Returned (34 page)

             
It was truly amazing to see. She stood, a woman on her own, fighting off tonnes of pressure. She must be freezing; he’d been hit by Clay’s water and knew how cold it was. He clenched his fists ready. He needed to help her, he couldn’t just stand here. The wave battered harder against her hold, he could see that she was slipping. The mini tornado that swirled around her was slowing down.

             
He ran, not caring if Tabitha tried to stop him. She didn’t. God help her if she had. Cora's right foot slipped but she realigned herself so she could control her shield. The strain clearly showed on her face, her lips were set in a tight line, her brow was furrowed. A hard hit of water took his feet from under him; it felt like a speeding car smashing into his legs. He was slammed to the hard earth, his legs and arms painfully licking the ground. Coughing, he looked up at Cora from his position on the floor. She risked a glance in his direction; a glance was all it took.

             
She stepped back, locking her eyes back to that part of the woods. He followed her gaze and saw Clay on the brink of the trees smiling. Jack scurried to his feet and sprinted towards Cora.

“Cora, let me in!” he shouted above the roar of the wind. No way was he going to step into a tornado.

He felt the energy move, sucking him in rather than pushing him out. She was still slipping on the spongy, waterlogged ground. Standing behind her, he placed his arms around her waist, his hands resting flat on her stomach and held on to her using his body to keep them in place. She was drenched, her clothes dripping with water as her body shook uncontrollably. He swallowed a growl and held her tighter. He moved his mouth closer to her ear trying to ignore the smell of her, the feel of her body so close to his.

“Cora, work with me,” he whispered.

She gave a slight nod of her head as her hands pulled him closer, holding him. Resting his chin on her shoulder, his cheek touching hers distracted him for a second.

             
Taking a deep breath, he pulled his element to him as her tornado continued to swirl around them. To his amazement, some parts of the tornado branched off and travelled towards them as it danced with his element. The tornado straightened creating a wall of pure power. As he pushed their elements together, the circling tornado became an iron wall. Forcing the water into a vertical position. It stood between Clay and them like a river trapped between two invisible beds. It sloshed around within the tight constrictions.

“Now.” His lip brushed against her ear. 

He could feel the energy it took for her to push with him. The water roared in anger as it flew towards Clay, encasing him.

             
Cora's breathing was raspy; he could already hear the beginnings of a cold leeching its way into her chest. He held her tighter trying to give her his warmth. The wind now moved around them waiting for its next command. His arms were still around her waist, their hands entwined. Her teeth were smashing together as her body convulsed.

             
He saw movement, a blur of blonde to his left. He turned them both as Clay came bounding out of the woods firing balls of water at them. Concentrating, he worked with Cora and lifted Clay off his feet. Using her power wasn't the same as his. With hers you could see the energy cast. The lines of the wind that should be invisible to any normal person weren't invisible to him. The water was still spewing out of his hands, cascading down like a waterfall as he floated in mid air. Cora took in a deep breath which made her back brush against his body, sending a shiver down his spine.

             
Clay flew higher and stopped. All too quickly he crashed down his own waterfall and landed heavily on the floor.

“Enough!” Tabitha shouted.

Clay stood up and snarled at them. Jack knew it wasn't the end. He braced himself, the water whipped against their combined elements knocking the breath out of them both. With a growl, he lifted Clay off the floor pushing him higher and further away from them.

“I said enough!!” Tabitha instructed, striding closer to them.

The wind fluttered and then died. He couldn’t bring himself to move away from her. They stood holding onto each other, panting with exertion.

“She needs warmth!” he called as he half turned towards where everyone were stood.

Dragging off his coat took an important second. He tucked it around her and instantly pulled her back into his body. Lifting her chin so he could look into her eyes, he moved her hair out of the way. Her face was pale, her lips blue.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, jus....just...... co...col...cold,” she stuttered.

He wrapped her tighter against him tucking her head beneath his chin. She was breathing in and out rapidly trying to level her breathing. He couldn’t think about Clay, if he did the rage would overflow and become too much to handle. Her hair smelt like strawberries.

             
He looked around still holding Cora tightly to him. Ayden and Clio were stood at the far end of the circle. He had the satisfaction of watching the realisation hit Ayden as he pieced together what had happened. This was definitely a training session that had gone wrong and Clay was the one to blame for that. He couldn't wait to see what Ayden did to Clay. Tabitha was talking to Clay who stood looking at the floor. He felt the anger flare inside him. What had Clay wanted to achieve by hurting Cora? His body shook with the rage.

“Jack, no,” she spoke softly. Her hand laid flat on his chest, the heat from it searing through him.

“He took things too far,” he snarled.

“We were training, it had to be realistic.” She lifted her head so she was looking at him. He fought the urge to scoop her up and take her home.

“They could do far worse to me,” she sighed into his chest.

Yes, they could, he knew that. But they would have to kill him first. She pulled him closer to her.

“Cora, I'm sorry!” Clay shouted from where he stood.

“Its okay, Clay,” Cora said, though her words were muffled by his shirt.

“I will ring you tonight,” Clay called to her.

He would what? Were they talking again? He ignored the disappointment that dropped heavily inside him. He didn’t want to think about the possibility of Clay and Cora being together.

“Jack, wait here a moment, we’ll be back.” Tabitha slid her arm around Cora taking her away from him. The cold hit where she'd been.

“We need to regroup, Jack,” Eli spoke placing a hand on his shoulder.

He was led towards the middle of the circle. Ayden and Clio followed suit. They met in the middle. Jack walked faster, all the more eager to get to Clay.

To make him pay.

“Clay, that got out of hand, you
do not
get back up and attack. Tabitha declared it was enough and don't pretend you didn't hear her!” Eli shouted.

He felt rage overwhelm him and clenched his fists.

“Jack, this is not the time or the place. As much as I would love to see your fist connect with his face, we have more work to do,” Ayden growled.

“Right,” Eli said, ignoring the tension. “Tabitha and I have arranged the teams that we are going to work in.”

“We're working as a team? I thought we were doing one on one?” he asked.

“Yeah, well, you just worked one on one with Cora so what difference does it make?” Eli smiled, he was no doubt resisting the urge to wink like an idiot.

Jack caught the disgusted look on Clay’s face.

             
So that was it, the second attack had been aimed at him. Clay was jealous. He couldn’t resist throwing a grin in Clay's direction and felt the satisfaction at seeing the fire blaze in his eyes. His grin grew wider. Clay clenched his fists.

Bring it on.

“The first team consists of Cora, Jack, Clay and Ember. The second team is myself, Tabitha, Ayden and Clio.”

Taking a deep breath he tried to focus. When they went up against the Corenthio Coven they would need to work together. This was the only thing stopping him from doing some serious damage to Clay.

“We can begin!” Tabitha called.

He turned to see Cora looking like her usual self. There was some colour in her cheeks, probably thanks to Tabitha who could warm anyone in a second. She was wearing new clothes with her now dry hair pulled back into a ponytail.

“Cora, I’m so sorry.”

Jack whirled around and glared at him. If he took a step towards her, just one tiny step, he would have him.

“Clay, it’s fine, really. No big deal,” she smiled.

He didn't like the smile aimed at Clay but he relaxed as Cora made her way over to him and stood at his side. Tabitha passed him his coat. He could smell her as he wrapped it around himself. He let her scent wash over him, allowing the calm to stay, for now.

“Right, here you go.” As he spoke, Eli handed out the little ear pieces. “I have adjusted these; I know we were having some difficulties with hearing and buzzing last time. All being well, they will work.”

“Now, you must work together in your teams,” Tabitha instructed, looking at Clay and then focusing her steely gaze on him.

What?
Why did she look at him like that?  He was all for team work
.
He would simply show Clay the
meaning
of team work.

“Use the ear pieces to instruct your team members and also to warn them of danger. My team will be the enemies. You must deflect our advances. Treat this like the real thing, understood?”

“How do we know you can't listen in on our ear pieces?” Ember questioned Tabitha.

“I have set them so we have different frequencies for the time being, when it comes to meeting them we will all be on the same wavelength,” Eli stated and smiled at his own joke.

“Right, off you go,” Tabitha ordered.

             
He walked with Cora, putting the little ear piece in place. He looked at the back of Clay’s head. Was it against rules to knock your team member around a little? Cora looked at him; he saw the exact moment she understood.

“No funny business,” she warned.

“Me?” he said flashing a wicked grin, “I’d never do such a thing.”

She scowled at him but she couldn’t hide the little smile that played on her lips, not from him.

Chapter 45

LET THE GAMES BEGIN

They stood away from the open area of the woods facing each other in a sort of messed up rugby scrum. Someone had to come up with a strategy plan.

“Right, we know they are going to hit us good and strong. Like Tabitha said, lets treat this like the real thing. So I suggest we do what comes naturally to us.”

“When you say naturally, does that mean you have no plans at all?”

He turned his attention to Ember who'd asked the question.

             
She was wearing a bright white dress which seemed to glow with her hair. She would stand out a mile in battle. This training session was going to be a failure from the word go. Clay was already a dead man, Cora would be exhausted from earlier and Ember stood out like a lighthouse. That left him and his attention would be on Cora. 

“Have you got any better ideas?”

“No,” she said, her voice devoid of emotion. “In fact, I love it. The freedom to do what I want, when do we begin?”

The tree exploded above them sending shattered pieces of bark pelting down.

“Now!” he shouted.

They spread out just as a large ball of fire rushed inches past his head. Cora stayed close to his side.

Good.

Ember headed west. He spotted Clay running straight ahead. With a little grin, he pulled his element and sent it flying. Clay was lifted a little off the ground and then dropped on to his backside. Clay turned glaring at him. He sent him a lopsided grin that had him snarling. He felt better already.

“Jack, Tabitha is to your right and she can see you.” Ember’s voice was as clear as a bell in his ear.

He ducked just as another fire ball smacked into the tree that he was hiding behind. Another rocketed to the floor in front of him. Cora rustled up closer, her arm touched his and ignited little shivers. He fought for concentration, he couldn't think straight when she was this close to him. 

“Clay, what’s your position?” he asked, speaking quietly into the ear piece.

“I headed north. I'm trying to come around on them. I saw Clio, she ran past me but she didn't see me,” he whispered.

It was all business; his issues with Clay were pushed to one side. The ground shuddered underneath them knocking his sense of balance as he tried to avoid Tabitha’s fire balls. They stood together, both unable to crouch down.