Page 8 of Witch Unbound
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I ranout into the parking lot, prepared to search for Rune. I mean he couldn’t have gotten far unless he had a ride, in which case I was fucked. But like a gift-wrapped present, he was standing right in front of me, leaning up against a battered truck with his head bowed in thought.
He looked up as I approached and sighed. “You…”
My pulse raced. “You haven’t left.”
“I don’t know why.”
“Yes, you do.”
He shook his head. “You’re crazy.”
“No. I’m not, and you know it.”
“This is crazy. I mean…what you said isn’t real, so why does my gut tell me it is.”
“Because—”
Something grabbed hold of my nape and yanked me away from Rune. I hit the ground with my ass and pain spiked through my tailbone.
“Shit!” Rune hovered over me. “What happened? What was that?” He helped me up.
“This place is trying to eject me. I don’t have much time. You need to remember. You need to—”
I was dragged away from him again, butt scraping cement. Anger surged up to choke me.
“No!” I lashed out with my power. Lightning sizzled over my body and the invisible force lost its grip.
I sprang to my feet as Rune ran toward me. “I know you.”
“Yes, you do. You just need to tap into your heart and deep into your mind.”
He was so close that I could feel his heat and inhale his scent. I tipped my head back. “Come home with me, Rune.”
His hazel eyes shimmered with flecks of gold as he drank me in, but the recognition was missing. The love was missing, and my heart ached, because I wasn’t going to make it.Weweren’t going to make it.
The world went still and silent.
A shiver ran up my spine, my hackles rose, and my body flooded with the heat of adrenaline. There was something here with us. Rune’s gaze flicked over my head and narrowed.
He felt it too.
“What the fuck are those?” he asked.
I turned to face two huge wolf-like creatures with spines on their backs and glowing red eyes.
They looked like varga but not varga, and they were padding toward me menacingly.
Was this Tarrifel asking me to leave? I held up my hands. “Please, just a few more minutes.”
Loke stepped out from behind a van. “Doesn’t work that way, Cora. Time’s up, but it seems like you’re stronger than the usual ejection protocol, hence the sentinels. Problem is, they don’t eject, they destroy.”
The sentinels moved closer, baring fangs.
“You need to come with me,” Loke said. “I can hold them off for a few minutes, but I don’t have power over them, and if they get their fangs into you, it’ll all be over.” He held out his hand. “Take my hand. Now.”
I looked to Rune, but his gaze was blank, his body frozen as if on pause. This couldn’t be it. It couldn’t be over, but the sorrow washing over me told me it was. “I can reach him, Loke. I just need more time.”
