Anathema (Causal Enchantment #1)(95)

“I prefer warlock or sorcerer. I’m not in the least bit feminine,” Leo answered casually.

“How …” I croaked, my voice barely audible.

“Oh, there’ll be plenty of time to get into the ‘hows’ while we’re exiled here; tonight is not the time for that. I may have been pretending to be the perfect gentleman’s man but I wasn’t faking being old. These bones of mine need a good rest after the exertion of transporting us here. Especially those four horses.” He nodded in Max’s direction.

I looked at Max with narrowed eyes. “Did you know?” Max found that question funny for some reason, making that odd half grunt, half snort that was supposed to be laughter. He knew! I scowled at him. “Do Viggo and Mortimer know?”

“No, no, no … They didn’t.” Leo shook his head. “They do now, though. Our Sofie—she’s a cunning one. She surreptitiously planted me in their service about fifteen years ago.”

“You pretended to be a British butler for fifteen years?” I said incredulously.

Leo took a seat by the fireplace and pulled out a pipe. “Viggo is particular about his butlers. They have to be ‘authentic.’ It was the only way.”

“I thought your kind despised vampires,” I murmured, recalling Sofie referring to witches and vampires as the Montagues and the Capulets.

“That’s true. But my allegiance will always be with Sofie.” He smiled mysteriously, reminiscing fondly about something.

“How” was about to leave my mouth again but he waved it off before I could utter a sound. “Another time, please,” he said, puffing on his pipe, now lit.

I nodded, biting my bottom lip in frustration. “Can I at least ask where we are?”

He bellowed laughter. “You can ask a thousand times and I won’t tell you.”

My eyes narrowed. I glanced at Max.

“And he won’t tell you either,” Leo warned, eyeing my guard dog. “So don’t pester him to death.”

“I could order him. I’m his master,” I responded haughtily.

“And he’ll ignore you, on grounds that he is protecting you best by leaving you in the dark,” Leo answered, equally smug.

It’s true, I heard Max say. I’ve learned the loopholes.

I sighed. What was the point of being a master if my subordinate was keeping secrets and obeying only when convenient? Another set of pressing questions popped into my head. “Do you know what happened back there? Is Sofie alive? Are my friends alive?”

“Sofie is still alive. We are linked through magic. I would have felt it, otherwise. As for the others, all I can say is that Sofie successfully wired the building with Merth. No vampire is getting in or out of there.”

“So they’re all going to live in there?” I asked, screwing my face up as I pictured over a hundred vampires—most of them likely homicidal, blood–crazed maniacs right now—touring around the place.

“Yup! One big, bloodsucking kibbutz. That is, if they don’t all kill each other.” He quickly added as my eyes widened in fear, “Don’t worry, I’m sure they’ll all be full of love and joy, now that they have human blood again.” I noted the sarcasm in his voice. “Besides, they have enough blood in there to supply the whole lot of them for a few months, and Sofie can get more. They should be able to manage.”

I nodded. “So how long am I a prisoner here?” My eyes roamed the dimly lit, rustic room. Though much simpler in taste than Viggo and Mortimer’s place, my second prison appeared equally comfortable.

Leo sighed. “I’m not sure how many years it will be yet. It all depends on Sofie.”

“Years?” I shrieked.

“Calm down,” he said, patting the air. “Let me explain. You see, we’re in quite the pickle now. If Sofie and I hadn’t brought you here, I can guarantee that you would already be dead. If not by the hands of Mortimer and Viggo—they’re proficient in getting what they want—then by the fangs of a hundred or so vampires you inadvertently brought back with you. They’re not stable right now. Not even your friends. You saw that, firsthand.” He paused to puff on his pipe again.

I shuddered as the vision of Caden’s veiny red eyes flashed through my mind.

“It would be like covering yourself in pink frosting and sitting down with a group of three–year–olds,” he added.

“I still don’t understand what happened,” I muttered. “There were only supposed to be nineteen and that was because I had no other choice! The pendant told me they had to be touching the statue and then …” My voice drifted off as understanding dawned. I gasped. “They’ve all touched the statue at some point! They didn’t have to be touching it right at that moment, though. I misunderstood!”

“Not surprising. Those spells are tricky buggers to figure out,” Leo muttered around the pipe in his mouth. “You were likely too excited to distinguish the details of the pendant’s hints. Your biggest worry right now is Mortimer and Viggo. They’ll stop at nothing to free Veronique. They don’t have all the details but they do know they need that pendant. By now they’ll likely have figured out the rest. But they’re not your only worry. This Rachel character … Believe me, she won’t forget about you. Killing you is about as important to her as human blood. Revenge—it’s an ugly thing for these creatures. From what Sofie has told me, you did a number on her.” Leo chuckled.