Anomaly (Causal Enchantment #4)(38)

A rare somber look fell over his face. “I guess they’ve crossed the bridge.”

“The humans would’ve transported them there. The hospitals here are probably overwhelmed,” Mortimer explained, his hand covering his frown.

I leaned against the bronze statue as my hands settled on top of my head, my fingers weaving a tight hold on my hair. Frankly, it didn’t matter how they got there. What mattered was that the fledglings were no longer contained to Manhattan. “That’s only five miles from Newark Airport.” What if the fledglings made it there? What if they boarded planes? They were evolving too quickly. If they managed not to kill the passengers and pilots in flight, they could be anywhere in the country—in the world—within hours.

Mage was right. The city was too far gone. “We need to retreat.”

Caden’s body stiffened, his stance ripe with confrontation. “Not until sunrise, Sofie. That was the plan. Amelie has until sunrise.”

“Our plan has failed.” The words tasted bitter in my mouth. “The city is in ruins. We cannot win.”

“You are not blowing up the city with her in it!” Caden’s voice ricocheted through the quiet.

“Then what? We risk an entire civilization because of her? Think, Caden!” I squeezed my eyes shut to avoid the horror in his, but I could still feel it burning a hole in my temple. He must know that this wasn’t what I wanted. He must know that I didn’t want to make this decision.

“Sunrise,” I heard Caden push through gritted teeth. “We’re going to lose this war regardless, so I’d rather you don’t blow up my sister before giving us a real chance to find her.”

“Fine.” I didn’t know what else to say. When I opened my eyes, he, Fiona, and Bishop were gone.

“And then there were four,” Mortimer muttered, taking a seat on one of the mushroom sculptures as Mage and Lilly appeared like ghosts out of the darkness.

What was I going to do now? There was no way I’d give Lilly the go-ahead to blow up the city with all of Evangeline’s friends in the crossfire, and Caden knew it. I had to buy us time. “Can Isaac take out Newark? Smaller missiles.”

Lilly regarded me for a long moment before her head dipped once. I paused. “And LaGuardia and JFK?”

“Yes, likely. But once he launches those, the place will be on high alert. They have ways of shutting down the grid.”

“And then we wouldn’t be able to follow through with the bomb in that sub,” Mage warned, though I’d figured that out on my own.

“Can’t he get into another one?”

Lilly shrugged. “Maybe. But … maybe not.”

“I need a better answer than that, Lilly,” I snapped.

“Galen would know, but …” Her childish voice trailed as sadness consumed her.

I softened my tone, reminding myself that Lilly had to be suffering. She’d just witnessed her longtime friend lying dead on a subway platform and in many ways, she was still an overly emotional child. To be honest, I wasn’t sure why she hadn’t fled. “Have you heard from Kait?”

“She’s not answering.”

“Just … keep trying. Maybe the battery ran out. Maybe she broke it. Maybe—”

“She had two phones and the two-way radio. She’s not answering any of them,” Mage interrupted.

“That’s not like her,” Lilly explained softly.

“Maybe she’s still in the tunnel and the reception is bad.” I didn’t believe that myself. When a look lingered between Mage and Lilly, my temper flared again. This wasn’t the time for secrets. “What?”

With the lightest sigh, Lilly said, “Evangeline’s on her way here. She should be here any minute.”

“What?” Mortimer and I exploded at the same time.

“She called and said they’d be here soon. Then her phone cut off. That’s all I know.”

“Who are they? She and Max?” I would skin that dog alive for allowing her out of the mine.

“She didn’t say.”

“How far away is she? Does she know about the rendezvous point?” My eyes widened with panic as I drew a mental map of the airports and the likely routes for Evangeline to take. Was she at risk now? The streets were crawling with fledglings and military. “Which way is she coming from?”

Lilly stared blankly at me.

“What about the others? Who’s watching over them?” Mortimer’s dark brown eyes flared with anger. “We’ve left a bunch of fledglings in the care of the wolves?”

“Who cares about them right now!” I yelled. “They’re safe!”

“Might I remind you that one of them is your sister?” Mortimer’s voice dropped a few octaves, each word clear and crisp. I knew that tone. It meant he was considering putting my head through a wall. Right now, I felt like saving him the effort and doing it myself.

“I’m going back,” he announced.

I grabbed onto his powerful forearm. “No, not yet. Please.” I didn’t bother trying to hide the pleading in my voice. I would drop to my knees and beg if I had to. These decisions were weighing too heavily on my shoulders as it was. We’d had more than our share of differences in the past but Mortimer’s presence and his opinions had helped significantly these past few weeks.