Page 133 of Witch Undecided
He leapt at the slau with a growl but never made it. His body twisted mid-air and he was flung across the room by an invisible force.
The hairs on the back of my neck stood to attention, awareness blooming in the pit of my stomach.
Jasper took Rune’s place and blasted the slau with power. It shot away from us and the grip it had snapped.
I sagged, suddenly weak and dizzy.
“Get out of here,” Jasper cried. “I’ll hold it off.”
Sloane shook Poppy. “Get up. Dammit, Pops, we need you.”
Poppy groaned and sat up. Her eyes snapped wide as she recalled where we were. “Fuck.”
They rushed to the steps and began working on the warding.
Get them out of here,Rune said to Jasper.Jump with them.
“I can’t,” Jasper said. “I used a ton of energy getting through that damn ward. I don’t have enough to get anyone out.” He gritted his teeth, pushing power into the slau. “Hurry with that damn ward.”
We’d been here before. Weeks ago. He’d fought the slau, and I’d been too stubborn to give him the power he needed. Too stubborn to take off the amulet.
How things had changed.
He needed power. The amulet obviously wasn’t glitching, so he couldn’t draw it from me.
It was time to take the amulet off.
“Jasper, take it all.” I reached for the pendant.
His head whipped my way, eyes widening. “Don’t!”
I froze. “Why.”
“That fucking thing is the only thing keeping you safe right now.” He let out a growl, jaw clenching, and focused on the slau again. “It’s not only muting my ability to draw from you, but it’s acting as a barrier against this fucker.”
“What? I don’t understand. I felt it trying to draw my soul out.”
“It can do it a lot faster if you take that thing off. I didn’t know it before, but I’ve done my research since then. It’s not that hard for a slau to take a soul.” He stepped toward the slau, forcing it back a step. “You can only fight it because of the amulet, and The Elites have wards on their bodies that act as resistors.”
Shit.
“Almost got it,” Sloane cried out.
Jasper bellowed, channeling more power into keeping the slau at bay.
My hands fizzed with redundant energy as I struggled to connect with my power. The slau had drained me while trying to hook out my soul.
“Got it!” Poppy cried.
The slau lashed out and then Jasper was wrapped in inky tendrils and suspended in the air.
My scream echoed throughout the basement.
“Get out.” Jasper shot a savage look my way. “I got this. Just go.”
A pang shot through me. The sharp edge of a lie.
He was lying.
