that?” I whispered.

Max emitted a burst of snuffling laughter.
That’s Leo. Long story. He’ll explain later.

“
Do you know what’s going
on?”

Read the letter.

I grunted, annoyed. I couldn’t tell if it was
fear of misrepresenting the facts or pure laziness on the giant
werebeast’s part that drove Max to such useless answers. I looked
for a place to sit, taking in my surroundings for the first time.
The place reminded me of a ski chalet, with its cathedral ceiling
and stone fireplace. The furniture was all made of wood and plush,
casual fabrics stuffed comfortably enough to sink into. Overall, a
pleasant atmosphere.

I ended up sitting back down in the chair by
the window, clutching the stiff, thick envelope in my trembling
hands.
What will I find in here?
Was it going to tell me
that Sofie had been lying all this time? Or that Caden and my
friends were dead? There was only one way to find out. I exhaled
heavily. “Like pulling off a Band–Aid, Max,” I murmured as I tore
the envelope open, adding, “one that’s crazy–glued to my
armpit.”

Inside were several pages of lined paper and a
stack of photographs. Flipping through the pictures first, I saw
they were the ones Amelie had taken during my last visit to the
caves. Sofie had printed them for me.

My stomach dropped when I glimpsed a candid
picture of Caden leaning up against a cave wall like a model in a
designer jeans ad. He was smiling at something unseen in the
distance, his jade eyes twinkling with pleasure. My heart ached at
the sight of that smile; I needed so badly to see it again—see it
so I could erase the murderous look now etched in my memory, the
look on his face when he realized how much he wanted to kill me. He
likely would have, had I not been wrenched out of there.

He had been right all along.

Agony tore my heart. I set aside the pictures
for the time being and unfolded the letter to see Sofie’s elegant
script.

Take a deep breath. First of all, let me
assure you this is not another spell that will have you running on
a wild goose chase to another world. I promise you that. You are
still here, two feet firmly planted on Earth. I just won’t tell you
where you are—for everyone’s safety.

If you are reading this, it’s because you
have succeeded in bringing a vampire back with you—hopefully four,
including your Caden. Now that you have, you will be relieved to
know that the necklace will no longer transport you to Ratheus
every night. But do not take it off. It has bound itself to you, to
your heart. Without it on, your heart will stop
beating.

You’re probably wondering why I have sent
you to this snowy cabin in the woods. Do you remember me mentioning
that there was a “complication” in unlocking Veronique’s tomb and
that your necklace was needed to get her out? I feel I should
explain the whole truth now …

Of course she hadn’t told me
everything!

When I was casting the Causal Enchantment,
I was full of raw angst and self–pity over the loss of Nathan, love
for Veronique, and the intense need to one day find love again. All
of those emotions melded together and resulted in the solution to
our venom issue, but also an exceptionally cruel trick. The
enchantment gave me the gift of love—a different sort of love, but
just as compelling—when it bound itself to you.

Anyway, this was a gift with a condition. I
would one day be forced to choose between you and Veronique. How,
you ask? Well, when I first entombed Veronique within that statue,
I basically encapsulated her heart within her pendant. Not
physically, of course, but the life force of her heart. Releasing
her was supposed to be simple enough. I just had to place the
pendant within the statue’s outstretched hand.

I suspected this was what needed to be done
to bring the vampires back with you all along. The similarities
were too noticeable to ignore. However, I didn’t mention it to you
until today because I was trying to buy myself time. Time to find a
way around the awful predicament I was in. You see, the enchantment
“decided” that it would bind your heart to the pendant as well,
thus entwining your life with my sister’s. Once that necklace is
placed within the hands of her tomb, Veronique’s life force will
shift back to her, pulling yours along with it and killing
you.

I will never allow that to happen, I
promise you that. However, Mortimer and Viggo make keeping that
promise fairly tricky. They don’t trust me. I expect that the
moment you step foot on Earth with your friends, Mortimer and Viggo
will get hold of you to ensure I complete the spell, by any means
necessary. They will not wait.

If you are … where you are … that means the
clock has run out. It means you could not wait any longer. You have
held up your end of the bargain in bringing us the solution to our
curse, and yet I haven’t found a way to save you from
yours.

So I have sent you far away, where Mortimer
and Viggo will never find you. As far as they know, you may be on
Earth or you may be on another world. The house you will be
residing in, indefinitely, is the result of a dream Nathan and I
shared. I had it built—unbeknownst to Viggo and Mortimer—as a safe
haven for you.

I promised you that I would keep you safe.
Sending you away was the only way I could do that effectively. You
will be safe there until your friends learn to control their lust
for human blood and I find a loophole to untangle your heart from
Veronique’s. I know, I know, I said there were no loopholes. But
I’m determined to prove the Laws of Magic wrong. As much as I love
and miss my sister dearly, I will not allow your death to be the
cost of regaining her. She will remain frozen in time until I
resolve this.

I doubt Viggo and Mortimer saw this coming.
They will be shocked, to say the least, when you disappear, along
with the dogs and their entire wait staff. I even threw in Julian
and Valentina based on your sympathies. If they get to be a
nuisance, just tell Leo and he’ll dispose of them.

Mortimer and Viggo will be angry enough to
kill me. They may do it. You may be reading the farewell words of a
recently deceased vampire. One whose love for you could easily
rival that of any mother for her own child. However, with me gone,
they have no hope of ever seeing Veronique again. I hope they’re
smarter than that. We will see.

My hands were shaking as they fell into my lap,
still holding the letter. Sofie could be … dead? The very idea
sparked a great sense of loss in me, one I had not expected. I
picked up the letter again.

I’m sorry that you have moved from one
prison to another one. Don’t try to run. You will not get far and
you will make Leo’s life stressful. I have entrusted you to his
care, something I should have done many years ago.

I have had to hide my feelings for you
until now, in fear of what Viggo may do if he realized how vested I
was in your survival. I no longer have to hide.

I love you. Please believe that I live now
only for your happiness. I hope we’ll see each other again soon. I
will take care of your friends as best I can.

S

P.S. If it’s any consolation, there’s an
account containing an obscene amount of money with your name on it.
When it’s safe, it’s all yours to do with as you
wish.

Tears flowed freely from my eyes now, giant
droplets that splattered on the pages, smearing the ink. I
frantically wiped them away, not wanting to lose her words in case
they were her last.
She must have written this the day I left
for the last time
.

Before I returned with an entire army of
vampires.

Sofie truly cared for me. Loved me, even. I had
a maternal vampire and I had never known. All because she had to
hide the truth from Viggo and Mortimer.

And the curse wasn’t over yet. It would never
be over until I was dead.

I must have read that letter over fifty times.
When I finally looked up, dusk was settling over the snowy
landscape. I was still alone, aside from the dogs. No one had once
ventured into the great room.
Likely cowering, still in
shock,
I thought.

I folded the letter and stuffed it into my back
pocket until I could lock it away for safe–keeping in my room. Once
I knew where my room was.

As if on cue, Leo strolled in with a plate.
“You must be hungry,” he said in that bizarre new accent. He
motioned me toward a solid wood dining table, dimly lit by a
chandelier made of deer antlers. I stood and followed him over in a
daze, mechanically sitting down in the chair he offered. “You
okay?”