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“
How is your
brother?” Cora goaded Quinn.

Jack felt her
element encase him. Quinn’s elemental power was weak, but he could
become physical. Any holes would be covered. Cora was expecting
something to happen.

Quinn looked
at Alastair. Judging by the uncertain look on Quinn’s face, he
didn’t know if Alastair had done something. The lack of trust
between them was something Jack could use to break them.

Jack watched
it happen, as if the world had slowed just for him. Quinn stepped
towards Alastair, many question showing in his eyes. Tavish moved
into Quinn. Things were going to kick off; everyone could see the
mounting tension. Alastair lurched towards the two of
them.

The world
flashed back to normal speed. Cora threw her element at Quinn which
in turn knocked Tavish off balance. Jack broke the protective
bubble as he jumped towards Tavish. With his arms outstretched,
Tavish was ready for him. Tavish grabbed Jack and lifted him then
threw him against the large bookcase.

The shop
turned around him as his body experienced the lack of gravity. It
lasted no more than a few seconds. He felt the punch of the
bookcase against his back. Jack’s body hissed in pain as books,
potions and ornaments stumbled over, falling onto him. Jack
growled, pushing himself up to his feet. Ignoring the pain, he
launched himself at Tavish who instantly disappeared.

Jack halted
and was caught unawares as Alastair was closer than he would have
liked. Quinn was stood with his back to him. How had that happened?
Jack smirked, Cora was safe. That bump was the one thing keeping
her safe. It didn’t mean she wouldn’t use her gift.

Jack looked
into her eyes, the silent command played out in his. Quinn yelped
the second he was lifted, encased in a lethal mini tornado. It
circled him, the wind rushing faster and faster around his
body.

“
I
can’t...I...” Quinn gasped.

“
You can’t
breathe?” Jack said, cocking his head to the side as he chuckled.
“Good!”

Jack nodded
his head at Cora, she made sure Quinn hit the window area with a
loud crash. Before Jack could make his next move, Tavish popped up
behind Ciaran. A large knife was held up against Ciaran’s throat.
Jack wasn’t worried, especially when he saw the smile spread on
Ciaran’s face.

“
You know you
can’t hurt me,” Ciaran sneered.

“
I can have fun
trying,” Tavish hissed.

The knife slid
across Ciaran’s throat. Jack had to admit, seeing it made his heart
jump into his mouth, and for a good minute, he felt that heart
thud. Cora gasped, her concern evident in her eyes, but Ciaran
remained on his feet.

Blood gushed
out, Jack watched, surprised as the blood pumped out of the gaping
wound, stalled, and then started to make its way back
in.

“
Please,
continue. We have all day,” Ciaran said sweetly.

Jack shook his
head. He fully appreciated Ciaran’s element now he’d really seen it
work.

Tavish cursed.
“Fine! I can’t kill you, but I can bind you!”

Quinn leaped
at Jack from behind, falling onto Ciaran instead. Ciaran was the
threat. Everything they did, they knew that Ciaran would survive
it. Tavish and Quinn set to work as they held Ciaran. Cora threw
her element but without hurting Ciaran, she couldn’t use the full
force of her power.

Alastair
quickly moved, bringing Jack’s attention to him. Jack turned, ready
to handle him. Instead, Jack sucked in a breath when he realised
that Alastair was closer than he expected. Alastair grinned the
second he touched Jack. Jack’s feet left the floor. One moment, he
was in the shop, the next, he was within Alastair’s element. Only
this time, it wasn’t the Corenthio Coven that stood there to greet
him.

Jack gasped
and stumbled back. The blood rushed to his head, thumping loudly as
the man who had abused him, and made his life a living hell for
more years than he cared to count, stepped towards him. They both
were there. This was like a sick, demented family
reunion.

“
Well...well...” Victor Thomas leered, eyes the colour of rust,
glared at Jack.

Jack looked at
him, frozen in shock as the fist neared his face.

35

THE THOMAS FAMILY

His face
stung. The blood that pooled in his mouth made him gag. Still, Jack
didn’t respond. He’d grown up since leaving this family. He’d
learnt a lot about himself.

It also helped
knowing that they weren’t real.

It couldn’t be
real. But how had Alastair brought them here?

Perhaps the
same way he brought me here?

“
I always knew
you would amount to nothing!” Maggie Thomas screeched. Her thinning
ginger hair was pulled into a high bun, her face was sheet white
and stretched. Her eyes, dark pools of blue, glared at
him.

Jack couldn’t
think straight. This was worse than the Corenthio Coven. The
Corenthio Coven had never had any power over him. He’d faced them,
understanding he may have died under their hand, but he’d trained
for the attack. His family were meant to love him, to protect him.
Yet, since before he could remember, they had abused him. They’d
hurt him in every way possible.

His new
family- Cora, everyone who loved him- they had saved him. Without
them, facing the Thomas family today may have pushed him over the
edge of sanity.

He hadn’t
trained himself to accept the fists, the abuse from someone who
should have loved him.

Victor swung
back his clenched hand, Jack watched it move towards his face. The
force of the fist knocked him off his feet.

“
You ruined our
lives!” Stuart hissed as he approached him from the many hiding
places.

“
You ruined
mine!” Jack gasped as he pushed himself to his feet. He could taste
the blood from his split lip when it protested as he
spoke.

“
I’m older now,
you can’t bully me anymore!” Stuart shouted.

The shock of
his lie made Jack smile. “I bullied...you?”

“
Now you’re
admitting it, lad!” Victor boomed.

Jack’s anger
snapped. “It was a question, you bastard!”

“
I’ve had
enough of his cheek!” Maggie cried out. “He needs to pay for what
he’s done to us!”

Jack held his
head high, held his stance as he waited for the clenched hand to
smash into the side of his face. Instead, it was a fist to the
heart.

His mother
stepped out of the shadows. Jack sucked in a breath. Before he
could gain control of his emotions, his sister joined his mother.
Jack felt the lump drop into his throat, taking away his ability to
breathe.

“
Mum?” he
whispered.

Her brown eyes
smiled mischievously as her greying hair fell loosely around her
waist. Her slight frame carried robes which hugged her petite
figure.

Jack knew her,
he could feel the familiarity. A rush of warmth coursed through
him. He remembered her. Memories would no doubt come later. Right
now, his heart nearly burst out of his chest knowing that his true
family were here with him.

“
Hello, my
handsome man.”

“
Brother,” Anne
whispered. Her hand was held in his mother’s.

Jack smiled,
despite the situation. He looked a lot like his sister. The shape
of their eyes, the depth of the chocolate seen in them. Anne’s hair
held traces of russet, adding to the volume.

“
What a lovely
family reunion!” Maggie spat as she ran at his mother. His mother
didn’t move as Maggie slapped her across the face.

“
No!” Jack
jumped into action as his mother fell to the floor, holding her
cheek.

He didn’t aid
his mother; he could see that Anne was already knelt beside her.
Instead, he focused on Maggie. His hands grabbed her arm which felt
like he was touching her bone. There was nothing to her, no muscle,
or fat. He threw his element out and let her fly. She looked like a
feather caught up in a gust of wind. Stuart, rather stupidly, ran
towards him. He quickly joined his mother in the
darkness.

Jack faced the
man who had controlled him for years, with the hatred fuelling him.
Jack was stronger now. He would protect himself and those he loved.
Victor held his sister. Jack saw the tears spring to her eyes as
his hand tightened.

They weren’t
real, Jack chanted. His sister wasn’t here. She didn’t feel pain.
But he could inflict pain on the Thomas family. He would inflict
the pain he’d always wanted to if he ever found them
again.

He had to
focus on Victor.

Jack cried out
in frustration and ran at Victor. He enjoyed the crunch as his fist
hit Victor’s face. His sister stumbled back, leaving room for Jack
to wrestle Victor to the floor.

“
Jack, help
me,” Anne whispered. Her wide eyes were pleading with
him.

Jack looked up
and saw the body of his sister sinking into the clouds. His gut
twisted with worry, with fear and grief. His head told him it
wasn’t real. He had to focus on Victor, even with his sister’s
pleas ringing in his ears.

Victor’s rust
coloured eyes narrowed viciously. “You won’t win!”

“
You don’t know
me. You’ve never known me and I will beat you!”

Jack wrapped
his arm around Victor’s neck and held on. His sister still cried
out for him. Saying his name over and over. His heart broke to hear
it. Victor’s face started to turn red. His eyes bulged when he
realised that Jack wasn’t going to let go, not until all life was
extinguished.

Jack realised
the truth at that moment. Jack understood he would kill this man
and this woman. He would kill, and he would feel happy about it.
Whatever this made him, he would not apologise for it.

The law, the
system hadn’t helped Jack when he’d needed it the most. There was
no evidence of this abuse, other than the poor attendance records
and they meant nothing. The witch system was different. Protecting
themselves, fulfilling ones destiny, this was the way of the
witch.

Jack continued
pushing down. Victor buckled, holding onto the belief that he could
get out of this situation. His eyes lost focus for a moment, came
back, and blurred again.

Jack watched
the life slip out of his eyes and he realised that he was testing
himself. Before Jack could catch his breath, Victor disappeared.
Had he died? Where was his body? Jack panted now, angry at Alastair
for putting him in this predicament. He’d used him. He’d fooled
him. Realisation hit him.

They were dead
already.

Victor.
Maggie. Stuart. They had died at the hands of Alastair. They had
now become his puppets in this place. A place where Alastair could
only use the dead.

His sister had
gone. His mother was no longer here. Alastair had no further use
for them. Jack had ignored them. Despite knowing they weren’t real,
his heart still ached with grief. He felt the ground shake. Jack
stood and cursed, waiting for the next threat to appear. Before he
could gather his element, the world turned black.

Jack crashed
into the shop the second Alastair was forcing something into Cora’s
mouth. She was unable to move. Alastair had forced her into a
corner. Tavish and Quinn had pinned Ciaran to the floor. Ciaran
cursed and fought but to no avail. They couldn’t kill him, but they
could contain him. Jack tried to ignore the pain that rushed
through his body. After landing, he took a deep breath and pushed
all the strength he had into his legs.

Jack moved, he
ran to her but Alastair had finished pushing the liquid into Cora’s
mouth. She instantly bent over and screamed.

“
A’ve started
the process. The baby will be along shortly.”

Alastair
nodded at Tavish and Quinn. They backed away from Ciaran as if he
was a bomb about to explode. Ciaran quickly jumped up, his fists
bunched as he growled at them. As Alastair opened the door, he
turned. “Oh, and A hope yer had a lovely family reunion,
Jack.”

Jack growled
and unleashed some of his element. The three of them flew back into
the street. Jack watched as Alastair stood, dusted off the dirt and
cast Jack a disgusted look before he moved on.

“
We found...”
Kayla called excitedly as she jumped up the stairs from the coven
room, into the shop. She stalled once she saw the
destruction.

“
Tab!” Jack
shouted as he held Cora’s hand, Cora was now sprawled on the floor
in pain.

Tabitha rushed
up the stairs into the shop. Her leaf green eyes studied the room
as she knelt down beside Cora. “What happened?”

“
Alastair and
his goonies,” Ciaran snarled.

“
What-”

Tabitha’s
question was cut short by Cora’s screams. Cora gurgled and then
vomit erupted out of her mouth.

The rest of
the coven members had rushed upstairs, following the sounds of the
screams. They found Cora laid on the floor, her face as white as a
sheet as she lay there, surrounded by vomit. Jack and Tabitha knelt
by her side.