Page 106 of Contested Crown

“Because, uh, because”—Isaac wiped a hand over his face, straightening his shoulders and blinking quickly—“if the magic that makes up House Bartlett, if the magic in theley lineis tainted, then the mages of House Bartlett start to lose power, and as they lose power, they’ll lose life. They’ll die, but so will everything else that’s connected to it. The land. The dryads. Any magical creatures or parts of nature that rely on it.”

“Let them. Let everyone learn what kind of mages House Bartlett has in it.” Coral’s words were final, her hand fisted tight on the cash.

“Are you sure it wasn’t Leon?” Theo asked. “Since it wasn’t Cade, he’s the only one who benefited.”

“He wouldn’t benefit from this. I don’t like him. I think he’s been manipulating Cade for years, but if he did this, it would mean he’s inheriting a house full of weak mages who are only going to get weaker. And soon, they’re going to start dying.” Isaac threw up his hands, his frustration eating through all other emotions. “It makes no sense for Leon to do this.”

“But you don’t know how to fix the poison? To negate the effects?” Theo pressed.

“I don’t even understand how it was done. I thought I did, but then it wasn’t Cade… The mages of House Bartlett will get weaker and weaker and then die.” Isaac gestured. “The only way to stop it is to find the source of it.”

“Well, I don’t know what to tell you about the poison. But the mages of House Bartlett aren’t getting weaker. They’re all getting stronger. By the time we left, everyone who didn’t have a consort was more powerful.” Coral blinked, as though realizing she was getting involved in a conversation she didn’t want any part of. Waving with her hand, she said, “Let’s go, Theo.”

“If you decide you want to come with us, let me know,” Theo said, his gaze fixed on Jay.

Uncomfortably, Jay looked at Isaac but then turned back to Theo, his expression set. He shook his head sharply.

Theo shrugged, following Coral out the window.

“It was the only logical thought,” Jay said. “And if Cade had never taken magic that wasn’t his, it wouldn’t have worked on him. Would it?”

“I betrayed my cousin for nothing.” Isaac chuckled. “And now Leon’s in charge. You’re sure you saw poison in the ley lines here?”

“It’s dripping from the walls,” Jay said. “When you know what you’re looking for, it’s obvious.”

Cade was trembling under my hands, and I looked at him. Even in black and white, he was pale. When I raised a hand to his forehead, I brushed away clammy sweat.

Not wanting to speak and give them something to look for, I shook his shoulder gently. He dragged his eyes away from Isaac and Jay, finding mine. I jerked my head. I wanted to know more. I wanted to know why they had been so certain it was Cade, but he was looking worse by the second.

Cade nodded, and we began walking back down the hallway to where we had entered the building. Cade stumbled, his legs giving out from under him. I bent, pulling one of his arms over my shoulders, and then we were clear of the building. The world was still in black and white.

“We need to get farther away so Isaac’s magic doesn’t find us.” Cade’s voice was a breath, a murmur of sound. I dragged us as far as I could, Cade’s legs eventually giving out completely, so I bent and picked him up, cradling him to my chest. We finally made it to a café, most of the outside chairs empty. I set Cade down in one.

He nodded and then took a long, deep breath. As he did, the world began to fill with color again, but all I could see was his eyes, going from pale gray to the blue I had fallen for.

I didn’t even notice when we were back in reality. Cade trembled, sweating, gasping for air. He looked worse than he had in a couple of weeks.

“Don’t move. I’m going to get us something to eat.” I headed into the café, mentally calculating how much money we had left or, rather, how much we didn’t.

At the counter, the woman took one look at me, then glanced at Cade outside.

“You can’t stay for long. You have to be gone by the time my boss gets here.” She bent behind the counter, pulling out a paper bag and handing it over to me. “You guys want some coffee?”

Surprised, I nodded. She put in extra cream and sugar. I juggled the two cups and the bag back out the door.

When I put the bag on the table, giving Cade one of the coffee cups, he blinked in surprise.

“What is it?” he asked.

“She thinks we’re homeless. It’s day-old food.” I should have been insulted, but it was better than anything we had had in the past thirty-six hours. I pulled out a bagel, offering it over to Cade. Carefully, he brought the cup to his lips with both hands, seemingly forcing away the tremble.

After a long drink of coffee, he put the cup down and reached for the bagel. He took one bite, then practically swallowed the rest whole.

I had been hoping to save some of the bag for lunch, but we finished it quickly. The stress and strain of the past couple of days had been hiding our ravenous hunger.

With food in his stomach, coffee giving him a slight edge, Cade looked around. “We need to go. We’re far enough away that they shouldn’t see us, but…”

“But Murphy’s Law doesn’t seem to be working in our favor these days,” I said.