Page 122 of Ascendant King

I had never been able to save my parents or my siblings, but I could save Cade. Cade had been too young to be anything more than a child in the closet. Now, he was full-grown, a king. He could stand beside me as we faced our enemies and didn’t need to hide anymore.

“Yes.” Cade put his hands on either side of my face, drawing me into a kiss. “That’s what we are.”

The rest of the world could have descended into chaos. It could have burned down around us. Summer could have flooded the battlefield and drowned everything.

But with Cade’s warm, plush lips on mine, the world was perfect.

When I pulled back, I searched his face. “So, where’s Leon?”

Cade dropped his hands from me, leaning back to look over the battlefield. “Summer was right. I might be king of House Bartlett, but that means I have a deeper understanding of the magic that connects all of us. When I severed our connection with the ley lines that had been bound to our house for decades, I still had a connection to magic.”

“You mean that even though you weren’t using the House Bartlett ley lines, you could still feel the magic in the world, like the other paranormal creatures we ran into?” I thought of the supernatural counsel in the Zoo. They’d been able to sense magic, feel it, without any link to the ley lines.

“Exactly,” Cade said. “There are stories about the first mage kings. How they could come from nothing. It wasn’t run on bloodlines back then. It was run by who had the right sort of magic. Who had the ability to control the ley lines.”

“So before families bound ley lines to themselves, there were mages who could control them?” I frowned. “Why haven’t any been born since then?”

“Because they are either born into mage houses, or they can’t touch what’s already owned. All of the ley lines are controlled by the mage houses.” Cade’s lips twisted. “And they get protective about what’s theirs.”

I leaned back on my heels, considering him. The sun dyed his hair golden, the blond so fine that it looked nearly white. When his eyes met mine, there was a weight to them. His gaze wasn’t cool; it wasn’t controlled. Cade was frightened.

“They’re protective of what’s theirs.” I gave in to temptation, drawing a finger along his hairline, caressing down his face. “Meaning if we do this, theywillcome after us.”

“Not just after you and me,” Cade reminded me.

Because that was the problem. I was no longer just responsible for myself. It wasn’t justmyflesh that would pay the price if something went wrong. If we did this badly, if we lost, my new pack would be the one tracked down and killed.

The alpha in me knew I had to say no. I had to say no and walk away from Cade and all he was offering. I had to. It was the smart move. The only move to protect my pack.

Instead, I thought about the handful of dead fairies in an alley. I thought about years of experiments, controlling gargoyles and wolves. I thought about a consort tortured over and over so his master could see how the poison worked on supernatural creatures.

No.

Because I didn’t want to just be an alpha. I wanted to be the Emperor Wolf. And an emperor would do what was best for his people.Allof his people.

“So you know how to break the connections for all the mage houses.” It wasn’t quite a question, and Cade’s lips went tight, his gaze fixed on mine. Terror ate its way into his control, and he trembled. I asked, “Where do we go?”

I sent part of the pack back. Anyone that was injured, anyone that had something to lose. Phelan went with us meekly. The injury that Rhys’s magic had done to his leg was irreparable.

“And you deserve it.” Rhys raised their chin. “Think twice before you?—”

They broke off, Nia bumping their shoulder. She looked at them significantly, and Rhys rolled their eyes. “All right, yes. Maybe I am gloating a little bit.”

So Phelan was packed off neatly back to our house, still wrapped in enough iron to send him to the bottom of the ocean several times over. To no one’s surprise, Summer and Elizabeth had disappeared in the chaos.

When I stuck my hand in my pocket, searching for my cell phone, I came out with a small painting the size of a business card. It was in Summer’s style, graceful lines, slightly confusing, leaving me with a sense of deep disquiet.

On the other side, she had scribbled,For when you need it.

I handed it over to Cade, and he squinted at the writing before turning the card over and examining the front. He gave it back to me with a shrug.

Then, we got in the remaining cars and headed to the Zoo.

Cade struggled to explain, the mages in the van with us looking at him intently.

“Ley lines are connected at the source. That’s what we’re taught. Then, as they travel further, they become thinner and smaller, allowing mage houses to own them.” Cade waited for them to nod. “But what we don’t understand is that they come back together again at the end. It’s a circle. A snake eating its own tail.”

Why would any snake do that?Basil murmured in my ear.Disgusting. Cannibalism. And humans think that we do that?