Anomaly (Causal Enchantment #4)(11)

“I already have,” I responded evenly, tired of this line of questioning. There was a war coming. There were more important things to focus on.

Mortimer glared at Sofie, his thick, dark brow furrowed with accusation. “Why isn’t she like them?”

“I don’t know, Mortimer,” she bit back crisply, taking several steps toward the end of the exit tunnel. “You can ask the Fates if you’d like, but I’m not going anywhere near them again. Besides, we have a war to deal with and we’re wasting precious time.”

I turned to follow them out.

Sofie stopped abruptly and spun around on her heels. “I knew it!” she hissed. Now it was Caden’s turn to receive an accusatory glare. “You didn’t tell her, did you?”

I eyed him guardedly. “Tell me what?”

With a heavy sigh, Caden averted his eyes. “You’re not coming with us, Evie.”

What? “You’re not leaving me here!” After all we’d been through, I wasn’t going to sit in this mine while the rest of them put themselves in danger. I wasn’t going to be separated from Caden. Again!

“We need you to stay here, with Julian and Veronique, and we don’t have time to argue,” Sofie cut in. “Plus, now we need someone to make sure that Celine and Brian have a bag of blood in their hands the moment they awaken.”

“Who are Celine and Brian?”

“Kait’s and Galen’s humans.”

Right. The deal. Turning their humans for them. That’s what they’d been fighting over earlier. “Kiril can do that,” I objected. “Right, Kiril?”

Kiril’s bushy brow arched.

“No, he can’t. They may get confused and bite him,” Sofie said.

But … “I’m not fragile anymore!” I was running out of arguments, my voice sounding whiny. I hated whiny. I also had no interest in being a babysitter.

Sofie grabbed my hands, her hard mask softening for just a second. “We cannot bring fledglings in to fight fledglings. We can’t watch over any sitting ducks. You’ll be fine here. Safe. And we will see you soon.”

Sofie was impossible to sway, so I didn’t bother. I simply whispered, “Keep them safe. Please.”

“We’ll all be fine. Fledglings are easy to kill. It’s just as matter of finding them,” she assured me. With a pursed lip, she vanished, followed by Mortimer.

“She’s right,” Caden whispered, pulling me into his taut body. Amelie strolled over to Julian, presumably to say her goodbyes. She got the same savage growl, along with a hand swat.

I made my last attempt on Caden. “I understand why they can’t go but I’m not like them, Caden! I haven’t lost control.”

“Not yet,” he corrected, shaking his head. “I hate leaving you here but I can’t worry about you out there, Evie, and that’s all I’d be doing. Plus, do you really think you’re ready to go into New York City and hunt down a hundred fledglings and kill them? Do you even know how to kill someone?”

I buried my face in his collarbone, absorbing the feel and smell of him one last time before he left me, the very thought a hollow ache in my core. He was right. Though it was apparently now part of my DNA, I didn’t know the first thing about killing. Truth be told, I had no desire to exterminate anything. Except perhaps Viggo, and even then, I wasn’t sure if I had it in me to actually pull the trigger, so to speak.

Having me there could endanger everyone. Including Caden.

“Promise me that you’ll stay here?” he whispered.

I nodded in silence, knowing the fight was lost.

He lifted my face to meet his jade eyes. “We’ll be back before you know it,” he assured softly. “Don’t worry. You’ll be fine. Bored, maybe. But fine.”

“What if an unsuspecting human comes out here and I accidently kill them?”

Caden gave me a one-shoulder shrug. “Then we’ll know you’re normal.” My flat glare made him chuckle. “No one’s going to wander into these mines in the dead of winter and if they do, Max and the wolves will scare them away.” Pressing his lips to my cheek, I felt a cool, hard object placed within my grasp. A cell phone. “Galen may be an ass, but he’s a smart one. He’s got us all set up. The guy thinks he’s a Navy Seal.” Caden’s smirk fell from his mouth after a moment. “If you need to call me for anything, then call. And if I don’t answer, don’t worry. We’re just busy, is all.”

I wrapped my arms tightly around his shoulders. We’d waited so long, been through so much to be able to stand here like this, and now that we could, I was afraid it would be taken away from me. Would that be the finale to the Fates’ sick game? Would they take Caden away from me? Would it be at Viggo’s hands, as Mortimer predicted? I didn’t want the world to fall apart but living in a world without Caden, forever, felt even more unbearable.

Chapter Two – Sofie

“How long before the snow turns crimson?” Mage mused, overlooking the crime scene. Investigators and police sifted through a city block’s worth of still-smoldering rubble under countless temporary spotlights. They’d easily be here through the night and into tomorrow.

The others in our little task force lined the edge of the rooftop at the other corner, a row of solemn soldiers, watching. The grim view held even Bishop’s tongue. Not that long ago, we’d been confined to the walls that once stood there.