Anomaly (Causal Enchantment #4)(43)

Sofie slowly stood. “I had no choice,” she said. “If we waited any longer, there would be no chance at all. I’m sorry, but Amelie was collateral damage to the greater cause. So was Kait.”

A glance Lilly’s way told me that she had been in on the plan, though by the pained expression on the child vampiress’s face, sacrificing Kait must’ve been a difficult decision.

I could only assume that Mage was in on it as well, because Sofie didn’t do anything without consulting her. I glared at the tiny, pragmatic woman, wondering how difficult it was for her to coach Sofie, if she’d even blinked before uttering the words.

How could Sofie have looked directly into my eyes and lied about something so important?

Silence hung over us like a thick cloud. Did I dare hold out hope that Amelie wasn’t in the city anymore?

“Maybe Amelie wasn’t even in Manhattan,” Fiona offered hesitantly, as if reading my mind, her pretty violet eyes alight with new hope. “Maybe she saw Jonah, and then chased him into the other areas of the city. Maybe—”

“New York City is gone,” Lilly cut in, her voice hollow. “All of it. Isaac made sure of it. The surrounding area as well. We’re protected by these mountains but beyond them is ruin. Amelie is gone.” After a pause. “Kait is gone.”

“Well …” Fiona’s husky voice wobbled, a lost look in her eyes. “Maybe they both got out of the city. Maybe they’re on their way here.”

“Yes, maybe,” Sofie whispered, her eyes locked on a spot on the snow.

Not likely.

Once the initial shock had faded, Mortimer didn’t waste another minute, disappearing into the mine after Veronique, his only real concern.

“Were you in on this?”

Caden’s words—his tone low and thick with accusation—took time to register in my head. When they finally did, I slowly turned to find cold eyes assessing me. “Did she call you to come in? Because she knew I’d come running as soon as I found out?”

“No … I … are you kidding me?” I stuttered.

“My sister is dead.” His hiss made me shiver. “No, I’m not kidding. Because it would seem that those three,” his fingers jutted out at Mage, Lilly, and Sofie, “were willing to do whatever it took. So … Were you in on it? Did you choose Sofie over Amelie? Over me? Is that why you came to New York City?”

My mouth hung open as I shifted my eyes from him to Bishop to Fiona and back to him. “How would that even be possible? There wasn’t even enough time! There …” This had to be his grief talking.

“She had no idea what was going on,” Julian mumbled. “Neither did I. If I had, I would’ve stopped it.” A dark gaze lifted to settle on Caden. “And if you were looking out for your sister in the first place, maybe she wouldn’t have gone missing.”

Julian flew fists-first into Caden, sending them both rocketing back into a dilapidated shed, taking its last remaining wall down. Bishop and Fiona moved quickly to pull them apart, but not fast enough for me to miss the gaping cut across Caden’s bottom lip in the second before it healed. Caden shoved Fiona off him, sending her flying into a nearby tree. Bishop released Julian to go to her.

That freed Caden to lunge at Julian, sending him to his knees with a kick to the stomach. Grabbing a long piece of wood from the rubble, Caden smoothly drove the pointed end through Julian’s chest.

“Stop this!” I yelled as Julian’s face contorted with pain, his hands pawing at the wood. Caden didn’t hesitate to slam his fist into the wood, driving it in again, earning another gasp from Julian.

I wouldn’t stand by and watch this. I pushed Caden out of the way. “Stop hurting each other!”

Caden’s body whipped around, his arm cocked and, for a moment, I was sure he would take a swing at me. But then I saw the recognition flash across his face. His body slumped to the ground.

I tore the stake out of Julian’s body and dropped it on the snow. Neither Caden nor Julian spoke. Whatever rage had fueled their fight was gone as they both sat hunched in the snow, arms draped over knees, heads bowed, both suddenly absorbed by their grief. Raw, overwhelming grief. And betrayal, churning around them like thick, black smoke.

“We don’t know anything yet,” I began, not ready to let go of all hope. “Amelie could be out of the city. She could be safe. She could be—”

“Sofie!” Mortimer’s distressed bellow into the night cut me off.

Chapter Fourteen – Sofie

I should have known.

Shifting my attention from the GPS tracker to the black knapsack, the last remaining strands of merth snatched, I quietly chastised myself. I should have checked the bag.

I should have known that Viggo would do something like this.

But because I hadn’t, two bodies lay in charred heaps in front of me. I assumed they were Cecile and Brian. A mercy, really. They probably would have done it themselves once they learned of Galen’s and Kait’s demise.

More bodies lay scattered around the perimeter. From the looks of it, the wolves, including Kiril and Ivan, hadn’t been much of a match for a two-thousand-year-old vampire, fueled by revenge.

Neither had Max or his brothers.

“Max!” Evangeline screamed, diving for the giant, still heap of fur. “No! No! No!” Her hands jostled him back and forth as if to wake him, shifting him so violently that his body turned. A glint of silver caught my eye and I immediately zoned in on the small piece of merth wrapped around his paw.