Chapter 6 #2
What could I say to bring her back? How could I fix this?
The door to the Healer’s room burst open. Hillary Hugh, the red-haired Healer we’d found after portaling back with Emma, walked in briskly. “Good afternoon Mr. Walker,” she said, all calm. “Any changes?”
I shook my head. “She’s still out.”
Hillary sighed softly. “That’s to be expected. She’s severely dehydrated, hypoglycemic, suffered from hypothermia and sleep deprivation. Among other things. She was lucky you found her when you did. Another hour and she might not have made it.”
Fuck. That was hard to hear.
“If she doesn’t wake up on her own, we’ll wake her in a few hours. Until then, let her sleep. Her body obviously needs it.”
I gave her a tight nod as she left the room, the words still trapped in my throat.
Leaning my elbows on my knees, I stared at her pale face, searching for some sign she was still with me. “Don’t worry, sweetheart,” I whispered to her ear. “I’m not leaving you this time.”
How many times had I godsdamn promised her so? How many times had I let her down?
A firm knock on the door shattered my thoughts.
Without leaving her side, I shot out my haze and unlocked the door.
Caden stood there, dark and broad, his eyes wild with barely contained frenzy. The cold, calculated edge was gone. He almost looked human, finally. Like a man on the verge of losing it. And for his sake, I wished I cared. But I didn’t.
He cleared his throat, the question clearly burning. “How is she?”
I shrugged. “Still asleep.”
“We need to talk.”
“I’m busy.”
“James.” His tone held a warning, one I wasn’t in the mood to entertain. I glanced up, meeting his gaze. His jaw was clenched, impatience radiating off him, but whatever else was burning inside him was important enough to push past his desire to rip my head off. That alone made me pause.
With a heavy sigh, I reluctantly let go of Emma’s hand and stood.
Caden stepped aside, motioning me into the hallway. Once we were in the adjoining room, he sealed it off, his black haze rippling through the air, ensuring no one could overhear us.
I crossed my arms. “What is it?”
Caden didn’t waste a second. “I have Crown Offensives deployed across the United States. When I first arrived here, I redirected five of them to Boston. They just got me some intel on Emma’s last known location.”
“Her parents’ house?” I asked, feeling a knot form in my gut.
He nodded once to confirm.
“What kind of intel?”
He exhaled sharply. “What they found was fucking horrendous. Bits and pieces of people, blood everywhere. The entire ground floor was blown to pieces. Human authorities were already on the scene, investigating.”
“What?” I hissed, my pulse spiking. “Who the hell attacked the house?”
“As far as my team could reconstruct…Emma.”
I let out a disbelieving, humorless laugh. “Emma? My Emma, attacking her own home? Yeah, that’s unlikely.”
Caden’s jaw tightened, but he let my possessive remark slide. “Saoirse hacked into US securities. Picked up chatter about the mass murder of soldiers, sent to her parents' house to arrest Emma Thompson.”
“What? Why the hell were they after her?”
The asshole shrugged. “All I know is she’s been branded an enemy of the state. There’s a national warrant for her arrest. And after killing almost a dozen soldiers, that warrant isn’t going anywhere.”
I felt my heart drop, my mind racing with questions, but I forced myself to focus. “Okay, I’ve got a thousand questions about that, like why, but first… What about her parents? Where are they?”
Caden hesitated—only for a second—but it was enough to send a wave of dread through me. “It looks like her parents were among the casualties.”
The blood rushed to my head, and my fists clenched. “Are you insinuating Emma blew up her own fucking parents?”
“No. But it’s pretty damn clear she’s responsible for the others.”
I shook my head in disbelief. “I don’t believe it. The US was already bubbled in. How would she have survived that?”
“Hell if I know,” Caden replied, frustration leaking into his voice. “Maybe the same way she survived the Amplifier? Maybe it’s all that Elder-power protecting her, keeping her alive through things that should kill her? Maybe because her translation is different? Your guess is as good as mine.”
“Jesus.” I leaned against the wall, trying to steady myself. Hearing it said out loud made it worse, it made it real. “Are you sure it was Emma?”
Caden nodded grimly. “There’s no doubt.”
I fought to keep myself steady. “How do you know?”
“The way the bodies were blown apart,” he said, his tone flat. “It was done by translation in the Human World, but it wasn’t traceable. Know anyone else who can do that?”
I clenched my fists tighter, anger and disbelief swirling inside me. “No. No one else.” I swallowed hard, the image of Emma standing amid the carnage flashing through my mind. I knew what she was capable of, but this...this was beyond anything I’d imagined.
Caden’s demeanor softened, a rare crack in his usual detachment. “She must’ve been cornered, James. Probably had no other choice.”
“Or maybe she just snapped,” I muttered, barely able to keep the bitterness out of my tone. But I knew Caden was right. Emma wasn’t a killer. Not by choice. Not unless she was pushed too far.
Caden took a step closer, his expression hardening again. “Whatever happened, whatever she did, whether she snapped or not, we protect her. Do you understand me?”
I met his gaze head-on. There was no question of loyalty here. No doubt about what needed to be done. Emma was ours to protect, no matter what she’d done. “You don’t need to tell me that, asshole. I will do whatever she needs me to do. Whatever it takes.”
Caden’s expression was grim but resolved. “So we agree. We bury this. No one finds out.”
I nodded once, but inside, the worry gnawed at me, and I couldn’t help but wonder... how much more could Emma take before she broke completely?
Sitting back by Emma’s bedside again, my mind was racing with everything Caden told me.
Why the hell had she ever been branded a terrorist in the first place?
Honestly, I didn’t care about her killing off those assholes sent to arrest her. I didn’t care she had fled the scene, running from the authorities. And as cold as it sounded, I didn’t even care about her parents, beyond the pain she must’ve felt when they died.
What I cared about was Emma. If the US government was hunting her down, we couldn’t stay in Kanata C. We’d have to move, maybe hide her somewhere in Europe or another Collective, somewhere out of their reach.
But I couldn’t lose focus on my mission either. Destroying all the LiaPrisms was already proving to be a bitch of an assignment. So many Prisms to track down, so little time.
And with Cyclos’ former Leader, Maria, out of the picture, her husband Maurice dead, and Stephen still out to find that mysterious Gordon-guy, I was the only one left to make sure they were all neutralized.
My Nexus flooded with Jackson’s worry, interrupting my spiraling thoughts. Now what?
“Is it true?” he whispered, as soon as I allowed the connection.
“What is?”
“Emma. Is it true she killed her own parents and blew up her house with fifty humans inside?”
“No!” I almost shouted, glancing toward Emma, hoping she couldn’t hear the ridiculous accusation. I quickly stood and left the room, keeping Jackson on the Nexus. “Where the hell did you hear that?”
“Sean.”
“Sean McGrath?” I asked, my patience wearing thin.
“Yeah, you know another Sean?”
“Don’t fuck with me, Jackson. I’m not in the mood.”
“When are you ever?” he muttered back. “Look, you’ve been cooped up in her room for twelve hours straight. You need sleep. A shower. And most importantly, we need to talk. I’m coming down there, and we’re going for a walk and talk.”
I shook my head, while pacing the hallway. “I’m not leaving her.”
“Oh yes, you are. We need to talk about Cyclos, about Emma, about whatever the hell you and everyone else have been keeping from me. And we need to figure out how to get in contact with Matthew, Nino, and Justine.”
He wasn’t wrong. I had responsibilities piling up, things I couldn’t afford to ignore.
“I don’t want to leave her alone,” I mumbled, glancing back at the closed door.
Jackson sighed. “She won’t be alone. Caden Colt can stay with her while you bring me up to speed. It won’t take all day, for gods’sake.”
My fists clenched at the thought of Caden in the same room as Emma. “I’m not leaving her with that psychopath while she’s vulnerable.”
Jackson rolled his eyes visibly through the Nexus. “He’s not a threat to her. She was with him for months and came back unharmed. She’ll be fine.”
My mind went dark. Yes, she had come back, but I hadn’t forgotten the first thing she’d said when she set foot in my Collective, words imprinted on my mind forever. Words I couldn’t afford to dwell on right now, or I’d rip Caden’s head off.
There was no way I was letting that manipulative, mutilating asshole near her in this state.
“He’s not going anywhere near her.”
“Jesus, James, set aside your idiotic stubbornness for once. Do you really believe having Colt by her side for an hour is going to change anything?”
I hated to admit it, but he was right. It wouldn’t.
“No…” I grumbled, reluctantly.
“Good. I’ll be there in two minutes. Be ready.” Jackson cut the line.
Fuck me.