Page 20 of Contested Crown

I drew back, dropping my hands. Cade’s fingers traced over my cheek before I was too far away. He let his hand fall back to his side.

“Basil?” I asked.

There was something still empty on my flesh where Basil used to be. Fragments of him littered my skin, but they didn’t move, and Cade couldn’t find any magic left in them.

“You said he was dead.” I looked down at my wrist, where a dark pattern of snakeskin remained.

“He is.” Cade’s face fell. “Heis. But maybe somehow, I’m absorbing whatever echo of magic he left on you? It happened after I took back the magic I had given you.”

“Okay,” I said quickly before I could think any better of it. “We need you with more power. If we have to fight House Morrison on top of House Bartlett?—”

“I need to be able to defend myself.” Cade nodded.

“What do you need?” I asked.

“Let’s recreate what happened. You stand there.” He indicated a spot a couple of yards from him. “Don’t move.”

Looking down at his hands, I saw delicate lines of tattoo form on his palm. He raised his left hand and threw it at me. The small millipede feet traced over my shoulder, coming down on my hands.

“Do you want me to reenact the entire fight?” I asked. “Because I hate to tell you, but my shadowboxing skills aren’t up to Rocky standards. Sylvester Stallone would not be impressed.”

“No, just come back here.” Cade held out his hands, and I remembered how I had given back the magic with a touch.

I placed my hands on top of his, a shiver of excitement running up my spine at the feel of his hands on mine.

His skin was so soft, and I wondered what my calluses would feel like dragging across his unblemished flesh. What would it feel like to taste him?

“Okay.” Cade was breathing slightly unevenly, and I wasn’t sure if it was the possibility of gaining more magic or something else that had him excited. “You might feel something.”

This time, I was paying attention. There weren’t any werewolves trying to kill us, and I felt it when Cade drew his magic back into himself. It felt like it was dragging from deep inside me, something pulling on my heart and soul.

Then it was over, and I blinked open my eyes. I hadn’t realized I’d closed them, but Cade’s gaze was luminous, drawing me in, and he was grinning.

“It worked.” He laughed, grasping my wrists with his hands and squeezing tight. “It worked!”

I grinned, his joy infectious. Wrapping my arms around his waist, I lifted him up. Excitedly, I spun him in a small circle.

Cade threw back his head and laughed. Suddenly, I was aware of what I was doing, and I lowered him back to the ground. Running my hand through my hair, I looked away, swallowing awkwardly.

“You felt more?” I asked.

When I dared to glance up, Cade was grinning at me, and he raised a hand to mine, gripping my hands so tight I felt the bones grind together. “More.”

He drew his hands apart again, and I saw the layer of tattoo looked visibly thicker, the backs of his hands entirely decorated with swirls and blades.

“Do you want to do it again?” I asked.

“Yes,” Cade said immediately. “We should try sitting down, see if we can do it closer.”

Cade drew me back to the couch and rested his palms on top of mine. I felt his magic rushing over me like warm water, starting at my fingertips. I wasn’t sure what this spell did, but it felt different than the millipede one that had burned off the werewolf’s skin.

“Are you ready?” Cade asked. His voice was quiet, intimate. I let myself be drawn in.

“Yeah. Go ahead.” Even before he started, I missed the warmth of his magic inside me, filling me, giving me something of him.

He drew it back out, and I felt empty, like he’d taken something away from me. I sighed, unwilling to admit what it felt like to have his magic in me. It had felt complete, his magic settling in a place that most wolves felt their pack.

When he was using me like that, I felt needed, complete.