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“
I don’t know,”
Cora responded.

How was
Melitta going to take Alastair’s power when that had already been
done?

Melitta pulled
back her fist and launched it at Alastair’s face. Blood sprayed
from his mouth showering the ground. Alastair groaned as another
crack formed near his knee. Melitta nodded and walked away from
Alastair as he gagged on his own blood. That was quick. She
couldn’t do anything with her own element so punching him in the
face would probably suffice for Melitta.

Evander and
Varick remained at the back as Melitta walked around them and into
the darkness. The two members of Corenthio Coven focused on their
prey. They looked over him, assessed his weaknesses. How they could
kill him? Who would begin first? They’d left this part of things to
Adanna. As long as Alastair died, by his own element, that was
enough.

Cora reminded
herself that they could handle the Corenthio Coven. Their new,
bigger coven could deal with it, if anything happened.

Evander and
Varick stepped towards Alastair as one. Their footsteps silent on
the ground. Cora bit her lip as she felt the excited tremors run
through Jack’s body. This was it. The final. The end that they’d so
desperately wanted for over a year.

Cora took a
deep breath, her heart galloping with joy. Alastair looked at them
through the wall and he sneered at them before turning his
attention back to the two Corenthio Coven members who would bring
him the worst kind of pain, the two who always remained until the
bitter end.

Cora knew.
She’d experienced the strength of the two members. She’d felt the
pain. She smiled. This was their sweet justice. This was the
end.

4
1

Alastair’s demise

Evander’s long
white hair flowed behind him as merciless steel eyes studied
Alastair. Varick with his straight black hair and death black eyes,
moved away from Evander. The two of them were approaching from
opposite directions.

“
How do you
know they worked like this?” Tabitha asked Adanna.

“
Oh, I used to
follow them on their little missions.”

Tabitha
appeared stricken by this news. “What? Did they know
this?”

“
No. I’m rather
good at what I do.”

Jack nodded.
“Hiding is your forte.”

Understanding
dawned on Cora. Yes, she was good at it.

Alastair
whimpered, bringing their attention back to him. A bright light
shot from Varick into Alastair’s hair and a fire started
quickly.

Without having
the movement of his legs, Alastair struggled to extinguish the
flames that were taking hold. He screamed as his hands tried to
douse the flames. Varick strolled towards Alastair, a smile playing
on his thin lips. Varick’s hand was outstretched, as his hand
touched Alastair’s head, his hair disintegrated to the floor. Ash
surrounded Alastair. Angry red lines were embedded in Alastair
head. His head was scorched.

“
Oh my god,”
Cora gasped. “Could he do that?”

Adanna nodded.
“He had done that on many occasions. I’ve seen it.”

Evander took
over. No words were spoken but Cora could see the joy in Evander’s
eyes. They smiled, without actually smiling. Alastair started
shaking uncontrollably. As he screamed, another bolt of lightning
scorched Alastair’s shoulder. Cora nearly gagged as the smell of
burning flesh engulfed her. Ciaran stepped up beside Adanna. His
blue eyes were dull as he focused on Alastair. His fists were
clenched at his sides.

Cora heard
Alastair’s bones groan as Evander applied more pressure. Alastair
gasped, vomiting as the bone in his arm snapped, puncturing the
skin so everyone could see the splintered bone.

Cora had been
through that. She’d felt the blinding pain. She’d been so close to
death. Alastair had forced people to see the Corenthio Coven
whenever he chose. He’d used their deaths as his own gain. He was
having a taste of his own medicine now.

“
Cora, you will
let the guard down in a moment,” Adanna instructed.

If she let her
guard down, they could do something. Cora knew what it felt like to
feel your bones crush under the pressure, but before she voiced her
concerns, Alastair screamed as more pressure was applied to his
body. Evander would be working on Alastair’s organs. Blood bubbles
popped at the corners of Alastair’s mouth.

“
Now,
Cora.”

Cora looked at
Adanna. “Are you sure?”

“
Yes, just
remember that I control them, but they can still react to your
presence. Their reactions I cannot control, only their
power.”

Cora let it
slide. Evander looked their way. Melitta appeared from the shadows
and stepped towards their group. Her lips pouted before smiling.
Cora held her hands by her sides. Melitta screeched and jumped at
Cora. Cora didn’t have time to think. She planted her fist into
Melitta’s face. Melitta vanished, leaving Cora with a throbbing
hand.

“
Jesus, babe,
remind me never to get on the wrong side of you.” Jack lifted her
throbbing hand and brushed his lips against her
knuckles.

Their whole
group descended on the two remaining Corenthio Coven members and
Alastair, who was lying on the floor, panting from the
pain.

“
This isn’t
part of the plan,” Tabitha said, looking at Adanna.

Adanna
shrugged. “I’ve changed it, for your satisfaction.”

“
How can I be
satisfied when that man is still here,” Clay muttered.

“
You will see,”
Adanna all but sang.

As they came
to a halt in front of Alastair, Varick walked towards them, the
blue threads of electricity spiking in his hands.

“
Clay?” Adanna
suggested as she gestured with her hand.

Clay surged
forward. Cora held her breath as the blue latched on to Clay. It
didn’t work. Clay’s fist punched Varick with a satisfying
crunch.

“
You know,
Adanna, you were right. This is way better than what was
planned!”

Clay continued
to pummel Varick until he was breathing heavily and Varick stumbled
to the floor. Evander remained rooted to the spot as he watched the
events.

“
Why does he
get all the fun?” Ayden complained.

Adanna
shrugged again. “No one is holding you back.”

Ayden jumped
at Evander. He popped into four and then started his attack on the
man who’d taken everything.

Clay sighed.
“I’m done,” he said as he snapped Varick’s neck.

Varick
disappeared.

Ayden
continued. His curses filled the shop. This was the last time Ayden
could do this. The last time he could really seek justice for
Laura’s death. For his child’s death. Cora gave him one minute more
before she stepped up to Ayden and placed her hand on his arm.
“Enough.”

Ayden panted,
tears streaming down his face, but he nodded.

“
Okay, now for
the finale,” Adanna said. “Ciaran?”

Ciaran numbly
stepped alongside Adanna who now stood at Alastair’s frozen
legs.

“
You can do one
thing,” Adanna told Ciaran. “And then we finish this.”

Ciaran took a
deep breath and clenched his fists. “Look at me,” he spat and
grabbed Alastair’s chin, forcing the man to look at him.

Alastair made
a gurgling noise but his eyes glared at Ciaran.

“
You took my
little sister and you made her part of your sick plan. You don’t
get to see my hurt and my heartbreak; instead you get to see how
that fuels my anger.

“
You don’t know
what it feels like to lose someone that way. You refuse to get
close to people, but I will take great satisfaction in hurting you.
I will make sure you feel the kind of pain I do,” Ciaran snarled as
tears shimmered in his eyes.

Cora felt the
urge to help him but held it back. He needed to do this.

“
Look at what
you’ve become; you are your worst nightmare. You are broken, weak.
I will remember you until my dying day, but now, thanks to our new
leader, I will remember you like this. She is ten times the leader
you could ever wish to be!”

Cora could
hear Iona quietly sob behind her. Ciaran stood up straighter, took
another calming breath and then lifted his foot. He clenched his
fists and brought that foot down onto Alastair’s leg. It shattered.
Shards of frozen glass and frozen skin flew in all directions.
Ciaran continued until he reached Alastair’s waist.

Alastair
mumbled incoherently as he dipped in and out of
consciousness.

“
Da, that other
leg is yours,” Ciaran whispered. He brushed past Cora, squeezing
her shoulder.

Cian stepped
up to Alastair, having remained quiet in the back. Cora now could
see why. The emotion had completely consumed him. Tears streamed
down his face as he lifted his foot and attacked the remaining leg.
Cian stopped, panting as tears continued their journey down his
face.

The two men
nodded their thanks to Adanna. “Jack... Cora...”

As they
stepped beside Adanna, she looked down at Alastair. They had a lot
to be thankful for. Adanna was giving them closure.

“
It’s not
pleasant is it... we went through this pain because you wouldn’t
help us. You wanted power because you feed off greed. Well, look
where that got you. No one will save you. No one cares about you.
You will die knowing this. You are weak, you are nothing,” Cora
hissed.

“
Touch my hand,
hold it, and this will all be over,” Adanna instructed.

Jack looked at
Cora, the relief evident on his face. His eyes shimmered, as did
hers. This was it. They would get their lives back. They could look
forward to the future with no other threats from the Scottish
coven.

They continued
to hold each other’s stare. They locked fingers, counted together
in their eyes, and then they squeezed Adanna’s hand
together.

Everyone
watched as Alastair took his last breath and everything became
still.

42

ONE LAST STAND

Adanna
stumbled back. Jack caught her before she hit the floor.

“
Steady,” he
whispered.

“
Thank you,
Jack, I think I used a little too much energy in that last
part.”

“
Here, let me
take you upstairs for a drink of something sweet,” Tabitha
suggested.

“
You should try
her hot chocolate, it is legendary,” Ciaran said with a small
smile.

“
That would be
lovely, Tabitha,” Adanna said.

“
What do we do
about him?” Clay asked, looking down at Alastair’s lifeless body
with disgust.

“
Here.” Tabitha
lifted her hand and Alastair’s body was consumed with
flames.

“
How are we
meant to contain the flames?” Eli asked in a panic.

“
I’m sure you
will find a way,” Tabitha responded, as a smirk played on her
lips.

The relief was
evident in the entire group. They’d done it. Their plan had
worked.

They did find
a way to manage the flames, Clay and Cora’s gift coming in very
handy. All that remained of Alastair was his ashes, lying in the
middle of the shop floor.

“
Sweep up the
ashes and put them in the bin,” Ember told them as she headed up to
Tabitha’s flat.

“
Okay, let’s
clean up,” Iona sighed, looking at the damage in the shop. Iona
would do it to keep herself busy.

Everyone set
to work, putting the shop back together. Kayla brought Cora a hot
chocolate, smiling at her sweetly before they retreated. She really
hoped people wouldn’t act strange around her now that she was a
leader. Cora stood back and watched everyone work together. They
were friends, ones who had stood beside her. Her heart clenched
when she glimpsed Ciaran’s face.

Ciaran looked
like he was struggling to come to terms with what had happened.
Cora felt the urge to go talk to him but stopped when she saw both
Jack and Ayden approach him. Jack spoke to him softly whilst Ayden
touched his arm and squeezed it comfortingly. Tears pushed their
way into her eyes. She sniffed, wiping them away
quickly.

As she stood
back, she could see the trust, the loyalty. They would become one
coven. Hopefully, one big happy coven.

The men
congregated on the top step at the door. Once the heavy lifting had
been done, they had left the sweeping and general cleaning to the
women.

Cora laughed.
“Work and talk, men. The window area needs sorting too.”

They
dispersed, rather grumpily, but they were still working which was
better than it had been.

“
Anyone want
food?” Ayden asked.

“
Are you
offering to cook?” Eli chuckled.

Ayden had one
specialty dish. One. And he used it so often that everyone was
bored with eating spaghetti.