Anomaly (Causal Enchantment #4)(72)

And voices suddenly filled my thoughts.

How long will this take? A female asked.

Not long, I expect. Look at their rage, a male answered.

We must send her back immediately after. This is dangerous, another female demanded.

She will go back immediately. And then I will crush her world and she can be no more harm to us.

I gasped. The Fates could communicate telepathically with each other and somehow, with that one touch, I was now eavesdropping on them!

I knew their plan. Sofie was right; they had lied. They had no intention of letting me live my life in peace.

Their faces contorted with panic. They had figured out that I could hear their private conversation. But, how was that possible?

Sofie’s words hit me.

Because I shared their same power.

And they didn’t give it to me. I was somehow harmful to them.

“We should not have brought her here!” Terra screamed. The ground shook as she lifted her hands. A wall of thick, black soil suddenly formed behind her, bursting from the ground with force that would swallow anything in its path.

Each Fate quickly followed suit, forming walls of scorching fire and turbulent wind and a whirlpool of water, expanding until their borders joined, the deafening sound rattling my entire body, crippling my ability to think. A united front, they glided closer, deliberately, as if capturing a dangerous threat.

Even against the earsplitting noise, Sofie’s last words demanded my attention and I fought to latch on to them. I could fight them, she had said.

But how?

My chest constricted but then released as their walls closed in, as I began to feel the heat of fire on my back and the suffocation of soil over my head. They were going to consume me with their power. I was going to die here. I would not get to live out the peace I so desperately wanted, or say goodbye to my friends. I would die, and Sofie would die. And for what? A game?

I closed my eyes as that intoxicating feeling still lingering within me began to bubble, thriving off the fear that the Fates had created in this vacuum of power, driven by an even more commanding need: revenge. I’d suffered at the hands of Viggo and Rachel, of the Sentinel and the witches, even at the hands of Sofie. But none of them were the real threat.

The Fates had always been the true threat.

I didn’t want to fight them. I wanted to choose my own fate.

I wanted them gone.

The noise suddenly vanished.

I inhaled deeply before I dared open my eyes …

I was surrounded by a white nothingness. The large bowl stood before me, thousands of tiny worlds quietly waiting.

The jungle was gone.

As were the Fates.

A moment of alarm hit me until I zeroed in on the pedestal to see the marble sitting atop it again. With merely a thought, I stood before it, marveling at its size, wondering how it was possible that something so small could contain everything that I could ever want within it.

I was just about to touch it when something fluttered behind me.

I turned to find hundreds of butterflies appear out of the nothingness, their iridescent wings glimmering through rays of sunshine, though where the sun was, I could not see.

Iridescent like the Fates’ eyes. Was this a trick? False hope?

I watched with suspicion as one landed atop the pedestal, unfolding its wings to stand tall.

I gasped.

“Hello, Evangeline,” the miniature woman greeted.

Glancing around, I saw that each butterfly had a tiny, human-like body hiding within the expanse of her wings. Faeries?

“You may call us that,” she said. A musical giggle carried and multiplied as each mimicked the sound, until a beautiful, calming melody filled my ears.

“What are you doing?” I asked as I watched them dive into the bowl, plucking worlds and flying away, disappearing into nothingness.

“We are removing the worlds that the previous wardens let die. Do not despair. As new warden, you will have fresh worlds.” Gesturing above, I looked to see more faeries appear, colorful marbles within their grasp.

I didn’t understand her words. “Warden?”

Another giggle. “Yes, you are the new warden of this realm, which is under my dominion. I have deemed it to be so. You will protect and serve as my last wardens failed to do.” Her pretty face pinched. “With the almost limitless authorities granted and long periods of time, wardens sometimes lose sight of their true roles. They behave badly. That is why I gave you all four elemental powers to destroy them. A rather fitting end to their game, would you agree?” She leapt up in the air and twirled before landing again. “Their time had come. As single warden, there will be no need for power struggles or games in the future, correct?”

“Uh …” I faltered.

“Do not worry. You will grow accustomed to your new role. You will do well in it.”

Her confidence in me did not transfer. “I don’t know the first thing about … this … any of this. This is a mistake.” A role like this was more suited to Sofie.

Sofie!

Caden!

I immediately dropped to scan the surface of the bowl. How did I make that screen appear? Were they okay? Would I see them again?

“So many questions,” the faery laughed, obviously able to read my mind. As if choreographed, the faeries lifted off in unison, the one speaking joining them.

They were leaving.

“Wait!” I cried out. “But … I’m alone!” I frantically searched the white nothingness around me.