Chapter Twenty-Four – Sofie
They had begun traveling in a tight two-by-two formation with Max bringing up the rear.
Whatever was going on, clearly Mage and I were the outsiders.
“What do you think triggered that?” Mage asked.
“No clue, but I’d love to know.” They were obviously worried about something.
“Then let’s find out.” She released a sharp, high pitched whistle—our signal for rounding up for an important decision.
In seconds the group surrounded Mage. “Here.” Mage pointed to a narrow alleyway. “I don’t know about you, but I’m sick of these noisy suits. We can stow them in here for the time being.”
Her fingers curled around her neck to remove her headpiece when Caden said quietly, “You should keep it on.”
Mage paused. “And why is that?”
Lilly—it was impossible to mistake her tiny size, drowning in the suit—maneuvered casually, doing a sweep of our surroundings.
Yes, there was definitely something happening.
“Has Isaac told you something?” So help me God if they were hiding anything from us, I would—
“Viggo is following us,” Evangeline said in a low voice.
The hairs on the back of my neck spiked. “Did you see him?”
“No. But I can feel him. He’s close.”
I felt Mage’s questioning gaze through her mask. No, I couldn’t sense him. Was this real?
Evangeline tilted her head slightly, as if to catch a scent. “He’s watching us right now. He’s … angry. He can’t figure out which one of us is Caden. He’s afraid he’ll lose his chance if he gives too much warning.”
I sighed, but it held no relief. Only a sense of foreboding. I wanted to dismiss Evangeline’s warning as simple paranoia. Everyone was on edge after how quickly things had spiraled out of control with this plan. Again. But after what I’d witnessed with the injured girl, and how Evangeline was able to break the compulsion spell with that soldier, I could not ignore it. If Viggo was in fact lurking in the shadows, that meant our attention was now divided, our safety compromised.
“What do you want to do?” I directed the question to anyone but really, to one.
“I think there’s no way he suspects that we know and we need to keep it that way,” Evangeline said. Slow nods prodded her on. “I think we keep heading toward the subway site and the plan. And when he shows himself …” Her voice suddenly turned hard. “We need to be ready.”
*
Miles of rubble and ash stretched ahead of us, canopied by the remnants of a looming, thick cloud. I imagined that beyond was a sky full of twinkling stars, the likes of nothing New York City had seen in over a hundred years, thanks to its city glow. If any stars existed beyond that cloud, though, they wouldn’t be shining down on us tonight.
In the distance, the edges of the city rose again where the blast’s radius had lost its awesome power. But in between here and there … nothing.
Central Park was gone, not a hint of a tree or statue to identify it.
The tall, luxurious buildings that built the Manhattan skyline, gone.
All evidence of a thriving city, gone.
On the only bright side, there was nowhere for Viggo to hide. But there was also nowhere for us to hide. He could watch us from afar and pounce if we were distracted.
“Where are we exactly?” Julian asked as we stood in a semicircle, taking in the devastation. I could only imagine how much worse it would look in daylight.
I knew that Julian’s question wasn’t so much about where we were as it was about where the broker building from Viggo’s video was. The problem was, I couldn’t answer it.
There wasn’t a single marker left.
I honestly don’t think it mattered. Judging by the fear and the finality in his voice, Julian might have just come to terms with reality.
Amelie could not have survived.
“I don’t see any fledglings,” Lilly murmured, kicking away at a chip of stone.
“They might still be buried deep, if they survived.”
“How will we get to them?” Fiona asked.
Good question. I had planned on using my magic to clear a passage in. Now though, with the witches watching closely, I needed an alternative.