I growled. “But your time in Cyclos wasn’t the only time you two met. You looked for her as a child.”
Julian closed his lids, his shoulders sagging under the weight of his confession. “After a few years, I tracked her down, yes—just to check on her. To make sure she was alive and well.”
He paused before continuing his tale of horrors. “The True Bond has its limits. Physical ones. I’m not entirely certain of the exact range, but I know being on the same continent is essential.”
“So I moved here, aged myself down, made myself look like a seven-year-old kid, and enrolled at her primary school. Under the guise of ‘Martin,’ I became her friend.”
Remorse flickered in his eyes. “It was the only way to check up on her, without raising suspicion. I wanted to ensure she was okay, make sure the bond wasn’t harming her. For a while, it seemed like our plan had worked. Whenever she felt something—emotions, reactions—no energy surged. As long as her life wasn’t in danger, she was basically human.”
I rose abruptly, my nerves fraying with every word he spoke. I started pacing, needing the movement to process. “So let meget this straight. You forced the True Bond on her as a baby—ahuman—made her accept your translation, then put a damper on it so she wouldn’t translate, and now what?”
“It works independently of you? You can be on another continent, not telepathically linked, or even shield against it, but she can still use magic?”
Julian nodded grimly. “Yes,” he said quietly. “That’s what our research showed. When forced on a human newborn, the energy becomes part of their own body. It develops alongside the amygdala, embedding itself as part of their biology. When we form the True Bond as adult-magi, the energy remains separate—it doesn’t fuse in the same way.”
I stopped pacing and fixed him with a piercing stare. “So if I were to kill you for this…”
Julian swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he met my gaze. “It wouldn’t affect her ability to translate. But our telepathy would end, like with any normal True Bond.”
I clenched my jaw, the tautness in my body bordering on unbearable. “And since she never chose you as her mate, the physical and emotional repercussion would be…”
“Minimal,” he whispered.
The urge to act on my anger, to end him right then and there, clawed at the edges of my restraint. But I forced myself to take a slow, measured breath.Not yet.
“So why come here?” My voice was low, dangerous, daring him to hold anything back.
“Believing my mission was done, I left her after primary school and moved away. I've been working at Area 4 in Australia ever since, where the bond has no effect. Until I heard about a newly discovered twenty-three-year-old maga in Boston. I knew it couldn't be a coincidence, so I rushed back. By the time I arrived, she was already in training and under scrutiny of the entire magi world."
His stare bore into mine. "You have no idea how worried I've been—every training session, every attempt at translation. I feared someone would uncover the truth, and she'd be locked up like a science experiment. But against all odds, everything seemed to be working out just fine."
"Fine?" I erupted, my anger finally breaking through my restraint. "She's been bending over backward to train herself, believing she's a freak of nature because she can only translate when her life is in danger. That bond, that fuckingdamperalmost cost Emma her life!" My whole body quivered with anger.
Unexpectedly, Julian nodded almost enthusiastically, and I nearly tore his head off.
"Exactly! Italmostcost Emma her life, and I think it actually saved her from the full force of the Amplifier. James, consider this: an Amplifier links itself on the emotion, enhances it before expelling translation. But the damper I put on her energy, keeps any eruption from happening. Even when it does, it’s powerful but small.”
I pondered it. “So you think the damper is what saved her from that Amplifier?”
Julian smiled in excitement. I wanted to knock his teeth out.
“Yes, and if it did, it’s also possible that’s what’s keeping her from waking up. It would explain why nobody finds the cause. Her coma should’ve worn off already. If it's the damper, they wouldn't know to look for it.”
“We have to remove it, and I'm willing to bet anything it will heal her. Plus, if you keep this quiet and we successfully eliminate the damper, she can just be another maga. No one, including her, has to know she was man-made. No one has figured it out so far, so why would they ever?"
What he said sounded logical.
"Okay…" I replied hesitantly, congratulating myself on not having strangled him yet. "But how do we get the damper out?I don't entirely understand what it is, and it's not like we can simply cut it out of her brain.”
Julian's face turned crimson.Oh for fuck’s sake, what now?
"I would have to get it out the same way I got it in," he said softly, "by using the True Bond."
"You're insane if you think I'm letting you go anywhere near her ever again," I said through gritted teeth, clenching my fists.
He exhaled sharply. "I get that you don't trust me. You never have, and I've certainly not given you any reason to change that. But unless you want to force the True Bond on her yourself and get it out, I will have to do it."
Motherfucker. I needed to think about it, but we were losing precious time. She was slipping away more and more into that coma with every passing second.
