Chapter 31

“Cassidy De’Mar it is time you faced your sins. Your trial begins,” George the head of the Sherman’s said.
“Fine,” Cassidy crossed her arms and tapped her feet.
“Cassidy De’Mar in the centuries that Cora has been in her spell you have broken many rules. Rules in which you helped to create,”
“That may be true,” Cassidy smiled.
“You have used your power to erase and plant memories into the minds of not only humans but shifters. You have used magic for your own personal gain. Put up enchantments. At one point you helped the police with investigations. Lives have been lost and you have openly given up the secrete of our kind,”
“Listen George. Yes, I have done those things. I helped the police put away a serial killer. I have changed people’s memories. I have used magic to get what I want and information that I needed. But haven’t you used your power and broken the laws that you also put in place?”
“Cassidy De’Mar we are sentencing you to sleep. You will be placed in the cave alongside your mother,” George said ignoring Cassidy.
“Have you been gifting humans with the power to shift?” she demanded.
With no answer Cassidy waved her hand.
“I declare this meeting adjourned,” she said as she faded away and back to reality.
“What the hell just happened?” Josh asked her.
“The Sherman’s, your right you are not from De’Mar,”
“Forget that, Cassidy. We have a bigger problem. Mum just rang. The news is saying that Denway Zoo as lost many of its animals. People in town are reporting seeing, Bears, Wolfs….”
“Oh no. The army. Any casualties?” Cassidy jumped in.
“Three dead six badly injured with one in intensive care,”
Jenna groaned and they both glanced at her.
“Josh goes with your parents help stop them. Kill them Josh,”
“No, they are innocent,”
“Josh they are not innocent. They won’t stop. They should never have been created in the first place. Now go!”

***
Edina sat up and ran her hands over her face and body, she grinned. She was back and more than ready to fight. She wouldn’t lose. She couldn’t go back to the other side. Never.
“Edina?” Cassidy greeted her. Her usual warmth she held in her eyes was gone.
“Cassidy it is so good to see you again,”
“Jenna! Jenna!” a voice called.
“Oh my god Jenna,” a young woman strode towards her, and Edina backed off.
“Claire, Jenna as kind of bumped her head and as a little of amnesia. She will be fine in a few days,”
“She has gone, hasn’t she? Gran said she would.” Cassidy said and Claire’s legs gave way as she feels into a sleep.
“You put her to sleep?”
“I had no choice Edina. Look Jenna’s dad created an army of shifters that right now are terrorizing the town. Jessica my half-sister is planning on waking the queen and oh Jax Josh’s brother wants to kill Claire and to top it all off the Sherman’s want to put me to sleep alongside my mother. I don’t have time to deal with Claire too,”
“Wow. You’re having a bad time,”
“You can say that. First, we need to protect the town. We will deal with the rest later.

***
The graveyard was neat. Rows upon rows of white marble tombstones, which all rose from the manicured grass, each decorated with pearl white and cream roses, flowers which are enchanted and never die. All were as perfect as the other, polished, and exactly the same, except the name it bore. They were lined up perfectly with those in front and behind, a city block for the dead. A place to remember those once loved, and others are forgotten.
Cora walked down the yellow paved path, which led to a large temple made of glass. She watched the torch lights make the glass sparkle and cast a rainbow of colors across the final resting place.
Inside held the royals of De’Mar. All incased in glass coffins. To an ordinary person it would give them the creeps but to the witches of De’Mar it was normal.
To worship and pay respects to their fallen royals.
Cora ran her hand through the fire. It didn’t burn. It wasn’t actual fire but magic. Cora had always wanted to feel the heat from real flames. They just didn’t have need for them. Magic did the job, without the smoke and pollution. She had heard how the heat scorched one’s skin and made it blister. She just couldn’t wrap her head around something so pretty that danced and swayed in the wind could cause such wounds.
Cora made her way to her mother’s resting place. She bowed which was a show of respect even for a royal that has moved on.
She placed her forehead on the glass. Dominated by a profound sadness and fatigue engraved on her warn face. The sorrow that Cora felt grew with each passing moment until tears trickled down her cheeks and splashed onto the coffin. Her sadness was like a shell holding the tears. But at that moment the shell had broken. Cora didn’t know how she was going to make a good wife. She didn’t really understand what being a wife entailed. Her mother never had the chance to prepare her for such duties. Then she was worried about her future. Her future as queen. She knew by the end of summer that she would have to take her rightful place. But how would she run an entire kingdom? She was barley an adult. Twenty-one and expected to rule the land of De’Mar while also being a wife to someone she didn’t love. Her father had told her that she would grow to love him. Deep down Cora knew that was not true.
“Congratulations,” a deep, yet soft voice broke through her thoughts and stunned her tears. She turned, slowly. She knew who the voice belonged too. Yet at that time all she wanted was to be alone. She felt like her entire world had crumbled around her and she was now submerged in darkness. She wanted to drown in her sorrow. Feel the pain that made her sick inside. Saving was the last thing she wanted.
“You cannot be here,” Cora looked at the floor, afraid to meet his brown eyes.
“That maybe so, but how else would I ever get a glimpse of you in such a fine dress,” Cora could feel the heat rise in her cheeks and knew she was blushing.
“Reece, you must go, father will send one of the guards soon. I am afraid I have already been gone too long,” she looked up into his eyes. The eyes that she longed to get lost in, she couldn’t fight her feelings. They rose to the surface, like a tidal wave consuming her. At that moment, as the love and desire she felt for Reece pushed aside the darkness that she was feeling and suffocated by. She knew that her blood was a curse. Many believed that being a royal was a blessing. To Cora it was a curse. Her blood controlled every aspect of her life if it was not for her royal blood. She would be free to love who ever she wanted.
“Princess Cora,” Cameron, the young guard called her name. Reece pressed his forehead against hers. “Meet me at the lake. When the moon is full,” she stepped away and gave a slight nod.
“Coming,” she yelled out to Cameron. When she turned back, Reece was gone.