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“
Love to
you.”

Cora hung up
the phone just as a hammer beat against a wall. The house was
coming along, despite the chaos, which made it look like there was
no progress. But there was progress. She had told herself this
repeatedly. Otherwise she would go insane.

The garage had
been converted into two bedrooms, Ember even had her own walk in
wardrobe, of course. This was Ember, the woman who had rolled up to
her house with five suitcases brimming with designer clothes, ones
Cora would share. Ember just hadn’t agreed to it yet.

Ember and Clay
also had their own living space, complete with their own bathroom.
They had their own entrance so they could come and go as they
pleased. It also meant that Jack and Cora felt like they had their
own space. But one thing they needed to concentrate on was the
kitchen. They needed to make it larger, which meant they now had a
dining room in the form of a conservatory. Cora had decided that
they really needed a bigger space when it came to Christmas
dinner.

Cora headed
downstairs towards the noise. They’d decided to leave upstairs
alone as the bedrooms were a decent size and they now had their own
bathroom. Cora walked into the kitchen and found the cause of the
noise.

“
Are you sure
you‘ll be needin’ all these pictures up in the kitchen?” Ciaran
inquired as he held the hammer stalled mid air and the nail already
positioned between thumb and forefinger.

Cora looked at
Ciaran, his topaz eyes smiled at her. She looked back at the three
pictures that were beautifully framed in a rich oak. “Yep. I want
them up and staggered like you are doing them now.”

Ciaran nodded
and hammered at the nail before lifting a picture and placing it on
the wall. He stood back, repositioned it and then admired his handy
work for a good five minutes.

No wonder it
took men double the time to get a job done,
Cora mused.

Cora watched
him work. Whilst she stood there, Ciaran seemed to work that little
bit faster. They both stood back and admired the photos, ones she’d
taken on a recent trip to the coast. She’d made an effort, with
Alastair slinking in the background, to go to the coast. She’d
purposefully taken the pictures of the sea and the sand because the
pictures made her think of her real mum. Instead of bringing
sadness into their new home, she’d decided to spread the warmth,
knowing that a small memory of her mother now resided in this
house.

“
Where are you
putting this? It’s bloody heavy,” Clay puffed as he and Eli
shuffled into the kitchen hefting an oak table.

“
Eh?” Eli
panted, glaring at Clay in shock.

“
Okay,” Clay
conceded and let go of the table. “It’s heavy for Eli as I wasn’t
really lifting it.”

Cora laughed
and headed into the newly painted conservatory. “Put it in the
middle, it extends so we have the room. Don’t scratch the floor!”
she warned.

She stood back
and watched them work as they carefully placed the table. The table
already seated twelve people but it extended to seat
twenty.

“
This thing
chuffing extends,” Clay scoffed as he put the chairs in the right
place.

“
Yeah, well, I
like to make sure we have the room.”

“
You’re going
to need a bigger extension,” Clay said it like,
‘You’re guna need a bigger boat,’
from the film
Jaws.

Clay barked
with laughter as Cora playfully smacked him on the arm. Eli stood
back and admired his work.

This room was
a soft apple in colour which complimented the oak wood that she’d
used. The kitchen was now a rich red. The solid colour was broken
up by the white tiles and the wooden cupboards. It felt right
bringing in the people that were no longer with them. Red for Clio.
The pictures for her real mother and the tree in the garden for her
adoptive mother.

“
Tab called and
said the Scottish git was at the shop,” Jack called as he slammed
the front door behind him and stomped his way into the kitchen. He
held yet another tattered box full of his worldly
possessions.

“
I highly doubt
Tabitha used those particular words,” Eli mocked.

“
Hmmm... well,
no, but he is at the shop.”

“
I agree with
you, the term suits him down to the ground,” Clay
laughed.

“
Aye, I agree
too,” Ciaran nodded. “The pictures are up in the living room.
Anything else you’ll be needin’ me to do?”

Cora looked
around. “Nope, I think everything is nearly finished.”

“
It’s about
time, the constant noise was really starting to piss me off,” Jack
moaned.

“
You know what
you need? You need a break,” Ciaran suggested.

Jack chuckled
knowing they all needed a break, but they wouldn’t get one, not
with Alastair stalking their every move.

“
No, I’m being
serious.”

“
Ciaran, we
have too much going on here, and then there is Alastair to deal
with,” Cora sighed.

“
Aye, but why
let him stop you?”

Cora pointed
to her growing bump. “Alastair has a way of controlling
things.”

“
Show him that
he can’t.” Ciaran shrugged his shoulders. His topaz eyes smiled at
her in a way only Ayden could do.

Cora felt
herself giving in. Why should Alastair control her life? He’d
already tried controlling her through Quinn, and she’d beat him.
Clay and Eli were smiling at her, almost like they knew where her
train of thought was going.

“
Do I need to
pack, beautiful?” Jack slid his arm around her shoulders, pulling
her into his lean body.

“
Yes. Go pack,”
Cora chuckled.

“
Yes!!” They
scrambled out of the kitchen leaving her alone with
Ciaran.

She dialled
the shop’s number as she smiled. “Tab, you need to pack, and tell
Ember to do the same.”

“
Oh? And where
are we going?”

“
What?!” Cora
heard Alastair holler in the background.

“
My God, is he
still there?” Cora hissed. She thought he may have left when she’d
been a no-show.

“
Unfortunately,” Tabitha muttered.

“
Tabitha, A
hardly believe-”

“
Alastair, she
needs to relax. She is carrying a baby that you forced her to
have,” Tabitha snapped.

“
When is she
goin’? Where is she goin’?” Alastair pestered.

“
It’s hardly a
holiday if she has to walk around with you,” Ember spoke
up.

Cora giggled
whilst listening to the conversation. Ciaran seemed to know what
was happening due to the smile on his face. A smile that made him
look like Ayden’s twin.

“
Put him on the
phone, Tab,” Cora sighed.

Cora heard the
shuffle as Alastair took the phone from Tabitha. “Well?”

“
Alastair,”
Cora responded in a monotone voice. Why should she greet him in a
nice manner when he’d started the conversation with
‘well?’.

“
Yer going
somewhere?”

“
Yes.”

“
Where?”

“
Away.”

“
Can yer answer
ma questions?” Alastair ordered.

“
Can you answer
any of mine?”

“
A’m goin’ with
yer,” he spat.

“
No. You’re
not.”

“
Yer can’t stop
me.”

“
I won’t tell
you where we are going,” Cora snapped.

She didn’t
even know where they were going yet anyway, and she wouldn’t tell
him if she knew.

“
A will find
yer,” he threatened.

“
Fine. Waste
your time doing that. I’m sure Tavish will love all the plane
rides. I’m sure the stress of forever watching my back will be
great for the baby.”

She could hear
the cogs turning in his head. “Fine, yer going away, I understand
that.”

“
Thanks for
being so
understanding
,” she hissed sarcastically.

“
I need tae
phone yer every day.”

“
Fine.” Cora
hung up the phone before he could respond.

“
Looks like we
are going away,” she agreed. “But where are we going?”

“
Ireland,
o’course. You need to see ma home, you can also meet the Irish
coven and kill two birds with one stone, eh?” Ciaran winked at
her.

Cora smiled.
It was time to start putting the wheels into motion. The plan would
make sure Alastair was no longer a part of their lives. She just
felt a little nervous about putting the plan into action. What if
the Irish coven didn’t want to help them? As much as they had
Ciaran’s support, his coven could turn around and say no. What
would Ciaran do then? If his coven leader demanded he had to return
back to Ireland, she wasn’t sure what she would do.

What would
they do if it all went wrong in the beginning?

3

IRELAND

“
Here we are!”
Ciaran declared as they stood on a cobbled street surrounded by
pubs and the bustle of people. They hadn’t seen them appear out of
nowhere, so Cora assumed magic was at play.

Here they were
indeed. Cora couldn’t grumble. Their flight had taken mere seconds.
Ember’s extended gift was a serious blessing. No more airport runs.
No more check-ins or passport control. No more waiting around for
your flight which led to the inevitable crushed space, a space that
was so small you felt claustrophobic. Yes, Cora could get used to
this form of transportation, once the instant head spin had
abated.

“
So, which pub
do we hit first?” Ayden asked, rubbing his hands together
gleefully.

“
Don’t you
think it’s a little early for that?” Ember lectured him but
couldn’t hide the wry smile.

“
You would be
wrong, young Ember,” Ciaran said with a cheeky grin. “We Irish like
to start drinking at any time of the day. Guinness is a medicine
after all!”

Before anyone
could respond to that, a window to their left exploded, showering
them with glass. None of them jumped or appeared shocked by this
sudden situation. It said a lot about her group. They were too used
to the unexpected.

Cora dusted
off the shards of glass and looked at the naked man that lay on the
floor in front of them. Long, ugly gashes across his back leaked
red liquid as he groaned. They stood still, silent as the man
groaned again and then rolled over, giving them a full
frontal.

“
Well, that is
something you don’t see every day,” Ember murmured.

Cora looked at
Ember and laughed.

“
Oh Christ!”
Ciaran hissed as he strode over to the man and helped him to his
feet.

Eli took off
his jacket and handed it to Ciaran, to offer the man some form of
cover. His dignity had pretty much shattered along with the glass.
The cover wouldn’t do anything now, the image had, unfortunately,
been burned to her memory.

“
Ben, what have
yer been doing?” Ciaran asked the comatose man.

Before Ben
could grunt any kind of response, a man leaped out of the window,
tackling both Ciaran and Ben to the cobbles. Ayden, Clay and Eli
moved quickly, pulling the fully clothed man off Ciaran who now lay
on the floor next to Ben.

“
What the hell
is going on?” Ciaran bellowed as he stood and dusted himself
down.

“
He thinks he
can have ma woman! He stripped naked and kissed her!”

“
Well, at least
there was no magic used,” Jack whispered in Cora’s ear as they
watched.

“
Then he
performed something, because my missus is in there now, givin’
everyone a naked dance!”

“
You spoke too
soon,” Cora whispered, as a smirk played on her lips.

“
Ah,” Ciaran
responded.

“
What do we
do?” Tabitha asked Ciaran.

“
We hurt him!”
The man bellowed, his dark blue eyes buzzed with the amount of
alcohol he’d consumed.

Cora stood
back and watched as the two men, one naked, one fully clothed,
wrestled in the street. The crowd that had gathered around them
when the fight had first started, had now dispersed. Obviously the
entertainment wasn’t entertaining enough. Ayden pulled the two men
apart.

“
Cora, Tabitha,
would you mind going into that here pub and getting the man’s lady?
She’ll be naked too if you didn’t know which one it was,” Ciaran
asked them as he held back a smile.

Cora and
Tabitha stepped into the noise of the pub as stale beer, bad food
and sweat fogged around them. Yet, there was no mistaking the naked
woman. Her voluptuous body jiggled and shook as she mounted a man
who appeared to be enjoying the show. The man behind the bar
pointed at Tabitha. “Are yer here to tek her?”

“
Yes, we
are.”