“I’m not going anywhere with you,” I said, my fingers straining where I squeezed the handle of the dagger.
Shrugging, the Scotsman ducked his head. “Okay, fine. I understand why you wouldn’t trust me, but you’re in the same situation as me.”
“You’re half warlock, half witch?”
His raised eyebrows made me smile just a little. No, it wasn’t possible, but he was making no sense, and I liked to wind people up sometimes.
“I’m in love with a witch.”
His pale cheeks burnt pink as we stared at him. Oh, boy, that wasn’t good. It might seem like we were the same as him, considering I was part warlock, but it was actually illegal for witches and warlocks to be in a relationship.
Glancing at me before he spoke, Gerard kept his voice low. “How are we in the same situation as you?”
His shifty expression landed on us both before he looked around, yet again. Could he not feel the invisibility spell I’d placed around us?
“You’re a witch, she’s part warlock. What would your children be?”
Hhhmmm. I hadn’t even thought of that. Children? Nah. Come on, there was no way I was having children any time soon. I was too young, too wild, too… Devon.
“What coven do you belong to?” Gerard asked, point blank ignoring the warlock’s question.
Shuffling, the warlock tucked his hands in his pockets again. He looked at the ground, his dark eyes hiding something.
“What’s your name?” I had to make him feel comfortable enough to talk to us. Maybe he would know something about the mob coven.
“Mackenzie.”
Of course. The grin that Gerard shared with me made me cringe. Today might just be the day I stopped calling my partner by any nickname beginning with Mac. I mean, seriously. I would probably picture the redheaded Scot whenever I thought of it. Ah, it was all ruined.
“I belong to the Edinburgh warlock coven. My girlfriend belongs to the True Edinburgh witch coven.”
Ah, yes. Mary had mentioned that the coven with the mob leader always referred to themselves as the true one. The other coven was historically much older, but Cameron Fieldman was arrogant, so he’d claimed that his coven was the more powerful one. The man sounded like a right pain in the arse.
“Okay. So, I’m assuming they won’t be pleased if they find out that she’s in love with a warlock?” Gerard blinked when his phone beeped.
Getting it out as he watched Mackenzie, he didn’t read it straight away. He made sure he focused on the man. He had to make him feel like he was listening.
“No. Her leader, he’s a well-known man. He’s stringent with rules. Very, very stringent.”
Feigning innocence, I moved closer to Mackenzie as Gerard read the text on his phone. “I don’t know much about the true coven. Could you tell me about it? Maybe it would help us to find a way to aid you.”
Stepping back, Mackenzie shook his head slowly. “It’s not safe.”
His gaze shot to a vampire as he passed. The man had his head down, keeping his face out of view. If he looked as suspicious as I thought, maybe he could sense us behind my invisibility spell.
Turning, Mackenzie made a run for it. He was a strong lead in the case. Too strong. We couldn’t let him get away.
“That was Justina,” Gerard said as we both started to run after the Scot. “She said that we needed to get in contact as soon as we’re able.”
Nodding, I concentrated on the back of the Scot’s jacket as it flew out behind him. My spell was dropped as soon as he’d fled. I couldn’t protect him from others if he had chosen to run.
“What do we do?” I asked as Mackenzie dodged around a group of tourists.
We were right near Edinburgh Castle. If he wasn’t careful, plenty of people would take notice. In fact, the humans were already staring. A redheaded man with a long leather jacket was always going to draw attention, no matter where he was.
“We catch him. We tell him that we need to interrogate him.”
My arms pumped as Mackenzie shot down an alley just before the castle gates. Tempted to fireball his arse for interrupting my happy time with Gerard, I refrained when we came around the corner. Steps. A lot of them.
“Stop, police!” I shouted as Mackenzie bashed into a human.
Swearing, he quickly apologised before he dashed away. He wasn’t a bad warlock, he was just scared. Which meant that Cameron had a tight hold on the city and its supernatural creatures.
“See, I told you that cardio training would help you!” Gerard was not funny.
The air in my lungs forced its way in and out as we started down the stone steps. The battlement of the castle was to my right and a building was on the left. The drop down to the next road was steep. There were at least another twenty thousand steps to the bottom. Or, so it seemed. And, if Gerard made one more comment about my fitness, I would make a nifty little fireball from my warlock magic and shove it in his face.
Mackenzie reached the bottom of the steps in record time. Maybe he’d had to run down them several times before.
We couldn’t let him get away. We had to take him in.
“Magic?” I asked Gerard as he hopped down the steps in front of me.
His legs were moving super speedy, as if he had been working out or something. Ugh.
“There’s too many people.” He puffed over his shoulder.
Witch magic might be invisible, but he was right. It wasn’t just about the humans seeing what we did, it was the other paranormal creatures, too. If we were seen performing any type of magic, we would draw attention to ourselves.
“He went right.” My legs were strong against the steps as I reached the bottom, but my heart was thumping in my chest.
If I died of a heart attack, I would not be best pleased. Especially as there were a ton more ways I could die as a witch, warlock.
Gerard swung around the corner. He grunted as a fist came from nowhere and ploughed into his jaw.
Rushing up to Mackenzie, who had been waiting for us, I kicked my leg out. He grabbed me, spinning quickly. Grunting, I thrust out of his grip just before he wrenched my ankle. The little bastard knew how to fight. It was a good job I had been doing a bit of combat training to help me with my PTSD.
“What are you doing?” I wheezed.
He stood in front of me, his fists held up. Humans stood around watching, some on their phones. Shit, if the police turned up any time soon, we’d be buggered.
“It’s okay,” Gerard shouted. “We’re the police!”
Flashing his badge, he tried to get some of the people to go up the steps and away from the fight.
Mackenzie wasn’t going to go down without some sort of conflict. Okay, that was fine with me. I needed a reason to kick someone’s butt.
“You asked for it,” I said as a smile spread on my face.
Ducking under his arm as it punched forward, I thrust my fist into his side. He balked but didn’t utter a sound. Turning behind him, I grabbed his wrist, ready to twist it. He quickly flicked his arm, his fingers coming around my wrist as he twisted mine off him.
Spinning, he pulled hard as he dragged my arm up and behind my back. Ah, crap. I really did need more combat training.
“Get off me,” I ground out through my gritted teeth.
Pain lanced through my shoulder as he tugged harder. Picking up my leg, I kicked backwards, smiling when the bottom of my heavy boot grazed against his shin.
“Will you girls please stop fighting? The police will be here soon.” Gerard stood beside us, his hands on his hips. Really? My partner was watching me lose?
Mackenzie pushed me away from him, his hands held up in surrender. Yeah, our efforts had been pretty pointless. Rubbing my neck, I closed my eyes briefly as the memory of Kingsley sleeping right in the dip between my neck and shoulder washed over me. Grief made me weak.
“I’m sorry, okay?” Mackenzie took off but walked this time.
We followed him as he marched down the winding roa
d that led around the castle. People stared after us, confusion written across their face. No wonder humans were messed up. When they saw shit like that, they must’ve believed they were in the twilight zone.
“Why did you run?”
Jogging to match his strides, I looked at him. He was thin, but his head was way up high. I almost tripped as I tried to keep the same pace.
“I was stupid for approaching you. I saw you all loved up and hoped I’d appeal to that side of you.” Mackenzie stopped walking as he turned to face us. Gerard was staying strangely quiet considering what had just happened.
“What do you want us to do? Tell us how we can help you.” The adrenaline from the fight was slowly easing out of my body. I had wanted to use magic, but it had been too risky. The thrill of throwing a punch had been exhilarating, even if it hadn’t done much.
Scuffing his black trainer against the ground, the warlock traced the floor with his gaze. He was uncomfortable, maybe even a little paranoid. However, one thing was quite obvious. He was madly in love with a witch.
“We can’t help you if you don’t tell us,” Gerard said, putting a hand on his shoulder.
I wasn’t sure whether it was to comfort him, or to stop him from running again.
“Okay,” Mackenzie breathed. “I need your help in making it legal for different supernatural beings to be together. If the human government allow it, our covens will not be able to stop us.”
Chapter Five
“Justina,” I said into the phone as I stood at the bottom of the stairs. “What do we do?”
Mary waved to us from the kitchen. She had been very quiet for the last few days, only checking on us once to make sure we had everything. I had expected her to be in our business, but it was nice that she gave us space.
“Tell him that it can’t be done.”
Gerard could hear her on the other end. I’d turned the volume up so he could listen in to the conversation. We had asked Mackenzie to note down everything he knew about the coven. I’d then promised that I would speak to the bosses at the agency to see if there was anything we could do for him.
“Really? After the information he gave us?”
Shrugging, Gerard glanced in the mirror. The red walls were quite dark, but the frosted window in the front door allowed light to come in. He fiddled with his hair, making sure it stuck up at the right angles. His muscles flexed under his thin jacket as he checked out his look.
“Yes. He’ll be rewarded for his time. The intel he gave wasn’t perfect, but it did help me to research a couple of leads. The man you’re going to see today is connected to the nightclubs in London. When Mackenzie told you that Cameron and his friends had an interest in music, I quickly checked all sponsors of the clubs in the city. Turns out that most of them are somehow linked to a company called True Magic. It portrays itself as an event company, arranging live music gigs.”
“Oh, interesting,” I said, bashing Gerard’s arm when he started stroking his stubble.
Winking at me, he checked his big gold watch. We’d borrowed it from Mary, who just happened to have a whole stash of weird and wonderful things. If Gerard was going to speak to the director of a record label, he had to look the part.
“That’s what I thought. Anyway, I’m doing some financial background checks. I found several payments coming into the company accounts under the name of True Buzz. Some of the teens that have taken the drugs have called it that. So, it’s a pretty big link. However, I can’t seem to trace where the money comes from.” Justina sighed down the line.
“Okay. We’ll see what we can do today. Any tips? I’m not exactly a pro at this undercover thing.”
Glancing in the mirror myself, I frowned at the dash of pink lipstick on my lips. The jeans were fine, albeit, missing some rips, but the rose gold strappy top with the white scarf was making me nauseous.
“You’re a pro at blagging and bullshit,” Kurt piped up in the background. “You’ll walk it.”
Scoffing, I tried to think of a comeback. “Yeah, well you’re the pro at being…”
My brain! Why couldn’t it be witty for once? All my life, I’d prided myself on being me, but right now, I was a bit lame.
“Gorgeous?” Kurt shouted. “Good in bed? A great witch?”
“Enough,” Justina said. “Let Gerard take the lead. Watch him, copy, all will be well. Report as soon as you get out. If you feel like there could be trouble, text the backup team.”
The agency had sent up another pair of agents. They were working on a different lead, but we were supposed to call each other if we needed help. Hopefully it wouldn’t come to that.
“Investigations are fun,” I said as I hung up. “Except when the criminal is your deranged grandmother, of course.”
Stroking my cheek, Gerard shuffled me out the door. “How are you feeling about all that?”
Taking my hand, he hailed a taxi, smiling when one pulled up straight away. We looked like we had money, which meant we would be treated very differently.
Settling in the back, I clung to his hand as the image of Helena’s dead body came into my mind. The nightmares had calmed down now. I still suffered with them occasionally, but being engrossed in the new case helped to keep me distracted. Justina had insisted I carry on with my therapy, so I had been Skyping my therapist every other day.
“I’m working through it,” I said, glancing out of the window at the pretty buildings. “My mother seems to be taking it well, considering. Although, every time we talk she worries about what I’m doing. In a way, I suppose it’s quite nice.”
Gerard’s hand squeezed mine, but he didn’t say anything. Looking at him, I studied the lines of his face. His sharp jaw was soft as he watched the streets go by. The slight stubble on his chin was darker then his hair. It made him look sexy.
“Don’t stare at me like that.” A slight smile lifted into his cheek as his gaze made contact with mine.
Leaning in automatically, he pressed his lips against my cheek before moving down to my lips. Our breath intermingled as he paused, looking deep into my eyes. When his lips pressed forward, my arms wrapped around his neck. It had been hard to keep away from him in Mary’s presence.
“Your dad…” Gerard started.
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “Why would you bring him up when we’re making out?”
A giggle left my mouth as he pulled away and grinned. The twinkle in his eye was pretty new. Had I put it there? Hunky Mac-twinkle-eyes, nope, I couldn’t do it. Mackenzie popped into my head as soon as the nickname was formed.
Gerard sat back, his facial expression turning serious. He was thinking about my father. Ever since our encounter in the hallway of the agency building, neither of us had mentioned it.
“I’m not sure this is the time to be thinking about my dad. We need to keep our heads straight for what we’re about to do.”
As I felt his distance, my own reservations sprung up. We had promised each other that we wouldn’t let our personal relationship get in the way of our mission. Maybe sharing a room at Mary’s wasn’t such a good idea. It had been luxurious sleeping next to my man, but we were quickly becoming used to it.
Clearing his throat, Gerard nodded. “That’s true. However, it’s been on my mind. We’ll need to talk about it soon.”
Biting my lip, I nodded in agreement. There was no denying that my father hadn’t approved of my choice in male companionship. I hadn’t even had the chance to speak to him about it. There was no reason he should be against the match.
“Stop!” Gerard suddenly shouted to the taxi driver.
Grabbing hold of the door handle as the driver slammed on his breaks, I frowned at my partner. What was wrong with him?
“Sorry, mate,” Gerard said, shoving money at him. “Come on, Devon.”
Jumping out, Gerard started to run. Fumbling, I somehow managed to get out of the car and onto the pavement. Trying to get my bearings, I checked the traffic before following Gerard. His back was disappe
aring down an alleyway. What the hell was he doing?
Pumping my arms to try and keep up, I almost tripped over in my stupid dolly shoes. Luckily, they were flat, but they were not made for running.
“Gerard? What’s going on?” I shouted as I entered the alley behind him.
Glancing over his shoulder as he ran, he shook his head instead of telling me what was going on. He gestured for me to catch up as he increased his speed. There was no way my little legs were going to keep up with him.
A cool breeze rushed against my skin as I struggled to breathe. My makeup was starting to melt against the sweat on my forehead. If I had to reapply it again, I would kill Gerard. Didn’t he know how much time I had spent to make myself look this good?
The shout ahead made my steps falter. A familiar energy reached me from the group that suddenly came into view. The alleyway had led to a small concrete courtyard. Why did cities always have places that were hidden from prying eyes? It made for a dangerous underworld.
“Gerard? Those people are-”
“Hey!” My partner shouted at the men who were beating someone on the floor. “Leave him alone!”
Oh great, Gerard had decided to play hero. Or, agent. Either way, he had walked us straight into a trap. The group in front of us were all warlocks. Every. Single. One of them.
“Who are you?” The leader of the gang stepped forward as he came away from whoever was on the floor.
Backing up, I tried to hide behind a bin. If they knew who I was, there would be big trouble. Why would Gerard be so careless? Especially when he was so worried about protecting me in the first place.
“And, who’s your pretty friend?”
The other warlocks stopped hitting the man on the floor. They joined their leader as he approached Gerard. I cringed, knowing full well that I couldn’t hide any more. Coming forward, I stood next to my partner. If he wanted to be gallant, he could save my arse first.
Hunted Witch Agency Box Set Books 4-5 (Hunted Witch Agency Set Book 2) Page 4