Page 164 of Scarlet Wars
My heart hammered against my ribcage. Cold sweat prickled down my spine.
Never again.
I gritted my teeth and stepped out from behind Caden and Sean, moving in between them. My shoulder brushed Caden’s arm, solid and tense beneath his jacket. Sean’s gaze flicked toward me, warning.
But I was not going to hide. No going to let them shield me. If this was going to happen, I was going to face it myself.
I lifted my chin, meeting the High Chief’s cold stare head-on.
“You’re insane if you thinkshecreated the bubble.” Sean soundedfurious. His brogue sharpened the edges of the words like steel. But it fell on deaf ears.
“One can only survive a bubble while translating, when they are its creator.” The Chief’s voice rang clear. “Unless you are aware of an exception, I do not know of?”
James’s Skindo remained at the Chief’s throat, the blade’s edge pressed against the vulnerable skin beneath his jaw. His face was set, his arm steady, but I saw the tension beneath it.
I knew how James felt about the United Chiefs. They were his superiors—his guiding example—the authority he was supposed to answer to without question. Them being here to arrest me had to be a massive mindfuck. And him standing between them and me, choosing me over them… I’d never thought he would, and I appreciated it more than I could ever say.
The High Chief’s weapon remained fixed on me, assessing me with the quiet detachment of a predator. But when he spoke, his focus slid to James.
“For a bubble to have been imposed as long as it has been, we can agree the person behind it is very powerful. There is no doubt Ms. Thompson is very powerful. And no one can survive a bubble unless they’ve created it themselves. The only exception is their bonded mate. I assume you two haven’t bonded yet?”
James’s jaw twitched. “No, we haven’t.Yet.”
Caden stiffened beside me, his entire body a live wire.
I tried to move out in front of him, but his hand shot out, curling around my wrist, squeezinghard.
His message was clear: Standing next to him? Fine. Standing in front of him? Don’t even think about it.
“Well then, Mr. Walker?” The Chief’s tone was light, almost amused. “Care to venture a guess as to how Miss Thompson survived?”
James’s throat worked, tension tightening the muscle along his jaw, but he didn’t speak.
“I’m waiting,” the Chief prompted. “You are Cyclos’s Leader. You must arrest the murderer of the children who have died because of this monstrosity. If you are certain yourmateis not responsible, you surely must have an explanation to her survival.”
James’s Skindo dipped a fraction of an inch. His expression hardened, but the tension in his shoulders gave him away. He couldn’t explain it—couldn’t explain me—and the Chief knew it.
Silence pulsed between us like a second heartbeat.
Then James looked at me.
And for the first time, there was something behind his stare that hadn’t been there before. Not rage, not protectiveness. Doubt.
“Only two outcomes,” he said quietly but unwavering. “One either created the bubble…or dies.”
I saw it, the split second of calculation. The impossible math of it all. The rules said I should be gone. The power should’ve burned through me, hollowed me out and left nothing but ash.
But I was still here.
Slowly, methodically, he lowered his weapon, and I gasped in shock.
“Walker,” Caden growled like a threat.
“What the actual fuck, James?” Sean snapped, his hands clenching at his sides.
James’s mouth turned into a thin, grim line. His weapon disappeared in a quick flick of motion, clicking back into place beneath the sleeve of his tattoo.
“Let’s talk about this,” he said quietly. “Maybe you don’t remember creating it?”
