Chapter 27 #2
Our training ground was a stark contrast to those at Cyclos.
Here, we were outside in the open courtyard, where everyone could watch.
The area was filled with an assortment of training equipment: wooden dummies, obstacle courses, and targets, all surrounded by a low stone wall.
It was a public arena where skill and prowess were on display for anyone passing by.
Despite the audience and the jeers from those who unmistakably didn’t like me, I had been trained by James.
Even without imbuing my Skindo, I was more than capable of holding my own.
I took a certain satisfaction in showing those who hated me exactly what I was capable of. And I did so by kicking Enya’s ass.
“Guess your fighting skills are in focus,” Enya panted, her breath coming in short bursts. I couldn’t help but smirk at her comment.
“What about your translation? Last we spoke, you mentioned something about a ‘malpractice’?” She asked.
My eyes narrowed as she probed. “Yeah, I got it sorted out.”
“Really? Want to show me?”
“Nope.”
Her jaw clenched. “Why not?”
I cursed inwardly, realizing I needed a plausible explanation. There was no way I was going to reveal my magic was traceable within the Collective.
“Don’t feel like sharing with you anymore,” I said, trying to sound as dismissive as possible.
Enya froze, a flicker of hurt crossing her face. “Are you sure that’s the reason, or are you deflecting? Because I remember you doing so a lot.”
“Let me be more clear,” I said, shifting to a defensive stance. “I don’t feel like sharing anything with someone who shattered my trust without so much as an apology or explanation.”
Without waiting for her reply, I stormed off, my frustration fueling my stride as I marched all the way to my room.
I slammed the door shut behind me, leaning against it for a moment to catch my breath. I kicked off my boots and collapsed onto the bed, rubbing my temples in an attempt to calm the spinning thoughts.
“Fuck, that was close,” I muttered.
I exhaled slowly, forcing myself to let go of the tension in my body as I settled deeper into the mattress. I stared up at the ceiling, trying to focus on the quiet.
Minutes passed. My heartbeat finally began to slow, and the adrenaline started to fade. I let myself sink into the comfort of the bed, eyes drifting shut, my body ready for even a brief moment of peace. For the first time in hours, my mind was beginning to quiet.
And then I heard it—footsteps. Then my door flew open.
I sat up, my irritation flaring. “What now?” I asked as Caden appeared in the doorway, looking rather grim.
He didn’t answer right away, just stood there, his gaze dark and unreadable. Finally, he spoke, his posture rigid with whatever revelation he was about to drop on me. “I just had a very interesting conversation with Enya.”
Really? She ran to Caden about it? Fucking bitch.
I feigned innocence. “Oh really? What about?”
Caden's jaw tightened before he answered. “Apparently, you have a history of struggling with translation. You didn’t think I needed to know that?”
My nails dug into my palms as I held myself still, refusing to let him see me rattled. “You do know. James and Julian informed you back in Switzerland. Julian put a damper on my magic by using the forced True Bond. Remember? You killed him for it?”
For a moment, Caden looked startled, but he quickly masked his surprise.
“Right. Well,” he said, regaining his composure, “then it shouldn’t be a problem anymore, should it?”
The question felt like a trap, and I had no choice but to respond.
“Right.”
Caden’s eyes narrowed. “So, if you don’t mind, I’d love to see that amazing haze of yours in action.”
Shit.
“I do mind,” I replied, trying not to bite his head off. “I don’t take kindly to being forced into anything.”
Caden’s patience was undeniably wearing thin, and I wasn’t sure how long I could keep this up.
“You can either translate of your own free will or I might need to resort to more…familiar methods,” Caden threatened, his tone growing colder. I swallowed hard, remembering his “methods” for luring out my energy all too well. I instinctively brushed my fingers over my scars.
“If you can’t translate, I have no use for you,” Caden said, his voice now ice-cold. “Your presence here is allowed, solely because I need your skills in the Human World. If you can’t deliver…”
“I can do it,” I snapped.
“Then fucking show me!” Caden demanded, his frustration unmistakable.
“No!” I shouted, my stubbornness flaring up.
Caden closed the distance between us in two strides, grabbed my arm and yanked me to my feet. “Emma, I need you to shoot out your haze, now. If you don’t, you can portal straight back to Cyclos.”
Fuck. Panic was rising in my chest.
Caden was going to use this as a pretext to send me back to Cyclos. It was a perfect excuse to get rid of me and throw me back into James’s world.
No.
I wasn’t ready to face James. Not yet. I needed more time; more space to figure things out.
There had to be another way. The walls seemed to close in, and the reality hit me hard: I was trapped.
Either I revealed my secret and trusted Caden with it, or I’d be forced to return to Cyclos. There was no easy way out of this.
I hesitated, the pressure of my secret bearing down on me. “I can’t do it here,” I admitted, my voice barely above a whisper.
A muscle jumped in his jaw, tension radiating off him in silent waves. “What do you mean, you can’t do it here?”
“I mean…” I swallowed hard, feeling the intensity of his stare. “My haze… It’s traceable in here. If I project it inside any Metasphere and the Radicals happen to have a LiaPrism, they’ll detect it, and realize my translation is different.”
The room fell into a tense silence, Caden’s expression darkening with each passing second. “And you didn’t think to tell me this before?” he asked, his voice dangerously low.
“I was going to—”
“Save it,” he snapped, cutting me off. “You’re done. You’re never going on another mission again.”
Without waiting for a response, Caden turned and stormed out of the room, leaving me standing there, the sting of his words still hanging in the air. The door slammed shut behind him.
Fuck.