Anomaly (Causal Enchantment #4)(68)

Sofie sucked in a breath. I know she was desperate to control the situation, to charge out ahead of me. I assured her with a smile. “It’s okay. He’s not going anywhere.”

Caden and I had barely stepped out when the rush of bodies flew past, everyone instantly in defensive mode against the vampire who’d made their lives hell for far too long.

I held Caden’s hand tight, our fingers knit together, as we strolled toward the semicircle of people surrounding the alcove. I kept my steps leisurely, an excited nervousness vibrating through me.

With a deep breath, I forced my way in between Max and Julian, both radiating hatred for the villain who stood frozen, guns still in his hands. His eyes flickered across faces that wore varying degrees of loathing.

“Like a fly caught in a web,” Sofie murmured, matching Mage’s smile. “What’s wrong, has someone caught your tongue?”

As much as I never wanted to hear his voice again, I released his jaw. Words and arrogance poured out of his mouth. “You must know that the witches are watching for your magic. You’ve just led them here with your spell. I’m guessing that combined, they are much more powerful than you.” His focus was on Sofie. Of course. He thought she’d spelled him.

How long did we want to maintain the ruse? Would he be less or more frightened knowing who really controlled him now?

Sofie’s smile only widened, heightening the fury he struggled to conceal but that I could easily sense.

His lips stretched into a vindictive grin as I caught an image of Veronique flashing in his mind. Still bound by merth and lying on a concrete floor, her surroundings dark but quiet, the air tinged with death. “You’ll never find your sister without me. I can promise you that.”

“A cemetery,” I said out loud, tipping my head as he revealed his secrets to me. “An old cemetery in Montreal, Canada.” Panic flittered across his face as I picked through his subconscious. “A crypt.” Viggo’s eyes panned wide as he clued in.

“Evangeline?” I turned to find Sofie’s gaze on me, asking me the unspoken question that I understood perfectly.

I smiled, sure that I could do better than find her.

I was only as limited as my imagination and my needs or wants.

Viggo’s gasp cut through the silence of the lobby as Veronique’s small frame suddenly appeared on the ground by my feet, curled in a ball, her wrists bound behind her back. “That’s not real. She’s an illusion,” he quickly dismissed, but the composed façade was suffering its first irreparable cracks. When Sofie dove forward to tear the merth off with a wince, freeing her sister from her bindings, the façade dissolved entirely. Viggo no longer had any leverage, any reason to be left alive.

Veronique sprang to her feet, her round green eyes taking in all of our faces, the lobby, the vaulted ceiling, the view outside. When they settled on Viggo pinned against the wall, rage ignited in them. With a shriek, she flew at him, nails out, raking across his cheek over and over again. We stood like statues as Sofie’s younger sister mutilated the face of the man she’d once considered spending eternity with.

When Mage finally pulled Veronique away, four deep gouges across his cheek still remained, beginning just below his left eye and running down to his jawline. A hint of blood made its appearance but it wouldn’t have a chance to flow before the wounds healed.

I didn’t want him to heal, I decided, letting my bitterness fester with my creativity.

“Jeez,” Bishop cringed as rivulets of blood rolled down and dropped from Viggo’s flesh. “I bet you forgot what that feels like.”

Viggo said nothing, his baffled attention shifting among Sofie, Veronique, and me. Speechless for the first time ever, likely.

With her moment of wild aggression expelled, Veronique refocused her energy. “Where is Mortimer?” Her French lilt cracked with desperation.

That was a good question.

Her hands flew to her mouth. “Is he okay? Is he—”

Like a ghost coming to life, the tall, dark-haired figure suddenly appeared in front of her, his chocolate-brown eyes blinking several times to take in his new surroundings.

I smiled.

It had been so easy. It took barely a thought.

There really was nothing I couldn’t do.

Chapter Twenty-Nine – Sofie

I knew my mouth hung open but I didn’t attempt to pull it shut.

Mortimer took only seconds to adapt to his new surroundings before pulling Veronique into his chest, his broad frame swallowing her tiny body.

Evangeline stood watching everything unfold with a contented smile. After having her fate controlled by puppet masters for far too long, she had now taken the reins. All of our lives seemed to rest in her hands.

Irony did not adequately describe this turn of events.

“Evangeline?” Golden eyes flashed to me. “Can we deal with him and get out of here?”

Only at my words did Mortimer look up to see the still form pinned against the wall, the open gashes in his face dripping crimson. I imagined they’d never stop unless Evangeline willed it.

“You!” Mortimer roared, lunging for his archenemy. Arguably, Mortimer had suffered the most at Viggo’s hand, having tolerated him for a hundred and twenty years while waiting for Veronique. Perhaps it was only fair that Mortimer would be the one to finally kill him.

“No!” Evangeline called out and Mortimer instantly halted. By the shock on his face, it was not by his choice. “I want him to suffer. Like he has made all of us suffer.”