Page 106 of Witch Unexpected
“Cora!” Bramble ran into the room, followed closely by the shifters. “Sloane just called. It’sPen, the traitor is Pen, and she got away.”
Jasper appeared beside me, his hand slipping around my waist. “Then let’s go catch her.”
* * *
SLOANE
I slam the door of the car and head toward Fashion with Passion. Pen’s flat is above the store, and the tracker spell we cast on the item she dropped tells us she’s here. An obsidian crystal. A final spell from The Order. No doubt her escape plan, should shit go south. She must have been carrying it for a while for the trace to be so strong.
“How do you want to do this?” Brie asks.
“Quickly and painfully,” Jessie says.
“I can’t believe it.” Poppy shakes her head as we head toward the store. “Fucking straight-laced Pen.”
The door is open. She’s here alright.
We head quickly and silently through the store, past the racks of clothes, to the door at the back that leads to the stairs up to her apartment.
It’s open.
We head up the stairs, taking them two at a time, and slow as Pen’s voice drifts down to us.
“No. But you said... No, you said you’d get me out. No, that isn’t what we agreed and—Yes. Okay. I understand.”
Her apartment door is visible and ajar.
I approach it slowly. Who knows what other Order spells she has on her person? I press my back to the wall and jerk my head at Brie. She flanks the door. The air fizzes with our collective power, ready to throw up a shield if need be.
Jessie steps forward, her mouth twisted in disgust, hands up and ready to anchor the shield, and kicks open the door.
It slams against the inside wall as we pour in. I’m expecting a flash of light, a wave of power, something saturated with chaos to knock us back and allow her to escape, but nothing happens.
The room is empty.
The roar of an engine filters in through the open window.
Poppy runs toward it. “Fuck. We forgot the fire escape. She’s getting away.” She climbs out the window, metal rattling as her boots hit the metal access outside.
I head for the door.
Pen’s not getting away. Not on my watch.
* * *
CORA
Tor’s bellow of rage melted as Jasper ripped me away from the cabin. We materialized on the highstreet. Up ahead to the right was the takeout place we’d stopped at the night before and to the left was the row of pretty shops.
I looked at his profile.“What are we doing here?”
“Pen’s here,” he said. “She has a store and lives in the flat above.”
Yes, I vaguely remembered her mentioning a store. “How do you know?”
His form flickered and then reformed. Shit, he was almost out of juice.
“I make it my business to know things.” He looked to the left, and I followed his gaze.
