Anomaly (Causal Enchantment #4)(49)

How would she take the loss of her best friend of seven hundred years? Was there a point where length of time no longer mattered and pain was simply pain?

Max lay with his chin resting on his paws on the other side of Julian. Normally the giant beast flopped down onto his side like an animal sunbathing. But this was the pose of a dejected animal.

Letting go of Caden’s hand, I kneeled next to him, giving him a scratch behind his ear. I’m so sorry about everything, Max, I said silently, hoping my ability hadn’t somehow been lost. I’d almost lost him. Had Viggo been less malicious, had he not wanted Max to suffer watching his brothers murdered, I would not have had the chance to apologize.

For once, Viggo’s savagery had worked in my favor.

The beast’s sad eyes lifted to me told me that my sentiments had reached him.

There was a long pause. You lied to me.

I sighed. I had to tell Julian about Amelie missing. Even thinking her name brought a painful lump to my throat. He took off for Manhattan and I couldn’t stop him.

So you lied to me, Max pressed. Again.

I didn’t know what else to do. I was afraid you’d come after me and we needed you here.

A lot of good that did.

I’m so sorry, Max.

After a long moment, he mumbled, So am I, Evangeline. There was no humor in his words, no typical sarcasm, not threats of “don’t do it again or else” or “what am I going to do with you.” Any of those things would’ve made me feel better. Instead, I felt a hundred times worse. I had betrayed him.

Betrayal seemed to be running rampant in our little group.

He readjusted his head to face the opposite way, and I got the distinct impression that was his way of telling me that the conversation was over.

“What’s the plan?” Bishop asked solemnly as Fiona sat up. Looking at the grief in their faces was hard, so I turned to Julian, who had maintained that mask of composure, a sad smile touching his lips.

“From here on in, the six of us stick together, no matter what,” I said. “We don’t let anyone separate us; we trust only each other.”

“What about Sofie?” Fiona asked, her tone sharp.

“We trust only each other,” Caden repeated.

My gaze shifted back to Max as I added, “We tell each other everything. No matter what. No secrets.”

“Well, here’s something for you: I’m going back in there,” Julian said, his jaw set with determination. “I don’t expect you all to go with me but I need to see for myself that Amelie couldn’t survive.”

Caden was quick to answer. “We’ll go with you. We all need that same closure.”

“And we need to finish this, even if everything goes to shit. We have to make sure she didn’t die for nothing,” Bishop said.

A moment of silence carried through the space.

“How are we going to get around Sofie? We all know she’s going to stop us.” With a snort, Julian added, “Viggo was right. She is predictable.”

“She doesn’t decide for us anymore. We decide what we will do and she can agree or not,” I said, studying each of their surprised faces. Maybe because such a statement was coming from me who, in the past, had always given in to Sofie’s requests and demands. Their loyalties to Sofie—never officially consummated through a pledge of allegiance to her—only existed because of their unspoken allegiances to me. And I’d never requested it of them. I simply knew that we were all in this together.

Fiona’s husky voice filled the room, changing the topic. “Julian said you healed him, Evangeline. He said you could heal people. Is that true?” Her violet eyes were piercing, even in the darkness of the mine.

“It would seem so.” I shrugged. “But don’t ask me to explain how because I have no idea.” In the spirit of “no secrets,” I said, “I can also compel vampires.” Fiona, Bishop, and Julian started in surprise. “And I can see Sofie’s magic when she’s casting spells. I saw her forming those bubbles around us back in Manhattan. I just didn’t know what they were.”

Fiona and Bishop shared a look, giving slight nods in agreement. “Could you heal us? Like you did for Julian? It’s not that we don’t care about Amelie,” she rushed to say, furtive eyes flashing to Julian and then to Caden. “It just … hurts a lot right now. If we have to go back in there, we want to do it with clear heads.”

I smiled at her. “Of course I will.”

Caden’s hand squeezed mine. “All of us,” he whispered softly.

It took no thought at all.

Chapter Sixteen – The Fates

“This rift will work to our advantage,” Terra noted as they hovered over the image pool, watching the mortals decide their next steps. To call them “immortal” was preposterous next to true immortality like that of the Fates. “With them apart, the girl may never comprehend what she can do.”

“She has managed to grasp certain concepts quite quickly, and without guidance,” Incendia reminded them drolly. Though he would like to feel pride for his child’s intuition, he knew that that intuition would wreak havoc on this game if it continued.

When Incendia chose the girl as his player in this game, he knew that it was a good move, that it would lead to an impressive confrontation. The Fates so enjoyed confrontation.