Chapter 16
SIXTEEN
EMMA
As soon as the United Chiefs vanished, Caden raced to Sean’s side.
My body reacted before my brain did, my hands hovering over my best friend, the Healer’s instincts sparking alive.
But when I reached for the next step, there was nothing.
No technique. No training. Only a hollow space where the knowledge should’ve been.
“Emma, what the hell are you doing? Get a Healer!” James barked, his eyes locked on my best friend’s mangled body.
I didn’t waste a breath, and nexed Hillary, who tore open the portal before the echo of his order had even faded. Our resident Healer stormed through, instantly scanning the room. “What the hell happened here?”
“We had some differences with the Chiefs,” James muttered. The understatement was so absurd I almost laughed, though the sound snagged in my throat.
Hillary didn’t wait for answers. She dropped to her knees, hands glowing as she pressed them to Sean, sealing blood, mending bone, dragging him back from the edge with practiced precision.
I studied her every movement, every flick of her fingers.
The way her magic threaded cleanly into Sean’s body, the way it obeyed her, steady, controlled, precise.
I could almost feel what she was doing, could sense every shift in his pulse, every bone sliding back into place, every cell knitting together.
Instinct gave me that much, but instinct wasn’t skill.
Instinct wasn’t enough. Not this time.
By the time Hillary portaled him out to the Healers’ wing, my whole body was thrumming—tension coiled so tight it hurt.
Then she vanished with him, and whatever thin thread I’d been holding onto finally snapped.
“How the hell is any of this possible?” I demanded, the words tearing out of me. “How are these people allowed to just walk in here and do this? To him?”
James scrubbed a hand over his jaw, shaking his head.
“It shouldn’t be. We used to have real checks and balances, actual systems to stop this kind of power play.
But with the Board gone, the only way to challenge the Chiefs now is if the majority of the Magi World takes a stand.
And trust me, Emma, the United Chiefs have far more alliances than we do. ”
I dropped back into my chair, feeling utterly useless. And frustrated. Angry.
The last hour kept replaying in my head like a bad loop, each detail worse the second time around. Every choice. Every threat. Every moment I couldn’t stop.
I searched James’s face for something, answers, reassurance, confirmation I wasn’t losing my mind. “I thought there was an absolute law against forcing people to bond?”
James nodded, though the light in his eyes was almost gone. “There is. But the High Chief was careful. He didn’t tell you to bond with me. He told you to choose me.” His mouth twisted bitterly as he raked a hand through his hair. “The choice is the loophole.”
My nails dug into my thigh, biting through fabric. “But it’s not a choice.”
“Exactly.” His gaze darkened, jaw set. “He’s full of shit when it comes to your protection, though. This isn’t about keeping you safe. He only wants to make sure Alek—our son—is born.”
I bit the inside of my cheek before replying. “Which makes absolutely no sense at all. If they’re so sure of the future, why so desperate to ensure it will happen? Why not simply let it play out?”
Caden leaned against the wall, arms crossed.
His voice was flat, but I heard the strain beneath it.
“The future’s still subjective. Your personal choices can still influence the outcome.
If they truly believe James to be Alek’s father, you could derail his existence by choosing…
” He coughed, the pause sharp. “Another.”
Silence stretched between us, so taut and suffocating, my stomach turned. “So, if I choose the ‘wrong’ father, Alek will not exist?”
“Yes,” James said quickly, rushing in before Caden could answer.
Caden muttered, his irritation clear, “I still think it’s completely ridiculous to accept James’s claim of fatherhood solely based on the Krait’s first name.”
I shrugged. “What does it even matter if the Chiefs are willing to kill off anyone I care about to make sure it happens that way?”
“They are…” James hesitated, as if the words themselves were too dangerous.
My head snapped up. “What?”
“They are very convinced of it based on rather little, I agree. It almost feels like…”
“Like they’ve found another reason to accept you as the father but are unwilling to share whatever it is,” Caden finished, bitterness lacing each word.
James’s silence told me he’d thought the same. He glanced away, voice softening. “Though I have to say, when I first learned the Krait’s name, I believed myself to be the father too.”
I nodded slowly, keeping my expression carefully unreadable. “When I found out James’s real name, I had the same thought.”
Caden stiffened, his head snapping toward James, then to me, his expression dark. “Which is ridiculous. I hope you both know that.”
“Can’t we ask Stephen about this?” I blurted out. “If he informed the United Chiefs of the future, he must have some intel. Anything that could help us.”
The second the sentence left me, I felt the twist of desperation in my chest. Gods. I was willing to let Stephen Stone back into my life for this.
James shook his head, frustration bleeding through the movement. “I’ve been trying to reach him ever since the bubble was imposed, but nothing. Radio silence. I’ll keep trying.”
Before James could elaborate, I cut in, my tone flat, final. “I bought us a year.” My gaze stayed locked on James, not Caden. “That’s all we have.”
James’s jaw flexed once before he gave a curt nod. “Then we’ll have to…figure out how to spend this year.”
The tension radiating off Caden was a living thing, filling the room, pressing against my ribs until it ached. He didn’t say a word, but he didn’t need to.
Without answering James, I rose slowly, every movement feeling heavier than it should have. I crossed the space in silence and stepped through the doorway, the door closing behind me with a soft thud, too quiet, too final for something I knew wasn’t truly over.
I’d been in my room for maybe five minutes when Caden opened the door and walked in as if he owned the place.
Which he absolutely did not, just FYI. Someone clearly forgot to brief him on that.
He crossed the space with measured steps, the kind that didn’t rattle the air so much as rearrange it. Before I could move, he had me against the wall, his forearms planted on either side of my head.
Not exactly touching me, but close enough the small space between us felt like there was none.
His stare held me in place more effectively than any hand could.
His hand slid, not gently, to my chin, tilting it up until I couldn’t look anywhere but at him. His thumb brushed the edge of my bottom lip, like he was testing how close he could get before I shattered.
“I’ll find a way to break this, Emma. Do you hear me? I’ll tear them all apart before I let them use you like this.”
My lips ached with the nearness of his, but I pressed myself flatter to the stone, as though distance could undo the gravity dragging me toward him. The brush of his thumb lingered, dangerous and electric, each stroke sparking heat that tangled with the cold truth of his words.
His promise coiled inside me, a vow I wasn’t ready to hear but couldn’t ignore.
“Caden…” My voice broke on his name, warning and wanting tangled into one.
He leaned closer, his mouth hovering right above mine, his thumb pressing a little firmer against my lip as if daring me to give in. My chest rose, brushing his, traitorous in its desperation.
“I can’t,” I forced out, the words scraping raw from my throat. “We can’t do this. You saw what they did, heard what they commanded. I have one year to find my way back to James. This is not exactly helping.”
For a heartbeat, I thought he would close the distance. I thought I would let him. The world narrowed to the space between our mouths, to the ache threading through my ribs.
But then he released me, hand falling away like a weapon sheathed too soon.
“I know their threats triggered all your worst fears at once,” he said quieter now.
“Threatening the death of loved ones is always effective. But aiming it at someone who’s grieving…
” Caden shook his head, before a sharp exhale cut through the space.
“Those assholes knew exactly what they were doing.”
His face hardened into something lethal and certain. “But we’re going to beat this, Emma. We will beat them.”
A brittle smile tugged at my mouth. “Like we did today?”
He froze, and for a moment the silence between us hurt more than the words. Then he said softly, “I failed you today.”
I caught his hand before he could pull away, squeezing tight, grounding him in the only truth we had left. “You didn’t. You fought for us, for everyone. But we were unprepared, and what we’re up against…”
Caden bent, pressing his lips to my knuckles before releasing me.
The ghost of his touch almost scorched my skin. “That’s not what I meant, Nightcrawler. I failed you because I let a bunch of assholes convince you they have all the power, when you’re the most powerful person on the fucking planet.”
Heat flushed through me at his words, settling low and dangerous.
I shook my head. “I’d be a fool to pretend they don’t hold any power over me. They can get to anyone I care about, hurt them, kill them, or do something worse, and then use what’s left to turn me into whatever it is they want.”
Caden went still. Too still.
“I could always fake a bond with James,” I suggested softly, carefully even. “If worse comes to worst.”
His head snapped toward me, eyes blazing like I’d stabbed him in the gut. “Excuse me?”
I shrugged, trying to keep it casual, even though something in his tone already had my pulse climbing. “James and I could fake the bond. Not as if anyone can see it, so it’s not impossible.”