Allegiance (Causal Enchantment #3)(43)
A door creaked open and I felt Veronique’s body spasm with terror. Forcing my head back over to the other side, I watched as two women and a man strode in. I recognized the black-and-silver-haired woman from the first time—the one with the whip. She reminded me of Cruella de Vil. The other woman, with long mousy brown hair and a sour expression, was new. The man, also new. I immediately saw the tattoo on his thumb. The Sentinel’s mark.
“Are you ready to tell us what we want to know, Veronique?” Cruella asked, a vicious grin curling her lips.
I felt Veronique press her lips together. Stubborn girl. Brave. Stupid, given the circumstances but still … brave.
With an annoyed shake of her head, Cruella said, “Very well. Stan?”
The man sauntered forward until he stood at the end of the table, towering over me. I heard a small click and a whooshing sound that brought back memories of a gas stove element. With a raised eyebrow and too much enjoyment dancing on his face, he revealed the bright red cylinder in his hand. A lit blowtorch …
I broke out in a cold sweat, already feeling the lick of that single tiny flame against my skin though it hadn’t neared me yet. “What do you want to know?” I blurted out, desperate to buy Veronique some time before the next round of barbarity began.
“No! Don’t tell her anything!” Veronique cried out in defense.
The two witches’ eyes narrowed with suspicion. Uh oh … Cruella bent forward to study me, her face so close I could count the stitch holes of a tiny silver scar above her left eyebrow, so close the smell of stale coffee on her breath curled my nostrils.
“Do you think she’s finally cracked?” the other one asked. “Split personality?”
Cruella paused, sucking on her top lip. She shook her head slowly. “No … it’s more than that.” Her brow arched curiously, her head cocking to the side. “Sofie? Are you in there?”
Before I could control my eyes, I felt them bulge out of their sockets in surprise. Damn it! She’s on to me. What was I supposed to do now? Maybe I could somehow negotiate with this loon … Her mouth curved into an inhuman smirk. “Yes, I thought so. How long have you been here?” I didn’t answer. A jagged fingernail dragged along the length of my cheek, stopping at the edge of my eye socket, disturbingly close to my bottom eyelid. She stared at me, penetrating, searching, violating me.
“Are you watching what we’re doing to your sister, Sofie? Are you enjoying it?” I cried out as her fingernail pushed down, further and further. Searing agony shot through my eye. She intended to dig it right out of its socket!
“It’s not Sofie. It’s someone named Evangeline! Please stop!” Veronique cried out.
My stomach sank. Veronique had just tossed me into a tank of hungry sharks! Then I remembered that it wasn’t my body lying on that metal table with a blowtorch by my feet and a fingernail at my eye.
Cruella’s brow furrowed. She stood, her fingernail lifting from beneath my eye. “I do not know an Evangeline … who is that?”
“I don’t know,” Veronique whispered. Cruella’s hand reached down to assume her eye-gouging position. “But she knows Sofie!”
With a pause and a decision, Cruella smiled down at me. “Well, Evangeline, make sure you let Sofie know how well we’re treating her sister.” She gave Stan a nod.
My back arched as searing hot pain fired throughout my body.
My blood-curdling screams lasted long after the pain had vanished. I couldn’t stop kicking my feet, sliding them back and forth over the cool satiny sheets to put out the flames. By the time I registered that I was in my room in the chateau, a giant werebeast stood over me in my bed and a ring of anxious faces surrounded the foot of it.
“What’s wrong?” Sofie asked, her eyes wide with alarm.
“Burning. Fire. Torture,” I answered in sputters, throwing off the covers to inspect my feet in the moonlight. Nothing but smooth pale skin. You’re safe, Evangeline. Safe. Safe. Safe.
The pain. The smell of burning flesh. It lingered in my nostrils. Though it wasn’t happening to me, it was real. They were torturing Veronique. While I lay in satin sheets, circled by her sister and those I loved, Veronique lay on a cold metal table, circled by the enemy, enduring unimaginable pain. A wave of nausea battered my senses. I was seconds away from bolting to the bathroom to throw up. No one could last long with that level of suffering. No one. And yet, I had to keep this secret. Sofie could not find out or she’d start a war and so many more lives would be lost
Hang in there, Veronique, I silently pleaded, biting down on my lip before the truth exploded out of my mouth.
“A nightmare?” Sofie pressed.
My head bobbed up and down, numbly, wishing for the safety of Caden’s arms. He didn’t move, though, instead studying me with a worried expression.
Sofie leaned down, her hand smoothing my hair in a motherly gesture. “About what?”
I bit down harder, madly searching for a lie that would justify my traumatic awakening. What if I revealed too many clues for the shrewd vampiress and she figured it out? Finally, I just shrugged.
She offered me a compassionate smile as her cool hand cupped my chin. “I told you not to worry. Everything will be fine. We’ll figure this Tribe magic out.”
I nodded again, dropping my gaze to my hands folded in my lap, hiding my face so she couldn’t see the tears welling. No, it won’t, Sofie … So much is not fine.