My ears immediately perked up, listening intently. And then I heard it. “Crunching?”
“Yeah.” Caden studied me as his arm relaxed its grip. “Feet, breaking through the snow.”
A slight grimace creased my brow as I waited, curious. A loud crack sounded, a branch snapping under pressure. Heavy feet.
“It’s a black bear. I’ll bet there are a few around these parts.”
Bear? I felt my eyes widen. “Should we be worried?”
Caden snorted and then frowned at me. He paused, still watching me keenly. “Can you sense anything else?”
Obviously I was supposed to. Tightening my face with concentration, I leaned in and listened harder, struggling to quiet that voice in my head that struggled to remember what the rules were for black bears: Play dead, or run? And how fast were bears? Could I outrun it?
And was asking that question normal, or was it a residual of my former human self, lingering as I adapted to the new me?
There.
I heard it.
A faint rhythmic throb. “A heartbeat,” I whispered, in awe.
With each passing second, the heartbeat grew louder, stronger, until I could feel it pounding in my throat. I had to swallow.
“And …?”
And? “What?” I pressed, just as a light gust blew by, carrying with it a strange, sweet scent my nostrils flared to absorb.
I heard the pull of air through Caden’s mouth as he inhaled sharply. An inhale of expectation, perhaps. Seconds later, the air pushed out and he mumbled, “Weird,” under his breath.
Alarms bells rang in my head. “Weird … why?” There wasn’t supposed to be any more “weird” and “huh” and “I wonder what that means?” comments as it related to how I may be impacted by someone’s magic. Between the curse that Sofie had inadvertently placed on me at birth, and the toxic magic coursing through my veins thanks to the Death Tribe, every day up until now had brought some new surprise, some new terror. I’d had enough of “weird.”
This was supposed to be standard.
As standard as being a vampire was, anyway.
“Shit.” Caden pushed a hand through his golden brown hair, sending it into appealing disarray. “Relax. It’s nothing, just …” A mixture of disappointment and worry lingered in his expression, telling me that it was not nothing. “You should have gone after that, Evie.”
Had I just failed a test? “But, it’s not human.”
His gaze shifted out to the tree line. “I know, but an animal that large should have had you running for it. The chase is half the fun.”
I had failed a test. Maybe a big one. Then again, I’d rather be sitting here with Caden than chasing wild animals through the woods. Still, the fact that Caden seemed upset bothered me.
Pulling me into his chest, he wrapped his arm around my shoulder. “You’re still in shock. That’s all it is.” I had the feeling his convincing words weren’t meant for me.
“Yeah, maybe. There’s so much going on right now, I don’t know what to focus on: the new me, the chaos in New York …” I let the fear linger in solemn silence as I rested my head on his shoulder.
The end of the human world.
“It’s actually happening, isn’t it?”
“Sounds like it,” Caden whispered. “I didn’t have the pleasure of seeing the beginning. Amelie and I lived on a ranch in the middle of the country. By the time the chaos reached us, it was already out of control.” He sighed. “I’m so sorry. If we hadn’t come here, then—”
“It would’ve happened eventually,” I interrupted his attempts to lay blame on himself, though I knew the guilt sat heavily on his shoulders. It also sat heavily on mine. “You heard Sofie and Veronique. The witches had been planning this for months. We’d be no better off, had you not come.” That wasn’t entirely true. Veronique would still be in her marble tomb, there’d be no fledglings running around, ravishing the city. Viggo would not be on a rampage. I didn’t need to highlight any of that.
Curling into his comfort, I added, “And I’d just be alone. Or dead.” Selfish, yes, but after all I’d been through, I needed to be selfish, even for just a little while. That meant blocking out worries of my impending blood-crazed state and the end of world, because apparently the Fates had already decided how that would play out. That meant focusing on the here and now.
“Do you regret coming? Having to go through all this again? Everything you were looking forward to is going to be gone. You’ll be back in ratty clothes and living in a cave soon enough.”
Caden smirked. “I never cared about any of that. I would’ve stayed in that hellhole for eternity as long as it meant you were staying with me.”
“I guess you’re going to get your wish because this will be a hellhole soon enough.”
Caden lifted my chin, meeting my eyes, and whispered, “Can we not talk about that for now?”
I nodded. Leaning in, I let my lips settle slightly parted against his jawline, inhaling the scent of his skin, a thousand times more intoxicating than any scents or thrill of pursuits. If anything could make me lose control, it was the guy sitting next to me.
His muscles shifted beneath my mouth. “Is my shirt going to survive this?” The laughter in his tone was unmistakable as he stretched the front of his black shirt to highlight the eight long gashes, courtesy of my razor-sharp fingernails and overzealous urge in the moments after waking. “See? I’m already in ratty clothes,” he joked.
“That was an accident,” I murmured, adding a quiet, “Shut up.” The teasing should’ve turned me scarlet—it always had—but I felt no heat in my cheeks. I grinned. “Hey! I won’t blush anymore!”
Caden pushed me back into the snow, fluffy snowflakes landing and melting on my new thick, long eyelashes. I sensed the dampness and chill beneath me, as well as the instability of the wall itself, but none of it challenged my comfort. His bottom lip brushed against one eye and then the other to catch the flakes before pressing his forehead against mine, his arms settling on either side of my head.
“I’m going to miss that,” he admitted with a hint of sadness, grazing my cheek with the backs of his fingers. “I’m going to miss all of your little human tendencies.”
The smile slid off my face as that reality settled in. Caden had fallen in love with the human version of Evangeline Watts, with her naiveté, her insecurity, her honesty. I wasn’t human anymore. Would that change his feelings for me? Would he decide that I’d changed too much?
He must’ve sensed my worry because he quickly settled his mouth over mine in a slow, deep kiss. “But I’ve got so many other things to look forward to.” He rolled against me, settling into the space between my thighs. I wanted to be closer, though. As close as we were back in France. He shifted into me as my legs coiled around his hips. The sound of rocks tumbling to the ground below barely registered, my focus riveted solely on this creature hovering over me as he pulled my shirt up and over my head.
*
“How was the hunt?” Sofie’s Parisian lilt carried through the forest as she approached the kiln. I shouldn’t be able to see her in the darkness but I could, as if it were daylight, her deceptively delicate frame cloaked in a long, black coat, her red hair a flame against the white backdrop. Max peered up at us, his three hundred pounds of black canine muscle enough to terrify any sane person.
That’s right. Hunting. That’s what we were supposed to be doing for the last few hours. Caden and I shared a look. What would Sofie say when she found out that I hadn’t so much as batted an eye at the black bear, or the two deer that followed? I could blame Caden for distracting me. That would only work for so long, though. As soon as the delivery from the blood bank run arrived, my irregularity would be obvious to anyone watching.
Or maybe my natural urges would suddenly kick in and all this worrying was for nothing. I had to count on that.
“Fine,” Caden lied for me. “How are plans coming along?”
I sensed the atmosphere around us shift in a way I never could as a human, the prickles spiking along my neck as if a presence had invaded the short peace we’d found. “That’s why I came out. Things are escalating faster than we’d anticipated. It’s time to come back inside.”
Her last words hadn’t escaped her lips when Caden’s arm suddenly roped around my waist, surprising me. We flew off the top of the kiln and sailed through the air, landing softly in front of Sofie and Max. Despite the somber mood, I smiled at the grace in which my kind could do that.
Sofie spun on her heels and started back toward the mine.
“When are we heading back to New York?” I asked.
She looked over her shoulder, holding me with her pale mint-green eyes for a long moment, before shifting to Caden. “Tonight.”
Caden tightened his grip on my hand as we pushed through the snow.
So … Why’d you lie to Sofie about the hunting? Max’s deep voice rumbled within my head, interrupting my ability to follow along with external conversation.
“I didn’t,” I answered warily. How did he know?
Now you’re going to lie to me?
“Who says I am?” It was the one-sided conversation of a crazy woman to anyone on the outside, and I was thankful for it. I was so happy that I’d retained ranks of “master” over Max, that I hadn’t lost my ability to communicate with the werebeast. His friendship had preserved my sanity. It would’ve been devastating to lose our special telepathic connection. And, right now, this wasn’t a conversation I wanted Sofie to hear.
Remington. He was out hunting. He said you two didn’t leave the top of that kiln for hours.
“It was quiet.”
Except for the giant bear and two deer.
Of course. One of Max’s brothers was always on a hunt. Those four beasts were chronically hungry and ready to kill.
“I was saving them for you,” I retorted, checking to see that Sofie and Caden were still deep in their own conversation.
You scared them all away, with all that noise you two were making.
Oh my God. This was another moment I’d be as purple as a beet, if capable. “Why would I do that? You’re dreadfully grouchy when you’re hungry.”
He harrumphed but said nothing else as we passed over the ridge, the entrance to the mines within sight.
*
A flurry of harsh words and threatening tones swirled from the tunnel as we trailed Sofie back into the mine, the entrance a forty-five degree slant with a low overhang. There were no lights, no fires—nothing to illuminate the cavernous space—and yet with this new eyesight, I could easily distinguish every form, every face, every scowl.
As usual, Mortimer’s was the most ominous. “We need to stop this now!” His demand ricocheted off the chiseled stone walls.
“She’s overreacting,” Galen said with a sideways glare toward Mage.
“Overreacting?” Several quick steps brought Mortimer and Galen facing off with a mere foot of space between, their stances confrontational. Except for their looming size, they couldn’t look any more different—Mortimer, dark-haired and dressed in a tailored suit, Galen with a blond brush-cut and military fatigues. Mortimer’s arm shot out, his finger pointing at me. Past me, in the direction of the mine opening. “If this continues, the city will be lost within days.”
“Not likely,” Galen argued. “Jonah is the only one with enough control to breed and how many new fledglings can he create in a day? So … a few thousand are killed.” Galen shrugged but he didn’t back down. “We go in, we rid the city of him and his little army. It’s hardly cause for talk of hydrogen bombs.”
My eyes widened. They’re considering nuclear warfare already? Not even forty-eight hours had passed since the slaughter at Viggo and Mortimer’s Fifth Avenue building!
Galen continued, “Besides, fledglings aren’t causing this mess. They’re not nearly controlled enough. That psychopathic friend of yours is. If we should be hunting anyone, it’s him.”
“We have never been friends,” Mortimer spat back, but then paused to dip his head, tempering his manner in the act. “But I agree. He must be stopped.” I could only guess that they were talking about Viggo.
“What has he done now?” Caden called out.
Several heads turned to regard us. “You mean besides rampant murder and pillaging?” Galen answered.
I already knew about that. Unfortunately. Apparently, Viggo hadn’t wasted any time. Soon after he learned of Veronique’s release from the statue and that she had chosen Mortimer, he left a trail of bodies throughout Manhattan, terrorizing the city. News reports talked of a Christmas serial killer.
“Two hours ago, he walked into a press conference with national coverage and murdered the city’s mayor on live television,” Sofie explained.