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“
A will make
yer pay!” Alastair cautioned.

Jack felt
almost giddy with relief. This was it. Alastair would be dragged
out of their lives today. Their plan was in the final
stages.

Cora stepped
closer, her eyes watched Alastair. “Yeah, you and what
army?”

3
9

THE DAY THEIR LIVES CHANGED

Adanna
strolled to Cora, a smile spread on her face. She really was
beautiful. She extended her hand. Cora looked into the woman’s
blindingly white eyes and smiled, taking her hand.

“
Thank you for
saving my life,” Cora whispered.

Adanna shook
her head. “Thank you for saving the life of every witch, not only
once, but now twice.”

Cora nodded
her head, feeling slightly overwhelmed by this witch. Power simply
radiated from within her.

“
Shall we?”
Adanna asked, the dimples popping in both her cheeks.

Cora nodded
and allowed Adanna to lead the way through the crowd. They quietly
shuffled aside, allowing Cora to make her way to the front, to
stand with Jack. Adanna stood in front of Alastair, his beady blue
eyes studied her.

Adanna stepped
aside and let Cora stand in front of Alastair. He hadn’t seen. He
hadn’t figured it out yet.

Alastair’s
eyes grew wide. The blue becoming as clear as glass. “Where is the
baby?”

Cora smiled,
enjoying the confusion in Alastair’s eyes. She could see the cogs
turning as he tried to piece everything together. She let the
silence continue for another moment, telling Alastair that she was
in charge. Alastair inhaled a sharp breath the moment he figured it
out.

“
I was never
pregnant,” Cora said, beating him to it.

“
Impossible...”
he gasped.

Cora grinned.
“Possible. We tricked you until the last moment. No one runs my
life. It is my own to do as I wish and you thought you could
control me. I can guarantee that you will learn the hard way. You
will learn and you will feel pain after everything you have
done.”

Alastair
screamed in rage. Tommy, Ciaran, Ayden and Flynn quickly
disappeared from the shop.

Ember moved
quickly. In that moment, Cora knew Ember had a soft spot for Flynn.
“Bring them back!”

Alastair
sneered. “Do you miss your Irish lover?”

Cora’s stomach
turned with disgust as he rolled the word lover.

Ember cursed
and jumped at Alastair, punching him in the face. Now that shocked
the hell out Cora. She’d never seen Ember react like this
before.

Cora moved
quickly, taking advantage of Alastair’s weakened state. She held
his hands and bound them. The snakes of her element acting as hand
cuffs. God, it felt good to have rid of that bump. She could move,
could do what she wanted to do.

“
Let. Them.
Go!” Jack hissed.

“
No!” Alastair
snapped. “This wasnae part of the plan!”

“
Plans change!”
Cora shouted.

Nothing could
go wrong now. They’d spent months going over this, had thought
Adanna unreachable, they had faced that disappointment. But now,
now he would pay.

“
Yer not the
leader of all the covens!” Alastair shouted. “Yer didnae hold to
yer end of the bargain.”

“
Oh, see you
might have a problem there,” Evelyn said as she stepped towards
Alastair. “You see, you don’t have a coven anymore and well, we
have all signed a petition.”

Cora turned,
shocked by this revelation. When had this happened? Evelyn smiled
at her as she held up the paper that contained more signatures than
she could count.

“
Yer can’t do
that!”

“
We can,” Ryan
said. “We have a choice thanks to Cora and her coven.”

They had a
choice. They could choose to defy Alastair because he no longer
held power through fear. This day was definitely living up to
expectations.

“
I suggest,”
Cora spoke, “that you release my friends, my coven members, and
bring them back here.”

“
And if A
don’t?”

“
As your
leader, I can make a decision.”

“
Or I can get
in there and really have fun,” Jack added.

Alastair
scoffed, and still the men hadn’t reappeared. Ciaran wasn’t here,
Ayden wasn’t here. Alastair had attempted to remove the threat. He
just didn’t know what the other people in the room were capable of
doing. Yes, he may know each of their gifts, but he’d never seen
them in action before.

“
As your
leader, I bestow the worst sentence on you.” She’d waited so long
to say that.

She’d even
practised it a few times. When she was alone.

Uncertainty
passed over Alastair’s face, only his eyes showing how determined
he was. His arrogance still showed. He still believed he was
untouchable. Good. She had hoped for this to happen. She hadn’t
wanted him to beg. She wanted to beat him, she wanted to ruin him
whilst he remained his usual arrogant self. The satisfaction would
be so much more. Cora looked at Tabitha and nodded.

“
Now!” Tabitha
ordered.

Kayla, Alwena
and Tabitha held hands. Their lips already moving as they whispered
incoherent words. Cora could smell the fire, could feel it caress
her skin. The earth moved and with it, it brought the smell of
dirt.

Cora remained
where she was stood in front of Alastair as Jack and Clay stepped
beside her. They linked hands with her just as Adanna stepped next
to Jack to hold his hand. Evelyn was the last to hold Adanna’s
hand. Their murmurs grew fiercer, louder. It had to be that way.
The power had to build until Evelyn joined them last.

An immense
power rushed through her body. A power that could make your head
spin if you weren’t bound with others. Jack grinned, the dimples
that she loved so much, popped. His eyes, so dark, glimmered with
hope.

“
Whit are yer
doing?” Alastair asked.

Cora didn’t
hold back the surprise on her face. Alastair was nervous. This was
the first time she’d seen it.

“
You will pay
for what you have done. I made that promise the first day I met
you. I don’t break my promises,” Cora stated.

Alastair’s
arrogant sneer didn’t make its usual appearance. Cora watched his
blue eyes study the group. There was still determination there, but
he didn’t stand a chance. The chanting behind them continued.
Evelyn took a deep breath.

“
Nae!” Alastair
screeched. He knew what was going to happen to him.

Evelyn was
pushing at his fears and he knew it. There was nothing he could do
about it.

“
What are his
fears?” Jack asked. His thumb brushed over hers
reassuringly.

“
Weakness,”
Evelyn responded as she continued to focus on Alastair. “He doesn’t
like to appear weak. I’m pushing at that.”

Cora watched
as Jack decided to test that theory. He lurched angrily towards
Alastair who squealed and stumbled back.

“
Now, Eve, that
is an amazing gift!” Jack chuckled.

Alastair was
beginning to panic. His determination had slipped and he knew what
was coming. Evelyn disappeared. Alastair pushed his gift through
his fear.

Cora shouted
out as others in the shop protested.

“
Take me, you
bastard!” Jack baited.

Tabitha didn’t
accept swearing. Ever. But in moments like this, Tabitha wouldn’t
chastise Jack.

Cora felt it.
The moment Adanna’s gift succeeded. A sharp electrical spark shot
into Cora’s hand. She gasped. It didn’t hurt as such, it just felt
like a shock of electricity. Alastair’s face stilled. His eyes
started darting in every direction. Cora could hear the thud of her
heart, she could hear those around her take a deep breath as the
shop started to change.

It shimmered,
the walls blurred as the floor beneath their feet shifted and
clouds formed.

“
Jesus,” Jack
whispered, “she’s brought it here.”

Cora didn’t
answer. Jack had seen this place before. So, this was Alastair’s
gift. She couldn’t believe it was made to look like this. She
listened to Adanna murmur softly. The fire built in the room, her
own element danced in the mix. She was drawing on their elements.
The noise, the chanting, the pressure built, until Alastair sucked
in a deep breath and fell to his knees. Cora felt the pressure on
her body. It was enough to make her grit her teeth. The force she
felt on her body was immense. It pushed at her until she couldn’t
breathe, she could only pant. Short, quick gasps as the power
surged through her.

Jack fell to
his knees, everyone else joined him. Cora and Adanna remained stood
as they were the strongest of their group.

“
You are more
powerful than even you know,” Adanna whispered.

Before Cora
could catch her breath, Adanna stepped back and pulled Cora back
with her as the Corenthio Coven stepped into the shop.

40

The SILENT COVEN

It still felt
like a punch in the gut when she saw them. Cora couldn’t stop the
fear from rising to the surface. She knew they weren’t real, but
her heart slammed hard against her ribcage. Jack had dealt with
something like this every time he’d been sucked into Alastair’s
element, and he’d always pushed to go back there, to save the
others. He risked seeing them over and over again.

Evelyn stormed
into the room behind the Corenthio Coven. There was a nasty gash
across her cheek but she grinned and joined Tabitha. The men joined
them, each of them stepping around the four members everyone had
feared at some point in their long lives.

This was the
part of the plan that gnawed at Cora. They had to watch. They
couldn’t do it themselves. Every part of their plan had led to
this, and still Alastair would see his death in the eyes of the
Corenthio Coven. She wouldn’t be able to do it by her own
hand.

“
Move back,”
Adanna whispered.

“
Can they see
us?” Clay whispered as he glared at the Coven whose hand had killed
his friend.

“
Yes.”

A shiver ran
down Cora’s back. She didn’t have the strength to deal with the
Corenthio Coven at the moment but she would, if
necessary.

“
Go after
them!” Alastair commanded. He pointed at their group as he looked
at the Coven members.

“
You forget, I
control your element now,” Adanna goaded.

“
Cora?” Tabitha
asked.

Tabitha didn’t
need to tell her what to do. Cora pushed a wall of wind up in front
of them. It would protect them for as long as Cora could hold
it.

Akina stepped
further into the shop first. Her hair, the colour of a flaming
sunset, blinded them as she stalked Alastair. Her eyes narrowed
angrily as her element brushed up against Cora. Cora shivered,
feeling the cold slither along her skin.

“
Do you feel
that?” Ember asked her.

Cora nodded as
Tabitha stood behind her and laced her arms around her shoulders.
She rested her chin on Cora’s head. Warm air circulated her which
made her sigh gratefully.

They watched
as Alastair remained on his knees in shock. He realised the mist
was moving towards him. He scrambled back as the mist fused itself
to the lower part of his body. Cora watched as it cracked from the
pressure Akina applied to it. Cora cringed as it fused Alastair’s
body to the floor. He screamed in pain. The pressure would crush
him, and he hadn’t seen it all yet. She only cringed, remembering
her own pain.

Cora shivered
for entirely different reasons when Akina cocked her head to the
side and looked at Alastair. She was assessing what to do next.
What pain she could inflict on him.

“
They don’t
speak,” Jack whispered.

“
Ever?” she
asked. It unnerved her to see them act like puppets.

“
No. Alastair
used that to make us more afraid whenever we were in
there.”

Cora felt the
fear.

The mist
stopped pushing up against her element as Akina disappeared. Cora
frowned, where had she gone? Had Alastair gained some form of his
element back? She looked at Adanna, no that couldn’t be it. No one
could grasp their power back from this woman once she’d decided to
take it. Cora didn’t know much about this witch, but she knew a
little.

Alastair was
frozen from the waist down. He struggled to move and Cora saw a
crack form in his foot. His body hadn’t just been covered by the
mist, he’d become ice. His legs were ice.

Melitta
stepped towards Alastair. Her wide baby blues remained focused on
her target. Her long blonde hair swayed with the seductive swagger
of her hips. The tight jeans she wore hugged her figure, as did the
coat. Ember would appreciate the fashion.

“
How?” Jack
whispered.