Anathema (Causal Enchantment #1)(71)
We were through the waterfall and standing beside the sea of Merth in seconds. I looked up at Caden and Bishop’s faces. As much as they tried to disguise it, they couldn’t hide the pain in their eyes. They each trailed behind me with a canvas bag, careful not to make contact with the swaying cords as I hastily yanked the delicate strands of Merth and stuffed them in the bags.
“These are too pretty to pull out,” I murmured.
“Pretty enough to sedate an army of vampires,” Bishop responded wryly.
There’re only three vampires I want to sedate, I thought as I worked. Funny; Sofie didn’t make that list. Maybe I was crazy after all.
Both bags—the one I’d brought tonight and the one from before—were filled in no time. There was still a sea of silver growing. Enough to fill a hundred of these bags if I needed to …
A shout from Bishop made me turn in time to see Caden crumpling into a patch of Merth. I gasped, recalling his description as I realized one of the strands had grazed his leg: A thousand razors cutting into his flesh. I ran to him and grabbed hold of his arm, pulling with every ounce of strength I had. Somehow I got him out.
Dropping to my knees, I cradled his head in my lap. “Are you okay?” I asked, pleading.
His eyelids flickered open. He gazed up at me.
“Caden?”
Silence followed—seconds that felt like hours—then I felt a hand on the back of my head. Caden pulled me down to kiss me.
And then he abruptly broke off, murmuring, “Sorry.” He was on his feet and moving away from me in a flash. “I got caught up in the moment. I didn’t mean to do it.”
“No, of course,” I said, scrambling to my feet. I glanced around for Bishop. He had vanished. I looked back to Caden, and my heart went cold. His jaw was taut, his full lips pressed tightly together, and torture was alive in his eyes. “It’s okay. I know! You just want to be friends. Go ahead! Say it!” I fought tears but they escaped anyway. I furiously rubbed them away.
Unexpected amusement flashed in his brilliant green eyes. “You want me to lie to you?”
19. The Cover, Uncovered
I frowned, confused by his answer. Why would he be …
Caden suddenly appeared in front of me, wrapping his arms around my body, pulling me toward him, his chin resting on my head. “It’s been hell, waiting for you all week,” he murmured, easing his grip enough that he could lean down and press his forehead against mine. “I hated leaving things that way. I wanted to explain …”
I couldn’t breathe, even when I consciously reminded myself that I needed to. The Caden from before was back, the Caden I didn’t ever want to be apart from again. But what did he mean? “Can you explain now?” I heard myself ask, grudgingly pulling far enough away to look up at him. “I mean, why were you … like that earlier?”
Caden laughed. Cupping my face with his hands, he sighed. “Because of you,” he said.
I stared hard at him, my brow furrowing. “I don’t get it.”
He kept staring intensely at me. “That’s why I’m with Rachel … because of you.” Caden chuckled. “You’re looking at me like I have two heads again,” he murmured, pulling me close to him, his sculpted chest against my cheek.
“That makes no sense,” I mumbled, genuinely confused.
“Amelie was right. You are oblivious.”
I scowled.
Caden exhaled noisily, pushing me away so I could look into his eyes again. They searched my face, touching on every detail, memorizing every line. “That first night you arrived here, on Ratheus, I had just come back from New Shore for the first time in hundreds of years. I was going to report Jethro for having Merth. I’m no rat, but it was either that or start a war with him, one that would surely cause death on both sides. I couldn’t risk losing any of these three, especially my sister.
“The Council hears grievances on occasion, as their way of governing society—it’s a circus show, really. Entertainment. Anyway, it was at the Council meeting that I first met Rachel. They would have laughed me out of there, possibly killed me, if she hadn’t spoken up, saying she would personally investigate the matter. I believed her. Stupid, right? So I led her back to that small cave we were in that first night.
“It wasn’t until we were sitting in our cave that she told me I was her soul mate and she had to have me.” He shuddered. “The feelings weren’t mutual, believe me. I was looking for a diplomatic way to let her down when Amelie showed up, you in her arms. It all happened so fast. Rachel saw you and, realizing what you were, demanded we take you back to the Council. She’s ancient—I don’t even know how old—and therefore impossibly strong. We could have fought her, maybe killed her, but one of us would have died in the struggle. Or she could have escaped, running back to the Council to tell them before we had the chance to catch her. She’s even faster than Bishop, and he’s the fastest of us.”
Caden paused to Rachel’s eyed narrowed push a strand of hair away from my face. “So I did the only thing I could think of to stop her. I pretended to love her and used that to my advantage.” He shuddered again. “I convinced her that we needed to hide you. It worked like a charm … except for one small problem,” he murmured, softly running the back of his hand along my cheek. “The only thing more deadly than a hungry vampire is a jealous vampire. Rachel is a narcissist. She wouldn’t even consider the idea that I’m deceiving her—that in truth I’m disgusted by her. But she’s also terribly suspicious. If she even suspected for a second that my thoughts and feelings were with someone else …”