Page 14 of Witch Unbound
“Rune?” I tentatively touched his hand. “Are you okay?”
His attention dropped to me, and his gaze sharpened as it focused on my face.
“Cora? Did I make it?” His voice was hoarse. “Did I make it home?”
I was hearing his voice again. His beautiful voice. I swallowed past the pinch in my throat and nodded, seeing him through a blur of tears, not trusting myself to speak.
“Yeah, Rune.” Leif spoke for me, his voice thick with emotion. “You’re home. You made it.”
I pushed off the ground and wrapped my arms around Rune’s neck. “You made it.” My whisper kissed his skin. “You came home.”
Rune held me tight, his heart beating faster against mine. “This is real?”
I wanted to say yes, yes, it was, but all that emerged was a sob, and I was crying like a baby, all the pent-up emotion surging to the surface as relief tore it free.
“I love you, Cora. I love you so much.” Rune hugged me harder.
I pulled back slightly and wiped my nose on my sleeve, blinking back more tears. “I love you too.”
“Cora, help!” Wren cried.
I looked up to see him squished to Tor’s chest as my mate hugged him.
Wren let out another shriek. “Tor let go now. Tor let go.” His tiny legs kicked in protest.
Leif burst out laughing, and the sound was so infectious that it set us all off.
Rune was alive. He was safe.
Everything was going to be okay. Nothing could taint this moment.
I want you to free Croatoan.
Oh, shit.
Chapter Four
This trip was supposed to be a time for us to connect and relax. A time away from the stressors and responsibilities of the coven and the packs.
I should have known that was too much to ask.
As much as I wanted to keep what I’d learned to myself for a little while longer, I couldn’t take the risk.
I was changing, and the connections between us were weakening because of it. This put the seal in jeopardy because I needed those connections to maintain it. Anna needed to know what was happening. We needed to figure out a solution and formulate a backup plan. She also needed to know there was a new player in town.
The entity wanted me to free Croatoan, which made her one of the bad guys. A bad guy who’d saved my ass so she could get me to work for her. I’d been played. But then, if she hadn’t intervened, I’d be dead, so yeah, mixed feelings on that one.
I hated to ruin our happy moment so soon after we got Rune back, but I had no choice but to spill the beans.
We sat around the small kitchen table nursing mugs of tea and chomping on chocolate biscuits while I filled them in on what had happened in Tarrifel. By the time I got to the Croatoan part, the biscuits had been abandoned.
“You can’t do that,” Tor said. “You can’t free him.”
I brushed crumbs off the table. “I know.”
“But if she doesn’t…” Leif puffed out his cheeks. “We need to find a way to protect you.”
Rune looked thoughtful. “The balance of nature, life and death, is a powerful thing. Taking me out of Tarrifel and saving your life, these all have costs. It makes me wonder who’s paying them.”
