Page 270 of Scarlet Wars
I let out a shaky breath, forcing myself not to look back at Caden and James, forcing myself to hold on to the fact that they were stable, and alive.
“Why do this?” I asked as firm as I could. “Why drag me in here, and dangle them in front of me?”
“All I’ve ever wanted for you, my dear girl,” he said gently, almost indulgently, “was for you to make your own choices. But I need time to explain your options.”
“Why?” I demanded, the word tearing out of me. “Why wouldyouwant that forme?”
He shrugged and reopened the green portal, its light spilling across the cave floor like a slow, toxic tide. “Because choices are important.”
I rolled my eyes, impatience snapping through me. “Oh, thank the gods,” I said dryly as I stepped toward the portal. “For a moment there, I was worried you’d be vague about it.”
Gordon smiled faintly, the corner of his mouth curving with quiet sadness. “Fearless. Sarcastic. And beautiful.”
The reverence in his voice caught me off guard, so unexpected it made my step falter for a heartbeat, right before I jumped through the damn portal again.
We landed back in the small room. Gordon sealed the opening behind us, trapping the space in silence before he spoke again. “You are so much like her.”
“Like whom?”
His back went rigid as a flash of raw grief sliced across his expression. “Your mother.”
I blinked. “You knew my mother?”
A muscle twitched beneath his eye. “Aye.”
My brows knit together, confusion tightening my chest. “How did you know her?”
Unexpectedly, a flicker of sympathy softened the hard lines of his face. “When I met your mother, she and your father weren’t married yet. They broke up for a few weeks, right before he proposed to her.”
The way his tone dipped lower, his shoulders turning slightly inward…
Oh gods.
“Your mother never cheated,” he said, slower now. “It’s important to me you know that. Especially considering what happened to your parents... And I need you to understand, I’ve been trying to find out who gave the kill command on my Lucia, exactly like you have. And like you, I’ve come up short.”
“My Lucia?” I echoed, the words catching in my throat.Gods, please tell me I misheard.
He exhaled slowly, then started pacing, tight, controlled steps like he didn’t trust himself to stand still.
“When I met your mom—a beautiful, brilliant woman, not unlike yourself—I fell hard. Even though she wasn’t over yourfather, I fell head over heels for her. With that kind of intelligence, it was impossible not to. She never knew what I was, what I was capable of. And when she chose your father over me, I was heartbroken, but I respected her choice.”
I didn’t breathe. I wasn’t sure I could anymore.
He stopped, his whole demeanor taut beneath the weight of the memory. “That might seem out of character for me, but I could never be honest with her about who I was. And I didn’t want a life of lies for either of us. Forher, I wanted more.”
His eyes found mine, piercing and heavy with sorrow. “But I couldn’t help myself. She was always my weakness. After I left, I checked in on her from time to time.”
His mouth twisted. “Which is how I found out about you.”
“About me?” The question came out in a whisper, and I was scared as hell for what was coming next.
Silence.
I didn’t need him to say a word, because the truth was already clawing its way through me.
The realization didn’t come gently. It hit hard and fast, slamming into me with the force of a freight train I hadn’t seen coming until it was far too late.
“You believe to be my father.”
