“You never asked me to simply join. Why didn’t you…ask? You could’ve told me about the Trackers, about the future. You could’ve simply asked me to help you figure out my translation.”
He remained still, calm as ever. “Yes,” he said at last. “We could’ve done that.”
“So why didn’t you?”
“The stakes were too high. You were practically human. Chances were…” his words trailed off.
“You thought I would side with them,” I finished for him, sharper than I intended.
Caden nodded slowly. “That was one concern, yes.”
“You guys really thought I would side against my own son?” My voice wavered, as disbelief crept in.
His jaw tightened. “Some of us believed knowing about Alek would secure your help, but others weren’t convinced. In the end, as I said, the stakes were too high to risk it.”
“Well, I wouldn’t have sided with them. Even if Alek wasn’t my son, I would’ve never sided with people—any people—trying to suppress others.”
Caden didn’t reply.
I sighed. “I’ll be down in a second,” I dismissed him, turning my attention to the clothes Cyclos had sent me through a standing portal between Collectives.
“It’s the future of every maga and magus. Not only those we know in the present, but those we don’t. Their children. Their children’s children. If Walker doesn’t succeed in destroying every single prism, figuring out how to make our translation untraceable is our only hope to save our people.”
My eyes met his. “The consequences to this maga be damned,” I whispered, nodding in reluctant understanding. “I get where you were coming from, Caden, however misguided it was. But instead of talking to your teammate James to find outwhyI am the way I am, instead ofaskingme to cooperate and taking a chance on me, you chose to hurt me, maim me, and traumatize me. So forgive me if I’m not exactly eager to share my secrets or offer you my friendship.”
“Then why the fuck are you here? If what we did is so awful, why come here at all?” Caden snapped, his frustration breaking through.
“Because I had nowhere else to go!” I shouted, the emotion I’d been holding back finally spilling over.
“And I panicked, okay?” I admitted, the words tumbling out before I could stop them. “Stephen and James were the two people I thought I could trust in this world, and they turned out to be…” I struggled to find the right words, the hurt still raw.
“James lied to me about everything—he broke my fucking heart. Stephen lied to me about everything, too. And as much pain as you caused me, at least that one was only physical!”
I let out a deep breath. “At least with you, I knew from the start I couldn’t trust you. You being the face of their horrors made you the only one showing his true colors.”
Sinking down onto my bed, I retreated, pulling back all emotion, hiding behind my mask once more. I swallowed a breath, willing myself to stay in control, regretting my outburst. “I had…have nowhere else to go.”
Caden stilled for a moment. Then said in a slightly softer tone, “You’re fighting with us now. You don’t want innocent people to get hurt, and neither do I. You’re fighting our fight, my fight. As long as that’s the case, you’ll always have a place here to stay.”
He took a step close and flexed his jaw. “But you can’t keep shit like this from us anymore. Not when it affects us or the missions we’re sending our people on. If I’m counting on you to translate, it’s because I need you to. You can’t withhold tactical intel from me.”
He ran a hand over his face, clearly exasperated. “Jeez, Emma, I fucking left you alone at that camp. You really think I would’ve done so if I didn’t believe you were going to translate?”
“I didn’t want to set off any LiaPrisms,” I replied, lowering my eyes and letting my voice drop to a near whisper.
His voice grew more intense. “You have the Elder’s power inside you. Let me make this very clear: choosingnotto use your power is never the right choice. Got it?”
“But what if it?—”
“I don’t give a flying fuck about you being traceable in here. Being untraceable is a great asset, yes, but it’s never your greatest. Your power is! It’s the strongest weapon we have against the Radicals, and, in time, it might be what saves us against humans—if war turns out to be inevitable.”
He stepped closer, urgency pouring off him. “Don’t you see? It’syouwe need. But if you keep secrets from me and force me tomake bad decisions based on faulty intel, I can’t trust you. And if I can’t trust you, you can’t be here.”
I swallowed hard, trying to process his words. He sounded kind of…reasonable.
I gave a curt nod, and he did the same, a small moment of silent truce passing between us, before he turned and left the room.
The command center buzzed with low chatter. I leaned against the wall, my arms crossed, trying to collect the whirlwind of thoughts racing through my mind. Caden stood at the head of the table, his features drawn tight with frustration.
