Exiled heir the empty th.., p.22
Exiled Heir (The Empty Throne Trilogy Book 1), page 22
He turned. “I am really sorry about Jesaiah. I had no idea that he would try anything like that.”
“Of course. It’s not your fault.” I put all the confidence I had into the words.
He was looking down and away, focused on the bushes near my feet.
“Jay, did you actually see him attack me?” It had been niggling at me since he’d spoken up for me. Did he lie for me?
He nodded quickly, a bobblehead doll on a shaky dashboard. “Only the end of it. I’m sorry I didn’t try to stop him. I should have jumped in.”
“Don’t worry about it.” I waited for him to look at me. “I mean it.”
Nodding, Jay turned back to the path that wasn’t there. He fished around in his pocket, and I thought he was looking for the keys again, but then he pulled out a handful of pebbles. Seemingly at random, he began throwing them in the bushes. I heard them land, sizzling.
“What’s that?” I asked, gesturing to where he’d tossed one of the pebbles.
“Habit,” Jay said. “When Isaac and I were training, I was trying to learn some offensive spells, but I don’t really have the build for fighting, so we were trying some other ways. I still try to keep practicing.”
“Training?” I asked, watching another rock sail off into the brush.
“Training with magic?” Jay frowned at me before his brows cleared. “Oh, you and Cade probably haven’t gotten the chance to yet.”
“Uh, yeah,” I said, realizing that asking anything more would only reveal that Cade and I weren’t actually consorts.
For a while, we walked in silence, and then Jay said, “Most of the consorts need to get away sometimes. There’s a gym in town, but some of them come out here.”
Something about the way Jay phrased it made it clear Jay was a consort, but not like the rest of them.
I heard the sound of flesh on flesh, a grunt, then the sound of wood breaking. Someone laughed. The clearing came into view suddenly as we pushed through the tree line.
A half dozen wolves in workout gear turned to stare at us.
“Well, well, well. If it isn’t the man who took down the geriatric alpha.” Tyson smirked. “Are you here to get your ass kicked?”
Chapter
Twenty-Five
“So I’m wondering if you don’t like me. This is the second time you’ve taken me into the woods and dropped me off with homicidal werewolves, Jay,” I said.
I looked around the clearing. Outdoor workout equipment had been placed around the edges, leaving an empty ring in the middle. In the center of the ring, two wolves had backed off each other, both turning to face me.
“Little rabbit, you usually don’t come here,” Tyson said, smirking at Jay.
Raising his chin, I could smell the fear when Jay said, “I’m allowed to go wherever I want. I’m showing Miles around.”
“Is that a problem?” I stepped forward, baring my teeth. “Because we can make it a problem.”
“You want to have a go at me?” Tyson spread his hands. He smelled salty like sweat, the forest bringing his wolf to the forefront.
“I just came to show him the workout area,” Jay said, stepping between us.
His fear was more distinct now, and it set my teeth on edge. A packmate was scared, and I had to deal with whatever had his heart going so fast.
That thought alone brought me up short. Jay was not my packmate. I could never have a packmate, not until I figured out what happened to my parents and cleared their name.
Not to mention, he belonged to a mage. The consort collar around his neck showed exactly whose property he was.
A soft breeze flowed through the other werewolves, bringing me each of their distinct scents. Interest, intrigue. Were Tyson and I about to fight for the recently vacated top spot?
“I thought all you house pets used the workout gym in town,” Tyson said. His canines were growing longer, the words clear despite his partial shift. “This out here is for real wolves.”
“Real wolves?” I snorted and made a show of looking around the area. Punching bags, weights, ropes, even some tires in the corner, I spotted a couple of lawn chairs with workout magazines on the ground next to them. “This is clearly CrossFit for outdoorsy types. You pay them the affiliation fee, or is this just a knockoff? MossFit? Caveman Bootcamp?”
Tyson growled, the sound making the wolf rise under my skin, every hair on my arm standing on end. I wanted to shift; I wanted to take him on, wolf to wolf.
But my wolf still wouldn’t come. No matter how hard I pulled, it was stuck there, and the rage I felt almost made me punch him anyway.
A cool hand touched my arm, the contact snapping me back to myself. My skin was oversensitive. I could still feel the echo of Cade’s wrist against my throat, my own brushing over his pulse point. I glanced at Jay, and his eyes were wide.
“We aren’t here to fight,” he said. I wasn’t sure who his words were for, Tyson or me.
Either way, he was right. I couldn’t afford to fight. I couldn’t afford for anyone else to find out I couldn’t shift. That would make Cade vulnerable.
I blinked, the thought like a bucket of ice water first thing in the morning. I couldn’t afford to make myself vulnerable. Not Cade. Cade was my employer. The only time I had ever worried about Declan’s well-being was around paydays.
“Thanks for showing me your survivalist CrossFit. If someone reports you for copyright infringement, it definitely wasn’t me.” I smirked.
Tyson growled again, stepping forward, the hair growing on his arms, his mouth and nose shifting. “Run away with the rabbit. You’re not worth fighting.”
Jay’s hand clamped down tight on my wrist, tugging me back. He pulled us through the brush, not seeming to pay attention to where we were going. When we were far enough away that I couldn’t hear any hint of the wolves in the forest, he turned, irritation clear.
“What is it with you?” he snapped.
“Something about Tyson sets me on edge. He’s setting himself up to be alpha.” I rewound the past few minutes in my mind, remembering each face that had been there. The two wolves standing behind him last night had been with him, but now I had another four faces to add to his pack.
“He can’t set himself up to be alpha. We don’t have a pack.” Jay turned away, crossing his arms over his chest, his shoulders hunching.
I startled. Jay might as well be showing me his belly.
“Hey, I’m sorry. You’re right. I’ll work on not letting him get to me.” The brush around me swayed in the breeze, scratching against my pants. “What are they even doing out there?”
Jay sighed. When he turned to me, he didn’t look angry. The grooves carved in his face were made by anxiety.
“Like I said, the gym in town feels a little sterile for some of them. We don’t get a chance to act like a pack, so… I guess you’re not exactly wrong. Out in the forest, it’s easier to feel free.”
“Jay, do you feel trapped?” The question was suddenly the only one I could ask. I didn’t care about some wolves playing at an ironman triathlon in the forest.
Isaac and Jay had given every impression they were in love. Every look, every touch of support spoke of affection. The way that Isaac immediately stood up for his lover, the way they smelled like each other created a narrative that they were paired only because of their love for each other, but Cade and I were walking around smelling like each other, and I knew exactly how much appearances and scents could hide.
“We are all trapped.” Jay looked at me intensely. “All of us.”
The emphasis made me start. Who was he talking about? Just the wolves who had agreed to be collared? Or every single person on House Bartlett land?
Jay blinked at me, his soft brown eyes widening as he realized what he had said. He took a step back, the brush rustling like a rabbit fleeing from the scent of a predator.
“Can you find your way back?” he asked.
I nodded, knowing I should let it go but unable to stop myself. He was pack. Or… not pack, but something close, the start of a pack, the way that two teenage boys might form something when they were both outcasts in high school.
“Jay, who’s trapping us?”
He shoved his hand into his pocket, and I heard the click of stones. When he pulled his hand free, he was worrying a small rock, barely the size of his fingertips. Shaking his head, he turned, walking away. When I moved to follow, he held up a hand, saying over his shoulder, “I’ll see you later.”
I watched him disappear, moving through the undergrowth quickly.
I’d forgotten to tell him what Cade had told the servants. Hopefully, Cade had already told Isaac, otherwise it was going to be very obvious that something bad had happened to Keith.
I turned toward the house, beginning my trek back. My ears caught every hint of sound, but none of the wolves from the forest gym followed me. I felt a tightening around my neck. Reaching up, I brushed my fingers across the fabric. I couldn’t feel the tattoo with my fingertips; the ink lay flat against my skin. Still, I could feel Basil shifting and moving.
“Do you know what he meant?” I asked.
Yes. The word hissed in my ear, and I jerked away.
Spinning, I tried to find the source, but there was nothing. The only thing around was me.
Feeling like an idiot, I asked, “Basil?”
Yes.
My blood ran cold. Was that why Cade had given me his snake? To spy on me? To see and hear everything I did?
“You know what I’m saying?”
Sentient magic.
The words were dismissive, disdainful almost. A slight English accent hinted in the vowels.
“Right.” I forced myself to continue walking. “So you saw everything?”
Basil tightened around my neck, flexing before relaxing.
Can’t see. Covered up. This time, the annoyance was clear.
“Right.” I nodded, feeling some relief. Then I realized how trapped he must feel, only able to see light at night when I was wearing a low-collared shirt. Awkwardly, I tugged at the collar, pulling it down. “Better?”
Scales dragged across my skin.
Much.
“So, what did Jay mean? That we’re all trapped? Who’s trapping us?”
House Bartlett.
The words were matter-of-fact, strangely bloodless.
“The house itself? Or just the idea of the house? The pressures and the need to serve the house?”
There was silence, and then Basil said, Yes.
“Right.” I could see it. Cade might want the crown and the freedom it brought, but that freedom had a cost: his ability to decide his own fate. Once he wore the crown, he was trapped. Everything he did would have to be for House Bartlett.
The edge of the forest came into view, sunlight streaming down on the wide lawn.
“Sorry, Basil,” I said, tugging up the collar of my shirt.
Basil tightened once but didn’t say anything more.
I walked through the servants’ hallways, heading straight to Cade’s room. I needed privacy, and I knew that his room was the only place I would find that.
Once inside, I shut the door, raising my hand to check that the collar was still high enough Basil wouldn’t be able to see anything.
Sitting down on the bench I had been sleeping on, I pulled the ring out of my pocket. It was silver, a wolf’s head taking over most of the face. The wolf itself was fierce, its teeth bared, its eyes narrowed and sharp. She was hunting.
I remembered when my father had given it to my mother, although I had been so young I hadn’t understood the significance.
Mom had held it up, grinning at him.
“Every emperor needs a signet ring,” Dad had said.
Inside, the Latin inscription left my heart beating fast.
Lupus Imperator. Emperor Wolf.
How had it gotten into the cabin? The story was my parents had attacked Cade’s in their bedroom. Then, Leon had killed them. So why was the ring all the way out in the forest? Why was it in one of those small prison cells?
Leon must have captured my mother after the attack. My stomach tightened.
They had kept my mother. They had put her in that small little cell and locked the door, chained her to the ground.
I struggled, keeping my breath even. I didn’t need Basil wondering why I was suddenly breathing fast, why my heart was fluttering in my neck.
The door handle turned, and I shoved the ring back into my pocket. Cade came in, his brows drawn together, his lips pursed so tightly they turned white. When he saw me, he opened his mouth.
I could see the venomous words before they were even formed. He was going to say something that was going to hurt. Then he closed his lips tightly. Striding into the bathroom, he slammed the door behind him.
“What was that about?” I asked.
Council session, Basil hissed. Unpleasant.
When Cade came out, his hairline was damp, his skin dewy. He narrowed his eyes at me.
“What are you doing here?”
“I went and I checked out the cabins again. We didn’t miss anything last time. I was going to go talk to some servants after I ate.”
Cade nodded, but I could see his eyes were focused on something beyond me.
“I thought you had house business,” I said. “Is it over already?”
Cade turned to me, and I saw that flash again. If he was a wolf, I would have said that he was going to shift. Instead, a sharp line of magic spilled from his fingers, lancing across the room and piercing the window.
We both turned to stare at it, Cade blinking rapidly. The glass began to crack, a single line that quickly split again and again, until the entire window was fissured.
“Did you… Did you just lose control?” I kept the tremor out of my voice with effort. I couldn’t afford to be afraid.
Cade swallowed, then turned to me. “I need you to come with me.”
His throat bobbed, and his wide eyes kept returning to the shattered window.
Cool air came in through the broken glass. A soft tinkle was the only warning before the entire window came down with a crash onto the soft carpet.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
Cade turned to the window, his shoes crunching across the broken glass. He pressed a hand down, and a seething mass of tattoos left his fingers, moving like shadows come to life. They gathered all the broken pieces of glass, and the scent of the burning wool carpet made me sneeze.
Cade held the shadows in his hands, and in the center of them, the shadows cradled a perfect orb of glass, heated so hot it was bright orange. Gently, he pushed the glass forward, and it smoothed out, taking the shape of the window. It was opaque, the red-hot coloring making it impossible to see outside. As it cooled, flakes of char came off, until we could see outside. Except for the round, blackened mark on the carpet where the shadows had superheated the glass, it was as if he had never broken anything.
When he turned to me, his face was still, every hint of emotion wiped clean.
“The council will understand I’m serious.” He turned to the window, reaching up with his thumb to wipe away the last streak of black, leaving it pristine. “And if they don’t believe me, then it’s your job to convince them.”
Chapter
Twenty-Six
“This is creepy. You understand this is creepy, right?” I raised an eyebrow at Cade.
Cade looked at me out of the corner of his eyes. “Are you serious?”
“I’m serious that I have seen episodes of Law & Order that start like this.” I gestured to the library wall.
A stone archway was built into the drywall, the bookshelves on either side filled with ancient leather tomes. The rocks of the archway looked old, covered with a thin layer of moss. Runes were carved into them in some language I couldn’t read.
Inside the archway, instead of the pale peach of the rest of the wall, the surface was dark, something between the darkest green and blue, depending on the angle I looked at it. It fluttered, undulating like water in a sharp breeze. The archway went all the way up to the ceiling, and when I got closer, squinting at it, I could see the wear from age.
“Where does it go?” I asked. “Somewhere else on the property?”
“It’s hard to explain. Think of it as a separate realm created by my magic. Step back,” Cade said.
I took a few steps away, standing just behind him. He raised his hands, and the familiar black ink dripped off his fingers, flying through the air until I saw patterns emerge on the moving wall. Black on top of black on top of black layered until the entire wall under the archway was covered in ink. Cade walked forward.
He paused, half his body consumed by the black. “Are you coming?”
“Do I have a choice?” I muttered.
“I’m not paying you to have a choice,” Cade said.
I snorted but followed him through.
The last time I had traveled via Cade’s magic, it had felt like physical assault. This felt the same. Every centimeter of my skin burned. It felt as though someone was peeling my skin off with a dull knife. I wanted to scream, but I had no voice.
I stumbled out on the other side. Cade was standing a few steps ahead of me. He turned, his expression annoyed.
“Get up,” he said.
“What is with that? It doesn’t hurt you?” I stood, dusting off my pants.
“No,” Cade said shortly. His own breath was coming short, and I could see the twitch of muscles in his arms.
“Great. So it’s just torture for me, then. All aboard the Cade express line to hell.”
When my skin no longer felt like someone had taken a fish knife to it, I looked around. The room was dark, except for a massive stone table in the center lit from above by mage lights. There were twelve wooden chairs around it, each ornately carved, decorated with the same beasts and animals as the door to Cade’s room. There was another chair made of the same white stone as the table, and it looked more like a throne than a seat.
“Well, this isn’t ominous at all. It looks straight out of Secret Organizations Monthly.” Stepping closer to Cade, I whispered, “I mean, would a few lamps hurt you guys?”
