Chapter 78

Jesse

The sun was sinking low over the ridge, casting a dull orange light across the camp. I stood at the edge of my tent, arms crossed, watching as the shadows stretched and flickered like something alive.

Then I saw her.

Emma strolled into camp like she owned the place. She came with no guards or pretense. She just had that calm, calculating look in her eye that she always held, like she knew more than the next person.

The other rogues stepped back instinctively. Most of them didn’t know what to make of her anymore. Though she had visited the camp a few times after betraying and leaving us, she was still a mystery to most. It was hard to tell where her loyalties lay. She was not quite beholden to the palace, but neither could she be considered a rogue aligned with us any longer.

But me? I knew exactly what Emma was. She was dangerous, plain and simple.

“Didn’t think you’d willingly come,” I said, eyeing her with a smirk as she stopped a few feet away from me. “Thought you’d be too busy playing the role of the palace pet.”

Her smile didn’t reach her eyes. “You know me. I go where the wind takes me. But don’t act like you wouldn’t bleed the world dry to play the palace pet yourself.”

“Ah, you must be misremembering my motives if you think that.”

She tilted her head slightly. “I think it’s more likely that your motives have changed.” She smirked, cruel as a cat eyeing up a mouse. “I heard you let Evelyn slip through your fingers. What a loss.”

There it was. This was what Emma had always specialized in. That subtle hint of something bitter behind her words.

“She left, yes,” I said slowly. “But you know that it’s never that simple. It is only the beginning for her and me.” I leaned closer. “But don’t be too bitter. I don’t care for a jealous woman, Emma. No need to get upset about my interest in Evelyn.”

Emma shrugged, but I saw her jaw tighten. “I’m not upset. Just… tired.”

“Tired of pretending she didn’t ruin your life?”

She met my gaze. “She didn’t ruin it. You did, Jesse. This war has ruined everything. Nothing feels like a home anymore. You took that from me.”

That stung, though I kept my face neutral.

I gestured toward the tents behind me. “You think they’re not going to crown her and throw you back to the shadows like always? You’re smarter than that, Emma. You’ve lived your life as a rogue before, so you know how it feels to be used and discarded. You and I, we both know what it’s like to be overlooked.”

“I’m not overlooked,” she said, folding her arms. “I’m just… I’m done, Jesse. With both sides. You, her, all of it. It’s exhausting.”

I blinked. “What does that even mean?”

“It means I don’t want anything to do with it anymore. I don’t want Logan like that any longer, and I don’t want your war. I don’t belong to any of you. You both can fight over Evelyn and tear her to bits in the process for all I care.”

I snorted. “You don’t get to be neutral, Emma. You’ve picked a side every time it benefited you. I know what you’ve done to Evelyn to stay close to Logan.”

She shook her head. “No. I’ve always picked survival. And I’ll do it again. But also, yes, I enjoyed having Logan’s favor until that well ran dry. Recently, he’s only had eyes for Evelyn. You should see the way he looks at her. It’s enough to bring my supper back up.”

I tensed. This couldn’t be happening. Another angle we could work was disappearing before my eyes. Another ally turning their back.

“You’re a traitor,” I accused.

Her smile returned. Her expression was cool, unwavering. It was enough to put me on edge.

I’m a rogue,” she said. “A true rogue, not like your band of merry misfits. I always have been. A real one. I don’t have to participate in whatever pathetic game you’re playing with spies and lies. You’re still obsessed with the revenge. Still trying to win a war that’s already lost.”

I stepped forward, my pulse rising. “You think you’re better than me?”

“No,” she said, turning on her heel. “I think I’m freer than you’ll ever be.”

She straightened. “You pretend to be interested in Evelyn only because Logan is. It’s pathetic.”

“You wouldn’t understand,” I snapped.

“Oh, wouldn’t I? Unlike you, I’ve seen both sides of this coin,” she said. “I’ve seen how you react to her, and I’ve seen how Logan melts against her. He loves her, Jesse. And that’s the only reason you want her. But unlike you, I can see when a battle is no longer worth the fight. Evelyn has won. It’s time you admit that Logan has won, too.”

“He hasn’t won yet,” I argued. “This is far from over.”

“She is going to fall for him in short time. The writing is on the wall. You drugged her and held her captive while Logan has done nothing but cherish and try to protect her. And now that time has passed, he realizes he loves her too. You can’t say the same, Jesse. And you won’t, ever. You only know what it’s like to covet and possess. You’ve lost the girl. Don’t beat yourself up too much over it.”

She walked away without another word, leaving me standing in the dirt, fists clenched at my sides. Her words looped in my head like a broken hymn. I’m not sure why I allowed her to walk away. Maybe I should have stopped her or punished her for her sharp tongue. But I couldn’t even bring myself to unclench my jaw.

So, I watched her go, fury tightening in me like a snake coiled to strike.

Then I smelled it. I had become quite acquainted with the smell and knew that the strength of it lingering in the air just then heralded nothing good.

Smoke.

I turned slowly toward the far edge of camp just in time to see the first tent being swallowed by flames. Screams followed, the chaos spreading as my wolves scrambled to respond.

I knew in an instant who was responsible. Only one person would be so bold with their next move. I knew of only one person willing to be so calloused and unbothered as to brutally restart our war.

Logan.

That bastard moved fast. Evelyn had been gone for less than a week, and already he was creating his next brutal strike. While I had been regrouping and reevaluating the different angles I could come at everything with, Logan had been plotting and moving.

Damn him.

I ran for my weapons, barking orders at anyone who wasn’t already scattering as I hurled myself back into my tent. I donned my armor, my claws lengthening unbidden as frustration boiled in me. It took some effort for them to retract and to quell myself from shifting. Now was not the time. But later. Soon.

Yet even as I prepared for battle, one image stayed lodged in my mind like a splinter: Emma, walking away, smiling like she saw the fire coming long before I ever smelled the smoke. A true rogue until the end.