“
Yeah, good,
you can use that, be supportive, romantic and all that.”
Silence
descended on the room as they thought about what kind of plan they
could come up with. Jack couldn’t think of anything. His only
thought was to smash the four heads together and have it done
with.
“
The only
thing I can suggest is remaining calm, trying to show Cora you are
above it all,” Eli suggested as he sipped on the hot chocolate he’d
made.
Jack had
wanted alcohol. A good solid buzz to help his mood, but he would
make do with the fizzy drink that Eli had forced on him. “It is not
going to be that easy, brother,” Jack grumbled.
*
Jack walked
into the shop just as Tabitha opened it up. Her leaf green eyes
turned into slits, her lips snarled at him.
“
Tab, you
couldn’t say anything that could make me feel any worse than how I
do right now.”
“
She didn’t
sleep in the bed last. Cora slept on the sofa, and I could hear her
crying most of the night.”
Okay, that was
like a sucker punch to the gut. He was wrong, he could feel worse.
“I’m going up to see her if that’s okay?”
Tabitha
nodded. “I know this is difficult for you too, Jack, but putting
this distance between the two of you isn’t going to
help.”
Jack nodded
his head turned to head up to the flat. His heart stopped when Cora
stepped into the shop. Her cheeks were pale, her eyes red from the
lack of sleep and crying.
“
Cora...”
She ran to him
and flew into his arms. At least he wasn’t on his ass from the
sharp whiplash of wind. It told him she wasn’t mad, and for some
reason this made him feel worse.
“
I’m sorry,
I’m so sorry, Jack,” she cried.
“
Cora, it’s
me. I’m not handling this well. I’m sorry. I stayed with Ayden and
Eli late last night, and didn’t want to come back and disturb
you.”
“
I wish this
whole thing wasn’t happening. I don’t want them. I don’t want
this.”
Jack pulled
her back and kissed her. “It’s okay. I know this. I’m going to be
here for you.”
Cora nodded
and put her head against his chest.
“
Now that
you’ve made up, the shop is open.”
As soon as
Tabitha said the words, Mrs Rogers hobbled through the door and
smiled at them.
“
Jack, please
stay in the shop today, with me,” Cora insisted.
Jack nodded.
He could do that for her. The meeting with the men had told him to
be there for her. They’d been through too much together, and he
wouldn’t lose her over something like this.
17
CONTROL
Jack sat at
the small table reading an autobiography about a man he'd never
heard of. He'd found the book on Tabitha's shelf and thought it
would be interesting.
It
wasn’t.
Plus,
pretending to read meant that he was able to keep an eye on the
shop door as Cora moved around helping customers and cleaning. He
turned a page in the book, a page he'd not read, when the door bell
chimed and he looked up to see Tommy walking into the
shop.
Jack slammed
the book down and stormed over to the till, all thoughts of him
remaining calm had clearly dropped out of his head. Cora looked
like a rabbit caught in headlights. Tabitha had moved so the
customer in the shop didn't see what was about to occur.
Jack swiftly
moved to Tommy and grabbed the front of his coat, yanking it, hard.
Tommy’s brown eyes widened in shock and then the shock disappeared,
replaced with a smirk.
“
What the hell
do you think you are doing here?” Jack demanded.
“
I've come to
see Cora,” Tommy replied calmly, and pushed Jack’s hand from his
coat.
“
What makes
you think she wants to see you,” Jack countered.
“
She has no
choice,” Tommy said smugly.
“
Jack!” Cora
hissed. “Tommy, I'm afraid you've had a wasted trip.”
“
Have I?”
Tommy raised his eyebrows.
“
Yes, I will
not be courting you or going on dates with you.”
“
You have to,
if you don’t it will go against Alastair’s rules and we all know
what will happens then.” Tommy smiled, and exaggeratedly dusted off
his coat as Jack lowered his hands.
“
Let me get
this clear. I will not be dating you, and I don’t care what
Alastair has to say about it.”
Tommy looked
at him and then looked at Cora.
“
I'm staying
in Lemon Tree, in fact we all are. Alastair made arrangements for
us to stay close by so we were able to see Cora at our convenience.
Anyway, here is my number just in case you change your mind about
the date.”
Tommy passed
Cora a piece of paper whilst Jack clenched his fists as he watched
the first prospective man walk out of the door. Tommy was just damn
lucky he wasn't being carried out on a stretcher.
Tabitha walked
over to the counter and looked at them both.
“
Jack...”
“
I'm fine,” he
spoke through gritted teeth. He felt like he was handling it fine.
Tommy had left the shop, in one piece, after handing his girlfriend
his number. That was progress.
Cora nodded
her head and continued with her work as he walked over to the table
and picked up the book. His teeth ground together as he fought for
control. He
could
handle this. He sat down and looked at the page, the words
blurred. He wasn’t reading, but seeing him as though he was calm,
Cora continued with her duties. All that mattered was keeping his
cool in front of her.
Jack had
hardly contained his anger when he caught sight of another
unwelcome person. He stood up and watched as Quinn sauntered into
the shop with a wicked grin on his face. Now this would test Jack’s
strength. Before Jack knew what he was doing, he’d levitated and
wedged himself between Cora and Quinn. Okay, so maybe he wasn’t as
strong as he thought. Tabitha gave him a look that told him he
should think himself lucky that a customer wasn't in the shop to
see his little stunt.
Cora moved
closer to his side as Quinn smiled at her, his steel blue eyes
twinkled with mischief.
“
Get. Out.”
Jack snapped.
“
Cora, guid
tae see yer again,” Quinn smiled, ignoring Jack’s instruction.
“A've come tae request a date wi' yer Cora.”
“
No,” he
growled.
“
Jack, yer dae
not huv any say in this,” Quinn calmly replied. “Yer huv the right
tae date her, like we all dae.”
“
You will not
go on a date with her.”
“
I won’t,
Quinn,” Cora reinforced Jack’s argument.
“
So be it.”
Quinn pulled out papers from his pocket. “Cora, these ar official
papers from Alastair which state yer must accept dates from yer
prospectors. Failure tae dae so will result in immediate dismissal
from yer coven. Jack will be the firs’ to gae.”
“
Son of a
bitch! No one tells me to leave this coven other than
Cora.”
Quinn looked
like he was munching on rocks. This meeting wasn’t going as well as
Quinn would have liked. Jack really couldn't care less.
“
A will let
Alastair know aboot this. But A huv somethin' else for yer,
Cora.”
Quinn rummaged
around in his pockets until he produced a little ring box. Jack was
about to explode when Tabitha touched his arm. Jack reigned in the
insults, his clenched fists only just managing to remain at his
sides.
Quinn
theatrically opened the box, testing Jack’s patience no doubt. Jack
wasn't looking at what it held because he wanted to see Cora's face
as she saw it. Cora's face held a look of confusion so Jack looked
at the box.
“
What the hell
is that?” Jack barked. “You better not be proposing!”
Quinn laughed.
“Not yet.”
“
You smug son
of a-”
“
Jack!”
Tabitha warned.
He only
controlled himself because Cora grabbed his hand tighter. Her hand
in his reaffirmed their connection.
“
This is the
ring the leader of all the covens wear. It is a symbol of power.
Every member of the Corenthio Coven wore one as they didnae have a
definite leader. Nou there is just yer, yer will wear the
ring.”
Two diamonds
sparkled on either side of a large green crystal. It looked like an
engagement ring. The Corenthio Coven didn’t wear something like
this. Jack was sure he’d have seen a large glittering rock on the
hand of Melitta or Akina. Quinn and Alastair were testing him with
this. He wouldn’t bite. He couldn’t. If he did, he would lose.
Alastair was meddling, trying to bait him with elaborate gifts and
pretty rings.
“
Why is it
green?” Cora asked.
A confused
expression crossed Quinn's face, for a second he seemed unsure of
what to say. “Yer coven colour is green, int it?”
“
Yes, but how
did you know?”
“
We know
everthin',” Quinn replied smugly.
“
I want the
colour changing-”
“
We cannae dae
that,” Quinn interrupted her.
“
Why not? I
don't want that colour on the ring.”
Quinn sighed,
clearly aggravated by Cora’s snap decision. Only his steel blue
eyes showed his anger. “Whit colour dae yer want?”
Jack watched
as Cora thought about it.
“
I want red. A
nice blood red.”
Clio's colour.
Jack's heart thumped. God, he loved this woman. Not only was she
thinking of Clio, a member of his coven, therefore a link to him,
but she was also fighting everything they did. By rejecting the
ring given to her, she was sending a message back to
Alastair.
“
A will send
word back tae Alastair. But yer must wear it until he gives his
answer.”
Quinn went to
put the ring on Cora's wedding finger.
“
No you
don't.”Jack snatched the ring from Quinn and gave it to Cora so she
could put the ring on herself.
Cora slipped
the ring on her right index finger. He watched slightly shocked
when the ring, it was white gold Jack was sure, stretched and then
measured itself to the size of her finger.
“
Fine, I'm
wearing it...but if I'm in charge of all covens and I’m wearing
this ring, does that mean I can make decisions now?”
“
Aye, o'
course.”
“
I want the
charge set on me and my coven revoked.”
Quinn laughed
again. Jack was again surprised. He hadn't expected Cora to say
this. Had she been thinking of this the whole time? It also
surprised him that he hadn't thought of it himself.
“
That willnae
work. The charge has been set and those charges were set afore yer
were given that ring. Yer must complete yer task afore yer can make
rules. Yer cannae change it.”
Cora looked at
Jack and gave him a weak smile. “It was worth a try.”
“
Well, A will
be off and A will be in touch aboot the date.”
Quinn winked
at him which set his teeth on edge. He watched as Quinn left,
walking by the three watchful witches with a smile on his
face.
So this was
how it was going to play out, and he couldn't do a thing about it.
He could only wait for the next man to come waltzing in and ask his
girlfriend out on a date. Jack refused to sit by and watch this. In
front of Cora he would continue to keep somewhat cool, but behind
closed doors, he would do something, anything, to get rid of the
men who threatened to take away the woman he loved.
18
PART OF THE
GAME PLAN?
Cora moved
around the shop aware that Jack was watching her every move. She
held back the sigh and then instantly felt guilty having thought
about it. She knew this wasn’t her fault so she felt irritated that
he kept watching her. However, she felt sorry for him. This was
difficult for him too. The men coming into the shop had been hard
on him, pushing at him, trying to break him, and she definitely
wouldn't like anyone coming into the shop to date Jack.
She continued
to clean the bookcase and tried to ignore the whole mess that was
currently her life. Fortunately, she hadn’t seen Tommy or Quinn
since Wednesday. Yet on the other hand, this made her nervous. She
felt like she was waiting for death’s hand to come and grab her.
She was constantly on edge, angry and nervous. She'd experienced
this feeling before and she didn't particularly welcome it
now.
They were
bound to show up sooner rather than later. They were in the next
village so this was definitely sooner. She really hoped they
wouldn’t turn up when Jack wasn’t with her. She knew he held it
together near her, but if they met outside, the fight would be
ugly.