Page 135 of Exiled Heir

Three sharp pops, mages on their way to take my head.

With a growl, I turned, facing the door. I shifted both arms, the broken one screaming in agony. It didn’t matter. I would only have a few seconds to rush them before their magic overwhelmed me. My only hope was to surprise them.

Swallowing, I stood just inside the door. It swung open, and I leapt, tackling Cade to the ground. He fell hard, and I didn’t have enough time to do anything more than move to the side before my entire weight landed on top of him.

“Cade?” I stared at him blankly. “You’re alive.”

“I suppose I must be, although you seem to be doing a great job of trying to change that.” He rolled his eyes, then pushed himself up on his hands. When he stood, he reached down, offering over a hand to help me up. “Get up. We have to find whoever tried to kill me.”

ChapterForty-Two

Istared at him blankly. The last time I had seen him, he had been unconscious, and both Petrona and Leon thought he’d have brain damage. Now, with his hand extended, he looked fine.

In the early morning light, I could see a gray tinge to his skin, shadows under his eyes, but he wasn’t catatonic. He wasn’t dead.

My heart felt like it was going to burst out of my chest, suddenly going fast enough that I was afraid it would escape my rib cage altogether. Cade was alive. He was standing in front of me, extending his hand. Whatever else that happened, he still wanted me at his side.

I reached out my left hand and let him help me up. He hissed when he saw the state of my hand and arm, the scratches and destroyed skin. Then he noticed me cradling my right arm against my body.

“What happened?” he asked.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ve had worse wrestling with a fitted sheet.” I looked behind him, expecting to see Isaac and Jay, but they were nowhere to be found. Instead, it was Sonja and Finley, both staring hard at me.

Cade might have written me off as a suspect, but clearly, these two hadn’t.

Reaching out, Cade took my right arm in his hands, gently turning it over. It was turning purple, the skin mottled. Frowning, Cade pressed his fingers in, and I bit off a scream.

Even I could feel the bones shifting under the skin. Cade’s eyes went wide. “Who did this?”

I raised an eyebrow at the question. Cade’s face turned even paler, and he said, “Miles and I have to talk to Rhys before we start anything. You two finish examining the grounds. Check with the wolves that just finished scouting the perimeter. One of them has to have seen something. Any sign that there was a second intrusion.”

He said the last to Sonja and Finley, both of whom frowned.

“My prince, I have been explicitly instructed to stay with you until the matter is resolved.” Finley glared at me, clearly understanding that mandate to meanuntil Miles is dead.

“Tyson checked in with all the wolves himself. There’s no sign that anyone else has been on the property.” Sonja crossed her arms. “Your consort is the only one who’s been close enough to you to poison your magic.”

“Check again,” Cade snapped. “Have them run the same patrol again. Have every mage who has distance magic use their spells to follow along, checking for any magical evidence. Find mesomething.”

He ended on nearly a shout, panting when he was done.

I reached out, putting my hand on his shoulder. “Cade, they should be suspicious of me. I’m the one who was closest to you.”

“But you didn’t do it,” Cade said. The certainty in his voice was more than certainty about me. He knew Icouldn’thave done it.

“No, I didn’t,” I agreed, mostly for our audience. “But their job is to keep you safe, the same as mine.”

Cade exhaled sharply, running a hand through his hair. Then, his face went cold, losing all the emotion that had made him shout. He drew his shoulders back, his chin up. “You have your orders. Go now.”

Sonja and Finley exchanged a look, and it was clear we were ten seconds away from a coup. Then, grudgingly, Sonja bowed and disappeared with a pop. Finley did the same, and Cade and I were alone in the woods.

“You’re okay,” I breathed. I brought my hand up to his face, leaving streaks of blood from my fingers on his cheek. “What happened? Did your magic overwhelm you?”

Cade shook his head sharply. “Later. We really do need to get you looked at. Did they hurt you? After… I did?”

“No,” I said immediately. “Just my pride. You hired an enforcer who got his ass kicked pretty quickly. I wouldn’t expect five stars on this performance.”

“To be fair, not many people expect the person they share a bed with to try and murder them.” Cade looked down at my arm again, his face going dark.