Anathema (Causal Enchantment #1)(84)
“So this family doesn’t know?” There was no way that sweet girl was frolicking into a house of vampires by choice.
Oh, they know.
I did a double–take, my eyes growing wide with shock, earning another deep grunt from Max. And my stellar intuition strikes out again, I thought bitterly. “They must be charming,” I muttered sarcastically. A real bunch of philanthropists. But, whatever. They weren’t my problem. I had enough problems.
I found a relatively hidden spot in the garden beside a giant broad–leafed plant. Not that I can hide from vampires and sorceresses, I mused. But, still … I sat down on the low concrete retaining wall to replay those three amazing words Caden had whispered to me before I disappeared. Had I heard them right? And were they real?
Everything was happening so quickly. Just days ago I was desperate to be in the same room as Caden and now he was telling me that he loved me. And I could lose him forever if I didn’t solve this curse. That awful feeling of dread flared up again. I wrapped my arms around my body, hugging myself tightly. My elbow rubbed against something bulky in my pocket. I reached in and pulled out the digital camera. Amelie must have snuck it in!
Butterflies stirred in my stomach. I hit the power button and began flipping through the files. There were hundreds. Amelie had filled the super–sized memory card. Their beautiful faces were there, smiling and excited over the prospect of being rescued from their hell. I scrolled to an image of Caden and my heart started racing. He was as gorgeous as ever. I ran my finger over his image.
“Is that Caden?” Sofie’s voice murmured in my ear.
I let out a small squeal and the camera fumbled from my hands. Luckily Sofie, with catlike reflexes, caught it in mid–air before it could smash against the cobblestones.
“Sorry.” She took a seat next to me. “Here. Delivery from Martha.” She produced a heaping plate of waffles under an even bigger mountain of whip cream, along with a bowl of fresh raspberries.
“Isn’t there a fairytale about a witch who fattens up children in order to eat them?” I mused dryly.
“These raspberries are especially juicy. Eat up, Gretel … I mean, Evangeline,” she said, followed by an exaggerated cackle. Despite my foul mood, I smirked.
While I ate my waffles—a bizarre meal to have in the late evening—Sofie flipped through the pictures, snorting and laughing frequently. A large part of me wanted to wrench the camera away to protect my friends’ identities, but I restrained myself. I was starving.
“They seem like a fun group.” I nodded. “Who’s this?” Sofie held the camera out to show me someone tethered and tucked into a corner. The image was dark but I could see the glow of hatred in the yellow eyes as if they were still watching me.
I gasped and started choking on a piece of waffle. When I had cleared my throat, I managed to croak, “Rachel.” Amelie must have snuck back and taken a picture at some point. “Erase it. Please.” I shuddered.
Sofie studied it for a moment longer. “Deleting.” She pressed a few buttons and the horrible image was gone.
I let go of the breath I had been holding but that dreadful feeling in the pit of my stomach was still there. I was still afraid. We should have burned her.
There was a moment of awkward silence. “I’m sure she deserved it,” Sofie finally said.
“She did! We couldn’t have her coming here. She’s a murderer.” And she was hampering my time with Caden, I added silently.
“No, you’re right. We don’t want an ancient blood–crazy vampire here,” she said, adding under her breath, “We already have two of them under this roof.”
A few more minutes of silence passed and then I asked what I had been dreading. “They can do it, can’t they? Not live off humans?”
Sofie’s hands dropped to her lap. It was a moment before she spoke. “Some of our kind fight the urge right from the beginning, isolating themselves from humans and feeding only off four–legged animals. They convince themselves that this makes them good and moral, not monsters. But all it does is make them that much more uncontrollable once they’ve tasted human blood. Somewhere along the way, every vampire will lose the battle. It’s inevitable. And when they do … Evangeline, you’ve only ever seen highly controlled vampires. Viggo … Mortimer … me. We’re experienced. But the new ones … they’re … something else. It’s a horrifying sight that will etch itself in your memory forever,” she warned quietly, her jaw tensing. “It may seem contradictory but the best way to control your urge for human blood is to, at first, succumb to it. Then, if the resolve is strong enough, you’ll learn to manage the craving. The downside is that the euphoria from feeding off fresh human blood has a funny way of diminishing that resolve. Like I said, it’s a vicious circle. That’s why there are few vampires like me out there. Human blood is addictive.”
My eyes widened with concern. Did they realize all this? “Well, what about my vampires?” I asked possessively.
Sofie shook her head slowly. “I don’t know, Evangeline. It’s hard to say. I think their age and previous experience will help, but,” she hesitated, “it would be safer if they submit to it at first. If their resolve is strong enough, maybe they’ll gain control quickly.”
“And if it’s not strong enough?” I asked, afraid of the answer.