Page 19 of Contested Crown

Cade pushed me with his hand, nudging me out of the way and sliding out of the car. I started to growl, but then he turned, licking his lips and grinning at me. He spread his hands wide, facing each other.

Magic spilled between his palms, the tattooed lines creating a shadow in the air. Cade swallowed. “When I gave you that spell—the one to use against the werewolves—it came back to me more.”

I squinted, coming closer. I had seen Cade do enough magic over the past few weeks that I knew intimately how little of it there was. Yet the network of spells held between his palms was thick, and his hands were still covered with black ink.

“You mean more magic came back to you than you gave to me?” Stepping even closer, I reached out, then pulled back. I had no idea what the magic between Cade’s palms would do.

“Yes.” Cade grinned, a sharp knife of a thing that disappeared almost instantly.

Slowly, he pressed his palms together, and the magic ran up his arms, swirling around his exposed biceps and then under his shirt.

With Cade so low on magic, he hadn’t needed to wear any of the formal mage clothing. I was still getting used to seeing him in shirts and tank tops, his arms bare and his pale skin on display foranyoneto look at.

“How?” I was still staring at his chest, even though the tattoos weren’t visible anymore.

“I don’t know,” Cade said. “But it didn’t feel strange. It felt like my own magic, like I was getting my own power back.”

I held up a hand. “Wait, you said that when Petrona and Leon sliced away your magic, it disappeared into the ether.”

“No, magic can’t be destroyed. It went back into the ley lines underneath House Bartlett.” Cade gripped his hands behind his back, beginning to pace. “Which is what my parents’ magic should have done after their death, but it didn’t. Instead, it lingered in the house, infecting every shadow until I absorbed it all.”

“So if your magic disappeared into the ley lines, this can’t have been your magic.” I gestured up and down with my hand. “Is there a chance that it was just random magic you acquired, and because you’re so empty, it feels familiar?”

Blowing out a breath, Cade raised one shoulder in a shrug. “I have no idea. If I knew that, I’d be closer to finding out how to get my power back.”

He reached the edge of the couch, then turned, pacing back to the garage door. He crossed the space quickly, turning again. Whatever joy he had just felt, whatever spike of exhilaration was already gone and buried under questions without answers.

When he turned again, I stepped in front of him. Something in my own chest had soured. He had been feeling something other than pain, other than a long slide into depression. With my questions, I’d ruined it for him.

He shifted to the left, about to step around me, but I reached up, grabbing his shoulders, then moving my hands down to his biceps.

“Cade, this is great.”

When he looked at me, the blue of his eyes was so familiar. It was the blue I could drown in, the deep ocean blue, the arctic blue.

“This isreallygreat,” I murmured.

“It is,” he said hesitantly. His lips twitched. “I can finally be useful again.”

“You would be useful even if your magic never came back.” I rubbed my thumbs over his shirt. This was dangerous territory. We were approaching an edge that I wasn’t sure I wanted to topple over.

Cade lifted his chin, tilting his head, and I could so easily devour him with a kiss. I could make him come apart with just a press of my lips against his.

“Miles, you almost make me believe that.” Cade’s eyes traced over my face, lingering on my lips, and I felt a shiver run up my spine. “I didn’t get a chance to tell you at the motel. I know why you stayed.”

I froze, unable to move, unable to breathe.

“You might not believe me. After all, you’re the one who told me everyone sees me as cold. But I feel the same way as you.” Cade lifted a hand, cupping my cheek. “You’re a good person. You’re worth risking my life for.”

I swallowed, unable to say anything. I wasnota good person. I couldn’t be the person he wanted, the person he thought I was. My secret separated us like the Grand Canyon.

Cade’s eyes searched my face, and his brows twitched together.

For a second, I thought maybe I’d spoken out loud; maybe I’d revealed more than I intended to. Then, Cade said slowly, “Can we try an experiment?”

“A kinky experiment?” I asked, needing to break the tension. “Because I’m up for everything except handcuffs right now. I feel like handcuffs are just asking for Declan or Leon to find us.”

Cade blew out an annoyed breath. “No. But I realized why you might have familiar magic on you. Basil.”