Page 30 of Witch Untold
I give him a thin smile. “You’ve missed a lot.”
“Obviously,” he drawls.
Conah rolls his shoulders and then reaches up to touch the wound on his neck. “Cora will come for us, and we need to get out of here before she does.”
I pull myself up. “They were afraid. When they realized my blood was unpalatable and I’d shut off the connection to Cora, they were afraid.”
“I sensed that too,” Elijah says. “But why?”
“It’s not revenge,” Conah says. “They don’t want Cora’s blood for revenge. There’s more to this.”
“And we need to find out what.”
Chapter Ten
Cora
“If Jasper’s dead, then what’s the point in you going after him?” Leif asked. “What could it possibly achieve aside from getting you killed?”
I stared at him incredulously. “We don’t know that for sure. Jasper could be alive, just cut off from me somehow. He could be in pain, hurt, in danger. Elijah and Conah are still a factor too. I can’t abandon them.” I needed him to understand. I wanted his support. I needed all their support.
“They could also be dead,” Leif pointed out.
The cabin was silent around us in the wake of Leif’s statement.
So much for support. “Leif…”
He ran a hand through his crimson locks. “Dammit, Cora. If you go after them, you could die.” His throat bobbed. “It’s too risky.”
He’s right, Rune said.You’re the anchor, and the same reasons why you didn’t go in the first place still apply.
I looked to Tor, who was standing by the stairs, forearm resting on the banister, chin tucked in. Silent.
I wasn’t getting any help from him. Annoyance and anger mingled in my chest, fueled by a sense of urgency, because every moment I spent here was another moment that Jasper was in danger.
“Let’s get something straight. I’m not asking for your permission. I’m telling you what I’m about to do. What I’d do for all of you if you were the ones in trouble, what I know you guys would do for me if I was in trouble. I love Jasper. I won’t leave him in those bastards’ clutches.”
“Even if it means leaving us behind?” Leif asked, his blue eyes darkening. “You’d risk dying and leaving us. Risk dying and leaving humanity unprotected?”
Guilt clawed at me, sudden and vicious, but I shoved it back. “If I don’t do this, if I don’t go after him and the others, then I’ll never forgive myself.”
“Or us,” Tor said. “She’ll resent us for holding her back.”
My gaze flew to him.
His smile was wry. “If Jasper doesn’t come back, you’ll wonder if going after him could have made a difference. It’ll eat away at you and eventually at us.”
My throat pinched. He was right. “I need to do this, Tor.”
“I know. I don’t like it. In fact, I fucking hate it. But I know it has to be done, because I’d do the same for any one of you.”
I looked to Leif, but he kept his gaze averted, jaw ticking as if he was wrestling with this whole thing. My gaze fell to Rune. Was he on board?
Go,he said.But promise us that you’ll put your life first. Not for you. But for us and the seal. You’ll go, but you’ll jump back to us if the odds are against you. No risks.
I nodded. “I promise.”
I looked to Leif again, but he wouldn’t meet my gaze.
