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27

NEWCASTLE COVEN

Cora screamed
and fell to her knees beside Ember. Her hands instantly pushed
against the wound, holding back the rush of blood that was pumping
out of the gaping hole. Cora felt bile rise in her throat. Ember’s
pale eyes looked at her as her head rested on the ground. Cora’s
heart fissured. That was all she allowed it to do. She wouldn’t
allow herself to believe anything would happen to Ember. The worry
still pushed forward. She couldn’t hold that back.

“
Damn it,”
Ember hissed as her grey eyes clouded.

“
Ember! Don’t
you dare! Stay with me!” Cora cried out, holding her
friend.

“
Ember!” Clay
stormed.

“
Clay, ring
Tab!”

Clay nodded.
He dialled Tabitha and threw a surge of water at Tavish. Tavish
disappeared and reappeared, the water hadn’t hit him. Jack had a
good firm grip on Alex who now floated mid air.

“
Cora!” Ayden
shouted as he ran to them with Tabitha quick on his
heels.

“
It isn’t me,
it’s Ember.”

“
I’m fine,”
Ember panted.

Cora tightened
her grip on Ember, holding her hands against the wound so that it
seeped through her hands. Ayden knelt beside them, and moved her
hands away so he could look at it.

“
It is okay, we
can sort this. Who did it?”

Cora looked up
at Alex just as Ayden growled and stalked towards Tavish. Tabitha
rushed towards them.

“
Cora, I’ve got
this.”

Cora stood
with Ember’s blood on her hands and joined Ayden, heading towards
Tavish.

“
Does he know
you are here?” she hissed.

The truth
passed over Tavish’s face. “A don’t answer tae him all the
time.”

“
If he knew
what had happened, you’d be finished! He wouldn’t want you to
remain in the coven.”

Jack cursed
and let Alex drop to the floor. Alex cried out. Jack sneered at the
sound of a bone breaking. He lifted Alex back into the air, higher
this time. The look of horror on Alex’s face made Jack
grin.

“
Jack! Let him
really feel the effect of gravity!” Ember gasped as Tabitha applied
something to her back.

Jack nodded
and rose higher in the air. He let Alex fall. They stood watch over
Tavish, waiting for him to make a move. He didn’t. Tavish didn’t
care about anyone other than himself and his sister.

Alex hit the
floor, the sound of several bones breaking echoed around them. Cora
was surprised to see Ember now stood up. Ember moved quickly behind
Alex and lifted him onto his feet. Alex cursed, his face now
white.

“
You think that
hurts!” Ember hissed. She gripped his broken arm and applied enough
pressure to make him yelp.

Cora saw the
blood on her top with the knowledge that she could have died.
Knowing if Tabitha wasn’t so good with potions, they would have
lost another they loved. It made her stomach do
cartwheels.

Ember and Alex
quickly disappeared, leaving behind a body that still lost blood
and a face that still held lines that showed her pain.

“
Tab?” Cora
asked.

“
We need to get
her more help, I have patched her up for now. The knife nicked her
kidney, I can fix that, but she wanted to end this. ” Tabitha
answered her, looking at Ember’s body.

“
I’ve had
enough of this!” Eli growled as a barrage of rocks hurtled toward
Tavish.

Cora blinked
and Tavish disappeared.

“
Cora!
Move!”

She moved
quickly, as did Clay. They stepped into her doorway as it rained
rocks. What surprised them was the outline they saw. The rocks,
because there was so many of them, outlined Tavish as he moved.
Clay picked up a good sized rock and launched it at the
gap.

It thudded
against his head. On impact, Tavish dropped to the floor and
appeared in full form. Ember reappeared, panting from the effort of
using her gift. Tabitha rushed to Ember’s aid and held
her.

“
Ember?”

“
I’m
okay.”

“
We need
Kayleigh,” Cora mumbled.

Jack flew up
into the streamlined sky and headed towards Lemon Tree.

“
Ember, I need
to get you inside,” Tabitha urged.

“
No,
I’m-”

“
Please Ember,
I can’t worry about you as well as everything else,” Cora
insisted.

Ember nodded.
“As you wish.”

“
Where did you
take Alex?”

Ember looked
at the now unconscious Tavish. “A prison in America. He should be
there for a long time.”

As Tabitha
chuckled, keeping the mood as cheerful as possible in these
situations, she helped Ember into the house. Cora assessed the
area. Where was the rest of the Newcastle coven? They had to be
close by.

“
Clay, Ayden,
check the woods.”

They nodded
and headed in separate directions. Jack levitated back with
Kayleigh. Kayleigh didn’t look at Tavish as her feet touched the
floor, she simply nodded at Cora. “What do you need me to
do?”

“
I would like
you to manipulate Tavish’s thoughts. He should be dreaming. Can you
do that?”

“
Yeah.”

“
Good.”

“
How would you
like me to manipulate him?”

“
Give him a
nightmare, the worst kind of nightmare.”

Kayleigh knelt
beside Tavish. Cora could see that her gift worked very quickly.
Tavish began twitching and moaning. Ember walked to her, followed
by Tabitha. Cora put her hand on the drying blood.

“
I’m okay,
Cora.”

Cora let some
of the tension lift. With it, some of the fear pushed forward
making her eyes sting. “Good, because I thought I was going to lose
you.”

“
Never,” Ember
said as she hugged her.

“
What is she
doing?” Tabitha questioned, looking at Kayleigh.

“
Giving Tavish
one hell of a nightmare.”

Kayleigh
stood. “It is done. He may act a little differently around you,
Cora. You’ve kicked his ass in the dream I’ve forced him
into.”

“
That will be a
reality soon. He is lucky I didn’t kill him.”

“
He’s had too
many chances,” Jack snarled.

“
I agree, I’m
going to take him, although I would love Alastair to know about
this eventually,” Ember commented.

Cora nodded
and watched Ember leave with Tavish.

“
I’m going to
take Kayleigh back,” Jack said as they began levitating.

“
Thank you,
Kayleigh.”

Kayleigh
nodded as they shot off towards Lemon Tree. Water stormed in from
the edge of the trees, lapping at their feet. Three witches, two
men and one woman, washed up in front of them,
spluttering.

“
Where is
Alex?” The elder man asked.

“
He is gone and
I suggest you do the same.” Cora jerked her head in the direction
of her drive.

“
We never knew
what he was-”

“
I’d stop
talking before you incriminate yourself. You might as well dig your
own graves. Your behaviour today was unsatisfactory. Expect to come
back here and face the consequences. I don’t understand how you can
stand back and allow your leader to terrorise someone who hasn’t
done anything wrong. If I wanted to, I could make you all pay for
his actions, even though you have done nothing wrong, but I won’t.
You don’t deserve that kind of sentence. Go away and think about
what you have done today.”

“
Spoken like a
true leader,” Tabitha murmured.

“
I believe you
knew what he had planned when you came here, and I believe you were
foolish enough to believe it would work. Lucky for you, I like to
give people a second chance. But bear in mind, you will only get
this chance. If you do something again, your whole coven will bear
the consequences.”

“
Who is our
leader?” The woman questioned as she pushed her wet copper hair
from her face.

“
I am,” Cora
snapped. “Go back to Newcastle and do not bother me again.
Understood?”

Jack and Ayden
walked from the woods. Ayden’s nod let her know she was only
dealing with the three in front of her.

“
How do we get
home?” the man asked her.

Cora shrugged.
“You found your way here.”

They walked
into the house, closing the door behind them.

28

ADANNA

The shop was
open for business and Mrs Rogers was taking advantage, making her
way around the shop slowly. In Mrs Rogers style, she picked up
every item to look at, even though she’d bought and used many of
them. Cora stifled her giggle as Mrs Rogers picked up a heart
shaped bath bomb along with the baby chicks. The secret ingredients
in those worked on the man, getting him in the mood. The baby
chicks helped with fertility.

“
Cora, dear,
have you done something to your foot?” Mrs Rogers asked.

“
No, I’m
fine.”

The pregnancy
wasn’t seen by Commoners, but Cora’s hobble was noticeable. She had
two months left and she walked like someone who had been on a horse
too long.

“
Are you sure,
dear?”

“
Mrs Rogers,”
Jack intervened, “Please, let me hold your basket for
you.”

Jack winked at
Cora and grinned at Mrs Rogers.

“
Oh, my,” the
elderly woman sighed.

Cora knew how
she felt. Jack had that effect on women.

“
When will you
marry her,” Mrs Rogers whispered loud enough for Cora to
hear.

“
As soon as I
can,” Jack murmured, the twinkle in his eyes making Cora’s insides
melt.

Jack helped
Mrs Rogers to the counter as she started closing up for the day.
Ciaran walked into the shop from Tabitha’s flat above.

“
Let me get the
door for you,” Ciaran offered as he rushed to the door.

“
Oooo, I’m one
lucky lady today.”

Ciaran smiled
and watched her go before locking up. “Everyone is
downstairs.”

Cora sighed.
They were running out of time. Every day that passed made her blood
pressure rocket. Alastair had to go.

Ciaran headed
down to the coven meeting room, leaving her alone with Jack. His
arms slid around her waist, a move he made more than she could
count, yet it felt stranger and stranger as the ‘pregnancy’
progressed. She hated that the bump got in the way. That it changed
the intimacy between them, or so she felt, she hadn’t discussed it
with Jack.

“
When can I be
alone with you again?” Jack murmured. He lifted his hand so it
cupped her face before pushing strands of her hair behind her
ear.

In moments
like this, he quite literally took her breath away. That he loved
her, no matter what. “You want to...with me like this?”

“
I love you any
way I can have you. But, I’ve made a deal with Ember. It requires
an all nighter...”

“
Oh, really?”
Cora grinned as his lips brushed against her nose. Her heart was
already tripping over itself.

“
Yeah. We need
to get rid of the bump. Ember will do it, but for a
price.”

“
What
price?”

“
That is for me
to know and you to never find out.”

“
Hmmm..”

“
You’re sexy
when you’re suspicious.”

She laughed
and then his mouth silenced her.

“
Save it for
another time. We have guests,” Ayden interrupted with a wicked grin
as he pushed past them on his way down into the coven
room.

Jack growled
and whispered in her ear, “Soon.”

She smiled,
taking his hand as they followed Ayden down the stairs, along the
tunnels and into the coven room. The covens had already begun to
come together.

As each of
them took a seat around the table, Eli cleared his throat. “We need
to get to the Chester coven,” Eli suggested.

“
Yes, but we
have had enough holidays. Alastair will become suspicious,” Tabitha
argued as Cora took a seat.

“
They need to
come here then,” Jack offered.

“
There are only
so many rooms in Lemon Tree,” Tommy said.

“
Well, people
can stay with us, and with Eli and Ayden,” Cora
suggested.

“
It could be a
problem,” Evelyn told them.

“
Why?”

“
Well, from
what I know, the Chester coven members do not
communicate.”

“
What do you
mean?” Clay asked.

“
They don’t
talk.”

“
Ever?” Ember
asked.

How could they
live like that? Cora looked at her coven. They were her family. She
couldn’t go a day without seeing them or speaking with
them.