Page 11 of Exiled Heir

All I knew about mage lights was urban legend. Whispers here and there, each retelling casting the mages as more and more powerful until they were imagined as practically gods.

In elementary school, someone had said mage lights could see into your soul. They could tell if you meant a mage harm and would burn your heart out if you did.

As we passed another mage light, it glowed brighter, twinkling as brightly as a diamond in the sun.

In fact… I squinted through the windshield, leaning forward as far as I could with my seat belt. Yes, inside each light was a miniature star. If I looked at it too long, it burned my eyes.

The road we were on wound up the mountain, twisting like a snake. The only lights we saw were mage lights, twinkling brightly. Cade Bartlett had his own personal galaxy of stars leading straight to his house.

“We’ll tell everyone that I haven’t taken you fully as my consort. You’ll prove to me that you can fulfill the role before we join,” Cade said finally. “In the old days, a prince would have to display his consort to the council before taking them.”

“Like a prize bull,” I said. “This is sounding less appealing by the minute. Maybe I will get out.”

“It is the best I can offer,” Cade said. His voice was loud in the quiet car. He took another turn too fast, and I slammed into the passenger door.

“You know I betrayed the last guy who signed my paychecks.” I narrowed my eyes, watching his face. “I’m not the most reliable wolf out there.”

His cheek twitched. “Are you planning on betraying me, Miles? I might be your only chance at getting back at Declan.”

“This is more than Declan,” I said. “If it was just Declan, your whole house would be in Los Santos, wiping his organization off the map.”

Cade went tense, his eyes swinging to me and then away, staring out at the road, narrowed.

“It’s bigger than Declan. That person, the one who you think is pulling Declan’s strings? It’s someone in House Bartlett. You’re going to have to kill a member of your own family, and you think because I’m one of Declan’s wolves, I won’t have any problem with that.” The words felt sour in my mouth. The last time someone from my pack, someone from myfamily, walked into House Bartlett, they were doing it for all the right reasons. “You’re even right about that,Prince Bartlett.”

It didn’t matter. I was doing this for money. Money had never betrayed me. Sure, Declan had asked me to do all sorts of things for money, but in the end, money was safety.

“I’m paying you five hundred thousand dollars to help me and not get killed. After that, you can walk away.” Cade’s expression was so cold that I could practically see the ice clinging to his eyelashes. “You’re right. Declan was the gun they used, but I think someone in my house pulled the trigger. Does that change anything?”

For a long moment, I debated. But the same reasons won out. I was hungry; Declan had run me into the ground. I had no money, no supplies, and I hadn’t slept in almost two days. If I wanted to, I could escape once I was rested, once my belly was full, once I had stolen enough money from House Bartlett to make my own way.

Once I had figured out what happened to…

I shook my head. “You don’t even want to know what I did to Declan?”

Cade looked at me again, and his icy blue eyes seemed to crack just enough that I felt like I was looking at a frozen pond about to melt for spring. My footing wasn’t steady, and it was so dangerous that I was a fool for even stepping out on the ice.

“I’m sure it wasn’t anything he didn’t deserve.” Cade tilted his head. “Was it?”

I shook my head. “I betrayed my employer. That makes me a bad investment.”

“Lucky for both of us, you aren’t my cousin’s ill-thought-out T-shirt company.” The shadows on Cade’s face looked darker in the uneven light from the car’s dashboard. “Like you said, I need someone I can trust.”

Something pulled at my stomach. What had I ever done to deserve that much faith in me? Would he still believe in me if he knew who I was?

“And that’s me?” I asked.

“And that’s you.” Cade squinted into the darkness. “After all, I don’t have any other options.”

The ice was shattering under my weight, and I was going to drown. When was the last time anyone had believed in me?

“Okay. For five hundred thousand dollars, you’ve got yourself a bodyguard.” I watched his profile. “Although if you want me to carry you like Whitney Houston, that costs extra.”

Mage lights came closer and closer together, even though Cade had slowed from NASCAR speeds to normal highway driving. Then, suddenly, we were faced with a massive gate. It was made of wood, complex carvings lit up by the headlights. It was taller than I could see through the windshield.

With the massive doors in front of me, my heart started beating too fast. There was a very real chance that if I went into House Bartlett, I would never leave. I wouldn’t be the first member of my family that had driven through these gates and never been seen again.

Cade dropped his hand to the gearshift and then pressed his foot down on the accelerator. After a couple of hours in the car, I was used to Prince Bartlett trying out for the role of Road Runner in a Looney Tunes cartoon. Still, as the car sped toward the massive gates, I raised my arms, automatically wincing back. I didn’t have time to do more than make a strangled sound.