Home (18 page)

Alastair
needed to disappear, and fast.

22

WALES COVEN

Jack kept his
eyes open, surprising himself with such bravery, or stupidity.
Dillon dropped alongside him, a grin spread wide on his face. Why
was he smiling? There was nothing fun about this. Time seemed to
stand still as they fell, highlighting every second of their
fall.

The floors
became a blur, the building shimmered. Jack noticed that people
weren’t looking their way which meant they couldn’t see the strange
people free falling in the building.

“
Right, the
next part will feel a little funny,” Dillon informed him as they
continued to plummet.

“
This already
feels funny,” Jack gasped.

“
Don’t brace
your legs, just stay as you are as you hit the floor.”

Impossible. A
person always prepared themselves for these things. If you fall,
you push your hands out to cushion the blow. If you jump, before
hitting the ground you bend your knees to lessen the blow. If
someone went to punch you in the face, you moved, unless you were
Ross from
Friends
,
in that case you stood there and took it.

His legs on
impact were bound to rush up to meet his ribcage. Now he’d been
told to remain as he was, he felt the urge to shift his
legs.

“
When you hit,
take a breath.”

Jack had time
to nod before the ground rushed up to meet him. He took a deep
breath and then his body experienced a multitude of things.
Pressure. Tingles. The feeling of being pushed into something too
small for your body.

His feet hit
the floor, he stumbled before regaining his balance. He now found
himself in a completely different corridor. The library nowhere to
be seen

Dillon tapped
his shoulder. “See, it is brilliant. Follow me.”

Brilliant?
This man is bloody
crazy
, Jack thought, as he pulled in
another breath to stop himself from throwing up.

As they walked
past several large wooden doors, Jack admired the many pieces of
art lining the brick walls. He had to admit, rather grudgingly,
that this was more inviting than the Scottish coven, despite the
entry.

“
Do you like
them?” Dillon asked.

“
Yeah, they are
alright, although I’m not really an arty person.”

Dillon
laughed. “I did them.”

“
They are good,
I guess...”

“
You’re good
with compliments, Jack.”

Jack grinned
as Dillon opened a door to their left and Jack followed him.
Members of the Welsh coven were already seated there, waiting
patiently for him to make his appearance.

Jack took a
seat as the silence in the room already weighed heavily on his
shoulders. Someone had to speak soon. Now Jack knew how Cora felt
when facing people she didn’t know. How silence could annoy you,
make you nervous as people’s thoughts shifted over their
features.

“
Welcome to
Wales,” Dillon spoke, “Jack, this is Alwena Jones.”

A middle aged
woman, on the plumper side, inclined her head as electric blue eyes
studied Jack. Short brown hair, styled like she had been
electrocuted remained upright as she cocked her head to the
side.

“
Nice to meet
you, Alwena.”

Alwena didn’t
respond, although her eyes continued to study him. Jack forced his
eyes away from her and allowed himself to smile.

“
This is Ben
Morgan, you have him to thank for the little trick of the
library.”

Ben smiled, as
the deep blue of his eyes studied Jack. “What did you think to the
building?”

Jack looked at
Dillon and then back to Ben. “You designed it? Are you an architect
or something?”

Ben laughed,
pushing his hand through his dark hair. “Something like that. My
gift is quite a unique one. I can change and build a place from the
image in my mind.”

Jack whistled.
“Impressive gift!”

Ben nodded and
then stepped aside. Jack looked at the person Dillon was about to
introduce.

“
And this is
Kerys Bowen,” Dillon continued.

There was
something about this woman that made Jack feel different. Like a
group of spiders had taken root in his spine. She didn’t smile. Her
face remained impassive. Straight cut cheek bones and mocha eyes
that gave nothing away, watched him. Her hair was tied in a tight
bun that pulled at her face.

This woman’s
face, the shape, reminded him of Maggie Thomas. His adoptive
mother. The woman who had made his life hell.

“
We were
expecting Cora,” Kerys spoke and he could hear how thick her accent
was.

“
The pregnancy,
how is it going?” Alwena inquired politely.

“
It isn’t
going...” Jack revealed. He watched the ripple of shock travel
across all four of their faces.

“
Has she
miscarried?” Alwena gasped.

Jack took a
deep breath. Here goes nothing. “No. She was never pregnant. It
never started in the first place.”

Alwena’s eyes
widened. The blue seemed to swirl with her growing
confusion.

“
I think you
need to explain,” Dillon stated.

Jack began at
the beginning, doing as Cora had done previously with the Irish
coven. Only this time, the women weren’t able to touch the bump. He
finished the full explanation and stood, waiting for their
response. There would be questions. There were always
questions.

“
You really
expect me to believe that story?!” Kerys challenged
angrily.

“
It wasn’t a
story. It’s the truth.”

“
No, firstly,
Alastair isn’t stupid, he would have seen through this. Secondly,
no one can accomplish that kind of spell.”

“
Alastair is
blind to this. He sees only what he believes will be important.
This isn’t. He’s blind by the outcome. You also haven’t seen the
full force of what Tabitha and Ember can achieve when they put
their minds to it.”

“
You’re lying,”
Kerys snapped. “You want to drag this coven down!”

Jack couldn’t
believe how badly this was going already. Why wasn’t Dillon saying
anything? Why hadn’t Evelyn or Kayleigh warned him about this? They
must have known Kerys would respond like this.

“
I may be a lot
of things, but I’m no liar.”

“
You have to
admit there are gaps in your tale. Areas to worry about,” Alwena
finally spoke up.

“
Yes, there are
gaps because we aren’t perfect. This isn’t a lie. If it was, the
gaps would be watertight.”

“
So, now you
are hinting that I was wrong....you think you can make me look like
a fool?” Kerys screeched.

“
I...” Jesus.
Jack was used to hormonal women, but this one took it to another
level.

Kerys pushed
back her chair and stood. “I don’t want any part of
this.”

Kerys stepped
toward him. He held his hands by his sides. He didn’t have time to
think of what her element was. Her mocha eyes narrowed and then he
felt it. Every inch of him felt like it had suddenly been set on
fire. Yet it wasn’t his skin. The fire raged through his veins.
Boiling his blood and taking away his ability to breathe, the
oxygen travelling through his body had stalled. He collapsed,
falling heavily onto his knees.

“
Kerys, stop!”
Dillon commanded.

Kerys
continued, her eyes remained focused on him. His body was reaching
boiling point. Before Jack could do anything, a shimmer fell over
him.

“
Dillon! Reveal
him!” Kerys demanded.

Dillon had
cloaked him? It hadn’t made any difference, his body was still on
fire.

Ayden and
Ember appeared in the room, startling them all. Kayla continued to
push her element. Ember quickly disappeared, leaving Ayden behind.
“Where the hell is Jack?!”

Jack tried to
speak but only managed a groan.

“
He is here,”
Dillon said.

The shimmer
lifted and Ayden looked at him. Without saying another word, Ayden
multiplied.

“
Whatever you
are doing to him, I suggest you stop before you get seriously
injured.”

“
You will hurt
me?!”

Ayden smiled
at Kerys. He continued to smile as the first Ayden dropped to the
floor unable to breathe. Now that Kerys was focused on Ayden, Jack
was able to breathe again. As one Ayden collapsed, another took its
place. Kerys growled.

“
I can do this
all day,” Ayden joked

“
Kerys! Stop
this!”

Dillon touched
her arm.

“
Do you need me
to do something, Boss?” Ben asked as he stepped forward.

“
No, Ben, as
much as I would love you to blink and create something else, we
need to deal with her.”

“
Now, can
someone explain to me why you attacked my soon to be son in-law?”
Ayden asked, his fist still clenched.

Jack felt
pride grow in his chest. That was the first time he’d heard it, and
what a time to use it.

“
Kerys didn’t
believe your problem,” Dillon informed Ayden.

“
And what about
you?” Ayden asked.

“
I...do,”
Alwena stated. This surprised Jack because she’d silently watched
everything.

“
I also believe
you,” Ben offered as he smiled.

“
So do I.”
Dillon nodded.

“
I stand by
what I said before,” Kerys muttered.

“
Fine.” Dillon
shrugged. “You can stay here.”

“
What?” Kerys
shouted.

Jack’s face
probably held hints of shock. Dillon had so quickly cast aside his
coven member, but Jack had to agree, she was out of control. How
could they control her later when she greeted him like
this?

He saw the
intent flash in her eyes. Before Jack could stop her, Kerys jumped
at him. Her nails were directed at his face. His blood was already
boiling, threatening to consume him.

23

BLOOD BOILING

Dillon jumped
on Kerys before her sharp nails ripped his skin. One of the Ayden’s
jumped on Kerys which only added to the pressure on his body. This
meant Jack was pushed underneath Kerys, Dillon and Ayden. If he
hadn’t been able to breathe before, he definitely couldn’t breathe
now.

He’d had
enough of this. Trying to ignore the fire that burned through him,
he panted as he pushed his element around his body. His anger
fuelled his element until holding his breath was unbearable. He
bellowed as he let his element fly out of him.

The pressure
was removed immediately. Jack closed his eyes and rubbed his chest,
the intense burn was eating away at him. He opened his eyes and saw
Ayden, or one of them, stand to his feet. Jack grinned, despite the
pain, and Ayden shook his head before storming to Kerys.

Dillon grabbed
a hold of Kerys as Ayden, two of them, held her. Jack coughed and
accepted Ayden’s hand to help him to his feet.

“
What the hell
is wrong with her?” Jack shouted.

“
I don’t like
liars!”

“
Jesus! I’ve
never met anyone like you before. I thought I had trust issues! You
need to sort out your coven, Dillon. Because if you continue this
way, this one here is going to bring you lots of problems!” Jack
cursed at Dillon.

“
She’s found it
difficult since we lost Evan,” Dillon apologised. “She loses it
from time to time.”

When she lost
it, she definitely went all out. Jack had seen some crazy stuff in
his time. This sat pretty at the top with some of them, but her
element was impressive.

“
We’ve lost
people too,” Jack mumbled. “I don’t go bat shit crazy.”

“
You lost them
because you were stupid to go up against people more powerful than
you. They deserved it.”

Ayden moved
quickly, his large hand was wrapped solidly around her neck in the
blink of an eye. She squeaked and tried to break the
grip.

“
I won’t think
twice about breaking your scrawny neck,” Ayden hissed.

“
Ayden,
please,” Alwena urged, gently touching Ayden’s shoulder.

Dangerous
move
, Jack thought. No one touched Ayden
when his switch flipped. The only person who could was Cora, and
she wasn’t here.

Ayden jerked
away from Alwena, but he let Kerys go. Before Kerys could move, she
was encased in a tornado so silent that Jack was unsure if it was a
tornado at all. That tornado was twisting in the desert. Ben had
used his element, naming sure the tornado wasn’t in the room with
them. Seeing that kind of power surprised Jack.

“
Right, can we
get somewhere now?” Jack asked.

“
Yes, please,
both of you, please take a seat. Alwena and Ben’s gift will hold
her in place.”