Page 210 of Scarlet Wars
“What do you make of this?” I gestured loosely at the room around us. “Human and magi tissue mixed together. And all this blood…”
The words trailed off as the coppery tang hit the back of my throat again.
Caden stilled for a second, then crouched, scanning the floor as he took in the remnants of what had clearly been brutal work. He reached out, brushing his fingers over the dark stains, his expression tightening.
“It looks like one of the rooms I cleared in Monaco,” he said after a moment, his tone edged with something heavier. “Where they kept magi.” A beat. “To be experimented on.”
My stomach twisted as I folded my arms loosely and frowned. “You think humans and Collabs are experimenting on both species? Why would they even do that?”
Caden pushed back to his feet. “No fucking clue.”
His hand settled around the blade he always carried whenever translation was out. “Let’s collect what we can and get out.” He glanced around the room again. “This place gives me the creeps.”
I huffed out a quiet laugh. “Caden Colt. Are you scared?”
His shoulders shifted, chest lifting in an exaggerated, almost ridiculous display of bravado.
“Hell yeah,” he said without hesitation. “Now move.”
My grin widened despite everything, the warmth of it cutting clean through the lingering unease.
I opened us a portal straight into Caden’s room, the magic humming between my fingers as I reached for my man.
FORTY-SEVEN
EMMA
Stepping into Caden’s room, I stopped short.
The bed had been pushed all the way to the far wall, replaced by two large Chesterfield chairs facing the fire. The fireplace crackled quietly, casting warm light across the room.
On the table between the chairs sat a bottle of Scotch, two glasses, his book…and another book I hadn’t seen since my first stay with him at Crown.
A glossy, modern-day “why choose” retelling of Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet with vampires.
The exact copy I’d lost back then. Vanished between one chaotic night and the next. I’d assumed it was gone forever.
But apparently it wasn’t.
Still, it wasn’t even what grabbed me hardest.
No, that was the small box placed dead center between the books. White. Perfectly square. Tied with a black ribbon.
I turned to him; brows raised in surprise. “You…got me a present?”
He shrugged, playing it casual. “Maybe.”
“Maybe?” I repeated, stepping closer. “So this could be, what, a decoy box? A bomb?”
His mouth quirked. “You’ll have to open it to find out.”
“That’s reassuring,” I muttered, narrowing my eyes at him. “Why?”
Caden tilted his head, studying me like I’d missed something obvious. “Because today’s your twenty-fifth birthday.”
I stared at him for a beat, then blinked.
“How did you find out?” I whispered, the words coming out smaller than I meant them to.
