I shook my head, forcing myself to focus on the more pressing matter. “So now what?” I asked, sharper than I intended.
James remained silent, his face a mask of guilt and despair. The sight of him so broken only stoked the fire of my anger. Where did he get the nerve to act like he was the victim here?
It took every ounce of restraint not to launch myself at him, to scratch out his eyeballs for everything he’d kept from me—forevery betrayal, every lie. But I stayed rooted to the spot, my fury simmering just beneath the surface.
Stephen breathed in deeply, his chest rising, clearly aware of the static simmering around the room. “We need to finalize our strategy. Time is running out, and we have to act swiftly. We need to mobilize our forces, gather intel, and take decisive action against both the Radicals and the future Trackers.”
I glanced at James, who was clearly wrestling with his own demons, then at the other two, who were focused on the immediate future. “All right,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady despite the chaos swirling inside me. “Let’s get this over with. What’s the plan?”
“We divide assignments,” Caden replied, speaking with blunt efficiency. “We have LiaPrisms to destroy, Amplifiers to find, and we haveyouto protect.”
I must have misheard him.
I shot a questioning look at James, whose expression, for the first time since our conversation, seemed to hold a flicker of life and interest.
“Why do I need protection?” I frowned, feeling a tinge of impatience.
“Because we have to start informing people about what we saw in the future,” Caden explained. “We need to alert the United Chiefs and once they know, they might start investigating. And if they find out about you and your untraceable translation the same way we did…”
“They’ll come after me,” I finished, my mind racing with the implications. Caden gave a curt nod in affirmation.
James’s gaze was now locked on Caden, his expression a volatile mix of anxiety and anger.
“So, you’ve gone from torturing me to protecting me. Care to explain the sudden one-eighty?” I asked Caden rather harshly.
“Not really,” Caden replied, his response devoid of emotion. “But seeing as the only person who might have had some answers about what you are and how you came to be is dead…”
“Ah yes, admitting that decapitation might have been a little hasty on your part?” I prodded, bitterness shining through.
“No, not at all,” Caden shot back, his glare filled with contempt. “I wouldn’t have trusted a word out of his mouth anyway. Besides, ensuring that you wouldn’t get raped again seemed a more pressing priority.”
His words cut through the air with a harshness that made my cheeks flush with anger. As if me being raped was somehow funny to him. Or was he being sincere?
James raised a hand, stopping the rising tempers cold. “There’s another option,” he said, every muscle tight with urgency.
I scowled, my frustration boiling over, but still turned toward him.
“Gordon.”
I frowned. “The man who forced Julian into making me an abomination of nature?”
James nodded, his expression resolute. “I don’t believe Julian really killed Gordon. Over the past few months, I’ve been digging into this and couldn’t find a shred of evidence to support what Julian claimed. So I started scouring the archives for any record of a ‘Gordon’ who were fighting the Battle of ’59. To my surprise, I found several who are still alive. We need to investigate them and make sure none of them are the one responsible. If we find the right one, I suggest we interrogate him about what he exactly did to youbeforewe decapitate him.”
Oh so that’s why he kept his research on the Battle of ’59 locked behind that small portal in his room.Well, at least I gotsomeanswers.
“Fine, we’ll split up. Amplifier versus LiaPrisms. I’ll take on the search for Gordon,” Stephen volunteered with a determined nod.
James glanced at him, then turned to Caden. “Caden knows Crown inside and out, where the weapon was last spotted. It makes sense for him to handle the Amplifier situation and deal with the Radicals he’s already familiar with. I’ll go back to Cyclos with Emma. We’ll focus on locating the LiaPrisms.”
Oh no. There was no way in hell I was going to let Mister Not-a-Real-Leader-and-Lying-about-Everything-is-a-Lifestyle dictate where I went. Not a chance.
“Actually, I’m going with Caden,” I announced firmly.
The shock that followed was almost tangible. I couldn’t tell who was more surprised—Stephen, James, Caden, or even myself.
“You what?” James froze, every trace of color draining from his face.
“I’m going to Crown with Caden,” I repeated, standing firm, unmoving.
