Allegiance (Causal Enchantment #3)(26)
“Just you what?” Julian asked, his brow furrowed with worry. He dropped Amelie’s hands and moved forward to grab my arm, his dark good looks now marred with concern. “What’s wrong, Evie?”
“Oh …” I began but my voice drifted off. Remember those hideous Tribe creatures that scared the daylights out of us, Julian? Well … guess what I’m going to be next Halloween … and every other day for the rest of my life …
Before I could answer, my body was yanked back and out of Julian’s reach, strong arms wrapping possessively around my chest. “Nothing. She’s fine,” Caden said, a dangerous edge in his tone. “Or she will be.” I looked up to find him staring at Julian with clenched teeth. What was going on with him?
Loud voices in the hallway broke up the awkward situation. We all ran out to see what the commotion was. We found Sofie and Mage squared off against Viggo and Mortimer, Viggo’s face a shade lighter than his normal pale, and Mortimer’s brow halfway up his forehead.
“Where did they come from?” Mortimer exclaimed with incredulity.
“What do you mean?” Sofie answered, clearly amused.
Viggo issued a low, feral sound. “I mean … I killed the last of them and yet seven are standing on our doorstep! That’s what I mean!” A mixture of outrage and shock swirled around Viggo—such a rare sight to see.
It suddenly clicked. The werewolves had arrived.
“Yes, you did! And, boy, they haven’t forgotten about you,” Sofie teased. My heart skipped a beat as I watched her. We had enough problems. Taunting a psychopath wouldn’t end well. What was more, I still didn’t believe that some allegiance to Sofie would stop Viggo from slaughtering the lot of them.
“I will—” Viggo began but Mage cut him off.
“You will do nothing that breaks your allegiance, will you, Viggo?”
If anger were demonstrated as an illustration in a dictionary, it would look like Viggo’s face at that moment, contorted and seething, ready to explode, his words forced out in a short burst through gritted teeth. I had never seen him lose his cool. Despite the real threat to all of us, I enjoyed it.
“That was before—”
Mage cut him off again, her tone sharp. “There is no before. There just is. You gave us your word. You, a man of unrivaled integrity, right?”
“Breaking an allegiance served as blackmail doesn’t sound so dishonorable to me,” Viggo spat back, but I gathered it was an irrelevant point. Mortimer had alluded to the value of honor before. It used to define a person, to determine his or her worth. Although crazy, Viggo was still old school. Mage’s challenge just might stay his hand. For now.
Mage continued. “I warned you before, Viggo … Sofie may be willing to keep you alive for Veronique’s sake, but I harbor no such desires. It would be easier for all if I made Veronique’s choice for her, don’t you agree?” She added that last bit sweetly, but her intent was crystal clear. Cross her and she’d eliminate the choice for Veronique. That’s the Mage I remember, I thought.
Mortimer finally spoke again. “They will help us control the situation when Lilly gets here. I’m not exactly a fan of those things, either. However, they will be of use to us. We need all the help we can get.”
Again with this reference to this fearsome Lilly character. I still didn’t know any more about her. The way they described her, I was beginning to think I’d be meeting a five-headed vampire Godzilla.
Viggo’s lips twisted in disapproval, unconvinced by Mortimer’s logic. “Until they sink their vile werewolf teeth into us.”
“Werewolves!” Amelie exclaimed in shock. “Oh, I’ve never seen one in real life! They were killed off with the war in our world.”
As if Mortimer and the others just realized they had a crowd of curious observers, they turned to us. “They’re not kittens, Amelie,” Mortimer snapped.
She responded with an exaggerated pout and frown, not yet accustomed to Mortimer’s rebukes.
Viggo jumped in, lightening the mood in his typical twisted fashion. “Well, now’s your chance! So nice of you to join us, Amelie and Julian … finally,” he purred, a wink directed at Julian.
Julian turned beet red. I couldn’t tell if it was because of the insinuation that he and Amelie had been—busy—or if it was simply a natural reaction to Viggo.
Amelie ignored both of them. “Are they dangerous?”
Sofie rolled her eyes, no longer finding amusement with the little bomb she’d dropped. “Okay, enough about the wolves already. They’re not a big deal. We have bigger things to deal with.”
“Like what exactly?” Amelie probed. It was then that I realized she was more in the dark than I was with regards to what was going on, having been holed up with Julian for the past twenty-four-plus hours.
“Like preparing. Lilly has accepted our invitation.”
I heard Amelie’s harsh whisper behind me. “Who’s Lilly?”
***
By late afternoon, I’d exchanged my inner turmoil of the Tribe’s magic and its implications for pure exhaustion. I wasn’t sure if it was physical or mental, but I couldn’t keep my eyes open, drifting in and out while curled up on the couch. At some point, I felt my body floating through the air, cradled within someone’s arms. I pictured strong, healing angel’s arms, carrying me up to the heavens where all was calm and safe and no disease coursed through my veins. Soft, low music swirled somewhere in the back of my head, colliding with my thoughts, dulling them to blissful garble. A few times, my eyes cracked open to see jade stars shining down on me. And then my angel was placing me down in a bed of fluffy white clouds. I sunk further and further in until they swaddled me in their soft embrace.