Asylum (Causal Enchantment #2)(43)

“I think I have proven that I can control myself.” Mage folded her arms over her chest, her expression turning icy, eyes as dark as night holding mine. “Get me past these walls and I’ll help you. You have my word.”

“And what value is your word, exactly?”

Rage froze her face. “It is binding and unbreakable.”

I believed her. Instantly. And that terrified me. In the month that I had known her, she had exuded nothing but integrity. And I wasn’t easily fooled. Not like my naïve, sweet Evangeline, who would approach a mewing lion caught in a trap. But still, to let Mage out . . .

“You can’t take on five mutants, Sofie,” Mage added softly. “You will fail. And you will die.”

And then none of you would see the outside of these walls and Veronique will sit in her tomb forever. She was right. Even with my magic, I’d be an idiot to think I could take on five desperate mutants, born from vampires each at least seven hundred years old. I had no choice. I had to take her with me.

I opened my mouth, about to concede, when the door suddenly flew open. I turned. Great. Stalker Barbie, I thought as Rachel stormed in.

“Quite the party in here!” Rachel exclaimed, tossing lush, jet-black hair over her shoulder. Her citrine eyes drifted over Amelie and Caden, oozing raw hatred as they touched her former lover. “Viggo will be happy to know you’re conspiring together. Breaking the truce—”

Fabulous. Another volcanic mess to clean up.

Luckily, the gaping window distracted her from spinning on her heels and running to tattle. She hesitantly stepped toward it, careful not to cross into the Merth perimeter. “I knew that bastard would get out eventually,” she muttered.

Was I the only one surprised by this?

“Rachel,” Mage began, stepping slowly toward the volatile vampiress, her head cocked innocently. “You should take a seat over there. Relax for a bit. Viggo has you working too hard.” Mage pointed to the red and burgundy-striped chair in the far corner. The one within the Merth boundary.

I studied Rachel’s pinched face, expecting to see her throw her head back, waiting for the cackle to fill the room. Instead, Rachel’s eyes drifted over toward the chair as if contemplating the idea. I watched her take a dozen steps forward—directly into the Merth. She dropped to the carpeted floor to lie in a heap, like a wet towel.

Dead silence followed as five vampires gaped at Rachel’s still body, shocked. Five vampires gaped. Not six, I noticed as I looked over to see Mage eyeing me guardedly. She wasn’t shocked that Rachel had taken her suggestion. She had expected it.

A strangled gasp escaped me, the answer suddenly so obvious. There was only one reason why Rachel would do something so stupid. She had been compelled. Compelling a vampire! That’s unheard of! “My, someone’s been keeping secrets after all, haven’t they?” I hissed, shifting my stance, suddenly on the defensive.

Mage’s mouth twisted. “I didn’t tell you because you wouldn’t trust me.”

“No shit,” I spat.

“Didn’t tell her what?” someone asked from the corner, either Bishop or Caden; I couldn’t tell. It didn’t matter. My attention was glued to the treacherous vampire who had just turned more deadly in the blink of an eye.

Mage answered with an exasperated groan. “We don’t have time for this. Viggo and Mortimer could be following any second—”

“Well then, you can just compel them into the Merth as well, can’t you!” Gasps of comprehension came from the others. My eyes remained locked on Mage’s. “So they don’t know what you’re capable of.” Interesting.

Mage pressed her lips together. “We’re wasting time.”

I crossed my arms over my chest and planted my feet firmly to the floor. I wouldn’t get another chance to force the truth out of Mage. It was now or never.

She exhaled in annoyance. “There are things I can do that no other vampire can. It’s because I am the first one. The vampire created by the Fates.”

“Things like what, exactly?” I pressed, silently muzzling my shock over her admission.

“Well, I can see and sense magic. You already know that, though.” There was that crooked little smile again. “I can also compel vampires.” Her black eyes roamed over to the others as they stifled exclamations. “I don’t do it often, though. I prefer not to.”

“No, you can’t,” Bishop said confidently, as if calling her bluff.

As a response, Mage waved her hand toward Rachel. It quashed further rebuttal.

“How could we not know this?” Fiona asked. Close beside Bishop, she clung tightly to his biceps.

Mage smiled again. “That’s part of the magic. You can’t feel it. It’s not like a human coming out of a daze. You feel perfectly normal. You feel as if the idea is yours. It’s a different type of compulsion. It’s more like I’m . . . originating . . . an idea in your head. One that becomes yours that you can’t possibly ignore. You have no idea that it’s actually mine.”

All five of us shuddered in unison.

“So all this time . . . ” I wracked my memory of the last month, searching for anything I had done out of character, choices I had made that may have been planted by Mage.

Mage was already vigorously shaking her head. “No. I stayed out of your head.”