Page 100 of Ascendant King

“Because it shows they can’t pick a side and stick with it?” I asked.

Cade nodded. “It shows that they don’t have the loyalty necessary. But still, there were only sixty mages, seventy counting the ones that were killed when I took the crown.”

“And there were a lot more than that before you left.” I considered the balls, the dinners. At one point, I had come up with a comprehensive list of all the mages that lived on the estate, and there had been over a hundred and twenty.

“Some of them must be with Leon,” I suggested.

“But all of them? Where would he be hiding them?” Shaking his head, Cade turned to look out the window. “House Morrison?”

“Would Phelan want another mage king in his house? He killed the last one he thought might expose his secret.” I considered the town as we drove through it, the abandoned storefronts, the sign for Rhys’s shop swinging in invisible wind.

“It’s unlikely that Leon would expose Phelan since that would mean exposing what he was doing as well.” Cade’s voice was distant, troubled.

“What will happen with the estate?” We passed out of the woods, turning onto a street that led to the freeway.

“I’ll decide that after we figure out how to free it of the poison. Right now, I can’t risk selling it. What if someone else taps into the poison?” Cade stared straight ahead, not eventurning to look at the symbol of his house that he had left behind. “After that, I’ll decide what I’ll do.”

I nodded and let the conversation fade into silence. We both had enough to think about. We arrived back at the compound in the city only an hour behind the wolves we had sent ahead.

Evelyn was waiting for us, alerted by the guards at the gate. She stood casually, arms crossed over her chest, white tank top revealing her strong biceps. Looking over the vehicles, she raised her eyebrows until I got out.

Then her face relaxed, and she approached the car. “Nia texted that we need to find enough housing for forty more people?”

I nodded, rubbing my eyes. “We’ll have to convert some of the common living spaces. See if people will double up.”

“Consort…” Siobhan cleared her throat, standing next to the car she’d ridden in. Her face was pale, her hair looking even brighter in the sunlight. She glanced at Evelyn, then down, then back at me before fixing her gaze on the driveway. “I mean, Alpha Castillo?”

I waved my hand. “Just call me Miles.”

“It might not be necessary to have anyone adjust their current living situation.” Siobhan gestured to Petrona and a couple other mages, who stood clustered together. “In the car, the council members… I mean, the refugees? They were discussing how to add rooms to an existing structure.”

My mind flew to the house Siobhan had been living in with endless rooms or the main building on the House Morrison estate. There were ways that magic could be used to expand structures, give more space when it was needed.

Slowly, I nodded. “That would work.”

Siobhan bowed her head and returned back to the mages.

“You sure that’s a good idea, boss?” Evelyn asked.

I shook my head. “No. But if we’re going up against Leon, we need mages. And we need to keep our eyes on them.”

Evelyn gave a significant sniff, raising her eyebrow. Her smirk was decidedly wolfish. “So now we’re sleeping with the enemy?”

I hadn’t had a chance to shower, and I glared at her, forcing myself not to raise my arm to my nose and see if I could smell Cade on me. “Watch the mages. Let me know when they decide what they’re going to do.”

Nia had grabbed the bags from the trunk and led the way into the house. Cade stood at the foot of the steps, glancing back at the mages, his frown uncertain.

I gripped his elbow, awareness of the heat of his skin sparking in my fingertips. I shivered, the feeling running over my shoulder blades and down my spine. “Come on.”

Theo and his mage, Jack, were in the hallway talking to Coral and Lily. I jerked my free hand toward the open door. “We brought a lot of House Bartlett mages. Can you keep an eye on them until Cade and I get cleaned up?”

They jumped at the command, moving around us to head outside. When we got to the corner of the hallway that was my room and Cade’s, one next to the other, I didn’t release his elbow, guiding him into my room.

Nia dropped the bags inside the door and then took up guard position outside my door.

“Oh,no.” I shook my head firmly. “Absolutely not. You’re just as tired as we are. Someone else can stand guard. I only want to see you after you’ve showered and taken a few hours of sleep.”

Nia narrowed her eyes at me, eyebrows drawn together, but I glared right back at her, crossing my arms. “Don’t make me turn it into an order, Nia.”