Jasper?
The revenant’s head jerked up, and its grip on me slackened enough for me to break free.
I dropped to my knees and looked up at Jasper. He was standing in the midst of the tentacles, not quite corporeal, his blazing gaze fixed on the revenant.
“No one takes what’s mine.” Jasper’s voice was a primal growl. He brought his hand up, and the revenant was thrown into the wall and pinned there. “Get the fuck out,” Jasper ordered.
Chants drifted to my ears and The Elites appeared behind Lauris, held aloft by winged gargoyles.
The chanting grew louder and louder, and the revenant began to shudder and shake. Its body started to boil, and the tentacles whipped back into it, and the whole thing began to melt until it was an icky blob on the wall. It slid to the ground and pooled there, pulsing weakly.
The Elites stepped onto the balcony and moved around me to get to the revenant, but my attention was on Jasper. Our gazes locked, and the rage melted from his face to be replaced by…concern?
He’d come for me. Again.
“Jasper, I—”
His mouth turned down wryly, and he disappeared. Why the fuck did my chest feel so empty all of a sudden? The fucking wanker. How dare he save my life then just piss off? I needed to speak with him and say… I had no idea what I wanted to say. I just…needed.
Sloane stepped into my line of vision. “We need to go. Now. It’s no longer safe for you here.”
I allowed her to haul me up. The revenant was gone, and Brie was healing Lauris. He shot me a grin and a thumbs up over her shoulder and earned himself a slap upside the head for his trouble.
“Cocky shit,” Brie said. “You think you can take on a revenant solo? You could have died.”
“Yeah, and if I hadn’t, our anchor would be dead.” He rubbed his head, pouting at her.
He’d saved my life. “Thank you, Lauris.”
“What I don’t understand is why you didn’t just use the door,” Jessie snapped.
I slapped my forehead. “Oh shit, I’m such an idiot.” I gave her a flat look. “I tried, but I got blasted across the fucking room. There’s a spell on it or something.”
Jessie frowned. “Poppy, check it out.”
Poppy dove into my room.
Sloane ran her hands over the balcony railing, and it bloomed with blue sparks before going dull.
“Fuck,” Jessie said.
“Someone’s disrupted the wards,” Sloane said softly.
“There’s a rune painted onto the underside of the doorknob in what looks like obsidian tainted paint,” Poppy said, joining us on the balcony. “Not one of our runes, One of theirs.”
Sloane stepped away from the balcony, her expression grim. “The wards glitching at the potential hideout, the slau knowing exactly where to find you, the wards coming down in the forest when you just happened to be taking a walk, and now this… There’s no way The Order could pull this off without inside help.” Her shoulders heaved. “There’s no longer any doubt in my mind. We have a traitor in our midst.”
* * *
Wren lay on the sickbay bed, wrapped in blankets. Dottie hovered beside him while a witch I didn’t recognize ministered to him.
Outside the room, Sloane and Anna were locked in a hushed argument, but my attention was all for Wren. He looked so tiny.
“Will he be okay?”
The witch finished adjusting his bandages and smiled up at me. “He just needs to heal. Our magic doesn’t seem to work on him, so the healing will need to take place organically.”
“What happened?” Dottie asked me.
“He protected me. He jumped onto the revenant’s face and told me to run.” My eyes grew hot. “The crazy, brave little thing.”
“Oh, my sweet boy.” Dottie looked down at Wren. “He is a wonder.”
“He is.”
The door opened behind us. “Cora, we’re leaving. Now,” Sloane snapped.
“This is ridiculous,” Anna said.
“No, Anna, this is me exercising Elite rank. It’s our job to protect the interests of the coven, and right now, our most important asset is in danger from an internal threat.”
“A Grimswood witch would never stoop so low.” Anna bristled. “Never.”
“Evidence suggests otherwise,” Sloane said. “Cora, you need to come with me.”
“I can’t leave Wren.”
“I’m sorry, maybe I didn’t make myself clear. I’m not asking.”
Anger flared in my chest. “I’m not fucking leaving him.”
“Go,” Dottie said. “I’ll take care of him. I swear it. I’ll have him brought to you once he’s healed.”
Fuck.”Thank you.” I stroked Wren’s head. “Buddy, please get better.” I leaned in and kissed his cheek. “I’ll see you soon.”
As hard as it was to leave Wren behind, it was the best course of action. It was obvious he was no longer safe with me. I had a target on my back, and anyone who got too close would end up in the firing line.
* * *
The Elites wasted no time in getting me to the cabin.
“What happened?” Arne let us in.
“Another attack,” Sloane said, ushering me to the sofa. “Sit.”
God, I was cold. My teeth began to chatter.
“She’s going into shock,” Brie said.
Poppy tucked a blanket around me.
“I’m fine. I’ve been through worse.” But my teeth wouldn’t stop chattering. I clamped my jaw closed. “Fuck.”
“Going up against a revenant and living to tell the tale is no easy feat,” Brie said kindly. “Your body is reacting now that the adrenaline is wearing off.”
I’d been in some pretty dicey situations, but for some reason, this one had hit me hard.
Sten appeared with a glass of amber liquid. “Drink this.” He handed it to me. “It’ll help.”
I took a gulp and heat spread through me. Brandy. Yum. “Thanks.”
He nodded curtly. “Where was the attack?”
“The mansion,” Brie said.
Arne and Sten exchanged glances.
“We have a traitor in the coven,” Sloane said coolly. “I need you to take care of our anchor until we’ve rooted her out.”
“I knew it,” Sten growled. “I told you, Arne, didn’t I? I told you the attacks were too close to home.”
Arne sighed. “Cora will be safe with us.” He looked around the room. “This will be her home soon anyway, but for now, she can stay in the annex. I’ll call in Leif and Rune. They’ll make sure she’s safe.”
“Good.” Sloane crouched in front of me, her electric blue eyes darkening as they tracked over my face. “Right now, the safest place for you is away from the coven, do you get me?”
“Yeah, I get you.”
“Don’t tell any witches where you’re going or what your plans are.” She stood. “I’ll let you know what we find.”
“And if you don’t find the traitor?” Sten asked.
“Then we keep her safe until the blood moon. It’s a week away. Once the ritual is complete, she’ll be safe.”
“Like I said,” Arne said. “She’ll be safe with us.”
Sloane handed me a brooch. “Wear this. It’s a tracker. I have the counterpart.” She patted her wrist. “I’ll get an alert if you’re under magical attack. We’ll find you.”
I took the brooch and pinned it to my top.
The Elites trooped out, leaving me alone with the two huge shifters.
“You can sleep here tonight,” Arne said. “Sten and I will watch over you in shifts.”
Sten had walked off on his phone but joined us now. “Leif is on his way.”
I looked up at his forbidding face. “And Rune?”
“Rune can’t go where you’ll be going. You’ll be leaving for the city in the morning. We have a safe house there. Not even the witches know the location. You’ll stay there until the blood moon and return for the ceremony.” He turned to Sten. “Any news on T
orsten?”
Sten snorted. “Fuck him. Ulf can take his place.”
I canted my head. “But Ulf isn’t primal bloodline, is he?”
Sten clenched his jaw mulishly. “He’s alpha, and he’s Mana Pack, so it will have to do.”
Arne kept his chin tucked in as if he was holding back words. Was he pissed Sten had opted not to have sons of his own?
It didn’t matter. “I’ll go get him.”
They both looked at me sharply.
I shrugged. “I told Leif and Anna I would. He’s in the city, right? I’m headed there anyway. I’ll convince him.”
I hadn’t almost been killed three times only for the damn ritual to fail. Once I had Torsten on board, I was coming back here, and if Sloane hadn’t found the murderous traitor, then I’d make it my mission to root her out myself.
Chapter Twenty-One
I woke to the aroma of coffee and opened my eyes to be snared in a gunmetal blue gaze.
Leif was crouched by the sofa, a mug in his hand. “Morning, sunshine.”
He smelled like dew. His hair was windswept and slightly damp as if he’d showered then gone for a run, which made no sense but, yep, I was staring.
I sat up, stretched, then eyed the mug in his hand. “Please tell me that coffee is for me.”
He held it out, eyes smiling. “I can totally do that.”
I took it eagerly, and several quick sips later was already more awake. My senses came back online fully, leaving me acutely aware of his proximity. Shifters had this thing, this aura of power that was hard to explain because it was different for each shifter. With Leif, it was a zing across my skin, fingers at the nape of my neck, and a delicious shiver licking down my spine.
His beautiful mouth lifted in a smile, and I realized I was staring. Again.
I took a gulp of coffee.
“You hungry?” Leif asked.
“Always.”
“Sten’s making breakfast. If we hurry, we can grab some.”
The smell of bacon hit me then. How had I not noticed it? Oh yeah, because I’d been too focused on Leif and how his crimson locks fell artfully to caress his chiseled face.
“Why the long hair?” The question popped out unbidden. But I wasn’t taking it back. I wanted to know. I tipped my head to the side. “I’ve noticed you all seem to have long hair.”
He arched a brow. “You don’t like it?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“No, you didn’t.” He tucked away his smile. “It’s a heritage thing. We’re descended from Fenrir, the giant wolf of Norse mythology. Our roots are Nordic, and the alpha males in our packs usually opt to keep their hair long. There are exceptions, though.”
His hair looked super soft and silky. What would it feel like sliding between my fingers?
“Do you want to touch it?” he asked as if reading my mind.
Fuck it. “Sure.”
He leaned closer, bringing the scent of the forest with him—pinecones and dew and the earth after rainfall.
I reached out and ran my hand through his hair, allowing the tresses to glide through my fingers. Yes, just as silken and soft as it looked.
His mouth flirted with a smile. “Satisfied?”
I frowned. “Only if you share your haircare secrets.”
He chuckled. “Sorry. That information is top secret.” He got to his feet. “Come on, let’s go eat. We have a long trip ahead of us.”
* * *
Breakfast with the wolves was enough to rival a Grimswood breakfast—way too much food and all much too delicious. It was the kind of meal someone would eat too fast and realize too late that their eyes were bigger than their stomach.
Charlotte joined us toward the end of the meal but refused any food. She looked pale and dazed as she sipped her coffee, and I noted the slight tremor to her hand, but no one asked her how she was feeling.
I guess this was normal for them. This was her deterioration from being the anchor for so long. My heart went out to her but sitting here feeling bad for her wasn’t going to help anyone. I needed to bring back Torsten and get the ritual over with so she could be free of the strain of maintaining the seal.
I drained my tea and set my cup down. “We should go.”
Leif nodded from across the table. “Can we take the Land Rover, Dad?”
“Sure,” Arne said.
“Go?” Charlotte snapped out of her daze. “Where are you going?”
“To the city,” Sten said. “The safe house.”
Charlotte shook her head. “Why? Why would you leave so close to the blood moon?” Her mouth parted as if a thought had occurred to her. “You haven’t changed your mind about becoming anchor, have you?”
“No. I just—”
“She needs to be away from here,” Sten said. “There’s a traitor witch in the coven working with The Order, trying to kill her.”
Charlotte’s cup clattered against its saucer. “Oh my! Are you sure?”
“Yes, sweetheart,” Arne said. “But you don’t need to worry. We’ve got this. We won’t let anything happen to her.”
Charlotte nodded slowly. “Of course.”
“Do I smell coffee?” Pen entered the kitchen and balked at the sight of me. “Cora, what are you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same thing.”
She held up a parcel. “Delivery. Yes, the postman never comes this far, and yes, this is part of my duty, not that I mind.” She smiled fondly at Charlotte.
“I guess you missed the excitement last night,” Charlotte said.
“I stayed at my flat in town. Why? What happened?” She looked from Charlotte to me.
I pushed back my seat. “I’m sure Sten or Arne can fill you in. I have to go.”
“Go? Where?”
“We’ll see you at the blood moon,” Leif said.
I turned to Arne. “Can you make sure Wren gets a message?”
“Of course.”
“Tell him I’ll be back soon.”
Leif led me outside into the cool, crisp air and around the house to a garage where a Land Rover waited. I hopped onto cushy, leather seats and stretched out my legs. Leif climbed into the driver’s side and slid the key into the ignition.
“You’ll be safe with me,” he said. “No one knows the safe house location except the tri-pack alphas. Not even Charlotte knows. It’s the only secret her mates have kept from her.”
I smiled across at him. “I trust you, Leif. After all, we’re going to be spending a lot of time together soon. Like a century worth.”
Saying it made my stomach quiver with nerves. The commitment and the responsibility were immense.
“Breathe.” He reached out to touch my cheek lightly. “One day at a time, Cora. One day at a time.”
He started the engine, and low music filled the car—some nineties compilation.
We rolled out of the garage, onto the driveway, and I sat back in my seat. It was going to be okay. It was—
The air behind us crackled in a familiar way that had my stomach flipping in a mixture of anticipation and anxiety.
“And where are we going today?” Jasper said from the back seat.
The only indication that Jasper’s sudden appearance had affected Leif was the whitening of his knuckles on the steering wheel.
“You’re not invited, spirit,” Leif said coolly.
“I didn’t ask for permission,” Jasper said. “I don’t need it.”
Leif’s jaw ticked. “You do if you’re trying to hitch a ride with me.”
“And you’ll stop me, how?” Jasper asked.
I twisted in my seat to look at him. “Do you have to be so abrasive all the fucking time?”
“Do you have to be in mortal danger all the fucking time?” He had a point.
“It’s not a choice.”
“Neither is mine.”
God, he was impossible. I didn’t have the energy to fight with him. Heck, it was more than that. I didn’t want to fight with him
. I wanted to say thank you, but the words made my throat ache.
I settled for a question instead. “Why did you vanish before?”
“I was out of power.” He smiled thinly. “Something you could remedy if you took off that infernal amulet.” There was no slyness in his tone this time. Instead, he sounded weary. “I can’t protect you like this,” he said softly.
And for a moment, there was just me and Jasper in the car. The connection between us, even muted, was poignant and strong.
It made me uncomfortable.
I turned away from him. “If you want to tag along, then fine.”
“I’ll take that as a thanks for saving my life again, Jasper,” he said sarcastically.
I exhaled and looked back at him, meeting his emerald peepers. “Thanks for saving my life, Jasper.” There was sincerity in my tone.
He blinked sharply, as if he hadn’t been expecting that. Then misted into nothing.
“Is he gone?” Leif asked.
“I think so.” I could never tell for sure since donning the amulet.
Leif puffed out his cheeks. “He wasn’t what I expected.”
“What did you expect?”
“Something inhuman and mean.”
A dry chuckle filled the air behind us, and my arms broke out in goosebumps.
Jasper.
“I may look normal on the outside,” he said. “But there’s a beast inside me, one that would tear the world to shreds to protect what’s mine.”
Me. He was talking about me.
“I didn’t come here to listen to your crappy selection of music,” he continued. “I overheard something that might concern Cora, and so it concerned me.”
I twisted in my seat, but he was incorporeal. “Go on.”
“The witch called Anna was having a meeting. She mentioned a group called The Sons of Adam. It sounds like this group has a bone to pick with the witches.”
Sons of Adam. Dimitri had mentioned them too. “What has this got to do with me?”
“I think that they might want the anchor. I can’t be certain, but I believe the witches were debating whether to hand you over.”
No. That couldn’t be right. “The coven needs the anchor. Why would they hand her over to anyone else?”
Witch Unexpected: The Thirteenth Sign Book 1 Page 16
