Page 39 of Ascendant King

“That we should all run away. If we move outside of House Bartlett’s reach, Leon will leave us alone.” Cade’s voice was flat, and I raised both of my eyebrows.

“Is that what you want?” I watched his face, the play of feelings that simmered just beneath the surface.

As usual, his eyes told me everything he couldn’t say with words.

“It would be easier. It would be safer for you and your people.” Cade looked out toward the window. “You have a pack to think of. There are children here now. Families.”

“Are you having second thoughts?” I pressed. “Now that you’re worried about the families and kids?”

Cade’s mouth tightened, and he glared at me. “Why would I be worried about a bunch of wolves?”

But I could see through him. Now that we were actually taking House Bartlett on, Cade was worried about the wolves who had joined us, the kids who had pledged their allegiance to me because they didn’t have anywhere else to go or because Declan had been stringing them along, promising if they sold enough drugs, he would let them into his very exclusive club of criminals.

Before I could answer, Cade’s head whipped around. I jerked, looking at where he was staring. I didn’t see anything; I didn’t smell anything.

That meant magic.

“Where?” I mouthed.

Cade stood, his chair sliding on the wooden floor.

Ink dripped from his fingers, sliding across the floor and crawling up the opposite wall before disappearing through it. Cade raised an eyebrow, meeting my eyes. It wasn’t quite a challenge, but it was close. I nodded.

We slipped silently through the hall. It was strangely empty, voices gone.

Ever since we had moved the remnants of Declan’s crew into the main house, there was constant sound. As wolves joined us of their own accord, in ones and twos, then in whole groups, mini packs wanting the stability of a strong alpha, it had only gotten worse.

I knew Cade had warded his own bedroom against the noise, wanting quiet because he wasn’t used to the chaos of living with other people.

Cade jerked left, heading upstairs toward the private quarters. I followed behind him, feeling the shift underneath my skin. My whole body felt electrified.

The upstairs was empty too. Where was everyone?

I glanced sharply at Cade, and he narrowed his eyes. When he shook his head, raising a single shoulder, I knew he didn’t know what happened to everyone else either.

Okay.

Leon must be making his attack. Maybe we wouldn’t even need to bring the fight to him. If we could end him now, then that would solve a significant number of our problems.

Cade pointed at his own room, his white door now covered in dark lines of magic. They writhed and twitched, worms exposed to salt on a hot summer day.

I slid in front of Cade, then counted down on my fingers.

Three. Two. One.

Cade’s magic threw the door open, and I barreled through, straight into a spiderweb of power. But I wasn’t helpless againstmagic. Whether it was Thorn, my previous relationship with Cade, or just some part of being an alpha wolf, I now could do more than wiggle helplessly in the spell.

Grabbing the magic with both hands, I pulled it down hard, nearly taking the ceiling with me. Cade’s own magic moved above my head, slicing the threads I was pulling taut. His black tattoos carved through the spiderweb threads, and the magic disintegrated, turning to blue ash in my hands.

Then I was moving forward, Cade’s magic slamming into the wall above his bed, cracking the plaster and paint.

The room was empty. I spun in a tight circle.

“Where are they?” I turned to Cade, but he’d disappeared.

Chapter

Thirteen