Page 72 of Ascendant King

Standing at the window, Sonja turned to face him. “Welcome home, Prince Bartlett.”

Chapter

Twenty-Four

Before she could say anything else, I was across the room, my hand around her throat, lifting her up off the ground. Something rustled on the bed, and I turned my head to look.

Wherever Sonja was, her consort was sure to be close. I expected Tyson to hit me hard; I was ready for it, but instead, he could barely sit up in the bed Cade and I had shared.

“Stop, please, Alpha.” Tyson was breathless at the effort it took to lift his head off the pillow.

I felt a pull in my chest at the words. Tyson had accepted me as his alpha, meaning I was tied to him, just as he owed fealty to me.

Sonja clawed at my hand, but she made no move to use her magic. Cade stood next to me, and I felt his magic twist around my wrist, using my hand to encircle Sonja’s throat.

“I’ve got her,” he said shortly.

At the words, I dropped her. She fell hard on the soft rug, Cade’s magic twirling from her throat to her wrists.

“What happened, Sonja? Where’s Leon?” Cade’s words were short, as chilly as the whispers in House Bartlett had always accused him of being.

Here was the ice prince. Here was Cade, so cold that he didn’t even cry when his parents died. But I could see underneath, see that his chill was carefully fabricated.

“Gone.” Sonja looked up, her hair falling out of her sleek ponytail. It crawled wildly around her face, and she reached up, smoothing it back with her bound hands. On the bed, Tyson moaned, letting himself fall back onto the soft pillows.

I turned to him, frowning. He was nowhere near as bad as the wolves in the ballroom on the first floor, but he’d lost too much muscle mass to look healthy.

Before, he had been a few protein shakes away from a bodybuilder. Now, his flesh hung off his arms.

“Tyson. Tell me what happened,” I commanded.

He swallowed, looking between me and Cade before his eyes fell to Sonja. I knew he was fighting his instincts, the part of him that wanted to answer to his alpha was at war with the part of him that answered only to Sonja.

“The wolves of House Bartlett began getting sick. Some of them left with their mages. Coral, Theo, a few others.” I lowered myself to a crouch so he was forced to meet my eyes. “Then what?”

“It got worse.” His voice was raspy, hoarse, but he swallowed and picked up some strength. “Leon made Sonja his heir, but when we moved into this room, things got confusing. I started to see the shadows moving. The walls would change.”

He closed his eyes, coughing. It racked his body, leaving him breathless.

I turned back to Sonja. “Thorn is what’s causing this. Leon is using it to drain wolves of their magic. Because Tyson is linked to your magic, he’s draining your power too.”

Sonja shook her head. “Impossible. That’s not how a consort bond works.”

“You have spent every ounce of your magic keeping him alive,” Cade said. “You know that’sexactlyhow it works. Just because you don’t want to hear it does not make it false.”

There was an ugly silence in the room, unbroken except for the rough gasps of Tyson’s breaths.

“We have the other House Bartlett wolves with us,” I said. “They aren’t dying anymore. Coral can tell you. Downstairs right now, Lily and the rest are working to fix the mages and consorts in the ballroom. Have you even been down there to see them?”

“I’ve seen them.” Sonja screwed her eyes closed, fisting her hands in her lap. “I’ll tell you where I saw Leon last if you promise me you can save Tyson.”

Cade’s mouth twisted, and for a second, I wasn’t sure he was going to help her. Then, he raised his chin. “We can stop the drain of magic, but I’m not sure how much good it will do. He’s almost fully drained.”

“Petrona knew something was wrong.” Sonja looked up, her eyelashes wet, although I realized it was with a sharp anger instead of sadness. “I should have left with her.”

“It wouldn’t have made any difference. The consorts and mages that fled to Los Santos were just as affected as the ones here.” Cade frowned at the room, looking between Tyson and Sonja. “Except you two are in much better shape than anyone else.”

“There was magic in the walls of this room. Even after Leon had the house repaired, even after he said that he dispersed the magic, I could feel your magic beating in the walls of this room, like a drumbeat that never stopped,” Sonja said dully. “But it helped Tyson. All the other wolves were dying, except for him. Then it stopped working. When I got weak, Leon said he was going to make someone else his heir. We haven’t seen him since.”