Witch Untold by Debbie Cassidy

Chapter Twenty-Seven

“How is she?” Tor asked down the phone.

“As fine as can be expected. She’s all mission control now.”

I could hear Leif in the background asking for the phone. Maybe I should have called him to check in and not Tor. I didn’t want to be favoring either one of them, but Tor had kinda become my check-in guy.

I glanced back at The Elites’ door, where Poppy, Jessie, and Sloane were in hardcore planning mode for our raid on The Order nightclub and our free-the-humans heist.

“Ask her if she’ll be home for supper,” Leif said in the background.

Tor growled softly, no doubt annoyed by Leif’s hovering, but relayed the question.

It was mid-afternoon, even though it felt much later. “I should be. I don’t think we’ll be much longer here.”

“And you’re sure the extra glamour bracelets the silent sisters sent will work?”

“They have to.”

“Not the answer I’m looking for. I don’t like this, Cora. I have a bad feeling, and so do Leif and Rune.”

The threads binding us trembled. “I’ll be fine. We won’t go in without a solid plan. I promise.”

He made a soft growly sound in my ear that went straight to the juncture of my thighs.

“Damn, Tor, don’t make that sound when I’m on the phone with you.”

“Why?”

“Because I can’t kiss your face off from over here, can I?”

He was silent for a long beat and then chuckled softly. “Tonight.”

The promise skated over my skin in a delicious shiver of anticipation. “Tonight…”

I hung up and re-joined The Elites.

Sloane paced the floor, hair on end from running her hands through it, while Jessie and Poppy watched. Wren lay on the sofa, fast asleep. Mel had warned he might be a little tired for the next few hours. The metamorphosis into hulk-Wren took its toll on him.

The mood was subdued ever since Sloane filled The Elites in on her new condition, but this was the focus we needed.

A mission.

Action.

A take-down.

I took a seat next to Poppy. “So, what do we have so far?”

“We keep it simple,” Sloane said. “We’re counting on numbers to act as a distraction. Several witches to keep the warlock eyes on them and enough spares to break into the labs, help take out the revenants, and liberate the humans.”

The schematic of the building was spread out on the coffee table. Our escape route was the fire exit, close enough to the secret passageway to be able to usher the humans out to the van we had for transportation. Lauris would be driving.

We needed enough bodies in that VIP room to hide our comings and goings. The warlocks would probably let us play for a little while before the revenants slid out of the walls to feed on us, so that was our window. Everything needed to happen in that time frame, then we needed to make a hasty exit.

Unlikely they’d stop us from leaving. We didn’t fit the profile for being held hostage because we’d be missed, unlike the poor souls they had in the fucked-up feeding room.

“And the revenants in the feeding rooms?” I looked at Sloane. “How many can we take out with the crystal?”

“Five max,” Sloane said.

“And if there are more?”

“Then we’ll have to improvise.”

“What if there are more humans than we anticipated?” Poppy asked. “What if the room we saw isn’t the only one?”

I sat forward, forearms braced on my knees. “Then we save as many as we can.”

Sloane nodded and ran her hand over her face. “Okay. It’s settled. We round up the troops and we do this tomorrow night.” She looked at me. “Do you still have the complimentary tickets the warlock gave you?”

I nodded.

“Okay, we meet at the atrium…” She trailed off, chest heaving.

Shit. “Can we meet on the drive instead?” I shrugged. “I’ve got a meeting with Anna late afternoon, so it’ll be more convenient, if that’s okay with you guys?”

Jessie’s dark eyes were on me, and Poppy shot me a quick smile.

Sloane’s jaw ticked and then she nodded. “Yeah. Sure, we can do that.”

“Awesome. I’ll see you guys then.” I stood and stretched, happening to glance in Sloane’s direction to find her gaze raking over me.

She looked away quickly. “I’m gonna take a nap.”

Her bedroom door closed behind her and Poppy sagged back against the sofa.

“That was sweet,” Jessie said to me.

“What?”

“The change of meetup location.”

“I figured she might need a little time before going back to the atrium.”

“She looks like she’s okay, but she’s not,” Poppy said.

“She almost died,” Jessie said. “That shit changes you, and in Sloane’s case, more than most.”

I met their gazes levelly. “She’s still Sloane. And she’ll be okay. I mean, if having to ingest blood twice a month is the price of being alive, then she’ll pay it. Sloane’s a tough cookie.”

“But even cookies crumble,” Poppy said softly.

“Seriously, Pops?” Jessie shook her head.

“What?” Poppy frowned at her.

These two... A subject change was in order. “How did Anna take the news?”

Poppy answered. “Sloane’s alive, she still has her ability to do magic. As far as Anna’s concerned, it’s a win.”

I scooped Wren off the sofa but couldn’t help looking across at Sloane’s bedroom door. The urge to go to her, to make sure she was okay, was a gnawing thing in the pit of my belly.

“We’ll take good care of her, Cora,” Poppy said. “It’s fine.”

“Was I that obvious?”

“It’s obvious you care,” Jessie said. “But best to keep a distance…Sloane told us about the bloodlust.”

My neck heated. “Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. I’ll see you guys tomorrow night.”

I made the jump home.

* * *

I satat the dressing table brushing out my hair. Wren had passed out in his new room after a huge helping of shepherd’s pie. He looked so tiny in the double bed, a lump beneath the duvet, his soft snores punctuated by sighs. He’d sleep through till morning now.

The guys had left for patrol and wouldn’t be back for a couple of hours, leaving me alone with too much time to think.

Jasper still wasn’t back, even though I’d called out to him several times. Stupid, because he’d have checked in by now if he could.

The blood witch’s offer was getting more and more tempting, but maybe there was another way. If only I could get a hold of Conah and tell him what the witch had said, maybe he’d be able to find another way to pull Jasper from the abyss, one that didn’t involve being tortured and shagged by a blood witch. But his phone went straight to voicemail. I set down the hairbrush.

Okay, so he was busy on Dominus business. This wasn’t his problem. It was mine.

Jasper was mine.

He’d been gone a night and a day. But he’d been gone longer before. I’d give him another day. If he wasn’t back by then—

My nape prickled. “Jasper?” I swiveled in my seat to face him as he materialized by the bed. “Jasper!” I bridged the distance between us and threw my arms around his neck. “You’re back!”

He was tense and stiff for a long beat and then his body relaxed against me, arms coming up to hug me back. He exhaled and buried his nose in the crook of my neck.

I pulled back to look at his face. He was paler than usual, but his eyes gleamed with vigor.

I reached up to touch his cheek. “You were gone for a night and a day.”

He blinked down at me. “The last thing I remember is being in the bathroom with you.”

“Jasper, I think I know what’s happening to you.”

I filled him in on what the blood witch had said, about the abyss and the bond between us. “Are you losing your hold on me?”

His gaze flicked across my face as if searching for an answer. “No. No, I don’t think so.”

I gripped his shoulders. “You can’t let me go. Ever. I can’t lose you. Do you understand? You need to stay with me.”

He locked gazes with me, and for a moment it was as if he didn’t know me, as if he was a stranger studying me with an almost clinical precision.

Gooseflesh pricked my skin. “Jasper?”

His hand slid up my spine and came to rest at my nape, his cool fingers bringing heat to the surface of my skin. More heat bloomed beneath my diaphragm, the signature of my power.

Jasper moaned softly and dropped his forehead to mine. “That feels good.”

He was recharging. “Take whatever you need.”

His grasp on my nape tightened a fraction. “Whatever I need?” His tone was husky and thick with desire.

My stomach flipped. “You know we can’t…” He caressed my neck with his thumb, sending tingles across my chest. “Jasper…” He licked the column of my neck, ending with a flick at my lobe.

Oh, fuck.

His hand slid under the hem of my bathrobe to cup my bare ass and haul me up against his arousal. “I need you, Cora. Open yourself to me.”

Oh, God, yes, I wanted to open for him, but the seal…I had to consider the seal.

He kissed my neck, traveling up to my jaw, slow and sensual, until I was panting, desperate for his mouth on mine.

But Jasper wanted to play. He slipped his free hand into the neck of my robe and claimed my breast, thumb flicking across my straining nipple. I arched my back, needing his mouth on me.

“Please.”

“Tell me what you want, Cora.”

It had been too long since we’d touched like this. Been alone like this. Too long, and I didn’t want to play. I wanted to get down to business.

I fisted his hair and hauled his mouth to mine, claiming him with deep, satisfying kisses that I felt down to the tips of my toes.

He chuckled into my mouth and pulled free.

“Fuck.”

“You wish.”

He spun us and then my back was pressed to the mattress and his delicious weight was on me.

Maybe this was why he was drifting. This lack of physical and sexual connection. Had I done this to him by holding him at arm’s length?

He parted my robe, laying me bare, then ran his fingers down my torso, pausing at my pubic bone.

His eyes narrowed, features sharp, cruel, and fucking sexy. “Ask for it.”

My chest heaved with anticipation, heart swelling with love. “Jasper, please touch me.”