Page 120 of Ascendant King

He pressed a long line of tattoos to my chest. The vine twisted, pulling at the skin. It felt like warm water, like being bathed in a quiet pool in the mountains, Cade’s hands stroking over my face and down my shoulder.

“Miles. Can you hear me?” Cade asked.

I blinked open my eyes, staring at his face. His blond hair had turned into a halo, the sunlight catching on the edges. His blue eyes were sapphires. They were Arctic waters. I wanted to dip myself into them, float until I was numb.

His hand pressed hard on the wound, and it brought me back. I hissed in pain.

“It’s okay. I’ve got you.” Cade closed his eyes, and I saw a dark line of tattoo flowing down his arm, moving as he pressed more and more magic onto me.

His eyes never left mine, as though he needed to see me as much as I needed to see him. I gasped when I felt the bone mend itself together, the cracking loud in my ears.

Then it was done. I could feel his magic come off me, that strange sucking sensation that meant he was leaving me. I wanted to grab hold of his magic, keep it with me, but I knew better. We were surrounded by my pack.

I sat up, blinking.

Phelan was only a few feet away, still struggling, but the burn marks on his skin and the ground showed that using magic had been explosively bad for him.

Rhys crouched next to Nia, their hands fluttering around her, checking her face, digging into the ruff at her neck. She was still in her wolf form, looking away from them, but she took a few steps forward until Rhys could wrap her in a tight hug.

I looked back at Cade. I needed to say something, but I couldn’t think what. What did I say to the man who had saved my life so many times?

I knew what I wanted to say. I wanted to tell him that it was getting to the point where I couldn’t live without him, where he was too much a part of me and I was too much a part of him, and our souls were wrapped around each other.

Something of it must have come through in my gaze because his eyes went wide, then softened, brow creasing in confusion.

My heart knew exactly how he felt. We had started as enemies, then reluctant allies, and now, when I thought about him, everything inside of me fluttered with excitement and affection.

“Your shirt,” he said, offering it over. I took it, pulling it on as he produced my pants.

Then I crossed to where Phelan lay. Standing, I loomed over him, forcing him to twist his neck in order to see me. I knew exactly how uncomfortable the position was and what it said to him about our power differential in this moment.

“We know that you’re using the poison to power up your house. You can talk about equality all you want, but you’re taking magic from people and giving it to others, creating an addictive pattern. They couldn’t stop even if they wanted to.”

“You just want the power for yourself. As though wolves would be any better than humans. You can teach a dog to fetch the paper, but you cannot teach them to make meaning of the words inside.” The chains jangled as Phelan tried to sit up, but Emilio pinned him easily with one hand.

Burns and bruises streaked Emilio’s arm where Phelan’s magic had trapped him during the fight. Still, his hand was gentle enough that he didn’t do any damage when he kept Phelan down.

“What Iwantis Leon.” I waited.

Time stretched, and I refused to move, standing tall. I could feel my own blood drying on my stomach, starting to itch. But I didn’t budge.

“Leon.” Phelan looked away first. “He didn’t see the potential of what we were doing when he showed me the poison. Yes. He came to House Morrison, looking for help. When he realized what I was using the poison for, he tried to attack, but we easily overwhelmed him. He only had a few people with him. Leon might have been able to take out more of us, but he retreated.”

“Where?” I kept the question quiet.

“I don’t know.” Phelan spoke to the ground, his eyes going distant. “I could have beaten him. Icouldhave beaten him. Iwouldhave won.”

I looked at Cade, and he looked troubled. But his eyes weren’t focused on Phelan’s face; instead, he looked up and down Phelan’s exposed skin at the rainbow of color on his flesh.

“He doesn’t know where Leon is,” I said. Then, just to poke at Phelan, see if he was lying, “We might not need him.”

Cade blinked at me, saying, “I think I can use him to free House Morrison from its ties to the poisoned ley lines.”

“You figured out what Summer meant?”

Cade shook his head. “No. But I have an idea.”

He stepped forward, circling Phelan until he was on the opposite side from Emilio. With a glance at me, he looked at the surrounding wolves.