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The woman who
spoke was small in height. She wore a pretty blue dress that hugged
her petite frame. Her honey-comb eyes, set against rich chocolate
skin, smiled at Cora. Her full lips quivered before revealing
perfectly straight, white teeth. Cora’s lips twitched in
response.

“
Ma name is
Quinn, and ma power is tracking.”

Jack mumbled
something under his breath. Before she could ask him what he'd
said, another person had started speaking. She sensed that Jack
didn’t like Quinn. She knew something had passed between them when
he’d visited the day before, but she didn’t want to ask what. She
didn’t want Jack to lose it here, in this room full of
witches.

“
My name is
Tommy Ellis, and my power is mediumship.”

Tommy’s dark
brown eyes searched the table until they rested on hers. His short,
close shave of blond hair gave him a chiselled look, one that told
her she was lucky she wasn't meeting him in a dark alley. She could
also see a tattoo. What looked like the beginnings of a dragon. Its
head and the burst of fire visibly peeked out from under his sleeve
on his arm. His full, perfectly shaped lips lifted a fraction
before he sat down and the man sitting to his left
stood.

“
My name is
Ryan Booth, and my power is possession.”

Her attention
zoned out at this point. Instead, her eyes followed the people who
introduced themselves, their mouths moving but the words flouting
away before reaching her ears.

Everyone had
weird powers. Ones she didn't know anything about. She watched as a
graceful woman with striking ash white hair stood up. Her vibrant
diamond white eyes drifted across the table looking at the witches
individually as she spoke. Cora could guess what some of the powers
meant, some of them were simple enough, like possession and
tracking. Others were just plain strange.

She was
dragged back to reality when someone started speaking another
language. The man who was standing, smiled at her. His barley
coloured hair caught the light, as his eyes, the colour of autumn
leaves, focused on her. He wasn't speaking English. How could she
smile back when she didn’t understand a word he said? Luckily Alva,
Tavish's twin, was translating everything for him. After hearing a
few sentences, she shut off again, but she smiled at him
anyway.

Her heart was
pounding as she tried not to focus on the fact that people were now
standing closer to her. That could only mean it would be her turn
soon. She really needed to get over her fear of public speaking,
but it was hard when everyone was staring at you.

Jack stood up
next to her, cleared his throat, and told everyone his name and
power. His hand remained in hers, in sight for the others to see.
She looked at a few of the faces to gauge reactions. Some of the
witches looked puzzled, like they didn’t know they were a couple.
Others looked bored.

Jack took his
seat and then it was her turn to stand up. On legs that were bound
to fall from under her, she stood and felt Jack squeeze her
hand.

“
My name is
Cora Device, and my elemental power is wind.”

She made a
move to sit down, instead she was interrupted by
Alastair.

“
That isnae
exactly true,” Alastair interjected.

Cora turned,
glaring at him. She still remained standing in front of all the
people, but she’d instantly forgotten about them, focusing only on
him.
What the hell did Alastair know about
my element? He'd remained silent throughout all of the
introductions but he had to interrupt mine?
She was just about to tell him what she thought of his comment
when he continued.

“
Cora, is it
true that yer can control all elements of the weather?”

She looked at
Tabitha waiting for guidance to how she should deal with this.
Tabitha gave a slight nod.

“
Yes, it is
true.”

Cora felt like
she was on trial and barely missed of the ‘your honour’ part.
Alastair nodded at her. She took it as her cue to sit. She very
nearly remained stood up just to spite him.

Alastair
remained standing with a smile on his face. He would take great
pride in announcing his powers, and Cora really wanted to know what
it was.

“
Ma name is
Alastair Kennedy, and ma power is mental manipulation.”

She saw the
way his revelation hit the members of her coven. Tabitha and Ember
looked liked they suddenly had a mouth full of bees. Ayden clenched
his fists on the table. His eyes were pure ice as they glared at
the man at the head of the table. Clay’s eyebrows were pushed
together in confusion. He didn’t know what it meant but Cora did.
For some strange reason she knew exactly what his power was. It
meant that Alastair could control what they thought. He could push
at their worst nightmares, making them feel so real, they could
possibly crush you. This wasn’t good. Jack squeezed her
hand.

“
So, we can
start,” Alastair began. “The first point ov bus’ness is Dublin and
yer case of a streaking witch.”

Ayden snorted
which brought a smile to her lips.

Cora watched
as the members of Dublin coven fidgeted uncomfortably in their
seats. The leader, earlier introduced as Evelyn Connely, was
getting to her feet. Her short chestnut hair was shaved into the
right side of her head, a pattern of lines carved into the short
cut. Her striking jade green eyes slitted viciously as people
coughed around the table.

“
Aye. Ben
Patrick had a few too many bevvies and went bloody crackers. We got
him under control eventually mind, but he performed a few magical
spells to the all seeing, all believing public folk. So we made a
big show and tell and told them it wa’ a performance.” Evelyn sat
down and sighed.

Cora found
herself mesmerised by the woman’s accent. It was rhythmical and
flowy. Why couldn’t this meeting be held in Ireland instead? Cora
could understand their accents perfectly, and they were nice to
listen to.

“
Right, well
we be needin' to discuss this at length and get back tae yer,”
Alastair replied seriously.

Evelyn nodded
her head at Alastair. She didn’t look afraid, so that response must
happen often in these meetings.

“
The next
bus’ness is the bewitching ov a person an’ turnin’ them into a
horse.”

Cora coughed
trying to hold back a giggle as she looked at Jack to see his
reaction. He was keeping his lips tight together, but the dimples
popping in his cheeks told her he was dying to laugh. What the hell
were the covens doing? Have they lost complete control over their
members?

“
Yeah, well,
that wasn't our fault really,” Tommy said, trying not to smile.
“Jenna Sunderland is a little batty at the best of times, and on
this particular day, someone happened to tell her she looked a
little like a horse. She didn’t appreciate such a comment, so she
turned him into one. He obviously didn't take this well and
ransacked a few shops. We’ve got the man in our hospital because
he’s still struggling to walk. He constantly feels the urge to
gallop...”

Tommy was
trying to hold back the laughter. Everyone at the table was looking
elsewhere trying to swallow their own giggles.

“
Right, well,
we will get back tae yer, Tommy. On tae some sad news aboot the
loss ov Evan Hughes. The Cliodna Coven huv lost someone dear tae
them. He lived a guid life tae die at three thousand years
old.”

Cora nearly
swallowed her own tongue. Good Lord. She couldn't imagine being
that old. At this rate, with all the trouble that always found her,
she wouldn't live to see the end of this year.

Everyone
dropped their heads for a brief second before Alastair grabbed
their attention again. “Nou, we get doon tae the bus’ness ov Cora
and the Corenthio Coven.”

The room
stilled. She could hear Ayden's curse across the table. She really
hoped he held it together, because they couldn’t fight every single
witch in this room. If that happened, she was positive she wouldn’t
live to the end of the hour.

“
We all know
that the Corenthio Coven are no longer wi' us. We know that Cora
and her coven took their lives. We've been huvin’ meitings here
since their deaths-”

“
Why haven't
we been informed of these meetings?” Tabitha interrupted, rising
from her seat.

“
We dinnae
think the wee lassie wa up tae meitings.”

Cora pushed
herself to her feet in annoyance before she remembered that there
were lots of people in this room and that they would now look at
her. “Wait. So you think it’s okay to make decisions for
me?”

“
A didnae
wannae tae upset yer.” Alastair was grinning at her. His blue eyes
glinted with something evil. She knew he didn’t care about her
feelings.

“
Oh right, but
it’s fine to demand that I come here without a word of
explanation?” Cora retorted. “Surely that adds to the stress, and
you say I couldn’t handle meetings, pufft...”

“
Explainin’
isnae needed.”

“
Yes it is! I
don’t like how you assert your
small
amount of authority in this
place. You obviously don’t know me at all, you idiot, because I
hate not knowing what is happening when it involves me. If I was
informed about the meetings, I would have told you, if and when, I
was ready to partake. We are a coven too, damn it, and we should be
involved in this type of business.”

Cora could see
little pink flecks of colour stain Alastair's cheeks. He was pissed
that she'd challenged him in front of the other covens, but she
really didn't care right now. She was sick of people telling her
what to do.

“
Seen as yer
already up, yer can explain the events the day the Corenthio Coven
died. The day that you decided to take a
small
amount of authority and assert
it by killing the law.” Alastair’s frame floated back into his seat
as he placed his hands together with that idiotic smile on his
face. He’d repeated what she’d said, mocking her.

“
Smug son of a
bitch,” Jack muttered under his breath.

There was
something about this man that really set her and Jack’s teeth on
edge. She sucked back her irritation and began telling the room the
story from the beginning.

After what
seemed like hours of explaining every little detail, her voice
broke when she reached the deaths of her mother and
Clio.

“
How did you
know the Corenthio Coven hadn't come in peace?” Cora turned to face
the man who'd asked the question. It was Tommy, the leader of the
Leeds Coven.

“
Well, they
made their decision in three weeks. They didn't come during the
day, and there was no phone call to kindly tell us they would be
arriving for a small
chat.
Plus, they were the ones to start the attack
first.”

Tommy nodded
at her. Cora didn't know where to look, so she looked at her
hands.

“
You say the
Corenthio Coven had come to kill you because of the past events.
However, you have told us those events are different to what the
Corenthio Coven believed. How do you know this?” This question came
from a member of the Irish coven.

Damn
. Cora had left out the book.
Public speaking really wasn't her thing. “Well, we have these
family books that document our entire lives.” Cora stopped as
several people began murmuring.

“
Why dinnae we
know aboot the books?” Alastair asked, lifting his hand to silence
the mutterings.

“
I didn't
realise you needed to know. Do you not have a book?”

“
Nae,”
Alastair snapped.

“
It was
something both their families decided to do, like a diary of their
lives. It just so happens that it documents a very important part
of history,” Tabitha explained.

“
So why did
you not show the Corenthio Coven the book?” Evelyn, the Irish
leader, asked.

“
We couldn’t
show them, because no one can see the contents of the books other
than ourselves. It works so that the direct descendants of the
books can see them. I can’t see Jack's book, and he can’t see
mine.”

“
That
shouldnae be a problem,” Alastair tells them. “Cathella can touch
yer books. She can touch any object and see whit it
says.”

Cora had
barely registered what Alastair had said when her coven exploded
with anger.

12

HERE IS YOUR
FATE-

DEAL WITH
IT

“
Why were we
not told?” Tabitha’s voice boomed.

“
I lost my
wife to be and my child! Cora lost her mother!” Ayden
roared.

“
We fought for
no apparent reason!”

“
Why did you
stand aside and do nothing!”

“
How could you
do this?” Ember questioned.

Cora could
barely gather her thoughts as her coven fired questions at
Alastair. She knew the turmoil was swirling inside her but she felt
numb. One devastating thought pinged to the front of Cora’s mind.
Everything could have been different. If this Scottish coven had
done something to help Cora’s coven, her mother and Clio would
still be alive today. Her mother, her brother or sister would be at
home.