Page 95 of Scarlet Wars
“He’ll come,” I mumbled, the words fracturing, looping helplessly. “Caden will come.”
“Nightcrawler.” That same voice now thundered, a command wrapped in anguish. “Fuckinglookat me.”
The cellar flickered, bled at the edges. Dave’s breath thinned, Amy’s sobs faded.
“You need to breathe, Emma. In, and out. Come on, baby, you’ve got this.”
The stench of mildew fractured. The chains rattled once, then dissolved. And then?—
Warmth.
I blinked hard, lungs convulsing, and the last remnants of the cellar shattered like glass.
When my vision finally cleared, I realized I was shaking on the floor of my bedroom, curled in Caden’s lap with my knees tucked to my chest, my face pressed into his shirt.
His arms were iron bands around me, holding me against his chest.
“Breathe, Nightcrawler,” he whispered, softer this time. “That’s all you have to do.”
He drew in a slow breath, deep enough that I felt his ribs expand beneath my palms.
Then he let it out in a gentle exhale that brushed warm across the top of my head.
“Breathe with me,” he repeated. “Match mine. In…”
He inhaled again, letting me feel the rise of his chest, the steady pull of air.
“…and out.”
His breath flowed against my ear, unhurried, patient, a rhythm my body couldn’t help but fall into.
“That’s it, Emma. You can do this.”
My fingers clawed at his shirt, desperate for proof he was real. He didn’t flinch, didn’t pull back. Instead, he tightened his hold while his chin rested against the crown of my head, a weight that felt like an anchor to reality.
“You’re safe,” he said, his voice darkening to a low growl. “You’re in your room, with me. No one’s touching you. No one’s hurting you.”
Each word wrapped around me like a rope thrown into deep water. Slowly, my breaths evened, as the pain receded like smoke. The tremors in my hands dulled, but I stayed curled against him, wrung out and raw.
“Caden?” I sounded rasped, shredded, like I’d been screaming for hours.
“Right here, baby,” he murmured, his breath warm against my temple.
My eyes found his and clung to them, drowning in the impossible softness waiting there. “You’re here,” I whispered, still confused as hell about what had just happened. “You really came.”
“I never left,” he said, and the certainty in his voice hit me like a match struck in the dark.
Never left?
My spine snapped rigid. “What the hell happened?”
“You had a panic attack.” Caden’s tone was measured, but I heard the grit under it, the sound of someone holding himself in check. “I portaled us out of the cave.”
Instant shame clawed its way up my throat, hot and choking. Furious at myself that I’d let him see me like that, small, weak, and broken.
I bolted to my feet, the movement sharp enough to sting my muscles. I started pacing, my attention skittering anywhere but on him. “Gods,” I choked out under my breath. “I can’t believe you saw that.”
Behind me, I heard the quiet creak of floorboards as Caden rose too, but slowly, his movements careful, like someone stepping toward a wild animal that’s lost its trust.
