Hunted Witch Agency Box Set Books 4-5 (Hunted Witch Agency Set Book 2)

by Rachel Medhurst

  “What the hell just happened?” Gerard wasn’t asking me, he was speaking in general.

  Almost running, I moved as fast as I could, slipping down a small side road. As soon as we were out of sight, I leant against a building, bending over to throw up. My whole body retched as the contents of my stomach splashed on the ground.

  Without uttering a word, Gerard stroked my back. He had no idea what I’d done with the girl. He probably thought that I puked because a man had basically died in my arms.

  “The drugs, they were poisoned,” I muttered as I wiped my mouth.

  Brushing my hair out of my face with his cold fingers, Gerard looked down at me. “How do you know?”

  His expression warned me that he wasn’t going to be pleased by what I’d done. And, yet, hopefully, I’d managed to save the woman’s life.

  “I withdrew the magic from her. That’s why I vomited. It was contaminated somehow.”

  Taking a step back, Gerard rubbed a hand over his hair. “You took it out of her? Are you crazy?”

  Laughing, I tugged on his arm. “You know I am. Come on, let’s get back to Mary’s.”

  “Wait.” He stopped me from moving as he dug an evidence bag out of his pocket. “We need to take some of your puke. We can run tests on it.”

  Bending over, he scooped up… ew. Yes, he really did pick up my sick. I almost retched again just watching him. Looking away, I covered my mouth. Ever since I’d emptied the contents of my stomach, I felt a lot better.

  “That’s fucking disgusting, Mr- No, don’t come near me with that!”

  Backpedalling as Gerard came closer, swinging the bag near me, I almost tripped. My boot caught on something on the ground.

  “Will you keep the noise down?” someone said from the floor.

  It had been too dark to see the figure who laid there, but the smell should have given me warning. The last time I had been in the company of a dark crawler, I had almost been taken over again.

  Frozen to the spot, I was unable to move as I thought about the hospital that Helena had locked me up in. My body shook as the memory came rushing back.

  “It’s okay,” Gerard spoke to me softly. “Let’s go.”

  The dark shadow moved as the stinky body shoved itself to its feet. The man wasn’t completely gone, just starting to rot. The demon inside of him had probably only been there for a week.

  “Hold on,” the crawler said as we spun away. “I know you.”

  Er. Nope, not possible.

  “You’re that half witch, half warlock woman.”

  Maybe it was. Shit.

  His feet scuffed against the ground as he came closer. Reversing away from him, I took Gerard’s hand, ready to flash us back to Mary’s.

  “You’re the one who’s got a bounty on her head.”

  “I have?” I blurted without thinking.

  Ah, it didn’t surprise me. Warlocks were desperate types. It wouldn’t be a shock to the whole underground community if someone had offered to pay a million pounds for me. If it was any less, they would be short changing my importance. I was worth a ton.

  Gerard stepped in front of me. “We don’t want any trouble, let us be on our way.”

  Why was he so polite to the evil thing?

  “Fine, okay. Just remember something,” he said, his grin sneering straight at me. “We all know about the power you possess. Can you imagine if one of us managed to get into you?”

  Before he could move or say anymore, Gerard took my wrist and flashed us back to Mary’s. We landed in her hallway, making her cry out as she came through the kitchen doorway.

  “What are you doing up so late?” she berated, holding her hand to her chest.

  Glancing at each other, we debated telling our hostess what had just happened. She wasn’t an agent herself, although she did help many agencies with her visions.

  “I already know something went down, I can see it in your face. Come now, I’ll make us a brew and you can tell me what’s going on.”

  Following her into the kitchen, we settled at the plastic white table. It was an outdoor one. Apparently, one of Mary’s previous guests had borrowed the kitchen to do a few herbology spells. She’d set fire to the wooden kitchen table when it had gone wrong. Needless to say, there was a sign on the wall, asking witches not to practice any herbal spells in the house.

  “We’ve got a problem,” I said to Mary, feeling the need to be open and honest with her. “There’s a bounty on my head, which means it’s dangerous for me to stay here.”

  Waving her hand as she filled up the kettle, Mary tutted. “You’ve felt the strength of the protection spells around this property, you don’t need to worry about that.”

  Sitting back in his seat, Gerard stared at the table. His eyebrows were pulled low as he concentrated on something in his mind.

  “Why are you up so late?” I asked as tiredness suddenly crept over my muscles.

  Leaning my head on the table, I deflated. My energy was shot since taking the magic drug out of the woman. Had she survived?

  Placing mugs of steaming tea in front of us, Mary joined us at the table. Gerard was still in his broody mode, his head bent.

  “I had a dream. Sometimes I can deal with them, sometimes I need a hot chocolate to make me feel better.”

  Patting my arm, she smiled at me, her wrinkles creasing with the movement. I tried to smile back, but tears came to my eyes. My body trembled as she put her mug down, reached for me, and cradled me against her comforting frame.

  “What is it?” she asked Gerard. “What happened?”

  Sobbing into her flannel nightie, I only half listened to her. All I could see was the eyes of the young man who’d died. I hadn’t been able to save him. I might be a strong person, but I couldn’t beat death.

  Sitting forward, Gerard leant over to stroke my arm in comfort. “Devon saved someone tonight.”

  “And, lost someone,” I cried, sitting up and wiping my face. “He…”

  Taking my hand, my partner looked me in the eye. The green of his irises were dimmed, as if he was feeling my sadness. “You saved someone. You risked your life by taking the magic away. You must remember that.”

  Shuffling in her seat, Mary frowned at us. “You must know by now, my dear, I’m not the most patient.”

  A tiny smile came to my face as she took my other hand and squeezed.

  Gerard sat back as he left the comforting to Mary. She had such a lovely way about her, I was happy to know that she was on our side.

  “We went to a club tonight,” Gerard said, holding up his hands when Mary’s lips pursed. “But, things didn’t go too well. Several people had taken magic drugs. We tried to save them, but two people died.”

  Swallowing the lump in my throat, I coughed. Justina would tell me to feel everything, then let go. I had to have my agent head on.

  “I managed to pull the magic out of one person. It was contaminated, poisoned somehow. That’s why it killed the humans. The woman I saved was a witch, she was able to withstand it.”

  “What do you think it is?” Mary’s hand was on her chest again.

  Leaning his elbows on the table, Gerard looked at me. “I think the drugs are being contaminated to kill. Someone wants to make a point. Either, the mob coven know, and they’re behind it, or someone is out to ruin their drug business. Either way, we’ll probably have a war on our hands soon.”

  Chapter Eight

  “We’re investigating the others involved in Helena’s trade. It looks like she had a small side company. She passed it on to a man in London. He took some of the excess magic, formed it into liquid, ready to be injected.” Justina’s voice was soothing as she spoke.

  I missed being in the library, hashing it out with my co-agents. Even Kurt’s bluntness would be welcomed right now.

  Gerard leant over me to reach the plate of biscuits Mary had laid on the living room table. Our conference call was on the laptop that Gerard took everywhere with him.

  Justi
na’s face was serious as she sat at her desk, her hands crossed on the wooden surface in front of her. We lounged on the sofa, ready to Netflix and chill for the evening.

  “How does that explain the involvement of the Scots? Especially as Keith said he makes deliveries down to London.”

  As Gerard chomped on a biscuit, I ran a hand through my hair, cringing as my fingers encountered tangles. I really needed to take better care of myself. They said that women gradually turned lazy when they got with a man, but I’d never taken much care in my appearance before Gerard, let alone after.

  “Good question. Well, when Helena was…” Justina paused until I gestured for her to go on. “…taken down, someone must have taken over the running of the business. We’ve caught several other ring leaders’ in the slave trade, so that’s been shut down, but there are still reports of magic drugs hitting the club scene.”

  “They must have put out a dodgy batch in that club,” I said, bashing Gerard’s leg when he hopped it continuously next to me.

  Eyeing me sideways, he glared. Our new comfort levels were disconcerting sometimes. Before we had confessed how we felt about each other, we’d never sit close together on a sofa. It threw me off every now and then.

  “Yes, let’s hope it was a one off. Do the rounds in the clubs, see if there’s a name that keeps popping up.”

  Nodding, Gerard held up his notepad. Yes, he had seriously been taking notes. He was such a geek. Not that I minded. Mr Geek-out was a good new nickname for him.

  “We’ll try to buy some drugs. I’ve sent Devon’s vomit down to be tested. It should be with you tomorrow.” Gerard’s facial expression was perfectly straight.

  “That’s disgusting,” I muttered.

  Shaking her head, Justina grinned. “It’s genius. Why do you think Gerard is our top agent? He was the one who took the call from John and managed to persuade him to tell us where you were when Helena had you.”

  A look passed between my partner and our boss. Why hadn’t I been told this information? Okay, I might have been taken off the case, but surely it wouldn’t have hurt to know that John had been the one to save the witches in the end.

  “He must have felt sorry for me,” I muttered, still not able to bring myself to forgive him. Not yet, anyway.

  One day, I would. The therapist had tried to make me see that not forgiving someone who didn’t have a choice would eat me up inside. Blah. I wasn’t ready for that, yet. I still had some healing to do.

  Justina’s face moved closer to the screen. “He admired your strength. He told me in an interview that if you could stick up to your own grandmother, he had to find a way, too.”

  A smile came to my face. Not because he was talking about me, although come on, it was fucking true. But, because he finally got the balls to stick a middle finger up at the woman who had tortured him.

  “Anyway, we’re working on arresting the rest of the slave trade group while you work on the drug trade. Thank you for the update. I’ll report back to the government. In the meantime, I’ll get a couple of agents to scout the clubs here in London.”

  Kurt’s face suddenly came into view, right in front of Justina’s. “Well, hello, lovers. I’m looking forward to getting Devon’s sick in a bag tomorrow.”

  His grin was accompanied by a wink. Flicking my middle finger up at him, I smiled in return. Ever since he’d told me about his familiar, I’d felt a kind of kinship with him. Justina had held Kingsley up for me to see, but the thought of him sent a sharp pain to my heart. I needed to be near him.

  “When can I come home?” I asked suddenly.

  They all went silent as they watched me, Gerard included. I missed my parents, my bosses, but most of all, I missed my pet rat. He was my little rock. I needed him.

  Putting his arm around me, Gerard patted my shoulder. “Aw, aren’t ye having a good time up ‘ere wit me, Lass?”

  His Scottish accent was terrible. In fact, it was so terrible, I snorted at him. The others laughed too, shaking their heads. At least Gerard was more amicable in his older age.

  “Gerard, I’ve never seen you smile so much. I kind of miss the old you,” Justina joked, sticking her tongue out when Gerard pretended to be stern, his expression turning serious.

  “Anyway,” Kurt said, picking up a file that was on Justina’s desk. “Time to get back to work. I’ll test the vomit and find out what was in that magical drug. I know you didn’t ingest or inject it, so it might not have been absorbed by the contents in your stomach, but it’s an avenue we have to explore.”

  “Does anyone else feel nauseated?” I rubbed my stomach under my unicorn T-shirt.

  “I was just about to ask if you fancied a burger,” Kurt said to Justina.

  Rolling her eyes, Justina muttered an affirmative before pushing him out of screenshot. The pair were as bad as Gerard and I. Although, they worked together professionally amazingly well. I wasn’t sure that would be us in a few years’ time. I would probably drive Gerard insane. Literally.

  “So, your assignment is to go club hunting. Find out who’s who in the industry. If Keith’s name pops up, investigate etc, etc.”

  “Over and out.”

  Waving, I closed the laptop. About to open my mouth to entice Gerard to go and make more tea, I paused when my phone buzzed. Grabbing it out of my pocket, I went still when I saw who had texted me.

  “It’s Maxwell.”

  My heartbeat skipped in my chest as I delayed opening the message. Maxwell hadn’t been in contact since agreeing to work with Justina directly. He had respected me enough to leave me alone for now.

  Justina had told him that we were investigating a way to disconnect me from the link to the warlock magic.

  “What does it say?” Gerard pointed to my phone, gesturing for me to read the message.

  Swallowing hard, I did as he said. “Devon, I’m in Edinburgh now. Come and meet me, or I’ll come to you. It’s time we spoke.”

  Oh, shit. Maxwell Maddocks wasn’t someone who would travel all the way to Scotland just for a chat. He was here on business. The warlocks I had encountered had probably told Maxwell where I was. Surely, our past would mean something to him? We had shared experiences that were not often shared between witches and warlocks. Even if I was part warlock.

  “What do we do?” I asked my partner.

  If I went to the leader of the London coven, there could be a chance I wouldn’t survive. Although we had history, I had something that was far too attractive for Maxwell to ignore. Every single warlock would be feeling vulnerable. If I were to die without redirecting the link, they would all die with me.

  “I have to see him.” As much as I wanted to avoid speaking to any warlocks, Maxwell would be the best choice.

  Gerard put his hand on my arm to stop me from texting back. “Are you sure that’s wise? I know Maxwell has helped us in the past, but I’m pretty sure he’s out for your blood right now.”

  Yes, Gerard was right. However, the more I tried to avoid the situation I had somehow managed to get myself into, the more damage was caused. I knew from experience after the leadership fiasco. The quicker I guaranteed Maxwell that the link would be restored, the quicker they would leave me alone. Hopefully. If not, my new magic system would keep me protected until I could sort it.

  “He’ll come here if we don’t go.”

  The expression on Gerard’s face told me that he didn’t believe that Maxwell knew where we were. It was as if he didn’t think Maxwell was clever enough to find us in Edinburgh.

  Holding up my phone, I brought up Google maps. Whispering a location spell, I tapped the phone as I said Maxwell’s name. Gerard leant over me as the map zoomed in to a hotel three roads away.

  “He knows where we are. I have no idea how, but he’s too close. We need to placate him for now.”

  Nodding, Gerard got to his feet. Holding his hand out, he pulled me up when I placed my fingers in his. The warmth that enveloped my palm made me feel more confident about going to meet t
he leader of the warlocks.

  “Tell him that we’ll meet him on Arthur’s seat. It’s late in the day, there shouldn’t be anyone up there.”

  Arthur’s seat was the highest point in Edinburgh. A massive hill with ruins on the top. Gerard had promised me that he would make me jog up there for my training session. Obviously, I hadn’t agreed to his stupid plan. If he thought I was going to run up the steep, muddy hill, he had another thing coming. I would just flash myself there. And there was nothing he could do about it. Not with my power, anyway. I was super badass now.

  “I suppose I’d better get dressed,” I said, following Gerard into the bedroom as I texted Maxwell to let him know that we would meet him in an hour.

  He messaged back instantly, confirming the meeting place. I felt sorry for him, considering he would have to walk up there.

  Grabbing my leather jacket, I put it over my unicorn T-shirt. There was no point in taking it off, considering I would have to change back into it to sleep.

  “I’m ready,” I said, patting my pocket to make sure my dagger was there.

  Tugging his T-shirt up over his head, Gerard glanced in my direction. His tattoos moved as he grabbed another one, ready to put it on. Going over, I stopped his movement. My silhouette stood proud as the last tattoo he’d had. Had his obsession ended?

  “You helped me to heal my vengeance streak.” He ran his knuckles down my cheek, smiling gently as I kissed them.

  “There’s no point in hating yourself, I’ve learnt that a lot since becoming an agent. I’m more powerful than I’ve ever been, and yet, you’ve been the one to show me that I don’t need power to be myself.”

  Chewing on his lips, Gerard frowned. “I’ve noticed that you’re using your magic a lot.”

  Taking a step back, I stuck my hands in my pockets. “What’s wrong with that?”

  Clearing his expression, Gerard shook his head as he pulled his clean T-shirt on, covering his gorgeous ripped muscles. Sometimes, I wondered what such a Mr Hunky-man saw in me.

  “Nothing. Just be careful.”

  Tucking a gun into his jacket, Gerard pointed at my feet. “I don’t think you’ll get very far in those.”