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“
Christ
almighty,” Ayden snapped, falling down beside Cora. “What the hell
is wrong with her?!”

“
Alastair gave
her something.... to the start the pregnancy,” Jack whispered as he
held Cora’s hand. She was barely holding onto
consciousness.

“
It was my
fault, they bound me! I should have called for help sooner!” Ciaran
stormed.

“
No, it was my
fault, I knew what was happening...I knew they were here and I
didn’t do anything.”

“
Ember?”
Tabitha asked.

“
I brought
Ciaran; I knew something was happening...I just didn’t know that
Alastair would do that. I didn’t know they would bind Ciaran like
they-”

“
You weren’t to
blame, Ember,” Tabitha told her.

“
I couldn’t get
you, I couldn’t tell you they were here. I knew you would have come
up from the coven room. I knew we would have given ourselves
up...”

“
Ember, really,
you don’t have to explain yourself, we know.”

“
But I feel
so-”

“
Guilty?” Jack
offered. “I wasn’t even here. Alastair had taken me out...I wish I
had done something differently, but this is what we are faced with
now. I should have-”

“
No more,” Eli
snapped. “You weren’t to blame. Alastair is sneaky. He will do as
he pleases.”

“
What happened
to your face?” Ayden asked.

“
It’s
nothing...”Jack shook his head.

“
Who was on
that side?” Eli asked, lifting Jack’s chin to look at his
face.

“
This isn’t the
time. We have to focus on Cora! What can we do, Tab?” Jack pleaded.
He couldn’t bear to see Cora like this. If he could change places
with her, he would.

“
We have to-”
Ember began as Cora’s screams cut her off.

“
Christ,”
Tabitha cursed, shocking the entire room. She never cursed. This
was the worst curse Tabitha would ever use. This did nothing to
help Jack’s nerves. Tabitha was their rock. If this had shaken her,
they were going to struggle.

36

LABOUR

“
How do we stop
it?” Jack shouted above the sudden commotion of people rushing
around the shop, finding ingredients as Tabitha shouted each
one.

Some members
still surrounded Cora, who was still panting on the floor, holding
the bump. Clay and Eli were standing guard at the shop door.
Alastair would not get back in. They would kill him if he tried. As
he watched things play out, knowing he had to wait, to rely on
someone else for help, he wanted to scream and head back out and
butcher Alastair.

If he lost
Cora...

“
We can’t stop
it,” Ember mumbled, holding Cora’s hand.

Jack could see
the fear in her eyes. It made his heart thump
erratically.

“
There has to
be a bloody way!” Ayden stormed.

Jack looked at
Ayden, who pushed his hands over his head, showing his nerves. They
didn’t know what to do, and this was new to them. Cora screamed,
making his heart slam against his chest. The women soothed her but
that didn’t help. Cora’s hand tightened in his, nearly breaking his
bones.

“
For Christ’s
sake! She isn’t even pregnant! Where the hell is the pain coming
from?” Jack demanded.

“
Whatever
Alastair gave her, it is forcin’ her body tae do the things it
would in a pregnant woman,” Cathella informed him
quietly.

This news made
his mouth go dry.

“
I...I...” Cora
panted.

Jack pushed
the fallen hair from her face. “What is it, beautiful?”

Cora looked at
him from her position on the floor. Her eyes were glazed over with
pain as sweat beaded on her forehead. “I’m going...to goddamn kill
that man!”

Jack smiled,
brushing his lips gently over her nose. “You can do it first,
babe.”

Cora nodded
and sucked in another breath, readying herself for another
onslaught of pain.

“
Breathe
through it, there you are,” Iona soothed.

“
I...I
need...bloody drugs!”

Iona chuckled
softly. “Now you sound like a woman giving birth.”

Jack could
kiss Iona for keeping up with the good humour. Despite Iona’s good
mood, Jack knew things were bad, that this may end very badly for
them. Tabitha rubbed Cora’s back whilst her pale green eyes looked
at him. Her worry had sucked the colour out of her. Her eyes were
full of questions, ones he couldn’t answer. Jack didn’t like to see
Tabitha at a loss like this. If she didn’t know what to do about
this, then they were all in trouble.

“
I can’t do
this!” Cora cried as another wave of pain took hold of her. “This
shouldn’t be happening!”

Tabitha
soothed Cora as Ember came to sit beside him.

“
What the hell
happened, Jack?” Ayden asked.

He held Cora’s
hand feeling guilty over what had happened. “Bloody Alastair
happened!”

Jack explained
what had happened with input from Ciaran, and the moans from
Cora.

“
So your
adoptive parents are dead?” Kayla asked.

Jack nodded.
“He only can use those who have passed, but he uses us, he takes us
into his element. I thought he had done that again, but he’d
perfected their actions, their temperaments. I only realised once
they’d disappeared.”

“
You think
Alastair killed them?” Eli asked.

“
I believe so.”
Jack shrugged. “I hate that Alastair took that right away from me.
If anything was going to happen to them, it had to be by my
hand.

“
You know that
I do not agree with murder-”

“
Tab?” Clay
snapped.

“
Tabitha, if
you could-”

“
But,” Tabitha
interjected. “Alastair has taken that right. It was yours, you
should have been the one... you never got your chance.”

“
Tabitha, do
you have any idea what could have been in that drink?” Ayden
inquired. His face held the stress, his eyes pure ice.

Tabitha was
shaking her head. “It could be anything. I don’t know if I can find
anything to stop it.”

“
Quinn is
mine!” Clay growled from his position at the door.

“
We need
Adanna!”

“
I found her,”
Kayla told them. “That is what I came to tell you.”

“
I’m coming
with you,” Ciaran offered.

Ember nodded
as she held Ciaran and Evelyn. She took them, Iona keeping her body
safe, and came back for Kayla. Ember’s grey eyes bored into his
before she disappeared. He nodded. He would let her know if things
got worse.

“
Jack, we need
to get her upstairs,” Tabitha whispered.

“
Cathella, you
can help me. You know Alastair better than anyone here.”

Jack nodded as
Cathella rushed up into the flat with many things held in her arms.
He bent to lift Cora, saw the fear in her eyes.

“
Jack,” she
whispered.

“
I know, hold
onto me.”

His whole body
shook with nerves as he levitated up the stairs with her. He
figured using his element would be a smoother transition for her.
Her eyes were closed and her eyebrows were pulled together, showing
her pain.

He gently
placed her on the sofa. Her clammy hand remained in his, keeping
him close.

“
Oh my god!
It’s tightening!” Cora screeched. “It burns!”

Cathella stood
behind Jack, her amber eyes shone with worry. “This isnae good,”
she murmured.

“
Tell me
something we don’t already know!” Jack grunted.

“
No, A mean,
this isn’t good for her body.”

They all
looked at Cathella, waiting for the rest of the
explanation.

“
What is
happening?” Jack demanded. He had a feeling Cathella knew
more.

“
Alastair gave
her something that is forcing contractions. There is nothing tae
push out. It won’t simply be the pain of the contractions she
feels, her body is cramping and pushing when she
shouldn’t...”

“
She
shouldn’t,” Tabitha gasped. “It will...”

Cathella was
shaking her head.

Jack slammed
his fist down on the coffee table. “What else, God
damnit!”

“
A believe that
she is goin’ tae bleed out because of the straining,” Cathella
whispered.

Jack shook his
head. His tongue was so dry and thick in his mouth, he couldn’t
speak. Cora was very pale; her lips were blue and
cracked.

“
She needs
water, ice, get some now,” Iona instructed, rolling up her
sleeves.

Cathella set
to work placing towels under Cora.

“
Iona,” Tabitha
whispered. “Is there something we can do?” Tabitha had broken. She
never showed her fear. Seeing Cora this way was hard. It could push
anyone over the edge. After everything they’d been through, Tabitha
would want Cora to survive this.

This could
actually be worse than the change
... a
small voice inside his head told him.

Iona’s lips
were pulled thinly. “We will try everything we can.”

Jack slid
beside Cora on the sofa as the women rushed around him. Iona had
set up a makeshift IV. Tabitha had given Cora something that had
instantly erupted out of her mouth.

“
Tab?” Jack
asked.

“
We have to try
everything we can, it will mean she will do that a
lot...”

Jack soothed,
pushing back Cora’s hair and holding a cool cloth to her
forehead.

“
Jack,” Cora
whispered.

“
Yeah,” he
said, kissing her hair.

“
What
if...”

“
Sssshhh,” Jack
urged. Jack could feel the crack forming in his heart, threatening
to break. He held back his tears. “This won’t be our end, Cora, I
promise you this. It won’t happen.”

Cora sighed,
her body slumped against his as the pain enveloped her.

“
I love you,
Cora,” Jack whispered, pulling her closer to him.

He held her
and saw the first wave of red wash up against the
towels.

37

Blood, sweat and tears

Cora lost
consciousness for what seemed like the hundredth time. Each and
every time Cora did this, Jack felt sick with worry. What if that
was the last time he saw her eyes? The last time her breath left
her lungs? He knew he shouldn’t think like that, but watching her
this way, pushed all of his fears to the front. He couldn’t take
his eyes off the red towels.

“
Jack!” Clay
rushed in and instantly recoiled when he saw the bloody scene. The
colour slid from his face.

“
What is it,
Clay?”

“
Alastair is
here.”

Jack gently
moved Cora aside, putting her head down on the pillow. He stretched
and he felt the anger surge into his body, overwhelming him,
pushing the angry red into his vision so he couldn’t see
straight.

“
Jack, just be
careful how you present yourself,” Tabitha urged.

“
We have it all
in hand here,” Iona assured him.

Jack touched
Iona’s arm, thankful for her presence.

“
Jack?” Cora
whispered.

“
I’m here,” he
comforted.

Cora opened
her eyes, tears always shimmering in them from the pain.
“Kick...his ass.”

Jack smiled
and bent to touch his lips to her hot forehead for a second before
he stood again and looked at Tabitha.

“
Go, she’s in
good hands.”

Clay headed
down the stairs first, no doubt eager to leave the room with all
the blood. Jack took a deep breath tasting the iron, before heading
into the shop.

“
Haur comes the
proud father! Yer looking pale, Jack!” Alastair scoffed.

“
Hmm...” Jack
responded, as calmly as he could.

“
A see yer have
some battle wounds,” Alastair sneered joyfully.

“
I survived
though, didn’t I?”

“
So, how is
Cora?” Alastair inquired, ignoring Jack’s comment.

“
In labour!”
Jack snapped, losing some of his cool.

“
Aye, well,
yer’d hope so,” Tavish chortled.

Jack planted
his feet. He caught the look in Clay’s eyes, a look that told him
to hold back. It was Ayden who stepped forward.

“
Everythin’
seems so tense, yer huv nothin’ tae worry aboot. Women do this all
the time,” Alastair belittled.

Jack remained
quiet. The silence continued as Alastair studied the men that
surrounded him.

“
Is everythin’
progressin’ well then?”

“
Yes,” Ayden
hissed.