Page 129 of Scarlet Wars
“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 canpinpoint 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’shere. 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 nightmareversion: 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.
