Returned (40 page)

“We need to train,” she laughed pushing at his shoulders. Her laughter died when she thought of them. “Jack, those people are a big deal. We need to be ready and I don't think we will be.”

“They are coming, beautiful, and it is something we will deal with. We have to.” He let her go and started to slowly descend.

“And why am I still up here?”

“You, lovely, are up there so I can train. I believe you have control of your element. I want to make sure I can hold mine.”

She nodded; her power had really come together over the last week. It was evident with the changing weather; she'd produced sleet for crying out loud.

             
She bobbed up and down in the air watching him. He walked into the woods where she could not longer see him but knew where he was by the many things levitating at once. A loud cracking sound made her heart dance with nerves. A huge tree complete with crinkled dead leaves floated across to her, she stiffened. She wasn't going to flap in the air like a mad chicken. Firstly, it wouldn't get her anywhere and secondly, it would make her look stupid.

“Don’t worry, it won’t hit you,” Jack shouted.

“Nice to know,” she responded sarcastically.

He levitated up towards her and pulled her back into his body, the cut of his abs pushed through his clothing making her stomach muscles quiver with pure lust.

“We need everyone here. I’m ready to pull everyone up.”

She took out her mobile, her fingers making quick work of a text. 

“She’s on her way. Eli knows and he will bring the others.”

He played with her fingers twining his own around them as he placed kisses along her jaw.

“Have you spoken to Clay since you know...?” she shrugged.

“Not the kind of conversation I want to start when I'm busy kissing my girlfriend,” Jack commented, speaking in between kisses.

Girlfriend. The word made the butterflies go crazy in her stomach. She laughed, the sound cut off when his mouth devoured hers.

He broke off the kiss before she lost her head.

“Nope, I haven't spoken with Clay.  He’d gone by the time I had got home. Eli just said it was sorted. He hasn't been home in two weeks and wasn't there this morning when I left. It’s not sorted yet.” His eyes darkened, the chocolate becoming solid.

“Jack, just leave it, it doesn’t matter anymore,” she urged him.

“It does matter.”

They were interrupted by the sound of voices. She looked down to see Tabitha come through the path with Ayden right behind her. They both looked up towards them and smiled.

“Wow, you've got plenty up there!” Tabitha shouted.

“Sure you can handle any more?” Ayden laughed.

“You just wait and see.”

Eli came through the other side of the circle closely followed by Clio. A few steps behind, Clay came trudging through the trees.

“Right,” Jack snarled.

             
He let them both down gently, she had barely landed on her feet w
hen Jack stomped towards Clay.
Cora didn't have chance to tell him to stop before she spotted Ayden hot on Jack’s heels ready for his piece of meat too. She walked over to Tabitha.

“If this gets out of hand, will you stop it?” she asked.

Tabitha nodded.

“I’m just wondering whether I will get more enjoyment if I smack you in the face again or if I let Ayden do it,” Jack snapped as he grabbed Clay's jumper in his fist.

Clay’s nose was puffy and a little red and there was a nasty gash over his cheek. Ayden stood by the side of Jack, his fists clenched. The only time Ayden stands by Jack is when he wants to get in a fight, typical.

“Now, you, you foul mouthed piece of shit, you can apologise to my High Priestess. When you disrespect her, you disrespect me. Those cuts on your face, that bruising, that is nothing compared to what I was going to do to you if I found you. You're bloody lucky I didn't,” Ayden snapped, angrily jabbing Clay in the chest. Jack let go of Clay, a smile playing on those perfect lips. “You made the mistake of bringing my future wife into the mix and for that you will pay-”

“Ayden,” Tabitha interjected.

Cora's heart was beating so fast she thought it was going to explode out of her chest.

“Tabitha!” Ayden snarled at her.

“No. We do not do this now. We have too much to deal with. I'm not saying Clay doesn't deserve it.
I'm not saying he does. I'm just trying to keep these two covens together.”

Ayden had grabbed
Clay's jumper, his fist pulled back ready to make the connection. Cora held her breath and exhaled when she watched him drop it.

“Again, you're very lucky,” Ayden sneered and stepped away.

“I’m sorry to all of you,” Clay whispered. “My emotions got the better of me and they shouldn't have. I'm truly sorry.”

She left Tabitha’s side and walked to Jack. Taking his hand, she pulled him back.

“Clay, what you did was stupid and uncalled for. I made mistakes; my main mistake was not stating clearly that we were never an item.” Clay had lifted his head to look at her. “You said things that hurt me but I know things can be spoken in angry moments and you have apologised so we need to drop this subject. We can’t be fighting amongst ourselves anymore.”

“I’m sorry, Cora. I’m disgusted by how I treated you. If you allow it and, of course my High Priest, I would like to remain within this group. I will leave when we are finished with the Corenthio Coven.”

Going up against the Corenthio Coven meant death.

They all knew it.

Tabitha sighed making her feelings known. She just wanted this whole drama over and done with so they could get back to training. What would a coven do without a member? Did it matter now their covens had joined together?

“I accept your apology, Clay. I also accept your request to leave the coven,” Jack spoke.

“I second that,” Eli agreed.

Clay nodded.

They all looked at Clio. Cora could only assume that every person in the coven had to accept the request. Clay turned to look at Clio who wasn't giving her answer. She lifted her head and simply nodded. Her face held every emotion but the clearest one was hurt. It hurt her to be stuck between her High Priest and Clay, her friend.

             
She pulled Jack away from Clay not wanting to risk any more fighting.

“Right, Jack wants to test his element.”

“Yeah, I just need to make sure that I can get you all up there.”

“Where do you want us?” Tabitha asked.

“Anywhere really, you could spread out to make it harder.”

She walked away from the others as they all spread out. Jack wanted to prove himself to everyone so naturally nerves were zipping around in her chest. She really wanted him to get this right.

             
Jack stood in the middle of the group with his head bowed. He looked up and smiled as Clio was the first to start levitating. She was stood next to one of the trees quite a distance away from Jack.

“I’m testing to see how high I can get everyone but I'm going to do it one at a time to make sure everyone is safe. I think the higher, the better.” Jack nodded.

Ayden was next, joining Clio in the air. Jack wasn't showing strain yet. Clay was the third to go. She felt the vibrations snake around her.

“Hold on, beautiful,” he grinned.

She smiled as her feet lifted from the ground and she slowly joined the others and the debris floating in mid air. Tabitha was the last to come up in the group.

“How are you feeling?” Tabitha asked looking down.

“I’m fine. I'm handling it better than I thought I would. I can feel the tug deep in my gut but it’s not painful. I think I can handle E
mber when she’s involved too.”

Jack levitated and came to a stop next to her; he was smiling like an idiot. She could see a little strain upon his face but he was handling it. He moved them higher; she wasn't going to look down. The unnatural force against gravity was showing on Jack's face. They stopped. She dared to look down then instantly regretted it when her heart fell out of her feet.

“I would say that is high enough, Jack,” Ayden commented.

“Excellent!” Tabitha clapped her hands.

“Can you get us down without any broken bones though?” Eli teased.

Eli fell around five feet from the group forcing a short squeal to escape his lips “You mock me brother and you will be the first to fall,” he laughed.

             
He let them glide gently to the floor.
As soon as her feet touched ground, Jack bounded up to her and lifted her off her feet. She laughed as he spun her around and then dropped her to the floor whilst giving her a noisy kiss on the lips.

“Well done,” she said grinning at him.

“They’re coming!”

Everyone spun around to look at Ember who had popped up out of nowhere.

THE GOODBYE

“What?” Tabitha demanded.

The laughter had stopped. She grabbed Jack's hand feeling him squeeze it in return.

“They're coming, Tabitha.”

For the first time Cora could see the panic in Ember's eyes.

“When?” Tabitha asked as she took charge of the group.

“They are on their way now. It should take about three hours, at a push it could be four hours, they are coming from London.”

“Everyone to Cora’s house, now.”

             
They followed Tabitha in silence.
She wasn’t ready, that was all that ran through her mind. They hadn’t gone through their strategies. They hadn’t practised enough. She wasn’t ready to die. Bulbous cloud formed, darkening the sky as thunder protested overhead reflecting her mood perfectly. The group walked in a line apart from her and Jack as they clung to each other's hands. Jack was jumping over old trunks and bushes so he could walk by her side.

             
Her mother was stood at the door beside Ember as she exited the little path. She let go of Jack’s hand and ran towards her mother. A girl was never too old to need her mother in times of crisis.

             
Cora sat down on the sofa next to her mother; Jack sat on the arm of the sofa next to her, his hand stroking her hair which soothed her. Ayden started placing the table chairs within the room so the others could sit. Clio took a seat next to Clay near the window. Ember remained stood and Tabitha stomped continuously behind them creating a walkway into the carpet. Ayden sat next to her mother, one hand on her belly, his other hand holding hers.

“Just to begin, I want to tell everyone that Ember and I have been working on a strategy,” Tabitha began, “but we felt it would hinder you. You would be thinking of what comes next rather than what to do at that time... so we scrapped it.”

“We have no strategy?” Clio’s voice squeaked in shock.

“I think the best strategy is to do what comes naturally,” Ember offered.

“But that means we have nothing,” Clay fumed.

“We have worked on our elements individually and we have come together as a group, a strong group at that. Jack and Cora have come a long way during these past few months. Just a few months ago they didn’t even know they were witches, now look at them.”

Everyone in the room looked at them. Her cheeks flushed. “Okay, we aren’t actually doing things
right now. Y
ou don’t need to stare,” she stated and caught the tiny twitch of a smile on Jack's face.

“So, what do we do?” Ayden asked.

“We need to direct them to the training area. We cannot let it go to the village. I don't think they would take it that far, it would alert the commoners and the whole point of this little
visit
is to stop the commoners from figuring us out. Cora will have to lead them there.”

“What? Me? Why me?”

“They will look for you first. Your mother, or so they believe, was the one who caused the most problems during the witch trials. They no doubt think you are like your mother, the trouble maker,” Tabitha commented, her voice dripping with hate. “Then they will focus their attention on Jack and then the rest of us if we stand in their way, and we will stand in their way.”

“Why can’t I be with her?” Jack added squeezing her hand to try and reassure her.

“You need to be with us. If we want to surprise them we can't be in plain sight for them to see, we need to be high. This means that Cora will have to get to the circle by herself.”

“I can keep you in the air from a distance. I won't leave, Cora,” he snapped.