Page 45 of Witch Undecided
Chapter Thirteen
Jasper
Imaterialize in Fee’s quarters at the Dominus house. She’s seated at the dresser, wrapped in a robe, running a brush through her silver-blonde hair. Her gaze locks on me in the mirror. She pauses mid-stroke and whirls to face me.
“What’s happened?” she demands. “What’s happened to Cora?”
I roll my eyes. “As if you care.”
Her delicate jaw hardens, and she pushes to her feet, eyes narrowed. “I know you don’t like me, Jasper, and frankly, I don’t give a fuck, but if you try to come between Cora and me, I’ll—”
“Do what?” I tip my head to the side. “If you haven’t noticed, Cora has her own life now, her own destiny. She’s no longer your lackey.”
“My lackey?” She frowns. “Is that what she thinks?”
This is my chance to let her believe the lie, but it sits like ash on my tongue. “No,” I concede. “That’s the problem. She doesn’t see it. But I do. I see the number of times she’s put herself in the line of fire for you. How many times she’s put you first and herself second. I won’t allow it to continue.”
She’s looking at me as if I’ve grown horns, and I’m almost tempted to reach up and touch my forehead to check.
“You genuinely care for her, don’t you?” she says.
She stares at me, incredulous, and it’s as if she’s peeled back the layers to peer into my blackened soul.
I don’t like it.
I lift my chin. “You were supposed to find out about the original vampires.” I allow my lip to curl. “I can see you’re ‘on it.’”
She sighs. “Actually, I am. I sent a phoenix to Conah as soon as I got off the phone with Cora early this evening. If there’s information to be found, you can be sure he’ll find it.”
Ah, the nose-in-a-book Dominus with a penchant for filing. I suppose he’s a good choice to weed out any hidden texts on these creatures.
A frisson of warning skates over my mind. Cora? I close my eyes and reach for her. Her confusion and fear are muffled by the amulet, but I focus. Is she in danger? The fear dissipates. No. She’s safe.
I focus on Fee. “Send another phoenix. In fact, go there yourself and speed shit up. Cora would do it for you.”
Her expression hardens. “I don’t have to explain myself to you, Jasper, but if you must know, I’ve spent the last few hours in the Dominus archives looking for information on these vampires that call themselves Sons of Adam. If I had my way, I’d be jumping to Cora’s side right now, but I’m respecting her wishes, no matter how hard it is to do so, so don’t you dare insinuate that I—”
The air crackles and Conah materializes by the door.
Fee glares at him. “Seriously? What if I was naked?”
He looks sheepish. “I focused on you and not the location when jumping. Probably not the best idea in hindsight.”
She arches a brow. “You think?”
I don’t care about her sensibilities or his embarrassment; my attention is on the book clutched in his hand.
“Is that for Cora?”
He looks down at the book as if noticing it for the first time and nods. “Yes. This was all I could find on them. I haven’t had a chance to read it through; I figured you’d want it as soon as possible and—"
“Give it to me.”
He glares at me and then looks to Fee.
She holds out her hand and he givesherthe book.
It takes everything I have not to snatch it from her. She smiles thinly at me and then turns away, leans on her dresser and writes a note that she slips into the book before handing it to me.
I pluck it from her fingers. She’s looking at me expectantly. Waiting for a thank you, no doubt.
Not happening.
I jump to Cora.
