Chapter 18
EIGHTEEN
EMMA
It was too much.
Too much information. Too much at once.
The brain can only handle so much before it fractures. And this—this was too much.
James. Not a real Leader.
Stephen. Behind my attacks. Working with Caden.
Caden. Possible father of my son.
A son who was the future of our world.
And now Julian. Here. Again.
A sickening wave of dizziness rolled through me. My head spun, and I could feel myself spiraling, drowning in the weight of it all.
"What the fuck is he doing here?" James’s roar tore through the air, sounding raw and unhinged.
“Hi, Emma. You look lovely tonight.”
It took me but a second to realize Julian’s lips hadn’t moved.
No. No, no, no.
My pulse spiked, a jolt of fury cutting through the brain-fog, and I shot to my feet so fast the room tilted around me.
“Stay the fuck out of my head!” I barked, while my red translation crackled at my fingertips.
James’s eyes darted between me and Julian, before rage and recognition tangled together.
“You’re dead,” he spat, then launched himself at the Elder, his fury wild, and reckless.
But he never made it. A flash of silver haze lashed through the air and James was yanked back, slammed into his chair like an invisible force had pinned him there.
His head snapped up, every line of his body tense with fury as he glared daggers at the man who I’d formed the True Bond with.
“Enough!” Stephen thundered, the sound crashing through the space like a shockwave.
The air trembled around me, thick with a volatile energy that raised every hair on my skin.
It felt alive—unsteady, electric—like the room itself was holding its breath, waiting to explode.
My heart pounded, and for a split second, I wasn’t sure if the pressure in the room was coming from the magic or from me.
“I asked him to meet us here,” he continued in a dry tone, “because he’s as much a part of this as the rest of you.”
“The Elder is the third possible father?” Caden looked confused. “How the fuck does that happen?”
There were so many questions, so many unanswered riddles, I could barely hold it together.
Staring at Julian, I couldn’t believe my former best friend was here.
My former, whom I was very mad at. “You left. You left us during battle, again! I was in a coma, and you simply vanished? And now you’re here?
What the hell…” I struggled to find the exact words.
Betrayal, confusion—everything swirled inside me like a wildfire I couldn’t control.
“You were in a coma?” Caden’s brows lifted slightly, and there was an edge to his voice—controlled, but fraying at the edges. I ignored him, my attention fixed on the Elder.
Julian looked at me with a smirk that made my skin crawl. Then he turned his attention to James.
“So, you didn’t tell her?” Julian’s tone oozed mockery, but beneath it lurked a darker undertone—the kind that made my stomach twist. “I’m surprised. I would’ve thought you spilled the beans as soon as I left.”
Beans? What beans?
Frustration flared in me, and threatened to bubble over with each passing second. I whipped my head back to James, my patience wearing dangerously thin. “What does he mean?”
Godsdamnit, I was already on edge and Julian’s cryptic bullshit pushed me right over it. My hands clenched into fists at my sides as I waited, the room suddenly too small, too suffocating.
James, already looking pale, avoided my piercing stare, guilt flickering in his eyes. Whatever this was, whatever Julian knew—it was big. And James had kept it from me. Again.
“James?” I pressed, despair coursing through my veins.
“Yes, James,” Julian taunted, a cruel smile stretching across his face. “Why don’t you tell her? I’m sure she’s dying to know.”
“You told me not to,” James finally said, the words strained as he forced them through clenched teeth.
Julian’s snicker was low and unsettling. “Stephen informed me you never do as you’re told. I guess he was wrong about that. Or do you only follow rules when it suits your lying habits?”
I felt a sickening knot in my stomach. My breaths came quicker as I fought back the rising bile.
“Tell her, James. I’m giving you all the explicit authorization you so clearly want or need.” Julian’s voice dripped with malicious satisfaction.
My head pounded, and dread seeped through me like a cold sweat. “Tell me what, James?” I demanded, while I tried to keep myself together. But James remained silent, refusing to look away from Julian.
“We need you to speak up now, James,” Julian pushed, his tone edged with impatience.
“Not only for Emma’s sake. Stone and Colt need to hear the truth, too.
Especially since everything they’ve done to Emma will turn out to be completely redundant once they learn our secret. ” His venomous smirk sharpened.
Stephen and Caden exchanged quick, wary glances, before both their frowns deepened. I could practically see the shift—the moment the control they thought they had over this situation slipped from their grasp.
The tables had turned.
For once, they weren’t the ones holding the answers. They were as much in the dark as I was.
“James?” I tried again, my voice shaking, raw. “What do you know? What have you…kept from me?”
Anger simmered beneath my ribs, but it wasn’t what made my hands shake. No, that was fear—quiet, insidious, and far more dangerous.
James drew in a slow breath, his expression sinking into quiet defeat.
“Everything.”
A boulder lodged in my throat, crushing me under its weight.
“About what?”
His composure cracked, revealing a sadness so deep it felt carved from something ancient.
“I know why you couldn’t translate before your coma.”
My breath hitched.
“I know why your energy resembles that of a two-thousand-year-old magus…”
Two-thousand-year-old—what?
“I know why you and Julian formed the True Bond.”
Caden’s head snapped toward Stephen. “They formed the True Bond?” he hissed.
The latter only shrugged, but the strain in his jaw implied he wasn’t pleased to have been kept out of the loop.
Well, join the fucking club.
I barely noticed. All I could feel was the dread sinking its teeth into my chest.
James’s next words fell like a sledgehammer.
“And I know why your translation is untraceable.”
The room erupted.
“What?!” Stephen and Caden bellowed in unison.
“What—how?” I stammered, my thoughts spinning, unraveling.
James’s jaw tightened, his face darkening with something close to shame.
“Julian told me.”
“Julian told you? What the hell does he know about it?”
“Everything, actually. He’s the reason you are who you are, Emma.”
“I don’t understand, James. What are you trying to tell me?” This couldn’t be true. He hadn’t been keeping this from me. It was not possible.
James averted his eyes again, the gravity of his confession palpable in the tense silence.
I waited, my heart pounding in my chest. The seconds dragged on as James struggled to find his words.
Finally, he looked up, meeting my eyes with an expression so raw it made my stomach twist.
“Emma… when you went into that coma, we had no idea what had happened to you. I didn’t know if—or when—you’d wake up.
I was already unraveling over you and Julian, but when the first week passed.
.. and then the second... and you still didn’t wake up…
” His voice faltered. “I thought I was going to lose you. And I lost it.”
He gave a bitter, breathless laugh. “You know about him and I coming to blows…”
James paused, drawing in a shaky breath like he wasn’t sure he deserved to keep talking.
“Julian was by your side every hour of the day. He barely moved. And one night, I snapped—I attacked him. Out of nowhere. I’m not proud of it. I was out of my mind. Jealous. Angry. But more than anything, I was terrified. I thought you were slipping away, and there was nothing I could do.”
He shifted in his seat, suddenly restless. His fingers fidgeted in his lap.
“I basically punched it out of him. That’s when he told me. He’d figured out a way to help you—to get you out of the coma. To bring you back to me.” James looked down again, voice barely above a whisper.
“But to do that… he had to tell me his story.”
A beat of silence passed before he added, quieter still:
“Your story.”