Asylum (Causal Enchantment #2)(53)

No. Don’t be—

“No! Seriously!” I yelled at him, not caring that me screaming at this giant, menacing beast might concern an onlooker. “What about Valentina? Maybe she’s . . . Ursula!”

“Who’s Ursula?” Julian asked.

“Oh, no one.” I shook my head, waving my hand dismissively. “I’m just being stupid. I—”

Max’s murmur cut me off. I don’t believe it . . .

I sighed impatiently. “What don’t you believe now, Max?”

There was a long pause. How could we have missed it!

Max was rattled—such an uncommon thing that it sent shockwaves of panic through to my core. “Missed what, Max?” I asked evenly.

I have to warn him, Max muttered. Stay here. Stay away from the cabin until you hear from me again! Max raced past us and disappeared, galloping through the deep snow toward the chalet.

“What? Warn who?” I said aloud, replaying my last words to Max. I had made that insane suggestion about—I gasped, and threw my hands up toward Julian. “Help me!”

Julian had me on my feet in seconds. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know,” I answered abruptly, setting off toward the cabin. It couldn’t be true . . . but if it was, then Leo was in danger.

“Yes, you do. You know something!” Julian pushed.

“No time to explain!” I called back, now several feet ahead of him. “We have to get back.” The truth was, I couldn’t explain this to Julian until I knew if it was true. How could I tell him his sister was—no, not until I knew it was true. How had she found us?

Thankfully Julian stopped asking and caught up to me. Walking in snowshoes was easy; running was impossible. I settled on speed-walking. By the time we got back to the chalet five minutes later—the longest five minutes of my life—I was panting.

The side door into the great room hung limply off its hinges, the victim of a giant werebeast’s impatience. “I guess our werewolf will be fixing that?” Julian commented as we shook off our snowshoes. Julian carefully pushed open the broken door and held it for me to pass through.

We entered a war zone. Everywhere my eyes landed, they touched destruction. The antler chandelier once suspended over the dining table now sat in a broken pile on the floor beside my feet. Every piece of furniture was upturned, legs broken, torn material oozing stuffing. The fireplace looked as if someone had blown chunks of stone from it with a cannon. And the windows—every one on the far side of the room was smashed, leaving a deadly minefield of shattered glass to navigate through. Frigid air poured in.

All of that became irrelevant as soon as I saw Leo lying on the floor, a wide gash on his forehead making a bloody mess of his face. Valentina towered over him, her stance defensive. The dogs stood unmoving, watching her from various points in the room. Get out of here, now! Max screamed inside my head.

“No!” I cried, panic pinching my voice.

Julian stepped inside. “What the . . . ” He fell silent as he took in the destruction.

“Julian,” Leo called weakly, struggling to rise. “Get her out of here. Run!”

Valentina’s foot landed on Leo’s chest, shoving him back to the floor. A wicked smile touched her lips as she gazed down at the old man.

“Val! What the hell is going on? What are you doing?” Julian cried. When she didn’t acknowledge her brother, he screamed, “Valentina!”

Her head whipped around to regard him curiously. “Oh, right.” She smiled. “I guess I go by that name too.” She turned and took two steps toward us, her icy gaze landing on me. “Though if you want my attention, you’re better off using my real name. Ursula.”

I felt my back hit Julian’s chest as I stumbled backward.

“She’s gone mad,” he whispered.

“Not exactly,” I whispered back, trembling. “That’s not Valentina anymore.”

Ursula responded with a throaty laugh.

Clever witch, Max said. She was ready for us. He still hadn’t moved from his position. None of the dogs had. Surprising. I figured they would have quartered her by now.

“It was exhausting, using my powers and cutting my arm every day for the spell to mask my identity from those canines.” She looked down to Leo and gave his ribs another forceful nudge. “And this relic.”

Max had sensed it all along. He had sensed something “off” about her, but he couldn’t figure out what it was. And I had chastised him for being unkind.

“And thank God this young little thing decided to come into that garden when she did!” Ursula gestured to her body. “I may have had to do housework here if I ended up in one of those maids’ bodies.”

I gasped at that revelation, remembering when Valentina had stumbled, that first day in the atrium. That hadn’t been an innocent stumble; that was Ursula infesting her body! Ursula had been with us from the very beginning.

“Who’s Ursula?” Julian whispered, his tone somber; he realized we were in real danger.

“A bad person,” I whispered back, none too quietly.

Another throaty laugh. “I’m not so bad, once you get to know me. Sofie has filled your head with lies. That’s what she does.”

Run, Evangeline, Max warned again.