Page 148 of Contested Crown

“You know Keith,” I said. “Servant for House Bartlett. You met him a couple times a month when he took Leon the updates and samples. You managed to flip him—maybe you paid him enough, or maybe you convinced him that Leon was no good.”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about.” Declan twitched, a line of sweat glistening on his forehead.

“You don’t?” I asked. “Did you even bother asking why he stopped reporting to you? Leon figured it out. He figured out that Keith wasn’t his boy anymore. He killed him.”

“Like I said?—”

“Which is when Leon figured out that the two of you weren’t tight anymore.” I frowned, something coming to me. “Which is why you’re here. This isn’t your golden parachute. This is a prison cell.”

Declan laughed. “Took you long enough. You think Leon is going to be happy to see the prince served up on a golden platter?”

“Let’s go!” I roared. “We need to get out!”

Cade was already rushing to the door, but when he pressed his hand to it, he screamed, pulling back as the wards burned him.

“How do we get out?” I asked Declan.

He sneered. “You think I’d still be here if I knew? Let me go.”

Cade looked at me, and I shook my head. Declan might be trapped here with us, but he was a snake.

“It has us,” Jay whispered.

He and Isaac had been quietly efficient the entire raid, and now I swung my eyes to him. “What do you know?”

“The house. House Bartlett. It has its claws back in us. Soon, we’ll be poisoned too.”

“No,” Cade said fiercely. He looked at me, shaking his head. “No.”

I nodded. “How about we blow a hole in the floor and see if Leon thought to ward that too.”

“You think I didn’t try the floor? The ceiling?” Declan glared. “Let mego.”

Cade was speaking rapidly with the other mages, and then he came close to me. “We’re going to try going out the window.”

“Thewindow? You Spider-Man now?” Declan said. “You think you can?—”

Cade walked over to the window and knocked on it. He closed his eyes, his magic crawling across the glass. “The windows aren’t warded. The air outside isn’t warded. We can teleport once we’re out. Miles?”

“You know, breaking and entering. My specialty. Although usually theenteringdoesn’t mean jumping out into open air.” I walked over to Declan’s desk and picked up a heavy glass paperweight the size of my fist. Inside, a single dollar was memorialized.

“No, not that one! That’s the first dollar I ever made!” Declan whined.

I pitched it through the window, cracking it. The mages worked quickly, Rhys ushering the pack toward the window.

“We’re all going to have to go over at the same time.” They bit their lip. “It should work.”

“Uh, boss, are we jumping out the window?” Joel looked over the edge, kicking out some of the glass. “Are you sure about that?”

I glanced at Cade. He gave a tight nod. “Yeah. I’m sure.”

“Are you just going to leave me here?” Declan demanded.

“No.” I went back and lifted him. Heather came in on the other side, helping me hold him up. “You’re coming with us.”

“Thank god.” Declan grinned. “I’ve been dying to get out of this shithole.”

Before we could walk him to the window, he began to scream, golden tattoos crawling up his face and covering every inch of skin. They started to trail down Declan’s arms toward Heather and me, but we jerked away.