Read Online Change by Keeley Smith - Free Book Online Page B

the Balmoral,
gae straecht, then turn reit and yer will find it.”
    “ Thanks.”
Surprisingly, she’d understood all of that.
    She opened the
map and looked down at it. “Do we have reservations
made?”
    She looked up
and found that the man had gone. This didn’t concern her initially.
The thing that put her on alert was the way Jack’s back suddenly
shot bolt upright, like he was waiting for an attack. The man had
seemed nice. He didn’t look like he was going to attack them, but
then again, how much did she really know about him? Going by recent
events, she couldn’t trust anyone but her own coven. “Where did he
go?” She asked no one in particular.
    Before anyone
could answer, Tavish popped up in front of her. Cora squeaked as
her hand went flying out to hit him. She managed to rein in the
gust of wind that very nearly pummelled Tavish in the
chest.
    “ Sairy lassie,
ma gift is that of blendin’. A cannae help it sometimes, it just
happens,” he said with a shrug.
    “ I suggest you
be careful next time,” she snapped. “I'm a little jumpy, and stunts
like that can get you hurt.” She forced the wind to settle. The icy
jabs from the cold elements in Edinburgh and her own was really
starting to hurt.
    “ Right, yer
will hurt me,” he chuckled at her as Jack growled. “Cheerio,
Alastair will be wi’ yer shortly.”
    She watched
him walk away and then pop into nothing.
    She didn’t
particularly like him. If that was their welcome, she might as well
get back on the train to home. Something about this was making her
feel very nervous.
    “ We need to
keep our eye on that one,” Ayden said to their group. She agreed
but did so silently.
    Cora’s coven
followed her lead, which wasn’t their best decision. She headed
straight, following the witch's instructions. Hopefully the witch
hadn’t led them on some sort of goose chase. They pushed their way
through the onslaught of people who seemed in a hurry to be in the
opposite direction to where they were going. Her group walked past
a man who was standing on the corner of the bridge wearing a
patterned skirt. Long, knee-length red woolly socks covered most of
his legs. His cheeks were bright red, matching his hair. The noise
from the bagpipes almost deafened her. She’d never realised how
loud they were.
    As they
approached a set of traffic lights, she could see that dozens and
dozens of shops lined the street. The road itself was a mess; it
was dug up with metal fences restricting people.
    “ There’s the
Balmoral Hotel,” Jack said, pointing at a high towered building
with a clock that looked much like the Westminster clock. “Let’s go
in because I’m bloody freezing.”
    She grinned at
him as he huddled closer to her. He wouldn’t find any heat from
her. Tabitha was the one to go to for that.
    Her heart
thumped a little harder as they approached the hotel. She may look
at ease on the outside. However, she was trying to keep up the calm
appearance for Jack, Tabitha and Ayden. They were watching her like
a hawk would its prey. They couldn’t see that her insides were a
mess. They didn’t know why they were here in Scotland. Nothing had
been explained to them other than she had to take over every coven
in the country. This thought sent butterflies flapping crazily into
her chest. She took a deep breath and told herself to get a grip.
She would face whatever came her way. She had to.

8
     
    THE
BALMORAL
     
     
    Jack dragged
his suitcase behind him as he squeezed Cora’s hand. Her cheeks were
flushed from the bite of the wind. Her nose was a little red and
her eyes were huge as she stared at the street they’d walked past.
She was no doubt counting off the many shops she wanted to go in.
There were bloody tons of them.
    Jack surveyed
the hotel as they rushed ever closer to it. It looked expensive so
it was a good job they weren’t paying. Large flags hung high on the
outer wall, this often hinted at the snob rating, or so he thought.
The