Anathema (Causal Enchantment #1)(94)

I suspected this was what needed to be done to bring the vampires back with you all along. The similarities were too noticeable to ignore. However, I didn’t mention it to you until today because I was trying to buy myself time. Time to find a way around the awful predicament I was in. You see, the enchantment “decided” that it would bind your heart to the pendant as well, thus entwining your life with my sister’s. Once that necklace is placed within the hands of her tomb, Veronique’s life force will shift back to her, pulling yours along with it and killing you.

I will never allow that to happen, I promise you that. However, Mortimer and Viggo make keeping that promise fairly tricky. They don’t trust me. I expect that the moment you step foot on Earth with your friends, Mortimer and Viggo will get hold of you to ensure I complete the spell, by any means necessary. They will not wait.

If you are … where you are … that means the clock has run out. It means you could not wait any longer. You have held up your end of the bargain in bringing us the solution to our curse, and yet I haven’t found a way to save you from yours.

So I have sent you far away, where Mortimer and Viggo will never find you. As far as they know, you may be on Earth or you may be on another world. The house you will be residing in, indefinitely, is the result of a dream Nathan and I shared. I had it built—unbeknownst to Viggo and Mortimer—as a safe haven for you.

I promised you that I would keep you safe. Sending you away was the only way I could do that effectively. You will be safe there until your friends learn to control their lust for human blood and I find a loophole to untangle your heart from Veronique’s. I know, I know, I said there were no loopholes. But I’m determined to prove the Laws of Magic wrong. As much as I love and miss my sister dearly, I will not allow your death to be the cost of regaining her. She will remain frozen in time until I resolve this.

I doubt Viggo and Mortimer saw this coming. They will be shocked, to say the least, when you disappear, along with the dogs and their entire wait staff. I even threw in Julian and Valentina based on your sympathies. If they get to be a nuisance, just tell Leo and he’ll dispose of them.

Mortimer and Viggo will be angry enough to kill me. They may do it. You may be reading the farewell words of a recently deceased vampire. One whose love for you could easily rival that of any mother for her own child. However, with me gone, they have no hope of ever seeing Veronique again. I hope they’re smarter than that. We will see.

My hands were shaking as they fell into my lap, still holding the letter. Sofie could be … dead? The very idea sparked a great sense of loss in me, one I had not expected. I picked up the letter again.

I’m sorry that you have moved from one prison to another one. Don’t try to run. You will not get far and you will make Leo’s life stressful. I have entrusted you to his care, something I should have done many years ago.

I have had to hide my feelings for you until now, in fear of what Viggo may do if he realized how vested I was in your survival. I no longer have to hide.

I love you. Please believe that I live now only for your happiness. I hope we’ll see each other again soon. I will take care of your friends as best I can.

S

P.S. If it’s any consolation, there’s an account containing an obscene amount of money with your name on it. When it’s safe, it’s all yours to do with as you wish.

Tears flowed freely from my eyes now, giant droplets that splattered on the pages, smearing the ink. I frantically wiped them away, not wanting to lose her words in case they were her last. She must have written this the day I left for the last time.

Before I returned with an entire army of vampires.

Sofie truly cared for me. Loved me, even. I had a maternal vampire and I had never known. All because she had to hide the truth from Viggo and Mortimer.

And the curse wasn’t over yet. It would never be over until I was dead.

I must have read that letter over fifty times. When I finally looked up, dusk was settling over the snowy landscape. I was still alone, aside from the dogs. No one had once ventured into the great room. Likely cowering, still in shock, I thought.

I folded the letter and stuffed it into my back pocket until I could lock it away for safe–keeping in my room. Once I knew where my room was.

As if on cue, Leo strolled in with a plate. “You must be hungry,” he said in that bizarre new accent. He motioned me toward a solid wood dining table, dimly lit by a chandelier made of deer antlers. I stood and followed him over in a daze, mechanically sitting down in the chair he offered. “You okay?”

I hesitated, not knowing how to answer. “I’m still in shock, I think. There’s been a few big … surprises of late,” I said, eyeing him as I poked the mysterious–looking stew with my fork. I had no appetite.

“Okay, go ahead,” he prompted, smirking.

“Why British?” I finally asked.

He chuckled, thoroughly amused.

A heavy wooden side door burst open then, and one of the yetis stepped through, bringing an icy gust of wind and a dusting of snow in with him. I shivered responsively.

“Cold?” Leo asked. He flicked his hand toward the rustic stone fireplace across from us, and flames instantly erupted among the logs.

I frowned. It wasn’t a gas fireplace. There were no remote controls that could do that.

Leo winked at me.

Realization hit me. I gasped. “You were the voice I heard chanting with Sofie,” I whispered, my eyes bulging. “You’re a witch?”