Page 75 of Ascendant King

We landed back in his bedroom. Sonja screamed, Tyson falling from her arms. He was pale, lifeless, and she dropped to her knees, her limbs jerking uncontrollably.

“Cade!” I shouted, but he was already moving. His black magic wrapped around them both, going tighter and tighter until it engulfed them. The snap was audible, a crack that shattered the windows, and I heard feet pounding down the hall as the wolves in the house ran to find the danger.

As the door burst open, the black lines of Cade’s magic receded, and he stumbled. I caught him around the shoulders, and he swallowed.

“I’m fine. Fine. Just light-headed.” He stepped forward toward where both Sonja and Tyson lay, their bodies awkwardly positioned. They weren’t breathing.

Chapter

Twenty-Five

“Are they dead?” one of the wolves whispered from the doorway, pulled up short by the sight of magic.

Sonja screamed, sitting straight up. She reached for Tyson, but he was already moving, his eyes blinking open, gummy residue sticking to his eyelashes. They hugged again, Sonja sobbing as she gasped for air.

Tyson tried to speak, but his voice was so hoarse nothing came out.

“Apparently not,” Cade said, observing them. His gaze was distant, but I noticed that there was a lingering uncertainty in his eyes, something troubling him more than he was letting on.

“What is it?” I murmured.

He swung his gaze to me, searching over my face and body. “Did any of the sap get on you?”

I shook my head. “No. I don’t know how—that room was thick with it.”

Sonja and Tyson were speaking on top of each other. He looked thinner than he had even when we first arrived, gaunt and weary as he leaned on Sonja for support. I rememberedwhat Cade had told me about their bond. Sonja had given him strength and size, the ability to defend her.

Now, I wondered if it was something more. He looked sickly, a cough racking his body until he closed his eyes and gasped against her neck.

The wolves in the room looked uncomfortable, and I said, “Did you find any trace of Leon?”

“No.” Gabe shook his head. “We’re still searching.”

“Let me know as soon as you find any evidence about where he is.” I jerked my head toward the door, and Gabe took the cue to usher everyone else out.

When they were down the hall, probably still able to hear but giving us the illusion of privacy, I turned to Cade.

“What is it?”

He didn’t even pretend to not know what I was talking about. “The poison is in House Bartlett.”

“We knew that.” I frowned, tilting my head slightly. We had known that since we’d seen the magic in the ley lines in Los Santos.

Cade shook his head. “Not like this. We knew that it had infected the ley lines in Los Santos, that it had infected trees here, but this…thisis magic soaked into the foundation of our house. It’s not just going to affect mages with consorts. It has to be affecting mages without as well. I’m not sure how, or to what end, but the only way to save the members of the house is to cut off the entire house from the ley lines.”

“That’s insane.” Sonja’s eyes were wide, the pupils dilated even in the light of the room. “That will weaken the house, leave us open to attack from the other houses. It will deny us the ability to absorb magic. If we do that?—”

“I’m not worried about what happens if we do it. I’m worried about what happens if wedon’t.” Cade’s sharp words made Sonja jerk back, her nostrils flaring. “If we don’t, then we slowlypoison ourselves until we have nothing left and die as desiccated husks.”

“Our magicisHouse Bartlett.” Sonja set her jaw. “There must be another way to rid the ley lines of the poison.”

“There isn’t,” Cade said. “We burned the poison in Los Santos, and it only bought us a few minutes. If we cut off access to the ley line, we won’t save the ley line, but at least we’ll save the members of our house that live.”

“And what about the dryads?” I raised an eyebrow, trying not to let my frustration show. But I felt it in the curve of my lip, the fangs that wanted to emerge. “Or any other supernatural creature that lives on the magic of the ley lines? What about the forest itself?”

“I don’t know.” Cade shook his head. “But we can either save the members of House Bartlett or leave them to die.”

His words were shards of icy resolve. I stared at him. He stood straight, shoulders thrown back, clothes severe and regal despite our trek through the forest. The crown on his head might be invisible, but just as I wanted to act like the Emperor Wolf even if I wasn’t one yet, he was acting like the king of House Bartlett, even with his crown missing, his throne stolen.