Spells & Death

by Rachel Medhurst

  “It’s him alright,” Kate said, rubbing her eyes briefly. “That weird drunk feeling has come over me again. However, I can see what looks like a mask.”

  Glancing briefly at Dave as he indicated that we should move out of the way so he could take photos for evidence, I swallowed hard. If the serial killer had been in the room without us knowing, he was a very dangerous person. My hands were damp as I tucked my hair behind my ear. The shake of my limbs made me unsteady on my feet as I backed away.

  “I’ve rung Logan. The police are on their way.” Jake’s chest rose and fell deeply as he looked at the poor dead lad.

  “This is getting stupid,” I said, patting my holster to check my dagger was safe.

  Someone was out to get me, and it was about time I used my skills to stop them. Especially as they were murdering innocent people because of me.

  “I’m going to scope the place out.” Nodding at Dave, I walked away. As I reached the door, I looked over my shoulder at him. He was staring after me, a frown on his face. “Well? Are you coming?”

  My desk friend had forgotten that he was now my partner in the field. Even though he couldn’t do magic, having someone with me would give me more confidence.

  Jake and Kate gestured for him to join me, letting him know that they would deal with the rest of the crime scene.

  The owners of the pub were huddled in the corner, crying together. The man and wife kept glancing over at us, luckily leaving us to our duty. Dave had spoken to them as soon as everyone had been escorted out of the pub.

  Police cars screeched to a halt outside as I came through the door. Another tug on the ley line made me clench my hands into fists. Before I could lose my temper, Dave was beside me, his fingers wrapped around my elbow as he marched me away from the pub.

  “What are you doing? I need to search the crowd.”

  “No,” he hissed. “You need to be safe.”

  The humans from the pub were hanging around just down the street. If our killer was there, I would be able to feel his magical imprint. Why did Dave want me to get away?

  Ripping my elbow out of Dave’s grip, I stopped dead in the street. Well, dead was quite an ironic term of thought. Glaring up at him, I barely contained the heat that flared through me, bubbling under the surface. Our professional relationship had shifted since he had found out about me only a couple of hours before.

  “You need to put your agent head back on,” I bit through my teeth. “I’m still Gemma Abbott, a powerful Essex witch. People won’t bring me down.”

  His snort made me growl low in my chest. How dare he patronise me? He might think that I was weak now, but I knew different.

  “You have been brought down,” he said slowly as he took two steps to bring himself right in front of me. “You’re vulnerable, Gemma. Don’t think that because you are the almighty Essex witch that you are invincible, because you’re not.” Leaning down, he grabbed the top of my arms before I could move away and put his mouth right next to my ear. “You’re dead, which means that your enemies have an advantage over you. I cannot let them get near you.”

  Shrugging him off, I spun away. My hands clenched and unclenched as I thought about his words. He was right. I could no longer be arrogant about my status. Yes, I was still an Essex witch. I was still the main person responsible for protecting the London ley line. However, I was dead. Sort of. Just a little bit.

  “You know what, Dave?” Turning back to face him, I ran a hand over my face. “You’re sounding a bit like one of my book boyfriends.”

  A smile found its way onto my face as Dave frowned. Sometimes I had to break the tension with something not so serious.

  “Come on,” he said, gesturing for me to join him. “I’ll walk you home.”

  It was unlike my desk friend to order me around. If he was that concerned about my safety, I would respect him enough to listen. Usually, I would be all over the crime scene, not leaving until every last piece of evidence had been bagged and tagged. Not now, not today. Dave was right, the killer was out to get me.

  Walking beside him, I stayed quiet as I tried to get things straight in my head. I had never been a target before, I was usually too involved in my cases to even remember that I was a person. Now that someone threatened me, I didn’t know how to feel.

  “You know what?” I said to Dave. “My whole life I’ve been reading books where adventure and danger would excite me. This job does deliver that thrill in everyday life, but it’s very different when you’re the main character who has someone after them.”

  Throwing his arm over my shoulder, Dave tutted. “That’s the problem with you, book nerd. You assume that living your world in a fantasyland means you’re actually living. When in reality, excuse the pun, you’re hiding from what you fear the most.”

  Almost choking, I tried to dislodge his arm. It didn’t work. He held tight, making sure that I listened to what he had to say.

  “I’m not-”

  “Oh, yes you are,” he interrupted. “You’re afraid to let anyone in. It’s your mother’s fault for making you believe that you’re invincible. She obviously wants you to look after the ley line so she doesn’t have to.”

  My boots skidded to a halt. “She helps me look after it. In fact, she looked after it before I did.”

  Dave glanced up at the sky as the light began to fade. “You are her protégé. She wanted to train you so that you could take the burden away from her, which you happily did. Now don’t get me wrong,” he said, quickly shaking his head when I went to protest, “she taught you well. However, you’re forgetting to live for you. Your fantasyland is a place for you to hide, when really, you should be experiencing life for yourself.”

  Shoving him away, I broke into a jog. The warm rush of air that built as I sped up made me gulp. Dave’s words had hit a nerve in my chest, causing my foundation to shake.

  The smell of London filtered up my nose as my footsteps thundered through the street. The sound of Dave pursuing me was almost drowned out by my hair flying in the wind behind me.

  Ducking down a side street, I was about to flash myself away when a hooded figure appeared on the road in front of me. Goose bumps scattered on my arms as I slowed to a stop. The street was eerily quiet, although it wasn’t a surprise considering England were playing in the World Cup.

  Interesting that my first thought when faced with my enemy was how empty the streets were. My agent mind was always in gear. If humans were around, there would be no fighting. But right now, I was ready to take him down.

  “Don’t be stupid.” Dave’s voice came from behind me.

  “That’s him.”

  Those two words caused Dave to gasp. I couldn’t see his expression as I stared at the figure who stood looking down at his feet. The hood was low over his head so we couldn’t see his face. The energy of the man flowed towards me. It was as if he was sending out a call to let me know who he was.

  Dave’s hand grabbed mine for a moment before letting go. The slight heat that left my palm with him made me shudder. He had just taken some of my magic without warning. I didn’t know whether to be pissed or pleased. If he was preparing himself for a fight, it was a good idea to have a little bit of magic.

  My desk friend had been right about me. I had been avoiding reality, because every time I tried to face it, someone threatened me. I had kept under the radar for a very long time, but my mother had always been suspicious of others when it came to me. My father’s debt to the witch had played on her mind since I was born.

  “If you want me,” I shouted to the killer. “Come and get me.”

  A blast of magic erupted from him. The force of it flew through the air, throwing us backwards until our arses hit the hard ground. My palms grazed against the grit on the floor as I stopped my momentum. Cringing when the pain sliced my skin, I almost laughed. At least I could still feel physical pain. If I couldn’t, I would worry.

  Dave was on his feet, running for our enemy. Keeping my hands against the con
crete, I closed my eyes and felt into the ley line. My mother had taught me to imagine roots coming from my hands and feet, digging deep into the earth. My breath was shallow and a little shaky as the strands of energy connected. The line hummed beneath me as I dragged magic up into my body. The intensity of the energy made my muscles quake briefly, but as it integrated into my cells, a burst of energy forced me to my feet.

  “Dave?” I shouted as the witch started to lift his hooded head. “Wait!”

  The demon mask came into view just as his hand flew up, sending a bolt of lightning towards Dave. A shout erupted from me as I launched forward, unleashing a barrier spell just in front of my desk friend.

  Crashing into it, Dave laughed as he rebounded. The lightning that had just been about to hit him dispersed against my magic. Blinking, I went to run forward, but Dave suddenly appeared beside me. “I’m an illusionist, remember.” He laughed.

  Shit. That meant I had no idea what he would do in this situation. If he could fool me, he would fool the Essex Obsessor. Yep, I was going to adopt Kate’s nickname for the killer.

  The witch with the demon mask slowly approached my barrier wall. Stepping forward, I came up to my side of the barrier and stared at him. Dave was there with me, his breath heavy as the demon mask stared back at me.

  “You said that you didn’t want to fight.” I pushed the words through my teeth even though they were clenched.

  I wanted so badly to draw out my dagger and put the man out of his misery by slicing it through his throat. And yet, I hesitated, my fear that Dave would be harmed in the process too strong to allow me to carry out my duty.

  “I don’t want to fight. Gemma Abbott, you have no idea who I am, and yet, you hold so much hate towards me.”

  My heartrate increased so much that I had to take a deep breath. Was the man clinically insane? He was killing people, and he wondered why I hated him?

  “You’re a murderer.” Dave’s voice was a growl, his teeth baring as he grabbed my wrist.

  Allowing him to take some of my magic, I kept my gaze on the witch in front of me. Dave wasn’t usually in the field, but I would trust him not to be stupid with the illusions he could cast.

  Tilting his head to the side, my enemy chuckled under his mask. “There are many of us who detest your ancestry,” he said, his deep voice muffled. “And, yet, you still believe that you have the right to lord it over us all. Essex witches are not going to last.”

  “Are you part of the PFF?” Dave blurted.

  “I wouldn’t say part of it...” The man shrugged.

  The tingling in my feet intensified. I didn’t wait for him to go on. My hand went to my gun, pulling it out as I dropped my barrier spell and lunged forward. My hair flipped into my face as he flung his hand up and created wind to whip around me. My gun aimed as he backtracked, his feet able to run perfectly considering he was going in the wrong direction. I would never pull that off, even if I was good at combat.

  “Book worm,” my enemy called as I pulled the trigger. “See you in your dreams.”

  The bullet clattered to the ground as Dave shouted a spell I’d never heard. I blinked quickly, my mouth opening as a frustrated scream came out. The killer had gone.

  “What...?”

  Why had Dave stopped the bullet before the demon masked man had gone?

  “He used an illusion,” Dave said, pointing to where a man cowered on the ground, his hands over his head.

  Oh crap. A human had almost been shot. By my hand. As if I didn’t have enough problems already. The sneaky bastard had tricked me.

  “I hate illusionists,” I muttered.

  Going over to the man, Dave helped him to his feet. He whispered something to him before sending him on his way.

  “You don’t hate me.” He checked that there was no evidence left by the killer. “And, I’m an illusionist.”

  Frustration fizzled in my veins as I thought about what the killer had said. He’d claimed that others wanted the Essex lines gone. He must be involved with the PFF, even if he kinda denied it. A man would rarely pledge allegiance to a cause wholeheartedly. They were cowardly. Well, the ones I’d dealt with were anyway. Some humans had more backbone than those in the underworld.

  “See,” Dave started as he flashed us to my front door. “If only your book boyfriend had appeared right at that moment, he would’ve saved the day by capturing the baddie and claiming you with a kiss.”

  My fist extended before my brain engaged. His palm caught it before I was able to make contact, twisting me so my arm was behind my back. His mouth came down to my ear as I grunted and squirmed. “Anyone would think that you were defensive about this imaginary man.”

  “Let go of me before I break your leg. Just one vision of your leg snapped in half will make it happen, and you know it. No one disses-”

  “Yeah, yeah.” Dave laughed, letting me go. “I get it. No one disses your reading. Well, my sweet agent, it seems that your reality is more important than your fictional world, for once. Maybe you’ll start to see that there are people who care about you.”

  Huh? My hand froze in mid-air, my key already whipped out of my pocket. “I... Er...”

  ...couldn’t look at him. It was completely awkward. Why would he say something like that? I mean, he-

  “It’s true.” He kept going. “You go around in your little bubble. Agent, book world, agent, book world. What about you? Have you ever stopped to see that there are people outside of yourself who want to get closer?”

  My breath was heavy as I stared at the distorted glass of my front door. On the other side lay the bubble that Dave spoke about. My books, my world, my life. And, yet, a chill zipped down my spine when his hand rested gently on my shoulder.

  “You’re in danger,” he whispered. “Let us in so we can help.”

  The rush of air and lack of body heat alerted me to Dave’s disappearance. He had taken some of my magic to transport himself away. I didn’t blame him, I had kept my back to him the whole time he spoke. Closed off, not letting him in. How could I? It was safer to keep everyone out. If I let them in, they could break me, just as the real world was crumbling around me.

  Chapter 10

  “Higher,” Kate shouted as I clung to the climbing rope.

  The muscles in my arms screamed as I tried to pull myself further. My colleague was standing at the bottom of the rope, her high pitched voice reaching me perfectly, especially when she decided to raise it. The rest of the room would know that I was struggling to get up the poxy rope.

  About to cast a spell to make it look like I’d reached the top, I paused when Kate shook it. She was the best fighter in the agency. I had never known what drove her to become a kick-arse seer. They were rarely in the field, more often helping from the side lines.

  “That will do,” she shouted when I’d forced myself up two more pulls. “You can come down now.”

  Sliding down, I gritted my teeth as the rope burnt my fingers. Once my feet hit the ground, Kate wagged her finger in my face. “No, no, no! You’re supposed to climb down!”

  Taking off the cloth wraps that helped me grip the rope, I cringed as I placed my hands in the cool bowl of water that stood on a stand nearby. Luckily, the material had protected my palms from the descent, but my fingers stung like a bitch.

  “I hate...” My sentence trailed off when Kate put her hands on her hips and tapped her shoe on the floor.

  Her braided hair fell to her shoulders. It suited her style well. Why couldn’t I ever look as cool as that? Her tight training leggings were navy. A bright orange bra showed under a small crop top that came to just above her bellybutton.

  She noticed my scowl and tried to hide a grin. “Well,” she said, coming over to me and flicking my To Kill a Mockingbird T-shirt. “You have the figure to look good, but...”

  Shrugging, she winked at me before she pointed at the boxing ring. As if she was going to get me in there. I was good with my dagger, my gun and my magic. My fists were used f
or more important things. Like turning the pages of a book, or... eating. Not that I used fists, I wasn’t some heathen but, yeah...

  “Why are you so good at this?” I moaned as I reluctantly followed her closer to the ring.

  We sat on the side as she tied her shoelaces.

  “I had to escape from my kidnappers,” she replied as if she’d just told me what she’d had for dinner. “It took me five years to train myself how to fight, and since then, I’ve just got better and better.”

  As she went to get up, I grabbed her hand, forcing her to stop. “You were kidnapped?”

  Her quick nod was accompanied with a throw away attitude as she climbed into the ring. Following her, I was compelled to find out more. “Why didn’t I know this? How old were you when it happened?”

  Going to the corner, Kate picked up a pair of boxing gloves and handed them to me. “I was fifteen. A group of male vampires wanted to use me for my talents. My mother was so proud...” She spat this word. “... of her daughter’s ability to see the last twenty-four hours, she bragged about it to anyone who would listen. Including a vampire business mogul.”

  Mesmerised as she told me her story, I allowed her to strap the gloves onto my hands. A tiny part of my heart cracked as Kate’s gaze locked with mine, revealing a flash of pain before she shoved me gently away from her.

  Moving to pick up pads, she took a deep breath. “They kept me locked up in a luxurious flat, unable to speak to anyone but those five men. One of them took a liking to me. I was mostly protected by the main guy, who often handed me pieces of clothing or personal items to get a reading from. They were from his competition. He was stealing from them to find out what they were planning. It wasn’t even very exciting.”

  “I’m glad you were protected from the man who...” I stuttered, unable to finish my sentence.

  “Oh, I said mostly... there were times when he got me alone. Those were the times I wished I was dead.”

  My stomach rolled as Kate stood in front of me, her hands held up for me to punch. There was no way I was throwing fists at her when she was telling me about her ordeal.