Page 38 of Ascendant King

“Leon made his opinions about the dryads clear.” Two small creases appeared between Cade’s brows as he considered the blank table. “If what he did to the wolves is any indication, he wants things back the way they were.”

“Meaning the dryads subjugated to mage desires.” My eyes returned to Cade’s hand, where he rolled a slice of magic across his knuckles, as though it was a half-dollar coin he was playing with.

“Okay. Nia, I need contact with the other packs. Which of them are coming with us, and how can we coordinate it? Cade has the details for the California packs that are willing to support us. You’ll probably have to text the other seconds to figure out how we’ll arrange meetings and transportation. Kieran, you and Heather work together to get some new establishments up and running. Evelyn, Gabe, Joel, I need to know who we’re taking with us and who we’re leaving here. Anyone under eighteen gets left behind. I don’t care what they say, I don’t care how good they are in a pinch.” I looked at everyone at the table significantly. “Idon’t care whatwewere doing when we were sixteen, seventeen. We arenottaking kids with us into battle.”

“And me? What are your orders, Emperor Wolf?” Cade’s voice made me turn, and I stared at his blue eyes. There was something in them, a hint of amusement. He was teasing me, and it sent a shiver up my spine.

“You need to talk to the mages and their consorts. We need to know how we get in, where the holes in the wards are. Then, we need to test it before we show up. I don’t want to bring an army and then have to turn around because we can’t get through the back door.”

Cade tilted his head, although whether it was agreement was debatable. I frowned at him, and Cade’s look got sharper, as though he was challenging me.

Shaking my head, I looked around the table.

“Is there anything else?” I waited. When no one responded, I let my brows drop. “No one has any worries? Nothing came up while I was gone?”

Nia tapped the table twice, then tapped her chest where a mage house badge might go.

“Morrison?” I asked.

She nodded.

I let my brows twitch together, glancing around the table. “Has anyone heard from them?”

“Not since we drove them off when they were trying to expand out of their building. I haven’t seen any on the streets. If they’re in town, they’re in the Morrison building.” Evelyn frowned down at the table, then looked up. “But I don’t think theyarethere. We had some people watching it for days. No one went in or out.”

“Mages don’t need to use the front door.” But Cade sounded troubled.

“We found this poison outside of House Bartlett’s ley lines. Is it possible it’s also infected House Morrison?” I looked at Cade, and he nodded.

“That’s what I’m worried about,” he admitted.

“They don’t have any wolves, so it can’t be Thorn that took them out.” I drummed my fingers on the table and looked over at Nia. “What about the mage houses that were affected by Thorn?”

That had been the insidious part of Leon’s plan. Somehow, he had gotten a few of the other houses’ consorts addicted to Thorn. I imagined that for the few weeks they had been on it, it had felt amazing.

Right up until it started using their connection to their mages to drain their houses of magic.

Nia pulled out her phone, tapping it and shaking her head. We had sent Rhys on an exploratory mission, having them seek out the other houses and find out what happened to them.

I hadn’t heard from them since before I went south to the alpha counsel, but I had assumed Nia was still in contact.

“Nothing?” I asked, concerned.

Shaking her head, Nia put away her phone and brushed a finger over the silver chain around her neck. She leaned back in her chair, almost slouching.

“She means that if something actually had happened, she would know through their bond,” Cade translated unnecessarily.

“If you’re sure. Do you want to send anyone after them?” I watched her face, the blank neutrality giving away nothing. She shook her head sharply.

“All right. Then everyone has their orders. Go. Let me know if there’s any problems.” The last was automatic. Too many people, Declan included, made it clear that any problems their people encountered were strikes against the person who brought it up rather than issues to be resolved.

It meant that problems, even problems like me taking over his crews, were never brought to Declan directly. Everyone tried to deal without him ever finding out.

That wasn’t something I could afford.

The table cleared, except for Cade, who stayed nearby. I saw his head twitch and the flick of Basil’s tail near his ear.

“And what does our resident serpent think?”