Chapter 30
THIRTY
EMMA
“Could it be the Chiefs?”
“Is there any news of them?”
“What if it were the Collabs?”
“Or Radicals?”
“Last I heard, they were setting up camp in South Africa.”
The War Room buzzed with restless voices, while the tension turned thick enough to choke on.
I locked my focus on Sean. My best friend. My betrayer.
The one who had scarred me, yes, but also the one who’d pieced me back together more times than I could count. I was still furious with him, the lies still raw, but watching him come apart like this—terrified for the man he…cared for—was its own kind of torment.
I didn’t want this for him. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, least of all my brother. Which he still was, despite every reason I had to be angry with him.
Rachel’s voice cracked through the din like a whip, yanking me out of thoughts. “What do we know?”
Sean’s answer came fast, his tone clipped, each word strung tight with panic.
“They were scoping out a building in Alberta. Out of nowhere, a group of magi hit them: an ambush, clean and fast. They don’t know who or what; they were sedated before they could see anything clearly or fight back, and when they woke, they were locked inside a holding cell. ”
His throat bobbed as he forced the next words out. “They don’t know where exactly. Only…” He broke off, then cleared his throat once. “Only that they’re beneath the bubble. Which means they’re somewhere in the US and can’t translate their way out.”
The room erupted again, nervous chatter rising like a tide until it pressed against my skull.
“Silence!” Rachel’s command was loud enough to jar everyone back into stillness, before her gaze snapped to Sean. “How do we know this? Where is our intel coming from?”
For a long second, he stared at her, then at me; before his focus shifted to Caden and stayed there.
“From me,” Sean whispered, his voice low but carrying in the charged quiet. “The intel’s coming from me.”
Rachel’s impatience flared. “How do you know this, McGrath?”
Sean’s jaw flexed, as if he somehow doubted the words before they left his mouth. “Because Jackson and I are in contact right now.”
Rachel frowned, confusion creasing her features. “How is that possible if they’re beneath the bubble?”
“Because the bubble doesn’t affect the True Bond.”
Sean’s answer dropped like a hammer. My brain stalled, the words landing heavy, almost incomprehensible.
“You formed the True Bond with Jackson?” There was no accusation in Caden’s tone, only genuine, startled surprise.
Sean gave a single, grim nod.
“When did you guys have a wedding?” I blurted, too stunned to ask anything smarter.
But Rachel’s hand shot up, slicing the question off before Sean could answer. “Not now. We don’t waste seconds by reconstructing the past. What matters is getting them back as fast as possible.”
She planted her hands on the table, shoulders taut.
“No magi would voluntarily venture into a country where all magic leads to implosion and death. I think it’s safe to assume there are only two options.
Either the people who took James and Jackson are working with those responsible for the bubble—in which case they might have magic in the US since only its creator is able to translate—or it has nothing to do with the creator, and they’re probably human. ”
Sean leaned forward, his chair groaning under the movement. “Why would humans abduct them? What use are James and Jackson to anyone outside our world?”
A murmur rippled across the table, boots scuffing, arms crossing, weight shifting.
“Maybe to lure out Emma,” someone suggested, and the room seemed to tilt toward me. “If they learned about Emma and James’s history, they might think he’d make for the perfect bait.”
Caden stiffened for a second, and I sat a little straighter, heat crawling up the back of my neck, but I kept my face blank.
Rachel’s eyes flicked to me briefly before sweeping the rest of the team.
“Would make sense, since they can’t cross the border anymore.
That way, they force you to go to the one place where they’re allowed to arrest you.
” She paused for a beat. “If it’s bait for Emma, then they know what they’re doing. ”
Caden sat rigid beside me, elbows on his knees, his tone cold when he finally spoke. “If they’re human, there will be trails. Trucks, ports, IDs, something we can track. If they’re not…” His jaw tightened, the muscle there flickering. “Then they’ll be hiding in places only magic can carve out.”
I swallowed hard, every instinct screaming at me to move, to run after my friends right now. “We can’t just pick one scenario. We have to prepare for both.”
Sean dragged his hand over his face. “Then we assume the worst. If they have magic below the bubble, chances are we’re dealing with Collabs. Who we know nothing about.”
“Actually,” I cut in, the memory hitting me hard and sudden, “Caden and I found something…interesting about Collabs.”
“Possibly interesting,” Caden muttered beside me. “It might end up having nothing to do with them.”
Rachel’s stare sharpened. “What is it?”
“We met someone with a snake tattoo,” I said, “a golden serpent wrapped in red chains. Black eyes. Invisible to everyone except those who are ‘sworn in’, whatever the hell that means. Caden and I could both see it, but Jackson couldn’t.”
The room went still after I spoke, until Rachel was the first to break the silence. “You saw this tattoo…where, exactly?”
I opened my mouth, but Caden nudged his foot against mine under the table. A warning. Let me.
“One of the patrons at a human bar was bragging about it,” he said smoothly. “He was drunk, figured no one else could see it until we did. But like I said, there’s no proof the man was a Collab.”
“Why would Collabs be after James and Jackson? Or Emma?” someone sitting across the table asked.
Rachel shook her head. “The why doesn’t matter right now.” She swept her gaze across the room, already shifting into motion. “Emma—Collabs or not, bait or not—it would be foolish not to use you.”
“You’re our human expert, and you’ve survived for years without magic.
You will function better beneath the bubble than anyone else here.
So I want you to lead the retrieval team.
We’ll portal you to the nearest border crossing to wherever Sean can pinpoint their location.
From there, you move in on foot or whatever human transport you can think of. ”
Another voice cut in from the back, laced with doubt. “The humans are already hunting her in the US! If someone spots her, it’s over. It nearly killed her to get out of there the first time.”
All attention slid to me. My pulse thundered, but I didn’t hesitate. “I don’t care. These are my friends, and Rachel’s right. I’ve spent twenty-three years living without translation, which is more than anyone else in this room. And I’ve already broken free from the bubble once. I can do it again.”
Rachel’s stare met mine, steady and certain. “Exactly. We’ll have a team ready to help you cross into the US as covertly as possible. And we’ll stage a backup team as well. They’ll wait for your signal and move the second you confirm.”
I was already on my feet before the last word left her mouth. “Communication through human instruments only, nothing magical. I’ll translate you all a human phone to carry with you.”
Sean shoved his chair back and stood too. “I’m going with Emma.”
Rachel turned to him so fast I heard her spine file a formal complaint.
“It’ll be a cold day in hell before I let anyone bonded to a victim of abduction join a retrieval mission.
You’d risk everything the moment emotion pulls you sideways.
And besides, we need you here. You’re the only one with a direct line to Jackson, so we’ll need you to coordinate the entire mission. ”
Sean’s mouth opened, ready to spit fire, but Caden cut clean through. “I’ll go.”
He rose from his seat, his focus never leaving his brother. “I’ll go, Sean. And I’ll bring him back. You have my word.”
“And mine.” My voice joined his without hesitation, and I meant every syllable, letting conviction ring through me like steel.
Sean’s breath came hard and uneven. “I can’t just sit this out.”
Caden spoke in a quieter but firmer tone, locking his best friend in place.
“No one’s asking you to. But your strength isn’t out there, it’s here.
You’re the only one who can track them. If you step into the field and something happens to you, we don’t just lose you, we lose any connection we have to Jackson and James.
That’s as good as a death sentence for both. ”
Every set of eyes in the room was locked on the three of us. The silence stretched, brittle and unbearable, until Sean finally spoke.
“You’ll get him back?” His words were raw, stripped bare.
Caden didn’t flinch. “I swear on my life I will.”
Sean’s jaw clenched, something fierce and haunted flickering across his face. “You swear on Rose?”
My stomach dropped. Rose? Who the hell was Rose? The question burned on my tongue, but this wasn’t the time nor place.
Caden held his brother’s stare for a long, breathless moment. Then he gave a single, solemn nod. “Yes.”
Sean’s throat worked as if the words cost him, then he gave one curt nod, his shoulders sagging with the effort.
Without another word, he sank back into his chair, eyes still burning on Caden.
“I’ll tell you everything I know.”
I was nervous as hell.
Sure, the obvious reason was that this whole thing smelled like a trap—bait dangling right across the US border, waiting for me to bite. Could’ve been Collabs, humans, or the nightmare version: both working together. But Rachel was right. With my experience, I had the best chance of pulling it off.
Still, that wasn’t what made my pulse skip.
No, what had me on edge wasn’t the danger or the mission, it was the thought of being crammed into close quarters with the one man who scared me more than any of it: Caden Colt.