Page 88 of Witch Undecided
Chapter Twenty-Five
“What the fuck?” Sloane paced Anna’s office.
I’d filled them in on what had happened with the sisters.
Anna sat silently behind her desk. “I was afraid that might happen. There are rumors about the sisters. I think I mentioned that the silent sisters draw power from an unnamed source, but that isn’t strictly true. They drew from it once in order to create Croatoan’s prison.”
“I thought the elder witches did that using celestial power from the Sons of Adam.”
“The Sons of Adam were one of the ingredients. The stories say there is always a cost to using this fourth power. A sacrifice the silent sisters made. They were changed. Left with a residue of this power forever inside them but also left with a void for more that can’t be filled. But the prison provides some relief.”
Relief. The screams of torment… “Wait, they feed on the prisoners’ pain, don’t they? They’re not in their cells, they’re in that weird misty place they took me to.”
“And contemplated keeping you.” Sloane’s mouth turned down. “Anna, you should have warned us.”
“Why would they keep me?”
Anna blinked sharply, as if momentarily thrown, and then pressed her lips together. “Because you have power. You’re the anchor. You have a direct line to the cosmos and constant miasma being filtered into you from your mates.”
Made sense. “Okay, so what’s in the box?”
Anna flipped open the lid to the box the sister had given us and lifted out a leather bracelet with a charm attached to it.
“Four bracelets for four Elites,” she said. “These must be carrying the glamour charm.”
Sloane took the bracelet off her and slipped it on. “Well?”
“You look the same to me.”
Anna plucked a note from the box. “The brown one is for you, Cora. It works with your amulet so it won’t be muted.” She continued to read. “It looks like the bracelets only work when they’re all worn at the same time and will only serve to hide your true natures from warlocks.”
Well, that sucked. “So, there’s no way to know if they work without trying them out at the warlock club?”
“We could totally do with Elijah right now,” Sloane said.
Elijah still hadn’t checked in with me, not that he was obliged to, but…I mean, we were friends, right? Plus, I was worried.
“Anna, have you heard from him or Bramble?”
“Actually, I had a message from Elijah this morning. Bramble is with him, and they have a lead on the Sons of Adam location.”
I sat up straighter. “And you’re telling us now?”
“Elijah asked that I not mention anything to you, but since you asked directly…” She smiled. “He said he’d call again in a couple of days when he was sure his intel was solid.”
He hadn’t wanted to get my hopes up. “He could have messaged to tell me he was okay.”
“He explained that he and Bramble no longer have cell phones. He has the mansion number memorized.”
Okay, so I guess I could let them off the hook, but it made me wonder how they’d lost their cell phones. I’d have to let Lauris know Bramble was okay, that she was with Elijah.
Sloane handed me the brown bracelet. “If Elijah has the vamps’ location, then all we need is a way to stop them.”
I stood and slipped on my bracelet, noting the prickle that ran over my skin. “Let’s hope that Conah finds something in that journal.”
We’d be patrollingtonight but I’d forgotten my weapons belt at the cabin. Leaving Sloane to update the rest of The Elites, I hurried home through the woods. Home. Yeah, that’s what it was now. Home.
Except the guys weren’t here.
