Page 111 of Witch Untold

Smack bang into a solid chest.

“Cora.” Leif wrapped his arm around me and stepped back, taking me with him.

I fisted his shirt. “Leif, Rune—”

“We know,” Leif said. “It’s okay.”

Wren peered over Leif’s shoulder, his eyes wide and scared, but Leif…Leif was freakishly calm. Why was he so calm?

I looked back at Rune to find him crouched on the ground, head tipped back, looking up at Tor. No. Not at Tor, but at the barrel of the gun that Tor was pointing at his head.

What the fuck? “What are you doing?” I tried to step out of Leif’s embrace, but he tightened his grip. “Hey, what is this? Let me go.”

“I can’t do that.” Leif’s eyes were heavy with sorrow. “We gave Rune a vow.”

I couldn’t breathe. Oh, God. I couldn’t breathe. “You can’t….” My voice was a gasp. “You can’t do it.” I grabbed his chin, forcing him to look at me. “It’s Rune.”

Leif jerked his chin free, jaw clenching. “Don’t you think we know that? Do you think this is easy?”

Rune made a strange sound, part growl, part whine. “I can’t hold on much longer.”

Wren would stop them. “Wren, do something.”

Wren shook his head. “Rune smell wrong, Cora. He smell…bad.”

Oh, shit. No. I couldn’t let this happen. “What about the seal?” I sounded desperate, but I didn’t care. This was Rune. My Rune. “We need him.”

“He’s already gone,” Leif said. “We’ll have to figure out the seal stuff later; there’s a cousin who could take his place. But this has to happen. We made a vow. We promised him.”

“But it doesn’t need to be this way. The varga aren’t monsters. We know there’s more to their story. We can let him go. He can be with them. He can live until we find a cure.”

“There is no cure,” Rune growled. “I don’t want to live this way. I won’t be a monster.” He closed his eyes. “Please, Tor, do it. Do it now while I’m still me.”

“No!” I thrashed and bucked against Leif, but without my power I was as weak as a kitten against him. “Please, don’t. Don’t do this.”

“I love you, Rune,” Tor said.

Then he pulled the trigger.

The story continues inWitch Unbound