Page 274 of Scarlet Wars
The nurse gently touched my mom’s arm. “Let’s get her cleaned up, okay?”
She hesitated—her arms tightening slightly—but nodded anyway, her face still pale and sweat-slicked. The nurse lifted the baby carefully and turned toward the door.
And then the other Gordon moved.
He slipped through the door behind the nurse, as current Gordon motioned me to follow as the first one caught up to her in the hallway.
I watched as past Gordon’s hand slid over the back of the nurse’s neck, before her body sagged beneath his touch. He caught her before she hit the ground, lowering her carefully. His arms swept up the newborn as he stepped back into the shadows.
“What did you do?” I hissed to the man still standing next to me, watching the scene with an unreadable expression on his face.
“Just watch, Emma.”
His past version walked swiftly down the hall, pushed through a heavy door and into a small, abandoned room. It was dark, barely lit by the glow of his golden haze as he extended his hands and sealed the door shut behind him.
He stood still for a moment, looking down at the baby. At me. His dark eyes softened with something vulnerable as he held me close to his chest.
“You’re special,” he whispered. His hand brushed over my head, his thumb tracing the fragile curve of my skull. “You cannot be raised in the Human World. You are meant for so much more, and you need the knowledge only I can provide you with. I will take care of you,mia cara.”
A golden haze flickered to life across his hands and flowed toward the baby. But as soon as it touched my skin, his brow furrowed.
Then his eyes narrowed.
“What the hell?” He released the haze again, letting it drift toward her—toward me—but it slid off like water off glass.
“What the fuck?” he exclaimed, visibly distressed.
With a flick of his hand, he translated a dark wooden crib into the center of the room, and carefully placed the baby inside.
He straightened, his entire body tense, before he started pacing.
After a few seconds, past Gordon manifested his Nexus, his grip so tight the veins in his hand stood out. “Julius,” he barked. “I need your help. Portal into the Boston Clinic at once, fourth floor, room 313. It's a matter of life and death.”
The connection between both men cut off with a blue pulse of energy, visible in the Human World. A second later, the man I’d known as Julian appeared in a ripple of green light, his face tense and drawn.
“What’s going on?” Julian’s gaze flicked toward the crib, before his brow furrowed.
“She’s human!” Past Gordon’s roar shook the room. His hands curled into fists at his sides, his body vibrating with barely contained rage. “She has no magic! I don’t know howthis happened. Her mother’s genetics must have overpowered mine.”
Julian’s eyes widened. His mouth opened, but no sound came out. “What? Oh my gods…”
Gordon’s gaze sharpened dangerously. “This cannot happen. You know this cannot be. Youknowwhat she will do.”
Julian glanced at the crib, then back at Gordon before he gave an unimpressed shrug. “What exactly are you asking me to do?”
A flicker of irritation crossed Gordon’s face. “Don’t play stupid. You’ve been working on this for years.”
Julian held his ground, though tension crept into his voice. “I haven’t tried it on a real person yet,” he said carefully. “You want your own daughter to be the first?”
For a moment, Gordon said nothing. His jaw tightened as his attention drifted back to the crib—lingering there, on the baby. On me. A muscle ticked in his cheek.
“She’ll survive,” he said, with a certainty that bordered on faith. “You know she will.”
Julian raised a brow. “How?”
“I don’t—” Gordon broke off, inhaling once before he forced the words out. “I don’t know. But in the vision we saw, she’s one of us. So this will work.”
“You really want to take that risk?” Julian pressed. “Based on some faraway future we saw nine months ago?”
