Page 82 of Witch Unexpected
The chanting grew louder and louder, and the revenant began to shudder and shake. Its body started to boil, and the tentacles whipped back into it, and the whole thing began to melt until it was an icky blob on the wall. It slid to the ground and pooled there, pulsing weakly.
The Elites stepped onto the balcony and moved around me to get to the revenant, but my attention was on Jasper. Our gazes locked, and the rage melted from his face to be replaced by…concern?
He’d come for me. Again.
“Jasper, I—”
His mouth turned down wryly, and he disappeared. Why the fuck did my chest feel so empty all of a sudden? The fucking wanker. How dare he save my life then just piss off? I needed to speak with him and say… I had no idea what I wanted to say. I just…needed.
Sloane stepped into my line of vision. “We need to go. Now. It’s no longer safe for you here.”
I allowed her to haul me up. The revenant was gone, and Brie was healing Lauris. He shot me a grin and a thumbs up over her shoulder and earned himself a slap upside the head for his trouble.
“Cocky shit,” Brie said. “You think you can take on a revenant solo? You could have died.”
“Yeah, and if I hadn’t, our anchor would be dead.” He rubbed his head, pouting at her.
He’d saved my life. “Thank you, Lauris.”
“What I don’t understand is why you didn’t just use the door,” Jessie snapped.
I slapped my forehead. “Oh shit, I’m such an idiot.” I gave her a flat look. “I tried, but I got blasted across the fucking room. There’s a spell on it or something.”
Jessie frowned. “Poppy, check it out.”
Poppy dove into my room.
Sloane ran her hands over the balcony railing, and it bloomed with blue sparks before going dull.
“Fuck,” Jessie said.
“Someone’s disrupted the wards,” Sloane said softly.
“There’s a rune painted onto the underside of the doorknob in what looks like obsidian tainted paint,” Poppy said, joining us on the balcony. “Not one of our runes, One oftheirs.”
Sloane stepped away from the balcony, her expression grim. “The wards glitching at the potential hideout, the slau knowing exactly where to find you, the wards coming down in the forest when you just happened to be taking a walk, and now this… There’s no way The Order could pull this off without inside help.” Her shoulders heaved. “There’s no longer any doubt in my mind. We have a traitor in our midst.”
* * *
Wren layon the sickbay bed, wrapped in blankets. Dottie hovered beside him while a witch I didn’t recognize ministered to him.
Outside the room, Sloane and Anna were locked in a hushed argument, but my attention was all for Wren. He looked so tiny.
“Will he be okay?”
The witch finished adjusting his bandages and smiled up at me. “He just needs to heal. Our magic doesn’t seem to work on him, so the healing will need to take place organically.”
“What happened?” Dottie asked me.
“He protected me. He jumped onto the revenant’s face and told me to run.” My eyes grew hot. “The crazy, brave little thing.”
“Oh, my sweet boy.” Dottie looked down at Wren. “He is a wonder.”
“He is.”
The door opened behind us. “Cora, we’re leaving. Now,” Sloane snapped.
“This is ridiculous,” Anna said.
