I watched the fire of rage alight in Mage’s black eyes as she stared at the body. “Jonah. He’s behind this,” she whispered hoarsely, adding, “I was afraid of this!”
“What? Why? Jonah’s already a mutant,” I said, confused. “He can already get out and you promised he wouldn’t try!”
“No, he wouldn’t defy me on his own. But if he could coerce a group to join him—”
“A group?” A new wave of panic hit me. “You mean there may be more mutants?”
“There most certainly are,” Mage answered. Her voice held no room for doubt.
“I have to find Caden.” What if someone targeted Caden? Or the others? Now it wasn’t just Viggo after him. It could be anyone!
“They’re in the theater,” Mage said. “Go find them and bring them back. We need all the help we can get. I’ll check around the building to see if there are any more bodies. I hope we can stop them before they escape.” I nodded, glad that Mage had swiftly and expertly taken control of the dilemma. She crouched down and shoved the body under the bed. “We’d better keep this under wraps for now. Who knows what Viggo and Mortimer will do when they find out.”
I knew. It would set them over the edge. It would be an excuse to break the truce, a way to force me to drop the Merth wall. Viggo would blame me for all this. He would punish me. He would attack.
I had to get to Evangeline’s friends before anyone else did.
I ran for the theater, bursting through the heavy black doors to see a curly blond head in the front row, giggling hysterically at the comedy on the screen. Three others flanked her. “Oh, thank God!” I exclaimed.
All four were instantly up and facing me, their eyes wide with concern. “Sofie! We’re not supposed to be talking to each other!” Amelie whispered. It was the first time she had spoken directly to me.
I took a deep, calming breath. “We have a problem.”
The icy breeze of a chilly December night caressed my cheek as I stood in the third floor room, staring at the gaping window. The wrought iron grill had served as nothing more than a minor inconvenience; the two center bars had been torn free.
The mutants had escaped.
“How many?” I asked, my voice hollow.
Beside me, Mage let out a heavy sigh. “Five.”
Five bloodthirsty, hideous mutants running loose in New York City. “What a disaster,” I moaned, rubbing my temples with my fingertips as if soothing a headache. If a vampire could actually develop a headache, this nightmare would certainly cause one. “I should have killed him when I had the chance.” I shot a reproachful glare at Mage.
“I agree. This is my fault. Jonah’s allegiance to me over the years was unwavering, which is why I protected him. But now . . . I’m sorry.”
Sorry wasn’t going to cut it. I threw my hand toward their escape route. “But now I have to go out there and hunt down five mutants before they wreak havoc on the city. Before the Sentinel finds out about them!” I was practically yelling now. “How the hell am I going to do that?”
“Get me past the Merth and I’ll help you,” Mage answered calmly.
I snorted. “Are you nuts? I’m not letting you out there!”
“You don’t have much choice, Sofie,” Caden murmured from his spot in the corner, where he’d been quietly observing our exchange. All four of Evangeline’s friends were there, their backs against the far interior wall as if lined up for a firing squad, their faces a row of grief-stricken masks.
“I think I have proven that I can control myself.” Mage folded her arms over her chest, her expression turning icy, eyes as dark as night holding mine. “Get me past these walls and I’ll help you. You have my word.”
“And what value is your word, exactly?”
Rage froze her face. “It is binding and unbreakable.”
I believed her. Instantly. And that terrified me. In the month that I had known her, she had exuded nothing but integrity. And I wasn’t easily fooled. Not like my naïve, sweet Evangeline, who would approach a mewing lion caught in a trap. But still, to let Mage out . . .
“You can’t take on five mutants, Sofie,” Mage added softly. “You will fail. And you will die.”
And then none of you would see the outside of these walls and Veronique will sit in her tomb forever. She was right. Even with my magic, I’d be an idiot to think I could take on five desperate mutants, born from vampires each at least seven hundred years old. I had no choice. I had to take her with me.
I opened my mouth, about to concede, when the door suddenly flew open. I turned. Great. Stalker Barbie, I thought as Rachel stormed in.