Chapter 10
TEN
JAMES
“The United Chiefs issued a directive to Kanata C Offensives to prioritize the lifting of the US bubble above all else.”
The War Room we found ourselves in wasn’t built for comfort.
Stone walls pressed in close, the ceiling low enough to make the space feel like it might collapse under its own weight.
A long, scarred table dominated the center, its surface gouged with knife marks and burn scars from translation gone wrong.
Lights floated overhead which were shifting orbs that pulsed faintly, casting the chamber in restless hues of blue and silver. Maps hovered in the air above the table, projected in three dimensions, their borders shimmering.
Too many bodies filled the narrow space, shoulders brushing, and their gazes sharp.
“What does that mean exactly?” I asked, cocking my head, forcing my voice to cut through the low murmur.
Rachel leaned forward, planting her fingers against the table, her attention solely locked on Caden like she wanted to pin him in place. “It means we need to get this bubble lifted as soon as possible if we don’t want the United Chiefs to wipe out this entire Collective.”
Her gaze didn’t move as she added, “It means we make it our priority not to have every magus in the US die. It’s not only human military personnel anymore who are targeting our people. I’ve got reports of magi being abducted, experimented on by civilians, forced to translate even under the bubble.”
“Can’t you simply ask your sister who the hell imposed it?” Caden cut in, sounding as cold as he appeared to be. “She seemed to know who’s behind the whole damn thing.”
Rachel flinched before snapping back, “She and I are not on speaking terms. If I asked, you could trust she won’t tell me the truth.”
There was a beat of silence before Jackson shifted in his chair. “What about Cyclos?”
I leaned back, running a hand through my hair, keeping my tone even though tension rode under it.
“For now, Cyclos is safe. The Layers protect it from outsiders, and when the Great Exposure hit, I had everyone stock up for a year on food, water, and anything else they could want. They’re uncomfortable not being able to translate, but they’ll survive. ”
Rachel folded her arms; her gaze locked onto mine. “Are you in contact with anyone over there?”
I shook my head. “My council got a message to me through the United Chiefs, but I don’t know how. I haven’t been able to reach them.”
Rachel exhaled slowly, keeping her focus on the map now sprawled across the table. “Damn it. Okay, listen, we need to trace the energy signature of the bubble. Find out which idiot decided to help the humans control their own. And end him, quickly.”
I arched a brow. “And how exactly do you plan to do so?”
Caden answered before she could. “We’ll need a LiaPrism,” he said, glancing at me. “A bubble needs to be imbued with new translation every so often. We need to track it when the magus behind it goes to replenish, locate the asshole, and then kill him if he doesn’t lift it.”
“Solid plan,” I muttered, though doubt pressed at me. “We might also want to investigate what the hell happened to Emma and why the humans decided to brand her a terrorist before she blew up her house.”
At her name, Rachel’s focus flicked to Caden.
“Right, about that,” she said carefully.
“It’s time to involve her. We need her to join this team.
She survived a bubble, something no one should survive.
As I understand it, she’s survived nuclear weapons too.
We’ve been patient, but it’s been three weeks since she got here.
We need her to brief us; we need her to stand with us.
And we need her expertise on humans if we want to have a chance at fixing all of this without a war. ”
“You’re not involving her.” My tone left no room for debate. “She’s not ready. She needs more time.”
Rachel’s lips pressed into a thin line. “There is no fucking time. Magi around the world, not just the US, are calling for retribution against humans for the damn bubble, and war between species is becoming inevitable if we wait much longer.”
“I don’t give a shit.” My chair scraped back as I half-rose, the legs groaning against the floor.
“Have you seen her these past few days?” The words were true enough to make Rachel flinch back slightly in her seat.
“Both her parents were killed and she’s acting as if…
” I shook my head, dragging a hand over my face.
“She’s acting like it’s nothing. She cried once.
Once since she got here. You think that’s normal? ”
Rachel parted her lips to answer, but Caden cut across her. “James.”
He leaned forward, elbows planted on his knees, his stare locked on me. “You know how she is. When feelings threaten to overwhelm her, she shuts down. It’s how she copes. You don’t get to judge her for it.”
“Judge her?” I snarled, my fist slamming against the table so hard the sound echoed through the room.
“I’m not judging her; I’m worried about her!
” My chest heaved. “Don’t know if you noticed the bags under her eyes, but she clearly isn’t sleeping.
And her constant training with Sean? It’s ridiculous.
She’s acting like her life depends on dodging his right hook! ”
I shoved off the table, pacing a step along the wall before spinning back. “Dragging her into even more of this mess won’t help.”
“It’s not about shielding her.” Caden rose to his feet, slowly, his stare now level with mine. “It’s about reality. Even about agency. You think keeping her out of this protects her? That’s not how this shit works. She has a right to decide for herself.”
“She’s not a weapon for you to wield,” I snapped, fists curling so tight against the edge of the table my knuckles ached white.
“No.” Caden shook his head. “But she is an Offensive. And we both know she won’t sit this one out.”
The silence afterward was thick, almost suffocating, broken only by the hum of the overhead lights.
My chest clenched painfully. “And if she gets hurt?”
“She’s already hurting.” His reply was cold, merciless, and unyielding. “At least this way, she controls some of it. And that…” He drew in a slow breath, as though testing the word on his tongue. “Control might be the closest thing to healing we can offer her.”
Rachel sighed; she was done entertaining us. “I’m sympathetic, truly. But she’ll grieve a lot longer than we can afford to wait. So, it’s simple: either she helps us, or this Collective can’t accommodate her and that fugitive status of hers much longer.”
My breath stilled, rage curling hot in my chest.
Wrong fucking thing to say.
Caden’s tone dropped to something lethal. “What did you just say?”
Rachel’s expression didn’t flicker. “You heard me.”
His voice remained quiet, terrifying even. “If she’s not welcome here, I’ll recall every Crown Offensive stationed in Kanata C.” He rolled his shoulders once. “And you can explain to the United Chiefs why you created an international rift between us, when we’re on the brink of war with NMC’s.”
Rachel’s jaw clenched. “That’s unreasonable.”
“Wish I cared,” Caden replied, shrugging like the threat was nothing. “You threaten her, you threaten me and my Collective.”
“Second that,” I hissed, for once agreeing with the bastard who’d take her from me if he could.
Rachel exhaled hard, throwing her hands up. “Fine. No threats. Just ask her to help. We’ll take it from there.”
“I’m not asking her shit,” I muttered, more to myself than anyone else, but the words landed.
Caden rolled his eyes, then pushed back the chair from the table. “I’ll handle it.”
CADEN
I found her in her room, sitting stiffly against the headboard, her beautiful eyes closed, and Sean draped across the bed like some kind of guard dog. His arm across her waist sent an irrational jolt of irritation down my spine, which I quickly tamped down.
Sean’s gaze snapped to mine, widening as he caught the expression on my face. Yeah, I wasn’t in a good fucking mood.
He mouthed, “What’s happening?” but I ignored him, shaking my head once. My boots barely made a sound on the floor as I moved around the bed, crouching beside Emma. My gaze roamed her face, scanning for any sign of life beyond the overwhelming grief I knew was eating her alive.
Her face was pale, too pale, but her expression wasn’t shattered. It was blank, shuttered, and her breathing was too steady, as if she were forcing every inhale. She seemed carved from ice, her beauty edged with frostbite.
“Emma?” Her name came out low, softer than I thought I was capable of.
Her eyes opened slowly but not like she was being dragged from the depths, more like she was bracing herself. The steel in her gaze caught me off guard. There was pain there, sure, but caged, hidden. She wasn’t letting me in.
“Can we talk for a second?” I asked, keeping my tone steady.
She tilted her head slightly, her gaze cool, detached. Not a yes, not a no, only waiting to see what I’d do next.
“We need some answers,” I said carefully. “About everything that happened back in the Human World.”
Sean’s jaw clenched, his hand tightening where it rested against Emma’s blanket. “All that shit can wait. She’s barely holdin’ on, Caden.”
I shot him a sharp glare over Emma’s shoulder. “You don’t think I know that?” I hissed back. “I’m here to give her a choice, not to take it away.”
Emma’s flat and clipped tone cut through the tension between us. “Not exactly in the mood to talk, Caden.”
“I wouldn’t ask if there was any other way,” I replied quietly. “We need to know what we’re up against, and we need your help. Your expertise.” I paused. “And Rachel wants you to join the team.”
Her expression didn’t falter. She didn’t fidget. She didn’t break. Simply stared at me like I was another problem she had to endure.
I drew in a slow, deliberate breath. “But it’s your choice. If you don’t want to get involved, I’ll make sure no one so much as looks at you. Anyone who even tries to push you for answers, anyone who even thinks about it, will die a slow, painful death. You have my word on it.”
Sean muttered something incomprehensible under his breath, but I ignored him.
Emma’s focus flicked to my side, toward the door. She wasn’t looking at me, she was looking past me. Waiting for James, maybe? My heart twisted painfully at the thought.
I exhaled slowly. “James will back you too. No matter what you decide.”
Her gaze shifted back to me, and for a moment, I thought she might say something, anything to ease the ache sitting like a weight on my chest. But she didn’t.
I nodded once, forcing myself to my feet. “I’ll give you some time to think about it,” I said gruffly as I stepped back from the bed. My legs felt heavy as I turned toward the door, the taste of failure bitter in my mouth. My hand was already on the doorknob when I heard her.
“What do you need to know?”
The whisper was so low, it barely registered over the pounding in my ears. For a moment, I thought I’d imagined it, wishful thinking clawing at my exhausted mind. But then I turned, and saw her eyes locked on mine, not as hollow as they were before.
“We need to know what happened to your parents, how you got to the border, and we need your help tracking down the asshole who bubbled in the US. We also need your expertise on human politics.”
Sean shifted beside her, his expression darkening. “Caden, this isn’t—”
“Shut the fuck up,” I snapped, cold enough to cut steel. My gaze never left Emma. “She decides. Not you.”
Emma’s fingers twitched against the blanket, the smallest movement, but it pulled all the air out of the room. When she lifted her gaze again, it wasn’t glassy anymore. It was more clear, threaded with pain and anger and something harder underneath… Resolve.
“I’ll help,” she spoke with force, pinning me where I stood. “But I want something in return.”
Sean looked like he wanted to argue, but I held up a hand, silencing him. “Name it.”
“I want the people responsible for my parents’ death,” she said, her tone determined. “I need to know who ordered the kill. And when I find out…” Her entire demeanor hardened, turning ice-cold. “I get to make them pay.”
I nodded slowly. “We’ll find them, Emma. And you’ll end them. And when you do, they'll wish they’d died in their sleep.”
Emma’s breathing was shallow, but her focus never wavered. “Good,” she said. “That’s the only way I’ll do this. I’m not just some pawn in your plans.”
“You’re no one’s pawn, Emma,” I said firmly, leaning into the words so she knew I meant every damn one. “Never again.”
For the briefest moment, her gaze softened, a crack in the armor. Then it was gone, replaced by steel she was pulling around herself piece by piece. “Count me in,” she said, steadier now. “But don’t ask me to care about anything else.”
“Fair enough.”
I nodded once, unable to find the words to respond, and stepped out, leaving her with Sean.