Page 99 of Ascendant King

I glanced at Siobhan, and she smiled hesitantly. “Amazing what a good meal can do.”

Cade cleared his throat, and everyone turned. We hadn’t had much of a chance to talk privately, but I knew what he was going to say.

“You all saw what Leon did to House Bartlett.” Cade held up one of the journals. “We have evidence that he has been experimenting with dark, forbidden magic for years. He was able to do this because of my father.”

Cade paused, his eyes scanning the crowd. Petrona was the only one who spoke, raising her voice. “What do you mean, King Bartlett?”

“My father bred this poison through his own avarice and ignorance.” Cade raised his chin. “And it brewed in secret for twenty years. Leon may have weaponized it, turned it into something able to take down any werewolf it touched, but he was only able to do so because of the rot inside our house.”

The silence weighed heavily. Mages looked between each other, but no one seemed able to speak.

“We have a duty as a house to fix the mistakes we saw and did nothing about. Anyone who is willing to help may come with us.” Cade’s eyes were glacier cold, and his black crown formed on his forehead again, flickering ominously in the bright morning light. “House Bartlett has poisoned the ley lines. There must be consequences and restoration.”

“What consequences?” Sonja asked sharply.

“House Bartlett is disbanded.” Cade raised his chin. “It is no more. We have failed as a house, we have failed as mages. And now, we must make amends.”

The silent crowd erupted in shouts, mages gaping, men and women who had been used to having the money and power of House Bartlett at their disposal suddenly faced with the idea of not having it ever again. Sonja’s eyes were wide, and she reached back for Tyson’s hand.

His back was curved, and he trembled, containing a cough. When he saw me looking at him, he straightened, shoulders going back, chin raised.

“What will become of us?” one of the mages blustered.

“You are welcome to join the other houses that still stand, although we have evidence that the poison is infecting ley lines everywhere.” Cade looked over the crowd. “Or you can come with us.”

I stepped forward. “The Los Santos Pack is offering sanctuary and support to any mage from House Bartlett that wants to help us find and deal with Leon Lucas.”

The noise reached a crescendo, and Petrona raised her broken cane, bringing it down with a thunderous crack that split it in half, the two shards flying apart violently.

“I will be joining King Bartlett.” She stared at Cade, her eyes hard, mouth fixed.

Slowly, the mages formed into two groups, still noisy, still pushing at each other. In the end, we gained twenty mages with twenty consorts. The remaining fifteen fled in groups of twos and threes.

“What have you done?” Petrona asked, her voice cracking.

Cade bowed his head, as though the crown on his brow weighed more than his neck could hold. “I have become the last king of House Bartlett.”

I grabbed hold of Cade’s hand, squeezing it and drawing him away from the tense crowd. “Let’s go home.”

Chapter

Thirty-Three

Whatever cars the mages fleeing House Bartlett took, they left behind enough high-end vehicles to get all forty of us back into the city. We took a silver Jaguar that Cade walked to automatically. Emilio drove, Nia taking the seat beside him.

As I clicked my seat belt in, I eyed Cade. “This isn’t the one that blew up, is it?”

“No.” Cade shot me a dry look. “Would you like to ride in another car? I’m sure there’s a tricycle that hasn’t been taken yet.”

“No, I’m good. If it does blow up, are you going to save me?”

Cade tilted his head, considering me. A slow smile spread across his face, and I felt the warmth of it pool in my stomach.

Nia cleared her throat, and my eyes snapped back to her. She glanced at me in the rearview mirror, her gaze a mix of disgusted and annoyed. I chuckled.

As we pulled out of the estate, following one of the cars in the lead, I asked, “So most of the mages already left House Bartlett for other houses?”

“That’s what Petrona said.” Cade frowned down at his hands. “But it would be unusual for houses to take too many members of another house. When our house went to war with House Doyle, the scattered mages became unaffiliated. No other house would touch them. I doubt House Bartlett mages looking for sanctuary would find it easily. Other houses aren’t interested in taking on mages who fled infighting.”