Page 35 of Scarlet Wars
“Why would you give this person up?” I asked.
“Because he’s a godsdamn Collab,” she spat, venom coating every syllable. “Do you even know what they do? In their so-called mission to keep ‘peace’ between species?”
She didn’t wait for an answer.
“Theyhuntus. Hunt magi. Run experiments on our kind. Torture us for data, to give humans answers no one should ever have. It’smonstruous. It’s pure, unfiltered evil.”
Cara leaned back without a care in the world. “One less? That’s not exactly a tragedy.”
Another pause. Calculated. Controlled.
“As I said: you recognize us as allies, we will respect that. Keep your secret. And we’ll give you the man who gave us the Amplifier, who also bubbled in your country.”
James’s jaw was still tight; his gaze locked on her like he was trying to peel back her skin with his stare. Cara, for her part, smiled, smug and unbothered, as if she hadn’t just dangled a live wire in front of us.
The offer was bait, and we all knew it, but the worst part was, it might work.
“Thank you,” I said smoothly. “We’ll consider your proposal and contact you soon.”
Cara’s smile widened, then stood, smoothing out her jacket with an irritating level of poise. Flicking open another portal, she glanced at me one last time.
“Don’t take too long,” she warned in an even tone. “Wouldn’t want people hunting you down for thatspecialtranslation of yours.”
And then she was gone.
The moment the portal closed, James spun on me, rage pouring off him.
"What the hell, Caden?" His voice was a low, furious growl. "I don’t care how fucking hot she is, they attacked our Collectives. With anuclear weapon.And you want to consider working with them? Are you insane?"
Sometimes, he really reminded me of a child throwing a tantrum over being refused a chocolate cookie.
And Sinclair was hot?Hadn’t noticed…
"James, calm down," I said evenly. "Think about this. Why would she come here and tell us about this?”
His scowl deepened. “To make sure we’d hunt down the magus responsible for creating the bubble.”
I nodded. “Exactly. Now ask yourself, why would she want that?”
James frowned, working through it. “Either he’s her enemy and she wants us to do her dirty work... Or she’s following his orders and this is all a setup.”
“If it’s the latter, she’ll lead us straight to the Collabs.”
James stilled, the pieces clicking into place. “To the ones working for the US president.”
“The same president who issued Emma’s arrest warrant,” I said. “So why would they go after her if they think I’m the one with untraceable translation?”
“They wouldn’t,” James said slowly, brows pulling together. “Unless…”
“Unless they’re hunting her for something else,” I finished, “or Cara’s not a Collab, and she’s telling the truth.”
James stared at me. “So which is it?”
I sank into the chair and rubbed my forehead. “That’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it?”
With a flick of my hand, I translated myself some Scotch, and another, sliding it across the table to James.
He caught it without looking. Then, under his breath, almost too low to catch, he muttered, “I see why she likes you.”
