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The room
descended into silence. Thoughts of Brianna consumed Cora’s coven.
She couldn’t think about the last time she’d seen Brianna. She
couldn’t let the grief overwhelm her. In such a short space of
time, that precious little girl had found a place in her heart. How
many more victims would there be before Alastair was stopped? She
would use all of her heartbreak to push her. She was focused on her
plan.

“
So now we kill
him,” Ayden said.

“
I like your
thinking,” Clay agreed.

“
I don’t think
I can...” Tabitha responded. “As much as I want to snap that
scrawny man’s neck, we have to do this the right way. We will
receive our justice at the end, when this is over. We have to
follow through with our plan.”

“
Ciaran
mentioned the witch we need to speak with. We need to find that
witch!” Eli barked.

“
Did Ciaran
mention any names?”

“
No,” Ember
replied to Tommy’s question.

“
It better not
be anyone called Alex,” Jack mumbled as they all remembered Clio’s
warning.

“
We need to
contact the other covens then, start the ball rolling,” Cora
suggested.

“
So where are
we going to hit first?”

“
I was once
friendly with the leader of the Welsh coven,” Kayleigh told
them.

“
Could we see
him? Can you speak to him?” Tabitha asked.

“
Of course.”
Kayleigh stood and started the process.

“
Wales it is
then,” Ayden said, trying his best to use his Welsh accent, but
failing miserably.

He really
needed to give it up as a bad job.

“
But we need to
think about how we will approach this. We all know as soon as I
leave Edinburgh that Alastair will follow my every move. I need a
way to get rid of him for a few days.”

Then
eventually, get rid of him for good
, she
added to herself.

19

GOING FOR THE SHEEP

AND THE FRESH AIR

A year had
passed since Alastair had first walked into the shop, and he was
still in their lives. Meddling. Controlling. But it would only be
for a while longer. This was the only thing getting them through it
all.

Ember’s hands
were resting on Cora’s stomach, stretching the illusion. If a
random witch walked into the shop in front of all the Commoners and
congratulated her, the Commoners would begin to question what on
earth was going on. Her pregnancy was very visible to the witch
community now. She really hoped the Commoners didn’t find
out.

Yet another
win against Alastair, she thought positively. Especially
considering he didn’t have a clue, still. She had to believe that
this may work.

As Ember
nodded and stepped back, Cora pushed up to her feet and
sighed.

“
Heavier?”

“
I hate this,”
Cora complained, throwing her hands up in the air.

“
It suits you
though,” Ember said, cocking her head to the side to admire her
handy work.

“
I don’t care,”
Cora muttered.

The bell above
the door sounded. Cora looked up expecting to see Jack and everyone
with their suitcases. Instead, Alastair, Tavish and Alva sauntered
into the shop. Jack followed them in. Luckily, her top was down
over her stomach.

She’d hoped to
leave without Alastair knowing. He could ring her as much as he
wanted, but she wouldn’t have answered it. Alastair’s beady eyes
moved over the suitcases as a sneer touched his lips.

“
Goin’
somewhere?”

Cora could see
the anger flash in his beady eyes at not being notified. It was all
about power with this man. This rallied her. She really wanted to
knock the wind out of his sails. “We are going away.”

“
Where?”

“
Why do you
want to know?” Cora asked.

“
I huv every
right tae know where yer are going.”

“
When did you
last pee?” Cora retorted, hand on hip, eyes narrowed.

Alastair’s
face twisted with rage and embarrassment. Ayden roared with
laughter. Cora smiled sweetly at him, waiting for his reply. He’d
had it coming to him after invading her privacy so
often.

“
I would have
gone with the other, Cora, but nice, I like it,” Clay
chuckled.

“
Whit are yer
goin’ on aboot!”

“
You heard. Now
you can either answer my question, or you can answer Clay’s
question.”

Alastair
shifted his footing, becoming more annoyed by the second. “Whit has
it got tae do wiv yer?”

“
Exactly,” Jack
said. “What has our movements got to do with you?”

Alastair
turned to Cora, his face now tomato red. “Yer will tell
me.”

“
I
won’t.”

“
It isn’t your
baby. She doesn’t have to answer to you,” Ember put in.

Alastair
stepped into her personal space. To be fair, it was harder now with
the bump. Before she knew what was happening, she was in the middle
of the crossfire. Tavish and Clay were always going to clash. It
was inevitable. Jack was dealing with Alastair. Alva had taken a
step back which was very wise in her opinion.

Clay moved
closer to Cora, avoiding her but Cora knew what he was doing. Clay
was pushing Tavish closer to her. Cora looked over at Tabitha,
trying not to see the impact coming. The hand that hit her in the
stomach actually knocked her on her ass. The bump counterbalanced
everything; otherwise she would have remained on her
feet.

“
Oh my god!”
Tabitha gasped. In that moment she should have achieved the award
for Best Actress.

Cora was
panting whilst sat on the floor, holding her bump.

“
Stop!”
Alastair bellowed at Clay and Tavish.

“
Cora?” Jack
asked, kneeling down beside her.

Cora panted.
“Something hurts, Jack... something doesn’t feel right...the
baby?”

Alastair
pulled out his phone. Was he seriously concerned enough to call an
ambulance? Jesus, what would she do if he did? He wouldn’t. He
wouldn’t trust Commoners with this baby. A second later, Alastair’s
idea of help walked into the shop.

“
Check her!”
Alastair stormed.

“
Clear some
space,” Cathella snapped.

Everyone stood
back, apart from Jack who remained at her side, tentatively holding
her hand. It took all of Cora’s skill to keep a straight face when
looking at him. Cathella placed her hands on Cora’s stomach. It was
only now that Cora felt nervous. Would it work now? It had worked
in the beginning but it had been easier to fake it then.

Cathella
frowned and Cora’s pulse thudded hard and fast. Cora nibbled her
lip, worried. Alastair would see that it was genuine, but she was
worried for a completely different reason. The next few minutes
must have been the longest ones of her life.

“
All is well,”
Cathella announced as she stood up and stepped back. Cora hid her
shock well.

“
Where yer
goin’?” Alastair asked again.

Cora sighed.
“We are going to Wales.”

“
Wales,
why?”

“
For the fresh
air and the bloody sheep!” Cora snapped as Jack helped her to her
feet. It was so annoying that she needed a hand to do that
now.

“
A’m goin’ wiv
yer.”

“
No way! I’m
not touching him!” Ember barked.

Cora laughed
and enjoyed the release a little too much.

“
Fine, we will
travel by train,” he sneered.

Cora sighed as
everyone picked up their cases. She didn’t know how they were going
to achieve this, but they had to try. Their lives had to change,
and that change was going to start today.

“
Don’t worry,
we will find a way,” Jack whispered as he wrapped his free arm
around her shoulders, pulling her into him so that his lips brushed
her forehead.

20

PLOTTING

Cora stood
behind Jack as he rammed the suitcase into the small space. He
cursed and kicked it, before he pulled it back out and let the
suitcase levitate in the air above the small space. It was a good
job they were in the carriage on their own. Otherwise, Commoners
may have been very unnerved by a floating suitcase. Or they may
have attempted to stack them in the air. Actually, thinking about
it, that would have been rather funny.

Cora had
demanded the whole carriage and Alastair had to keep her sweet,
especially after Tavish’s stunt at the shop.

“
Cora, look who
is joining us!” Ember announced as they were taking their
seats.

Ciaran stepped
onto the train. Her heart lifted at the sight of him. She had
missed his presence in her coven. Yet it squeezed painfully when
she thought of Brianna and their heartbreak. He looked tired. More
importantly, he looked pissed off.

Shit.

Cora turned
and looked at Alastair and his entourage. Tavish sneered, Alva
didn’t look at him. Alastair was difficult to read, but Cora swore
she saw some fear jump into his eyes.

Ciaran stood
next to her. “Don’t worry, I won’t kick someone’s ass today. I will
bide my time.”

Cora nodded
and hugged him. “I’m sorry for everything, but I can’t tell you how
thankful I am now that you are back. I’ve missed you.”

“
Thank you,
Cora.”

They took
their seats. Everyone hugged Ciaran as they passed him to get to
their own seats, as far away from the Scots as they could. Jack
pulled a cup out of his bag and told Tabitha to work her magic. He
handed her the hot chocolate. Before she could drink it, his lips
caressed hers gently.

“
Why can’t I
have one?” Clay asked.

“
I will kiss
you, Clay, you only had to ask,” Jack grinned.

“
No, the hot
chocolate,” Clay laughed, punching Jack playfully.

“
I only brought
the one cup.”

“
Why?” Eli
asked.

“
Because I love
her and I like to know she has two good things to look forward to,
the hot chocolate... and my body.”

Cora snorted
and nearly choked on the drink.

“
You love my
body, don’t deny it.”

Cora blushed
fiercely as Clay grinned and Eli grimaced. Cora was thankful Ayden
hadn’t heard that.

“
I love it when
you blush...so beautiful,” Jack whispered as his lips brushed her
ear.

She could see
the desire in his eyes. Now that Ember had worked her magic New
Years Eve, they’d used her mode of transport a few times. Poor
Ember was very well informed on their sex life.

“
Get a room!”
Ayden boomed.

“
Would love
too!” Jack sang back, making Cora giggle.

Tabitha
laughed. “Listen, I will get you more cups, as long as we stop
talking about Cora and Jack having sex!”

Tabitha left
the coach, her silver robes swishing as she turned. Cora loved
seeing Tabitha in her robes again. Tabitha did it more and more to
annoy Alastair, seen as though he spent a lot of time at the shop
and he’d once mentioned the need to camouflage ourselves amongst
the Commoners.

Tabitha
returned holding the thick paper cups in her hand. She handed each
of them a hot drink. Eli eagerly took a sip, smacked his lips
together and smiled.

“
Okay, so what
do we do about them?” Ayden whispered.

“
I’ve been
thinking about that myself. I think Cora needs to spend some time
with Alastair,” Tabitha spoke, sipping her own hot
chocolate.

“
What?!” Cora
hissed. “No, I don’t. I’m not doing it!”

Tabitha
smirked. “You have to. There is no other way to get him away from
the real reason we are here.”

Cora sighed.
Tabitha had a point. Damn it. It was bloody annoying that she
always had to be right. “Fine, but what fun will everyone be having
whilst I’m in hell?”

“
God, you don’t
half exaggerate!” Jack mocked her.

She turned and
thumped him in the arm. His response was to knock the breath out of
her the second his lips fused with hers.

“
Do that later.
We need to come up with a plan,” Ayden moaned.

“
Tavish is
going to be the difficult one,” Clay noted.

“
I could hit
him over the head with something?” Ciaran suggested.

“
Yes, then we
can all kick him whilst he is down,” Tabitha responded
sarcastically.

“
We have to do
this properly,” Ember berated their ideas. “Tab and I can take Alva
and Cathella, if she comes. Alva is different when she isn’t around
Tavish. We can persuade them to go shopping.”

Tabitha rolled
her eyes.

“
You want to
swap, Tab?” Cora teased.