Anathema (Causal Enchantment #1)(35)

Sofie glared at him before turning to me. “I was born a sorceress.”

“Sorceress … like witch?” I asked.

“An extremely powerful one,” Mortimer emphasized.

“Oh, Mortimer, you flatter me,” Sofie answered sarcastically before turning back to me with that haunted look on her face. She lifted her hand and a tiny flame rose from her index finger, out of thin air.

My eyes went wide. Without thinking, I slid off the couch and pushed past Max to inspect it closer, intrigued. Lifting my hand to it, I flinched as the heat scalded my skin. It was real.

With a burst of excitement, Viggo skipped over to the grand piano. Picking it up with one hand, he launched it across the room. It crashed into a concrete column and splintered, the sound deafening. “Need more proof?” He was instantly standing in front of me. Grabbing an empty glass, he crushed it with his hand. I cringed as he held his hand out, expecting to see blood. Instead, tiny shards of glass scattered out of his pristine, uninjured palm.

“A song and dance now, if you please, court jester!” Sofie tittered, mockingly clapping her hands.

Viggo bowed. “It’s been so long since we’ve had to prove ourselves. It’s exhilarating!”

I gaped at him. How is this possible? Vampires don’t exist. They’re just another scary tale. “But … no. Sofie, I’ve seen you out in the sun, and …” I stammered.

Viggo laughed. “Oh, don’t believe any of that. The majority of it is pure poppycock. We’re not allergic to crosses and garlic, we can come in and out of your house as we please, there are no coffins under this roof—I could go on for hours with all the nonsense.”

My eyes bulged as a thought hit me. Backing away quickly, I practically fell onto the couch. “What about people? Do you … drink blood?”

Viggo’s face grew more serious. “We want to be completely honest with you, my dear Evangeline. No lying. So …” He paused. “There are those of us who do feed on humans, impulsively and without remorse. However, Mortimer and I have made it our mission to eliminate that type of vampire from this world. I think we’ve done quite well.”

“So you don’t?”

He exhaled. “Only in desperate situations and only on the worst criminals—child ra**sts and murders; bottom–feeders, bane to all humans.”

The fascination with criminals … He wasn’t a lawyer or a detective. He was merely scouting out his meals. I shuddered and looked at Sofie and Mortimer. Both remained quiet, their faces expressionless, though I sensed distress in Sofie’s eyes.

“We are not those terrible creatures the stories paint us to be, I swear it! Have I been anything but generous and kind to you since the moment you met me?”

I paused, then shook my head. “And sitting here with me … and my blood—that isn’t hard for you?” I asked hesitantly, afraid that reminding them I was human would have adverse side effects.

“Darling Evangeline! We would never harm you!” Viggo cried, distress contorting his face. “And we’re experienced enough that we can control ourselves. Now, being in a room with free–flowing blood is a tad trickier … but we always manage.”

So Leo obviously knew who his employers were, I gathered, recalling his meticulous cleanup. It also meant he wasn’t a vampire.

The silence in the room grew beyond the awkward stage as I absorbed what they were telling me. Viggo watched me with the look of a dejected animal begging for love and acceptance.

Finally I spoke. “Wow, that’s quite the secret.”

“That’s not the half of it,” Mortimer grumbled, studying his manicured fingernails.

“Are you afraid? Please say you’re not,” Viggo pleaded.

“I’m okay,” I said, swallowing my fear. More like petrified.

“The thing is … we need your help, Evangeline,” Viggo said.

That took me aback. “How? With what? And what does all this have to do with my dream and the bite marks on my neck?”

Viggo’s expression turned grim. He sat back down in the armchair. “For one hundred and twenty years, our venom has been useless.”

“I don’t underst—” I began, frowning.

“We can’t turn humans anymore,” Mortimer said abruptly, sitting down in a chair beside Viggo.

“And that’s a bad thing?” I said without thinking. I caught Mortimer’s glower.

“If we can’t create one of us, we’re left watching the ones we love grow old and die.” Viggo looked up at the portrait.

Had he watched Sofie’s sister die? I wondered. Had she been his lady friend?

“It becomes too painful to get close to anyone, knowing the misery and loss will just repeat itself over and over again for eternity. It’s such a lonely life.” Viggo sighed. “Can you imagine that, Evangeline?”

I shuddered. I had spent five years utterly alone. It was a dismal, dark place to be. But eternity?

“Please say you’ll help us,” Viggo begged.

“I … of course, I’ll help you if I can …”

“Oh, thank you, Evangeline. Thank you! I knew you would understand,” Viggo said, elated.

“But how?”

“This is the terrible part about it.” Viggo’s face fell in despair, and he turned to scowl at Sofie. “Unbeknownst to us, that witch has cursed you!”