Page 303 of Scarlet Wars
“Something like that,” Cara said. “Though Stephen made sure all their lives would be spared.”
My head snapped up. “How?”
She shook her head once. “No idea. I got lucky and leaked one of the Chiefs’ aids who heard it through the grapevine. That’s all she knew.”
The park felt colder suddenly.
And inside Maurice’s mind, something dark and deliberate began to stir.
“I’ll handle Stephen.”
Cara’s projection didn’t flinch. “How? He’s a Specialist. He’ll be gone before you’ve even moved.”
A slow smile curved my mouth. “He’s not the only one.”
I severed the connection.
Cara’s face dissolved in a ripple of light, the Nexus snapping shut like a slammed door. There was no triumph in it, only intent. Cold. Focused.
Time to hunt down a rat.
I tore myself out of Maurice’s mind like I’d touched fire.
SIXTY-SIX
CADEN
As expected, Emma didn’t react with so much as a flicker of emotion.
The ice queen was back. Which could only mean one thing: whatever she’d seen inside Maurice’s mind had stirred far too much, dredged up too many feelings, so she’d shut them all down completely rather than risk losing control.
“He’s been in bed with the Radicals since Sean abducted me to Coastal,” she said at last, her statement flat and precise, stripped of inflection.
“Well, that’s just great,” James spat. “Can’t imagine what Maria has to say about that.”
Maurice merely shrugged, his indifference almost obscene. “She knew. Why do you think she stepped down after I vanished? She didn’t want to risk anyone uncovering the truth while she was still in power.”
It might have been slightly interesting under different circumstances, layers of betrayal, quiet conspiracies, political rot at the core of Cyclos.
Right now, I couldn’t have cared less.
“Can we get on with the program?” I cut in, my patience already hanging by a thread.
James echoed the sentiment with every ounce of fury he possessed. “Yes, because this is all very fascinating, but where are those United Chiefs who killed Crown’s Offensive and threatened mine?”
Cara met his glare without flinching, her expression steady, almost bored. “We’re not workingwiththem, if that’s what you’re worried about. We used them. Gordon locked them in the cave directly beneath yours.”
That made Emma look up.
“Funny,” she said quietly. “You call him Gordon.”
Maurice’s mouth twitched, a flicker of dark satisfaction edged with intent. “At Cyclos, I was Maurice,” he replied evenly. “Anywhere else—when I wasn’t acting in any official capacity—I was Gordon.”
“So you simply switch whenever it suits you?” Emma asked, her tone cool enough to freeze over a desert.
His gaze stayed locked on hers. “You can do the same, Emma,” he said evenly. “My power runs through you. If you ever feel the need to be someone else, you can.”
She dragged a hand down her face, like she was trying to wipe something away that refused to leave. When her eyes lifted again, they found mine.
