The small blast of flames that came from his hand made me step back, almost tripping over, yet again.
“Keep your voice down. That was a test, which might have triggered a warning, so we need to be on the lookout…. and ready to leg it.”
The walkie talkie buzzed, Justina’s whispered voice coming through. “The barrier spell is strong at the gate. How is it there?”
Handing me something, I stared as I tried to work out if it was the thing he’d just used or…
“Hello?”
I almost dropped the dam walkie talkie when Justina’s voice echoed in my hands. Okay, he wanted me to talk to her.
Pressing the button, I spoke back to my boss, trying to keep my voice low. “It’s covering the gate and tree line here, too. Gerard just did something funky. Flames erupted, not a lot else happened. Quite anti-climactic actually.”
Justina whispered something on the other line. Obviously telling Kurt about our failure at getting very far.
“Did he not explain that he was pushing the spell with a device that is scientific? No magic involved? I see he’s doing a great job at training you.”
The accused grunted as he took something else out of his Mary Poppins jacket and brought it to his face.
“He’s putting on a mask or something now. I have no idea what’s going on.”
Snatching the talky out of my hand, he moved closer to the gate. “Justina. I didn’t seem to set off any alarms, although I’m not certain on that one yet. However, I’ve just used the binoculars, and I can see thermal images of supernaturals just outside the walls of the castle.”
“Yes, we can see them here too. We’ve got vampires.”
What? My jaw dropped open when Gerard hummed an affirmation. “I’ve got shapeshifters. We need to be very careful.”
His voice had lowered considerably. How had they not heard us? My skin warmed, the tightness of my jacket pulling on me. Oh, had Gerard covered us with a spell? And, I hadn’t even realised? Great job, Devon.
Not only had Gerard given me some of his pure magic, he’d placed an invisibility spell on me too. Without my permission. Although, it was hard to be mad at him considering I should have noticed instantly. Which I would’ve done if I hadn’t been playing magical footsies.
“Check the boundary, see how far it goes.”
Gerard’s confirmation was followed by him passing me the special goggles. I looked through them to check the thermal images. My heart leapt into my throat.
“Er… Gerard, you know you said that the test didn’t get their attention? I think you might be wrong.”
I had already started to backtrack, my feet tripping over the mounds of grass and animals.
Taking the glasses back, Gerard looked through them, swearing when he saw the advance of three people. Spinning, I started to run across the field. My feet slowed when I didn’t hear footsteps or puffing beside me.
Looking over my shoulder, I almost tripped when I saw Gerard bending down by the gate. Did he have a plan that I didn’t know about? I somehow doubted that the element of surprise would work in this case. Idiot.
I was about to head back when he shot up from his crouch and sprinted towards me. Thank goodness. I wasn’t in the mood to rescue my partner from shapeshifters who were working for a crazy witch.
Adrenaline thumped through my veins as my muscles moved. My feet were slippery on the grass, my boots useless against the smooth damp surface.
“Devon, I’ve left them a little treat. It might be a bit risky, but I think…”
When the explosion rocked through the air, Gerard was cut off. We were thrown forward, the force of the magical blast sending me flying. My hands just about caught my body on the ground as my wrists screamed out in pain.
“What the hell were you thinking?” I shouted, seriously peeved that he had blown our cover even more than was necessary.
“What the fuck is going on?” The walkie talkie burst into noise. Justina didn’t sound so diplomatic now.
The sound rattled in my ear. Gerard had obviously dropped the bloody thing. Snatching it up, I pressed the button as I climbed to my feet.
“Gerard decided to blow a hole in their barrier spell.”
My breath rushed out of me as something heavy landed on my back, sending me sprawling to the ground again. Ah, shit, the shapeshifters. The claws of the animal sunk into my skin, making me shout out a nasty swearword. My mother would have killed me if she had heard me call him a-
“Devon!” Gerard’s voice was nearby.
The heaviness lifted from my back, allowing me to spin and jump to my feet. The wolf… yes, how ironic… was wrestling with Gerard. Its light fur was visible in the moonlight.
Checking around for any sign of another threat, I winced when the wolf head-butted Gerard. Ouch, that had to have hurt.
It looked like a couple more shifters were in the middle of the next field, coming towards us from the castle. For some reason, they hadn’t shifted yet.
“Devon!” Gerard’s call of anguish made me whip out the dagger.
The muscles in my arms were stiff as I held it high in the air. Gerard’s arms were straining where he was holding the wolf’s neck away from him as it gnashed its teeth towards his throat. If I didn’t do something soon, he would be killed.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered as I crouched.
My warlock magic surged through me, a line of blue fire extending from the palm of my hand and shooting over the blade as I plunged it into the wolf’s throat, ripping the skin. It froze, blood pouring from the wound. Gerard shoved it off him as soon as it went limp.
His feet were speedy as he scrambled to stand. Tugging me, he dragged me across the rest of the field before the rest of the shifters could join us. Hopefully they wouldn’t be able to see us in the dark.
“You’re covered in blood.” I huffed as I ran alongside him, somehow keeping my footing.
The stile came into view. Oh great, knowing my luck, I’d-
A hand came round my waist as I reached it, pushing me up and onto the wooden step. I vaulted over the rest, grateful for Gerard’s help.
“Run!” Hopping over the stile himself, Gerard turned to check the field.
Throwing his hands in the air, he muttered a spell. He’d used one of my mother’s powerful protection spells. Where had he got that from?
The sound of the van’s engine brought a sigh of relief with my puffing breath. Gerard shoved me from behind, making me move faster as Kurt pulled up in front of us.
“Get in.” His demand was stony, angry.
At least it wasn’t my fault this time. Gerard would have to take the blame. He was the one who decided to draw attention to us. Which was something that wouldn’t help our cause in the long run.
He wrenched open the door before I got there. I leapt in, knocking away his hands when he tried to help me again. It was a rash action, borne from frustration.
“Okay,” Gerard shouted as he slammed the door shut behind him.
There was no need for him to say anything, Kurt was already speeding down the bumpy track. My stomach rolled as I bent over, grabbed a random box from the floor and heaved up the contents of my tummy.
“Are you okay?”
Glancing up at him, I raised my eyebrows. The red splash of blood was all over his face. He grabbed a grey towel from under his seat and rubbed it over his head. I swallowed back the next threat of bile and threw the box out of the window to get rid of the smell.
“I…” Clenching my fists, I stared at him. “Why did you do that?”
He shook his head, his hands held up in surrender. “You think I did that on purpose?”
Huh? Didn’t Stupid Mac-crazy not understand what had just happened? He had exposed us to the risk of being caught by the slave trade ring leaders. The people we had been after all along.
“A magical bomb going off after you were crouching by the gate might have given me a clue! You mentioned you’d left them a gift.”
H
is shake of the head sent a drop of blood flying onto my blue jeans. He quickly wiped it off, his eyes going wide when he looked at me.
“That bomb was already there. It was a protection mechanism. I saw it before we were about to leave. I was trying to disarm it, but I couldn’t, so I let it explode, hoping it would slow them down.”
His green eyes watched me from a face still splattered with blood. He looked so sad that I had accused him of ruining our mission. I couldn’t stay angry at him.
“I’m sorry, I…” Running my hands through my hair, I struggled to look at him. “…I thought you’d…”
A smile came to his face as he sat forward. “Justina’s right, I’m not training you very well. Do you not trust me?”
“I don’t trust anyone,” I blurted before I could think. “I mean…”
His lips pursed as he gave up trying to get rid of the blood that covered him. Blood from a wolf. Blood from a shapeshifter.
“I killed a man,” I whispered, my eyes tearing up without my consent.
Blinking rapidly, I grabbed the bench as the van lurched onto smoother ground. We were back on the road to London.
“You’ve killed before.” Gerard’s statement made my heart slice in two.
Yes, I had killed my guardian. But, I hadn’t been in control when that had happened. I’d also been using a gun. I’d never actually used a blade full of my magic to disarm and kill a person. Ever.
It wasn’t something I wanted to get used to, no matter how much I wanted to be an agent.
Chapter Fifteen
“They’re coming here for a meeting now,” Justina announced as she came into the library.
Most of my missions had been out in the field so far. Justina’s cosy office was one of my favourite places in the agency. I missed it when I wasn’t here. The leather chair that almost hugged me made me feel safe.
“The vampire leader?” Lilia squeaked, reaching for Kingsley.
I’d had to bring my pet rat to see the witch I rescued for a visit. Every week. She had looked after him when my home had been ransacked. And, now, apparently, they’d become best buds. Well, thanks for nothing, Kingsley.
My finger reached out to stroke the grey fur that lined his medium sized body. He was my little boy, meant to be my familiar. I still couldn’t bring myself to link with him. I didn’t want him to support me that way. He would be in even more danger than he was now. Not only that, I was still paranoid that my split magic might do him harm.
“Yes, the vampire leader, Antonia, and the shapeshifter leader. Apparently, she’s bringing him with her. I’ve never met him before so I have no idea who he is. In fact, no one does.”
Lilia got up from her seat, handing me Kingsley as she did. The rat tucked himself between my shoulder and neck, his whiskers tickling my skin.
“I better get on with my work.”
Justina nodded, indicating that she could leave. My boss had taken Lilia on as an administrator, allowing her to live in the agency building. The witch was slowly regaining her powers after years of being drained for someone else’s use. The witches we had rescued from Luis Camos were recovering quickly, most of them moving away to rebuild their lives. We had got all the evidence we could from them, but like Lilia, their memories had been mostly wiped from their mind.
“Devon, you know both Antonia and Kalic.” Kurt paced in front of the screen of security cameras. They covered the whole of London, piggy-backing off the government’s systems. “Use that to our advantage. We need them to co-operate.”
Nodding once, I eyed Gerard when he came in the door. His footsteps were heavy, his leather boots slamming on the wooden floor. A scowl was on his face as he lowered himself into a chair.
“Gerard, this isn’t the time to be-” Justina started.
“I’m fine,” he snapped back, his gaze avoiding everyone in the room.
It had been a while since I’d seen Gerard in one of his moods. With us being so close to our goal, he seemed to be quite cheerful, if I could actually call it that.
“Go back out the door,” Kurt said. “And, leave it outside.”
Closing his eyes, Gerard got to his feet and did as he was asked, no questions. Our bosses knew us better than most people. I might not have been working there long, but they’d been studying me for a while. They knew what made me tick, what made me hurt.
“The letters your parents sent you,” Justina said, cutting into my thoughts. “They’re authentic.”
Before I could react, Kurt lowered himself onto the arm of my chair. His hand clasped my shoulder, offering me his version of support.
“The reason we’re telling you this right now is because we also got a letter from your mother just before we went on the raid last night. She gave us the same address that Lucia did. It said that she had to stay in hiding.”
My heart was fluttering, but I kept my cool. So, my parents really were alive. And, they had abandoned me. Great.
“When I ran away from my coven, I left people behind. Vampires, shapeshifters and witches. They resented me for years. Until I went back five years ago.” Kurt lifted his hand from my shoulder. “They almost killed me when I walked in. The coven might have self-combusted, but there were still people left. People who had loved and trusted me. The vampires shunned me for a long time, but the witches let me train with them again. I learnt more the second time I was there, using herbology to help them heal some of those who had been permanently injured in the fights before I left. They realised that I hadn’t abandoned them. I’d saved myself. I was a target because I had no family, and yet, I was very powerful. I was a top, well respected witch at the age of twenty. They felt threatened.”
“So, you left others behind to protect yourself?” My words could have been blamed on the anger that simmered in my veins. It was as if he was telling me his life story to excuse my parents.
Glancing at Justina as she came over, he smiled gently. “No, I left them behind so they weren’t killed because of me. The vampires were slaying those associated with me because I was pushing the boundaries of magic. They didn’t like it. If witches became too powerful, they would tip the balance in the coven.”
Staying quiet, I thought about what he’d said. He was trying to explain that my parents may have left to protect me from danger. Maybe they had.
“We’ve dug up some of your history. I want you to know some of it because it’s common knowledge in the circle of supernatural group leaders.” Justina handed me her tablet.
Several pictures of grimoires and pages ripped from them were staring up at me. My eyebrows creased as I scrolled through, trying to read the smaller writing.
“You’re an Essex witch.” Justina sat in the chair next to me.
“I’m from a line of Essex’s witches, but it’s…” My mind went blank as I tried to recall the history my mother had taught me.
Taking the tablet from me, Justina flicked to a grainy picture of a grimoire. “This was taken in 1884. By your great, great grandmother. She was a full Essex witch, and so was your mother.”
An Essex witch? They were extinct, or at the very least, watered down. I’d heard my mother speak to Theresa about her lineage, but I was sure it wasn’t a massive deal. I knew the coven treated her differently because of her ancestry, but… surely, she couldn’t be…?
“There are four surviving Essex lines. Your grandparents were from two of them. When your mother broke the sacred pact of keeping within the four families, she was disgraced.” Reaching out, Justina took my hand. She kept her gaze on mine, making sure I was listening. “You still have Essex blood running through you, even though you’re also a warlock. You… you’re one of kind, Devon. Your mother ended her Essex line when she married your father.”
“So, that’s another reason she ran away?” I didn’t know how I knew that, but it would make sense.
My parents were always regarded as outcasts. Now I knew the extent of their scandal. No wonder the witch world were against the match. Not on
ly was it against common law, my mother had broken a tradition that kept the Essex witches alive.
The door opened and Gerard came in, bringing me back to the present. His frown had lifted and his energy lightened slightly, although something still bothered him.
“They’re at the front door,” he said, aiming his words towards Justina.
Kurt stood, leaving me to stare after him as he went to greet our guests. Justina moved to her desk, gesturing for us to join her in the seats she’d pulled around to her side. She wanted our backup. No wonder, considering what we were about to ask of the leaders.
“Is everything okay?” she asked Gerard.
Clearing his throat, he glanced at me before nodding once. “Sorry about that, my sister rang me this morning. She wants to move away, that’s all.”
“Okay, let’s talk about it after this meeting. I want your mind in the game now.” Justina tucked her short blonde hair behind her ear and sat straight in her chair.
The door opened. Kurt led the way, followed by Antonia, a man with Asian features, and Kalic. Antonia was wearing an old fashioned steampunk dress, her dark hair up in a high ponytail. I hadn’t ever seen her dressed that way before, but it suited the leader of the London vampire group.
“Justina,” she greeted, tipping her head in greeting.
My boss was on her feet, shaking hands with them all.
The shapeshifter stepped back after he’d released Justina’s hand, his gaze roaming over me. The cut of his suit showed his power, the strength of his jaw a contrast to his soft skin.
His oval eyes narrowed on my jacket. Did he know about the dagger? Why else would he be eyeing up my person?
“Nice to see you, Devon.” Kalic spoke before anyone. “I see you’ve slotted in nicely here.”
He was wearing a smile as well as jeans with a shirt. His outfit didn’t match his wife’s, which meant he wasn’t playing her game.
“I have, thank you for noticing.” What else could I say? We had crossed paths in the past, but we’d never formed a friendship. His wife on the other hand. “It’s nice to see you, Antonia.”
Magically Bonded: An Urban Fantasy Novel (Hunted Witch Agency Book 2) Page 13