“Give it to me.”
He glares at me and then looks to Fee.
She holds out her hand and he gives her the book.
It takes everything I have not to snatch it from her. She smiles thinly at me and then turns away, leans on her dresser and writes a note that she slips into the book before handing it to me.
I pluck it from her fingers. She’s looking at me expectantly. Waiting for a thank you, no doubt.
Not happening.
I jump to Cora.
Chapter Fourteen
Cora
Leif got off the phone with Anna. “They’re upping the wards. She’s petitioning the silent sisters to provide assistance.”
“How is this Dimitri guy not dead?” Halle asked.
We were gathered in the lounge by the fire. Fresh hot chocolate had been made, the biscuit tin was on the coffee table, and if not for the fact that our sanctuary had been infiltrated by a Renfield, all would be fine.
Wren was tucked into my side, nibbling on a cookie, sleepy-eyed.
Rune lay on the floor by my feet, gold-flecked eyes fixed on Leif. Did Anna have anything to say about the fact that thing just got up and walked away after a broken neck?
“Apparently Renfields aren’t entirely human. Their life forces are linked to their masters. He’s invulnerable as long as they live, and he benefits from their abilities. He’s their bitch.”
Fuck, how old was he? “So, he got away. Big deal. He won’t be back in a hurry.” My bravado sucked. I couldn’t stop thinking about his ultimatum. “What did Anna say about his ultimatum.”
Leif looked shifty.
“You didn’t tell her, did you?”
“It’s not important.”
Rune chuffed and Tor nodded.
Halle winced and slid a glance my way. They were trying to protect me. Sweet and all, but my coven needed to know about this.
My coven.
When had I started thinking of them as such?
I grabbed my phone off the coffee table. “They need to know.”
“She’s right,” Tor said to Leif. “They need to be prepared.”
“And what if that means handing Cora over?” Leif asked.
Wren sat up straight. “Wren won’t let them!” His expression was fierce.
Tor’s lip curled. “Don’t worry, little guy, if they try to take her, they’ll have to go through the tri-packs.”
Make the call, Rune agreed.
Leif turned away, hands on hips. “Jasper said the elders contemplated giving Cora to the bloodsuckers.”
But they discarded the idea, Rune said.
“Having a six-week deadline might change that,” Leif countered.
I understood his reservations, but we needed to prepare for the worst-case scenario, and we couldn’t do that if we kept the coven in the dark.
I dialed Sloane because Anna’s number wasn’t in my cell.
“Miss me already, cupcake?” She sounded croaky, like I’d woken her up.
“Obviously. Look, Dimitri just paid me a visit.”
“What?”
Yep, she was wide awake now.
“Anna knows. We called it in, but he dropped an ultimatum that she doesn’t know about.” I filled her in on the events.
“Fuck. Leave it with me.”
“Sloane, what are we gonna do?”
“Be prepared, that’s what. Get some rest. I got this.”
I hung up and sat back with a sigh. “Well, at least we know they won’t be attacking before that deadline, probably, because they’re not strong enough to.”
“Which means that the next six weeks is our window to eliminate them,” Tor said.
“If we knew how to kill them.” I peered up at him. “I’ve contacted my reaper friend. She’ll do some digging. I’m sure she’ll find out how to end them. Sit down, please, you’re making my neck hurt.”
Tor lowered himself into the single-seater opposite me. “We need to have a pack plan for when these fuckers attack.”
“I’ll call a meeting tomorrow,” Leif said.
Tor stood. “I need to run.” He looked down at me. “I’ll be back in an hour, then we go to bed.”
Halle choked on a mouthful of hot chocolate.
My pulse skipped but I kept my expression neutral. “You best not hog the covers.”
“Not promising anything.”
He headed into the kitchen and was gone.
Halle looked from me to Leif and down to Rune.
“Just as protection,” Leif said. “Against the vamps.”
“Who won’t be attacking for six weeks,” she pointed out.
That’s what they say, Rune said. We’re not taking any chances. He stood and stretched. I think I’ll patrol the perimeter tonight.
Leif glanced at the clock above the mantel. Almost ten p.m. “You hungry?” he asked me.
“Yes!” Wren hopped up eagerly.
Leif chuckled. “I know you are. What about you, Cora?”
“I could eat.”
“I’ll whip up some pasta.” He pointed a finger at Wren. “You want to help?”
Wren scrambled off the sofa. “Yes, Wren help.” He scampered over to Leif, up his leg, and onto his back. “Can Wren have some cheese?”
“Sure you can.” Leif padded into the kitchen.
Halle blew out a breath. “And I thought my life was exciting.”
I twisted in my seat to face her. “The proxy thing, right?”
She did her best evil laugh, tipping her head back and flipping her golden hair. “Oh, the power.”
“Yeah, but you have to have babies.”
She shrugged. “I don’t mind. I love kids. Always wanted a huge family. And I get to have a shitload of fun building it.” She whipped out her phone. “Wanna see the contenders?”
“You took photos?”
“Er…yeah, I did.” She hit the gallery button on her phone and began flipping through pics. Huge hulking guys, dark-haired, silver-blond-haired, grinning, winking, thumbs up. Nice-looking guys, then we were on the picture of an Adonis with amber highlights in his golden hair, dimples in his cheeks, and hazel eyes flecked with gold that twinkled with mirth. He had his arm around a woman…Halle.
Wait… “Halle, is that…”
“Yeah, Rune.” She sighed. “We were so happy.”
“What happened?”
She tucked the phone away. “Bad shit, Cora. But it’s Rune’s story to tell. Not mine.”
Urgh. I guess I had to respect that. “Fine, but can I…Can I see that picture again?”
She smiled softly and handed me the phone. “You can see them all. I have plenty.”
I flicked through images of the man I’d only met as a wolf, smiling, happy, bright-eyed. Playing the guitar, singing karaoke, rising out of the lake, hair flat to his scalp and a huge grin on his face. There was so much life in these photos. It was as if I were seeing him for the first time. Seeing behind the golden eyes and into the man he’d been.
This was Rune. This was my third mate.
I traced his face with my fingertip, unable to keep the smile off my face. “Thank you, Halle.”
“He’s in there, you know,” she said. “But he’s forgotten how to laugh. Maybe you can change that?”
I tore my gaze from Rune’s handsome face and met her hopeful one. “I’ll do my best, Halle. I swear it.”
She reached out and hugged me on impulse. “I’m glad it’s you. If Rune had a choice, he’d have chosen you.”
But we hadn’t had a choice. We were here and we were gonna make the best of it. At least that’s what I’d like to think, but truth was, this…all of this…felt too much like fate.
But problem was, fate…She could be a bitch.
Wren was tucked up in bed and Halle was curled up on the sofa. Rune had taken his spot by the hearth and Leif had turned in for the night, leaving me trapped in my bedroom with Tor.
Okay, it sounded ominous, but it wasn’t. It was me being an idio
t. But I picked joggers for bed because sleeping in a vest and shorts with Tor felt too intimate.
He didn’t seem to have that issue, though. I stared, dumbfounded, as he hooked an arm over his shoulder and tugged off his tee, then pushed down his joggers to reveal snug black boxers.
“Um, are you going to sleep like that?” My voice came out reedy.
“I usually sleep naked,” he said. “But I’ll leave the boxers on to appease your delicate sensibilities.”
“I don’t have delicate sensibilities. I like naked men.”
He arched a brow. “In that case.” He hooked a thumb in the waistband of his boxers.
Calling my bluff, huh? “No. Don’t.”
He locked gazes with me. “Yeah. I figured.” He sighed. “Look, I won’t cross any lines. I promised you that I’d respect your boundaries, and I will. But I can’t control the way my body might react to your proximity.” He looked down and I followed his gaze to find the thick, long outline of his arousal straining against the material of his boxers.
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “No, I get that. It’s fine. Let’s just sleep.”
“I can sleep on the floor,” he offered.
“No need. The bed’s big enough.” There was no reason for us to have to touch.
I climbed into bed and pulled the covers up to my chin. Tor padded to the other side and the bed dipped as he joined me.
Conversation...We needed conversation to distract me from the fact that a sexy, half-naked shifter was in my bed. “You really think the vamps might attack before the six weeks are up?”
“I don’t know. But I’m not into taking risks. We know too little about them to let our guard down.” The bed shifted as he turned onto his side. “We need to be prepared, but so do you. The guys and I will train you physically, and I spoke to Sloane about helping you hone your power. My first choice would have been Elijah, but he left a day or so ago and no one has any idea where he went.”
Shit. “I think he might have gone looking for the vamps’ hideout.”
Tor frowned. “Alone?”
“I don’t know.” Anxiety squirmed in my belly.
He looked worried but then exhaled. “Elijah can take care of himself. You start training tomorrow. When these fuckers come, we’ll be here to protect you, but I’m gonna make damn sure you protect yourself too.”
“Sounds good.” My eyelids were getting heavy.
“Close your eyes, Cora,” Tor said softly. “I’ve got you. You know I don’t sleep.”
Wait a second. “So you’ll watch me sleep?”
He rolled onto his back and plucked his phone off the bedside table. “I have an ebook app on my phone.”
Books? “You like to read?”
He shot me an amused look. “Why? Don’t you?”
Now I was curious. There was something kinda sexy about a guy like Tor reading a book. “What are you reading?” I craned to see his phone screen.
He pressed the phone to his chest. “Nosey.”
“Oh, come on, now I need to know.” I made a grab for the phone and he whipped it out to the side, so I ended up half lying on his chest.
I froze, breasts pressed to his pecs. My pulse kicked up. Don’t look at him. Don’t. Just retreat. Slowly.
His hand brushed up my spine, branding me through the cotton of my shirt, and the temptation to sink into him and stay there rushed over me in an aching wave. But boundaries needed to be upheld.
I pulled back onto my side of the bed.
“We can do this,” Tor said softly. “If this is what you want.”
Urgh. What I wanted was to straddle him and rub against his arousal, what I wanted was to be fucked, but that was the damn mating bond pushing me. But the memory of what Charlotte had done, what she’d been driven to do, acted like a bucket of cold water. It didn’t matter what Heather or Bee said. They weren’t the ones taking a risk with their hearts.
I didn’t want to cross those lines with the guys, but it was unrealistic to think I could avoid knowing them or caring. Friendship was a kind of love, after all, and I could love them like that if I wanted. Was I delusional? Probably, but I was also a stubborn bitch.
I propped up on my elbow and looked down at him. “Tell me about you. Favorite color, favorite food, and what the heck are you reading?”
His smile was slow burn, touching his steel-gray eyes with warmth. “Cornflower blue, steak, medium rare, and…” He held up his phone to show me the epic fantasy title. “I have a soft spot for dragons.” He set his phone down. “Now you.”
“Red, pasta, and I haven’t read a book in a while.”
He stared at me as if I’d told him I didn’t like breathing. “What was the last book you read?”
I scrunched up my nose. “Do magazines count?”
He groaned and then his lips curved in a slow smile. “Cora, Cora, Cora. I’m going to enjoy educating you.”
Fuck it, I was going to let him.
I’m not sure how long we chatted. I’m not entirely sure when I drifted off. But I woke tucked to Tor’s side, my head pillowed on his chest, one leg thrown over his thighs. He was warm, solid, and prime with morning glory.
I tipped my chin to look at his face, finding him awake and studying me with a strange expression.
I stifled a yawn. “What?”
“I slept,” he said. “I slept all night.” He scanned my face. “With you.”
And that was awe-inspiring information? Wait, of course it was. Tor struggled with sleep. He’d told me about his insomnia, but he’d slept through the night with me?
He smiled, slow-burn, his eyes lighting up with warmth. “Cora, I think you may be my talisman.”
“Oh, how cute.” Jasper’s voice was like an icy bucket of water.
I sat up fast. No idea why because I wasn’t doing anything wrong, like riding Tor’s cock, but still.
Jasper’s lip curled and he threw a book at the bed, his gaze fixed on Tor. “Some of us actually do useful shit.”
He vanished.
I picked up the book—a slender tome—and flipped it open. The words were in a language I couldn’t read, written in a scratchy cursive style. A piece of paper fell out.
This is everything Conah could find on the original vamps. I can be there in a blink if you need me. Just call.
Fee.
Jasper had gone to see Fee? He’d gotten this book for me.
Tor picked up the book. “I’ll call Sloane, see if we can get this translated.” He pouted in thought. “I don’t like that he’s bound to you, but I don’t think his motives are selfish.”
“Yeah, neither do I, not anymore. But it’s easier to let him believe that I do. I can’t let my guard down with him.”
“Leif told me,” Tor said. “I don’t like it. Neither of us do, but we get it.” He brushed my hair back off my shoulder. “You need to be careful. Leif, Rune, and I will respect your boundaries. We understand and care about the seal, but I don’t trust that Jasper will.”
I stood a chance of keeping the shifters at bay, but Jasper…He was under my skin. I nodded and smiled at Tor to hide the deep, dark truth.
It wasn’t Jasper I didn’t trust.
It was myself.
Chapter Fifteen
I lay on the forest floor, staring at the sky through a canopy of leaves. My pounding heart slowly returned to resting pace.
Not bad. Rune’s wolfy face appeared above me, his golden eyes bright with exertion. You kept up.
“And I don’t feel like puking.”
Always a good sign.
I’d been running with the wolves for almost three weeks, and training with Sloane for the same, and my mind and body were sharper than ever, and they’d only get more honed with time. When the Sons of Adam came for me, I’d be ready.
Any news from Sloane? Rune asked.
“You mean any luck in translating the book? No.” I sat up and brushed bracken out of my ponytail. “I called Fee, but it went to voicemail. I’ve
left her a message saying I need help translating it.”
Elijah and Bramble?
My heart sank. “Nothing from Bramble.” I’d left her a soppy message two nights ago after getting drunk with The Elites. We’d barely spent two weeks together, but I fucking missed her. “Elijah hasn’t checked in either, not with me or with Anna. Rune, I’m worried.”
There is nothing you can do, and worrying is a waste of mental energy without a course of action. We wait until we have information we can act on. He padded around to face me, and then extended his neck and gently plucked a leaf from my hair. Better.
I locked gazes with him, seeing not the wolf but the man from the photos Halle had shared with me. I’d been dying to ask him why he was stuck in wolf form but opted to wait until he offered the information. I was beginning to think telling me wasn’t on his agenda in the near future.
I reached out and sank my fingers into the fur at his neck. He closed his eyes and nuzzled my cheek with his nose.
“Why won’t you tell me, Rune?”
He stilled. Cora…
“I don’t want to push you, but—”
He pulled away from me. Then don’t.
Fuck. “I’m sorry.”
He dropped his head and closed his eyes. So am I. I want to share myself with you, Cora. You’re my mate and I feel things for you just like Leif and Tor, but I can’t be with you the way they can. I’ll never be able to be with you in that way. I won’t be able to hold you in my arms, or caress your cheek with my hand, or feel the silken strands of your hair slip between my fingers. Your decision to keep your relationship with us platonic came as a huge relief to me. Selfish, I know. But I don’t know if I’d have been able to see them with you in that way, knowing I could never have you like that, and be okay with it.
“But you won’t tell me why?”
I’m cursed, Cora. I can never shift into human form, and that’s all you need to know. Reliving it won’t change the facts. It is what it is.
There was pain in his voice and my heart ached for him. Fuck it, I didn’t need to know any more. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed my cheek into his silken fur.
Witch Undecided: The Thirteenth Sign Book 2 Page 9
