Allegiance (Causal Enchantment #3)(111)

But where was Veronique? My eyes flashed wide with panic as I searched the ground for her. Mortimer was there, gently lifting her up, a beautiful, wide smile like nothing I’d ever seen on him before, transforming him into the man Veronique no doubt fell in love with.

“Evie!” I searched the chaos. There, standing over the blond, his fist on the dagger protruding from her chest, Caden stood smiling, his face the picture of relief. We did it. We saved Veronique. We saved Bishop. I threw a wink and a kiss to him. His smile vanished, his attention flying to my right, panic igniting them. I turned.

Viggo lingered five feet away, hateful eyes devouring me. I grappled for air as it left my lungs. He had promised, after all. I then felt a sudden breeze, accompanied by the beginning of Caden’s scream.

And then nothing.

***

White mist clouded my eyes. Instinctively, I reached up to rub them. When my hands moved away, four celestial beings formed in front of me, their colorful irises sparkling as they gazed down at me.

“Hello, Evangeline.” The man speaking had the most beautiful voice.

“Where am I?” I asked as I took in their white gowns and the gossamer wings floating behind them. Angels? Am I dead?

“That depends …,” he answered. I realized he was answering my unspoken question. The fact that he could read my mind didn’t bother me. Not much bothered me right now. “We are the Fates. Do you know why you’re here?”

I felt my head shake back and forth dumbly. The Fates … I was meeting the Fates?

My surroundings shifted and I now stood beside myself in the atrium, just as I’d left it moments prior. I watched a replay of those last few disastrous seconds as an invisible bystander—of Caden’s panic, of Viggo flying toward me. Of Viggo snapping my neck.

Viggo kept his promise to me.

“I’m dead.”

“For the moment,” a female Fate answered. “You have an important choice to make, and not long to make it. We made an arrangement with Sofie. You must make your choice—do you remain human or transform to become a vampire?

I frowned, not comprehending.

The male Fate explained, “If you choose human, then you die. If you choose vampire, you live.”

“What do you mean? Right here, right now? You’re going to turn me?”

“Is that what you want?” he asked.

I wasn’t prepared for this. I hadn’t expected it. But … “Yes! Yes!” Tears of happiness rained down my cheeks. Could it finally be coming true?

As if this answer pleased him, the Fate reached out to cup my chin. “So it is done. We will honor our arrangement with Sofie. Your wish is granted.” He smiled at me, a smile of familiarity and adoration. When he leaned down to plant a kiss on my forehead, he whispered, “I am so proud of you … my child.”

***

A hot, searing sun scorched my eyes, set fire to my blood, and charred my skin to a black crispy ash. It penetrated through my muscles, deeper and deeper, its flaming tentacles snatching my vital organs, ripping them out of my body.

My senses tumbled in disarray. Sounds waffled and blurred yet I heard everything. Sofie’s wails, screaming my name over and over … Caden’s pleading whispers.

“Please survive.”

“I love you.” A thousand times over.

Images hazed over and quadrupled and yet I saw everything. Street lights and snowflakes and crowds of pedestrians. Bodies lying in the middle of the street. Julian’s body slung over Amelie’s shoulder. Veronique, cradled in Mortimer’s arms. Running …

The world was still and spinning at the same time. Churning, twisting, flying by.

A thousand-pound weight crushed my lungs, paralyzing them. I couldn’t breathe. I could see the air floating around me—a solid form—and yet I clawed and heaved and wheezed for it, only to have it out of reach. Time passed by in leaps and bounds and not at all.

And through all of this, deep, consuming agony, as if I’d been stuffed into a blazing fire and purposely kept alive to forever endure the pain.

***

The smell of sour, wet soil flooded my nostrils. I welcomed it eagerly, letting its coolness envelop my entire body.

“I think she’s awake.” My eyes flew open at the sound of Caden’s voice to find him hovering over me. I noticed a flash of surprise across his face before he smiled. I inhaled deeply, soaking up his magnificent scent—the mixture of ocean and forest crushing me with overwhelming desire. I let it absorb into my pores, circulate through my body, hungry for it. For him.

I thought about kissing him and the next thing I knew, my mouth covered his, adoring the sweet taste of his lips. So much sweeter than ever before. I wanted to touch the deep ridges in his chest, and the next thing I knew, my fingernails tore through his shirt, as though made of tissue paper, to reach his sculpted chest below.

“Jeez, Evie,” another male voice muttered behind me. “Thirty seconds back from the dead and you’re already mauling him. Get a room, will ya? Or at least another dark hole to hide in …”

Bishop! With a surprised gasp, I whipped around to find Bishop grinning widely at me, his arm hanging over Fiona. Fiona! I stared unabashed at her, my jaw gaping wide. She really had risen from the dead! With a giggle, Fiona threw me a wink and then squeezed Bishop’s torso as if she’d never detach from him again.