Page 63 of Witch Untold
CORA
The guys stared at me in silence. Telling them that I’d died was harder than I’d expected. Recalling the helplessness and devastation left a bitter taste in my mouth and a sick feeling in my stomach.
Wren hugged my back, his tiny body trembling. Shit. Maybe I should have held back on the details. I’d obviously frightened him.
We felt you slipping away,Rune said.
We thought we’d lost you,Leif added.
Tor was silent for a long beat.I would have done some bad stuff. I couldn’t control myself.
The dam I’d erected was broken and the emotions I’d held at bay were swirling inside me, fresh, powerful, and potent. Was this what they felt for me? Yeah, I understood how Tor may have lost his shit. If the roles were reversed, I couldn’t promise not to lose mine.
I ran a hand over my face. “Fuck. I need that whiskey.” I looked across the gazebo and caught Bramble’s eye. “Sloane’s taking a long time.”
Bramble shrugged. “I’ll check on her.”
A squirrelly feeling erupted in my stomach, and even though Bramble had gone to check on The Elite, I found myself weaving toward the steps anyway.
“Cora, something’s wrong?” Wren whispered in my ear. “A bad thing.”
My scalp pricked with his words.
The wolves followed me along the outside of the gazebo, linking up with me as I stepped into the snow.
Bramble appeared in the atrium doorway, her face so pale she looked like she’d been drained of blood.
Blood…
Why was there blood on her hands?
My pulse pounded in my ears. “Bramble, where’s Sloane?”
Wren made a low whining sound.
Bramble shook her head, her elfin face looking tiny framed by her mass of purple hair. “I think…I think Sloane’s dead.”
Chapter Twenty
There was blood all over the floor. Sloane lay on her back, skin bloodless on account of the fact her blood was all over the ground.
The room smelled of alcohol and…blood.
Fucking blood.
My paralysis snapped and I rushed across the room, falling onto my knees beside The Elite.
Check pulse.
Administer CPR.
Come on, Sloane. Come on.
Somewhere in the distance people called my name, but I had to focus on Sloane. I had to bring her back, because this was insane. This couldn’t be happening. She went to get whiskey. She was coming back, but now she was cold and lifeless, and her eyes…Her beautiful electric blues were flat and…dead.
She’s dead, Cora.Tor’s breath was warm on my cheek.
Cora, let go of her,Leif said softly.
