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“
I hope you
are happy with yourselves, you’ve just sided with that man. By the
way, if any of you cross me, I will be more than happy to kick your
ass,” Cora snapped.

Every other
member stood up and left. Some seemed unsure of how close to walk
beside Alastair. They’d taken heed of her threat. Once they were
alone, Cora took a deep breath.

“
My woman can
verbally kick ass,” Jack said as his arms slid around her waist and
his lips brushed against her head.

“
It didn’t do
us much good. It didn’t make things different.”

Holding Jack’s
hand, she took a deep breath and looked at her coven. Each of their
faces held an overwhelming amount of anger.

“
Let's go
home. I don't want to be here anymore.”

“
Agreed,” each
of them responded in unison.

14

SERENADE

Cora marched
into the shop holding a box of supplies and knocked her head
against a floating heart. She cursed, rubbing her head. Why had
Tabitha put them everywhere? There were dozens of them hanging from
the ceiling. It wasn’t like the hearts were pillow soft and lovely,
they were wooden so when you hit your head, you knew about
it.

The window
display was overflowing with love potions, spell books, elaborate
scrolls, beautiful single stemmed red roses and candles. Two red
organza rolls cascaded down from the ceiling, falling like
waterfalls into the little window display area. They added a soft,
romantic look to the shop, one Cora really liked. She was actually
thinking of asking Tabitha to buy some lush green organza so they
could have this look permanently in the shop.

Tabitha was
definitely ready for her Valentine’s trade tomorrow. Tabitha,
rather cruelly in Cora’s opinion, took advantage of those who were
vulnerable and eager to obtain a husband. Tabitha simply laughed
when Cora made such comments about her concern. In business,
sometimes one had to think about profit, Tabitha had told
her.

Cora stepped
behind the till and watched as several customers milled around the
shop. Much to her annoyance, they skilfully avoided bashing their
heads against the wooden hearts. At moments like this, Cora
couldn’t help her thoughts drifting back to her predicament. It had
been nearly a week since they’d left Edinburgh, without telling the
Scottish coven they were leaving, of course; and every day since
that day, her nerves seemed to get worse. Alastair had a trick up
his sleeve. Cora was sure of it, but proving it would be
harder.

Jack hadn't
spoken of it and Cora was in two minds about what to think of that.
She didn’t like the silence between them, especially concerning
such a serious topic of conversation. However, she also didn’t want
to discuss marriage and babies with her boyfriend of a few months.
When it happened, whatever was going to happen with regards to
Alastair’s decision, they would cross that bridge when they came to
it. What else could they do? She didn't want to lose Jack, or
anyone for that matter. She couldn’t lose her coven, that much she
knew.
Christ, why is my life such a
mess?
She cursed.

Cora and her
coven hadn’t done anything wrong. She’d followed all the rules, and
still she was faced with this. She could gather everyone and just
leave this village? They would be safe, until they were found, if
they were ever found. But, damn it, this was her home. It was the
first one she'd ever had, and she wasn't going to be pushed out,
not by Alastair.

Cora looked
anxiously at the door that led up to Tabitha's place. Jack hadn't
been down in the shop at all today which was really out of sorts,
because he was usually down here every hour, perhaps more often, to
bug her. A young woman with hair the colour of copper and eyes the
depths of the sea, grabbed her attention, and forgetting her
troubles for the time being, Cora made her way across the shop
towards the customer.

Cora locked up
after pushing the three witches as far back into the shop corner as
she could. It was becoming a little more crowded these days. A
polite cough had her turning around and gasping in surprise. Jack
was standing at the top of the fake staircase, holding a huge
bouquet of pink roses. His lopsided grin punched her in the gut,
forcing her to fight for her breath. His warm brown eyes smiled at
her. It wasn't just the gorgeous face that had her knees buckling
and the heat in her belly firing up, it was the black suit he was
wearing.

“
Why are you
dressed like that?” she asked as she stepped closer to
him.

“
Well,
beautiful, I'm treating my gorgeous girlfriend to an early
valentine’s dinner.”

Jack sauntered
towards her and handed her the roses. She put her nose to them,
sniffing in their sweet smell. As she looked up to say thank you,
he kissed the tip of her nose, making her heart trip over itself.
She smiled and pulled his pink tie towards her so she could get a
better kiss.

Coming up for
air, he shot her a wicked grin, one that had the heat spiking in
her belly. He held out his arm to her. “My lady,” he said, and
bowed low at the waist.

She laughed
and slipped her arm through his. Holding the large bouquet in her
hand, she followed him down the stairs.

As the door
closed behind them, she wasn't greeted with the horrible darkness.
Instead, the corridor glowed with hundreds of tiny flickering
candles which lit the way down the long corridor to the main coven
room. Jack turned to her in the soft glow of the candle light and
smiled, the dimples in his cheeks popping out at her. At that
moment, her heart simply stopped beating. She'd fallen. She knew it
had to happen, eventually. She’d expected it, but this feeling was
like no other. It quite simply left her breathless.

“
Your dress is
hanging up behind you. I will turn around whilst you change.” He
grinned and wriggled his eyebrows flirtatiously.

“
My dress?”
Cora turned to look at the dress and felt tears spring to her
eyes.

Her fingers
brushed the soft satin material that felt like warm water running
through her fingers. It was floor length and the colour of
aubergines. Shedding her normal work clothes as quick as she could,
it wasn’t ladylike but she didn’t care, she pulled the dress over
her head and allowed it to fall down her body. Little waves of
gorgeous material lapped at her feet.

The top part
of the dress was snug, highlighting her shape, and revealing a
little more cleavage than she was used to. It didn’t have any
straps but the sweetheart neckline made the dress more elegant. She
loved the little diamonds that swirled around the bodice and then
snaked down the side of her dress.

Cora pulled
her hair from her usual ponytail and rammed her hands through it
trying to create soft waves. There were purple pumps on the floor
that had been placed next to the dress. She smiled and slipped them
on. It was just like Jack to remember she absolutely hated walking
in heels.

Taking a deep
breath and smoothing the front of her dress, she looked at Jack’s
back. “I'm ready,” she whispered, suddenly feeling nervous of
Jack’s reaction to her.

Jack turned,
his eyes growing wide. He licked his lips and pulled her against
his body. “You're beautiful,” he whispered as his lips touched
hers. His hands slid into her hair as he deepened the kiss. She
felt her head spin, felt her heart hammer, hard. Her breath left
her body as she fell even harder for him. He sighed and nibbled her
lower lip. “If I keep doing that, we aren’t going to get to the
food,” he laughed.

“
Food?” she
asked, surprised.

Jack laughed
as she slipped her hand through his. They walked down the glowing
corridor with the sound of her dress lapping at the floor. As they
rounded the corner, she stopped and looked at Jack in shock before
her attention was pulled back to the room.

The room was
scattered with tiny candles. There must have been hundreds of them
flickering. The usual meeting table had vanished, in its place
stood a smaller more intimate table which held a tall trumpet
shaped vase that housed a large ball of pink roses on the top.
Contained within the vase were thousands of twinkling lights.
Cora’s focus moved around the room as she tried to take in all the
details.

On and around
the table Jack had scattered pink rose petals everywhere. The
entire room smelled of roses. Pink organza sheets rippled from the
ceiling creating a gorgeous curtain that pooled around the floor.
Jack continued leading her to the table. She giggled as Jack held
the chair back for her. As soon as she sat down, violins drifted
into the room. A beautiful, soft romantic serenade floated like
warm waves over her body. “Jack, this is beautiful.”

“
You deserve
it, beautiful things for a beautiful woman.”

Jack poured
white wine into the tall, slim flute and walked over to the side of
the room. Her view of him was obscured by the curtains so she
couldn’t see what he was doing, but she could smell the food which
made her stomach growl. She lifted the glass of wine and swallowed
a large amount of it.
Why am I so
nervous?
She thought, shaking her head. It
was Jack, her best friend, her boyfriend. One she loved. Her
stomach flipped again.

Jack
approached the table holding two plates and placed one in front of
her. He sat and lifted the lid. She looked at it, not sure what it
was.

“
They are
barbecued scallops on a bed of lentils.”

“
Jack, did you
make this?” Cora started eating because she was starving, and
sighed as the scallops literally melted in her mouth.

He smiled a
little sheepishly at her. “Tabitha gave me a hand with some of the
difficult dishes, but I tried.”

“
It tastes so
good,” she complimented as she chewed.

“
So, how was
your day?” Jack asked.

She laughed
and almost choked on a piece of scallop. “You're seriously asking
me about my day?”

He shrugged.
“Why not? That's what couples do.”

“
True,” she
smiled. “I didn't have many people come in, you know our busiest
day will be tomorrow, and I’ve been worried about Mrs Rogers
turning up.”

He snorted,
making her smile. Cora knew that he loved Mrs Rogers and the
elderly woman’s obsession with all things sexual.

“
I did wonder
where you had got to today.”

He grinned at
her and swallowed the food he’d been chewing. “You miss
me?”

“
Yes.”

The dimples in
his cheeks popped as he looked at her. “I always miss you,
sweetheart.”

She let the
heat of his words travel to her cheeks as they finished their food.
His hands brushed hers as he reached for her empty dish.

“
Wait until
you see what I have done for the main course,” he told her as he
sauntered over to the side of the coven room.

Cora sat
higher on the chair, trying to see what he was doing. The curtains
were great at masking it. He quickly returned and set another plate
in front of her. This plate was empty. She looked down at it which
made him laugh at the confused expression on her face. He moved
back behind the curtain. The sound of sizzling grew louder. He
approached her holding a huge stoneware dish. Jack put it in front
of her and lifted it.

“
Chicken
fajitas,” he grinned. “Here, take this cloth, you're gonna need
it.”

She dug in,
the sounds and smells making it too hard to resist. Instrumental
music continued to float around the room. She couldn’t remember
seeing a CD player down here, or an electrical point to plug it
in.

“
What do you
think?” Jack asked as he rubbed his hands on the napkin.

“
You sure know
the way to a girl’s heart,” she grinned.

Jack held her
gaze, the heat in his eyes making her heart dance. She quickly
realised that in his hand he was holding what looked like a
jewellery box. Where had that come from?

“
I got you a
little something.” He placed the box on the table in front of
her.

“
Jack,” Cora
whispered as a lump formed in her throat.

She carefully
lifted the lid of the box and gasped. Inside Cora found a bracelet.
Intricate loops swirled, dancing around each other until they met
at the front where the two ends housed a large green diamond which
twinkled in the candle light. She tried, rather unsuccessfully, to
hold back the tears. She sniffed and looked at Jack. “It's
beautiful.”

“
I had it made
for you,” he said as he moved out of his seat towards her. “The
design is exactly the same as the bracelet your real mother wore
the day she was taken from you.”

The lump in
her throat ballooned making it impossible to breathe.
How did he know all of this? Even I don’t know
this.

“
Tabitha
mentioned to me that your mother loved a bracelet like this one,
she helped me finalise the design. Tabitha saw the bracelet more
than anyone else, so we wanted to get it just right. May I?” He
knelt down amongst the scattered rose petals and slipped the
bracelet around her wrist. Unsurprisingly, it fit
perfectly.