Page 104 of Witch Untold
Leif was knocked out in the backseat with Rune.
It was a long trip to the coast but a much needed one. This was Rune’s suggestion, and a fabulous one. I needed to get away. Away from the responsibilities, the waiting for bad news, away from Sloane and what could have been.
I closed my eyes, seeing her face, fanged and unfamiliar in its bloodlust. She’d wanted to drink me, but she’d stopped. I couldn’t even imagine how much willpower that must have taken.
It was my fault. She’d asked me to leave, told me what she needed, but I’d pushed anyway. An apology didn’t seem enough, but it was all I had to give. I’d do it face to face, but with enough distance between us to make things comfortable for her. I wouldn’t test her again, and what could have been, what should have been, would have to be buried.
I breathed away the disappointment and pain. There would be none of that this weekend.
This weekend was a vacation.
Ursula would call me when she had news about my sample, and if the witches needed me, I was a jump away—provided my powers didn’t glitch—but right now, I didn’t want to think about all the shit that could go wrong. I wanted to take this trip with the guys. A normal trip, in a car, on a road, having to stop to pee and fuel up.
This was a journey I needed.
We’d left at dawn and it was almost midday.
“Roll the window down,” Tor said.
“What?”
He threw a smile my way. “Go on.”
“Wren can do it.” He pressed the button and the glass slid down. The air hit, cold and fresh, and…Wait, what was that smell? “Is that…is that the sea?” I sat up straighter, fighting with Wren to stick my head out the window.
Tor chuckled. “We’re almost there.”
I turned away from the window, twisting in my seat and leaning into the back to prod Leif and Rune. “Wake up! We’re almost there.”
Leif snort-snored loudly and sat up, eyes wide. “What? Where?”
“We’re almost there!” Wren squealed.
Leif’s crimson locks were artfully mussed, face soft from sleep. He rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. “I fell asleep.”
God, he looked adorable.
Rune cracked open an eye.I can smell the sea.
We locked gazes for a moment and my heart fluttered. We were going to the coast, to the place where Rune and I met in our dreams. The guys owned a clifftop retreat there, and I couldn’t wait to see it.
Tor turned off the road onto a smaller track and the scent of the sea intensified. The road wound up, the air grew colder, the sky heavy and gray, but it didn’t matter; there was a strange, wild beauty about being this high up, of having the world so far below. It was like being in the clouds. Like flying.
The road twisted to the left onto a narrow track bordered by a metal fence and shrubs. And then a house came into view. White-washed walls and neat sash windows hung with pretty green shutters greeted us. Trees rose up on either side of the cottage, as if sheltering it.
Gravel crunched beneath tires as we drove up and parked on the drive.
“Honey, I’m home!” Leif called out.
Doors opened and slammed as we climbed out of the car.
“This is our home away from home, Cora,” Tor said, coming to stand beside me. “We spent many summers here growing up.”
“And now it’s yours too,” Leif said.
A sense of peace washed over me. The first sense of complete calm in forever.
The cabin and house back at Grimswood were home, but they were also linked to all the shit that had gone down over the past few weeks, but this place…This place could be a haven from it all.
