Page 22 of Ascendant King

Cade stared at me, blinking. His mouth worked for a moment before he shook his head again.

I turned back to the window, watching the city change around us. We went from suburbs to empty land to suburbs again before I began to see the signs of the city nearby. The citytrain stations began dotting the freeway every dozen miles or so, places where commuters could get on.

Gabe took us off the freeway, and the overpass arched, giving me a view of the city, sunset framing the tall buildings. Everything was beautiful.

I had just been to the place where I had grown up, the place that still occupied my brain, but this—the city sprawled out in front of me, the traffic choking every street, the apartment buildings and high-rises—this was home.

“Almost there, boss. You want us to stop anywhere before we get to the house?” Gabe had hung up at some point, and he glanced in the rearview mirror, checking in with me. I shook my head.

“I’ll tell Nia we’re almost there.” I dug my cell phone out of my pocket, tapping in a quick text before turning off the screen. I didn’t even wait to see what she said, knowing she was still angry that we had been so unsafe, not waiting for her before heading to Flores.

With a few deft turns, Gabe guided us onto an expensive street, all the houses taking up more space than any single family needed. The high-security gates and tall shrubs hid people from view.

Two of the pack stood next to our gate, leaning against the fence. One of them was smoking, but he tossed the cigarette aside when he saw us pull up. They buzzed us through, but as the gate began opening, I heard thewhoopof a siren, the flash of lights.

Sighing, I cursed under my breath. I got out of the car, waving the other cars through. Gabe kept our car running, and Cade arched an eyebrow, but I shut the door on them both.

The unmarked police car pulled up behind ours, lights flashing, although the officer had the grace to turn off the siren.A middle-aged woman in a suit got out of the vehicle, and I managed to turn my grimace into a smile.

“Chief Fox,” I said. “Fancy seeing you here.”

Geraldine Fox glared at me, her lips pursed in an unhappy line. “Miles. I see you’re bringing more wolves into my city.”

She gestured to the gate I could hear closing behind me.

“Guests,” I said.

“Guests. Right.” She stopped, and I waited. I wasn’t going to show her any weakness, not when she was used to how Declan greased the wheels of business with dedicated contributions to her re-election fund.

“Is it illegal now to have guests over?” I asked.

“It’s illegal to run guns and drugs in my city,” she snapped.

“Chief Fox,” I said, letting myself smile. “I don’t know what you’re accusing me of.”

“I’m letting you know, as afriend, that pretty soon this will be taken out of my hands. The feds will be getting involved, and at that point, I won’t be able to help you anymore.” She looked at me significantly, but I didn’t want to start down the same road as Declan. Paying her off now would solve our current problems, but it would leave me in bed with a woman I trusted less than Basil not to eat me for her own satisfaction.

“As a friend, I appreciate the heads-up.” I crossed my arms.

The car door opened, and Cade got out, his heels making distinct clicks on the pavement. He smiled at Fox when he was standing next to me, and she frowned, slightly taken aback. “Chief Fox. I assume you’re here to thank us?”

“Thank you?” Fox looked at me, raising one black eyebrow. “For what?”

“Well, since we’ve taken over Declan Monroe’s operations, the number of arsons in the city has decreased, along with murders and Thorn-related crimes.” Cade ticked off on his fingers. “As well as mage kidnappings by House Morrison.”

“I don’t think even you can claim that your takeover of a criminal enterprise increased city safety, Prince Bartlett.” The title gave her away—she was definitely uncomfortable talking to Cade and all his mage prince power. Whether it was because she thought he could level the city at will or because of his political power, she was afraid of him.

“No, but I’m sure that the… feds, as you say, would be happy to examine how much you knew about civilian kidnappings and crimes in your city. I would bet they’d be happy to know exactly what amount it takes to make a chief of police look the other way.” Cade smiled mirthlessly.

Fox blanched and then glared at me. “Keep in mind what I said.”

She rushed back to her car, driving away without the lights.

“Great,” I muttered. “Like we really want to deal with the feds.”

“She’s bluffing,” Cade said.

“What do you mean?” I asked.