Allegiance (Causal Enchantment #3)(36)

He answered with that infuriating grin of his.

“What exactly are you asking for help with?” Lilly interrupted their banter, annoyance obvious in her voice. She stepped forward and took a seat in the chair in front of her. It was a sign of good will, of trust that they wouldn’t try to strike her down. The others followed suit. Following and protecting their leader.

“We need to stop the end of the world as we know it,” Sofie answered without a moment of preamble. I surveyed their faces intently. To me, that should have garnered some sort of reaction. An eyebrow raise, a mouth twitch, something.

Nothing.

“Are you referring to the mess you’ve gotten yourself into with the witches and the Sentinel?” Kait’s smirk was galling.

“No, Kait,” Sofie replied softly. “I’m referring to the longstanding war that has now taken a turn for the worse. I’m talking about the firsthand experience of a war between vampire and Sentinel that has destroyed one world already and now threatens to destroy this one. Will destroy this one. You want venom to turn your human mate, Kait? What about saving all humans so you can continue wearing your gaudy outfits and living your life of luxury?”

Kait opened her mouth but faltered. No one else said anything. Sofie had their attention. She continued. “The end of humans—and possibly the end of us—is imminent, unless we do something about it. This war with the Sentinel and the sorceresses is guaranteed to spiral out of control. It is already headed in that direction.”

You could hear a pin drop for the silence in the room. Finally, Lilly cleared her voice. “For the last hundred or so years, you three have burrowed in New York, ignoring what was going on right under your noses, and now all of a sudden, we must save the world? Why? Because your palace was attacked?”

“And what has been going on, Lilly?” Mortimer asked, stepping forward to take the seat across from her. Another act of good will. Of collaboration rather than confrontation.

Galen drew a folded newspaper from the inside of his jacket and tossed it to the ground. I couldn’t read it from where I stood, but I didn’t need to.

“Jonah …” Mage muttered, her lip curled in disdain. Jonah was the mutant vampire who broke free of Viggo’s place against Mage’s orders.

Sofie sighed. “Yes, that’s a problem,” she admitted, adding, “but only a recent one.”

“And how long before the same headlines make it to reputable newspapers?” Galen spat back. “You caused this. We know he came from under your roof. How he got there in the first place, one must wonder.” He had a thick Italian accent. I didn’t like it.

“Yes, we did. I did. I will own that blame and I will take care of it,” Mage answered, her arms crossed over her chest. “It doesn’t change our need to work together to solve this impending doom.”

“Now you want to do something about it? Finally? While you’ve been decorating your palace, pretending that our enemies don’t exist, they’ve been getting stronger, more integrated into everything,” Lilly said.

“Integrated where, exactly?” Sofie asked.

Lilly looked down at her lap to study her childlike hands—hands that should’ve been adjusting doll clothes but were more likely used to choke the life out of grown men. “Oh, how about the military, the governments, police force, religious organizations … everywhere.”

Viggo rolled his eyes. “And how do you know this?”

“Because we haven’t been hiding in our hole like gophers,” Kait threw back at him. “We’ve been watching. Studying. Learning. Fighting.”

“And what have you learned?” Mortimer probed, ignoring her insult, though I could tell by his glower that he’d prefer to tear her head off.

A chorus of vicious laughter. “That’s not how these negotiations work,” Lilly purred, parroting Viggo’s earlier jibe. “We have something you want and you say you have something we want.” Her lip curled. “For all we know, this is one of your ploys to eliminate us.”

“Wake up, Lilly! Why would we want to do that now? With this force growing against us? There aren’t enough of us to fight as it is!” Mortimer answered, his voice rising to its typical booming level.

“Oh, I don’t know. I’m sure you’d find a reason. You’ve found reasons for the craziest ideas before.” Again, those furtive eyes going to Viggo.

“Now, now,” Viggo answered. “Be more cooperative, my dear Lilly. Your mother wouldn’t be proud of this attitude of yours.”

“You leave my mother out of this!” The suddenness of her shriek made me jump, her shrill voice piercing my eardrum. She was on her feet instantly, her cool, calm composure gone, her bottom lip quivering, appearing ready to burst into tears. She shook visibly, whether from anger or fear, I did not know. Maybe both.

“We are not lying, and we do need your help,” Mage said soothingly.

Kait snorted. “Why don’t you just create an army, then?”

“Now why didn’t we think of that?” Viggo retorted, his hands lifting to the sky dramatically, sarcasm thick in his tone.

“Four vampires in this world can transform a human and none of us will do it for the purposes of war,” Mage explained calmly, ignoring Viggo. She paused to look at the newspaper on the floor. “Well, five technically, though Jonah will be too busy murdering people to convert them.”