Page 95 of Contested Crown

“Frankly, you should consider this payback.” I smirked, shaking my head. “But it’s not that. The Zoo is hard to explain without seeing it. You know supernatural creatures?”

“I happen to be one, so, yes,” Cade said dryly.

“No, not like mages. Supernaturalcreatures. Trolls, goblins, phoenixes.” I ticked them off on my fingers.

“Gargoyles,” Cade said, his brows pulled together as he considered the last time we had interacted with the creatures.

“Yeah,” I said. “In a city like this, they get chased out of all of their natural habitats, so they create a new one.”

“The Zoo,” Cade deduced.

“Yeah. It’s an area of the riverbed that the city is happy to let them have because it keeps them out of the populated areas of town. And anytime officials try to empty it out, activists are always up in arms.” I balled up the foil wrapper and tossed it in an overflowing trash can on the side of the path.

“And this is where Tabitha is staying?” Cade asked doubtfully.

I understood his hesitation. I wouldn’t feel safe living there. It would be setting up a tent in the middle of a lion pride and hoping that they didn’t get hungry.

Shrugging, I pointed to where someone or something had cut the city’s attempt at containment, a charmed chain-link fence. “Here.”

I pushed my way through, holding it open for Cade. On the other side, with sunset lingering in the sky, the bright lights of fairies in the air seemed almost magical. For a second, the spread of the riverbed turned romantic. Trees growing through the concrete, the sweet sounds of goblin music drifting through the air, the floral smell so many magical creatures exuded.

Cade gaped at the sight. Then a troll lumbered toward us, spittle dripping from his open mouth, his fist already swinging.

ChapterThirty-One

Instinctively, I shoved Cade out of the way, ducking under the troll’s swing to come up closer to him, smashing my fist into his chin. On a human, that would be game over, knockout, night-night.

The troll didn’t even seem to notice. This close, I could see his flat teeth decaying from cavities, his entire mouth smelling like rot. His thick arms wrapped around me, squeezing tight.

I struggled but couldn’t get free.

Suddenly, Cade’s magic wrapped around me, spiraling closer and closer. He teleported me to his side and grabbed my hand, tugging me back toward the hole in the fence.

For a second, I resisted, but I realized it wasn’t just my life at stake. It wasn’t just my honor that had been pricked. Cade’s life was at risk as well.

He was panting, his face gray. He was getting dangerously low on magic.

“Give me some of your magic,” I said quickly. “Then take it back.”

Cade’s head swung back and forth. “No. It takes something from you when I do it.”

“It makesyoustronger,” I said.

The troll roared, charging at us, but his velocity meant he couldn’t turn when I grabbed Cade’s waist, pulling him close and spinning us out of the way. If Cade wouldn’t give me magic, if he wouldn’t make himself stronger, then we had to get out. We would have to find Tabitha another way. I ran toward the gap in the fence.

Cade was only half a step behind me. Hopefully, the troll wouldn’t chase us once we passed through.

A gargoyle landed between us and the chain-link. It threw back its head, roaring so loud that my ears rang, the echo of it like a jet engine in my head.

Gargoyles never traveled alone. Where was the rest of its pride?

Cade slapped a hand to my chest, and I felt magic crawl onto my skin, wrapping around my shoulder and dripping down my arm. I moved fast, thrusting my arm forward and releasing an enormous net that pinned half of the gargoyle. It struggled free, and the net came back to me.

I turned, pressing my hand to Cade’s chest, feeling the magic disappear from my own skin. Cade gasped, his eyes widening.

The troll began running at us again, his feet so heavy that the ground around us shook. The werewolf in me couldn’t stand the challenge.

I threw back my head and howled, the sound long and piercing, and then I stared at the troll, growling, feeling my shift coming on. My limbs lengthened, my eyes flashed, fur grew thick on my skin.