Page 95 of Ascendant King

I snorted, shaking my head. Basil stretched himself up the seam of the door, and then there was a soft boom, smoke rising. He slithered down, becoming physical for a moment as he wrapped around my leg, crawling up until he settled on my shoulders, his body heavy.

I reached out to stroke over his head. “What now?”

Now you open the door. I will stay here in case it kills you. The explosion should cook your flesh.Basil shifted, curling his tail around my throat once, twice, before he sank back into his inky form, becoming a tattoo again.

“Great. Hope I’m not too overcooked by the time you get to eat me.” I reached out, refusing to hesitate when I touched the doorknob. This time when I turned it, the door gave, swinging inward and revealing silver nothingness.

I hesitated, but Cade stepped up next to me. “It’s transportation.”

“Where?” I asked.

Jesaiah moaned, the sound higher-pitched as air went through his vocal cords at a faster rate. Then he shuffled forward, nudging me aside and stepping through the shimmering magic.

I looked at Cade, and he shrugged.

“Where’shidden trapon our bingo card?” I muttered.

“It’s the center square,” Cade said. “What do you think we should do?”

I thought we should leave, walk out the front door, head down the stairs, and wait for Nia and any mage from House Bartlett who was still standing. I thought we should raze Leon’s house to the ground.

Instead, I stepped forward, tugging Cade with me.

The spell felt so similar to Cade’s magic. I remembered the first time he had saved me, pulling me out of the torture chamber and into the dark night. Back then, it had been painful, but I was so used to his magic now that I barely remembered when it had hurt.

This felt like scraping my skin off the bone, and by the time we reached our destination, I held a scream in my mouth, choking it down by pure effort.

My vision cleared slowly, going from the red agony to squinting at the bright lights. We were somewhere white—white walls, white tables, white light coming from the ceiling.

I hissed, shaking my free hand, trying to clear the pins and needles from my fingers. Jesaiah stood a few feet ahead of us, head tilted down as though he was low on batteries.

When I approached, I realized that wasn’t it at all. He was staring at a neat stack of notebooks. The one on top was open, writing on the left-hand page, while the right side was blank. A pen sat in the center of the notebook, as though whoever had been writing had intended to return immediately.

Releasing Cade’s hand, I spun in a tight circle. Leon. When I turned around fully, I stopped, staring over Cade’s shoulder. He turned, then froze too.

Magical cages lined the wall behind him. A dead body lay crumpled in front of one of the cages, his face turned toward us, mouth open. He looked skeletal, emaciated, but I still recognized him from the pictures Nia had shown me.

“It’s Craig Kaur,” I said.

“The dealer from Los Santos?” Cade asked, surprised. “Well, I guess Leon got what he wanted from him.”

“And then took all of his magic for his help.” I took a few steps forward, clearing my throat before I said loudly, “Is anyone alive?”

None of the bodies in the cages moved or tried to answer. Acid bile rose in my throat, and I swallowed it down. “These are werewolves.”

I wasn’t sure who I was speaking to: myself, Cade, Jesaiah.

Some of the dead prisoners were shifted; others were skeletal human forms, identical to the ones that we had found in Craig Kaur’s house. The only difference was I knew exactly who these were.

“The elder, she said that eleven years ago, werewolves had crossed her forest.” I crouched down in front of one of the dead werewolves. His fur had come out in patches, revealing brittle skin underneath. But I could see the outlines of part of a tattoo. “I thought that maybe it had something to do with your parents’ deaths. Maybe those wolves had been used to frame my parents.”

“But now we know your parents were controlled by the poison,” Cade said.

“So then what were the wolves doing here? And how did Benji buy Leon’s patronage?” I raised my finger, pointing at the werewolf’s shoulder. “By giving Leon test subjects.”

Cade crouched next to me, squinting through the bars. “These were members of Ghost Pack?”

I nodded, standing and walking back to the furthest cell, checking each one for any sign of a living wolf. The bodies were in various states of decomposition, and I had a feeling if we were able to get the cells open, the smell would be worse than at the Clematis’ house.