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Cora shook her
head and smiled sweetly. “At least I have a reason for this weight
gain. What’s yours?”

Again, several
coughs sounded in the room. Alastair took a deep breath. Was he
going to say something else, because she could do this all day? If
he wanted to bicker like a child, she could come down to his
level.

Alastair
walked to the head of the table. In Cora’s opinion, the room seemed
darker, more closed in than the last time they were here. “So, did
everyone huv a nice Christmas?”

People nodded,
some muttered their answers.

“
A spent
Christmas here for the first time in a while,” Alastair told
them.

Cora quickly
glanced toward Evelyn. Unlike last time, Ciaran was here and he
smiled with his eyes. Cora could still see how nervous they
were.

“
When will the
wedding be? I’m sure everyone haur is lookin’ forward tae the
wedding, and seein’ the two of yer wed.”

“
The date
hasn’t been set yet,” Tabitha spoke up.

“
And I’m sure
people will hear about it when we have a meeting after the event,”
Jack muttered.

“
Just in case
that wasn’t clear, you will not be invited, Alastair,” Ayden stated
bluntly.

Cora smiled
whilst Alastair tired to pull his anger together. He was so close
to losing it. There was a reason behind the pleasantries, Cora knew
this.

“
So, is there
any news?” Alastair asked the room.

“
I’m pregnant,”
Cora announced.

“
No news. How
aboot the Irish coven? Any news?”

Alastair had
finally reached the reason behind all of this. Cora held back her
reaction but her heart flapped around in her chest. Alastair
wouldn’t know anything. He couldn’t.

Evelyn cleared
her throat and stood. “No. No news.”

Alastair
continued to stare at the room. The room watched the two of them.
“Hmmm...” Alastair sighed.

Evelyn held
Alastair’s stare. Her wide amber eyes portraying nothing. “No.
We’ve had a quiet Christmas.”

Alastair
nodded. “That’s not whit A hear.”

“
Oh,” Ciaran
asked as he stood up.

“
A heard yer
spent Christmas with Cora and her coven. A hear yer huv all got
quite friendly.”

Cora saw
Tavish smile. Whatever was going to happen, it would happen
soon.

“
It isn’t a
crime to be friends with other covens,” Cora remarked.

“
I can
understand your difficulty however,” Clay finished. “Who would want
to befriend you?”

“
Friendly so
soon after meetin’ one another? Visiting Ireland? Huvin’
sleepovers?” Alastair snapped.

Jack grinned.
“What can we say? We are just so damn lovable. You’ve either got it
or you haven’t. You haven’t.”

“
Hmmm... well I
have something else.”

Within
seconds, something fell onto the table with an almighty thud. Eyes
the colour of the setting sun stared blankly up at the ceiling as
the body lay motionless.

A roar filled
the room, one that shocked everyone into action. Ciaran scrambled
onto the table, holding the small body of his sister.

16

LOSING CONTROL

Seconds turned
to minutes.

Minutes turned
to hours.

Time stood
still as Cora watched the chaos around her. Evelyn had leaped at
Alastair, but he was protected by the twins. Where was Cathella?
Cora hadn’t seen her. Something didn’t feel right. Maybe this was
an ambush? Had the Scottish coven got help of their own?

Ciaran was
holding the small body in his arms as he sobbed, the kind of sobs
that consumed you. Cora could only see her long, chestnut hair
swaying in Ciaran’s arms. Cora knew by his sobs that Brianna was
lost to them. Her heart squeezed, struggling to manage the grief
that had rushed into it. Her throat burned as her rage, her
heartbreak, consumed her. Tears trickled down her cheeks looking at
the lifeless body of the beautiful girl.

Alastair had
used his element on a helpless child. Cora could hear people
murmuring. She could hear people crying, she just didn’t know who.
Yet no one was pushing forward, ready to snap this man’s neck. Why?
She clenched her fists, ready to pummel him.

This was
beyond anything they’d ever seen Alastair do. This took things to a
whole new level. Alastair was losing control and it showed. He was
more dangerous than he’d ever been. He was desperate to hold onto
power which meant he would go to any extreme to keep it.

Within
seconds, the room exploded. The noise attacked her ears, making
them pop. Ciaran’s cries filled her heart. Jack’s roar filled the
room. He fought against Tavish, but he wasn’t alone as Clay’s
grunts joined his. The two of them attacked Tavish from different
angles. Ember had zeroed in on Alva. The wind surged around her,
fast and furious; she just needed to unleash it.

“
Ember,” Cora
called, “you need to find Iona and Cian.”

“
I will deal
with her,” Tabitha roared as fire spread through her
hands.

Ember nodded
and left the room. Her body slumped and Evelyn pulled Ember aside,
keeping guard over her. Cora didn’t look at the table. Instead, she
focused on Alastair. Snapping her fingers, she held her element as
it circled her body. Evelyn nodded at Cora which told her that
Evelyn had used her gift. This was about to get
interesting.

Alva
screeched. Her worst fear was coming true. She started running
around the room with her hands in the air as if she was trying to
ward off something that wasn’t there. In her haste, Alva ran
straight into Tabitha who knocked her out by smashing a ball of
fire into her chest. Now was not the time to kill them. Not just
yet.

The room
shuddered. The walls shook. For a second Cora expected Clio to
appear, but she saw Kayla stood at the back of the room. When had
she got here? Kayla’s hands were held high and the walls were
shuddering so much, Cora feared the castle above them would crumble
and cave on them. People were edging towards the door, fearing for
their own safety. None of them fought for Alastair.

Cora looked
over to her family who were fighting, and there wasn’t anything she
could do to help them without revealing the fake
pregnancy.

Actually,
there was one thing she could do.

Cora gathered
her element and let it fly, at Alastair. He shot backwards,
crashing against the wall. His face darkened. His lips pulled back
as he lifted his hands.

“
Do it,” Cora
shouted, touching her bump. She really wanted him to.

Ayden and Jack
disappeared. Cora lurched forward and then stopped. Jack would get
out and she knew the many duplications of Ayden were an impressive
force. Cora heard a yelp that brought her attention back to the
room.

Most people
had vacated the room which made her question their loyalty. Tabitha
and Alva were bloody and panting. Tavish had his strong hands
wrapped around Eli’s throat. Eli was kicking, his hands flailing
out as he tried to push Tavish off him. Cora fired a blast of wind
at Tavish who disappeared through the wall. Eli was still gasping
for breath. Where the hell was Tavish?

“
Enough!”
Alastair stormed.

The room
stilled. All they could hear was Eli coughing as he tried to catch
his breath. Jack and Ayden were still missing. Ember hadn’t come
back. Were Iona and Cian lost to them too? Cora couldn’t think
about it. Ember would return. She would tell them the two of them
were okay. She hoped so, for Ciaran’s sake.

Evelyn was
watching over Ember’s body. The only person who could help them was
curled up on the table holding his sister. Damn it. They could have
contained this. This could have been the end.

“
Let this be a
warning to yer all. Do not over step yer mark. Yer do as A say!”
Alastair glared at them all before he stormed out of the
room.

Jack and Ayden
exploded into the room, crashing into the chair. They stood
quickly, preparing for more of a fight, but they saw that Alastair
had gone. The room was empty bar them. Everyone watched Ciaran
mourn his sister. She saw the determination on the faces of those
who watched Ciaran grieving. Tears mingled with that determination,
as hands reached for each other.

Alastair’s
actions had pushed their group further. He didn’t know it yet, but
he would experience it one day. They would die fighting for revenge
for that little girl. They would put their life on the line for the
little girl who had faced Alastair’s element all on her
own.

Cora felt her
heart break, it simply broke and fell away. This little girl had
died for no reason.

Jack moved to
Cora to hold her as tears fell down her cheeks. She couldn’t
believe that such a beautiful girl who was full of life, now lay on
the table, quiet and still. How could someone do this?

Alastair was
outstaying his welcome. His days were numbered.

17

CHARADES

Edinburgh was
probably freezing all year round, but the brutal winds of January
were nearly killing Cora. They’d stayed in Scotland to make a
point. Two days past the meeting and Cora was still in shock. What
point were they trying to make? They’d received no visitors.
Alastair had made his point clearly enough. He had
control.

“
We can’t stay
here. I’m going crazy staring at the walls,” Jack
mumbled.

“
We need to go
out,” Ember agreed.

“
That is a good
idea, and if Alastair sees us, he will be pissed,” Ayden
smiled.

“
I want him to
feel like we are checking up on him,” Clay growled.

“
A trip to the
castle may be in order,” Evelyn said.

Evelyn had
stayed with them whilst Flynn had accompanied Ciaran back home.
Kayla was holding the fort on her own back in Dublin.

Ember had
found Ciaran’s parents unconscious at Cora’s house. That meant
someone had been in Cora’s house and taken them. Tabitha had been
furious. She was already concocting spells and seals to keep people
out. Tabitha was good with potions, but could she stop just one
witch from entering their house? What if she stopped everyone from
entering?

“
Okay, let’s go
out,” Cora agreed.

Wrapping her
scarf around her neck, her group headed out onto the main street.
The grey gloom above them had decided to spit out small flakes of
snow. Cora sighed and huddled up next to Jack as they followed
Evelyn who was walking up ahead with Tabitha and Ember.

Their group
walked in a formation making sure Jack and Cora were always
protected from every angle.

As they made
their way up the street with the shops that were either closed or
not very busy, Cora could see that the castle was quiet. No one in
their sane mind would head up here in this kind of weather. As she
headed up the hill, Cora realised the snow was really starting to
fall rather quickly. At this rate when they came back out, they
could sledge down the hill of the castle. That was something to
look forward to at least.

“
I’ve been to
this castle before,” Evelyn told them as they paid for their
tickets and headed up the steep hill, walking quickly towards the
platform where people stood for the one o’clock gun.

“
We came here
last time we were here.”

“
We didn’t have
to come, we could have gone to another place,” Tabitha
suggested.

“
No, I wanted
to,” Evelyn smiled.

They followed
Evelyn around the war memorial and up past the regimental museums.
Cora would welcome the warmth of any building at the moment. The
winds were fierce up here.

“
I guess you
didn’t see everything,” Evelyn spoke as she entered the great
hall.

“
We saw this,”
Ayden told her.

They had, but
the room still fascinated Cora. The red walls complimented the dark
wood but it was the weapons and armour still hung on every inch of
the wall that fascinated her. The large stone fireplace demanded
attention at the head of the room. It was empty, but for
them.

“
You didn’t see
it all,” Evelyn repeated.

Evelyn made
her way across to the fireplace. Evelyn took a deep breath and then
stepped over the rope barrier towards the fire.

“
I don’t think
you should do that,” Eli whispered.

Tabitha turned
to look back at the entrance. Evelyn smiled, her hands brushing
against the stone fireplace. A click sounded in the room. Before
Cora could ask what it was, the whole fireplace moved backwards,
revealing steps.

“
Well, are you
just going to stand there and stare?” Evelyn laughed.

They looked at
one another, Ayden shrugged and walked in first. Everyone followed
Ayden and came to stand at the foot of the stairs. Evelyn walked
down the stairs and stood alongside them.