Page 3 of Witch Unbound
“What the fuck?”
He sipped from his mug and smirked. “Time works differently here, Cora. I was wondering when you’d show up.” He tilted his head to the side. “He’s a nice guy, your Rune.”
My pulse leapt. “I want him back, Loke. Ineedhim back.”
He winced. “Yeah, and I might have been able to help you if you’d gotten here sooner.” He tipped his head toward the bed. “But you took your time and I got distracted.”
Behind me Simone let out a long, drawn-out, strangled cry as she climaxed.
“There has to be something you can do, Loke. Something the entity can do. She did this. She fucked with me and changed me and now my power is on the fritz and…And Rune paid the price.”
His dark eyes hardened. “The entity saved your life. Or have you forgotten that part?”
“So this is some kind of payback? A life for a life?”
“You’re not thinking straight, Cora. I just told you I’d have been happy to help if you’d gotten here sooner. There are certain concessions surrounding you, certain restrictions and certain liberties, but once the bus has driven off, even I can’t intervene.”
My heart sank even as my mind rebelled, refusing to give up. “Please… Loke, therehasto be something you can do. Some loophole…anything.”
He sighed. “Look, Cora, once a soul gets on that bus, they begin a new journey. It’s a rebirth. A new life. Memories of the past are locked away. Tarrifel is the next stage in a supernatural’s existence, just like your time on the earthly plane is one stage in many. Rune has moved on.”
Moved on? No. There was time. I could feel him. “He might have gotten on that bus, but he’s still connected to me. There’s time, isn’t there?” His eyes flinched. “What aren’t you telling me, Loke?”
“Smart women are my kryptonite.” He approached, stopping a foot away. “Thereisone option, but it’s risky.” Once again he tilted his head to the side, but this time it seemed as if he was listening to something. “Tsk. I can’t tell you.”
“What? Why not?”
He leaned in slightly and winced. “Shedoesn’t want you to know.”
Anger flared in my chest, a mini supernova eager to be deployed. “Yeah? Well, you tell her to fucking say that to my face.”
He looked upward with a smirk. “Done.”
The world shattered again and this time I found myself in a circle of amber light. I remembered this. This was where the entity had drawn me when saving me from the varga infection.
Loke was gone and I was alone…No, that was a lie. There was someone… something here with me.
I scanned the brightness, searching for a shadow. “Hello?”
“Hello, Cora.”
That voice. I recognized that voice. Beautiful, melodious, and comforting, except now it was standing between me and the man I loved and I’d happily rip that voice to shreds.
I stood taller. “Why won’t you let Loke tell me how to get Rune back.”
“You can’t always turn back time, Cora. Some things are meant to be as they are.”
Fuck that. “He wasn’t meant to die. If I’d had my power, he wouldn’t have had to shift. But you messed with my DNA, and now I’m changing. I’m losing control and Rune… Rune is dead because of it.”
“That sounds a little ungrateful, Cora.” She said it evenly and without emotion. “I saved your life. I saved the seal.”
“Did you? How do I know these changes won’t affect the seal?”
She was silent for a long beat. “You’ll know soon enough. The changes are almost complete.”
A prickle of unease skated over my skin. “What’s happening to me? What am I becoming?”
“I’ve given you what you need to fulfill your part of our bargain.”
