Page 48 of Witch Untold
Cora’s gone.
Just fucking gone.
Those bats…
No time to dwell on it. We need to focus. We need to protect these people.
What’s the point? If Cora’s dead, then…
No. Fuck ya. No. She can’t be dead. She’ll be back. We just need to hold the fort until—
What?
I shake off the doubts.
There can be none.
We need to stay focused and do what we can to keep this threat at bay for as long as possible.
One step at a time.
I scan the white outside the barred window and catch sight of the ice walkers. They have us surrounded. They’re on the roof, crawling over the building, looking for a way in.
Richie is adamant there is none. He’s barking orders now while Leo works with Lauris to calm the civilians who made it here. The rest…
I don’t even want to think about it.
Sloane approaches, expression solemn. “How you holding up?”
“I need to get out there and look for Cora.” I’m not sure when I make the decision, but I do. I need to go after her.
“No,” Sloane says. “We stay put.”
“She’s the seal.”
Lauris joins us, drawn by my raised voice no doubt.
“She can handle herself,” Sloane says. But I see the doubt in her eyes.
“You think those bats were the Sons of Adam?” Lauris asks. “I mean, can vampires do that in real life? Turn into bats?”
“I don’t know,” Sloane says. “But if they have her, we have to hope she’s with Jasper, Elijah, and Conah. Together they’ll work out a way to get free.”
No one mentions how Cora’s connection to Jasper is dead. No one mentions that Jasper might alreadybedead, because if we think about that, then we’ll have to recognize how fecking futile our situation is.
Something slams against the main doors and several humans scream.
Sloane, Lauris, and I rush toward the entrance. There are two sets of doors with an entranceway in between. The outer doors are gone, ripped away, and the fecker with the crazy-ass smile stands in their place, staring at us. His silver hair blows about his face, adding to his creep factor. The ice walkers flank him, hunched over, knuckles brushing the ground.
He’s in charge. Their master. The puppeteer. I know it. He’s grinning at us, or maybe that’s just how his mouth is all the time. Damn, that must suck.
“Sardines in a can,” he says. “Delicious and worth the wait.”
“Piss off!” I step forward, resisting the urge to shake my fist at him, cos that would be lame. “You ain’t getting in, you fecker, so just piss off.”
He fixes his pale eyes on me. “I’m gonna eat you first.”
“Yeah? Well, I hope you fecking choke on me.”
