Witch War in Westerham

by Dionne Lister

  His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “I know. I’ll make the call.”

  And just like that, everyone was on board. I should’ve been happy I’d gotten my way, but I wasn’t.

  It was time to risk everything. Who knew? It might be time to die.

  Chapter 19

  When it came to arresting those leading RP, it was complicated. We weren’t exactly going with my plan of luring Dana with the promise of killing me. Instead, German agents had confirmed Katrin Brandt was holed up in her German fortress of a home. It seemed almost too easy. There were a few things to do before we approached her because we didn’t want her discovering we were onto her and then her travelling to who knew where. Even though RP was aware something was up, they had no reason to expect we knew she was one of the bigwigs. Our forays into their hunting properties didn’t automatically mean we were after her, exactly, and we’d only made it to one of the four German properties.

  Toussaint, on the other hand, was going to be a problem. He knew we’d been to his place and taken his key. Once he heard Brandt had been arrested, he would run for sure. But Agent Cardinal was more of a genius than I ever gave him credit for. He’d managed to hack into Toussaint’s phone and had put a tracking spell on it. We only gained access because his number was known to the PIB. That’s what you get for selling arms to the PIB—they end up with some of your information. Thankfully, he still had the same number, and Cardinal traced the phone via mobile-phone towers.

  So, as it stood, we’d need to place spells over both houses to stop anyone travelling anywhere. Dana and her father might run, but since they wanted me so much, chances were, they’d eventually show up. If not tonight, then soon. And if not, we’d find them, eventually. If their network was broken, they wouldn’t have nearly as much power either. That was our reasoning, anyway. We couldn’t change anything, so we just had to go with it.

  Toussaint, funnily enough, had holed up in his chateau in the country. Maybe he felt safer surrounded by a huge wall. Hopefully there wasn’t a good reason he felt safer at his estate. Hmm…. Some of us were here, and some of us were at the German operation. Our thirteen were split up, but we had to, or there wouldn’t be enough power to contain a witch in a huge house. While Imani, Will, Beren, and I held the spell over Toussaint’s home, James and Roche were going in with some of our French agents to make the arrests. Everyone in the home would be arrested, and they’d sort out guilty and not-guilty parties later, assuming they didn’t all die on us.

  And assuming we survived to take them into the PIB.

  Best not to think of that right now.

  We’d all gathered about a hundred metres from the property behind some trees that bordered farmland. Will had built the threads of the spell at James’s because it was something that took time. For the execution, though, we’d need a lot of power, so Imani, Beren, and I would link to him via my talent for the part where he threw it over the property and held it. Once that was done, Agent Roche and James would take the French agents and storm the property. Fingers crossed it went to plan.

  As usual, we were doing this under cover of darkness. I didn’t think I’d had so many late nights in a row as I had over the last week. Well, once this was over, I’d either be able to go to bed at a reasonable hour for the foreseeable future, or I’d be asleep forever. Okay, don’t go there, Lily. Not helpful. Squirrels. Think about squirrels.

  The day had been clear, but clouds had moved in, and it was sprinkling. None of us had an umbrella, and we weren’t going to risk discovery by drawing power to magic one to us. Besides, what was a little rain when your life was at stake?

  Will was distracted, since he was holding the spell threads together, waiting for the okay from James. All the agents had bulletproof vests on. They’d even given me one, not that I was supposed to enter the chateau, but who knew what was going to happen. I wasn’t sorry I had it; that’s for sure. It did feel a bit like I was in a movie. Terribly surreal.

  As James went over the plan one last time with his agents, I bit my fingernails, Will stared in the direction of our target, and Imani and Beren chatted about whether spaghetti bolognese was better with or without garlic. For what it was worth, it had to have garlic as far as I was concerned. What kind of Italian dish didn’t have garlic?

  Gun in hand, James strode over to us. Oh, crap, it was go time. Will, Imani, and Beren gathered around us. My brother looked at each of us in turn. “We’ll be right behind you. Cast the spell when you’re near the front gates. We’ll gain entry and go in ahead. Once we’re on the property, come in so you can hold the spell more easily, but don’t get too close to the house. I’ll leave two agents to guard you, but I can’t afford any more. Sorry.”

  “Don’t be sorry,” Imani said. “We’ve got this. You just concentrate on what you’re doing. We’ve all got our earpieces in, so let us know when you have him.”

  “Will do. We’ll take him straight to the German PIB cells when we’re done. The French ones aren’t secure enough after that blast. Good luck, and I’ll see you when we’re done.”

  “Good luck, bro. We got this.”

  He smiled, and I gave him a thumbs up.

  Will nodded, and our little group emerged from behind the protection of the trees, crossed the road, and jogged to Toussiant’s. We stopped a few metres from the gates, and Beren and I held Will’s and Imani’s hands, forming a circle. Without waiting for Will to ask, I opened myself to the river of power, as did Beren and Imani. A hum vibrated around us as an incredible amount of energy poured through our portals to Will. We had to hurry because once we started, the drawing of magic would be so strong that witches within a one-mile radius would feel it.

  Once Will had enough power, he squeezed my hand and Beren’s. We, in turn, squeezed Imani’s hands. It was the signal Will was going to release the spell. Which meant we all had to brace and hang on.

  I shuffled my feet further apart and bent my knees slightly. I was ready.

  He released it, and a kickback thudded into my stomach. It wasn’t painful, just uncomfortable—certainly not as bad as I’d expected. But this was just the beginning. Holding this spell was going to be the trickiest part.

  Will spoke for my brother’s benefit, our communication tech capable of two-way interaction. It was also being beamed live to the screens at James’s and recorded. “It’s done.”

  Within twenty seconds, James and the other agents stormed past. Magic I didn’t recognise prickled my scalp, and the gate blew inwards with an ear-splitting bang. They rushed in. We gave them thirty seconds, then followed, staying just behind the two agents James had promised would help defend us while we were otherwise occupied. As we crossed into the property, gunfire rang out. I cringed at each volley.

  “Keep your focus, Lily. We can’t get distracted.” Will spoke through gritted teeth.

  “Sorry.” I concentrated on the river of power and made sure I channelled everyone’s power into Will. Despite the cool air, sweat drizzled down the sides of my face. Every now and then, it was as if someone pricked me in the stomach with a pin. “What’s that?”

  “They’re trying to escape. But we’re holding.”

  More gunfire peppered in the distance. Shouting. James gave directions for his men to take the chateau. An image of trebuchets and knights on horses came to mind. Stay focussed, Lily. Damn you.

  As Imani and Beren fed their power through me, my blood increasingly warmed. I wasn’t sure how long we could continue before I’d have to call time or burn from the inside out. My scalp itched, and I bit my lip hard to take my mind off it. How the hell were they managing this without someone like me to share their power? Will had explained it was a group-type spell, and whilst it was strong, it wasn’t nearly as strong as ours would be with a single focal point. We would supposedly be less tired by the end of it too. That was yet to be proven though. I’d just be happy if we all managed to survive. Knowing James was down there in the thick of it sent bile up my throat.

&nb
sp; The heat intensified. I gritted my teeth and clasped Imani’s and Will’s hands tighter, the sweat pouring off me making the connection slippery. “Not long now, Lily.” Imani sounded way fresher than I felt. “James should be done soon.”

  Or not

  An explosion smashed us with a shockwave of deafening sound. A fiery cloud of iridescent orange illuminated the night sky as it billowed upwards. Thankfully, whatever had happened in the physical world hadn’t destroyed our spell. But was James okay, were Agent Roche and all the other agents? I shared a panicked stare with Beren across our small circle. The two agents guarding us looked at each other, then at Will. “Go,” he said. “Worse comes to worst, and we’ll drop this thing and fight.”

  The two men gave him a nod, turned, and bolted.

  I wanted to scream into my comms and ask James to check in—he’d been silent since the explosion; in fact, it sounded like the system wasn’t working. “Will, can you hear me.”

  He furrowed his brow. “Yes, of course.”

  “No.”

  “No?”

  “I can’t hear you through the comms. We have no way to get in touch with James.” I held in the scream that wanted to eject itself. I wasn’t allowed to break ranks and run to find him either.

  My breathing came faster as frustration and hysteria built. Will could probably sense it through our bond because he said, “We need to hold this spell, or all of this will be for nothing. We can’t let them get away.”

  “But I haven’t felt a prod for ages.”

  “That doesn’t matter.”

  “Lily, hold fast.” Gah, now Beren was in on it. I knew they were right; it was just so hard. So. Damned. Hard. If anything happened to James, Annabelle would be my only living relative, at least a close one. I had third and fourth cousins in Italy, but they were practically strangers, and as much as I loved Millicent, we weren’t blood.

  “Don’t, die, damn you, James.” I let the tears fall. No one could tell the difference with all the sweat pouring down my face and the rain.

  “He’s not going to die, love.”

  “How do you know?” Imani didn’t answer, so then I felt horrible for shouting her down. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to—”

  “It’s okay, love. We’re all feeling it. Let’s just concentrate on what we need to do, and we’ll worry about the rest later.”

  More gunfire. I knew I wasn’t being shot, but I didn’t know how much more I could take. My skin was practically steaming. My throat and mouth screamed for water. “I don’t mean to be negative, but I don’t know how much longer I can hold this, Will. I’m shrivelling from the inside out.”

  He saw me then, really saw me. Even though he would’ve been struggling, he didn’t have to channel power through himself. He would still be feeling the effects, but as the person who controlled the flow, I was copping most of the heat… literally. “Please, just a bit longer. I know you can do it.”

  I nodded. “Okay.”

  Another explosion, this time at the back of the house. God knew what was going on. This was crazy. The comms crackled, and I shut my eyes, waiting. James, please.

  The voice was breaking up, and we only caught every second word, but it was James. It was bloody well James! My scared tears turned into happy ones. “You— now. Drop— okay— got them.”

  Will spoke. “Please repeat that, Agent Bianchi. You’re breaking up.”

  “We have them. You— drop the shield.”

  I opened my mouth and sucked in cool air as everyone closed their portals, and the last of the magic dissipated. I closed my portal and dropped everyone’s hands, then I sat on the ground and cried some more. I was such a weeper lately. God, I needed some water. I stretched my legs out and lay on my back. I didn’t even care about the gravel digging into the back of my head.

  Imani peered down at me. “Ready for a nap, love?”

  “Yes.” That was all I could manage. One word.

  “Well, you’d better hope Miss Evil Pants doesn’t swoop down right now.”

  “I can’t see her getting in the midst of this. I’d take her for someone who’d wait for a better time when I don’t have so much protection around me. Does anyone have some water?” I lifted my head to stare towards the orange flames that weren’t as high as before but were still glowing in the darkness. How many people had died?

  Imani’s magic prickled my scalp. “Here love.” She handed me a large bottle of water.”

  “Oh my God, you’re the best! Thank you.” I unscrewed the lid and guzzled it down. There wasn’t much left by the time I stopped and realised maybe someone else was thirsty. “Ah, sorry. There’s a little bit left if anyone wants it.”

  “No thanks, love. We’ll be going soon.”

  “Aren’t you all thirsty?” Was I doing this magic thing all wrong?

  The lines in Will’s forehead were more pronounced than usual. “A bit, but you were bearing the brunt of the magic. Thank you. We all did a good job keeping things contained. I would’ve just been able to hold on by myself, but I might have broken down near the end. Thanks.” He looked towards the house, too, then grabbed his phone out of his back pocket. He dialled someone. “Hey, James. What’s the situation?” He listened for a couple of minutes. “Okay. Coming back now. Bye.” He looked at Beren, then Imani, then me. “They arrested two housekeeping staff, who both died, four henchmen, who also died, Toussaint, another man, and a woman, and they all lived. Seems like we can work out the hierarchy from that.”

  “What about our agents?” Beren asked.

  “He didn’t get into that over the phone.” Will made a doorway and offered me his hand. “Come on.” I took it and let him pull me up. Stage one, at least here, was done. But how had they gone in Germany? Millicent and her dad were there, so were Sarah, and Lavender, for goodness’ sake. Crap. Why had we said it was okay for them to help? I had a terrible feeling as I walked through Will’s doorway, and it wasn’t thirst.

  I’d bet my favourite squirrel on the fact that the worst was yet to come.

  And I didn’t have long to wait.

  Not long at all.

  Chapter 20

  While the team took stock at James’s for a couple of hours, I went home and had a nap. I needed to recuperate, get some of my strength back. Will came with me, just to make sure he was well-rested, not to mention some of the activity had moved to German PIB headquarters. Millicent had been injured, shot in the arm. Which was horrible, but Beren had healed her. They were both taking it easy for the next couple of hours. We just had to hope going after Piranha and her father could wait until tomorrow. We were definitely the walking wounded. Sadly, we’d lost five agents in France and three in Germany, including the man who was supposed to help us make up the thirteen.

  We set our alarm to give us three hours’ sleep. When we woke, it was just after three in the morning. What a ridiculous time to wake up. But criminals waited for no one. I supposed we’d check in with James and, if we weren’t needed, go back to sleep.

  I yawned and tapped Will on the pectoral muscle. Mmm, firm yet slightly squishy. Perfect. “Hey, call James.”

  “I’m on it.” He grabbed his phone from the bedside table, turned the alarm off, and dialled my brother on speaker.

  My brother sounded even more tired than I felt. “Hey, mate.”

  “Hey. Lily and I just wanted to check in, see if you needed us yet.”

  “Nah, I think we’re good for now. I’m about to go to bed. We’ve got twelve of the more senior members in lock up. As well as Brandt and the three we caught at her place, we nabbed three others in separate German raids, and two in English raids. We’re getting there. The ones we caught were from the photos. And Mill stuck her cousin in the slammer. You should’ve seen the lecture Robert gave him too. Looked like he was fairly senior because he’s still alive, which Millicent isn’t happy about.” He stopped to take a breath, then continued. “We still need to work out how to find Dana and her father. We’ve begun interrogations, but
it might take a while. I’ve sent everyone home to get some sleep. Rested staff are taking over while we prepare for the next phase. Be at mine at eight thirty tomorrow morning.”

  “Can do.”

  “Goodnight, James.”

  “Goodnight, Lily.”

  “Send Mill my love.”

  “Yeah, I will.” His voice was gruff, and no wonder—he’d almost lost the love of his life tonight. “Bye.” The phone went dead.

  I kissed Will goodnight. As sexy as he was, sleep was more attractive right now. We had a huge day tomorrow. With a bit of luck, it would be the day Dana ceased to exist.

  And I was ready. Bring. It. On.

  In the distance, a phone rang. I pushed up through the fog of a bad dream, closer and closer to the sound. I opened my eyes and reached over Will, who grumbled, and grabbed my phone from the bedside table. What the hell? It was only 6:04 a.m. I blinked at the name on the screen. Robert. Millicent’s father.

  I flicked my thumb across the screen to answer it, but I didn’t want to fully wake Will, who had rolled onto his stomach in a clear show of not wanting to deal with anything right now. I climbed over him and whispered into the phone. “Hello. Robert? It’s a bit early, isn’t it? Is everything okay?”

  “That depends on who you ask, now, doesn’t it?” I stopped in the middle of the room, icicles of dread stabbing every part of me. “And before you tell William who this is, think twice. If you don’t come alone, Annabelle will die.” Piranha couldn’t have gotten to Annabelle. Surely? James’s place was too well protected…. Only, my niece hadn’t been there, had she? They’d given her to Millicent’s mum to mind when we all went on our raids.

  Crap.

  I gagged and only just managed not to vomit. I flicked my gaze back to Will. Should I tell him?

  “Don’t be stupid, Lily. You know I don’t muck around. And once I kill Annabelle, maybe I’ll kill Millicent’s parents too.”