“Gerard Freshwater. Yeah, I prefer my desk friend. He’s much more cheerful.”
Opening my mouth to protest, I snapped it shut again. No point in denying that my man was often sombre. Plus, I wanted her to prefer her desk friend. That way, she would leave my partner to me.
“I’ve got a fight to win here,” I said, anxious to get back to it. “Would you mind leaving me to it?”
Inclining her head, she came to stand right in front of me. She was taller than me by about five inches. I begrudged looking up at her, but I didn’t have a choice.
“Of course. Just a warning. Don’t use the ley lines for your own good, not even in a fight. That’s not how it works. Did you not take the oath?”
Clearing my throat, I looked at the ground, scuffing my boot on the mud. As my gaze traced the stompers on her feet, I smiled to myself in smugness. They weren’t anywhere near as sexy as mine.
“Okay, well, you best get this over with. The longer you use the ley line magic, the worse it is. Come see me when you get back to London. Your mother should’ve told you that you need to take your oath.”
My eyes shot to her face. “Oh, she did. Then, I got dragged into this whole warlock thing. That’s why I’m here, instead of London. I’m banished.”
Her curt nod as she put her hands on her hips made me feel like an amateur. She was experienced.
“Best hurry up with clearing this up so you can get on with it. I’ll check in next month.”
She was gone before I could reply. What the shitty hell had just happened? I’d cast the biggest spell ever before being promptly interrupted in my badassery by an even more badassery MI5 agent. It was bollocks.
Counting the warlocks again, I decided to do the only thing I knew how. Run. Not on my own though, no. Touching Gerard’s arm, I unfroze him, laughing when he stumbled to the ground.
Falling into a summersault, he picked up his gun and pushed himself back up to land in a crouch, his eyes wild as he looked around.
“It’s okay,” I said to draw his attention. “I’ve frozen time.”
His bewilderment lasted a few more seconds before his eyes widened even more. “Devon, you’re not supposed to use that amount of magic.”
Stopping time was incredibly frowned upon in the witch world. It was playing with nature. Witches magic was pure, which meant it always went in line with nature. There were just certain things you didn’t do, and messing with time was one of them.
“I know, I know. Let’s just get this sorted.”
Taking his hand, I led him to Maxwell. Clicking my fingers, I started time again before grabbing Maxwell’s arm and flashing us to a cobbled street in the middle of Edinburgh.
“What…? Oh, you little-”
“Back off!” I said sharply, stepping straight up to his rotund body. “I gave you the leadership of the coven. My father hasn’t challenged you since he’s been back. We’ve offered to help you. And, here you are, throwing your big arse around.”
His mouth flapped like a fish, his dark eyes growing wide as he checked our surroundings. “How did you get so close to me? You were on the other side of the-”
Holding my hand up, I opened my palm in front of his face. A spark of warlock magic ignited instantly. It was flicking with lightning bolts, the shapes mesmerising.
“You see this?” I asked, almost spitting in my anger. “It hurts my body on the inside. It heats me up so badly, I look like I’ve just stepped out of a hot shower every time I use it.”
“Then don’t use it.” His snapped response was fair enough.
Growling, I pushed myself as close to him as I could without actually touching him. “If you didn’t send the whole of the warlock race after me, I wouldn’t have to. Take your stupid reward off my head, and come the solstice, I’ll rectify this. You have my word.”
Looking over to Gerard, Maxwell puffed out his chest. “Are you going to let an agent from your agency talk to me like this?”
“Okay, Einstein,” Gerard said, shrugging his shoulders. “If you know how to unlink Devon from your magic, do it.”
The fish was back in the street. I tried not to laugh at Maxwell’s fish impression, but it didn’t really work.
Taking a look around, I made sure that we weren’t being watched. There wasn’t anyone in front of the cathedral. The stunning structure was a shadow in the darkness. Even the streetlight wasn’t good enough to illuminate its glory.
“Fine,” Maxwell stuttered. “I’ll call them off. You had better keep me informed, Devon. I’ve been in this position with you before. You’re bloody useless at letting me know what’s going on. The queen of fucking around.”
Holding my arms out to the side, I backed away. “I’ll admit, I have been scatter-brained in the past.”
“Have been?” Gerard coughed.
Taking a deep breath, I shoved away the urge to stamp my foot. I would be a grown up. I would respect-
“You’re the most scatter-brained person I know.”
If they said one more word, I would-
“But, I’ll give you until the solstice. I want to be there when whatever you’ve come up with takes place. In fact, you need to tell me exactly what you’re doing. Our link needs to be secure.”
Gerard’s gaze met mine as Maxwell finished talking. Mary had been very tight-lipped about how she would unhook me from the unseen world below the earth. It was getting a little frustrating.
“We’ll have to let you know,” I chirped before grabbing Gerard’s hand and leaving Maxwell standing in the middle of the street.
One day, that man would probably end me for good. And, I wouldn’t blame him.
Chapter Nine
If I jumped up and down in excitement, they might think I was a little too attached. “They’re here,” I shouted to Gerard, who was in the kitchen, messing around with a tea tray.
Our bosses would not be interested in tea. They were here to see me. Well, sort of.
Throwing open the door, I launched myself forward before they were even able to walk the two steps to it.
Justina held out the cage she had in her hands, almost cringing away from me as I flung the little door open and scooped Kingsley out.
“We’re happy to see you, too,” Kurt muttered as he stepped past me and into the house.
Kingsley squeaked like crazy as he sniffed my cheek when I kissed his little head. I’d missed him so much. Speaking to him over Skype just wasn’t the same.
Taking my arm, Justina almost had to shove me back inside. It wasn’t a good idea to draw attention to ourselves in the quiet side street.
“How are you?” she asked as I followed her into Mary’s kitchen.
Settling at the table as I held back my tears of happiness from connecting to Kingsley again, I laughed. “Better now he’s here.”
Her smile was genuine, although there was a tightness to her muscles. She wasn’t here just to bring my squeaky best friend to see me. Something had happened.
“Looks like you need tea,” Gerard announced, smirking in my direction when both of them agreed.
Joining me at the table, they stayed quiet while Gerard sorted everything out. Mary shuffled into the room, greeting the others as if they were long term friends.
“You’re looking tired, my dear,” she told Justina. “Is he keeping you up all night?”
Her wink in my direction caught me off guard. My gaze met Kurt’s and my cheeks flamed. I really didn’t need to know anything personal about my bosses and their relationship.
“Not as much as these two, I’m sure.” Kurt was looking at Gerard now, a wink thrown his way.
Ugh. Why was it so awkward? And, why was Mary, the eldest of us all, the one to make it so weird?
“It’s good to see you,” Justina said to our hostess. “It’s been a while.”
Clasping Justina’s cheeks in her fingers, Mary sighed. “I can see something is bothering you. I shall leave you to it. Just call me if you need anything.”
L
eaning down to kiss Mary’s wrinkly cheek, Justina whispered something to her. I didn’t quite hear as Kingsley sighed in happiness from where he rested on my shoulder.
He was ready to curl up and sleep. It had probably been tiring flashing from London. At least his warmth was against my skin, making me feel almost normal again.
As Mary meandered out, grabbing a chocolate bar from the table as she went, Gerard sat at the table with us.
Once we were alone, Kurt pulled a folder out of a bag. Flipping it open, he revealed pictures of several men and women, placing them in front of us. “These people were all killed by the same drug.”
Biting my lip, I sucked back the gasp that threatened. There were at least fifteen more deaths. What was causing it?
“Firstly, Devon,” Justina interrupted, placing a hand over Kurt’s in apology. “I heard from Paranormal MI5. A report has been written up about your activity on Arthur’s seat. Gemma Abbott wants to know when you’ve taken your Essex witch vows.”
I’d filled the others in on my little adventure two nights before. Gerard had been pissed that I didn’t unfreeze him when she’d got there. He’d said that it was because I could’ve been at risk, but I was convinced it was because he wanted to see what a female MI5 agent looked like. Hot. That’s what. Geeky but hot.
“I promise to talk to my mother about it as soon as I’ve got rid of this warlock link. It’s only until the solstice, not far away.” My words were weak.
Mary had promised to tell me what I’d need to do on the longest day of the year. She was biding her time, making me wait in suspense. In a way, I wasn’t bothered. If it was that bad, I didn’t mind being ignorant for a bit longer.
“I’ve asked Mary to prepare you soon. We have to get this done before the case overtakes. You know how badly it can consume us once we get our teeth into it.” Justina placed a hand on my arm. “How have you been coping?”
Ah, the pity. My jaw clenched for the space of two seconds before I released it. I couldn’t allow myself to be in any way hostile towards my boss. She cared. That was it. Sometimes she cared too much, but ever since my little escapade, I’d known not to take them for granted. Ever.
“It’s been so good to get involved in another case. It’s completely taken my mind off everything. Don’t panic,” I said, squeezing her hand. “I’m still talking to the therapist.”
“I bet Gerard is giving her some therapy of his own!” Kurt nudged my partner in the ribs.
Grumbling, Gerard shook his head. “I can’t, my friend. Do you know how weird it is knowing that a seer is right above our bedroom? Probably listening to everything?”
Erm. Okay then.
Knocking the folder with her knuckles, Justina scowled. “Concentrate.”
The men ducked their heads, glancing at each other in a naughty boy way. Men would be men.
“Did my stomach contents show anything?”
Kurt instantly sat up straight, his tall bulky frame leaning over the table. He plucked a page from the folder and slammed it down, his eyes lighting up. “Yes! Well, sort of. We had to use a spell to detect what type of magic the drug was. It’s hard to dilute magic into liquid. Especially witch magic.”
Sipping my tea, I couldn’t take my gaze away as Kurt spoke passionately, almost flinging his arms all over the place. I’d missed his face.
“Helena was passing along excess magic from the drained witches. As you know, pure magic is invisible, not physical, unlike warlock magic. So, when she set up that big weird ball thing in the cavern under her home, she spelled it to cause a chemical reaction, which was pretty scientific.” Kurt was getting into his stride as he got to his feet. Pacing, his gestures enhanced as the rate of his words increased.
“Cleverly, she somehow created a spell that would show witch magic. Maybe she was able to attach it to something because it was no longer fully pure by the time she had stolen it. Either way, it was pretty genius. She couldn’t manipulate that magic into the coloured streams and balls that you’re capable of, Devon. No.” He paused for effect. “Instead, she was able to turn invisible magic visible, adding a dash of heat to the mixture. At the bottom of the big glass ball was an extremely hot heater.”
Justina cleared her throat when Kurt paced away from us, effectively making it harder for us to hear him. Although, the way he was bloody going on, we should be able to hear him from anywhere.
“Sorry,” he said, turning back. “Can you guess what happened to this new visible magic when it got heated?”
Putting up a hand, Gerard stretched his whole body. Really, there was no need. Like I would know what the hell Kurt was talking about. Science was not my strong point. Come on, I was a witch slash warlock. We used magic. Why would we need science? Or maths? Well, maths was just evil, no questions.
Pointing at Gerard, Kurt grinned, his excitement a little over the top in my opinion. There was stuff to be passionate about, and then, there wasn’t.
“It turned into steam?”
“It turned into steam! Genius!” Kurt clapped his hands together once, making Kingsley jump.
Stroking his little head, I looked at Justina, laughing at the expression that probably matched mine. She kept quiet, allowing her man his little show. He was enjoying himself far too much. Who knew science would turn him on.
“Once the steam cools, it turns into liquid. I have no idea how she worked out that the magic wouldn’t evaporate. It’s strange, because it’s pure. It’s not a specific spell that’s made into liquid. It was obviously drawn up through the witches by force, not by a spell.”
My brain ached but something clicked. “Wow, no wonder it’s so addictive to humans. I always feel pretty amazing when I pull magic through me. Especially…” My words trailed off as I closed my mouth.
Nope, it would not be a good idea to let them know that the urge to link to both the ley lines and the warlocks’ magic was tugging me more every day. I had control.
“Exactly! Once it’s liquid, technically, anything could be added to it.”
“That’s where I come in,” Justina interrupted, pulling something else out of a folder. “I managed to get government clearance to delve into all of Helena’s transactions. There was a fair amount, but one name stood out to me. Cameron Fieldman. He wasn’t directly associated with Helena, but the man who took the drugs from her has monthly meetings with him. He’s also a client at one of Keith’s private music clubs.”
“Private clubs?” Now that was a new one I didn’t know about.
Running her finger down the page, Justina pointed at a small block of three words. Persuasion. Prudence. Predator. My heartrate increased as the names stood out to me.
“Wait, I know those places. My…” A memory tried to worm its way into my mind.
“They’re in London. Are you sure you know them? Exclusive clubs.” Justina was frowning, obviously doubting me.
I didn’t blame her, my memory was rusty. It wasn’t surprising considering Helena had tried to force me to remember the past. Since then, I’d been more inclined to live in the now.
Sucking my bottom lip into my mouth, I blinked. “No. Isaac Junior. He was Isaac Senior’s son. As you know, Isaac Senior was the leader of the warlock coven before I…” I swallowed hard. “…shot him.”
The others didn’t give me any sympathy. We’d gone over this ground way too often. I hadn’t forgotten it, or even forgiven myself fully, but I’d accepted it.
“Well, when I was a teenager, I hung out with Isaac Junior. He was in line to take over the coven, so I had no responsibilities. I was a bit of a wild child, as all the covens would tell you. I kind of got Isaac into trouble often. He…”
Sweat traced my palms as I tried to recall why I knew the names of those clubs. Gerard put a hand over my clenched fist, stroking my thumb to make me relax.
“I know!” I declared, making Kingsley jump.
The poor fella was picking up on the energy in the room. Our detective brains were on, our minds working o
vertime.
Calming myself, I sat back against my plastic chair. “Isaac Junior went to the three clubs. A friend of his dragged him there. That was the first time he’d ever tried magic drugs. He said I wasn’t allowed in because it was men only. As you can imagine, I was pissed off. He told me all about the drugs the next day. I was surprised that they worked on him, considering he was a warlock, but apparently as long as it’s witch magic, it works on any other person.”
The others looked at me. Oh, yeah, that wasn’t exactly great information on its own. “Well, he also told me that all the leaders of the underworld were meeting there, even the women. Bear in mind, this was before feathers were ruffled.”
“Interesting.” Justina noted something on a pad. “The lead I’m following right now is that Keith’s clubs are the breeding ground for where these drug deals take place. He has a couple more in Edinburgh. If we can get to Cameron with proof, we can arrest him.”
Glancing at Gerard, I tried not to feel despondent. “That’s going to be hard. The Scottish government let him do what he wants because they’re a mob.”
“We haven’t finished yet,” Kurt said, pointedly looking at me. “We’ve had a tip off from the Stonehenge warlock coven. Apparently, when they found out that Vernon Jupiter, their leader, was dead, they realised what he was into. They finally had the power to take control. They’d heard that there was a pissed off witch, yes another one, who was involved with Vernon. They found a letter threatening to expose him.”
I was on the edge of my seat. This was juicy stuff. When things started to come together, my job at the agency gave me a massive thrill.
“The witch was from Cameron’s coven, here in Edinburgh.” Justina smiled at her partner as he lowered himself into a chair and ripped open a bar of chocolate before chomping on it.
Chewing at the same time he spoke, he laughed when I shook my head. “She works for Cameron’s music business. Apparently, she had an affair with Vernon-”
“There’s a lot of inter-species dating going on by the sound of it,” I quipped, shutting my mouth instantly when the others stared.
Hunted Witch Agency Box Set Books 4-5 (Hunted Witch Agency Set Book 2) Page 9