Anathema (Causal Enchantment #1)(13)

“I wasn’t!” I heard Bishop call from behind him, followed by a loud smack—presumably Fiona’s response to his lewdness.

“Can I please see it? The pendant,” Caden asked gently.

“Um, yeah, sure … I guess.” I reached up to unclasp the chain, then remembered Sofie’s request to leave it on. “I can’t take it off. The clasp is broken and I don’t want to lose it.” He nodded once. I grabbed the chain and pulled it as far out from my half–exposed chest as possible, the glowing red heart swinging back and forth thanks to my trembling hand.

Caden slid in closer to me.

I swallowed, my chest tightening with anxiety at his proximity, my heart beginning to hammer my chest again. I noticed his eyes flit curiously to my face for a second and I thought I detected the slight crook of a smile, but his face smoothed before I could be sure.

His hand reached out to grasp the pendant. A burst of red light flashed brightly. He recoiled. Leaning back to squat on his heels, he placed his chin in his hands.

“What is it?” Rachel asked crisply. I glanced over to see her standing with arms crossed, scowling.

Caden, a pensive expression on his face, ignored her. “Where’d you get that?”

“It was a gift.”

“Recent?”

I nodded.

“From whom?”

“Sofie. Um, I mean … my boss.”

Caden continued studying it in silence, his eyes shifting back and forth. “You’ll have to thank Sofie. I think it saved your life.”

I glanced down at the radiant heart and an unpleasant chill ran down my spine. “What do you mean?” I stammered.

Caden opened his mouth to answer, but Bishop sprang to his feet, cursing vehemently as his eyes darted to the cave entrance. “They’ve tracked us here,” he growled, his jovial tone of moments ago gone.

“Damn it, Amelie!” Rachel cursed.

“Oh, shut it!” Amelie threw a withering glare in Rachel’s direction. It didn’t phase the dark beauty in the least.

“Must be the fire,” Fiona whispered.

“How much time?” Caden asked, his eyes locked on mine, his voice now hard and determined.

Bishop inhaled deeply. “Maybe two minutes … I can’t believe I missed their scent,” he hissed through gritted teeth.

Scent? I inhaled deeply but my nostrils filled with nothing but smoke.

“There. I can sense them … three of them. They’ll be here soon,” Rachel confirmed.

Three … there’d been three people by the river. Three murderers. I wondered if it was the same group.

In the next second I was flying across the cave, cradled in Caden’s strong arms. Setting me on my feet, he gently pushed me into a small alcove. Standing within it, I couldn’t see two–thirds of the cave. They’re hiding me, I realized.

Caden’s hand lifted my chin, tilting my head back far enough that my eyes met his. He stared at me so fixedly that I began squirming, trying to turn away. “No, don’t,” he whispered calmly, holding my chin securely between his thumb and forefinger.

The tension slid from my body as I fell deeper and deeper into those infinite pools of jade, my focus becoming cloudy, my thoughts muddled.

Caden’s voice whispered, slow and deliberate, “You need to stay hidden and remain calm. Don’t speak. Don’t make a single sound.” His words strung together, swirling around inside my head, repeating over and over. I nodded involuntarily. With a satisfied nod, Caden removed his hand from my chin and turned to face the cave entrance.

I stood staring at his broad, muscular back, imagining my fingers running through his hair, barely noticing the burning against my chest as my pendant blazed …

The temporary fog in my brain lifted. I began tapping my fingers against my thighs in response to my growing panic. “What do they want?” I finally whispered.

Caden’s head whipped around, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he searched my face, until his gaze landed on my pendant. “Interesting …” he mumbled to himself. He paused. “They want Amelie. They’re the ones who put her in the river. But you … when they find out about you …” His eyes left the pendant and returned to my face.

He didn’t need to finish his sentence. I caught the drift. “Because I helped Amelie?”

His eyes narrowed. “You don’t know where you are—who we are?”

“We’re in a cave and you’re … homeless people?” I said. Oh, stupid, Evangeline. That was so insensitive.

“Just stay hidden and don’t say anything. I’ll keep you safe, I promise,” Caden whispered, smiling down at me reassuringly. Or sympathetically, because I sounded like an imbecile.

I couldn’t resist asking, “What’s going to happen?”

“Would you shut up? Unless you want to die tonight, little girl,” Rachel hissed through clenched teeth. She had edged to the back wall of the cave and was now watching us keenly.

I blanched at the threat, my heart doubling its pace.

Caden reached out, his hands cupping my chin. Again I sensed a gravitational pull toward those deep pools, only it wasn’t nearly as strong as before. “You have to calm down. Now.”

I took a deep breath. I focused on his soothing voice, the intensity of his eyes. Although my heart kept racing, its thunderous pounding dulled to an irritating thud.