Anomaly (Causal Enchantment #4)(34)

In seconds, I heard, “Got ’em!” just as a tiny Chihuahua in a studded collar and red sweater rounded the corner, its walnut-sized heart thumping rapidly.

“Come here,” I whispered, bending down on one knee. I held my hand out, palm down in a very unthreatening way, hoping it might come quietly. The urge to simply snap its scrawny neck should’ve been wired into my new DNA but I guess my transformation hadn’t changed that. Another oddity.

Still, I’d rather not have the owner alerted of the break-in and theft. The police would be called, a notice would be put out on their plates and, well … it would be easier if we could avoid all of that. There would already be enough activity going on with the attack at Dixon’s house and my visit to the hospital.

“Let’s go!” Julian reappeared from the mudroom. He stopped to regard the dog, who watched at us through bulging eyes, silent, his little body quaking.

“I think he’s afraid of us.” Could he sense what we truly were? Could he sense the danger he was in?

A quick warning glance Julian’s way earned a smirk. “When I start feeding on rats, you have my permission to kill me,” he muttered, taking off out the door.

The purr of the Rover’s engine broke the silence outside.

“Good boy,” I cooed, my feet slipping soundlessly back along the marble tile toward the open door. The Chihuahua’s little paw twitched and tested the tile hesitantly, watching me.

He was cute, I had to admit. Leaning down again, I beckoned him, whispering, “Goodbye, little guy. You should head back upstairs.”

Seconds passed as he just stared at me.

And then the little bastard came flying.

I should’ve been able to avoid his jaws but he was moving fast and I was caught unaware. “Ahhhh!” Tiny, razor-sharp teeth sunk into my hand, just barely breaking the skin.

With that out of the way, he let loose, his ear-piercing bark echoing through the neighborhood.

I bolted out the door, climbing into the passenger seat. “Go!” Julian squealed out of the driveway and threw the car into drive.

“The little ass**le bit me!”

Julian laughed. “Why on earth would you let it bite you?”

“I didn’t let him,” I grumbled, wiggling my now-healed fingers. “I was just trying to pet him.”

Shaking his head slowly, his mouth kicked up in a smirk, he murmured, “You’ve changed so much but you really haven’t, have you?” After a pause, he added, “That’s a good thing.”

Looking out the back window, I found the dog standing firm in the middle of the driveway. Perhaps he wasn’t afraid after all. Or perhaps he was terrified but willing to risk everything for those he loved.

Maybe that yappy little dog and I had something in common.

And maybe I needed to tell my yappy big dog that I was not coming home anytime soon.

Before I could make a decision one way or another, the words “Manhattan” and “devastation” blaring over the radio caught my attention. A massive subway train crash in Manhattan, shutting down the entire system … An explosion and street cave-in above the Second Avenue construction site less than twenty minutes later … Half of the city’s emergency crew digging through the wreckage, searching for survivors, while the police were overwhelmed by a swarm of “attacks” and madmen running the streets.

The reporters may not have labeled them correctly but we knew what they were.

Fledglings. By all accounts, it sounded as if Manhattan had been overrun.

Julian buried the odometer needle and I gripped the roll bar handle as we raced toward the catastrophe.

*

“Try her again!”

I hit redial on Amelie’s preprogrammed number and waited. “Still no answer.” A single red power bar glared back at me. “And this phone’s about to die.”

Julian growled and punched the side of his door, his fist cracking the plastic. “Okay. Try Lilly again. Please,” he pleaded, swerving onto the shoulder as we raced down the expressway toward the bridge that would get us into Manhattan.

I did, for the fourth time. This time, she picked up almost immediately.

“Where are you?” I rushed.

“Heading to Central Park. Why?”

“Julian and I are on our way. We’ll meet you there soon.”

“What? No! Turn around,” Lilly’s normally calm voice screeched. “It’s over. We’ve lost. We’re retreating.”

My stomach curdled. Retreating now? Already? But … “But Amelie—”

“She’s missing.”

“I know! That’s why we’re coming in!”

Several yells and grunts filled the receiver, followed by a growl and then a howl of pain.

Then, silence.

“Hello? Lilly? Hello?” A scan at the black screen on my phone confirmed that my battery had cut out. “Shit! I guess Galen didn’t think about extra batteries, did he?” Guilt pricked me with mention of his name and I silently chastised myself for speaking ill of the dead.

Desperately, I rifled through the glove compartment and the console. “Who doesn’t have a phone charger in their car?” I screamed.

“Try the floor,” Julian said.

I leaned forward to search the darkness around my feet. My fingers made contact with wire and I pulled the cord’s end up to the light to see if it would work.