by K. A. Tucker
That would be cruel and, from what I’d experienced already, exactly how the Fates liked to play.
No, I couldn’t risk it.
But I certainly wouldn’t fight fair.
A smile of satisfaction bloomed on my face as Viggo’s expression morphed from vengeful to confused to aware to angry to panicked. His eyes darted to the door, to his way out. But there was no way out because Viggo could not move. Because I did not want him to.
Finally … I saw the fear that I longed for. Fear that he had instilled in all of us at one point or another.
I was ready. Opening my eyes, I found myself staring at the back of the white metal door again, the one that would lead us to victory. Everyone’s gazes were on me, waiting, wondering, Sofie’s the most curious. I gave Caden’s hand a sharp squeeze before closing my other hand over the door handle to the lobby.
Sofie sucked in a breath. I know she was desperate to control the situation, to charge out ahead of me. I assured her with a smile. “It’s okay. He’s not going anywhere.”
Caden and I had barely stepped out when the rush of bodies flew past, everyone instantly in defensive mode against the vampire who’d made their lives hell for far too long.
I held Caden’s hand tight, our fingers knit together, as we strolled toward the semicircle of people surrounding the alcove. I kept my steps leisurely, an excited nervousness vibrating through me.
With a deep breath, I forced my way in between Max and Julian, both radiating hatred for the villain who stood frozen, guns still in his hands. His eyes flickered across faces that wore varying degrees of loathing.
“Like a fly caught in a web,” Sofie murmured, matching Mage’s smile. “What’s wrong, has someone caught your tongue?”
As much as I never wanted to hear his voice again, I released his jaw. Words and arrogance poured out of his mouth. “You must know that the witches are watching for your magic. You’ve just led them here with your spell. I’m guessing that combined, they are much more powerful than you.” His focus was on Sofie. Of course. He thought she’d spelled him.
How long did we want to maintain the ruse? Would he be less or more frightened knowing who really controlled him now?
Sofie’s smile only widened, heightening the fury he struggled to conceal but that I could easily sense.
His lips stretched into a vindictive grin as I caught an image of Veronique flashing in his mind. Still bound by merth and lying on a concrete floor, her surroundings dark but quiet, the air tinged with death. “You’ll never find your sister without me. I can promise you that.”
“A cemetery,” I said out loud, tipping my head as he revealed his secrets to me. “An old cemetery in Montreal, Canada.” Panic flittered across his face as I picked through his subconscious. “A crypt.” Viggo’s eyes panned wide as he clued in.
“Evangeline?” I turned to find Sofie’s gaze on me, asking me the unspoken question that I understood perfectly.
I smiled, sure that I could do better than find her.
I was only as limited as my imagination and my needs or wants.
Viggo’s gasp cut through the silence of the lobby as Veronique’s small frame suddenly appeared on the ground by my feet, curled in a ball, her wrists bound behind her back. “That’s not real. She’s an illusion,” he quickly dismissed, but the composed façade was suffering its first irreparable cracks. When Sofie dove forward to tear the merth off with a wince, freeing her sister from her bindings, the façade dissolved entirely. Viggo no longer had any leverage, any reason to be left alive.
Veronique sprang to her feet, her round green eyes taking in all of our faces, the lobby, the vaulted ceiling, the view outside. When they settled on Viggo pinned against the wall, rage ignited in them. With a shriek, she flew at him, nails out, raking across his cheek over and over again. We stood like statues as Sofie’s younger sister mutilated the face of the man she’d once considered spending eternity with.
When Mage finally pulled Veronique away, four deep gouges across his cheek still remained, beginning just below his left eye and running down to his jawline. A hint of blood made its appearance but it wouldn’t have a chance to flow before the wounds healed.
I didn’t want him to heal, I decided, letting my bitterness fester with my creativity.
“Jeez,” Bishop cringed as rivulets of blood rolled down and dropped from Viggo’s flesh. “I bet you forgot what that feels like.”
Viggo said nothing, his baffled attention shifting among Sofie, Veronique, and me. Speechless for the first time ever, likely.
With her moment of wild aggression expelled, Veronique refocused her energy. “Where is Mortimer?” Her French lilt cracked with desperation.
That was a good question.
Her hands flew to her mouth. “Is he okay? Is he—”
Like a ghost coming to life, the tall, dark-haired figure suddenly appeared in front of her, his chocolate-brown eyes blinking several times to take in his new surroundings.
I smiled.
It had been so easy. It took barely a thought.
There really was nothing I couldn’t do.
Chapter Twenty-Nine – Sofie
I knew my mouth hung open but I didn’t attempt to pull it shut.
Mortimer took only seconds to adapt to his new surroundings before pulling Veronique into his chest, his broad frame swallowing her tiny body.
Evangeline stood watching everything unfold with a contented smile. After having her fate controlled by puppet masters for far too long, she had now taken the reins. All of our lives seemed to rest in her hands.
Irony did not adequately describe this turn of events.
“Evangeline?” Golden eyes flashed to me. “Can we deal with him and get out of here?”
Only at my words did Mortimer look up to see the still form pinned against the wall, the open gashes in his face dripping crimson. I imagined they’d never stop unless Evangeline willed it.
“You!” Mortimer roared, lunging for his archenemy. Arguably, Mortimer had suffered the most at Viggo’s hand, having tolerated him for a hundred and twenty years while waiting for Veronique. Perhaps it was only fair that Mortimer would be the one to finally kill him.
“No!” Evangeline called out and Mortimer instantly halted. By the shock on his face, it was not by his choice. “I want him to suffer. Like he has made all of us suffer.”
Mortimer whipped around to glare at her. “Are you nuts? If you leave him alive, no one will ever be safe.”
“He’s right, Evangeline.” What the hell had gotten into her? Why would she want to protect him? Viggo deserved to die. “There isn’t a corner of this world that Caden will be safe in. Tell her, Caden!”
“Let Mortimer do it,” Caden whispered, sliding his hand over her back in a soothing manner. “Or me. Or Amelie. Or anyone else here, if you don’t want to.”
She seemed to be pondering our words.
“Uh, guys? What’s that over there?” Fiona said, turning our attention toward the window, to a distant light in the sky. A second one appeared, rising quickly.
“Lilly? Status report?”
Lilly fumbled for the earbud that now dangled off her ear. With a few rushed words to Isaac, she was able to confirm. “Helicopters are incoming. The soldiers reported the lights on the building.”
“I suppose a perfectly intact and powered building in the middle of a citywide apocalypse would attract attention,” Mage said wryly. “This place will be crawling with military and witches in no time.”
The witches would have no clue how this happened or what it meant. There wasn’t a trace of sorceress magic touching it. That would either scare them enough to back away, or enough to attack full-force.
As much as I enjoyed watching Viggo ensnared, we needed to deal with him and move on. Quickly. “Evangeline. We need to end this. Now.”
“She’s not a cold-blooded killer like you, Sofie,” Viggo murmured with a smile that didn’t reach his arctic blue eyes. Call his renewed comp
osure a last-ditch effort. “She still has a conscience. If it would help you at all, Evangeline, why don’t you release me? I’ll put up a fair fight.”
Evangeline merely stood staring at him. My ears caught the faint sound of helicopter blades. Would they dare try to land?
“Evangeline! We need to end this!” Caden urged, desperation in his voice. No one wanted Viggo alive.
Evangeline closed her eyes. Her hands raised, the ground began to rumble. Everyone’s focus shifted beyond the windows to see the dust kicking up, until nothing could be seen but dirt and darkness. We were cocooned within the building but whatever Evangeline was doing outside was awesome in power and size.
And no doubt, noticeable.
As quickly as the turmoil began, it stopped.
“There. Now they won’t know which building to search,” Evangeline said as we all, except for Mortimer and Viggo, dashed to the windows to take in the view, our jaws gaping open.
Evangeline had rebuilt Manhattan.
Or at least what I could see of it.
Stepping forward until she was mere inches away from Viggo, Evangeline stopped to peer up at him. “I know what you wanted to do to Caden. I saw it.” Her face tightened with pain. “Now, what was that you asked me to do? Release you and you’ll put up a fair fight?”
The vein above Viggo’s eye twitched, a sign that he was suddenly very apprehensive. I was sure he had finally figured out he was not getting out of here alive.
I couldn’t help it. I laughed, a deep bellow that echoed through the cavernous lobby.
Hateful eyes darted to me. “You don’t think you’ll be next, you vile witch?” he spat. “And you,” he glared at Mortimer. “And you,” he threw at Mage. “She is an abomination! Do you think she won’t turn on you eventually? Look at her, already changing.”
“Goodbye, Viggo.” Evangeline stepped away as she spoke, her words flat. She must’ve freed Mortimer’s legs because he suddenly shifted, testing his mobility. When he realized he had it, he looked up at Viggo. A smile stretched across Mortimer’s dark handsome face, one that made Viggo close his eyes.
Mortimer lunged.
And plowed into the wall where Viggo had just been restrained.
“No!” Mortimer screamed, rage flashing as he turned to Evangeline. “What have you done?”
All she offered us was a secretive smile and, “I promise you, he can’t reach any of us ever again.”
I suspected there’d be more questions and shouting matches but they’d have to happen later.
“Fledglings!” Lilly shouted, pointing out the window to dozens of figures darting past. They eyed us but, surely sensing our lack of heartbeat, continued on in a hurry. “How did they get out?”
“Evangeline rebuilt the city.” They would no longer be buried within the tunnels and beneath buildings.
“Well, crap,” Amelie muttered, her shoulders slumping. “Here we go again.”
“What’s the plan? Hunting?” Bishop cocked the gun he’d slung over his shoulder, a grin on his face.
“No. No more risk to any of us. No more of this.” Evangeline stepped forward, her gaze trailing the figures, watching until every last one dropped to the ground.
Dead.
“For the love of …” Mortimer wrapped his arms around Veronique in protection. “Someone please tell me what is going on.”
Evangeline turned to face us and I gasped.
Her eyes, still golden, with the same twinkle that had won my heart when I saw her take her first steps through a patch of wild daisies, now held the slightest iridescent shimmer. “I can undo it all,” she rushed with excitement. “I can give us back everything they’ve ever taken, Sofie!”
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!
As if waiting for my internal thoughts to slow and my shock to even out, the Fate continued, “And live out eternity however you want, with your friends … your beloved …” With a wave of his hand, a thin layer of water formed and shimmered over the giant bowl. Suddenly, faces appeared within. Julian and Amelie, Veronique and Mortimer, Bishop and Fiona … Max … Caden. Everyone we’d left back in the office building in Manhattan. “They’re all very worried about you.”
The image shifted again to show the sky full of helicopters, descending upon the miracle city, the bridges flooded with tanks and Humvees rolling in to investigate. “It doesn’t look like a very safe place, does it?” Incendia said with a pinched face. “And I doubt they’ll be willing to leave anytime soon, waiting for you.” A pause. “You can see them again. Right now, if you want. Rescue them from possible danger. Rid that boy of his agonizing heartache.” As if to emphasize his point, a close-up of Caden’s face appeared again, showcasing the hollowness of his jade eyes.
