Page 232 of Scarlet Wars
“I’m versatile,” I said, lunging again. She blocked, but not fast enough, I clipped her shoulder. She barely flinched.
“Nice,” she said, then lowered her staff, her focus sharp. “Okay. Enough preamble. What’s going on?”
I lowered mine as well, letting the end tap lightly against the mat. “You. Caden. And the fact you…like him.”
Rachel’s brows shot up—high, almost comically so—like I’d spoken in fluent nonsense.
I pushed on before I lost my nerve. “I know you think he could be for you?—"
“What?” she cut in as she took a half step toward me, confusion tightening her features. “Hold on.That’swhat you wanted to talk to me about?”
I nodded, already feeling my cheeks heat with humiliation.
“Jesus, I thought you were coming in here to accuse me of mass murder or something.”
“This is worse,” I muttered under my breath.
Rachel planted a hand on her hip, staring at me like I’d sprouted an extra head. “Emma. I amnotinterested in Caden like that.”
My face went volcanic. “I saw you flirting with him, and I heard you wanted to ask him out.”
Kanata C’s First Offensive let out a noise somewhere between a scoff and a laugh. “Well, that’s embarrassing. Caden and I have history. I figured I could use that to my advantage to form a strong alliance with Crown’s First Offensive. We’re at war.Alliances are what keep us alive. But it was never—ever—about anything more than strategy.”
“Are you saying you don’t want him?” I pressed, because it seemed as though I needed the words carved into stone.
Rachel’s mouth curved into an amused smile. “Emma, Hillary is my wife. And we’re in a very monogamous and committed relationship.”
My jaw dropped so fast it nearly hit the floor. “Holy shit… You’re married?”
Rachel nodded, and suddenly everything rearranged itself in my head.
Every touch, every smile, every moment she’d “flirted” with Caden…
She hadn’t been marking territory.
She hadn’t been pursuing him.
She’d been pursuing an alliance.
With his Collective.
Not with him.
And just like that, I saw her in a very different light. Strategic, calculating, always ten steps ahead.
Not unlike Caden.
“Why don’t you tell people you guys are married?”
Rachel shrugged, rolling her staff between her palms. “I’m First Offensive, Emma. I have a permanent target on my back. If people know I have a weakness…”
“They might exploit it,” I finished. “Still. Seems harsh to keep your own wife a secret.”
Rachel straightened her spine. “The people who matter, know.”
“And Hillary’s on board with this?” I asked, the earlier yelling through her study door now making a whole lot more sense.
“Reluctantly.” A small smile tugged at her mouth. “But she understands.”
