Page 104 of Contested Crown

“Cade”—I waited until he looked at me—“do the spell.”

With his eyes fixed on mine, he took a long breath out, pulling his hand free of mine to spread his palms wide. I felt the loss of his skin against mine but followed his lead as he walked toward the building wall.

It was covered in thick, black tattoos, running between all the graffiti, reminding me of the portal Cade would create to get to the council chambers. Instinctively, I braced myself, ready for the sharp pain I always felt going in and out of the room.

This time, his magic crawled over me, each strand of dark ink chilly and cold. But it didn’t hurt.

We exited in a world made of black and white, everything turned to shades of gray. I could tell we were inside the building, the entire interior already gutted, valuable copper stripped from the walls. It had once been an apartment building, and it probably would be one again, but this time high class and less affordable.

When I looked down at myself, I didn’t see anything, just a flicker of dark ink on the floor that might have been a shadow. It was as though we’d physically become one of his tattoos. I could see Cade when I looked at him, but his skin was pure white, and his eyes had lost all color.

The gray of them disoriented me, and I looked away, searching for any hint of Jay. I couldn’t smell anything, and I wondered again where we were, what he’d done to us. Had we actuallybecomehis tattoos?

I inhaled, about to ask if that’s what had happened, but Cade reached out, pressing his palm to my mouth. I quieted, remembering how I’d heard him as soon as he’d spoken, before I’d even seen him back a million years ago when I was tied up in the back of a bar.

We crept along the outer wall, and as we moved, dark lines of tattoo followed us from shadow to shadow. They moved so quickly that if someone wasn’t looking, they’d never see them. Not that there was anyone to see us.

Had Jay given us the slip? Walked in the front of the building, then straight out the back? He might not have looked aware of us, but something must have given us away.

The voices came quietly, growing in volume as we got closer to the back of the building. It was one of the few areas with walls, and I reached out, coaxing Cade behind me before moving forward to the open doorway.

“You’re sure?” Isaac was saying, his voice sharp.

“Someone was behind me,” Jay said. He and Isaac were alone in the room. Without lights, the only illumination was from the boarded-over window, giving everything a pale feel, almost as though they were with us in the liminal space of Cade’s magic, turned black and white too.

Isaac swore and gestured sharply. His orange magic flew out, passing over us and heading out the front door. I turned toward Cade, my eyes wide, but he shook his head. Whatever the magic found, it wouldn’t be us.

“We can’t meet here if someone’s after us,” Jay said. “They could find?—”

“It’s too late for that,” Isaac said. “We don’t have any way to call it off. We’ll just have to hope everyone is careful.”

“I don’t want to put their lives at risk.” Jay chewed on his lip. “It’s not worth it.”

“You meanyouaren’t worth it,” Isaac said softly. He stepped forward, all aggression drained out of him when he cupped Jay’s face in his hands. “But you are. They are.”

There was a sharp cracking sound, and one of the boards on the windows was pulled away, and someone crawled in. Coral rolled her shoulders, then leaned over and helped Theo over the windowsill.

“In here,” Jay said, coming to the door.

Cade and I stepped back so they could pass by us. I got a good look at them, and even in the dim light, they looked horrible. Coral had lost a good twenty pounds, all of it muscle. She was leaner, her skin tight on her face.

Theo was limping badly, leaning heavily on a cane. He paused at the doorway, frowning, and I held my breath, certain he could see me, but he shook his head, continuing into the room.

“Just you two?” Jay asked, eyes wide. “No one else?”

“A few others,” Coral said. “But we wanted to make sure it was safe before we exposed everyone.”

Isaac swore again, and Coral tensed at his voice, her nostrils flaring, hair growing on her arms. He held up two hands.

“Would you prefer I leave?” Isaac asked.

“No.” Coral glanced at Jay. “It’s fine. You actually got your consort out.”

“What about Nia?” Jay asked. “Is she one of the ones who made it?”

“She’s the only reason we’re here. She fought them off.” Coral looked over her shoulder, and I tensed again, but she was just blinking, giving herself a second to wipe at her eyes. When she turned back, she said, “What the hell happened?”

“We still don’t know who’s behind the poisoning,” Jay said. He looked at Isaac, who nodded once. “And it’s getting worse.”