Anomaly (Causal Enchantment #4)(60)

“These soldiers heading in will be working from search grids. Stay clear of them. There will be Sentinel mixed in with them and they will have guns that can kill you. And keep your suits on. Otherwise you may be mistaken for a fledgling and shot. If anyone fires at us, we kill swiftly. No mercy. Do not stop for anything until we are past the tunnel. Follow me to …” Sofie’s instructions—a repeat of what we had already decided—faded into the background as an unnerving twinge caught my attention.

Like a sixth sense.

A warning, of someone watching us.

Without turning my head, my eyes searched faces and bodies in the vicinity through the tiny window of my mask. I saw no one that made me wary.

And yet I somehow knew in my gut that Viggo was near.

“Okay, let’s go!” Sofie’s voice kick-started my legs as we dashed out, moving too quickly for any human eye to capture.

I closed in on Caden as we ran through the Holland Tunnel and into destruction.

Chapter Twenty -Two – Sofie

I did this.

With each step, with each mile covered, I bore witness to the destruction caused by my order. The scene back at the military base was grim enough, but now we were facing a wasteland of toppled buildings, smoldering fires, and people who’d needed to find cover in order to survive.

And hadn’t.

Even at our speeds, even in utter darkness, I couldn’t put blinders on and ignore the corpses.

Still, I tried.

“Eve!” Caden bellowed behind me. I stopped and turned in time to see Evangeline veering off the street to a city bus parked on the side, pulling off her mask. She let it drop to the ground as she ripped open the doors and climbed in.

“What is she …” I muttered, turning back and cutting over, wary of the distant headlights. The military was cordoning off and sweeping across, section by section, and while they were one main street away and we were in obscurity, the last thing I wanted to do was attract attention.

It wasn’t until twenty feet away that I heard the small heartbeat and instantly knew.

“Oh, Evangeline.” I sighed. On the one hand, it was promising that she hadn’t lost her sense of compassion. On the other hand, there wasn’t much she could do for anyone here. If they survived the blast, they certainly wouldn’t survive the effects of radiation.

I was the last to reach the bus, Evangeline’s friends having made it perfectly clear that they were one unit that would not be separated. Max stood within the shadows, watching.

“Please convince her that we don’t have time for this, Caden!” I pleaded but he waved my protests away with a dismissive hand, his focus on her.

When Evangeline stepped out again, it was with a girl of about ten in her arms, her limbs and cheeks marred with burns, her hair matted with dried blood from numerous lacerations, likely from exploding glass. She was alive and alert, though clearly in shock.

“I found her hiding under the seat,” Evangeline explained, turning her attention to the girl. “What’s your name?”

“Susan.” The girl’s voice was scratchy, as if desperate for water.

Evangeline spied an unsightly wound on the girl’s forearm and my stomach tightened. Would this be the moment when the uncontrollable urges hit? Would that be the latest twist in the Fates’ sick game?

All around us, smoldering fires suddenly flared, flames sprouting from the ashes to dance and twirl in a mesmerizing dance. I glanced at Mage to see that the ancient vampiress had pulled off her mask. Her eyes were glued to Evangeline, wide like I’d never seen before. It wasn’t until the girl’s wounds began to pale and then fade that I clued in.

Evangeline had healed the girl.

Without the use of magic.

At least, without the use of my kind of magic.

“When I leave, you will not remember me,” Evangeline said in a commanding voice as she released Susan from her grip. The girl held her arms out, her mouth hanging open she took in her unblemished forearm. “You were in the basement of a building during the blast and just came out. Now, let’s get you to safety.” Scooping her up, Evangeline took off toward the very lights I wanted to avoid.

Dammit.

“That is not sorceress magic coursing through her,” Mage hissed as everyone took off after her. “There were no strands, no glow, no—”

“I know.”

“And if it is not sorceress magic, then …”

“What is it?” I finished for her.

“And how powerful is it?”

That was the question. What was Evangeline capable of?

Chapter Twenty-Three – Evangeline

We couldn’t just leave the poor girl to wander through the pitch-black streets, especially not when there was help so close by.

I heard Sofie’s shouts but I ignored her, knowing this wasn’t part of the plan. It was the right thing to do. Caden and the others tailed close behind, in case of trouble. I didn’t expect any. I’d drop the girl off with the next army vehicle and they could take over. That’s why the army was here.

To rescue survivors.

She weighed nothing and it took me all of ten seconds to track down a truck. I slowed before the headlights caught me, the Humvee coming to a squeaky stop. Beams of light suddenly hit us from atop the truck as several armed soldiers hopped off the back, their guns lowered but held as they ran around.