Page 6 of Exiled Heir

“You refuse.” There should have been a question mark on the end of the sentence, but Cade’s disapproval made it into a flat statement.

“I…” The words refused to come because even as I saw him uncross his arms, a strand of black tattoo magic pooling in his palm, ready for use, I had one clear thought.

If I went with him, could I find out what happened to my parents?

I pushed away that thought violently. No, the more pressing issue was, once he left, Declan was going to walk through that door. Declan didn’t want me to pretend to be his consort. Declan wanted to use my eyeballs as a garnish in an expensive cocktail. He wanted to slit my throat and watch me die in front of an audience of every single other person on his payroll that had ever thought the words “double cross” in the samezip codeas him.

“Yeah. Let’s do it.” The words were lead, falling from my lips and landing between us. I had spent eleven years doing whatever was asked of me for money. Why should I get squeamish because my client had shifted from Declan Monroe to Cade Bartlett? “You want me to be your little legal slave? You think anyone will fall for it, sure. I mean, it’s not like I have any other options.”

Cade frowned, his brows drawn together. “If you run, or if you perform poorly, our contract will be void. I will happily hand you over to Declan myself.”

I gestured around to the murder room. “I think my life is pretty forfeit as it is.”

There were too many bad decisions. Even if I tried to attack him now, tried to escape with my hands free, I wouldn’t manage it. Not with Declan and his men right there in the barroom.

At least if I went with Cade, I would be alive. Maybe, if I played my cards right, sometime during those eight months, he would let down his guard, and then I could slip away with enough House Bartlett money to disappear.

I had spent eleven years running from him, from House Bartlett. If I survived, I would spend the rest of my life making sure they never found me again.

Cade narrowed his eyes, sweeping them over me as he considered his next words.

“Well? Are you taking me, or did you just want me to convince the ants in the walls I’m your consort?” I asked. I didn’t push myself up, remembering the tight pressure of his magic on my arms. Maybe if I wasn’t still half-drugged, muscles still jumping from electrocution, I would have a chance. Right now, though, I knew attacking him was a long jump off a short rope.

The handle of the door began to turn, and Cade glanced at it. Then, with a sweep of his hands, we were gone.

ChapterThree

Ifelt as though my skin was being peeled off, one millimeter at a time. I thought that I was in pain after the kidnapping and mild torture, butthiswas pain.

When we arrived, I was on my knees, unsure how much time had passed. Pain made time dilate, each second becoming an hour, so for all I knew, we had arrived years later.

But as I grounded myself, feeling the discomfort of the parking lot gravel under my knees and the same honky-tonk cowboy song being blasted through cheap speakers, I realized we were just outside the bar, only half a second after we had left.

“Let’s go,” Cade said.

He was covered in the twisting tattoo lines again, obscuring every feature, making it impossible to get a handle on what his expression was saying. I tried to breathe, but it felt like inhaling glass, and when I looked down, I saw tattoos on my own skin.

The front door to the bar opened, throwing a wide slice of light into the parking lot. Someone came out, backlit by the bright bar behind him, and I didn’t need to see his face to know exactly who it was.

JD Davidson had been gunning for a position as Declan’s second-in-command. With the vacancy I had helpfully provided, it looked like he had gotten a promotion.

Scrambling up to my feet, I followed behind Cade as he walked to a far corner of the parking lot, where an abandoned car was parked, tires gone flat, grass growing up into the wheel well.

I kept glancing over my shoulder, waiting for JD to see us. Even with Cade’s magic obscuring his features, it would be clear that there were two people walking away. JD might be greedy, but no one that high up in Declan’s organization was dumb.

He frowned, squinting at us. “Hey.”

Then he was halfway across the parking lot, sliding over the hood of a car like he was in an action movie, and I justmoved.

He’d already half shifted, and if he became fully wolf, I wouldn’t have a chance. I brought my fist up, my knuckles hitting the side of his head hard. There was a crack, but he just shook his head sharply. His shift made him larger, broad across the chest and furred all over. The legs were usually the last thing to go, cracking and twisting as he went from a bipedal human to a wolf who ran on four legs.

I brought my foot up and kicked at his knee, but he twisted his head, grabbing hold of my leg with his mouth, his teeth tearing the fabric of my jeans.

This wasn’t the first time I’d fought a shifted wolf, but usually, I could shift. Something was keeping me from my wolf form. The drugs, the head wound, I wasn’t sure, but I needed to act quickly before he got his bearings. This time, I had control of the panic. The fear that I was fighting without my most reliable weapon: my wolf.

Bringing my foot down, I swung my other leg, kneeing him in the head with a satisfying crack.

JD’s wolf wasn’t particularly big, but it was fast. He turned and leapt forward. He was going to bear me down, and I would probably get hurt just trying to get out from under him.