Page 129 of Ascendant King

“We can take ten people,” Cade said suddenly. “Rhys and I can do it by ourselves, which will leave the rest of the mages available to fight Leon’s lackeys.”

“Good. Nia, you’re with me. Evelyn and Gabe, you’ll lead the rest of the pack. Heather, I want you to wait, then bring in the second wave of reinforcements, you understand?” My betas nodded, no one questioning their position, their faith in me a buoy that kept me from going under at the thought of taking on this many powerful mages.

My entire life, I had been taught not to cross a mage—first by my mother, then by her death. Mages could raze mountains. Mages could destroy cities. Mages could stop your heart at thirty paces.

Now, I was taking my nascent pack up against them. There was no other choice, but that didn’t make it an easy decision.

I chose the other eight wolves based on who I knew was good in a fight. Nia approved my selection with a quick glance.

Turning, I glanced behind me, catching the eye of every wolf that would meet my gaze. Some of them wouldn’t, but I could tell that was nervousness rather than rudeness. Others cracked their necks, bounced on the balls of their feet, ready for whatever was coming.

There wasn’t time for a rousing speech, and I wasn’t willing to give away our position just to have one. As my gaze passed over the crowd of wolves, I let myself feel like an alpha, be the confidence I knew they needed. A wave of calm passed over my pack.

Then, we moved.

Gabe’s description hadn’t done it justice. The riverbed was chaos. If a forest in the middle of the city was unexpected, what was here was impossible.

The trees that had once taken up part of the riverbed now flashed fluorescent colors, moving between barren winter branches and canopies full of spring flowers instantly. Supernatural creatures ran toward one of the trees, only to appear several feet away, blinking in confusion. On one side of the horizon, there was a sunset. On the other, dawn crested the buildings.

Cade’s black magic, interspersed with delicate flowers from Rhys, wrapped around our group. The rest of the pack crept forward, breaking into efficient groups. A mage leapt from behind a tree, seeming to appear out of nowhere, her dark purple magic wrapping around one of the wolves.

But this was a pack, used to hunting together, even if we were still learning the nuances of each other. And they had learned after fighting Phelan. I could already see it in their movements.

We didn’t have time to help them. Instead, Cade strode in front, Rhys behind, and we headed straight into the center of chaos.

It got worse the further in we got. I now understood what Jack meant when he said pockets of reality. Between two trees, I saw a bustling city street. Not one from Los Santos, but something that looked like San Francisco.

Another opening displayed a deep, snowy mountain, strange figures peering in through the doorway. As we crept past, one tried to reach out, but its hand passed through us.

“This way, this way.” A single fairy landed on Cade’s shoulder, tugging his collar. “Follow the sisters.”

Cade startled, almost batting the creature away, but I grabbed his hand, lacing our fingers together. Silently, I pointed up in the trees. There was a line of fairies, leading us deeper.

A tremendous roar shook the forest, a pounding on the concrete that cracked it. Startled, we looked over. Two mages had attacked another group of wolves, and the wolves were holding them off well. Evelyn led, managing to get up under one of the mage’s guard. She went in for the kill just as the second mage raised a hand, about to send a powerful wave of magic after her. Before he could, a troll pounded out of the trees, throwing the second mage to the side. The troll’s fist was bloody and his face scarred by magic.

I started toward Evelyn, but Cade pulled me back. When I looked at him, his eyes were serious, and I knew what he was trying to say. Evelyn could handle herself.

The shriek of gargoyles was the only warning we had before they descended on a mage hiding in the branches of a nearby tree. The mage went down hard, landing with a crack. His magic poured out of him, as though from a spilled ink pot.

We kept going, and then we were in the center of the storm. The massive dryad that had sat on the supernatural counsel was locked in battle.

Half of her branches had been shorn away, her leaves falling in burned embers on the concrete. A sapling sprouted out of the ground, only to be sheared away by gold magic.

Leon sat in the smoking remains of a wooden throne, barely even looking over as he continued to fight her. Instead, his eyes were unfocused, the color nearly white.

“Here you are.” He smiled at us, seeing directly through Cade and Rhys’s spellwork.

With the brush of magic, Cade cleared the invisibility spell, and I jumped forward, the other wolves following behind me. Nia stepped close to Rhys for a half second as he brushed a hand over her shoulder, and then she leapt as well, dragging a tattoo from her body and throwing it straight at Leon.

A lance made of pure flowers arced toward him, and it was going to hit him—it was going to pierce him straight through.

With a gentle smile, Leon caught the tip between his fingers. Squeezing, he cracked the lance into a million pieces, the magic falling aside as ash.

Rhys groaned, but Nia didn’t hesitate, and I took her cue, pulling the blackberry vine from my chest, whipping it out, straight at Leon. As Nia threw a line of knives, Leon batted them away with one hand while he raised his other arm, letting my thorny tattoo wrap around his arm. It dug in deep, drawing blood, and I yanked hard, trying to pull him from his throne.

The other wolves used his brief distraction, one shifting into wolf form and springing for his throat.

Leon’s smile turned vicious. He reached up absently and pressed his hand into the chest of the wolf, Felicity. She froze, her entire body going still, trapped midair like a butterfly caught in flight.