Page 10 of Witch Unbound
Crap. The price. The foreboding I’d put on hold flooded me anew. “What do you want from me?”
“I want you to free the varga.”
Huh? Wait, what? Okay, I hadn’t been expecting that. Why did she care about the varga, and what did she mean byfree them?
“I didn’t realize the varga were trapped.”
“They are. Trapped and doomed to kill. Slave to the virus. The truth lies in their collective memories, but they aren’t able to share those with outsiders. Soon, they’ll be able to share them with you, and you, my child, will set them free.”
Why did she want this? It made no sense. But then I didn’t know a damn thing about her except that she was powerful, and that she’d saved me.
Still, I’d made a deal, and I’d keep my word. If this was the price to be free of her, then so be it.
“Fine. I’ll pay your price.”
“Oh, that isn’t my price, Cora.” And for the first time since we’d spoken, there was a sly edge to her tone. “You’ll dothatbecause you’ll need to. You’ll need allies for what’s to come.”
My scalp pricked. “What’s to come?”
“A war, Cora. A war that you must champion and win.”
I didn’t like the sound of this. Not one bit. “And what if I don’t want a war?”
“It doesn’t matter what you want, Cora. Events have been set in motion and they cannot be averted. You must be prepared, and the varga are key to your preparation, as are the Sons of Adam.”
My lip curled. “Those bloodsucking fiends?”
“Could tip the balance in your favor.”
Okay, so a war was coming, and I was going to need backup. But she still hadn’t told me her price for saving my ass, and I needed to pay that debt, because my gut told me remaining beholden to this entity would only bring grief.
She’d changed me and I had no clue what I was becoming, and she refused to tell me, and now she was insistent that I’d have to free the varga and play nice with the Sons of Adam because a war was coming. But once again, she couldn’t or wouldn’t tell me any more than that.
I was fed up, tired, and done with this. “You saved my life. I owe you for that, and nothing more. Just tell me what the price is?”
“If you fail to pay my price, what I gave you can be taken away.”
“What? You’ll infect me again and let me die?”
“I saved your life. We cheated death with a bargain. A bargain I made on our behalf. I paid my price. You must pay yours. And if you don’t, then death will claim you.”
“I get it. I don’t pay the price, I die. Fine.” I sounded normal, almost flippant, but my insides were shivering because the foreboding that had been edging my consciousness was getting stronger. “Just tell me what you want me to do.”
The air seemed to vibrate against my skin in excitement, and then her voice swelled around me in booming command.
“I want you to free Croatoan.”
Chapter Three
She wanted me to free Croatoan? Was she insane? I opened my mouth to object, but the light shattered, taking me with it.
I materialized by the window in the lounge of our clifftop house.
The bitch had kicked me out.
“Cora!” Leif rushed toward me. “You’re okay. What happened?”
My mind was a mess, and a cacophony of emotions churned inside me. Focus. I’d gone to get Rune back. He’d said my name even though I hadn’t told him what it was.
