Chapter Nineteen – Sofie
“I will burn every last one of those sorceresses where they stand,” I growled, launching the wobbly kitchen chair against the cupboards. Wood splintered in every direction, the loud crack like a gunshot in the silence.
“We need to be smart,” Mage counseled, sliding her own chair out calmly, unperturbed by my tantrum. “They may have figured out that we were behind the bombing, but they do not know whether we’re going to venture into the city again. The last thing we want to do is let them know that we’re going back in. They’ll be the ones to push the button this time.”
Air hissed through my teeth. A second bombing? Would they do that? Yes, they would. I’d never tested my magic against a nuclear weapon, but I think I could safely say it wasn’t strong enough to stop it.
“Perhaps we should send another bomb in to eliminate any remaining fledglings,” Mage muttered, the front door banging against its frame in the background. “If the ones in the tunnels have broken free, it could be an easier way to rid ourselves of them.”
“No!” Julian barked as the long processional of bodies filled the spacious kitchen. “What if Amelie is still alive! What if she’s trying to get out? So help me, Sofie, if you do something so callous again, I will rip your—”
“We have lost the opportunity, regardless,” Lilly cut in sharply, disrupting Julian’s very clear threat. “The ballistics submarine was flagged as compromised and destroyed eight minutes after the release of the bomb. Isaac barely got off.”
“There are more submarines.” Mage said, brow arched. I knew what she was trying to communicate. “See? This is why you can’t have a democracy when impossible decisions need to be made. Too many emotions involved.” Little did she know that I was done making the impossible decisions on my own. The long night sitting at the kitchen table had allowed me time for silent reflection. It is where I realized that losing Evangeline was more than I could bear. Perhaps this silent vow makes me weak and selfish. Perhaps Terra should not have selected me as her player if she had any intention of winning. I would gladly wear those labels if it meant not losing Evangeline forever.
Lilly’s face settled on me. She wore the same unnerving mask that she wore through our first meeting in Paris, when I couldn’t tell if she was deciding to answer or attack. “I will not authorize any more missiles unless that is what Evangeline wants.”
“And I won’t want that,” Evangeline said, her piercing yellow eyes landing on me, as if evaluating my reaction.
“Then we will not be unleashing any more nuclear missiles,” I stated firmly. There was no missing the eye twitch, the grit of her teeth. Evangeline didn’t believe me. There was nothing I could do about that. I’d just have to prove it. If it took me a thousand life times, I would keep trying. I would never give up.
In a wide sweeping motion, I cleared the newspapers, the loose cutlery, a few random glasses—evidence that humans once lived here and participated in things that didn’t involve strategizing against the end of the world—off the table. Everything fell to the floor except a box of children’s cereal.
Dumping the colorful rings out, I dropped into a spare seat and began sorting the colors. I needed a visual plan. “Purple is Sentinel, green is sorceresses, yellow is army, orange are the wolves, and we,” I placed a pile of blue rings in the middle of the table, “are here.”
“We’re planning an attack with Froot Loops?” Bishop muttered, his natural wide smirk like a breath of air.
“No.” I locked eyes with Evangeline again. “We’re planning to end the war with Froot Loops. And we’re going to do it together.”
“How?” Caden slipped an arm around her waist. A reminder that they were a package deal, a warning that he wouldn’t let me hurt her again.
“Simple. We go in. We get rid of the fledglings buried within the subway tunnels. And then we kill every one of those sorceresses.”
And the Fates will never have a reach into our world again.