Anomaly (Causal Enchantment #4)(45)
Fiona moaned behind me but I couldn’t pry my eyes away from the pretty little vampiress in the chair, my own heart—having held onto a shred of hope—now breaking. We had our answer. Isaac had unleashed a sizeable bomb on New York City. Manhattan was at the epicenter.
Amelie would never have survived the blast of fire.
The screen changed to a scene I recognized. Firefighters battled flames spurting out from the gaping hole in Second Avenue, shouting about the heat and the fire’s resilience. I knew it was resilient. It was my fire and it would burn for hours.
“It’s a little hot here, don’t you think?” Viggo’s voice called out in the near background. The camera angle turned to take in a blond, wide-eyed Kait, a metal rod through her chest, sapping her of her fight. “Let’s make this quick!” Without further preamble, Viggo shoved Kait’s body off the edge. We watched in horror as she tumbled into the flames.
The screen cut over as Lilly’s scream echoed through the dark, empty mine.
“And, if Sofie wasn’t such a deceptive, secretive creature and had warned you that I was near, it certainly would have been harder for me to do this,” Viggo called out as the camera panned over the scene in the mine. It couldn’t have been taken that long ago. The wolves lay silent, already dispatched. Cecile and Brian lay on the ground, their arms coiled in merth.
Mage hissed as we watched Jonah appear on camera, holding a red tank over the two fledglings. The mutant poured gasoline over them, even smiling as he struck the match on the stone wall and tossed it carelessly. The two burst into flames.
“Why, thank you, Jonah!” Viggo’s blue eyes suddenly appeared again, dancing with vicious delight. “He’s been a real help. Mage, you trained him well. And for that … my gift to you.” The camera jostled slightly and when it came into focus again, it was on a gloved hand holding out a heart, Jonah’s body in a heap in the peripherals. He tossed the heart into the fire.
“But my biggest thank-you of all is to whoever left the bag with the GPS tracker here.” My insides churned with dread as the camera captured a form with long, curly brown hair and olive eyes. Veronique, bound by merth and curled in a ball. “I knew I’d get to her eventually. I just didn’t think it’d be this easy.”
Caden hung his head, his jaw clenching against the realization that, by leaving the knapsack in the mine, he’d led Viggo straight here.
“I’m sorry, dear old friend.” That teeth-grinding smile was meant for Mortimer who, by the way his eyes squeezed shut, had already watched the entire video. “I was never a gracious loser. I figure, with enough time, she’ll come around.”
Viggo set the tablet down, angling it to capture him approaching Veronique. With a long stick, he tore off the merth, latching on to her arm before she had a chance to run. She struggled, twisting and turning, kicking at him, but he held tight. “Now, now, Vee. You’ve seen what I’ll do to get to you. Don’t put up a fight now. It won’t end well for you, or anyone else. Do you want to see any more of your friends hurt?”
What little I could see of her face, my poor sister was playing the scenarios in her head and quickly deduced that she couldn’t win. Slowly she rose to her feet. We watched in silence as Viggo slipped an arm around her waist. Her shoulders pulled in as she recoiled. He didn’t seem to mind, leaning in to lay a long, lingering kiss on her mouth. Mortimer looked like he may be ill.
“Take care, all of you,” Viggo purred, so proud of himself. “If you haven’t figured this out, you’re better off staying as far away from Sofie as possible. She can’t be trusted with anything. Be smart and break whatever allegiances you made with her. Save yourselves before she gets you killed.” His face suddenly morphed from the façade of a jovial man to show the true demon beneath, full of raw loathing.
“And Evangeline …” A chill ran down my back at the sound of her name on his lips. “I had hoped to see you here. Where, oh where did Sofie hide you?” Viggo winked at the camera. “Don’t worry. I haven’t forgotten how instrumental you were in helping Veronique make her choice. Or how you betrayed me. Don’t think I’ll forget that. Soon, I’ll make sure you pay. Until later … Caden.” With that, Viggo gave Veronique a light tug and walked leisurely down the tunnel as if out for a night’s stroll on a sidewalk, until they disappeared from sight.
Mortimer launched the tablet at the rock wall. Plastic and metal exploded in every direction. “So, Veronique is just … gone!” He screamed. “After everything we’ve been through, we led him right to her!” A pause and then, “What do you have up your sleeve that we aren’t aware of? Another wraith? More tribal men?”
For once, I wished I had a secret to share. But I didn’t. “Nothing. I have nothing.”
“Then find something,” he growled. “Fix this, Sofie! Find her! Cast a spell, ask the Fates, I don’t care!”
I laughed bitterly. Ask the Fates. That was funny. “I will not be casting any more causal enchantments. Ever. It does nothing but feed their entertainment.”
“Then there is no reason to remain with you any longer.” The words rattled in my chest, the depth of them somehow cutting.
Mortimer vanished.
“At least she’s not dead.” The hollowness in Julian’s words was as opposite as one could get to Mortimer. I didn’t have to look at him to see agony written across his face, an everlasting, raw pain that he would carry for decades. Centuries, even. I knew firsthand what it felt like.