Anomaly (Causal Enchantment #4)(70)
I wanted to ask her what she meant. I wanted to ask her how she knew. I wanted to know if she’d forgiven me, if she would let me be a part of her life.
I wanted to say so many things, but I lost my chance. I was suddenly falling into eternal darkness, my name on her lips the last thing I heard.
I knew this place.
I’d been summoned here once before.
Chapter Thirty – Evangeline
The sound of gushing water was my first clue that I’d been yanked out of Manhattan. Again.
“Dammit, Sofie!” I cracked my eyelids to find a tall canopy of jungle trees hanging overhead. Heat from the sticky air crawled over my neck. Unfamiliar birds called out from somewhere unseen. A welcome or a warning, I couldn’t tell. How the hell had she transported me? Why?
I sat up and found myself on a riverbank overlooking dark water, mottled with green algae on the surface. I instantly knew where I was.
“These were happy times, were they not?” a familiar ethereal voice called out behind me, the sound almost like chords of an instrument, the way they carried together.
I was on my feet and turning in an instant.
Four sets of beautiful kaleidoscopic irises sparkled as the godlike creatures watched me from around a large, bowl-shaped pool, their white gossamer gowns flowing as if touched by a breeze. Their features resembled a human’s, though there was something entirely distinctive. I couldn’t deny them their unique beauty.
The Fates. I’d met them once before.
When I spotted the figure standing off to the side, her mint-green eyes shifting warily between us, I felt my face flitter with shock.
They’d brought Sofie, as well.
What was going on?
As surprised as I was at this unexpected summoning, I couldn’t help but scan our surroundings once again, nostalgia seizing my emotions. It was the very spot Caden and the others had taken me, the day we left the caves for the first time. The day Caden picked a bunch of daisies from atop the mountain and I laid them down on the riverbank. My eyes darted to the very spot. A pile of fresh, white flowers lay there.
This was obviously an illusion.
“Yes, it is. We thought it might help you as you have to make your choice,” one of the two male Fates said as he stepped forward. It was the one who had granted my wish for immortality, his gold-spun hair flowing around his shoulders as if weightless.
Can you still read my mind?
Yes, came the answer, followed out loud by, “Hello, my child. My name is Incendia. I’m glad you remember me.” His greeting sounded like a lullaby. But knowing who I was facing, I didn’t feel at all soothed. I certainly didn’t trust them.
“You can trust us,” Incendia tsked, picking through my silent thoughts.
The hairs along the back of my neck stood. Much like Viggo must have felt when I rooted around in his head. Though, I didn’t have any sinister plans.
“You have changed since we last saw you.”
“Why did you give me these powers?” I blurted out.
Incendia’s paper-thin eyebrow arched. “Do you not like them? Would you like them taken from you?”
“No, they’re great,” I answered truthfully. “I just don’t understand why.”
His lips twisted with displeasure before smoothing out. “Let us discuss more important things with you.”
“Okay …” If I’d learned anything, it was that the Fates were conniving creatures and I should be suspic—
All four sets of eyes narrowed, telling me they were reading my thoughts and not at all amused. “Why am I here?” I asked aloud.
Incendia smiled, but the mirth never touched his eyes. “Because she brought you.” His long fingers stretched to point at Sofie.
“You liars! I did not help you bring her here!” Sofie’s sudden shriek sent a flock of birds rushing from the trees.
A clucking sound filled the air. “Do you not stop lying to the poor girl, ever?” Another Fate—this one female—stepped down from the platform, earning Sofie’s scathing glare. “The last time you were here, you asked for two requests, and you agreed to a catch.”
Sofie growled. “Are you telling me Evangeline was the catch, Terra?”
If Sofie’s demeanor bothered them, they didn’t let on. “To be honest, we didn’t know what the catch was when we made the deal. If you haven’t noticed, we like to make open-ended decisions. Thankfully for us, it worked out rather well,” the one Sofie called Terra explained.
A chorus of spine-chilling laughs made me shudder.
“What do you want from me?” I said, feeling like a mouse about to be batted around by cats.
“It isn’t what we want from you so much as what you will want from us,” the second male said, hopping onto one of the narrow walls that divided the marbles into various sections. He moved with the grace of a tightrope walker, stopping at a pedestal in the center to pick up the lone marble set on top. With a grin and a bow, he spun around and headed back the way he’d come. “Do you want the chance to go back to your world—” He held up the marble and the blue and green swirls caught my attention. My eyes widened. My world. He held Earth in his fingertips? Dropping my gaze to examine the giant bowl, the thousands of tiny colorful marbles divided into sections, I finally comprehended what I was looking at. Worlds! All of them were worlds!