Page 37 of Ascendant King

“If we could avoid speaking of mychildhood homelike it’s an open volcano, it would be greatly appreciated. It’s only exploded twice, and both times were my fault,” Cade said. He stared at the pile of evidence. “And I believe I know exactly where we should attack from.”

Chapter

Twelve

The lines of Cade’s map kept moving, making all the wolves nervous. Nia was the only one unaffected by the proximity of magic, her blank expression indicating that not only was this normal for her, but it wasn’t even that impressive.

We had cleared all the evidence off the table, and Cade had pressed one hand in front of him, his magic crawling down his fingers and spreading out, drawing an accurate map of northern California. Los Santos Bay was lit up, the black water moving with Cade’s tattoos. House Bartlett was a dark Gothic house, practically a black hole on the map.

The forest around it was made up of small trees, each one delicate and detailed.

“You want to come in through the dryad village?” I frowned at that area of the map. The trees grew blurry, and the town itself had no details, only a few small houses, vague shapes indicating what it was.

“We can circle around, using some of the mountain roads beyond House Bartlett territory, then pass through the town to the wards on that side.” Small lines of tattoo flowed along thepath that Cade had indicated, running into invisible walls with a silent explosion.

I stood, leaning forward, one of my hands brushing the edge of Cade’s magic. It tickled my skin. Beside me, he inhaled sharply.

“And how are we going to get through the wards?” I asked. “They might have forgotten to reset the magic of a few vacation houses, but they haven’t forgotten their main estate. And I don’t think Lynn is just going to let us in. She seemed very into the wards.”

“No. Lynn won’t just let us in.” Cade spread his hands, and the map zoomed in on the House Bartlett estate. Details of the buildings came into focus, and he brushed a finger along the edge of the territory. His black magic lit a sparkling gray, invisible flames shooting to life. “Lynn and her branch of the family are tied to the wards. If, for any reason, the wards are broken or we damage the wards, it’s taken as physical damage to them.”

“So how are we going to get through?” I reached out, dragging a finger along the edges of the flames. “Unless it turns out that Lynn is into sadomasochism and doesn’t mind getting torn up when we push our way through?”

Nia snorted, then stood and reached out, gesturing for Cade to turn the map. He obligingly did, and she tapped an area of forest next to the line of flames. I stared at it blankly, then looked at her for an explanation.

She glared at me again, tapping the area significantly. Then, with a roll of her eyes, she plucked at my shirt.

Around the table, I heard a sharp inhale, everyone terrified to see what my reaction was going to be.

I laughed. “Okay, point. What about the areas of wards that had holes in them? Jay and Isaac escaped through them. So did Coral, Theo, and the rest when they had to.”

Cade’s eyes went wide, and he nodded slowly, squinting down the line of flames. “I’ll talk to Isaac and see how he and Jay figured out where the holes were going to be. The only ones we know about are on the opposite side of the property, and I’m not eager to give Leon the advantage of a frontal assault.”

“Boss?” Joel raised his hand, and I looked over. “I heard that if you try and pass through a ward without permission, you can die. Is that what we’re doing?”

“I’m not going to do anything that kills my entire pack in one go.” I looked at the map again. “The wards around House Bartlett have holes in them. We just need to find them.”

“And what if we don’t?” Evelyn asked. Her eyes were assessing, and she glanced at me through her lashes, looking away before I could catch her gaze.

She was sharp, smart. She had a good head for strategy, but she lacked some of the loyalty and community-mindedness that made Nia a good second.

Someday, I would have to let Evelyn go so she could form her own pack, make her own family that she could make her own decisions for.

“I’m not sending anyone to their death. Nobody in my pack is cannon fodder, do you understand?” I waited, and this time, she met my eyes, the corners of her own relaxing.

I heard the click of a lighter behind me, and Declan’s voice filtered into my ears.

“She’s asking because not that long ago, I sent someone from her team into a situation with the cops.” Declan took a long drag on his cigarette. My nose twitched, but I didn’t smell anything. “Kid got shot, killed. It’s arguable that I knew exactly what I was doing because now the cop that was investigatingmeis under investigation by IA, and the media crucified him for shooting an unarmed kid. So, someone might say that I did it on purpose.”Declan paused, tapping his lighter against the wall. “Evelynwould say that.”

He wasn’t behind me. Declan wasn’t in the room. No one else was reacting to him, which meant that he was all in my head.

Cade shot me a strange look, his eyes narrowed, head tilted. I shook my head.

“Are you sure the dryads will support us?” I asked.

“We could ask the local dryad here, on the Los Santos supernatural council.” Cade wiped his hand over the table, and the magic flowed back onto his skin. When it was gone, my betas relaxed. Kieran had gone pale, and with the magic erased, he took a deep breath, as though he had been holding it the entire time.

“But you don’t think it’s necessary,” I said.