Allegiance (Causal Enchantment #3)(31)
In love … I smiled, despite everything. “I know what you mean.” I remembered that first moment, waking up in the cave after knocking my head to see Caden standing over me with an armload of wood for the fire. Of course, I didn’t know it then, but that was the second I fell in love with him. Everything after that was merely supporting evidence. He didn’t have to speak; he didn’t have to do anything. It was like some inner connection pulled us together, firmly lodging him into my soul so that he could never leave without me losing a part of myself. Was that what true love was like for everyone? Or just when your heart was tied to the devastating predicament of being in love with a vampire?
I looked back at Julian, watching me silently. Again, another level in which our fates were linked. How could I be angry with him for the very thing I was guilty of? I felt my shoulders sag, the chip I harbored against him dissolving.
“I just don’t want to see you get hurt, that’s all. Or get dead! Or Amelie get hurt. Or Caden get hurt, for that matter.” Hurt because I’m hiding such a huge secret from him.
Julian grimaced. “That guy already hates my guts.”
I frowned, recalling the strange reaction to Julian’s hand on my arm earlier. “I don’t know about hate but …”
Julian shrugged. “Oh, I do. I caught him staring at me a few times today like he wanted to take me out back and break every bone in my body.” His eyebrow quirked up. “Do you think he knows?”
I shook my head. If Caden knew, there’s no way Julian would still be alive. “He’s being overprotective of Amelie. That has to be it. He is her big brother, and you’re … well, you’re doing whatever with his sister.”
Julian shrugged, unconvinced.
“At least, let’s hope that’s what it is. He doesn’t need to know any of this because it doesn’t matter anymore, right?”
Julian nodded and then hesitated as if afraid to bring something up. “They told me what’s happening to you because of the Tribe magic. What could end up happening to me too …”
I didn’t say anything as a giant lump formed in my throat. The Bishop drama had helped temporarily push that issue out of my mind. Now, though, it was back with a vengeance.
“Sofie will figure it out,” Julian assured me, patting my knee. “She has to.”
“And what if she doesn’t, Julian?” I whispered, turning to take in his friendly face, begging for a solution.
Julian answered by reaching out to grab hold of my hand. “Then it’s you and me, babe,” he said. “We can go back and live in the mountains. Or to the motherland, with our people.” Then he winked. “But only if you wear that little outfit.”
“Julian!” I smacked his chest but burst into giggles. It felt good. I hadn’t laughed in a while.
I opened my mouth, a thank-you on my lips, when a deep, feral growl in the shadows stopped me cold. An inhuman sound. My body, already frozen from the cold, now solid with terror. Grasping at Julian’s arm, I slowly leaned forward and hazarded a peek around the edge of the gazebo wall, searching the source, preparing to scream like a banshee for Max.
Behind a thorny bush, I caught sight of a wolf at least twice the size that I expected a wolf to be. Its white fur sparkled with snowflakes, shining under the moonlight, while its peculiar humanlike eyes peered back at us.
“Is that … Yeti One?” Julian whispered, shocked.
“I think so, but … if it is why is he growling at us?” He wasn’t focused on us, I realized. Something behind us had his attention. Slowly, stiffly, unable to breathe, I turned to see what had this werewolf’s fur in a bunch.
About ten feet away, half hidden by a wide bush, a tall, tawny-haired form stood in the shadows. Caden, his hands in his pant pockets and watching in silence, his expression set in a way that didn’t hint at an ounce of fear, but he certainly wasn’t comfortable, either. I wasn’t sure if Yeti One had issue with Caden because he was a vampire or because he stood in the shadows, spying on us. How long had he been there? What had he heard? Cold fear crawled through my insides with icy slowness, taking its time until every inch of me was filled with guilty dread. I replayed the conversation in my head. We had been careful, guarded with our words, right? But what exactly did we say?
His cover now compromised, Caden stepped forward. Yeti One took this as his leave to disappear into nothingness, pleased that he had exposed the intruder. Caden offered me a small crooked smile.
“Cooled off yet?” I felt the heat creep up in my cheeks, embarrassment quickly replacing anger. “You need to come inside. You’re frozen,” he scolded.
Another wave of stubbornness hit me. “No, I’m not,” I said, as my body hunched inward to ward off the cold, now deeply rooted in my bones. Not convincing. Judging by his sigh of exasperation, Caden didn’t buy it, either.
Caden’s gaze shifted to Julian and with it, the already frigid temperatures plummeted to an arctic chill. His smile disappeared, replaced with what I could only describe as a look of restraint—like he was envisioning launching Julian into the hedge. Now I see what Julian’s talking about.
“Can I talk to my girlfriend alone?” Caden asked, his voice low. My heart skipped a beat. Yes, he had already professed his love for me, so him referring to me as his girlfriend should be nothing. And yet, in all the turmoil and doom tainting our daily lives, that identity reminded me that my one shining ray of light hadn’t abandoned me.