“I’ll never surrender! Death to all witches!” Elizabeth shrieked.
Will yelled, “She’s got a knife!”
A gun went off, exploding my eardrums.
Not again. I curled into a ball and vowed that next time there was an assignment, I was wearing earplugs. The guy on top of me hadn’t moved, and he was kind of heavy, but I wasn’t game to leave the relative shelter of his body, but if he woke up, I could be in trouble. Decisions, decisions…
More stomping of booted feet. “Secure!” someone shouted. “Medics in here, now! Get Ma’am and Agent Bianchi out, now!”
“Lily? Lily, are you in here?” Will. He must have recognised my voice from before. It sounded as if things were relatively under control. I struggled but managed to squirm out from underneath Elizabeth’s boyfriend.
I stood, and someone flashed a torch beam in my face. I squinted and put my hand in front of my eyes. “Hey. Do you mind?”
“Sorry,” came the reply from some agent or other.
Before I could say okay, Will was at my side patting me down. “What the hell are you doing in here? I told you to stay put.”
The lights flickered to life, power and full visibility restored. As much as I’d wanted light before, the scene it uncovered made me want to shut my eyes. Two agents lifted Beren onto a stretcher. Blood matted his blonde hair, and he was deathly pale. Someone took Angelica’s pulse, then gave Will a look and a slight head shake.
“Noooooooo!” I screamed and leapt to the bed. I started CPR, tears cascading down my face. Seemingly in the distance, I heard the screech of the bed as they raced Beren out. I counted the pumps. “One, two, three, f—"
Will grabbed me from behind, stopping me. “There’s nothing we can do here. We’ll take her outside and see if someone can heal her… see if there’s anything we can do, but we don’t know how they killed her. It might be something we can’t reverse, and if she’s been dead for too long, she’ll have brain damage, like anyone would.”
“But we have to keep oxygen going to her brain. Please, Will?”
“We have to wheel her out.” He pulled me away from the bed, and two other agents lifted her onto a trolley bed and rushed her out. “Come on, Lily. We’ll go downstairs. James will be waiting.”
Imani spoke from behind Will. “That other guy’s dead. Looks like someone hit him in the head with a brick.” She held up my new friend.
Will looked at the brick, at Imani, then back at me. “Thanks, Agent Jawara. I’ll follow it up later. Right now, I have to get Lily out of here.”
I should have felt bad, but I had nothing left to give. Numbness was setting in, one inch at a time. What did that make this? Number three? My kill tally was really adding up.
Will released me before grabbing my arm and leading me through the corridor. Elderly people wandered the hallways, dazed, as staff tried to round them up. One man was saying, “I’m blind. I’m blind.”
The carer leading him said in a dry tone, “Open your eyes, Walter.”
He opened them. “It’s a miracle! I can see!”
The carer rolled his eyes. If only I was as oblivious to reality as that guy.
Will took me via the emergency stairs—the lift was busy ferrying two people I loved. When we jogged to the lawn, James was already there, his hands on Beren’s head. “He’s dead,” James’s voice cracked. “They smashed his skull in. I’m doing my best.” He refocussed, his brow creasing, his eyes shutting.
I looked at Angelica, agitation kicking my ribs and turning my stomach. I grabbed Will’s hand and dragged him over. He didn’t resist. I looked up at him. “You have to try.”
“I’m not as good as Beren or James. She’s been gone for too long.”
“No! You have to try.” I whispered, “I can lend you my power. You can’t let her go without trying, dammit! I’ve already lost both my parents. I can’t lose her too.” I put his hands on her chest, and I placed my palms on top of them and opened myself to the river of power. I directed the flow into him.
His eyes widened, and he stared at me, his mouth falling open.
“Stop staring, and just do this. Please, Will. Every second counts.”
His gaze lost the surprise and wonder, and he turned to Angelica. I shut my eyes and concentrated on giving him a steady flow of magic. As I fed him power, I silently chanted, “Heal Angelica. Heal Angelica.” I imagined her heart beating, her lungs filling and emptying.
“There are two clots blocking her heart…. Ah, now they’re gone.” Will dropped the power and gave her CPR. I shut off my access to the river and ran around the other side of the trolley to breathe into her nose. I risked a glance back at James. His eyes were still closed, and sweat beaded his forehead.
James needed me. Beren needed me. “Someone here to help with CPR for Ma’am. Now!” I shouted. Stuff it. I wasn’t in charge of anything, but we needed help.
“I’m here, Lily.” Imani. Thank God. I nodded my thanks and hurried to James.
I grabbed his wrist. “I’m here. Take whatever you need.” I opened up to the power again and let it slide through to James. He wasn’t shy in taking it, and before long, my legs trembled with fatigue. I gritted my teeth and held on. We were trying to save a man who had become like a second brother during the last few months. I loved Beren, and my heart would break if we lost him.
I was barely aware of people hurrying past, hushed conversations, flashing lights. My groggy mind registered the fact that I was giving my magic out in the open—anyone could see. Would they realise what we were doing? Something that was apparently impossible, or had been for hundreds of years? But did it matter? Probably. It would mean whoever wanted me would likely kill me rather than keep me for their own purposes. This made me too much of a threat. But at least it was dark, and maybe no one would notice. Surely they couldn’t see the light of my power filtering into James?
Heat scoured my face, my veins, and my skin itched.
I was burning up.
James’s voice was strained, and he swayed, bumping me. I clung to the bed to keep from falling over. “Hang on, Lily. Just another minute. I’m almost done.”
We were both at the edge of a precipice, at the limit of what we could endure.
But life without Beren wasn’t worth contemplating. I visualised his gorgeous smiling face, warm eyes, contagious laugh. Come on, Beren. You have to make it.
“One last… thing,” James panted.
An electrical jolt stunned me, ceasing the flow of power between James and me and ripping me from the source. I fell, landing on my bum on the grass. Gasping for air, I fell the rest of the way back and shut my eyes. God, the ground was amazingly comfortable. Sleep reached out, but then a voice swatted it away.
“Lily. Lily.”
I opened my eyes.
James knelt next to me, tears coursing down his face. New tears burned my eyes. No. He couldn’t mean he was gone.
Then a smile breached the exhaustion on his face, a ray of light dissipating the grief, like mist at the start of a sunny day. Someone coughed.
“Oh my God. Beren!” Ignoring my exhaustion, I jumped up.
James slowly stood and put his arm around my shoulders. “Welcome back, man.”
Beren grinned, his eyes half shut. “Why do I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck?” He gingerly ran his fingers across the front of his head.
“Because you pretty much were. Someone smashed your noggin with an iron bar. You died.” James shook his head, and my heart thudded. Even though he was here, knowing he’d been dead was horrific.
“But how am I still here?”
“James healed you.” I smiled, the tears gathering in my eyes from relief and joy rather than pain.
“Lily helped, but I’ll explain later.”
“Is Angelica…?” Beren asked.
I swallowed. “Um. I don’t know.” I was too scared to look over my shoulder. Our nightmare wasn’t over yet.
“I’ll check. You stay here, Lily.” J
ames turned.
“I wouldn’t bother asking her to stay anywhere. She never listens.” Will had come up behind us. He stood next to me and raised a brow. I tensed, waiting for the lecture… which never came. “But if she had listened, I’m afraid this would have turned out a lot worse. Because of this infuriating woman, we got to you and Angelica in time.” He grinned.
My mouth dropped open, and the new tears that had gathered in my eyes spilled over. I was going to be dehydrated after this. I spun around.
Imani was bent over Angelica, her ear close to her mouth, listening to something. “I’ll be back!” I said and then ran to them.
Imani straightened and grinned. Angelica was pale, and dark circles marred the skin under her eyes. Her voice was quiet and raspy, but she was okay. “Thank you for disobeying orders. But if you tell anyone I said that, I’ll deny it.” Her smile wasn’t any less wonderful for being wan and small.
“I promise I won’t tell anyone, as long as you stay alive from now on. No more dying.”
“I’ll do my best.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “You know that’s not good enough.”
She shrugged. “It’s the best I can do.”
Two paramedics loaded their ambulance with a sheet-covered body. “Should they be removing that Elizabeth woman yet? Don’t they need to photograph the scene and all that?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact, they do, love. Let me check it out.” Imani approached the paramedics. After a quick conversation, one of them nodded, and Imani pulled back the sheet. Oh no. It was Winston. Had he died of natural causes or had Elizabeth taken care of him before visiting Angelica? My shoulders slumped.
Imani returned. “They said he was found in his bed. Probably natural causes.”
I raised my brow and plonked my hands on my hips. “You really believe that, after everything we found out?”
She shrugged. “Not really, but what difference does it make? The outcome is the same. We got the bad guys, and we can’t bring him back.” She swivelled her head and watched as the ambulance drove away, no siren, but lights flashing. Yeah, he died because he didn’t have people who loved him there when it happened—not like Angelica and Beren. Did he have family? Would someone miss him?
A crotchety but slightly stronger-than-before voice said, “Excuse me. Is it too much to ask to be taken home? I want a hot bath and bed. I’ve been lying out here for ages. It’ll be winter soon.”
I grinned. Angelica was back and in fine form. “I’ll okay it with James, and then I’ll take you home, Ma’am.” I looked down at her. “Told you my magic wasn’t faulty.”
She rolled her eyes. Yep, she was fine. Now we just had to make sure she stayed that way. Which I had a feeling would be easier said than done.
I had to wait for James to stop talking to the buzz-cut-hair agent. And someone else was standing behind me, waiting for their turn. I yawned. Boy, would I be happy to get home, shower, and crawl into bed. It was hard to see, but I was pretty sure I had OPB on me—other people’s blood. I shuddered and skipped past the thought that I’d killed another person. If I started thinking about it, I’d never stop.
James finally looked at me, bags under his eyes where before there’d been none. “Make it quick.”
“Ah, Angelica wants me to take her home. Is that okay?” I was talking to Agent Bianchi, not James my brother, and that made me a tad nervous. I felt as if I could get in trouble at any moment. Plus, he looked drained after saving Beren’s life. He needed bed as much as I did.
James rubbed his forehead, then held up his hand, palm towards me. “Just give me a sec.” He turned to Will. “Can I get you to travel Angelica home and put her into bed? Maybe stay for half an hour, make sure she’s okay, then get back here.”
“Sure thing.” Will clasped Beren’s hand and bent down, so his mouth was close to his ear. I couldn’t hear what he said, but I’d bet it was something akin to, “I’m so glad you’re not dead.” If so, he was speaking for all of us. Olivia was going to have a meltdown when she found out he’d died.
A dark shape noiselessly glided over me and alighted in a nearby branch. I stared at it. Oh, wow, it was an owl. I loved owls! It triggered a thought, but I had no idea why. My magic had been right—Angelica and Beren had died, but my magic wasn’t definitive. We’d brought them back to life. Did that prove that knowing meant I could actually make a difference? Mind. Blown. Now I was never going to sleep.
“Lily… Lily, are you ready?”
I started and met Will’s worried gaze. I licked my bottom lip. He was so good-looking, even now, with his hair mussed up and his jaw tense that it made me tongue-tied on occasion. I smiled. “Yep. Ready to take Angelica home. Plus, I need to shower my murdering arse. There’s blood on me. I can smell it.” I wrinkled my nose.
His tone was gentle when he said, “Hey, you did the right thing. You killed her accomplice, and he would have killed you, had you given him the chance. Never apologise for surviving, Lily. Losing Beren and Angelica would have broken my heart, but losing you…” He swallowed, his gaze intense. “Losing you would kill me.” He gently ran the back of his hand down my cheek and stared at me, then said, “Come on. Our patient is rather impatient. The sooner we get her settled at home, the better for everyone.”
“I heard that, Agent Blakesley. I’m tired, not deaf.”
“Yes, Ma’am.” He grinned, and I snorted. God, it was good to have her back.
I took a deep breath and set the coordinates for Angelica’s reception room.
Finally, it was time to go home.
Chapter 14
Three days later, and we were back at the bureau’s conference room, with two additions to our group—Imani and Agent Cardinal. The biggest thing that made me smile was Angelica sitting in her usual spot at the head of the table, her bun immaculate and the dark circles under her eyes gone. James and I shared a grin—he’d enjoyed his stint in charge, but he admitted he was relieved to be back in his usual role.
Olivia and Beren were sitting next to each other, and whilst nothing had developed there… yet, his near-death experience had Olivia sticking close. No one had realised I had been giving James power to heal Beren—there was too much other stuff going on, and if anyone saw, they just thought I was giving him moral support. We hadn’t even told Beren. As far as he knew, James was a superstar. I smiled—my brother totally deserved that accolade. We’d both nearly burned ourselves out healing Beren, but it was a price we were willing to pay. Thankfully, it hadn’t come to that. Will and I had talked about me giving him power. He swore on losing his arm that he would never tell anyone, and it was kind of unnerving, the way he’d looked at me as if I was a freak. Thankfully, today he was looking at me normally. Maybe he’d just had to get used to the idea.
The thing I still didn’t know was why. Why would someone who had devoted her life to helping people want to kill them?
Angelica clapped her hands twice in quick succession. Everyone turned to her. She smiled. “Firstly, I would like to say thank you to all of you for carrying out a successful mission. There were things we could have done better, but James and I will be reviewing everything, and we’ll have recommendations within the next three weeks. At the end of the day, we caught the offenders, so we’ll call this one a win.” She took a sip of water from the glass in front of her. “I’d like to take a moment to especially thank Olivia and Agent Millicent Bianchi for their research efforts. Thank you, ladies.” Millicent gave a nod—she was likely used to this stuff—but Olivia beamed. My mouth turned up at the corners. I loved that my friend had found a job she enjoyed and was being recognised for the awesome person she was.
“I’m sure you’re all wondering about the motive behind the killings. Conveniently, the killer kept a diary, which we found at her flat. Her reasons, and that of her boyfriend, make for interesting and frightful reading.”
The boyfriend I’d killed. So, he’d been in on it. Well, good riddance to him. Still, I wish I hadn’t killed h
im. My heart was gathering tattoos, written in scar tissue—numbers representing each of my victims. I hoped three was the last number that stained me. I didn’t know if my heart could take any more.
Angelica continued. “They both belonged to a group called the Witch Extermination Society. They’re an underground group we hadn’t heard of. I don’t need to give you all three guesses as to what they do. What matters to us, more than anything, is they discovered the Saint Catherine Laboure Care Home was for witches.” She met everyone’s gaze one by one, warning radiating from her. “They know witches exist and possibly how to distinguish who is and who isn’t.”
“But how?” I asked.
“That’s what we have to discover. They either stumbled upon it accidentally, or another witch has clued them in without putting the appropriate spells in place to keep the information from spreading. I’m setting up a special task force to investigate. But more on that another time.”
Olivia raised her hand.
“Yes, dear.”
“So that other old lady, Penny. She wasn’t involved in any of the murders?”
That would actually be interesting to know. I’m glad Olivia asked.
“We’ve yet to determine that. It’s quite a coincidence that two murderers were in the same place, and if Elizabeth and her boyfriend had known of Penny’s past, maybe they would have tried to pin these murders on her rather than kill her and risk discovery. We do know Elizabeth killed at least fifteen people—along with her diary, we found her hair trophies.”
Ew, that was sick, although not surprising.
Will said, “I’d like to know why they chose that particular time to cut the power and make their move. Did they know we were closing in on them?”
Angelica took another sip of water, maybe composing herself before answering. She’d been through a lot, and we all forgot she was only human—albeit a witchy one—too. Even though she didn’t show it, she would experience stress too. “Before they injected me in the neck, Elizabeth bragged, said they research every witch who comes in, and we’d been sloppy. Even though we used a different surname, they discovered who I was—but I’m not sure how. Now they’re dead, it will be difficult to find out. As for how they killed me…” She looked down at her hands and took a moment before raising her head. “They forced me to eat two chocolates, which knocked me out, leaving them free to execute the next step. According to James, there was something blocking both my coronary arteries. He had to dissolve the blockages. We’ve tested my blood, but nothing has shown up. We have the syringe Elizabeth used. There are traces of magic on it.”
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