Anomaly (Causal Enchantment #4)(33)

“Well, you sure picked a great time to finally share,” he snapped. I hadn’t seen him this angry since the day he blamed me for his parents’ deaths.

“I didn’t know what else to do. You were going to kill that woman in front of her son.” And now I had a better idea of exactly how well I could compel a vampire. Or, more importantly, how strong the urge to feed was. How right Caden and Sofie were to worry.

Julian could not go into a city full of people.

His head dropped at the reminder, the corners of his mouth downcast with guilt. “She surprised me. It was just …” Earnest brown eyes peered at me. “Do you think she’ll live?”

“I don’t know.” Could I have helped her, as I’d helped her son? Or thought I had helped her son?

Several long moments passed in silence. “Where do they think she is?” he finally asked.

I explained the little that Caden had shared. “They’re looking for her now, Julian. They’ll find her.”

“You don’t know that!” He erupted. Julian had always had a volatile temper. The transformation had certainly amplified that. He was yelling again. “And if they don’t? We have until sunrise. That’s what …,” he glanced at his watch, “like, five or six hours to find her before they blow up the city? With her in it!”

“Calm down,” I urged in a soft voice. Several dogs barked, disrupting the quiet of the neighborhood. “Sofie wouldn’t do that.”

I couldn’t blame him for panicking. What if they didn’t find her? Would Sofie proceed as planned, knowing Amelie could be in New York City? Would Amelie die along with everyone else? Though I was incapable of crying, the very thought of losing Amelie brought a burn to my eyes.

“They’ll find her. We need to go back to the—”

Julian bolted. He was heading southeast.

Toward New York City.

I would be lying if I didn’t admit that a spark of excitement ignited inside me.

Now I had a really good excuse to find Caden and the others.

Chapter Eight – Sofie

“This way!” Lilly shouted, taking the lead. My legs moved of their own accord, my mind trying to blank out the reality of what I’d just done. Ahead of us, fledglings scattered, running down the streets, smashing through storefront windows. In every direction, they fled. The ones distracted by prey were the ones we targeted and even they were too numerous.

It would take twenty minutes for my magical reserves to rebuild, but until then, we had to resort to our hands and the blowtorches and lighters Galen had so smartly provided.

Galen … I couldn’t believe he was dead.

My attention waffled between the mayhem that had erupted in the streets of Manhattan and the shadows of every corner, every building, every alley, searching for a tall blond with blue eyes who had to be tailing us, who might still be following us now, waiting for the next opportunity to weaken our defenses. Without my magic, even I was vulnerable to him right now.

Up ahead, Mage stopped running, tossing the hearts of two fledglings onto the pavement. By the time I reached her, they were already in flames.

“We need to regroup and make a hard decision.” Shaking her head, she said the words that had started cycling on frantic repeat inside my head. “We can’t stop this.”

Chapter Nine – Evangeline

“You need to go back to the mine where you can’t attack anyone!” I grabbed onto his arm, ready to compel him.

“Evangeline,” Julian’s feet slowed and he turned to face me, “we’re surrounded by humans. I can feel their hearts beating and right now, I don’t care.”

I nodded, taking in the quiet residential neighborhood surrounding us. Perhaps, between my compelling and his desperate need to find Amelie, Julian had begun to evolve already, learning some control. “I just want to find Amelie. Please, Evie. Just … don’t fight me on this.” The pleading look in his eyes shattered my defenses.

“Fine.” This was most likely a terrible idea but if it were Caden missing, Julian would be chasing me through the streets of suburban New York. “But we can’t just charge in blind. We need to know what’s going on in the city.”

“Okay … we need a radio.” Julian marched toward a bungalow with a black Range Rover parked in the driveway. “I don’t suppose you know how to hotwire a car, do you?” he asked as he peered through the tinted window.

“Not yet.” I imagined I’d be getting that lesson from Caden at some point. What else would there be to do?

Julian’s gaze shifted from the Rover to the house, and back to the Rover. “What are the odds that they have their keys on a hook by the front door?” Before I could answer, he had his fist through the glass panel of the front door to turn the deadbolt.

“Not again,” I groaned, running to catch up with him, ready to run interference. One day as a vampire and I was already racking up illegal activity like a teenager collecting points on a video game.

We quickly found out that this household was not as predictable as we’d hoped. The pristine foyer had vases and mirrors and an elaborately woven rattan chair but not a key hung on the wall or resting in a dish.

Above my head came a soft thumping sound, followed by light quick footsteps against tile. A dog, likely. Though better than a human, a dog could prove noisy. “Hurry! And try in there,” I whispered, shoving Julian toward the closed door on the left.