Page 65 of Ascendant King

“You are owednothing, Cade Bartlett.” In front of us, something wavered in the air, a hint of a form, like an ice sculpture melting in reverse, coming up from the ground, appearing from nothing.

It took me a long moment to place the face when it finally revealed itself, the glistening becoming solid, first just shimmer and then flesh. Cade didn’t have any hesitation, spitting out, “Lynn.”

The last time I had seen her, she wore long mage robes, her hair flowing down to the ground. A sheen of iridescence coated her skin, her eyes silver. She stood on the other side of the wards and pressed her hands to them.

The iridescence of her skin seemed to flow up, solidifying the wards under Cade’s assault, undoing all the work he had done. I’d met her when the pups had broken into House Bartlett lands, and Cade had told me her family was closely tied to the wards.His magic was bound to House Bartlett, but hers was bound to the wards that protected it.

Now, as she pushed her magic into the wards, I could see it reflect on her, her skin losing color, her whole body becoming translucent as she gave more and more magic to the wards. Cade’s dark lines of ink slid off, crashing to the ground.

Cade screamed in pain, and I snarled, automatic, reflexive. Lynn laughed, revealing teeth as sharp as mine.

“Poor little prince. You think you have any right to this place?Myfamily has maintained the wards. My blood is in this place. You dare to confront me?” She pulled her lips back in a rictus grin. “Myblood. Not yours.”

Cade was shaking his hand, the splatters of dark blood hitting the forest floor and sizzling on the wards. His magic slowly swirled around us, the inky lines not returning to his skin. I nudged one of them with my paw, and it responded sluggishly, moving aside.

“I am House?—”

“You arenothing,” Lynn interrupted. “You are a failed child, a failure of a prince. Your parents were weak, and you are pathetic, clinging to a crown that never should have been on your head.”

She stepped forward, and I could feel Cade’s weight shift as he leaned back, but I was there, pushing my shoulder against his legs, forcing him to stay. I was a wolf. I knew what it cost if he backed down. I growled, and the sound seemed to shake Cade free of his surprise.

“IamHouse Bartlett.” Cade lifted his hands, but before he could slam them into the wards again, Lynn stepped through, the invisible sheen on her skin thickening.

I didn’t wait, growling, diving forward and latching my teeth onto her leg, but the fabric of her dress seared my mouth, and I yelped, dropping it and jumping back.

“Careful,” Cade said, his voice pointed. “She’s wearing the wards of this house.”

The growl built in my chest until I released it as an endless howl. She laughed, reaching out for me. “Come here, dog, and I will show you what I can do to you.”

Before she came into contact with me, something dark hit her from the side. More shadow than form, Nia used her momentum to knock Lynn off-balance and then move past her before she did more than singe her fur. At the cue from my second, the rest of the pack circled.

Lynn was backed up against the wards, but when she saw us, she grinned. I didn’t like the expression—it looked too much like she had everything she wanted, but there was no time. Flowing forward, I hit her again, using Nia’s technique of brushing past her to keep the damage minimal while throwing her off-balance.

She laughed as she stumbled, but when two more wolves hit her in the same way, her brows twitched together in a frown. She pulled her teeth back, and when the next wolf hit her, she grabbed hold of its neck with her hand, dragging it up and off the ground.

I recognized the wolf: it was one of ours, a newer member who’d still volunteered to come with us. His name was Dalton, and he had just gotten clean, and now Lynn’s hand burned, scorching his fur, searing his skin, and I knew she would burn down to the bone.

No.

I didn’t even have a real thought, the motion fluid and fast and as beyond my control as the moon. I latched my teeth around Lynn’s arm, hanging my entire weight on her as I snarled and bit deeper, ignoring the burn.

She shrieked, dropping Dalton. He whimpered, and Nia was there, in front of him, roaring protectively.

I didn’t let go, the burning fading to a dull ache as I remembered how I had torn at magic with my hands. Before, I’d only done it in human form, but what if I could do it as a wolf? The thought niggled at me, turning over in my head until I let myself try.

With a tearing motion, I dragged my teeth down Lynn’s arm, raking over the sleeve of her dress. She screamed, and I felt something hot and acidic in my mouth. It choked me, and I spat it out, the silver magic cracking as it hit the ground.

Gaping, Lynn held up her arm, clean of the iridescent shimmer she’d been wearing to protect herself.

I was going to growl, nudge my pack into attacking that arm, but Cade was faster. His black magic rose up from the ground, wrapping around the exposed flesh and twisting tight.

I remembered that spell, the way that it had made me feel like Cade was trying to debone my arms. Lynn didn’t have nearly the same pain tolerance as me. She shrieked.

As she shook her arm, trying to get the spell off, it twisted tighter, sliding under the protective layer of wards she wore like a second skin. His magic crawled up her neck, digging into her cheeks.

Lynn collapsed down onto her knees, clawing at her own skin. Her nails raked into her flesh, drawing blood, but Cade’s magic sank deeper.

“You cannot win,” she said hoarsely. “You are pathetic. Weak. You were never good enough.”