Asylum (Causal Enchantment #2)(66)

I stood and walked over to the bar fridge. Reaching in, I grabbed several bags of blood that I knew would be there—Viggo had stashed blood everywhere. “We find the tribe.” I began tossing bags out to the group. The one I threw in Bishop’s direction hit his knee and dropped to the floor; he made no move to grab it. “Hope they don’t kill us, and get the hell out of there with Evangeline.” I ended at Caden, who held his hands out in anticipation. “Not you.” He frowned, as did Amelie, her curls bobbing as she turned from Caden to me. “I need to know I can trust you.”

“Haven’t the last twelve hours proven anything?” Caden said.

“Yes, but I’m worried your emotions will get the better of you when you see Evangeline for the first time.” By emotions, I meant lust. Lust was as much a driver as fresh blood and Caden, being in his early twenties, was definitely no shy schoolboy. “I need to test you.”

Caden arched an eyebrow, a worried question in his eyes.

I walked over to the cockpit door and knocked. Jasmine’s head popped out almost immediately. “Would you mind coming out for a moment? Just for a sec.” I reached out to take her hand.

She nodded and stepped into the cabin, scanning the others. I pushed the door closed behind her. “What lovely brown eyes you have,” I cooed, steering her attention back to me with my fingertip on her chin. She smiled shyly, no clue of my real intentions—that I was zoning in on her irises, pulling her eyes in to mine until our focus was locked. In seconds, she was staring vacantly back at me, compelled. “You are going to walk over to Caden and offer him your blood,” I said.

“What?” Caden barked out behind me. “Are you nuts?”

I ignored him. “Ready?”

She nodded dumbly.

Holding her hand, I turned to look at Caden. “I need to know that I can trust you.”

His jade eyes shifted between Jasmine and me, full of doubt. “How is this going to prove anything, Sofie?”

In answer, I plucked a few hundred helix links. With a quick disguising chant—the same kind that Ursula used to turn herself into a sweet old bird-feeding lady for Evangeline—I let my magic loose. It swirled around Jasmine’s body like a tornado, visible only to Mage and I. We all watched as Jasmine’s hair lightened and grew six inches longer, as her eyes lightened to milk-chocolate brown, as her skin paled.

As she turned into Evangeline.

I heard the sharp intakes of breath from the others. It was spine-chilling to see this mirage, even for me, and I was the one who had created it. “Now, if you would please—” I gestured toward Caden.

With slow, catatonic steps, Jasmine walked over and sat down in the free chair beside him, opposite Amelie. Gathering her hair and pulling it back, she leaned away from Caden and arched her back to expose her long, slender neck. “Please. Go ahead,” she offered, her voice identical to Evangeline’s.

I swallowed the anxiety in my throat and watched Caden blink several times, awed by the illusion. Please, control yourself. If he didn’t defy the urge that was now electrifying his entire body, there was no way I was bringing him with me to the tribe.

Caden’s jaw tightened. “No,” he growled through clenched teeth.

I allowed myself a small smile. He had passed the first step. But this wasn’t the real test. Sailing over to the illusion’s side with just a thought, I yanked a sharp piece of metal from the underside of her chair. Grabbing her wrist, I slashed the metal across it, opening up a wide gash.

All four vampires hissed. That’s fine. This is as hard as it will get for Caden around Evangeline. If he began feeding on her, he wouldn’t stop until she was dead; I could almost guarantee that. So he needed to fight it.

Jasmine held her wrist up to Caden’s mouth. “Go on,” she offered sweetly.

Caden gritted his teeth tighter. Sickness stirred in my stomach. I knew this was torture. If this were a human version of Nathan sitting in front of me, offering me his wrist, I didn’t know that I could refuse. And that’s why I needed to be sure.

Icy blue-green eyes turned to glare at me. He was fighting the transformation, his whites now tinged with red, his pupils dilated, tiny veins beginning to grow and throb. “This is ridiculous. Get her away before I kill her,” he whispered, his voice agonized now.

My answer came fast and hard. “If you want to see Evangeline again—ever—then you will control yourself. I will sacrifice a thousand Jasmines before I let anything happen to my girl.”

The warning seemed to spark a new level of control in Caden. When he turned back to look at the illusion, it wasn’t with hunger in his eyes. He searched her features, all but ignoring the bleeding wrist under his nose. After a moment, he lifted his hand to run his finger along her chin, down her neck. “She looks so much like her,” he murmured.

Please, control yourself. Please. A metal creak echoed through the cabin. Glancing down, I realized that my fingernails had punctured the ivory leather upholstery and warped the metal frame of the seat. Taking a deep, calming breath, I released my grip and turned back to Caden.

We remained like that for a long time—Caden and Amelie staring at a bleeding replica of Evangeline, Mage watching with interest. Bishop had turned to stare out the window again, back in his own private hell.

Finally, when the pool of blood on the floor by her seat began to worry me, I reached out to her. “Thank you, Jasmine,” I called, lifting the illusion and the compulsion. The fog in Jasmine’s eyes lifted, and they skittered around the cabin in confusion. “You poor thing! That’s a nasty cut on your wrist.” I took her by the hand and helped her up. “You should get that looked at when we land.”