Page 5 of Witch Untold
He gave me a knowing look. “We’ll transfer Wren to a secure location when I get back in preparation for his emergence.”
I nodded and stroked the silver threads that covered Wren’s head. “He’s going to be okay.”
But I wasn’t in control, and I wasn’t sure about anything right now.
The hairs on my nape stood to attention and Jasper materialized in front of us. “Sloane wants to see—”
He vanished.
I stared at the spot where he’d just been, foreboding crawling across my scalp. Jasper vanishing was no new thing, and up until now I’d always assumed it was deliberate on his part, but this…this wasn’t deliberate.
Where the fuck had he gone?
Chapter Two
Jasper
Where am I?
Here.
Nowhere.
But I’ve been nowhere before.
Floating in nothingness, memories of the many times I’ve been pulled here fill my mind, followed by a bone-aching dread.
I don’t belong here, but I can’t escape, not until it lets me go, and then…then I’ll forget like I always do. There’ll be an emptiness in the back of my mind surrounded by trepidation.
I can’t forget. Not this time. I must remember this moment. I know this place. I know that time runs differently here. When I return, minutes could have passed, or hours or days. It’s never mattered much before, but now…Right now is not a good time. Cora needs me. She needs menow.
She loves me now, and even though that word confuses me, it has meaning that binds me to her in a manner that’s stronger than the mystical connection we share.
I have to get back.
“Let me go.” My words echo in the darkness and something shifts in the back of my mind. A presence. Alien yet familiar. This…this I don’t recall. This is new, and my blood runs cold. “Who are you?” Silence greets me, but the invader is listening. Aware. Sentient. Alive and inside me. “Get the fuck out of my head.”
I shove with every ounce of will and the thing in my mind slips away.
Pain blooms in my chest, sudden and sharp. Claws dig into me. What is this? What’s happening?
Light blinds me and I’m lost.
Chapter Three
Cora
“Jasper. Fucksake, Jasper!”
Sloane and Conah watched me warily. Okay, so I looked insane pacing back and forth, hands on hips, eyes scanning the room in search of Jasper, but my gut was in meltdown, blaring alarm bells of horror and foreboding because this was wrong. It was off.
Jasper had vanished mid-sentence.Notvoluntary. And he wasn’t appearing when I called.
“I’m sure he’s fine,” Sloane said.
Shame she didn’t sound sure.
“He knows we’re on a clock,” Conah said. “I think he’d be here if he could.”
