Anathema (Causal Enchantment #1)(43)

“Oh, I’m sure he does, but there aren’t any books to read,” Amelie responded.

“Evangeline, you don’t understand. This world … it’s like living in medieval times, only worse. We’re moving in reverse. Nothing’s left—no books, no phones, no computers, no electricity, no cars, no music. Bishop would kill for music. I used to sing to him. Apparently I’ve ruined classic rock,” Fiona said, a grim smile on her face.

“I’d kill for a long, hot shower … literally,” Amelie added.

My foot caught a pebble then and I listened to it skip along the ground. This world was sounding more dreadful by the minute. And here I was, feeling sorry for myself and my five–star prison waiting back home.

We turned a sharp corner in the tunnel and Fiona held up a hand. “Stay here,” she instructed before disappearing into the darkness.

“What’s she doing?” I whispered to Amelie.

She turned to smile at me, her green eyes twinkling with excitement. “You’ll see.”

Flame after flame suddenly appeared as if on an automatic remote, illuminating Fiona as she moved quickly around, lighting torches. When dozens were lit, when they cast enough light on the area, I gasped, all thoughts of prison and curses vanishing as my eyes glimpsed paradise.

“At least we have this,” Amelie sighed.

Directly ahead of us, a waterfall at least thirty feet high quietly tumbled down a wall of rock into a small lake, the water glistening invitingly in the torchlight. Several large boulders rose from the surface of the lake, creating private little alcoves. Steam rose off the water’s surface. The entire scene looked man–made, so perfect in design and so out of place, deep within this cave, that I half expected palm trees and ferns.

“What is it?” I heard my awed voice ask.

“Don’t know, but it’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Fiona crouched down to test the water with her hand.

I could only nod in agreement.

“Go swimming if you want,” Amelie offered.

“You have bathing suits?” I asked in surprise.

She laughed. “It’s just us girls here.”

“Maybe later,” I said, glancing back at the cave entrance. I wouldn’t risk being caught naked in front of Caden again. I had already filled my quota the other night.

“Fiona and Bishop practically live in here.” Amelie smirked, winking devilishly at the crouching vampire, who returned the wink.

“No wonder Jethro’s had designs on this mountain for seven hundred years,” Fiona quipped, laughing as she rolled off her feet to turn up the torn ends of her pants and dip her legs into the pool. Amelie mimicked her and reached her hand out to me, beckoning me to join them.

I happily obliged, sitting down between them to take off my sneakers and socks before sliding my feet into the warm, soothing water. “It’s like bathwater,” I murmured.

“I know. We can’t explain it,” Fiona said.

“It’s definitely warmer than that river you found me in, right?” Amelie said, kicking the water playfully to splash me.

“Why did Jethro want to drown you, anyway?” I asked.

“Oh, he wasn’t trying to drown me,” she answered matter–of–factly.

“He tied a cinder block to your ankles and dropped you in the river and he wasn’t trying to drown you?” I asked skeptically.

“We can’t drown, Evangeline, remember?”

“Oh, right. I forgot. Sorry. It’s going to take some time to get used to all this.” I’m never going to be used to this.

Amelie continued. “We can starve, though. The stuff they tied around my wrists and ankles is called ‘Merth.’ It saps all of our energy. And it hurts. My God! Like a thousand tiny razor blades, cutting into our skin.”

I grimaced.

“Exactly. No vampire can touch it. Well, except for mutants like Jethro. When they mutate, they become immune. It falls apart under a human’s touch though, as you noticed.”

“Oh. So why did Jethro want to starve you, then?” I amended.

“He was teaching me a lesson for killing a grizzly in his territory.”

My gaze dropped to Amelie’s slender frame, trying to picture the diminutive thing wrestling a ferocious grizzly bear with her bare hands. It was impossible; I just couldn’t see it. There was nothing intimidating about her, aside from her outlandishly beautiful face.

All of them—save for Rachel—seemed so normal. So human. Had I witnessed one of them tearing Jethro and his friends up, or if I had seen Caden skewer and torch the ape man, maybe I wouldn’t be so comfortable right now. But I hadn’t seen it. I’d only seen the aftermath and in my mind, the two didn’t connect. Even with Caden’s grave warning and his change in attitude toward me, I wasn’t afraid of them. Except Rachel. Was my intuition that pathetic? Or were they tricking me?

“Are you guys using your powers on me?” I blurted.

They both laughed. “No, we wouldn’t do that. But we don’t blame you for being paranoid. Besides, we can’t,” Amelie said.

“So that’s a myth?”

“Oh no, it’s not. But it won’t work on you. We think it’s because of your necklace. Caden tried the first night, before Jethro came, to keep you quiet, remember? But you started yammering away again.” Amelie’s hand opened and closed like a yapping mouth, teasing me.