Allegiance (Causal Enchantment #3)(69)

“Let me go, Amelie!” I roared. Rage ignited those mental sparks into a fiery blue flame as I battled her impossible strength. Suddenly, Amelie was crumbling back with a howl of pain, her grip on me loosened. In the back of my mind, I knew it was something I had done to her but at that moment, I didn’t care. I cared about one thing only.

I dove forward, hurtling my body in front of Caden to create a barrier before he knew what was happening. “You will not kill him!” I screamed, fists clenched at my sides, bracing myself for whatever agony Nathan was about to serve.

Nathan’s mirror balls snapped to mine and he halted. We watched each other, face to face, two feet of space between us, two feet keeping me from becoming a corpse. I watched without breathing, waiting for that deadly hand to reach up and sap life out of me.

But instead, Nathan did something I could not have expected. No one could have expected. He dropped to his knees and leaned forward, so low that his forehead reached the floor, inches away from my feet. “As you command. I am here to serve and protect you, my Evangeline.”

I instinctively backed away. I only made it two steps before I slammed into Caden’s rigid body. When I looked back over my shoulder at him, I found shock staring back.

“What the hell did you do to Max and Bishop?” Amelie hissed, stepping forward, one hand on Julian’s chest to keep him behind her. I noticed her hunched over slightly, as if wounded. Again, that nagging voice in the back of my mind told me I was the cause her discomfort, but I had no time to concern myself. Nathan’s head lifted mechanically, blue mirror balls shifting to her, the vacuous glare in them enough to give any vampire pause.

“Is she a threat to you, Evangeline?” His leg shifted to get up, not moving his focus from her.

A threat. A threat he needed to immobilize or kill, like he had Max and Bishop? My hands flew out in front of me in surrender. “No!” I shrieked, my voice cracking. I adjusted my tone to one more tranquil. “She is my friend. They are all my friends.”

As if my words provided verification, his focus shifted back to me, losing interest in Amelie.

A whirl of movement pulled all of our attention to the corner of the room where Max and Bishop last lay. Max was back on four paws, his black body stretching out. Beside him, a normal-looking Bishop also stood. “Oh, thank God,” I whispered, crumbling against Caden. Nathan hadn’t killed them after all. Yet.

Max’s low snarl gave me enough warning to stop a second round. “Max! No! It’s okay!”

No, it’s not, he growled, sauntering forward, choosing his path of assault.

“It is, Max! Please, just stay back until we sort this out.”

With a snort, Max leaned back on his haunches, letting out little snarls and growls to let everyone in the room know he wasn’t pleased.

“Bishop?”

Bishop didn’t answer me as he was too busy glowering at Nathan’s back with equal parts shock, anger, and awe. Nathan didn’t even bat a lifeless eye at them, focused on me as he stood.

“Why are you in here?” I asked him. Something told me this was not Sofie’s Nathan, that this had to be some form of alien impostor.

“I am here to protect you.”

“Are you Nathan?” Caden’s voice was level and calm, his suspicions matching my own.

Nathan stared blankly at us as if trying to translate what Caden was asking. “I do not understand,” he finally confirmed.

Again, I peered at Caden over my shoulder. He shrugged.

“Damn it, Evangeline!” A shout turned me around to the doorway just as a red mane rushed by, her face a mask of shock and rage as if I had committed a calculated crime. A crowd of spectators—Mage, Lilly, and her gang—packed the entrance, peering at Nathan with their own mixture of curiosity and aversion.

“I didn’t … mean to,” I stumbled over my words, heat burning my cheeks. Liar! I knew. I knew as my hand closed over that brass doorknob that this door would open part of a world Sofie had worked hard to bury. I knew, and I busted it down, anyway.

Perfectly manicured hands raised to cover her face, her fingertips pressing down on her eyelids. “You broke the spell … I should have known you would break the spell.” Her arms flopped to her side, her anger fading into defeat. She turned to cast a wary eye on the man in Nathan’s body, only managing a few seconds before flinching, her gaze dropping to the floor, her eyes squeezing shut as if stabbed by a jolt of pain.

Nathan looked past her, as if she was not important. As if she hadn’t been the love of his life. As if he had no clue who she was. “Are they a threat to you, Evangeline?” he asked again, his focus now on the crowd at the door.

“No.” To Sofie, I whispered in a harsh tone, “Why does he keep asking me that?”

Sofie’s mouth opened to answer but Mortimer and Viggo’s sudden entrance distracted us. “Good lord, Sofie!” Mortimer boomed in horror as he stared at Nathan. “Just when I thought you couldn’t bring about more catastrophe, here we are. What on earth have you done now?”

Sofie’s shoulders visibly sagged, her entire being a lifeless sack. She didn’t speak at first, her mouth opening and closing a few times, searching for words. “It was a mistake,” she whispered hoarsely.

“Are they a threat to you, Evangeline?” Nathan asked, yet again, blue mirrors casting their judgment on Viggo and Mortimer. He didn’t recognize them, either.