Before Read Online Free Page B

of
bliss. “Is it bad?”
    She could see the bulge and knew it had to be broken. The
blood that had dried around her mouth cracked as she spoke. She
felt the lump at her throat restrict her breathing. She swallowed,
hard, trying to push it away before it turned into
tears.
    “ It’s nothing Alivia can’t fix,” Jack muttered.
    Her grandmother could fix her, a small break was
easy.
    “ Next time those boys come for you, I’ll be ready.”
    “ Jack, you can’t,” she protested.
    “ Watch me.”
    She couldn’t blame Jack for his anger. The commoners were
pushing at their kind and this would only end badly.
    They had always lived in peace and helped them when they were
ill, and for what? To be pushed around and cast aside as though
witches work for the Devil. It was only a matter of time before the
witches snapped. The commoners had nothing to be afraid of before
now. If they continued to anger the witches, the commoners have
everything to fear.
    Jack opened her front door, she took a deep breath preparing
herself for the onslaught of questions. She turned her head to see
the shocked expression cross her mother’s face.
    “ What on earth has happened?” Her mother asked as she rushed
forward with her long brown hair flying behind her.
    “ Some boy’s jumped her,” Jack grunted.
    He still hadn’t let her down from the safety of his arms. Her
mother looked at her injury as she lay nestled there. Her
grandmother and grandfather also walked in and still Jack didn’t
put her down. Not that she was making much of an effort to leave
his arms. She’d never been in this position before and relished in
it.
    “ What has happened, dear?” her grandmother moved towards
her.
    “ I was kicked in the face by a boy. There was a group of them
calling me a witch and even though I politely told them I wasn’t,
the boy who was the leader still pushed at me. He was the one who
kicked me. I probably look horrendous,” she moaned feeling for the
first time the sting of tears.
    “ You look beautiful, like always,” Jack whispered close to her
ear.
    “ Jack, put her down please; I need to get this
fixed.”
    Jack reluctantly placed her feet on the floor. She saw the
expression cross his face. His hand tenderly stroked her arm before
she was led away.
    “ Thank you, Jack. What happened to the boys?” her grandfather
asked.
    “ I dealt with them,” Jack grumbled.
    “ Non-magically?” her mother asked.
    “ Yes.”
    Jack’s lie made her body jolt with nerves. Cora knew why he
had to lie, her mother wouldn’t be happy about the show of magic.
In a way Cora had used her element too. Plus, her mother was his
coven leader. After his actions Jack could face some form of
punishment if he’d said yes.
    “ Good, thank you.”
    Jack nodded at her and then left leaving her to answer the
questions that would follow.
    “ What did the boys say?” her mother whispered as she wiped the
crusted blood from around her mouth.
    “ They called me a witch, they said that I dress strange which
makes me a witch. What more did they have to say to me before I
snapped.”
    She heard the insistent muttering from her grandmother. She
didn’t like how things were changing in their small
village.
    “ It is fine, Mother, we expected this after what happened with
Noah.”
    Cora watched the look pass between her grandmother and her
mother. Cora felt anger surge through her body.
    “ Why wasn’t I pre-warned? You could have told me to be
cautious.” She’d been the one to have her nose broken after
all.
    “ I didn’t think they would come after you.”
    “ Well, they did, of course they would. They wouldn’t just skip
around me, I’m your daughter,” she replied smartly.
    “ Yes, you are my daughter, especially with your temper and
wit,” her mother whispered with a smile on her face. “I’m sorry
that I didn’t tell you. I believed I was keeping you safe, you are
still my baby girl even though you are seventeen years
old.”
    “ Next