Page 22 of Witch Unbound
“Actually, you are, and so are The Elites.” I took a flight of stairs toward The Elites’ quarters. “I’m going to invite them now.”
“And Jasper?” Bramble asked. “How are things with him officially being in the mix?”
I hadn’t mentioned Jasper in my story to Anna. I hadn’t wanted her asking questions about it with Bramble there because the whole blood witch thing might have come up, and I didn’t want Anna forbidding me from taking the witch up on her deal to save Jasper.
“Cora?” Bramble prompted again.
“He vanished. He actually got to me before Rune, and he vanished before he could save me. He’s been gone for hours, and if he isn’t back by tonight, I’m going back to Shady Lane.”
Bramble lifted her chin. “Then I’m coming with you.”
“I was hoping you’d say that.”
“Doh!”
We turned onto the corridor that housed The Elites, and my stomach trembled as I approached their door. The last time I’d been here, Sloane had pinned me to the wall and tried to bite me. We’d cleared shit up via text, but I wasn’t sure how she’d react to seeing me.
Maybe this was a bad idea?
Maybe I needed to stay away?
But we worked together, and I wanted to be around her, even if it was for short periods of time. A shindig was a good way to do that. The place would be crawling with other people to defuse the tension between us.
Plus, she had bagged blood now, so she’d be good.
And yes, I was doing a fabulous job of convincing myself.
I knocked on the door, and a moment later Poppy answered, looking harassed. Or maybe upset. Yeah, she looked more upset.
“Poppy?”
“Who is it?” Jessie called out.
Poppy looked over her shoulder. “Cora and Bramble.”
“Tell them to go away.”
“Um, Jessie, they can hear you.”
The sound of violent retching drifted out to greet us.
“Fuck,” Jessie said.
“You need to go.” Poppy tried to close the door on me, but I slammed my palm against wood and shoved.
“What’s going on? Is that Sloane being sick?”
Jessie appeared behind Poppy. Her dark curls were pulled back and her eyes looked much too big in her pale face. “Just get in and shut the damn door.”
We hurried inside and Poppy closed the door behind us. More retching drifted out from Sloane’s room.
“What’s wrong with her?” Bramble asked. “Is she sick?”
“You could say that,” Jessie said. “She can’t take the bagged blood. She just throws it back up. She hasn’t been able to keep any down.”
Oh, shit. “What do we do?”
“I did some research last night.” Poppy twirled a tendril of pink hair around her finger, unraveled it, then twirled it again. “There have been a handful of cases of vamps who can’t feed unless it’s from the vein. The blood has to be fresh from the source.”
