Page 101 of Witch Unbound
Her shoulders slumped. “It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Meredith was my sister. I loved her, but I love the coven more, and after everything that happened with Croatoan, the death he brought because of how powerful he was, I couldn’t risk allowing Evelyn to take his place. I know she may not have. She may have remained faithful to us, but chaos runs in her veins, it runs through his bloodline, and Charlotte is a prime example of an anchor gone bad.”
Okay, she had a point there, but I couldn’t get the look of despair on Evelyn’s face out of my head or scrub the image of sorrow on her mates’ faces from my mind. The way they’d wrapped themselves around her, to shield her. They’d died together, and it was through no fault of their own.
“People deserve to know the truth,” Sloane said.
Anna stiffened. “And what will that achieve but dissent and uncertainty in a time when we need solidarity the most. The Order has a plan, and we won’t be able to thwart it unless we’re a team.”
Once again, she had a point.
“Wait…” Sloane looked stunned, as if struck by a thought. “Cora isn’t from Croatoan’s bloodline. Do you think that’s why the mate bonds are weakening?”
Anna looked shifty. “It could be.”
“Dammit, Anna,” Sloane said. “What do we do?”
Anna exhaled through her nose. “The last resort would have been to tell you to fully consummate your mating, but it was a last resort. You may not be of Croatoan’s bloodline, but you’ve been able to access chaos as an Elite. I had to be careful. But if it came down to it and the seal was in real jeopardy, I would have told you the truth.”
I studied her long and hard, looking for deceit, some crack in her armor of righteousness, and found none.
She meant it.
She would have told me.
But now I knew. “I’m not willing to take risks with the seal. I can’t be worrying that a shift might sever the connections.”
Anna sighed and nodded. “Then you know what you have to do. You must consummate your mating with at least one of your mates. As you are all connected, the consummation with one will access the full power of the cosmos.” The lines of her face hardened. “But let me make something crystal clear. If you try and use the power against our coven in any way, Iwillend you. I’ve had centuries to prepare for such an eventuality.”
I didn’t doubt her, and I needed to make sure she didn’t doubt me. “You don’t know me too well, Anna. I’m not a power-hungry person. Never have been, and I give more than a damn about this coven and the witches in it. So let me get something straight. If you ever hurt another innocent witch again,I’llbe the one endingyou.”
She blinked sharply, then nodded. “You have a deal.”
Sloane took my hand and tugged me around to face her. “Go. Solidify the bonds and protect the seal. I’ll keep an eye on her.” She slid another less than impressed glance Anna’s way.
I dropped a kiss on Sloane’s lips and then made the jump to the cabin.
It was time to claim my guys.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Jasper was asleep when I got back to the cabin. He’d never slept like this before, so deep, so…real. As if he needed it. Ignoring the prickle of unease, I smoothed back his hair from his forehead and kissed his brow.
“Love you, babe.”
I’d planned on nabbing him and then heading to the main house to chat with the guys, but no way was I waking him up now. He obviously needed the rest. Leaving him to slumber, I headed to the main house to find the guys in the kitchen brewing coffee.
They were all naked to the waist, bodies all dewy from their morning run, and they all looked surprised to see me.
Tor’s gaze tracked over my head. “Jasper?”
“Asleep.”
“I didn’t think he slept properly,” Rune said.
“He can if he wants, but he doesn’t need to, at least not usually. I guess the events in the abyss took their toll on him.”
“Does he remember what happened?” Leif asked.
“No.” I took the mug of coffee Tor handed to me and sipped it, grateful for the full-bodied flavor and the hit of caffeine. “He knows it was bad, though. But there’s something else. I woke up earlier and reached for you guys, and our connections were so weak they might as well not have been there. They’re back now, but I panicked and went to the manor to see Anna.”
