Witch Undecided by Debbie Cassidy

Chapter Thirty-Six

The room was dark, bare pipes running up walls, exposed brickwork and beams above us, and beyond that a skylight. A single door provided an exit, but it was locked. Not sure how I knew that. Shadowy forms huddled against a wall. The stench of anger and fear permeated the air.

“We have to do something.”

The voice drew my attention to a woman with silver-blonde hair and wide gray eyes.

Astrid?

“Cora?” A hand swept across my forehead, and I opened my eyes to Leif’s smile. “Hey. How are you feeling?”

The dark room melted away and I was back in bed with my mates. Well, one of my mates. Tor was gone.

There was a buzz in my veins, cold and unnatural, but it was low-level compared to how it’d been.

I frowned up at Leif. “I was dreaming.”

“About?”

“I saw Astrid and the other shifters locked in a room. It felt so…real.” I rubbed my temple. “Where’s Tor and Rune?”

“Breakfast duty.”

My gaze flicked about the room, searching for another face.

Leif sighed. “Jasper hasn’t been back. I think he’s giving you a chance to fight this infection by staying away.”

“He can’t siphon off me unless I say so.”

Leif winced. “Actually, your amulet’s been glitching for a week now and channeling power into him from time to time.”

“What?”

“Yeah, he’s been resisting taking it because he didn’t have your permission.”

Jasper…Oh, God. “He could have taken advantage at any time.”

“Yeah,” Leif said. “I mean not at any time, but when your amulet was down, yeah, he could have.”

But he hadn’t.

He hadn’t because…Because he cared about me and my wishes. My eyes grew hot.

“I need to speak to him.”

Leif stroked my hair. “I know.” He kissed my temple. “Burn this infection out, then we’ll have a sit-down. The four of us.”

What did he mean?

The door opened and Tor entered carrying a tray laden with food. Rune padded in after him and took up position at the bottom of the bed.

“Pippa’s on her way over to check on you,” Tor said, “but she says you need to eat.”

My stomach grumbled. “I can totally do that.”

I sat up as Tor laid the tray on the bed by my hip. The sheet fell away from my torso and Rune’s gaze locked onto my naked breasts.

He made a strangled sound and looked away.

Gooseflesh broke out over my skin.

“Shit, you’re cold. Tor, a sweater,” Leif ordered.

Tor grabbed a cotton sweater out of my dresser and helped me into it, even though I was perfectly capable of putting it on myself. Still, it was kinda nice to be taken care of.

Leif placed the tray on my lap. Bacon, eggs, beans, hash browns, toast, and a cup of tea. God, I was hungry. I dug in while the guys watched. Most people may have been self-conscious while stuffing their faces and being watched by two hot guys and a gorgeous wolf, but food and I had a special relationship, and nothing could come between us.

“How’s the search coming?” Tor asked Rune.

We’ve cleared the rural areas. No sign of them. We’ll need to move into town.

“I don’t understand who’d want to take them,” Leif said.

“The shifters?” I spoke with my mouth full, and then quickly chewed and swallowed. “You think they’re somewhere in town?”

“They could be anywhere.” Tor lowered himself onto the bed next to me.

He smelled citrusy, like he’d freshly showered. He’d pulled on black joggers, but his chest was still bare. I needed to stop looking at it and recalling how his skin felt beneath my fingertips and how his mouth had felt on me.

Tor’s gaze flew to mine and his lips curled in a smug smile. “Eat your food, Cora.”

Oh man.

We start scouting in town in an hour,Rune said. It’ll be tougher in human form.

I picked up a slice of toast and made to bite into it, but my vision blurred, and I was back in the dark room. The only illumination was light streaming in from a skylight, but thick beams blocked most of it out.

“Cora?” Leif’s hand was on my shoulder, but I was still in the room.

“I can feel you,” a female voice said. “Can you see us? Help us. Find us, hold on to me. Don’t let go.”

A pressure bloomed in the back of my mind.

“Who are you talking to?” Astrid asked.

“Cora!” Tor’s fingers bit into my shoulders, dragging me out of the room and back onto the bed.

I stared at his concerned face, blinking away the residue of the vision because that’s what it was. A vision, not a dream.

My pulse raced with revelation. “I think I’m connected to a varga female. I think I might be able to find them.”

“Dress warm,”Pippa ordered. “Layers. I don’t like this, but what’s happening to you is out of my scope of expertise.”

Outside the world was awash with white as snowflakes danced to the ground. More cold. Just what I needed.

I tugged on my kick-the-shit-outta-the-bad-guys purple motorcycle steel-toe capped boots with reinforced heels. I loved their gothic vibe, the added metalwork and the purple flames painted on the pewter leather. Just went to show that beauty could be deadly.

“Cora?” Pippa sounded worried.

I gave her my most reassuring smile. “I’ll be fine. I need to do this before the infection burns through me.”

There was no doubt the infection was somehow linking me to a varga shifter. Sloane had said that Vax mentioned being able to sense the females but not locate them. They had to be connected by the infection somehow. It was the only explanation. The fact I could see through one of these varga female’s eyes had to be something to do with me being a tulpa, a witch, or both.

“Drink this if the tremors return.” Pippa pressed a vial into my hand. “It’s a warming tincture. I just finished stewing it. It’ll help.”

I pocketed the vial and pulled her into a one-armed hug. “Thank you.”

She patted my back. “Anytime.”

“Can you check in on Wren for me? Help Conah out if he needs it?”

“Of course.”

The pressure at the base of my skull intensified. I needed to move.

The guys were waiting downstairs with The Elites. Patrol packs were on alert, headed to the edge of town in human form, awaiting a call from their alphas.

“What now?” Sloane asked.

I closed my eyes and imagined the varga’s voice, focusing on the pressure at my nape.

Find me.

The pressure intensified and then my body began to tingle. I headed for the door and the tingle grew stronger. It built as I clattered down the porch steps and into the falling snow. I made a left toward the forest and the tingle ebbed slightly.

“Cora, what are you doing?” Sloane asked.

I pressed a hand to my chest. “I think I can find them. I just need to follow the tingle.”

She gave me an odd look. “Um…Tor…”

“Cora?” Tor joined her on the porch steps.

Oh, fuck this, I didn’t have time to explain it to them. The longer we waited, the more chance I’d lose this connection. If the infection burned out, we were fucked.

I made a beeline for the garage. “We need to go now.”

Leif jogged toward me, keys jangling in his hand. “Everybody, get in your cars and follow us.”

Leif, Tor, and Rune clambered into the Rover with me.

One wolf in town could be mistaken for a huge dog breed, but several, not so much. Rune had insisted on coming, and I wasn’t about to exclude him from this, not after last night.

The engine roared to life and we were off.

I navigated based on the tingle and buzz in my body, a distinct thing to the chill that simmered in my veins.

It was a beacon calling me.

We took a left and the buzz died a little. “No. Wrong way.”

Leif continued to the roundabout as the buzz lessened and then turned the car and headed the way we’d just come. The tingle amped up. We were back on track.

Ten minutes later we were headed to the other end of town.

Tor leaned forward between the seats. “There’s nothing out there except the new construction site. They’re demolishing the warehouses to build flats.”

Yes, that had to be it. “Perfect place to stash a bunch of shifters, don’t you think?”

Tor sat back and pulled his phone from his pocket. “Head to the southeast edge of town. The Partridge Project.”

The buzz was a solid vibration in my veins now. The road ahead melted, and I was back in the room.

“You’re close,” the varga said.

“Yes. I need more information, though. The place you’re hidden in is huge. I need clues.”

She showed me the skylight and the door, eyes tracking across the unremarkable room.

Shit, nothing much to go on. “Who took you?”

“I don’t know. The last thing I remember is running through the forest, then there was a bright light, and we woke up here. They’ve been taking us one by one, and each time there’s the light to blind us. There are only three of us left, but more arrived a day ago.

“Dire wolves.”

“Yes. Did Vax send you? Is he okay?”

Vax the varga alpha. “It’s complicated, but he’s fine.”

The rattle of a lock.

“They’re here. Oh, God.”

A blinding light and my connection was severed.

I was back in the car, chest heaving. “We need to hurry. Now.”

Leif stepped on the gas.