Change (13 page)

“
Enough!”
Alastair shouted.

Her coven
stilled. The whiplash of questions had stopped, but Cora could
sense that her friends, her family, weren't finished.

“
How could
you?” Cora whispered, fighting back tears as she glared at
Alastair.

“
We dinnae
know.” Alastair shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

Oh, he knew
alright
, Cora’s mind screamed but she
sucked back the words. Cora felt the wind pulse around her body. It
brushed up against Jack who gave her an encouraging nod.

“
Bullshit!”
Cora growled, letting her anger finally run free. “Don’t give me
the 'you didnae know' line!” Her mocking Alastair really brought
his temper to the forefront. His fists clenched as his whole body
shook. She wasn’t going to stop now. “You knew the moment the
Corenthio Coven were dead. You just waited for us to complete the
job, to clear up the mess! Were you too afraid the Corenthio Coven
would finish you off if you went up against them?”

“
You knew
enough to come to Lancashire and find us the moment you knew
everything was dealt with,” Jack boomed.

“
A don’t huv’
tae explain meself tae yer,” Alastair argued.

“
Yes, you do!”
Ayden stormed.

“
You've been
holding meetings here since the Corenthio Coven were taken care
of,” Cora snapped. “You knew all along what was happening, but you
let us deal with it. Did you hope that we would die so that you
wouldn’t have to deal with us? You couldn’t handle the Corenthio
Coven yourself because you are weak! We did nothing wrong you
stupid, small minded man!” Cora was heaving in deep breaths as the
anger rolled over her.

The room was
silent as she heaved in another deep breath. An expression crossed
Alistair’s face and then Cora knew. Everything simply slotted into
place. “You knew about our books,” Cora snapped. “You wanted them.
I can see that in your eyes, you snake. But it doesn’t matter now
because you won’t get the books. We aren’t dead, which I’m guessing
was quite a shock for you?

“
Now you have
me to deal with and I’m not some innocent girl you can push over.
I’m going to fight you... and I’m going to win.” Cora let this
settle in. Watched it play over Alastair’s face. “You are
spineless, you're all spineless!” Cora shouted at the room, glaring
at certain individuals.

This started a
tirade of Scottish-ness that Cora didn't understand. Their voices
became harsher, their words faster.

“
We cannae go
back in time so we decide nou whit tae dae,” Alastair shouted above
the noise.

“
Now
you want to do something?
Now
you want to show us who the boss
is! It’s nice that you can finally strap on a pair of balls!” Jack
bellowed.

“
Like A said,
we dinnae know,” Alastair crooned, as a smirk played on his
lips.

Cora wanted to
hit Alastair straight in the gut with a strike of her element. It
bounced around her body all too eager for her command.

Alastair had
the audacity to sit there and attempt to act like a leader, yet
he'd sat back and watched her coven fight to the death. What kind
of person did that? Leaders were meant to support and help others
of their kind. They weren’t meant to be selfish and look for their
own personal gains.

Cora’s coven
took their seats. Every single one of them were gripping the table
as they held back their anger and further questions. Tabitha looked
seriously pissed. Ayden was holding it together, but Cora could see
he was only just managing to do that. His face was red, his lips
tight. Things were going to get nasty very soon.

“
Covens,
huvin' heard whit Cora has said, we need tae make a decision
regardin’ this coven. Cora, yer can leave until we call for
yer.”

“
That’s it?”
she asked, shocked.

“
Aye, yer
cannae be haur when we make a decision.”

Cora had to
leave so they could lie and pretend to come to a unanimous
decision? She knew the decision had already been made. This was
just for show. Cora had the distinct impression that Alastair loved
the show.

Each of the
coven members got to their feet and waited for her coven to leave.
Forced them, more like. Cora launched herself up from her chair.
Eli and Clay held onto Tabitha and Ember who looked fit to start a
fight. Ayden growled, split himself in two, and then both of them
stormed out of the room. Cora held Jack's hand tighter, fearing
this wasn’t going to end well.

Before she
left the room, Cora turned and looked Alastair square in the eyes.
Well, she might as well stick the knife in further. “You will
regret what you've done to us. You mark my words, we will make sure
you pay for it.”

The door shut
behind them leaving them stood in the corridor.

“
Come, we need
to find a room to sort things out,” Cora suggested.

They walked
back down the corridor and entered the room that housed the huge
sofa and fireplace Cora had seen earlier. It was typical that they
hadn’t picked the library. Ayden walked over to the fire, picked up
the iron poker and smacked the hell out of some wood that was
burning. It cackled and snapped in protest. Cora sat curled up
against Jack as Tabitha prowled around the room.

“
They knew all
along,” Clay hissed.

“
Yes, it looks
that way,” Ember agreed.

“
So what do we
do now? We can't allow that piece of shit to make a decision about
what happens to us, about what happens to Cora,” Jack
snapped.

“
What other
option do we have?” Tabitha stopped prowling as she asked the
question. “We have no other way of dealing with this, Jack. Do you
want to fight everyone in that room?”

“
If that's
what it takes, then yes.”

Cora looked at
Jack. His jaw was clenched; his eyes were hardened chocolate. He
held her tighter despite his mood. Forever her
protector.

“
We can't
fight them,” Cora sighed and moved away from Jack to stand and face
her coven. “We have to deal with what comes next. I can't lose
someone else I love. I just can't.” Cora watched as Ayden put the
metal poker down. Ember and Clay sat on the sofa with Jack. Tabitha
was standing at her side. They were listening to her because she
was their leader. She would lead them. Cora had to keep her coven,
her friends, safe.

“
I can imagine
Alastair will play this dirty, he seems like the dirty type,” Cora
informed them. “I don't like him one bit, I do not trust him at
all. I've also made him look stupid in front of the entire room. In
front of the covens, and I know he won't like that. He will seek a
little revenge through the decision of what to do with me. What can
they do to us that they haven’t already done? We've dealt with
worse...”

Ayden nodded
agreeing with her. Ember and Eli were already agreeing. She looked
at Tabitha and Jack and received their nods.

“
What does
some of their powers mean?” Eli asked.

“
Thank God I’m
not the only one who doesn’t have a clue,” Cora sighed.

“
I know some
of them,” Tabitha told them. “I must admit, I have not integrated
much with other covens over the years. I have not felt the urge to.
Alastair is the one to look out for, mental manipulation is very
powerful. He could make you feel like you’re all alone and the
world is black and cold. Even the shadows become your enemy and can
harm you. His ability will heighten your sense of fear, making you
feel like there is danger at every turn.”

“
Great, that
sounds fun,” Cora said sarcastically.

“
I don't trust
him. I never liked him the moment he turned up at the shop. There’s
something under that smooth, calm exterior. He’s like a volcano
waiting to erupt. We need to keep an eye on him,” Ayden
growled.

“
Agreed,” Cora
said. “But I don't trust anyone outside of this room, so it makes
that list very long.”

The rest of
the group remained silent, lost in their own thoughts.

“
I don’t want
to know what the other powers mean. If I do, then I will fear
everyone in that room, and I hate being afraid. I refuse to fear
them.”

“
Okay,” Jack
said, kissing the side of her head.

“
Right, well I
don't know how long we will be here, so I'm going to the library to
get a book.” Cora stood and headed out of the door towards the room
full of books. At least for a small amount of time, she could lose
herself in a different world in that magnificent room.

*

Cora sat, feet
curled under her butt, with Charlotte Bronte’s
Jane Eyre
in her hands. She'd never
read the book, or that she could remember, but so far it was a
brilliant book. She’d picked it because the spine was crinkled and
worn, the book also smelt old. So yes, Cora was a book sniffer and
she didn’t care. Her guilty pleasure was old books.

Jack was
playing with her hair as she read, which relaxed her further.
Tabitha and Ember were sat at the side of them writing things down
on a pad of paper Ember had found in another room. Cora had given
up wanting to know what they discussed. In the end, it was always
some life threatening, depressing thing.

Eli was sat at
a laptop that he'd managed to snag from the same room. He sat
playing solitaire. Ayden was standing next to the fire occasionally
poking it. They'd been sitting in the room for over two hours now,
and whilst she was a patient person, the waiting around was
starting to annoy her.

Cora’s
attention on her book shifted when she heard the sound of
approaching footsteps. Her coven turned and looked at the doorway.
Eli, Clay and Ayden moved as one as Tavish stepped into the
doorway.

“
We are ready
for yer.”

The sound of
rolling thunder assaulted her eyes as blood rushed to her head.
Jack's arm slid around her waist which steadied her shaking legs.
Even though Cora knew this was going to be bad, especially
considering past experience, nothing could actually prepare her for
the hit that was bound to come. In these cases, it was always worse
than what you actually imagined.

She took
several deep breaths as they walked down the corridor. Tavish’s
coat and Ember’s clacking heels were the only sounds bouncing off
the stone walls. Ayden was walking up front. Well, it was more like
stomping, because he was seriously pissed.

The door
opened and Cora’s coven entered. It still made her nervous seeing
all those faces look at her. She straightened her back and dared
herself to look at several faces, but they gave nothing away. Even
the ones that had smiled at her before, held their heads down. This
did not help her to feel better.

Cora walked
back to the empty chair she'd vacated only hours previously.
Alastair had his nose up in the air and was refusing to look at
her, for the time being. She knew he would gain some satisfaction
in looking down his nose at her. They sat down whilst Alastair
remained standing.

“
We huv come
tae a decision. Cora, please stand.”

Cora rose to
her feet, still holding Jack's hand. It felt strangely like she’d
been on trial. Jack nearly stood with her, but a tut from Tavish
had him remaining in his seat. Jack muttered something under his
breath.

Cora could
feel the tension in the room. The elastic band, already at its
limit, was ready to snap. Her legs were shaking uncontrollably as
her stomach started doing acrobats. She couldn't think about the
many faces looking at her now. To be honest, she couldn't think at
all. She watched Alastair take a deep breath, his eyes alight like
a little boy’s on Christmas morning, as he addressed the entire
room.

“
The covens
huv decided.” The sneer on his face appeared. She heard several
people nervously cough.

“
Cora, the
decision that has been made is that yer must be engaged tae be
married and pregnant wi' child before 6 months are up.”

She gasped as
the room exploded, again.

13

NEW
ENEMY

“
You have to
be joking!”

“
Bloody
ridiculous.”

“
She is not
doing it!”

“
Let me get
that smug son of a bitch!”

Her coven were
standing up, loudly protesting around her. Ayden was fighting
against Eli, who was holding him back as Ayden was making his way
towards Alastair. Ayden needed to get in line, because Cora was
first.

“
I will not do
this,” Cora snapped at Alastair, making sure her voice carried
above the noise. It was bloody ridiculous to even suggest
it.

Her coven
stilled leaving Cora to deal with the situation. She loved them for
it.

“
I believe,
wee lassie, yer huv nae choice-”

“
I have God
damn choices!” she snapped, stopping Alastair before he could start
his stupid speech. “We have rights, and I will not do what you are
asking! It is ludicrous. You can’t force someone to do
this!”