Allegiance (Causal Enchantment #3)(74)
I frowned. “What, where?”
She rolled her eyes. “When I was holding you and you decided you needed to jump in between Death and a vampire? It was like you electrocuted me.” Her angelic face scrunched up as she rubbed her wrist. “Hurt like Hell. At first, I thought you were going to kill me.”
“I don’t know,” I answered quietly. That was a lie. I knew. Maybe it was that time. I stared down at my hands, at my fingertips. They seemed so dainty, so normal. What a deception. They were quickly becoming something deadly. With each passing day, the end was nearing. The disease was waiting to unleash itself, waiting to strike down everyone I loved. And when it struck, who would be the first victim? Would I be touching Bishop or Amelie or Caden when the magic decided to finish off my transformation? Would their faces shrivel up as I watched them die?
I shook Bishop’s arms off in a panic and leapt forward to press my back against the opposite wall, staring at a line of worried faces. “Please don’t touch me,” I whispered hoarsely. “None of you. Please don’t risk it.”
“Evie …,” Bishop began, stepping forward, hands outstretched.
“No!” I shrieked, throwing my arms up to block him. “No … I can’t bear the idea that I may kill—” I choked over that word, “one of you. Please … I just need some space to deal with all this right now.”
“Okay, Eve. We understand,” Amelie said softly, reaching forward to give Bishop a pat on the back. “Don’t we, Bishop?”
He nodded, the crease in his brow deepening. “Of course.”
Caden and Julian stood side by side, watching me quietly, saying nothing. I didn’t have to worry about them. Julian wouldn’t touch me for fear of earning Caden’s wrath, and Caden was good at keeping up pretenses with Bishop. I wished it were as easy for me …
I dropped my gaze, unable to meet any of them in the eye. I was lying. Lying to every single one of them in one form or another. It was exhausting. I wanted it all to go away. I squeezed the neck of the wine bottle.
I had my answer. For tonight, anyway. Tonight, I would make it all go away. I was going to get drunk.
I poured another healthy dose of that burning sweet syrup down my throat, praying I’d quickly succumb to whatever magic powers it held.
“Let’s get out of here,” Bishop stepped forward. “Can I at least walk next to you?”
I nodded. He jutted his chin down a hall I had not been down yet. “There’s a kick-ass wine cellar that way, if you want to see it?” he grinned.
More wine meant more liquid therapy. “Lead the way, oh wise one.” We began walking. I halted. I was forgetting something. I turned back to see Wraith gingerly poke his head out the door. One long leg tentatively stepped across the threshold, as if he half expected to melt. I guess I couldn’t blame him. His entire existence confined to one room was enough to drive anyone crazy. When his leg didn’t melt, I swore I caught a hint of a smile. If Death was capable of smiling.
I rushed forward to catch up to Bishop. The others followed behind like silent shadows, including Wraith. When I walked, he walked. When I stopped, he stopped. Several feet away but never too far. Much like Max, Wraith was my bodyguard. A life-sucking, unshakable bodyguard who was bound to me until I died. I brought the bottle to my lips once again, taking a more liberal chug. It wasn’t nearly so sweet anymore, nor was the burn so fierce. In fact, I was growing fond of its taste. The warm sensation flowing through my limbs relaxed me.
“So, Wraith,” Bishop began and when I turned back, I saw that mischievous look in his eye. He was the old Bishop again, from the days of running through the caves. I missed it so dearly … “Should we call you Wraith? Such an awkward name. How about just ‘Death’?”
Amelie sniggered from her twenty-foot distance. Even Max snorted in my head.
“I have been given the name Wraith,” was all he said, ending any potential fun at his expense.
“Well, he’s a barrel of laughs,” Bishop muttered.
Peeking over my shoulder at him, studying the way he marched in a perfectly straight line—back straight, arms stiff—I wondered what Nathan had been like when he was alive. Certainly nothing like Wraith. There was no way Sofie would be in love with a lifeless, humorless android. I guess I shouldn’t expect Death to have a personality, though. Another tip of the bottle … another drink … What would I do if the Fates did this to Caden? To stand next to the empty shell of him, to have his gaze pass over me without a second’s thought?
My insides recoiled. I glanced back furtively to meet beautiful jade eyes. Four of them? I squinted. No, two eyes … What if those beautiful eyes were lost to me forever, as I thought them to be not long ago? I sighed and took another long pull on the port. My tongue felt thick. I rolled it inside my mouth and then smacked it against the roof to wake it up. Funny … my jaw didn’t hurt anymore.
11. Tempting the Fates—Sofie
A plump snowflake settled on the bridge of my nose. More flakes followed, tickling my eyelids, lips, fingers. Their crisp wetness was a welcome relief as I knelt before Nathan’s tombstone. Night after night, I lit a candle for his resting bones under this tree while I knew that abomination lurked inside.
And now … that abomination was trailing Evangeline, ignorant to my existence, to the unconditional love that I held for its human inspiration. All it cared about was whether I was a threat to Evangeline or not. And if it decided that I was? Dispatch me … like a housefly.