Asylum (Causal Enchantment #2)(16)

“Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked again.

“Yup! Hey, do you know why we’re here?” Valentina shifted in her seat. “I’m assuming that witch, Sofie, is involved, but I have no idea why.” I heard bitterness as Sofie’s name touched her lips, but it was so brief that I barely noticed it.

I grimaced. “Because of me.”

Valentina’s thin, perfectly-shaped eyebrow arched.

“I’m so sorry,” I blurted under a wave of guilt. “It’s my fault you’re here and that your parents are dead. I was supposed to bring a vampire back for Viggo and Mortimer so they could—”

Hey! Max’s sharp warning cut my words short. Don’t tell her a thing!

I turned to regard the paranoid werebeast. “Seriously, Max, who’s she going to tell out here?”

She’s on a need-to-know basis and she doesn’t need to know.

When I turned back, Valentina’s eyes looked as if they were about to pop out of their sockets. I realized what I must look like to her. “I’m not crazy! I really can talk to him,” I said.

“How? I mean, I knew he wasn’t normal but . . . ” she whispered, looking at the dog with a mixture of intrigue and concern.

Look who’s talking, Max grumbled sarcastically.

“Telepathically. Well, only one way. I can hear him in my head but he can’t hear me. I haven’t figured it out yet. Anyway, no one can explain it. It just happened.”

“But, you’re . . . human, right?” She continued in a whisper, her brown eyes still wide.

“Yes.” I added with a chuckle, “At least I think so.”

“Wow. That’s the coolest thing!” she exclaimed. “Does he have any other special powers? Is he magical?”

“I don’t know if magical is the right word for him. But he does regenerate like a human vampire and he doesn’t age.”

Okay. Enough about me, Max interjected.

“What’s he saying now?” she asked eagerly. “What has he said about me?”

Max’s deep, sarcastic chuckle boomed in my head.

“Umm . . . ” I squirmed, searching for a lie. “He thinks you’re really nice.”

And brainless. Don’t forget brainless, Max added.

I ignored him. He wasn’t normally this rude. He must be really hungry.

“Aw. That’s so sweet.” She leapt off the couch and skipped over to pat Max’s head, earning a disapproving grunt. “What’s he’s saying now?”

“Nothing. He’s purring like a kitten,” I answered, cutting off the voice in my head and grinning at the big beast. I stood, afraid I’d have to use my body as a shield for Valentina any second. But Max clambered to his feet and walked to the opposite corner of the giant room to gaze out the window.

“So,” Valentina continued, “you were saying this is your fault?”

“Oh, yeah.” I hesitated at another sharp warning from Max. “I made a mistake and we were in danger. Sofie saved us.”

“But why’d she send us here?”

“Because I have something Viggo and Mortimer want and I can’t give it to them yet.”

“What is it?” Her brown eyes widened with excitement.

“I . . . ” I hesitated, glancing over at Max, who watched us intently. Do not tell her. The less people who know, the better. Please. I couldn’t miss the pleading in Max’s voice now. I decided to listen to him. “I . . . um . . . can’t say. Sorry.”

She sighed. “That’s okay.” But she sounded disappointed. As if deciding to probe from a different angle, she asked, “What do they need with the thing you have?”

“My, you ask a lot of questions,” Leo interrupted as he strode back in to the great room. “More than Evangeline, and I didn’t think that was possible.”

My thoughts exactly, Max called from his corner.

Valentina gave Leo a tight-lipped smile.

“Why don’t you go check on your brother? At least one of you is suffering appropriately,” he suggested.

What is wrong with these two? I shot Leo a disapproving frown. Valentina had just found out her parents were dead. They could show a little more compassion.

“I’m sure he’s fine. I’m going to take a nap.” With that, Valentina took off, leaving me gaping at her slender back as she climbed the stairs.

“People sure deal with shock in different ways, don’t they,” I murmured absently.

“I’m beginning to think it would have been wiser to leave them with their parents in New York,” Leo muttered, settling in one of the armchairs across from me.

At the mention of New York, something suddenly clicked. News of their parents’ death and the guilt I felt for my part in it had distracted me—until now. “Wait a minute.” My exclamation drew Leo’s gray hawk eyes to me. “How did you know his parents were dead?”

Leo’s lips twisted into a smile. “I was wondering how long your curious mind would take to pick up on that.” He chuckled. “Remember the communication spells I told you about?”

I nodded, dropping back into my chair.

“Well . . . ?” Leo lifted an eyebrow and waited.

When I finally put two and two together, I gasped. “You’ve talked to Sofie!” I lunged forward and grabbed his withered hands. “What’s happening out there? Is Caden alive? Is he mad at me?”