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“
Here, allow
me.” Cora stepped into the circle that surrounded Alva. She pulled
back her fist and let it fly.

The struggling
stopped.

“
Jesus, Cora!”
Clay whistled in appreciation.

“
Put her in the
luggage compartment, quickly!” Cora instructed.

The men lifted
Alva, forcefully pushing her into the small space, and then they
quickly took their seats.

“
Dillon, move
down to the bottom, he shouldn’t see you there.”

They settled
down the second Tavish barged into their carriage. He stopped, blue
eyes glaring, nostrils flaring, as he stood inches from his
sister.

“
What was the
commotion comin’ from in here?” Tavish snapped.

How did he
know there had been a commotion? He hadn’t been that close to their
carriage. Something didn’t feel right with Cora. Tavish must know
something wasn’t right. To put his sister in harm’s way told her
this. This whole thing felt like a plan of theirs. Their plan that
had gone wrong.

“
What business
is it of yours?” Clay responded.

“
Everythin’ is
my business whilst A’m Alastair’s eyes and ears.”

“
Hmmm...”
Tabitha snorted.

“
It was my
phone, if you must know, I was showing Cora a video, is that
allowed?” Jack asked, sarcasm dripping in every word.

Tavish didn’t
appear convinced but there was nothing he could do to prove his
point. They looked at him, waiting for him to leave.

“
Huv yer seen
Alva?”

“
No,” Cora
responded, looking at Tavish.

“
If you can’t
keep tabs on your sister, that isn’t our problem,” Ayden
chastised.

Tavish growled
and then with a sweep of his long, leather coat, he
left.

“
He knows
something,” Cora whispered.

“
I agree. He
sent Alva in here, but why?” Ember asked.

“
Because he is
a sneaky sod, that’s why,” Ciaran snapped.

“
With Tavish’s
ability he could have stood in here and listened to the whole
conversation. We wouldn’t have known any different,” Cora warned
them.

“
That was my
fault, I apologise.”

“
No, Ciaran, we
have all been guilty of it.”

“
We have to be
more careful,” Tabitha agreed. “Uncloak her.”

The cloak fell
away and revealed Alva with her knees digging painfully into her
chest as the bruise around her eye formed.

Ayden
whistled. “Damn, Cora, you can punch.”

Cora smiled.
“You sound surprised.”

“
Me? Nope.
Never. I always knew you could kick ass, here is the
proof.”

“
Now what do we
do?” Eli asked.

“
We need
Flynn,” Ciaran told them.

Ember sighed
before she disappeared. She returned with Flynn, his face holding
quite the smile as Ember removed her arms from around his
body.

“
Now, that is
one hell of a way to travel,” Flynn crooned. His green eyes studied
the scene whilst large hands brushed his dark hair away from his
face. “Now, now, what do we have here?”

“
We need your
help.”

“
That is quite
clear. Any help will be given if I can rest in those arms for
another second.” Flynn winked at Ember, which received an eye
roll.

“
We need you to
work your magic on her,” Cora said.

Flynn grinned
and sauntered closer to Ember.

“
On Alva,
Flynn. Your magic would never work on me,” Ember sighed.

Flynn laughed.
“Give it time, darling.” He turned to Alva. “Okay, what do I put
into that small head of hers? What does she know?”

“
She knows
about Cora, the situation,” Tabitha whispered.

“
Okay.”

Flynn dropped
down beside Alva. Taking her head in between his hands, Cora
watched as he closed his eyes. For a second, nothing happened, and
then she saw it, a glow that shimmered around Flynn and then pulsed
against Alva’s head. Her eyes opened, the pupils dilated. Alva’s
mouth dropped open. She made a gurgling sound the second Flynn
dropped his hands. Alva lurched to her feet, looked at them and
then ran away from them.

“
Did it work?”
Tabitha asked.

Cora could see
the concern on Tabitha’s face. If Alva had run that quickly, was
she going to tell Tavish something?

“
Yes, it
worked.”

“
Are you sure?”
Ember questioned.

“
Do you want me
to work my magic on you, just to make sure?”

“
Why did she
leave so quickly?” Cora inquired. “What made her run?”

“
Oh aye, I made
her believe she had diarrhoea.”

“
What?!” Cora
asked in shock, as everyone else laughed. “You can do
that?”

“
A can do most
things. I have to have my fun whilst I can.”

“
But she won’t
remember anything.”

“
No, I made her
believe she came in here to check up on you. The chicken she’d had
earlier had made her pass out, hence the bump on her face...how did
she get that by the way?”

“
Cora thumped
her,” Ayden announced proudly.

“
Grand! Well,
she believes the fainting came from the food poisoning. Done and
dusted.”

“
Thank you,
Flynn,” Tabitha sighed.

Flynn nodded
and moved to Ember. “Come on then, darling, put your arms around
me.”

Cora saw the
hint of a smile play on Ember’s lips as she put her arms around
Flynn and disappeared with him. Cora sensed something could happen
between the two of them. She
wanted
something to happen between the two of them. Ember
deserved to be happy.

She saw the
knowing smirk on Tabitha’s lips. It would seem they all wanted
something to happen there.

“
He has to be
mad, chasing her,” Clay chuckled.

“
I think he has
a chance. I haven’t seen Ember accept anything like that before,”
Ayden spoke up.

“
And I like
him,” Cora giggled.

“
I think Ember
may yield, we just have to enjoy watching it happen.” Tabitha
nodded and smiled before returning to her seat.

26

THE WARNING

“
Three months
to go now, Cora, how do you feel?” Evelyn asked her, the smile
twinkling in her eyes.

Cora puffed
out a breath. “I feel like I’m carrying a watermelon with no end
result.”

The coven
members around her laughed good naturedly. She had the mood swings
which meant everyone had made the effort to either keep the peace
or they avoided her at all costs. Everyone wanted to stay on her
good side.

“
You look
beautiful,” Jack told her.

“
I look like a
whale, you know my feet have swollen!”

“
And your
face,” Ciaran teased.

Cora threw a
blast of cold wind his way and watched with satisfaction when he
tumbled out of his chair.

“
There is an
end result, Cora, you must remember that,” Tabitha told
her.

“
So, everything
seems to be going to plan?” Alwena asked.

“
Yes, of
course, even with Alastair’s surprise visits,”

“
Do we still
have no word on Adanna?” Kayleigh asked from the Leeds
coven.

“
No, we are
still looking,” Dillon answered for Cora.

Cora liked
these meetings with everyone. They created a bond they so
desperately needed when facing Alastair. They built a trust that
Cora valued because she may have to put her life into their
hands.

It also gave
her one hell of a kick to know they were doing it all behind
Alastair’s back.

“
What is
Adanna’s power?” Eli asked.

The room
stilled. Some knew. Most didn’t, including herself. It was Tommy
who answered. “You are best seeing that for yourself. Because you
wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

She held back
the sigh of annoyance. She hated not knowing things.

*

The loud
banging on the door jolted Cora awake from her deep slumber. Her
heart jack hammered as Jack jumped out of bed.

Ember rushed
into the room. “It is Tavish but he isn’t alone.”

“
Alastair?”
Cora asked, her body jerking as Ember glanced at her
bump.

“
No. It is
someone I do not know.”

“
Great!” Jack
muttered as he stormed out of the room.

Luckily, Ember
had worked on Cora’s bump the previous evening. Cora had asked why
she couldn’t get rid of the bump instead of carrying it around with
her constantly. Apparently, it wasn’t that easy to build back up.
Nothing ever was.

They headed
downstairs as the sun peaked over the tops of the hills. The beauty
of that sunrise was swiftly pushed aside by the rage coursing
through her body. How dare Tavish call on them at this
hour?

Jack opened
the door, backed by Clay whose fists were clenched by his sides.
Cora could feel the water contained in that hand.

“
What the hell
is going on!” Jack hissed.

“
I need to see
you now.”

“
Question!”
Clay snapped. And then continued without giving Tavish a chance to
respond. “Do you own a watch? No...scrap that question...can you
even tell the bloody time?! Who do you think you are showing up
here! I have a right to punch you in the face right
now!”

“
I need to see
you,” Tavish repeated.

“
My fiancé is
pregnant. She needs her sleep and you come knocking before the
birds are even up! Who the hell is this?”

“
Oh, have A not
introduced yer?” Tavish said with a sneer. “This is Alex, the
leader of the Newcastle coven.”

Alex didn’t
say anything. His eyes, the colour of coal, looked at Cora. He
looked like he was sucking on a lemon.

“
Please, Alex,
enlighten them on what you have been saying,” Tavish
gloated.

Alex spat on
the floor at their feet. The action made Ember cluck her tongue,
disgusted by it. Cora didn’t like him.

“
They have a
plan. A plan to overthrow Alastair. Everything has been
faked.”

Cora felt her
element lurch toward Tavish. She pushed it and watched as Tavish
and Alex stumbled back. Alex looked at her, his hair, long and ash
blonde, flapped behind him. Ember gave her a cursory glance. So,
she’d let her element snap a little, it was early and she needed
her sleep. And, yes, she was nervous.

“
Who says
this?” Jack snapped.

“
I have my
sources,” Alex sneered.

“
How can it be
true?” Cora stormed as she stepped toward them. “You see the baby,
you can see that I look like a beached whale!”

Tavish and
Alex looked at her bump.

“
How did you do
it?” Alex asked, pointing at the bump.

Cora’s heart
jumped nervously. Jack stepped to her side, his hand resting on her
bump.

“
Two consenting
adults having sex. It’s how it usually works and how everyone else
does it!” Jack joked.

“
How do you
plan on overthrowing Alastair?” Tavish asked them.

“
Ask the all
singing, all dancing man,” Clay boasted.

Alex glared at
Clay. “I know what I know.”

Cora could
already see that Tavish was questioning their intentions. He
flicked his ginger hair behind his shoulder, a nervous sign. Apart
from her little burst of wind, everyone else was calm. This showed
they had nothing to hide. This is how it appeared to
Tavish.

“
How can we
possibly hide anything from Alastair? Why would we want to?” Cora
snapped. “It would get us nowhere other than in more trouble, and
I’m sick of trouble. I’m sick of drama. I just want a normal life
as a witch. I deserve that after everything I have been through
already!”

“
They have
their ways. They are lying!” Alex stormed.

“
Prove it!”
Ember snapped, knowing full well that he couldn’t do it.

Alex jumped at
Cora. Before he could step over the threshold, Jack and Clay were
on him. Clay’s hand was at Alex’s throat. Jack had lifted Alex so
his feet no longer touched the ground.

“
Oh no, you
don’t!” Ember jumped at Tavish.

Tavish stopped
in his tracks, forcing Ember to counter act what she had planned to
do. Her back was to Alex as Tavish sneered at her.

“
So, your
theory is wrong and now you resort to violence. What do you think
Alastair will have to say about this?”

Before anyone
could respond, Alex somehow jumped from the elements that bound
him. Alex moved so quickly that neither Jack nor Clay saw it
coming. Cora saw the glint of something in Alex’s hand. Before she
could say something, Ember’s body jerked as the knife punctured her
skin and slammed into her torso.