Allegiance (Causal Enchantment #3)(70)
I hesitated slightly before saying no, casting a sidelong look at Viggo. He responded with a sneer, surely realizing my wavering. This could work to my advantage. If this Nathan thing could do to Viggo what he had just done to Bishop—and make it permanent—there’d be a few happy people in the room …
“And what exactly is this thing?” Viggo asked, his nose curled in disgust as one might if looking at road kill. If it bothered Nathan, I couldn’t tell. He appeared unfazed by everyone’s reactions.
Sofie seemed unable to speak.
“This isn’t Nathan,” I finally said into the silence.
“Nathan is dead,” came Sofie’s hollow response.
“Well, he certainly looks an awful lot like—” Amelie began.
“It’s not Nathan!” Sofie shrieked, spinning on her heels, looking ready to lunge at Amelie. But then, as if catching herself, she froze, her hands flying to her mouth, her slender fingers intertwined to clamp over her lips. An oppressive weight lowered onto the room like heavy smog. I noticed Mage and Mortimer exchange looks of worry. I knew what they were thinking.
Sofie was finally crumbling.
No one spoke. No one moved. We all gave her a moment to collect herself. When her hands lifted from her mouth, she was our normal, composed Sofie again. “Everyone … meet Wraith.”
“How appropriate …,” Bishop muttered dryly, pushing his hand through the back of his hair as he stepped to claim the area to my left.
“Wraith …,” I said, raking my brain for its definition. I remembered hearing that word before. “Isn’t that, like, a ghost?”
I felt Caden’s strong fingers curl around my elbow, pulling me ever so slightly closer to him but not to be too noticeable to anyone watching. To Bishop. The creature named Wraith didn’t miss the contact, though, those creepy eyes shifting from Caden’s hand to his face.
“Evangeline, I advise you not to get close to that one. He is capable of causing fatal injury to you.”
“What the—” Caden exploded, stepping forward, rage twisting his face. I was sure I was going to witness Wraith attack Caden after all. But Sofie soared in to intercept, her arms out to create an obstacle between the two of them.
“Stop, Caden. It’s all right. Please. I’ll explain …”
I watched in horror as Wraith’s hand lifted and clamped onto Sofie’s forearm like a steel manacle. Sofie’s beautiful face withered to a shriveled shell, her cheeks going sallow, the pulsating intensity in her irises dwindling. Dying.
There was no doubt. He was sapping the life right out of her.
“Stop it, Wraith!” I shrieked, diving forward to grab hold of his arm with both of my hands, ready to yank or bite or rake it free. Whatever I had to do. There was no need, though. The steel manacle popped open at my command. With quicker reflexes than I believed I had, I dove to my knees to catch Sofie’s head as she collapsed to the ground. I held my breath as I cradled her—so frail and helpless and hideous in that moment—waiting frantically for her to return to her radiant self.
“Why would you do that to her?” I demanded, looking up through a veil of tears to see guiltless mirrors watching me. “This is Sofie! Don’t you get it?”
“You weren’t supposed to find this room.” My head jerked down as I heard Sofie’s raspy gasp. Her creamy complexion had returned, her skin plumping as I watched. With a hand on her back, I helped her into a sitting position. “I never wanted to bring you here.” Slowly, awkwardly, using my shoulders as support, she rose to her feet and stumbled away from me, pushing past everyone to rush out of the room as if the air in it was suffocating her.
I followed, shoving through the throng at the door. My elbow rammed the terrifying Kait’s rock-hard abdomen, but I didn’t flinch. My hand pushed against Viggo’s chest without a thought. Outside in the hallway, I found my maternal vampiress buckled over and holding her chest, slouching against the wall opposite the door in the hallway. Shattered.
“Is he going to hurt us, Sofie?” I asked tentatively.
Gradually, she stood. Terror seized my heart as I took in the hollow, lost gaze. The look of defeat.
Sofie was giving up.
Sofie couldn’t give up. She was my rock. She was the one who kept assuring me everything would be okay. If she gave up … Blood rushed to my ears as my internal panic exploded.
Finally, Sofie shook her head. “No … yes and no.”
What did that mean? “What is he?” I asked as softly as I could. “Is he like the Tribe? Is that what their touch does?” Is that what my touch will do?
Her vacuous stare shifted past me. I turned to follow it, finding everyone now out in the hall, the crowd parted to allow Nathan prime view from his position in the room. That, and I’m sure no one was in any rush to get close to him.
“No … he’s far worse,” she whispered, adding with a hiss, “courtesy of the Fates.” Sickness roiled inside me. The Fates. I couldn’t win with them. No one could. “He is immune to all forms of magic. He takes life with a touch if he so chooses. His touch is not lethal unless he wants it to be. He usually does …” Her face twisted into a sardonic smile. “He is the ultimate protection for you. He is exactly what I asked for. Unstoppable, unkillable, untraceable. He’s dead. He is death.”