Page 19 of Witch Unbound
“Tor, chill.” Leif stood and placed a hand on Tor’s shoulder. “We know that the mutagen is gone, so whatever was happening to Cora will stop now, right?” He looked to Mel for confirmation. “No more unraveling? She’s still a witch. The seal is intact, right?” There was a demanding edge to his tone now.
Mel nodded quickly. “Yes. The mutagen is gone so there shouldn’t be any more unraveling. If the mutagen was affecting the seal negatively, those effects will be gone.”
“But our connection is weaker,” Rune pointed out. “Will that strengthen now that the mutagen is out of her system?”
“We don’t know.” Mel winced, apologetic. “I’m sorry we don’t have definitive answers for you. I wish we did.”
“The change in her DNA could mean that your connection remains weakened,” Micah added. “Only time will tell.”
Weak was better than gone, and it hit me that this was good news. Great news. Much better than I’d been hoping for.
It was a boulder being lifted off my shoulders. “I’ll take it. Maybe Anna will have a way to strengthen the connections between us.”
Hope evicted the anxiety that had taken up residence inside me.
“There is no determination that you’re a threat.” Ursula smiled warmly. “You’re free to leave.”
“Wait, what?” Tor looked at me. “Was that even in question?”
Oh boy. I stood and wiped my sweaty palms on my jeans. It was definitely time to go home.
Chapter Five
As I made my way through Grimswood Manor to Anna’s office, I dropped Bramble a text to let her know I was back. I could have jumped to the office, but part of me was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to. Yeah, I was avoiding discovering if the change in me was responsible for my power fritzes or whether the mutagen had been.
I couldn’t deal with any more shit right now.
I turned onto the corridor to Anna’s office and came to an abrupt halt to avoid colliding with another body.
Elijah.
He blinked in surprise, as if he hadn’t been expecting to see me, which made sense. I was meant to be on a three-day love nest break with my guys.
“You’re back early,” he said. And then, in immediate concern, “Is everything okay?”
I gave him a wry smile. “Would you be surprised if I said no.”
“What happened?” He dropped into mentor mode. “What can I do to help?”
I opened my mouth to spill the deets but snapped it shut again.
This was a coven problem, an Anna problem, and he already had his hands full with heading up the search for Razor Mouth. The original vampire who’d made it out of Lilith’s barrier and was probably hiding out somewhere, making more ice walkers. Still, I knew that if I dragged him into my problems, he’d find a way to do both and end up stretching himself too thin.
“Nothing. I’ve got it under control.”
“Cora…” He tipped his head to the side and gave me the don’t-lie-to-me frown.
I mock-frowned back at him. “Elijah…”
He sighed and relaxed. “I get it, you’ve come a long way. And although it pains me that you no longer need me as much, it also makes me very proud.”
Whoa, wait a second. “Idoneed you. You’re my friend and I care about you a lot.”
He blinked and looked down. “I know. I care about you too.”
Something passed between us, a moment that felt as if we’d missed a turn in a road. I studied his downturned face, trailing over the lashes fanned across his cheeks and lingering on his wistful smile. My heart swelled with emotion. This man was important to me. There’d been flirting and moments when I’d considered taking things further, but those moments had passed for me.
But had they passed for him? “Elijah… do you have feelings for me?”
