Typhoon & Tempest

Chapter Twenty Three

Munching the last of the warm bread in her hand from the bakery of a very drenched Marlin's Bay, Jack sat in her second least favourite place - the ocean had now moved to the top of the list.

Nova High School, more specifically, on an array of chairs near the reception. Down the hall was the sick bay where Niall and the other hostages rested. Even though Claire had healed some of them, they were all exhausted and shaken up so much so the nurses gave them all the lollipops they had left.

Jack would have helped heal, or try to at least, if she wasn't utterly depleted of her magic. While Lily was holding back the ocean from drowning them all, Jack was either hanging up rogues like chandeliers with all the vines she could magically scramble with her touch or whipping them away with tree roots. There were too many for her to tackle one by one, some slipped through her vines, but Lily's lightning had zapped them straight back to her.

Olivia Haphern had to drive her car. It was miraculously intact, she suspected from a sheer coincidence named Lily Morgan. Jack's hands had cramped from overusing her magic so she couldn't clutch the steering wheel. They'd crammed everyone in; Jacob in the front seat, then Claire, Ryan, and Andrew with Alice on his lap in the back, and Niall, Jack, Haidan and Lily sat in the boot with the broken Morgan family tombstone delicately held in her hands. She wouldn't let anyone touch it.

Jack sighed as she looked at her hands. Her rings were faded and the jewels dim despite being polished only hours ago. Jack couldn't have sprouted a daisy like the average-powered witch if she tried. Her magic, unlike Lily's it seemed, had a limit. She'd exceeded too much too quickly and she could barely walk straight, let alone curl her hands into fists.

Haidan, at least, was in a similar shape to her. His flames had died when they'd been slapped by the tsunami, and he had to birth them again from whatever fiery pit he bore in his bones before he could defend against the rogues. The four deep grooves on his forearm from a brave yet stupid wolf had opened up his flesh, and in turn opened up fire trapped beneath his skin.

The phoenix was being bandaged up - fairy healing worked on his skin, apparently, so she'd pushed him in first, knowing she could heal in her own time as her strength gradually returned. Jack was sitting comfortably in the foyer alone waiting for him, Lily and Niall.

Until Andrew walked out of the sick bay and stood before her. His bright eyes stared her down with a shadow of emotion Jack had no urge to decipher. The alpha of the Trawalla pack merely sat next to her and stretched out his dirt-covered legs, looking at the witch's profile.

"It's good to see you, Jack-" Andrew stopped talking when Jack scoffed.

She waved a hand at him. "Go on, tell me all the glorious things about my appearance and how grateful you are that I saved you, again, but please, honestly, do compliment away. Start with how smooth my skin is or how luscious my locks were in the salty breeze of the tsunami that almost killed us all."

Andrew slowly smiled. "I missed that sarcasm of yours."

"I wasn't joking." Jack raised an eyebrow. "Tell me how great I am."

The alpha shook his head. He'd missed the witch's attitude and unearthly loyalty to Lily Morgan. The last time he had seen her she was driving away from their formal after hearing lies from his mouth and false truths from his pack. Seeing Jack standing next to Lily this morning, fighting off the rogues to save him, it restarted the rapid beating of his heart. "Thank you Jack." He admitted after looking around to check no one could hear him. "For defending me."

Jack rolled her eyes. "I defended everyone. Lily and Haidan, Niall too despite being tied up, we all helped save you all-"

"Haidan?" Andrew shifted closer in his seat. "You mentioned the last time we spoke you were finding people powerful enough to protect you from rogues. Is he one of them?"