Witch Undecided by Debbie Cassidy

Chapter Six

When they’d said pain, I’d thought they’d meant the regular pain, you know, stab wound, taser, that kind of shit, but fifteen seconds into their chanting my body was on fire. Every synapse, every nerve ending screamed for relief. I was distinctly aware of the threads that bound me to Leif, Tor, and Rune. They thrummed and fizzed, but there was no way to stop my distress from zooming down those connections.

Oh shit. Oh fuck.

We should have considered this. We should have—

My body ceased to be my own, throwing itself against the invisible barrier of power that held me captive amidst The Elites.

My screams tore the air and ripped my throat raw and then my head was in a vise, the pressure building and building.

I was going to die.

“What the fuck?” Jasper’s voice was a whiplash against my senses.

“No!” Anna cried. “It’s a test, it won’t harm her.”

“I beg to differ,” Jasper said.

I prised open my eyes through the pain and fixed them on him. “Don’t. Interfere.” I bit out the words before a wave of fire raced up my throat and cut off my air supply.

“Cora!” There was agony in his tone, as if my pain were his.

Fuck, I must be dying to think such shit.

The shatter of glass and the snarl and growl of wolves filled the air.

“NO! Stay back,” Anna ordered. “She’s safe, I swear it.”

The wolves were here. They were here, but my vision was blurred by tears and my senses were in chaos. No way to communicate I was okay.

“She must let it in,” Anna said.

Oh fuck, yes. Poppy’s advice.

Stop fighting.

How the fuck did I do that?

Every muscle and sinew was wound tight. I needed to relax and let the pain take me. I needed to give in to it.

I slumped onto the ground, breathing shallow and even, swallowing my scream as nails tore rivulets across my brain and claws scraped deep into my skin to hit bone.

I was burning, melting, and then the scorch ebbed to a simmer and a strange cold sensation bloomed at the back of my mind, a spot of ice that infected my veins until the pain was gone. Until all that was left was The Elites’ soft chanting, but then even that slowed and petered out.

“Cora…” Strong arms wrapped around me, the scent of the forest and the brush of fur. “You’re okay. We’ve got you.” Tor’s breath was warm on my nape.

I peeled back my lids to look up at the faces surrounding me. Leif’s gunmetal blues, dark with anger and concern, Rune’s hazel eyes gleaming with golden flecks, and Tor’s steel-gray gaze hard and unforgiving and fixed not on me but on Sloane.

“What the fuck did you just do?” he demanded.

“What needed to be done.”

“You don’t get to play with our mate.” Leif’s voice was a growl.

Did you agree to this?Rune asked.

I nodded, wincing when pain lanced up my neck. “We need an Elite. I needed to test.”

“Elite?” Tor’s lip curled. “No.”

“Are you insane?” Leif asked Sloane. He stood to face her, offering me an epic view of his taut ass. “She’s the fucking anchor. You can’t risk her life fighting revenants.”

I sat up on my knees. “I have to do this. There is no one else.” I peered around Leif to look up at Sloane. “I mean, that is if I passed. I better fucking have, ’cause that hurt like a fucking bitch.”

Sloane tore her gaze from Leif and settled it on me with a small smile. “I think so, cupcake. Just one last thing to do.”

Leif bristled. “Hell no.”

Tor gripped me tighter and Rune growled low and menacing.

Jasper stood to the periphery of my vision, and I didn’t need to look at him to know he was pissed, but he was watching this play out, typical Jasper style.

I took a deep breath. “I want to do this.” I looked up at Tor. “Humans will die if we don’t find a fourth Elite.”

Tor inhaled through his nose and closed his eyes. “Fuck.” His grip on me slackened a fraction, his way of conceding. “Hurt her again and I won’t be responsible for my actions, Slo.”

Sloane’s eyes narrowed. “You think I enjoyed this? You think I wanted to hurt her? If there was any other way…” She exhaled angrily and pinched the bridge of her nose. “The painful part is over.”

Tor released me reluctantly.

Sloane fell to her knees in front of me. The wolves backed up but stayed close.

“Let’s find out if it was worth it,” Sloane said.

She cupped my nape and drew me close, so her mouth brushed my ear. Her warm breath kissed my skin and then words filled my mind, words that made sense but didn’t, words that wanted to dance on my tongue. Words that wanted to be voiced.

The negation chant. This was it. It was pouring into me, making sense and connection as if it belonged, like a missing piece of my mind.

It intensified.

“Motherfucker,” Jessie said. “She’s doing it.”

I was. I was chanting, natural and effortless like breathing. I sucked in a breath and cut off the words. They were there, though, in the back of my mind. Mine to use if needed. There was power in those words. A dark, twisted kind of power, addictive but frightening too.

“You feel it,” Sloane said. “But you can control it. It doesn’t control you.”

“Chaos…”

“Yes. The negation spell uses chaos, and only a handful of Grimswood witches can tap into it.”

Fuck.

Silence reigned.

Sloane pulled back and smiled at me. “Welcome to The Elites.”

I perchedon the fountain ledge and downed a bottle of water to quell the burning in my throat from all the screaming I’d done. Leif and Rune had left patrol when they’d sensed my distress, and now that I was technically safe, they left to get back to duty.

Tor stayed, naked and glorious, his body a powerful mass of muscles that Jessie and Poppy were blatantly ogling as he spoke with Anna and Sloane in hushed tones. A pang of jealousy shot through me, but I tamped down on it. We might be bound, but I didn’t own them, and there was no room to allow jealousy to creep in. What I should do was eavesdrop on Tor’s chat with Anna and Sloane, but it looked like I was going to need every ounce of energy left to deal with Jasper.

“What’s wrong with you?” Jasper sounded genuinely perplexed. “Are you addicted to danger?”

I sighed. “No, are you?”

“How can I keep you safe if you keep doing shit like this. First the Order with their fucked-up fae assassins and their revenants, then, when I think, it’s okay, she’s anchor now, she’ll be safe, we find out there are original vamps out for your blood, literally, and now you join The Elites.” His tone went up a notch. “This doesn’t work, Cora. Not at all.”

“Not much choice.” I peered up at him. “You know it.”

“There’s always a choice. You could walk away with me. Take that damn amulet off and let me keep you safe.”

His tone had dropped to intimate, almost yearning, and part of me wanted to lean into him. To let him do the hard work of keeping the shit at bay, but it was a teeny part, the part that was wiped out from the Calling.

“That’s not who I am.”

“I know.” He ground his teeth. “Believe me, I fucking know. You infuriate me.”

“Back at you.”

I knew he wouldn’t stay away for too long. My survival was his, but it was more than that. It was the softness in his eyes when he looked at me. It was the yearning. Did he have feelings for me too? No, he was evil. Malevolent. He was something else. Something no one understood. Not even him.

“You’re also a liar,” Jasper said.

“What?”

“You do want me, Cora. You can’t hide that from me, and I’m not going anywhere. I can be just as stubborn as you.”

Why did that make my blood fizz? “I figured. But the amulet stays on.”

I couldn’t risk giving into my intense desires around him. Not with the seal at stake.

“For now.” He smirked, leaned in, and kissed my temple. “I’ll see you later, Cora.”

He misted away and I stared at the spot where he’d been, throat going dry despite the recent drink, because this was the first time Jasper had said goodbye before leaving and I wasn’t sure what the heck to make of that.

“Okay, so we have a plan,”Sloane said to me. “Patrols occur at night, and nighttimes are dangerous for you because of the vamp issue. Being off grounds will pose a threat, but you’ll be with us. We’ll keep you safe.”

Tor’s jaw ticked. “One of us will come with you when not on night patrol.”

“You’ll also be assigned a gargoyle,” Anna said. “For when the wolves are busy on patrol.”

“It seems like overkill.” I shrugged. “I can take care of myself.”

“Yes, you can,” Tor said. “But if these vamps do come for you, you’ll need all the backup you can get.”

Sloane’s jaw tightened. “I won’t lose another witch.”

She was thinking about Brie.

My heart sank. I was taking Brie’s place. Her friend’s place. “I’m so sorry.”

She inclined her head. “Yeah, so am I.”

“It’s customary for gargoyles to accompany select witches off the grounds,” Anna continued. “The elders are all assigned one. Bador is mine. He’s the best. I’d be happy to share him with you.”

I’d never seen Bador in action, but I’d seen his son Lauris fight a revenant to save my ass.

But it was more than that. His story, the shunning he had to endure, pissed me the fuck off.

He deserved a chance to prove himself. “I want Lauris.”

Anna looked stunned. “Lauris is a novice. He hasn’t had any training.”

“Which makes it more impressive that he saved my life from the revenant that attacked me on my balcony.”

“I vote Lauris too,” Tor said. “He’s a bright, determined young man and he’s already proven himself.”

Anna pursed her lips. “The gargoyles won’t be happy with this.”

Urgh. Who gave a shit? “Because he’s half human? Or because the anchor is choosing him over all the purebreds?” I tipped my head to the side. “Maybe it’s time they pulled their pompous heads out of their asses and gave him a chance to reach his full potential.”

“You really believe in him?” Sloane was studying me with an unreadable expression.

“I believe that he’ll put his ass on the line for me without a second thought, and I believe he’ll fight dirty to win. I believe he deserves a shot.”

Anna sighed. “From what I hear he did test highly in the gargoyle trials. His progress has been suppressed because of his heritage. He’s been punished because of it. I agree with you. He deserves a shot, but the others won’t be happy about this.”

I grinned at her. “And that’s where your mojo comes in.”

She bit back a smile. “Very well. I’ll speak to Bador and contact you to let you know the outcome.”

“We patrol tonight,” Sloane said.

Tor looked worried. “So do the tri-packs. Varga activity has increased over the past few weeks. They’re splitting up and entering our territories at several points at the same time.” He frowned at Anna. “Just to be clear, no Lauris means no anchor on patrol.”

Sloane pressed her lips together. “Missing a patrol isn’t an option. The Order will know we’re down an Elite, which means chances of revenant activity are higher than usual right now.” She locked gazes with Tor. “Worst-case scenario, I’ll keep her safe. I give you my word.”

Tor’s jaw flexed, and for a moment I thought he’d tell her to piss off, but then he nodded. “Fine. I’ll hold you to that. Now if you’re done monopolizing my mate, we have some business of our own to discuss.”

And why did I get the impression I was in for a verbal dressing down?

He strode toward the exit, morphing into wolf form as he reached the door, then turned to look at me with his huge dark head and piercing gray eyes.

Come on, you can ride me.

His voice was a delicious rumble in my head and his words went straight to the apex of my thighs.

He chuffed. Dirty girl.

Yeah, I was. I so fucking was.