Anomaly (Causal Enchantment #4)(6)
Mage remained calm and unreadable, her slight form so still, she appeared frozen. That is, until her black, almond-shaped eyes shifted to Sofie. I saw fire in them. A silent exchange passed between the two women—the strangest of friends.
And then Mage exploded.
“Enough!” The trill of her voice caused a sharp pain in my eardrum. Silence fell as everyone turned to her, the most lethal being in the room. More lethal than Sofie armed with all of her magic, perhaps.
“Allow me to explain, seeing as you’ve never watched the demise of a human world before.” Mage stepped forward, though her normally smooth cadence was now laced with sharpness. She smoothed her long, poker-straight, jet-black tresses. Such a feminine thing to do and such a contradiction to the discussion at hand. “Jonah started building his little army weeks ago, the second he escaped. I’m sure he was stupid enough to think he could control it. Regardless of whether he continues creating more—and I would hope that he doesn’t, given he knows what the risk is—I would bet my existence that there are at least a hundred of our kind running through the streets already.”
“A hundred against a population of over eight million. Yes, I see the need to obliterate the entire city,” Galen interjected. How Lilly kept him around as her advisor—and, truly, like family—I had yet to figure out. I certainly hadn’t found a single redeeming quality in him, aside from his devotion to Lilly.
“With an endless supply of humans,” Mage continued, ignoring Galen’s doubt, “they will feed and kill with crazed abandon. Though we haven’t seen more than a few fledgling attacks to date, it will certainly come. And it will come quickly. The mere chaos will feed into their frenzy.”
“So we go and kill them. They’re fledglings! Ripe for the plucking!” Kait exclaimed, her arms raised in exasperation.
I felt the air in the room shift as a muscle in Mage’s jaw twitched, her patience wearing thin. Though I had yet to witness it, Caden had explained the speed and ruthlessness in which Mage was known to dispatch those in her way. If we didn’t need Galen and Kait, their hearts would likely have been torn from their chests by now.
“The army, infiltrated with People’s Sentinel, will be called in to take aggressive defensive measures shortly.” Mage’s severe brow arched as she took in the circle. “They will fight with guns that shoot explosive bullets because, thanks to the Sentinel, they are already well educated that they can kill us with fire. That’s when the fledglings will sense the true threat.” A delicate hand raised, two fingers held up. “And that’s when two things will happen: the fledglings will flee. Like vermin, they will scurry to safety. And, then … they will begin to evolve. Much more quickly than anything you’ve ever seen.” Mage’s every step was followed as she began to pace. “They will stop solely feeding and they will begin to breed.”
“Seven hundred years has skewed your reality,” Galen cut in. “Fledglings don’t evolve that rapidly. Go and take a look at those two back there to remind yourself.” He jutted a thumb deeper into the mine, piquing my interest. Was he talking about Julian and Veronique?
Mage moved so fast that, even with my new reflexes, I missed her close the distance. The next thing I saw was Galen on his knees, a gurgled cry escaping his gaping, bloody mouth as Mage tossed what appeared to be his tongue onto the ground.
I involuntarily curled my tongue, stealing a look Lilly’s way to see her watching with wide eyes. The entire ordeal lasted no more than three seconds, and then Galen was back on his feet, wiping the blood off his chin with his sleeve, his tongue having reformed itself in his mouth.
His vicious glares didn’t stop Mage from continuing. “It’s a natural reaction for our kind when faced with a real threat to strengthen in numbers, to preserve the species. It’s instinctual. Even you, who are impotent, must understand.” Only the slightest of smiles divulged Mage’s pleasure with the barb against those in the room incapable of transforming humans.
Galen sniffed with disdain but said nothing. I assumed he’d learned his lesson.
Her comment sparked another question—I had so many questions, it was hard to focus on what was being said here—was I impotent? Or was my venom intact? Did I even have venom? I slid my tongue along my incisors, imagining myself sinking my teeth into someone. I winced. No, that didn’t appeal to me at all.
Mage turned her back to us, her eyes now on the night beyond the entrance to the mine. “For every five humans killed, one new vampire will be born. It will quickly be two to one. The world is already watching New York. There are already countless reports of vicious animal-like attacks. Pictures and videos of Viggo and Bishop slaughtering the Sentinel are already floating around the Internet.” If only the witches hadn’t taken down the illusionary wall, then such obvious proof wouldn’t exist! “Today, people don’t believe what they’re seeing and hearing. They think it’s a hoax. Doctored images. By tomorrow, people will begin to panic, asking themselves if this is a virus turning people into savages, wondering when it will spread to their cities, to their homes. In mere days, worldwide pandemonium will erupt, just as our kind establishes itself for a countrywide sweep. Once that happens, it cannot be contained.
“If we wait, we will not be able to stop this. If we do not take drastic measures, we will not be able to stop this. I have seen it. I have lived it, firsthand. I know. And, as much as I wish I would be wrong in this, I have not been so far.” She paused. “It’s the city or the entire world. There will be no in-between.”