Allegiance (Causal Enchantment #3)(46)
Minty eyes narrowed slightly, as they had the previous morning, when she was sensing me magically. It set off a volcano of panic inside me. The melon dropped from my grasp onto my plate.
“What? What is it now?” What had changed overnight? Was my touch finally lethal? No … Amelie had held my hand. She was still alive and perky. Which meant I wasn’t a full-on leper yet …
Sofie shook her head, reading my mind without being able to read my mind. “Nothing. How was the rest of your night?”
Lonely … I pushed my bitterness away and grumbled, “Fine,” as I slid the plate away. It may as well have been crawling with maggots, as unappetizing as it was.
My answer earned a heavy sigh of relief from her. “Good. I’m going to be busy for a while. Testing something out on Bishop.”
I jumped out of my seat. “Are you serious?” Finally, a spark of hope, a ray of something positive. “Have you figured out how to fix him?”
“I have an idea or two. Nothing I’m sure of yet…” Striding forward, she stopped before me to push a strand of hair from my face. “I’ll take care of everything. Don’t worry. I’ll fix it.”
I want to believe you Sofie, I do. I just couldn’t help but feel fate was spiraling out of control. Swallowing a painful lump of despair, I nodded and changed the subject. “Any news from Lilly?”
The responding scowl gave me my answer. “I expect we will hear something soon.” Sofie looked down to my injured arm, her deepening scowl creating unpleasant clefts in her forehead. “You can keep Evangeline occupied, right, Amelie?”
Amelie hopped off her stool, saluting in a military fashion. “I’m on it! I’ve got Operation Entertain Evie covered!”
Despite everything, that earned a genuine smile. Oh, how I missed Amelie’s levity!
Cool fingers traced my chin. “I haven’t seen that beautiful smile in so long,” Sofie whispered. I turned to see sadness flash across her face. Then it was gone, replaced by a mask of composure as she leveled Amelie with a sobering stare. “Help me keep it there, will you, Amelie?” With that, Sofie vanished.
“So …” Amelie leaned on her elbows, cradling her chin. “What do you wanna do?”
I shrugged with disinterest, squashing a blueberry between my fingers. “What’s there to do?” Wander around the halls of this giant chateau and pretend that everything was fine? That Veronique wasn’t being tortured to death, that Caden and I weren’t one second from over, that Amelie wouldn’t be crushed and Julian dead once they discovered his secret? That I wasn’t slowly turning into a Tribe demon? That the world wasn’t going to end …
Hands clapped sharply, catching the tip of my nose. “Earth to Evie! What is going on in that pretty little head of yours?”
“I’m … wallowing,” I admitted. Heat crept up my neck. I wasn’t a wallower. That wasn’t me. From my mother’s death, to my solitary teenaged years, to learning of the curse, I had never spent more than a minute dwelling on the negatives. Now, I was bathing in L’Eau de Wallow.
“Bad idea, Evangeline. You need a good distraction.” Her hand rested on my shoulder. “So let’s find one, okay?”
“Okay … What do you have in mind?”
“I’m not sure … I usually hunt bears and jump off cliffs when I need a distraction.”
I snorted as my gaze roamed the four walls of the kitchen, imagining the long halls outside, the stairs, the rooms … Nothing there was distracting enough. Well, except Caden. But then that’d just bring me back to my inevitable worry. I needed to get away. Far away, just for a little while.
“Let’s get out of here,” I whispered, already anticipating Amelie’s negative answer.
An impish curve touched her lips. “We could,” she mouthed. She looked over to ensure the cooks weren’t listening.
My heart started pounding against my ribs. “Seriously? Do you think Sofie’ll be mad?”
Her mouth twisted. “If she found out … yeah, probably. But I’ve been out once or twice. Caden’s been out a couple of times … Viggo’s out twice a day. Nothing has happened! There are no signs of any Sentinels watching. We should go!” Bright white teeth glistened as she struggled to contain her excited smile. “We could do it, Evie! We could …” Her words trailed off as the eagerness deflated like a popped balloon, crushing my already weak spirit.
“Those wolves. They’d tell Sofie right away. We can’t get past their stupid mutt noses.”
I smiled. Finally, an advantage.
***
Rounding the corner into the foyer, I almost smacked into Viggo striding through the front door. He cringed and jumped backward a foot to avoid my hand grazing his leg. He was afraid of me and my Tribal magic. I smirked with satisfaction. I was a natural Viggo repellant. A silver lining.
“What are you two up to, so giggly and … annoying?”
“Girl stuff!” Amelie spat back haughtily, hooking her arm through mine.
With an exaggerated eye roll, Viggo sidestepped around us—giving me an extra wide berth—and continued on, not in the least bit interested in a couple of tittering young women. Not unless they were tittering over him. I released the lungs’ worth of air I didn’t realize I was holding. I may repel him but he still terrified me.