Page 276 of Scarlet Wars
He stared at me for a bit, before his invisible haze snapped to life around his hand. It coiled up his forearm in thin, bright strands—alive, electric, patient. “Because I’m a Healer, Emma,” he said, all calm. “A gold-wielding Healer. Which now I know for sure…you are too.”
The haze drifted closer—not touching, only circling the space between us—then flared, arching toward me like it sensed something underneath my skin. It pulsed once, and gods, it felt familiar.
“Julius’s haze,” Gordon said as he took a seat. “No other human baby could’ve survived that amount of power being forced into them. But you did. Because when he attacked your body, it activated mine.”
My arms felt suddenly too light. “I healed…myself?”
His eyes gleamed with pride. “Yes.”
My heart kicked violently, every beat slamming into my ribs like it was trying to get out.
“I don’t…” I shook my head once, barely breathing. “If I was human…how did Julian’s energy trigger your magic? There wasn’t anything inside me to activate. I didn’t have…”
I trailed off, the thought refusing to finish itself.
Dread curled cold in my chest as I looked at him.
“You mind-raped me too?” I asked, the words scraping on the way out.
“No, Emma. I certainly did not.” His answer came immediately. “I only asked Julius to do so, because he at least had the theoretical knowledge on how to force a True Bond on a human.”
“Then how?” I demanded. I took a step closer without meaning to. “How the hell do I carry your haze as well as his? If you didn’t mind-rape me, how am I a golden Healer like you?”
He didn’t answer.
He simply watched me. With intent. Like a man staring at a candle, waiting for it to catch.
Was he lying?
If he was, then why show me his past? Why hand me proof?
And if he wasn’t, then how the hell had his haze ended up inside me?
The realization hit me out of nowhere, and I had to sit down before my legs gave out. There was only one way a single act of Julian’s could have forced both hazes into me.
“You…” My voice faltered as the pieces locked into place. “You were bonded to Julian.”
He nodded once. “We formed the True Bond a few cycles ago, yes.”
My stomach dropped. “So when…when Julian…” The word stuck, bile rising in my throat. “When he mind-raped me…he didn’t just force his own haze. He forced yours into me too. Both at once.”
“Yes.”
“And that…triggered your bond. Instantly.” My voice came out hollow.
Another nod.
I swallowed hard. “That’s what healed me. That’s how I survived.”
“Exactly.”
My brain was starting to catch on.
“Which is also how I survived the bubble…because you imposed it, and through Julian—since we were both bonded tohim—I share your translation.”
“Yes.”
I shook my head, still in shock. “How could you have loved my mother if you were bonded to another?”
