Page 92 of Witch Unbound
I sagged back on the sofa. “Sorry, guys.”
“Don’t be.” Leif patted my knee. “I’m sure we’ll be in mortal danger sometime soon.”
Tor shot him a pained look.
Leif shrugged. “What? It’s true.”
“He has a point,” Rune said. “We do tend to attract mortal danger.”
“Notwe. Cora.” Tor’s gaze locked on me. “We usually have to sit back and let her dive in.” His mouth dimpled in displeasure. “But not anymore.” He pushed to his feet. “This scarred warlock may be dead, but it’s obvious they wouldn’t hesitate to take Cora out given half the chance. And then there’s this entity and death.”
“I can protect myself.”
“I know, but we’re your mates. We want to be there for you. We’re going to make some major pack changes so that wecanbe with you whenever you need us.”
I looked into his smouldering eyes and nodded. “Okay.”
“First thing tomorrow we speak to Anna about an alteration to the rules that keep us out of the mansion. We need to be able to get on the grounds if need be.”
“She won’t go for that,” Rune said.
“She will once we remind her what’s at stake. The Order is up to something big, something that could bite us in the ass at any time. She can do with all the allies she can get. If these revenants get hosts, then the Order’s numbers will swell dramatically, and then…”
“Bad shit,” Leif said.
“I’ll try speaking to her once I hear back from Bramble.” I picked up my phone and checked it for messages. “Surely she should be back by now.”
“She’ll be safe with the combat team,” Tor said. “They’re elite.”
“But Faerie is a monster all of its own,” Rune said. “That place…” He shuddered.
Between worrying about Jasper and Bramble, my stomach was in epic knots. I hadn’t heard from Conah yet either.
“I need to sleep.” I stroked Wren’s head and he murmured softly. “I can’t think.”
Leif gently scooped Wren off my lap. “I’ll tuck him into bed.” He headed for the stairs.
Tor offered me his hand, and I was about to take it when my scalp prickled and my arms broke into gooseflesh.
Rune stiffened beside me, sensing it too.
Tor’s head whipped toward the window just as Jasper materialized. My heart leapt into my throat.
He stood stock still for a moment, his emerald eyes glazed, inky dark hair windswept as if he’d walked through a storm to get to us.
He blinked in confusion before focusing on me. “Cora?”
I was out of my seat and halfway across the room when his eyes rolled back in his head and his knees buckled.
Chapter Twenty-Two
BRAMBLE
The hour it takes for the combat Magiguard to suit up makes me want to scream, but as luck would have it, the rift we used to get out of Faerie is still active and we use that to enter the bleak world.
The tower doesn’t look so forbidding with armed combat Magiguard in tow. The weapons they tote are heavy-duty, designed specifically for each Magiguard and biometrically locked so no enemy can use it against them.
I asked Ursula why the fuck she didn’t come armed to the teeth like this the last time she came.
