Returned (25 page)

             
Grabbing the trunk, he shifted his weight to the back of his legs and pushed with every ounce of strength. It felt like he was attempting to lift a bloody bus.

“Lift it!” Clay shouted.

He felt the burn in his muscles as he pulled the trunk up. 

“Cora, use your element!”
Tabitha ordered.

Cora lowered her hands and closed her eyes. Clay was pulling the trunk. He tried lifting the trunk again, his fingers slipping on the rough bark. He felt the sting and looked at his hand
as blood oozed from the gash.
Eli was still moving around under it. Why wasn’t Eli using his power? Why was he under the trunk to begin with?

             
Jack reluctantly let go of the trunk knowing the weight would drop back onto Eli. He stood back, pushing his panic aside, he grasped his power. He felt Cora’s power glide up against his. Clay grunted with the effort to get the trunk off Eli. Adrenaline pumped through his body making his pulse quicken.

             
Cursing, he realised his panic was stopping his element from fully developing. His left foot was levitating whilst his right remained, rooted to the floor. His brother needed him and he couldn’t control his element.

Christ.

Shaking himself, he refused to let the creeping tendrils of failure enter any part of his body, he just needed to focus. He closed his eyes.

“Jack, come on!!” Clay snarled.

“Shut up, Clay, I’m bloody trying!”

He closed his eyes tighter thinking of the wonderful release.

A warm hand filled his.

His back went rigid. His eyes shot open and found Cora stood at his side. He pushed her hand from his. “Don't touch me!”

She sighed, actually sighed at him. He felt the first stirrings of anger. “We need to work together, Jack.”

“Get. This. Thing. Off. Me!” Eli snapped.

Jack's attention moved from Cora to Eli. Did he really have to touch her?  The more time he spent thinking about this, the more Eli was getting crushed.

“Fine,” he snapped.

             
He closed his eyes and felt her hand slide into his and give it a squeeze. It felt warm and clammy. He concentrated on his element. The second he felt it come to life, he nearly gasped. It glided playfully with Cora’s element. He opened his eyes and was shocked to see the smile on her face. Wind whipped around them but not one hair on his head moved. He was stood in the eye of the storm. He felt the lift, felt the weightlessness, although he was moving he still felt her hand stay within his. She was levitating with him. For a second he felt a smile play on his lips, he'd done that. Sickeningly, he had to admit that she'd helped.

             
Shaking his head, he shook off the unwanted feeling. He had a game plan and he was sticking to it. He didn't need to think about the way a beam of light caught the deep brown of her eyes making them swirl. He didn't need to think about the way the sun cast a ray of light that seemed to kiss her face making her pale skin shimmer and glow.

             
Eli had stopped moving beneath the trunk, he felt the lack of movement stop his heart. Cora seemed to sense this, their elements twinned together and then the trunk moved rocking against the pressure they created. The trunk gave one final shake before it flew off Eli hurtling towards the trees.

             
Eli rolled over and coughed. Clay helped him to a sitting position as Jack and Cora floated back to solid ground.

“Good going,” Eli said and stood up like nothing had happened.

Jack looked from Tabitha to Eli, to Clay and then to Cora before finally going back to Eli.

“Why are you grinning?” he asked, barely controlling his anger.

“You passed the test,” Tabitha said, smiling at him.

“What test?” Cora asked.

“We needed to get you two working together sooner rather than later. We thought sooner would be best. You did brilliantly by the way,” Eli praised whilst wiping dirt from his jeans.

Jack felt the anger build as the red mist exploded in his vision.

“Jack, don't,” Cora demanded.

He felt the tug on his hand holding him back. He was still holding Cora’s hand? Her grip tightened pulling him towards her
and
he allowed her to pull him.

“Jack, they were looking out for us. You can understand that our safety is their number one priority. We eventually needed to work together, but…” She stopped and scowled at Tabitha.

Tabitha glared at Cora, her eyes narrowed into slits.
J
ack had seen the look many times, he'd received a similar one himself and he didn't like it.

Cora seemed to ignore it and continued. “Tabitha, it was a stupid way to do it. You could have discussed it with us like adults. To put someone Jack loved in danger was wrong.”

Jack lost all the breath in his lungs. Cora had hit the nail on the head. He loved Eli like a brother, to see him in danger rubbed salt into wounds that were far from healed. Before he could respond, Cora was tugging on his hand again. He still hadn't let go.

“Look what we did together,” she said and smiled at him.

He considered this, looking between Eli and Tabitha. They looked happy but he knew Eli well enough to see the cautious look on his face. He had seen that look on his face countless times. This look was the one you saw on parents’ faces before their kid started having a screaming episode on the supermarket floor. Did he really come off as such a pig? He'd had his moments, he couldn't lie about that, but he was entitled.

“We did a good job.” He swallowed his anger; he didn’t want to disappoint Eli.

He felt her grip his hand tighter and then let go. The cold air hit the area she'd kept so warm. He clenched his hand into a fist.

             
Cora walked to Tabitha's side, he studied them as they both moved away already engrossed in a conversation and laughing. Cora’s hair had fallen from the bobble that had secured it. Delicate wisps of her hair had fallen across her face, he watched as she brushed them back behind her ear.  Looking at Eli, he found the man grinning from ear to ear. Clay was stood to the side of Eli watching him, his eyes ignited, two deep pits of fire aimed directly at him.

“So… you had that all figured out?”

“Yeah.” Eli slapped him on the back. “My master plan worked a bloody treat. You work well together. Come on, let’s go. Cora’s mum has offered to feed us and I can never pass up on free food.”

             
Eli dropped his arm heavily around his shoulders. Jack slumped along next to him. Eli was chatting about his training session with Cora before his master plan came into effect. Eli sounded excited, alive. He couldn't remember the last time Eli had sounded like this. His element continued to pulse within him, around him. Cora had forced him to focus, by doing so she’d helped him. He hated the feeling that he owed her something.  He clenched his fist, the warmth of her touch already fading.

Chapter
33

PROGRESS

“Jack, concentrate!”

“I’m bloody trying!”

He glared at Eli trying to blink through the sweat that was pouring down his forehead. Eli was pushing him way beyond his boundaries, and he knew it. He probably liked it.

             
Jack was currently suspended in the air with Clay and Clio elevated beside him. He was dipping into his reserves; he couldn't keep them up here for much longer. He felt his limbs shake under the terrible pressure of holding them. He didn’t want them to go crashing to the ground. If they went down, it would hurt. He didn't want to hurt them. Well, apart from Clay.

“Keep it up, Jack!” Cora shouted up encouragement.

She stood underneath them and had suggested taking people up with him. He didn’t really want to look stupid in front of them, in front of her. She wouldn't get the better of him. His mind laughed telling him he could convince himself of this. He growled cutting off the thought.

             
He looked down at her and his concentration lapsed. They plummeted rapidly out of the sky. He heard a gasp escape Clio's mouth.

“Whoa, Jack!” Clay shouted.

He regained his balance holding them both with him in the air. That had been too close.  He fought the internal battle that was making a mess of his insides. He needed to get them down; they needed to be on the ground.

“Jack, you stay up there!”

“Eli, I can’t do it!”

“Keep it going!” Eli urged.

His stomach rolled. He was going to throw up if he stayed up here and he was sure Eli wouldn't appreciate
that
shower. He dropped slowly to the floor.

             
Over the past week he’d managed to work on the landing. Now he was smoother than he had been, well to the point that he was no longer falling hard on the floor and wobbling around like a newborn. He wasn't sure it would be a smooth landing for the others.  He concentrated on keeping Clay and Clio in the air, even on the floor; the pull on his energy was taxing.

“Come on, you can do this.” Cora knelt down in front of him.

“I can’t, it hurts. I’m drained,” he moaned. He couldn't care less if he appeared weak. He'd seen her weaknesses.

             
They'd spent every day working together. He had, rather surprisingly, felt great about the training sessions, even in the presence of Cora. Amazingly, he was happy that he was learning his gift, despite Cora having to be there. But the training sessions were gruelling. He was weak; this weakness was due to his lack of sleep. Each night for the past week he'd had the same horrendous nightmare.

             
In these nightmares he always started in the same place, instantly surrounded by people, the roar of a large crowd created a noise that battered his ears. There were so many faces that they blurred, the heat, the smell of rotten food, stale breath and sweat hit his nostrils and clung to his body. That wasn't the worst part. The iron cuffs that bound his hands, ones that scratched him, made his skin crawl. Long thin strips of rusty metal grazed his vulnerable skin, always on the verge of breaking through. No matter how many times he consciously tried not to move his hands, he always did.

             
Every single time he felt the
pop
and sickening sting as the sharp rusted spike slid into his flesh. It was at this point that he woke, panting and rubbing his hands.

             
He hadn’t told Eli about them. How could he explain them without sounding totally insane?

“Start again.” Cora’s voice cut into his thoughts.

“Okay,” he said, whacking the dirt off his jeans, he took a deep breath and rose to join Clay and Clio in the air.

*

Midnight was drawing in when they finally stopped. Everyone had gathered to watch Jack and judge how he had progressed, he had something to prove. He'd managed to lift himself and his entire coven. Good start for a first day of trying.

“Jack, perhaps you should work on your levitating with Cora,” Tabitha suggested, “It’s imperative that you both use your elements together against the Corenthio Coven. We have no way of defending ourselves when on the ground unless you help us.”

“Yeah, sure that's fine. Is everyone going to be there so I can try levitating them?” He didn't want to, he didn't have the energy but he wouldn't complain.

“No, I need to work with Ayden and Clio.”

“Right, so who will be there?”

“Cora.”

He stopped breathing. In the weeks his coven had been practising with them he had never been
alone
with Cora. He didn’t actually know if he could be trusted.

“I heard my name.”

He looked up as Cora approached. Her hair hung loose, touching her shoulders. Her eyes focused on him. Even though the weather was cooling as they neared December, she wore only a thin t-shirt over tattered jeans. He wore similar gear; it was hard, sweaty work learning new techniques.

“I was just telling Jack that you two need to focus on your skills and working together. It is you two that are the most important.”

“No, Tab, we all want to protect each other. I don’t want to be saved before everyone else.”

Jack watched as lines of frustration gathered on her forehead. For once they agreed on something. He wanted to protect rather than be protected.

“I understand that. But we can use our skills; have been using them for centuries. You still need to master yours.”