I did like it, actually, but I decided now wasn’t the time to divulge that.
“Now, imagine walking down the street on the first warm day of spring, only to catch the aroma of a big, fat, juicy steak grilling on a barbeque.”
“Oh,” I moaned, recalling the countless times I had been tortured with that exact mouth–watering situation.
“Now multiply that by about a million,” Caden added, not a hint of exaggeration in his voice.
“How are you going to fight that?” I whispered.
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you, Evangeline,” he said softly.
“Rachel!” Bishop hissed, flying off the bench.
I blinked, startled by the sudden change of topic.
“How?” Fiona asked, shock in her eyes.
Caden’s hand moved from my back a second before I caught sight of raven black hair flying into the cave.
Rachel was back.
20. Immobilized
“You’ve found something already?” Amelie said, feigning enthusiasm. She’d make a great actress.
Rachel ignored Amelie, her shrewd eyes surveying the room, taking in everything. “You look like you’re getting settled in,” she said slowly, her steely yellow gaze falling on me and, more importantly, my close proximity to Caden.
I swallowed the lump forming in my throat. That gaze made me want to shrivel up and die.
Rachel’s eyes darted to the sleeping bag. “Planning on napping while we run around, looking for this portal?”
“Oh, that … Sofie likes to prepare for every possibility. She’s a worry wart.” I rolled my eyes dramatically, trying my hand at acting as well. I was sure any average five–year–old could have outperformed me, but I had to keep her distracted. I didn’t want her noticing the two giant bags of Merth. “Did you find anything?”
She ignored the question again, instead turning a sickly sweet smile toward Bishop. “What’s wrong? Big Brown didn’t tell you I was on my way?”
“No, he’s busy searching the forest. Like Eve told us to,” Bishop responded slowly.
Her lips twisted in an unflattering, pensive expression. “Partway there, I asked myself what would happen if you found this portal in the woods. Would you wait for me?” She stalked slowly toward me. No one moved. Worried glances flitted between them.
She stopped in front of me, taking a relaxed stance. I forced my eyes up to meet hers, my terror likely shining like bright neon lights within them.
Suddenly she was forcing herself onto Caden’s lap, straddling him as if ready to perform a private show while managing to shove me off the bench at the same time. Luckily Amelie caught me before I hit the ground and made room beside her for me, wrapping her arm protectively around my shoulder. My eyes dropped to where the camera had been lying. It had vanished.
“Of course Caden would never do such a horrible thing as leave me. But the rest of you,” she threw a hateful look at Amelie and Fiona, then a withering one in my direction, “I don’t trust.”
“Of course we’d wait for you,” Caden insisted. I sensed the nervousness in his voice. He was having a hard time hiding his shock at her return.
Rachel snuggled against him, her voice turning sultry. “I couldn’t risk it.”
My stomach constricted into a painful knot at the sight.
“But what about searching New Shore? It’s important that we find this artifact, and soon,” Caden said calmly.
“It’s taken care of. I met up with two Council members on my way and sent them back to search.”
“What did you tell them, Rachel?” Caden asked, his voice slow and even, but I saw the flash of alarm in his eyes.
“Oh, nothing important. They’re not smart enough to put two and two together. Like they’d ever figure this out.”
Caden exhaled, visibly trying to control his anger.
“They were on their way here!” she added quickly, a rare hint of desperation in her voice. “You should be happy I’ve deterred them.”
Caden reached up to brush her hair from her face. “Of course, yes. Good thinking.”
Don’t touch her with those hands! I screamed in my head.
A relieved smile stretched across her face. “I’ll head back to New Shore in a week or so to double–check. They’re getting eight others to help. You can come with me then, of course. Your scouts will have covered these mountains.”
“You shouldn’t have done that, Rachel,” Amelie growled.
Rachel waved her hand dismissively in Amelie’s direction. “We don’t care what you think. Do we, Hon?” she purred into Caden’s ear, her arms wrapping tightly around him.
He smiled lovingly at her.
I clenched my teeth as I felt another spasm in my stomach. Caden was right. This is worse. Way worse.
Amelie’s arm squeezed my shoulders.
“We’ll have to test that comfortable bed out later,” Rachel said, giggling seductively, discretion obviously not part of her DNA. “Should be much more comfortable than the last time …” She turned to appraise the bed Caden and I had shared the previous night. Then her gaze fell on the mountain bags.
My stomach—already battered from watching her maul Caden—dropped to my feet.
“What did you fill those bags with, Evangeline?” her voice had turned sickly sweet. Rachel only addressed me directly when she was torturing me about my feelings for Caden, or if she wanted the truth. She likely assumed that I couldn’t lie credibly. An accurate assumption, I’d say.
“Bags?” I fought panic.
“Yes. The bags. You’ve emptied them of their contents, based on what I see here, and yet they’re full again.”
“Oh, yeah,” I stammered, feeling Amelie’s arm squeezing me ever so slightly.
Fiona’s eyed narrowed, indicating she hadn’t missed Amelie’s gesture.
Would it be that bad if she found out? Yes, it would. It meant the Council would have fields of Merth to inflict more pain. It would mean I couldn’t bring it back for Sofie. And most important, it would prove we’ve been keeping secrets from Rachel. That would be disastrous. But what else could I tell her?
“Flowers,” Fiona answered in her usual placid tone, saving me.
“Flowers?” Rachel’s face screwed up in skepticism.
“And plants!” I exclaimed before adjusting my tone to sound calm. “You may have things that we don’t have on Earth, and Sofie wants to study them, see if she can use them for some of her witchy spell–casting. Hocus–pocus stuff. I don’t get it.” I rolled my eyes. I knew my voice was trembling and probably unconvincing, but I couldn’t help but be impressed with how easily that lie had popped into my head. Maybe I was getting better at this.
“That much?” Rachel said her eyes narrowing further in disbelief.
I shrugged. “She asked for any plant I didn’t recognize. I’m not a botanist.”
“Hmmm. Right.” She pursed her lips, then turned her attention back to Caden, tracing his collarbone with her index finger.
My shoulders, rigid with anxiety, began to relax. My quick–thinking deception had worked.
“Show me, Evangeline,” she demanded in a crisp voice, not looking away from Caden.
I froze.
“You wanna see a bunch of half–dead weeds?” Bishop scoffed.
Her left eyebrow arched severely. “Show me,” she repeated.
“Um, sure,” I managed in a hoarse whisper, my eyes darting to Caden. He didn’t dare look away from her.
Rising slowly, I walked over to one of the bags on shaky legs. I took my time, now in extreme panic mode and condemning my cleverness. I started fumbling with the strings, trying to think of some way out of this impending disaster.
“Here, let me help you. The knots are tight,” Bishop called, suddenly appearing in front of me to help unfasten one of the bags. From the corner of my eye, I saw Rachel slide off Caden’s lap and take a step toward us.
Caden was right behind her, though, grabbing her waist playfully and kissing the side of her neck as a means of distraction. It partially worked. She stayed there to revel in his affections but her snake eyes never left us.
I was too worried about being murdered at this point to be upset by Caden’s actions. I watched nervously as Bishop unraveled the knot. I frowned as he continued fumbling with the strings, as if there was still a knot to be untied. What’s he doing?
“Here, put your hand on that loop and pull,” he instructed. I frowned. There was no loop. “Right here!” he said impatiently, holding his hand out, palm up. I mechanically reached over, and Bishop grabbed my hand and guided it into the bag. From where Rachel stood, she wasn’t able to see what we were doing.
I understood. “Merth only has to touch us for a second to make us flop like rag dolls,” Bishop had said. Just the briefest of moments, and Rachel would be controlled; restrained; no longer a dangerous problem. But I couldn’t screw up. If I did, someone would likely die. It could be me, or worse, it could be one of the others. Would it work, though? Would she fall for it? We had no other choice. Committing myself entirely to the unspoken plan, I twined my fingers around one of the strands.
“Damn knot,” Bishop cursed, gripping my forearm tightly enough that it began to hurt.
“You idiot!” Rachel sneered, wriggling free of Caden.
As she strolled toward us, I noticed Amelie and Fiona stealthily slide in behind her, grim determination in their eyes. Caden moved forward as well, his jaw tight with anxiety, his head shaking, warning us. Warning me not to risk it. It was too late, though.
Rachel’s hand reached toward the bag.
Bishop, still holding my forearm, whipped my hand out toward her with lightning speed. Somehow I managed to grab hold of her wrist, pressing the Merth tightly against her skin.
In the next instant, four pairs of hands were securing her. She let out one high–pitched shriek and then her body went limp.
Amelie lifted her other arm up. I wound the cord around both wrists and tied a knot, my hands trembling violently the entire time.
“Her legs too,” Caden instructed, his voice now devoid of all emotion.
I reached in for two more cords and went to work binding her legs at the knees and the ankles. Will more Merth mean more pain? I wondered sympathetically. Will the thousand razor blade cuts turn into a million? I gave my head a shake. You’re too soft, Evangeline. She’d do it to you in a heartbeat.
When we finished, the previously deadly vampire lay immobilized on the ground, all bound up like a pig ready for a spit.
It was over. We were safe.
My knees buckled. I would have collapsed if Caden hadn’t been there to catch me, scooping me into his arms and swiftly gliding away from Rachel.
“Are you okay?” he whispered breathlessly as he placed me on the ground, deep concern in his eyes.
I nodded, unable to speak.
He sighed heavily, leaning forward to press his lips against my forehead, his hands squeezing my shoulders. I closed my eyes, reveling under his touch. I could have stayed like that for hours, but he pulled away. “Are you insane?” he yelled at Bishop, his voice thundering in the cave.
“Hey, it worked, didn’t it?” Bishop’s responding yell—his display of anger such a rare sight—matched Caden’s.
Caden bit his lip, thinking. When he spoke again, it was at a normal level. “Can she hear us?” he asked Amelie.
She nodded.
He strolled over to crouch beside Rachel’s head. “It feels so good to be rid of you. To not have to pretend anymore,” he hissed into her face. I saw confusion in her eyes. “Every time you touched me,” he continued, shuddering, “I pictured Evangeline’s face. It was the only way I could handle it. Enjoy knowing that.” He straightened and was standing beside me again in an instant, wrapping his arms tenderly around me.
I couldn’t help feeling a tinge of guilt for my part in the trap. That was until I glanced down at Rachel to see the raw fury in her eyes as she realized she had been deceived for far longer than just today. That searing gaze burned across my entire body. Likely imagining tearing my limbs from me and bashing my brains in with them, I realized. I stepped back into Caden’s embrace and squeezed my eyes shut as I buried my face against his chest, but it was a long while before the afterimage of those devil eyes faded from my mind’s eye. The feel of Caden’s body against mine and his wonderfully natural scent seemed to help.
“What should we do, toss her into the fire?” I heard Amelie ask dispassionately.
“Sounds good to me,” Bishop sneered. He reached down to grab her legs.
“Wait—she’s not going anywhere, and who knows if we’ll need her for something still,” Caden said thoughtfully, still holding me.
“I don’t know, Caden,” Amelie answered warily. “It’s better if we rid ourselves of this problem for good, here and now.”