Page 152 of Contested Crown

ChapterForty-Nine

Everything happened too fast. Cade’s magic sped toward me, but I had been working with his magic for weeks. Iknewhis magic. I knew how it worked and how to avoid it.

I brought my hands up, crossing my arms in front of my face, and when Cade’s magic reached me, I brought my hands down, grabbing hold of it and gripping it tight.

It was weak, pale gray. Cade panted a few feet away. I dragged his magic forward and sent it into the ground. The lines of magic, sharp spears, dug into the concrete.

He jerked forward, falling half to his knees before pushing up. One corner of his lips curled up, and the spear that I’d thought was embedded in the bare concrete floor sprang up, wrapping around me.

It scoured my skin, digging deep and leaving me bleeding. I scrabbled to grab hold, but the tattoos were covered in blood, and my hands couldn’t catch a grip. Around us was chaos and noise, my name being called, wolves whining, mages panicking.

“Cade.” I stared at him. “You knew! You looked at my parents and recognized them!”

“I didn’t.” He wasn’t crying anymore, and for the first time in weeks, I couldn’t read through his chilly expression. “I never said that. That was an old picture—it looked nothing like them. Elena Castillo’s son. Were youlaughingwhen you fucked me?”

The broken word was the only indication of his real feelings, the anger and pain under his attack. His magic dug in, and he was so close to me that I could smell him, and despite all of this, all of his attacks, he still smelled like Cade, still smelled like my mate.

Finally, I got a grip on the magic, wrapping my hands around it and pulling it off me. It took skin with it as it came off. My knees went weak, but I got it free, then wrapped it around my wrist and arm, swinging it like a long chain.

Cade didn’t know to avoid it. He’d never had his magic used against him, and it cracked into his leg, taking him down with brutal efficiency. When he fell, I raced forward, reaching out automatically as though I could catch him even at that distance.

“Cade!” I fell next to him, and he hit at me weakly, his magic sluggishly returning to him.

I’d seen him like this so many times in the weeks after we’d escaped House Bartlett, but now it was different. We weren’t alone, and he hadn’t run out of magic because he had solittlebut because he’d used so much. Between teleporting everyone across town and saving me from Benji, Cade’s magic was lower than low.

Still, he wrapped a hand around my throat, and I could feel the slither of Basil’s scales on his palm, dragging across my neck. Basil was going to explode.

“Do it,” I said. “Do it. If that’s what you want. After everything we’ve been through, after everything I’ve dragged you through to save your skin, to keep you safe, go ahead anddo it.”

Cade tightened his grip, squeezing my throat.

Then he released me, his hand dropping away, leaning back and looking away from me.

“Boss?” Heather asked. Her voice was tentative.

Shaking my head, I focused on my own hands, the blood under the nails, the way my lies of omission had done more damage than anything my fists had done. When I looked up, the pack had restrained Isaac and Jay. Isaac looked at me with such venom that I felt it like another blow.

Jay looked scared with two massive wolves holding his arms. This was his worst nightmare. This was everything he’d wanted to avoid.

“What do you want us to do?” Evelyn asked, her voice even, the practicality of her nature winning out over the panicked-wrong feeling of watching an alpha’s mate attack them.

“Get the chains,” I said finally.

It felt criminal to do that to Cade, but I had no choice. I had a pack now, and I had to protect them. I told myself Cade would forgive me when he cooled down, but I couldn’t risk him attacking me before that.

Heather retrieved the chains and dropped some near Isaac, Gabe wrapping them around his wrists and feet, binding him solidly. She approached me and offered over the rest.

“Cade?” I said. I needed him to turn to me and say it was all a mistake, it wasn’t true. We were going to be fine. We had Declan’s empire at our disposal and a clear target.

Instead, he got to his knees and lunged at me weakly. He wrapped his hand around my throat, and I grabbed hold of it tightly, pulling it back behind him, covering his body with mine so our faces were next to each other.

“Don’t do this. Say it’s all right,” I whispered.

Cade turned his face to mine, his mouth kissing my ear. “I’m going to kill you. I’m going to rip out your heart andeatit.”

I closed my eyes. With my free hand, I grabbed the chains and wound them once around Cade’s neck like a perverse collar. Then I trailed the chain down and wrapped it around his wrists.

When it cinched tight, he began to struggle, but it was too late. His eyes snapped to mine, and for the first time since we’d met, theyburned. I could send myself to the hospital with a touch of them.