Page 317 of Scarlet Wars
“Both your hazes—your red and your gold—they can work together. You just have tolet them. Let the scarlet one burn hot enough to unravel the bubble from the inside. Let the golden one heal the damage, stop it from killing you. Fire and water. Destruction and salvation. One to break it. One tosurviveit.”
His eyes locked with mine, holding nothing back.
I swallowed. “Okay, I’ll try.”
Caden’s expression hardened. “Not good enough. I don’t need you totry, Emma. I need you todothis.”
Fear clawed at my throat, but I forced it down. I didn’t have room for it. Not now. Not when our lives were on the line.
Clenching my jaw, I decided then and there I would godsdamn rise to the occasion anddothis.
I gave him a curt nod before closing my eyes.
Breathed deep.
And reached inward.
My red haze was already there, simmering right beneath the surface, thrashing against the bubble like it wanted to break free andburn. The more I touched it, the hotter I became. My skin felt like it was blistering from the inside out. The fire waswaiting, coiled and snarling on the other side, ready to tear me apart if I slipped.
I let go.
Released my energy, and itignited.
The fire shot through me like lightning, burning down my limbs, across my chest, into my throat. I screamed as my nerves caught flame but didn’t stop.
“Counteract it, Emma!” Caden’s command cut through the heat, sounding almost angry.
I quickly reached for the gold.
It surged forward like cool light, latching onto the damage, healing what the red tried to destroy. My own power was eating me alive and saving me at the same time.
“That’s it, love!” Caden’s voice cracked, breathless with awe. “You’redoing it! Keep going!”
I pushed harder, let the two forces intertwine, wrap around each other, twist and knot andmerge. Red and gold. Chaos and light. They spiraled outward, pouring from my skin in a blinding pulse of energy.
Iscreamed, the sound tearing through the walls, and then everything wentstill.
When I opened my eyes, Caden was standing in front of me, his Chela already drawn and glowing in his right hand. His grin was wild, unfiltered pride lighting up every inch of his face.
“You broke the bubble,” he said, awe and adrenaline tangled in his tone. “Youfuckingdid it.”
Before I could even catch my breath, he pulled me to my feet like the space between us was choking him.
My pulse spiked.
His eyes locked on mine, blazing with something wild. Somethingferal.
Heat poured off him in waves. I felt it everywhere: on my skin, in my spine, deep in the hollow place behind my ribs where fear and desire twisted into the same ache.
His gaze dropped to my mouth.
His face was close. Too close.Not close enough.
His chest rose and fell like he was struggling to hold something back. And for a single, breathless, suspended heartbeat, I thought he was going to kiss me.
Not gently.
Not carefully.
