Page 58 of Ascendant King

Nineteen

We left in the early afternoon.

A night of sleep and good food provisioned us, and we weren’t sure when we’d get either again. The silence held taut between all of us, even the mages afraid to make noise as we moved through the woods.

Half of the wolves shifted into their wolf forms. The other half picked up the shifted wolves’ clothes and put them in hiking packs with our water and snacks. I was still in my human form, but I’d given Cade my ring in case I needed to shift. I couldn’t risk losing the signet ring; it meant too much to me.

We were ghosts traveling through the forest because the slightest hint would set the entirety of House Bartlett’s defenses on us.

The elder had provided two dryads to lead us through, and I had to admit that with their help, the route was easier. They found—or more likelymade—a path for us straight toward our enemy. We made good time, better time than we’d expected, which added a subliminal level of anxiety, a tenseness to the journey.

The plan had been to cross after dark, but if we kept up at this pace, we’d be there early. If we were there early, that left us exposed, on the wrong side of wards that defended them and could kill us.

“What is it?” Cade murmured.

The light from the forest filtered down, casting odd shadows on his face. Above us, leaves rustled. Ants crawled across a branch, reaching with twisting bodies for a twig that led to the next one.

Something cracked and fell, a heavy pinecone dropping to the ground and sending a mouse skittering away.

“Miles?” Cade’s brows tightened, two lines forming between them when I didn’t respond.

My focus wrenched back to him, the way he said my name. I licked my lips. “We’re making good time. We might get there before sunset.”

Cade made a humming sound, and Basil hissed softly, speaking directly into my head.Is that all you’re worried about?

Basil’s voice actually made something in me relax. I felt my shoulders drop. I hadn’t seen Declan in hours, not since he’d criticized my choice of outfit and my pointed insistence that everyone eat before we leave. (“What are you, the camp counselor or the boss? They should be bringingyoubreakfast! Not having you scold them like a mommy who cuts the crust off sandwiches.”)

Somewhere nearby, a tree swayed back and forth, the roots underneath it weakened by rot, the heart of it carved out by termites that were consuming it whole. I could feel it in my bones, as though I was the tree, the termites chewing out my liver and heart. Something was?—

Something was strange, and I forced my consciousness away from the tree and back to myself where I’d frozen on the trail.

The whole pack had stopped around me as Cade stared, concern etched into his lips, echoed in his eyes. “Isthat all you’re worried about?”

“When we get there early, we’ll need to set up somewhere to wait until dark. If Isaac and Jay are right about the gaps in the wards, we can’t cross until after sunset, and if they’re wrong, we don’t want to be exposed when it’s still light out.” I looked around. I could see my pack shifting with worry, unused to my being off-kilter, off-balance. The new wolves from the other California packs were picking up on the concern from the Los Santos Pack.

“I’m your alpha. Believe it or not, I worry about a lot of things. Including whether we get somewhere early.” I quirked my lips as I said it. Above me, a bird nested in a tree, one of her eggs beginning to twitch, a softcheepsounding from inside the shell. I felt it as though my own arms cradled the nest, the moan of the tree echoing in my chest.

“Shall we continue?” One of the dryads gestured, and I started walking, the pack moving with me.

Cade was still giving me a concerned look, but I ignored it, focusing on moving forward.

A second egg in the nest began to tremble, jumping and wiggling as a baby bird tried to get free. I didn’t turn to look, I didn’t climb the tree and stare at the nest, I didn’t, I didn’t, I didn’t.

When I came back to myself, it was half an hour later. The dryads stopped, letting us rest on a loose ring of rocks. We passed around the water from the hiking packs, and discussion started up, still in low whispers.

I caught a few words here and there, mostly gripes about the hike, although there was some worry about what was up ahead. Crossing the circle, I settled next to Nia.

“Do I need to be worried about anyone?” I asked, as quiet as a breath.

Her eyes scanned the circle. She shook her head. Then she paused, her pinkie extending and doing a quick flick before dropping. I recognized the sign as a single letter.J.

Jay and Isaac were holed up together, setting themselves apart from everyone else, their expressions tight and unhappy as they looked around the circle. Despite all the weeks they’d been with Los Santos Pack, with Cade, they still hadn’t joined us. They still held themselves apart.

Isaac smelled like guilt. A tremendous self-reproach that had eaten away his relationship with Cade. Now, he was a shell of a person, and Jay, who’d always been nervous around wolves and packs, was a shadow. He spoke only when spoken to. They existed in the house, not as guests, not as prisoners, but as something even lower, their remorse making them pay and pay until they were less than servants.

But that wasn’t what Nia was worried about. She had been slowly cracking open Jay’s shell over the past few weeks. If she was worried, it was about something else.

“You think they’re hiding something from us?” I pressed.