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“
A’ve come tae
discuss business with yer. Since yer went and killed the Corenthio
Coven yer took away the law. Nou, seen as A’m the leader of the
next biggest coven, it’s doon tae me tae tell yer that yer required
tae come tae a meiting in Scotland tae decide yer fate-”

“
Oh no! No
way! This is not happening again!” Jack braced himself ready to
attack the man.

She saw the
movement from the corner of her eye, Tabitha had shifted slightly
also ready to intervene. Christ, she couldn't do this again. It was
too soon after the last attack.

“
Nae, there is
tae be nae death. Cora must tek her place.”

“
My place?”
she asked, looking at the man around Jack’s protective body. His
arm, which was held in front of her, restricted any
movement.

“
Aye, yer
place as the leader.”

“
I’m already
High Priestess of my coven.” There wasn’t any position higher up,
was there?

“
Nae, the
leader of the law. You must lead all covens.”

She gasped.
Was this man serious? She couldn’t lead. She hadn’t been able to
lead her own coven until Tabitha had all but forced her too. This
was ridiculous.

“
What!”
Tabitha exclaimed, her body jerking as if she'd been
slapped.

“
Yer lassie,
and nou doubt the laddie here, took the power away. It needs
replacin’. Nou, Cora must come tae Scotland and restore the
order.”

“
You have to
be joking?” Jack exploded. “This has to be some sick
joke!”

She remained
standing behind Jack, her mouth gaping open in shock. She had to be
the leader of everyone? She didn’t even know there were other
covens out there. Well, she knew, but she hadn’t thought about it
in detail. Why did she have to go to Scotland? It was at the other
end of the country. She could barely understand this man, so how
was she meant to understand anyone in Scotland? Wasn't her life
complicated enough right now, without adding this to it
too?

“
I will do
it,” Jack insisted.

Cora was
starting to lose the plot of the conversation. What had Jack just
offered to do?

“
Nae, based on
the power an’ the order of things, Cora is the leader.”

The room was
silent.

What could
they say? This was all so unexpected, so out of the blue. She could
hear Jack's laboured breathing, he was holding it together. But
only just. Unfortunately, she wasn’t in control herself. She'd lost
control of her body. Her tongue felt heavy and awkward in her
mouth. She couldn’t begin to process the words to make her tongue
say them. They watched as the man picked up his cup and like
nothing had happened, continued to drink it.

6

HEART TO
HEART

Cora sat
opposite Alastair whilst her family, her coven, sat around her.
Alastair hadn’t moved. His expression remained neutral. Thankfully,
Tabitha had taken the lead on this new revelation because Cora felt
like tensions in the room were ready to snap. Even Ayden was here
with them which surprised her.

He didn’t look
well, but he was here, and that was all that mattered. Clay sat off
to the side of the group, whilst Ember and Tabitha shared a seat.
Eli was standing at the back of the group nearest the door with a
hard look in his eyes. The blue and greens had mixed becoming a
shade of teal. They expressed how pissed he was feeling. Eli was
ready to defend them, just in case something happened. Cora really
hoped it didn’t.

“
So, what
you’re saying is that Cora must take charge because she killed the
Corenthio Coven?” Ember asked. Cora could hear the temper in each
syllable.

“
Aye.”
Alastair nodded his head. He looked rather perplexed as to why they
didn’t understand what he was saying.

“
But that’s
ridiculous!” Ayden stormed.

“
Why?”
Alastair interrupted.

“
Because she
had to kill them! They killed her mother and Clio. You’re punishing
her for something she had no control over,” Ayden snapped. His
voice adopted the cold, knife edge anger that always made her skin
crawl.

“
Whether yer
agree wi' this is irrelevant. It’s the order of things.”

“
Piss poor
order!” Ayden shouted.

She managed to
hide the jump caused by Ayden’s outburst.

“
So what
happens now?” Eli asked. His attempt at trying to calm the
situation down was much appreciated by Cora.

She could feel
Jack’s boiling anger surging through his body. The quake in his
bones was making her nervous.

“
There’s a
train booked in the morn.”

“
What? You’ve
book it without our answers being given?” Ember scolded Alastair,
like a teacher would their student.

“
Aye. Yer
cannae say nae,” Alastair said, matter of fact.

“
Why do I have
to go to Scotland? Why can’t your people come here?” she asked,
finally finding her voice.

“
Well, lassie,
we cud come haur but this village would notice somethin’. Best yer
come tae us.” With that, he stood up, bowed awkwardly and
left.

“
So what the
hell do we do?” Clay asked when the door shut and Alastair had
disappeared.

“
We pack,”
Tabitha instructed. “There is nothing else we can do but follow
orders, unless you want another fight on your hands?”

“
No, I don’t,”
Cora said.

“
Do you still
want me in your coven?” Clay asked them unexpectedly.

She looked at
Jack in shock and then looked at the others. She remembered that
he'd said he would leave once things were over with the Corenthio
Coven. That had been when the temper between Jack and Clay was at
its highest. When everything had blown up and they thought they
wouldn’t survive. Since then, as far as Cora was concerned, the
atmosphere in the coven was fine. But it was up to Jack.

“
I don’t think
we should break away from each other. We might be going into
something unexpected,” Jack said, rather diplomatically.

Tabitha
nodded, agreeing with what Jack had said.

“
I think
that's wise,” Ayden agreed.

“
But you do
any funny shit, and I will throw you on your ass.” Jack pointed a
finger in Clay’s direction.

Clay bowed,
his face remained serious. His green eyes silently thanking them
before he made his way out of the shop.

“
I’m going to
pack. Jack, most of your clothes and things are at
home.”

Jack looked at
Cora. Those gorgeous brown eyes asking her if she would be okay.
She had to be okay, he couldn’t chain himself to her every second
of every day.

“
Go, I’ll be
fine.”

His lips
touched hers before he walked away with Eli.

“
I’ll go up
and pack. Cora, not all of your clothes are here,” Tabitha told
her.

“
I know.” She
looked at Ayden. Her stomach knotted when she realised what
decision she would have to make next.

“
You must
decide where you will live,” Ayden spoke, but his words sounded so
distant to her.

She couldn’t
think about where she wanted to live.

Tabitha’s flat
was somewhere her mother hadn’t been. Somewhere without the
memories. At home, she wouldn’t be able to move without thinking of
her mother. The overwhelming memories and the grief that came along
with those memories was something she wasn’t ready to
handle.

“
I can’t
decide yet. I’ll think of it when we come back from
Scotland.”

“
You still
need to pack,” Tabitha reminded her.

Cora gave her
a pleading look that said all the butter wouldn’t melt stuff in
there.

“
Fine,”
Tabitha sighed. “Once I’ve packed, I will go and pack for you.
Ayden can you find Cora’s suitcase?”

Ayden nodded,
bowed, and then left the shop.

“
You both need
to talk at some point, Cora. You can't keep skirting around the
issue.”

She nodded.
She knew Tabitha was right. Cora missed Ayden. Sighing, because she
didn’t know how to respond, she wandered upstairs, waiting for the
others to return.

*

Cora was glued
to Jack’s side as they stood on the Manchester platform braving the
strong, cold winds February had to offer. She gritted her teeth,
feeling a curse on the tip of her tongue. She didn’t want to say
anything to anyone else, but she knew the winds were reacting to
the turmoil she felt inside. She just couldn’t stop it. She
couldn't find any sort of calm state within herself. Whenever she
thought about calming her panicked breathing and heart rate, she
thought about what may lie ahead, and her stomach did that wishy
washy thing which made the wind around them howl.

Tabitha was
standing with Ember and Eli. She noticed that Eli’s brow was
furrowed and that his hands were pushed deep into his jean pockets.
Ember’s lips were pulled thinly, her grey eyes slitted in
frustration. Whatever that was about, she was staying well away
from it. She had too much on her plate right now.

Clay was
standing off to one side, clearly staying away from that
conversation whilst Ayden was sat on a bench behind them. His large
body was wrapped in a bright orange puffer jacket. She looked at
him sat on the bench alone and her heart clenched. He still looked
ill. His blue eyes no longer sparkled. His face was unshaven, the
stubble making him appear far older than his actual
years.

Cora had no
reason to judge others on their appearance. She didn’t look her
usual self at the moment either. Her frame was frail and skinny.
She could count a few of her ribs. Her cheek bones and the hollow
pit under her eyes were more prominent too.

“
This is our
train,” Tabitha announced.

The train
ground loudly to a halt. Cora dragged her suitcase behind her. She
had packed more than she needed, but in her defence, she was a
woman. It was the written rule for women to take more than what was
needed. She followed Jack, who’d taken it upon himself to direct
everyone to the correct coach. Her coven huddled behind her. The
heated conversation was now put on hold as they fought against the
crowds that seemed to want to enter the same
compartment.

Jack found
their coach, the doorway completely empty of people, and proceeded
in grabbing their luggage as they stepped onto the train one by
one. She walked to the front, already enjoying the heat, and
dropped herself down at a table with four seats.

Eli moved to a
table off to the side of her and pulled out his laptop. At least he
would get some work done. The laptop didn’t look like the lump of
rock they had at the shop, it probably wasn’t as slow either. She
pulled off her coat, scarf and gloves as Jack joined her in the
seat opposite. His cheeks were flushed and his gorgeous chocolate
button brown eyes twinkled. His lips slid into the smirk she loved;
the dimples in his cheeks popped.

“
Why are you
so happy?” she asked.

“
We’re going
on holiday,” he grinned.

“
It’s not a
holiday,” she grumbled and realised she wouldn’t mind a holiday.
Somewhere hot, with a beach and ice-cream.

“
Yeah, but
forgetting the reason why we are going, it’s still a holiday
because it’s not home.”

She nodded her
head unconvinced.

She closed her
eyes, thinking of home. Her home used to be with her mum. She'd
complained about moving, but now she would do anything to turn back
the time and have her mother with her. She would move a thousand
times over just to have her here. Where would home be now? With
Ayden or with Tabitha? She needed to seriously think about
it.

The train
started moving. Tabitha sat across from Ember who was texting. Her
perfectly manicured nails flying over the buttons faster than Cora
had ever seen before. Clay was sat at the back near Ayden. Ayden
had distanced himself from them. He still excluded himself from the
group. The sight of him on his own made her heart squeeze
painfully. She closed her eyes and settled in for the
ride.

The smell of
bacon made her nose twitch. She stirred and jerked back as she
opened her eyes. A huge, powdered white bread bacon sandwich was
close to her face. Jack snorted, amused by his little game, and
moved the sandwich away.

“
That isn’t
funny,” she grumbled.

“
I think it
is,” he smiled and took a bite of the sandwich.

Cora made a
grab for the sandwich, pulling it from his grasp just as he was
about to take another bite. Grinning, she took a hearty bite and
sighed. Her appetite was definitely coming back.

“
I’m guessing
you'll want a drink to go with that?”

“
You guess
right,” she smiled, attacking the sandwich again.

He rummaged
through his bag and pulled out some water.