It wasn’t until Julian came down, freshly showered and changed, his hair still dripping, that I pried myself away from my big guardian. “Hang out with him,” I whispered.
A half smirk responded, the sadness visible in Julian’s rich brown eyes. “Who else would I hang out with?”
If I were capable of crying, I might at this point. Giving Julian’s arm a squeeze, I made my way upstairs. Julian’s sweatshirt and jeans were scattered across the floor of the first room and Fiona’s soft giggles told me to avoid the second closed door. I quietly opened the third, knowing that Sofie and Mage had remained in the kitchen so there was only Caden left.
This had to be the master bedroom, I surmised, my eyes rolling over its spaciousness, large enough to accommodate two dressers and a large bed. As if to fit the farm feel, the walls were covered in floor-to-ceiling wallpaper of dusty-rose and green flowers. Matching curtains draped the windows.
I quickly dismissed the details when a full-length mirror in the corner caught my attention. I stood in front of it, seeing myself in my immortal body for the very first time.
“Holy …” My words trailed as I peered back at myself through my new yellow eyes. Vibrant gold coins, so bright they shimmered, even in the dark. No wonder everybody stares at me. A ran a fingertip along the bridge of my smooth nose and my cheekbones, just slightly more prominent. Twirling a few strands of hair, I had to admit that even it had changed—its color richer, its texture thicker. And my body …
The shower in the adjoining bathroom was still running so I knew I had time. I quickly peeled my clothes off, casting them to the floor to join Caden’s. I couldn’t recall the last time I stood in front of a mirror like this but I did know that my body had looked nothing like this. It was still my body, only curvier. My legs were still long and lean, only there was no softness, the silhouette of my thighs shapely. Parts of me had filled out more while other parts had tightened. Thinking back to that first time I wore a bikini next to Amelie and Fiona, I had to admit to myself that I could stand next to them without feeling awkward now. I could—
A whistle interrupted my self-examination.
I froze.
Leisurely footsteps approached but I didn’t turn around, suddenly feeling all the awkwardness and none of the confidence that I’d been reminiscing about only moments ago.
“You were stunningly beautiful before too,” Caden said in a low voice. He pressed himself up against me, droplets of water dampening my back, the towel around his bottom half soft against my skin. Rich jade eyes, deeper than usual, penetrated mine in the reflection. He pulled me against his chest with his well-defined arms. “Are you happy with what you see?”
With a sheepish grin, I admitted, “Yes.” A pause and then, “Are you?”
His low chuckle tickled my ear, sending waves of exhilaration through me. Pulling me tighter against him against the hardness under his towel, he mumbled, “What do you think?”
I turned to face him. His hair was in disarray, merely towel dried. I reached up to touch a strand. “And these eyes?” I asked.
We didn’t need to breathe and yet we did, our heavy exhales creating billowing clouds within the room. “Which ones? These ones?” I closed my eyes as he leaned forward, first to kiss one lid and then the other, before closing his mouth over mine, the kiss so deep that it forced my head back.
I inhaled the scent of his musky soap. “You’re so clean. I’m not.” Some of the blood and ash from Caden had rubbed off onto me, leaving streaks of soot and crimson.
Sweeping me off the ground, Caden carried me to the adjoining bathroom, a sly smile curving his lips. “I could always use a second shower.”
*
“How will the world move forward after this?”
Staring out the small farmhouse window at the morning sky beyond, the ominous cloud hovering over the distant decimated city had begun to dissipate. Unfortunately, the aftermath would not disappear so easily.
“I don’t know,” Caden offered, pulling a simple black shirt over his head. “There never was just one nuclear bomb drop for us and Ratheus never did move forward. I guess only time will tell.”
“I read somewhere that radioactive particles released into the air will travel miles, polluting everything they touch.” My eyes rolled over the snow-covered farmland in the distance. “None of this will be livable for years, will it?”
Caden sighed. “No. Probably not.”
“Do you think she did the right thing?” I’d already asked this question once, and yet the answer we’d come to didn’t necessarily sit well with me. Then again, nothing about this situation sat well with me.
The bed creaked as Caden relieved it of his weight. “I really don’t know, Evie.” His heavy boots clunked along the old wood floorboards as he approached me. He leaned down to rest his forehead against the back of my head, his arms roping around my body. “I can’t bring myself to admit it because it’s Amelie, but …” He paused. “If we go in there and find that the fledglings are dead and this war has been stalled, then maybe it was the right move and losing my sister was the cost.”
I leaned against him, my hand on his forearm for a sympathetic rub. It was the same thought that’d been lingering in my mind all night. But as Caden had said, just considering it to be true ignited guilt. Maybe that was our burden to bear, though.
How much guilt was Sofie bearing right now?
A flicker of movement in the distance caught my attention. Squinting, I peered out at the figure as it crested the horizon. Almost a blur, moving so quickly, but there was only one person it could be.
“Lilly!” we said in unison. She’d been gone for almost seven hours.
Three more figures crested that same ridge then, and my relief faded. Were they chasing her? I couldn’t tell, but they were moving fast. Too fast to be human. Would fledglings chase? Would Lilly run from them?
“Who are they?” Panic set in. It was only amplified seconds later as a blur of movement trailed them—not human figures, not nearly as fast, but certainly approaching.
Caden and I raced to the main floor. Out of habit, I hollered, “Sofie!” as we stormed out the front door, down the rickety old stairs, flying forward. Everyone was coming after us in seconds, Bishop in only pants.
Sofie and Mage appeared immediately to join us in our charge down the long driveway. We crossed paths with Lilly where the mile-long driveway met an old dirt road. “Weapons!” she announced, slinging a duffel bag almost as long as she was tall off her back.
“Lilly, you’re being followed,” Sofie rushed, her green eyes narrowing as she searched the landscape.
“I know.” Her tiny face split into a broad smile. There was no need to provide an explanation, though. We understood immediately when three tall, military-looking men came into view. The three living members of Lilly’s council. They had made it off the submarine after all.
Bishop’s laughter bellowed in the quiet morning. “You found them?”
“They found me. They figured I’d be skulking around the action.” Lilly giggled, her genuine happiness a bright light in our gloom.
Without a word, they smoothly dropped their own duffel bags with thuds.
“Hazmat suits,” Lilly explained. “Everyone’s wearing them. It’ll help get through the lines without drawing attention.”
“Lilly, who else followed you here?” Mage asked, her shrewd black eyes dissecting the empty fields ahead.
“Wolves,” Isaac announced in a deep voice, proving to me that he could in fact talk. His stony expression didn’t ease as he added, “They are slow.”
Sofie’s eyes lit up with that news.
“Kiril’s and Ivan’s men tailed the witches up from Boston,” Lilly elaborated. “They’ll be here soon.” Her smile fell with her next words. “They didn’t know about Kiril and the others.”
We shared an impromptu moment of silence for the group who’d probably suffered the most in all of this.
“Are they still willing to work with us?” Sofie asked, her words hesitant.
“Yes. They are. In honor of Kiril and Ivan.”
Sofie dipped her head once in response.
“So the witches have their hooks in the military,” Mage stated, her tone clearly not a questioning one.
“The leaders, yes,” Lilly confirmed.
Sofie and Mage shared a hard look.
“Did they figure out that you were there?” Mage asked.
Lilly’s face flashed with the look of a petulant child. I pursed my lips to keep from laughing out loud. “No one ever knows when I’m there, unless I want them to.”
Sofie sighed. “You are invaluable, Lilly. Thank you.” She turned back toward the house but then stopped. “We’re going in tonight, at nightfall.” She scanned all of our faces, resting on mine for a moment longer than the others. “Let’s decide on our strategy. Together.” She didn’t wait for our agreement before beginning the long trek, her steps slow and lackluster.
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.