Page 115 of Contested Crown

I closed my eyes, leaning back into the pillow, draping one hand over my face. “There are a few places he might be hiding out.” I took my hand away and blinked open my eyes, staring at the cream ceiling. “I think our best bet is to start dismantling his crews.”

“What?” Cade was frowning, tilting his head as he studied me. “What do you mean?”

I sat up so I could meet his eyes.

“Wherever he is, he’s going to be well protected, especially if the mage houses haven’t been able to find him. That means that we need to be ready. And to be ready, we need more fighters.” I watched his face, trying to see what he thought.

“More fighters?” He frowned at me.

“We need to take down Declan’s crew so he has less people and we have more.” I let myself begin to spin out a plan. “If I can get even some of them to agree to see me as their leader, to turn on Declan, then we’ll narrow his area of control. He won’t have the manpower to put up a fight. And one thing I know about Declan is that he wants to survive. He’s a snake—no offense, Basil. So he’ll flip on Leon when it becomes clear he doesn’t have any other choice.”

Cade tilted his head again, examining me. “You don’t think the two of us can take him?”

“Not by ourselves. Not when the only way you can be a mage and I can be a wolf is when we’re trading magic across a battlefield.” It hurt to admit, to admit that I couldn’t do this on my own anymore. I was tied to Cade, and part of me wanted to stay bound to him, even if I had had a different choice.

Cade nodded slowly. “And these people, the ones you want to turn. They’re wolves?” There was something loaded, tense in his words.

“Yes,” I said.

Cade’s smile went thin, and he raised an eyebrow. “I guess the Emperor Wolf must have his own pack.”

“No.” I shook my head. “I was dumb to try and claim the throne. I have no right?—”

“You have every right. It’s a good plan. If I had my house, that might be different. But I don’t. Taking Declan’s crew is the same as taking Declan from Leon.”

At my confused look, Cade explained, “Declan is working for Leon. He’s doing something for him—whatever this drug is, it must be important. Which means if we turn Declan to our side…”

I nodded. “We’re taking out whatever Leon is planning.”

“Exactly.” Cade wet his lips. “Well, Emperor Wolf, where do we start?”

* * *

We started with a full night’s sleep, breakfast being the canned goods that were still on the shelves in the townhouse. There was nothing fresh, no fruit, no vegetables, no bread, but there were canned beans, some powdered eggs, enough to make something resembling a hearty meal.

Then we got to planning. I sketched out Declan’s territory on a notepad Cade had found.

“This is his main area.” I marked the cross streets, important buildings, all the areas that were considered strongholds. Cade examined the map, small stars where I had put drug runners and crews.

He tapped closer to the waterfront, and I handed him the pen. Carefully, he drew squares on the map. He wrote their addresses in, saying, “These are the ones that I think Declan owns now. The ones I tried to buy, only to have him stab me in the back.”

“So the question is if Declan owns them or if Leon does.”

Cade frowned, as though that hadn’t quite occurred to him yet.

“You said they were on ley lines,” I said slowly. “The same ley lines as the other buildings? The same ley lines that were poisoned?”

“No. All magic…” Cade squinted. “Imagine magic like a river. Like several rivers, running over a territory. Each ley line can act distinctly—a separate stream that shoots off the river.”

“So the poisoned ones were different streams?” I asked.

“Yes.” Cade nodded. “Meaning potentially the magic under these buildings is clean.”

“Maybe that’s why Declan and Leon want them. If the magic is clean, that would mean clean magic for House Bartlett to lap up.” I raised my eyebrows, checking to see if it made sense.

Cade was already shaking his head. “We can’t absorb it like drinking a glass of water. Absorbing a ley line’s magic happens over time. They wouldn’t be able to mine it or suck it from the earth.”

“Still. If Declan is hiding out from the mage houses, where better to do it than a building controlled by the king of House Bartlett?”