Page 116 of Ascendant King

I released Elizabeth, and she shook herself, shrugging her shoulders and resting a palm on her chest before looking over my shoulder at Summer.

“Where have you been?” The question was raw, surprising me with its bitterness.

Elizabeth had always been hard, sharp edges, blades inside her words. Her desperate question was just as cutting, but clearly, it injured her as much as Summer.

Summer looked down, dragging her fingernail along the edge of her wooden palette. “I got out. I always said I would.”

“Why didn’t you answer me? Why didn’t you come find me?” Elizabeth stepped over the rolling roots, wading through the water until she was an arm’s length away from Summer. “We could have done this together.”

“You thought it was too dangerous.” Summer looked up, glaring at Elizabeth. “But it wasn’t. I did it. I got out, and I was fine.”

“Then why are you here?” Elizabeth gestured around us.

“Because I don’t like it. I don’t like what mages have done to the world. I thought it would be better, but it’s just the same, only instead of draining other mages, they’re draining everything else.” Summer looked at me. “You know. You saw.”

“That’s what you think the poison is?” I asked. “We learned that the poison was caused by a mage feeding magic back into the ley line forcibly, draining the ley line forcibly. It wasn’t… kids killing fairies.”

Summer’s shoulders slumped. “You don’t understand.”

“Then help us understand,” Elizabeth said. When Summer looked at her, head tilted, eyes narrowed suspiciously, Elizabeth waved a hand. “I didn’t believe you once. Give me the chance to believe you now.”

“You know I can see things. I see that the entire magical system is infected. This wasn’t caused by one mage. Or… if it was, it was the tipping point.” Summer gestured to the tree in front of us. It cracked down the middle, half of it falling into the water to reveal living poison underneath. “We need to rid the ley lines of all mage houses. All of them. It’s the only way to let magic heal.”

“So, Cade’s father didn’t necessarily cause all of it. He was just the straw on the camel’s back.” I looked at Cade, but it didn’t seem to comfort him at all. He was still frowning, staring at the tree.

“I took House Bartlett off the ley lines, but how are we supposed to do that with the rest of the houses?” He glanced down at his arm, the sleeve still rolled up. A battle-axe stretched across his forearm. “We can’t go to war with all of them.”

Summer pointed at the water. “You don’t have to. A single drop of water is connected to the entire ocean.”

I looked at the water, splashing against my legs, almost warm. It should have felt cold and uncomfortable, being surrounded by water, but instead, it was relaxing.

“I don’t understand.” Cade frowned down at the water, then looked back up to Summer. “Yes, magic is connected, but houses are tied to the ley lines. A river in New England isn’t going to be affected by one here in California.”

“But the ocean will be.” Summer sighed, frustrated. She gestured around us. “I can create and destroy anything I want here. But I can’t out there. I tried.Youcan. That’s whatyourmagic was built for. Do you understand?”

“I’m not the ocean,” Cade said. “Are you suggesting that somehow House Bartlett’s ley lines are connected to some greater magical force and I can use those connections to sever all connections to any ley lines?”

Cade frowned, trying to detangle what he had just said. He looked at me, and I realized that he was looking for support. We had been relying on each other for so long that I recognized what he needed because I felt it in my own chest.

Reaching out, I put a hand on his arm, pressing my palm to the battle-axe, letting him feel my strength and my belief in him. He swallowed, some of the fear and anxiety receding from his gaze. He drew his chin up, putting his shoulders back.

“You are a mage king,” Summer said. “Your connection to your house’s ley lines is stronger than amemberof any house. It’s stronger than a member of the Bartlett family. You have the power to find the ocean when no one else can.”

She searched his face, then looked down to where my hand was still pressed on his arm.

“Oh.” She frowned, brows twitching together. “I’m glad the two of you decided on each other rather than murder.”

“Are you saying thatanymage king would have this ability?” Elizabeth asked. When Summer looked at her sharply, she held up her hands. “Summer, I promise I’mtryingto understand.”

“Yes. But they’re all too cowardly. They don’t believe it needs to happen, so it won’t.” Summer exhaled sharply, dragging herhand through her hair, leaving a streak of paint at her temple. She fisted her hand at the back of her head before releasing. “You’rethe only one who can do this.Youare going to be the last mage king.”

Under my hand, Cade’s forearm tensed. “What does that mean?”

Summer opened her mouth, then frowned. She looked down at her dress, the white shift blackening around her stomach.

“He found me,” she said softly. Magical threads wrapped around her, pulling her arms and torso back, dragging her through the water before we could reach her.

Reality seemed to bend and tear, and the colored room we were in disappeared entirely, revealing the park outside the House Morrison building.