Anomaly (Causal Enchantment #4)(46)

I’m sure Julian had memorized that address. I’m sure he would be running back into the city as soon as the flames died down, a shred of hope keeping him going as he searched for her.

He wouldn’t find her, though, I was certain.

Because I had killed her.

Chapter Fifteen – Evangeline

I didn’t know what to do, where to turn. Did I drop to the ground to hug my friend, crumpled in a heap after learning that the girl who he would’ve spent eternity with—literally—was dead? Did I wrap my arms around Caden, who had just lost his sister, so distraught that he accused me of scheming against him? Did I go to Fiona, whose legs wobbled as she leaned against an equally somber Bishop, trying to come to terms with the loss of their best friend of over seven hundred years?

Or did I curl up into a little ball and nurse my own suffering? Though so much had happened, the night that I dove into the icy waters to pull Amelie from certain death remained fresh in my mind. I may not have been a long-standing fixture in Amelie’s life, but she had become an indispensable part of mine.

A part that Viggo had torn away. A man who despised me.

It didn’t end there, though. If what we’d gone through with Bishop earlier was any indication, I’d just lost Julian as well. Still, I couldn’t decide if those losses were more upsetting than Sofie decimating my trust in her judgment. How much of this could’ve been avoided if Sofie had kept her promise? If she’d been honest from the start, we could’ve been more cautious of our surroundings.

Instead, Sofie unwittingly led us right into Viggo’s trap.

The decision of what to focus on was made for me when Julian suddenly bolted, disappearing down the tunnel. I knew exactly where he was going. Everyone knew. None of us would ever forget the Manhattan brokerage firm’s address.

But the city would be in a crippling toxic state. Though I was not intimately familiar with the effects of a nuclear bomb, I could guess that what was left was sure to challenge Julian’s healing capabilities for at least a few days.

He’d never make it all the way.

I ran down the tunnel after him, but he was fast. Faster than me. I’d never catch him.

I could feel Caden’s presence at my back as I tailed Julian a mile through the mine, over rickety cart tracks, through a half-submerged spot, all the way until a faint light appeared at the tunnel’s exit.

“Julian! Stop!” I shrieked, wanting him to stay with us, sure that once he escaped the mine, he was as good as gone.

To my surprise, he stopped.

I almost stumbled to slow down before I plowed into his back. He didn’t turn, he didn’t acknowledge me. He simply stopped.

“Julian …”

“She might have gotten out.”

I wanted to agree with him. But the sooner we faced reality, the better for all of us. “I’m so sorry, Julian.”

His head dipped. “I wish I’d never met her.”

“You don’t mean that.”

After a pause. “I know. I don’t. It’s just …” His voice cracked. “It hurts so much. I didn’t know it could hurt this much.”

Of all of us, Julian had lost the most. First his parents—two shameless criminals who deserved it, but nonetheless—and then his sister, Valentina, whose only mistake was stepping foot into the atrium, giving the witch Ursula a chance to possess her body.

And now, Amelie.

Caden stood silently behind me as I reached out to wrap my arms around Julian’s sides, folding my hands together at his chest. Whatever I was feeling myself was no doubt nothing compared to the sickness churning inside my friend right now. So acute, my body hummed with his devastation. Like a dark rot coursing through my limbs, I wanted to stem the flow to keep it from poisoning any more. Reroute it until it folded into itself and vanished.

I wanted to heal Julian.

That same energy deep within my core since my transformation bubbled and roiled with anticipation, the same quiet energy that came to life with Dixon and with that little boy, now sparked again.

I let it consume me, intrinsically knowing that it was the right thing to do.

I visualized that agony in Julian shrinking, shying away from me like a cockroach skitters with a beam of light to hide within the recesses. To remain out of sight. Out of mind.

I stood in silence, my arms still around him, my head resting against his shoulder blade, feeling the tension slide from his body.

“What …” Julian’s voice drifted off as he turned to me. “What did you do to me?”

“I think I just … healed you?” Even saying the words felt impossible.

Behind me, Caden muttered faintly. “What?” I was so in tune with my own thoughts, I pushed his voice out. I had just healed Julian. It wasn’t enough that I could heal physical wounds. I could rescue people from the crippling emotional heartache too! Even Sofie wasn’t capable of doing that! I knew because she’d tried for Bishop and ended up having to rely on the Fates. That had proven disastrous.

How was I doing this!

“I think you did. I mean,” Julian paused, his eyes squinting, “I still know she’s gone. I still miss her but …,” he inhaled deeply and then exhaled, “that agonizing pain just disappeared.” Pausing again, his face twisted with displeasure. “I’m supposed to suffer. This is like I don’t—”