Anomaly (Causal Enchantment #4)(3)

“But I have seen a fledgling, remember?” I tempered my tone. “When I first brought you back from Ratheus?” When Caden lunged for me. When he almost killed me.

Caden’s head dipped. Leaning in, I eased the bitter memory with a light kiss against his cheek.

“Yeah, that was bad,” he agreed solemnly. His face ducked in to steal a quick kiss. He sat upright with a deep inhale. “But it wasn’t nearly as bad as what a true fledgling is like. Trust me on that.”

My internal dread only blossomed with his words. “What do you mean exactly?” Because that was pretty bad; I had nightmares for weeks after. Was there more to this than anyone had warned me about? “What should I expect? Tell me everything. Maybe it’ll help.”

“It won’t.” He twisted his mouth, as if choosing his word carefully. “You remember that night in France, after the attack, when Bishop’s head was all messed up from that spell, and then we found Nathan …”

Of course I remembered. Finding out that one of my best friend’s memories had been corrupted by the Fates to the point where he was sure we were a couple was bad enough; then I discovered that I basically had Death as a bodyguard. What a nightmare.

“… and you got drunk?”

He chuckled softly with my groan.

“Well, it’s kind of like that night. You’re aware but not really, your inhibitions gone. You will do anything for blood. You’re like an addict. You’ll barely acknowledge me.”

“So, I’ll be stumbling and slurring and ignoring you for a few days?” I expected worse.

“Not exactly.” He sighed and then added in a mumble, “You’ll find out soon enough.” His attention drifted to something in the distance. “Do you hear that? Over there.” He let go of my hand to stretch his arm ahead and to the east, toward a distant ridge some two hundred yards away.

My ears immediately perked up, listening intently. And then I heard it. “Crunching?”

“Yeah.” Caden studied me as his arm relaxed its grip. “Feet, breaking through the snow.”

A slight grimace creased my brow as I waited, curious. A loud crack sounded, a branch snapping under pressure. Heavy feet.

“It’s a black bear. I’ll bet there are a few around these parts.”

Bear? I felt my eyes widen. “Should we be worried?”

Caden snorted and then frowned at me. He paused, still watching me keenly. “Can you sense anything else?”

Obviously I was supposed to. Tightening my face with concentration, I leaned in and listened harder, struggling to quiet that voice in my head that struggled to remember what the rules were for black bears: Play dead, or run? And how fast were bears? Could I outrun it?

And was asking that question normal, or was it a residual of my former human self, lingering as I adapted to the new me?

There.

I heard it.

A faint rhythmic throb. “A heartbeat,” I whispered, in awe.

With each passing second, the heartbeat grew louder, stronger, until I could feel it pounding in my throat. I had to swallow.

“And …?”

And? “What?” I pressed, just as a light gust blew by, carrying with it a strange, sweet scent my nostrils flared to absorb.

I heard the pull of air through Caden’s mouth as he inhaled sharply. An inhale of expectation, perhaps. Seconds later, the air pushed out and he mumbled, “Weird,” under his breath.

Alarms bells rang in my head. “Weird … why?” There wasn’t supposed to be any more “weird” and “huh” and “I wonder what that means?” comments as it related to how I may be impacted by someone’s magic. Between the curse that Sofie had inadvertently placed on me at birth, and the toxic magic coursing through my veins thanks to the Death Tribe, every day up until now had brought some new surprise, some new terror. I’d had enough of “weird.”

This was supposed to be standard.

As standard as being a vampire was, anyway.

“Shit.” Caden pushed a hand through his golden brown hair, sending it into appealing disarray. “Relax. It’s nothing, just …” A mixture of disappointment and worry lingered in his expression, telling me that it was not nothing. “You should have gone after that, Evie.”

Had I just failed a test? “But, it’s not human.”

His gaze shifted out to the tree line. “I know, but an animal that large should have had you running for it. The chase is half the fun.”

I had failed a test. Maybe a big one. Then again, I’d rather be sitting here with Caden than chasing wild animals through the woods. Still, the fact that Caden seemed upset bothered me.

Pulling me into his chest, he wrapped his arm around my shoulder. “You’re still in shock. That’s all it is.” I had the feeling his convincing words weren’t meant for me.

“Yeah, maybe. There’s so much going on right now, I don’t know what to focus on: the new me, the chaos in New York …” I let the fear linger in solemn silence as I rested my head on his shoulder.

The end of the human world.

“It’s actually happening, isn’t it?”

“Sounds like it,” Caden whispered. “I didn’t have the pleasure of seeing the beginning. Amelie and I lived on a ranch in the middle of the country. By the time the chaos reached us, it was already out of control.” He sighed. “I’m so sorry. If we hadn’t come here, then—”