Anomaly (Causal Enchantment #4)(17)
Author: K.A. Tucker

I didn’t know what to do. “It seems like everything we’ve done has only made things worse. Now we’ve lost one, we’re missing two, three more are at risk …” I wrapped my arms tight around my chest.

“There is much more at risk than three,” Mage reminded me. I knew what she’d do. She wouldn’t hesitate for a second. She was a true leader, ready to make the hard decisions. Me … All of my motives and choices were still made based on what would keep my girl happy and safe. And until I had her in my sights again, my ability to make the impossible decision was paralyzed.

I kicked the edge of the statue. I winced through the pain, my eyes trailing the bronze mushroom as it sailed across the park.

And landed at Evangeline’s feet.

Chapter Eleven – Evangeline

By the look on Sofie’s face when our eyes met, I wasn’t sure if she was going to hug me or strike me down with bolts of fire.

An instinctual part of me cowered next to Julian as she closed the distance with lightning speed. “What are you doing here? Why aren’t you at the mine? Are you insane?” The questions fired out of her mouth, giving me no chance to answer before she wrapped me in a fierce hug. It lasted only a minute and then she released me. “I told you to stay away! You can’t be here!”

I’d never seen Sofie so frantic before. Whatever was going on, and I’d now seen firsthand to know that the situation was grim, Sofie was finally unraveling.

This probably wasn’t the right time to inform her that I could compel vampires and heal humans. Given what we’d seen and heard, what I could or couldn’t do hardly mattered.

Mortimer, Mage, and Lilly sidled up to loom behind Sofie. No Caden, though, I was dismayed to see.

“How are you two even here?” Mortimer’s piercing eyes shifted from me to Julian, and back to me, narrowing. “I know there’s something off about you, Evangeline, but Julian, we left him feeding like a wild animal …” His hawkish gaze swung to the left with the sound of squeaky wheels. A homeless man pushing a cart down the path approached. All eyes locked onto us.

“How are you able to withstand that?” There was accusation in Mortimer’s tone, as if I’d done something to make this happen. In Julian’s case, that was true.

“I don’t know,” Julian admitted. “Maybe because I’m more focused on finding Amelie. I’m glad someone is,” he added icily, “seeing as you guys are just sitting around, doing nothing to find her!”

“Caden is out looking for Amelie right now,” Sofie muttered, her displeasure with that prospect painted across her face. “Bishop and Fiona are with him.”

My stomach twisted. Going out there, with all those fledglings and the military, was dangerous. What if Caden went missing too?

“When will they be back?”

“Better be by sunrise,” Mortimer said under his breath.

My eyes drifted to Lilly, standing quietly next to Mage. She told me the city was lost. What if they didn’t make it back by sunrise? That meant … “Sofie, you can’t give Isaac the go-ahead! Not until they’re all out!” My body trembled as I lunged forward, grabbing her hands. “Please! If I lose them all, I’ll—” I choked on the words.

The veil over her eyes lifted for just a second to disclose sadness before dropping with a hardened gleam. “Calm down. I will not give Isaac permission to do anything yet.”

“Promise?”

Her jaw tensed visibly. “I promise.”

My head dipped as I accepted her word, relieved. Sofie had never let me down. She’d never stopped trying. She’d never given up. She wouldn’t give up now.

“Where could Amelie be? How could she just be gone?” Julian pressed, his voice desperate.

Sofie shook her head. “I have no idea, Julian. Honestly.” Her mint-green eyes scanned the darkness, and I sensed the air of suspicion swirling around her. Another batch of sirens called out into the night; another set of blood-curdling screams made us cringe. “Let’s find a less visible place to wait.”

Chapter Twelve – Sofie

“This one.” I pushed through the entrance of the monstrous glass building, the small heels of my boots clicking against the lobby’s tile floor. “Mortimer, can you please get us into the penthouse with minimal disturbance. Take Evangeline and Julian with you.”

I knew giving Mortimer a task right now was the smart thing to do. It was only a matter of time before he bolted back for the mines. From there, who knew? I might not see him or Veronique again for decades.

Within seconds, Mortimer had the security guard compelled and oblivious to our existence. I waited until he, Julian, and Evangeline stepped into the elevator, waving them off. “We’ll grab the next one.” In truth, I needed the three of them away from me so I could talk freely.

The second the doors shut, Mage spoke.

“We cannot sacrifice everything for one vampire.”

“Two,” Lilly corrected, her round blue eyes tinged with sadness.

Mage dipped her head slightly. “We cannot sacrifice everything for two vampires. And we cannot wait any longer or it will be too late to change the course of fate.”

I closed my eyes, listening to the doors of the next elevators slide open, pause, and slide closed, without us on board.

What Mage was suggesting was sacrificing two of our own for a gamble. It could already be too late to change the course of fate. Worse, I knew that it was the right thing to do. But how could I make that decision now? “I just promised Evangeline …,” I muttered.

“You made a promise that is impossible to keep,” she said. “Would you really risk this entire world for two of our kind? If I were out there instead of Amelie, I would not want you sacrificing everything just for me. I can only imagine that Amelie would feel the same.”

For the sake of my conscience, I had to believe that.

“We clear the surface and then can go back in and get rid of any that have survived in the tunnels. It’s a simple plan but it’s our best hope,” Mage pushed.

After a long pause, I said, “Losing Amelie and Kait is one thing but we cannot lose all of them.”

Mage wasted no time. “Lilly, can you reach Bishop?”

Lilly’s black bob swayed with her nod.

“Tell him that Evangeline is here and she needs to see the three of them immediately. She’s frantic. They’ll come.”

Blue eyes shifted to me and caught my nod. Lilly pulled out her phone and dialed the number.

The knots in my stomach tightened further. “She’ll never forgive me.”

“This must be done, and now, Sofie,” Mage pushed softly. “We both saw what was there.” Her voice dropped an octave, out of Lilly’s range. “And we both know what happened to Galen, and Amelie. And I presume Kait.”

Viggo. That’s what happened.

“Doing this will rid us of that problem too.”

That would certainly be a silver lining. Viggo, dead, without putting up a fight? But …

“Leaders can’t please everyone all the time,” Mage continued. “They make the hard choices because they’re the right ones. You know it’s the right one, don’t you?”

“Yes.” The one word felt like sandpaper against the inside of my throat. “How do you propose we get everyone to vacate the city?” I knew Mortimer wouldn’t be a problem. It was the others.

A grim smile responded. “By doing what you do best.”

Chapter Thirteen – Evangeline

“Caden is on his way,” Lilly told Sofie and Mage.

My heart skipped a beat and a smile curled my lips. But then I remembered, unless they miraculously found Amelie in a city of eight million people, Caden’s springy-haired sister probably wouldn’t be with them.

My smile dissolved.

“All of them? How far?” Sofie asked, staring out of the floor-to-ceiling window, arms folded across her chest. Like a group of con artists, we’d slipped through security, up the elevator, and into the penthouse. It was already vacant, the owners away on Christmas vacation according to the friendly, compelled man at the front desk.

“No more than five minutes, he promised. All three.”

“And Isaac?”

“It’s ready.”

Sofie’s lips pressed together. “Okay.” Pale green eyes darted to the white sectional where Julian and I sat before shifting back to the skyline. The glass reflected her grim reflection perfectly.

I frowned. What was going on? What was ready? What were they up to? I had the distinct impression that something had been set in motion since the three vampiresses swooped through the penthouse door, sharing hushed whispers. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what, though, and how it related to Isaac. He had one job on that submarine and until we were all out of the city, he couldn’t be delivering on it.

Beside me, Mortimer scanned the various news broadcasts, a sullen scowl marring his handsome face. It seemed the world was watching one thing and one thing only, and it was the state of emergency in one of the greatest cities in the world.

He cleared his throat, still focused on the screen. “How was Veronique when you left?”

“Fine.”

His head snapped toward me. “Just fine? How much blood was left when you abandoned her?” Dark, accusing eyes bore into me, a sure sign that Mortimer was ready to lose his temper. “What’s going to happen when they run out of blood? Who’s going to get more for her when she needs it?” He snorted. “Max? With his opposable thumbs?”

“I stole a blood truck and we restocked so there’s more than enough for days. And Max will take good care of them.” I hadn’t heard from my werebeast since just before the accident. He was likely sulking over my abrupt dismissal. I needed to check in with him soon, although then I’d have to explain how I’d lied and then risk him running here.

I admitted to something that I knew I probably shouldn’t, even as the words tumbled out. “And she isn’t feeding anymore.”

“What do you mean?” Mortimer turned completely in his seat.

“She wasn’t feeding when I left. She said she was satisfied.” I wasn’t lying, technically.

Mortimer’s eyes flared with a mixture of shock and disbelief. “Like him?” He jutted a chin toward Julian.

“Yeah, basically.”

“That means …” I knew what he was thinking without the need for him to speak the words. That meant the feral woman he left hours ago was sitting in a dark mine, waiting for him. “I can’t wait around here. I’m going to her,” he announced, standing.

“You need to stay here for now, Mortimer,” Sofie insisted without turning around. But Mage was moving in, taking slow, even steps into the sunken living room.

“Veronique needs me!” he argued.

“We need you more right now,” Mage said.

“To do what?” He threw his arms in the air. “To sit around here, waiting? I can do that as well over there.” Mortimer reached down to collect his jacket. Even on the brink of a human apocalypse, the nine-hundred-year-old vampire still made an effort to minimize unsightly creases in his clothing. He would never survive the world we were heading into.

Sofie seemed too absorbed with the skyline to pay attention to Mortimer. Watching, waiting. For what?

“No, you must stay.” Mage stepped forward, her own black eyes shimmering. “I insist.”

Mortimer’s head fell back with a bitter laugh. “What are you trying to do, compel me? You can’t, remember? Because I know about your secret.” The words had barely left his lips when his giant frame went sailing backward, crashing into the flat screen television.

“You’re right. I can’t compel you,” Mage admitted, not a hint of humor on her face. But she could physically keep him here if she needed to, and she didn’t need to admit that out loud. We all knew her power was unrivaled.

With a roar, Mortimer flew at Mage. She easily sideswept him, sending him careening through the opposite wall. He picked himself up and brushed the drywall dust from his chest.

And then, in a move so fast my human eyes would never have seen it, he bolted for the door.

Unfortunately for him, Mage was faster.

“Why … are … you … fighting me?” He pushed out through clenched teeth as Mage shoved him to his knees.

“Because you must stay here, with us. For now,” Mage hissed, her naturally serene demeanor cracking as her death grip on his neck prevented him from fighting back. Her black eyes shifted to Sofie and then to Lilly. “How much longer will this take?”

I had to believe that Sofie and Mage were keeping him here for good reason. I stood and calmly strolled over, kneeling in front of him. “Mortimer, Sofie has our best interests at heart,” I began, hoping I didn’t sound like an idiot. More importantly, if this didn’t work, I hoped no one would figure out what I was trying to do. “You need to listen to Mage and stay here for now. You’ll see Veronique soon.” I could see the tension in his shoulders release, Mage’s fingertips relaxing their grip.