Defying Magick: an Urban Fantasy Novel (The Witch Blood Chronicles Book 2)

by Debbie Cassidy

  She snorted, her lips curling up in a contemplative smile. “A state of the art camera. The images get encrypted so only the owner can decrypt using a unique code.”

  “What was he trying to capture in his bedroom?”

  She arched a brow.

  Ew. “Look, say our assumption is correct, that he was deliberately pointing at that camera and it wasn’t just a coincidence that he died in that position. Why?”

  “Why?”

  “Why would he want us to know about the camera?”

  Melody locked gazes with me. “Because he wanted us to know what really happened in this room.”

  My heart was thudding real fast now. “Because he didn’t commit suicide …” the hairs on the nape of my neck stood to attention. “Someone killed him.”

  Melody swallowed, tugged her phone from her pocket, and dialed. “Get a tech team down here to sweep for x-eyes. Yes. I found one. A-huh. Okay. I’ll meet you here.”

  “You think there are more?”

  “Undoubtedly. If he was murdered then he may not have been working alone. The cameras could have been his insurance.” She pulled herself off the ground. “Get back to the office and brief Murdoch on what we’ve found. See if he has any leads on the Yamduth case, and maybe you can speak to Kiran, Shukra’s son. See if there’s anything else he can tell us about his father. Anyone Shukra was spending a lot of time with, that kind of thing.”

  The Yamduth case which Henna and I believed was also linked to Shukra. Dammit, Melody needed to know what was going on, especially now that Shukra could have been murdered. IEPEU needed to be in on this.

  I took a deep breath. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

  Melody’s expression clouded as I filled her in. “How long have you had this information?”

  “A couple of days.”

  She blew out a breath. “I’m glad you told me. I’ll get a team down there now. We’ll need to sweep the vault for clues.”

  “Shukra must be involved in the Yamduth case, and if he was working with someone it could explain the missing pieces of the puzzle.”

  Melody scraped back her hair and tied it in an upknot. “Be careful, Hunter. If Shukra’s accomplice is out there, the hit could still be active.”

  My stomach churned. “I know.”

  I left Melody to wait for the tech team and headed to the office to check in with Murdoch. Half an hour for briefing and three attempts to contact Henna with no joy, and I was off to Shaitan Enterprises for a quick interview with Kiran. The boy was refusing to cooperate. The look in his eyes, pure despair, tore at my heart. My gut told me we’d squeezed all the information out of him that we could. My heart told me to leave him to his grief.

  Henna was out, and there was no way I was knocking on Vritra’s door. And so there was nothing to do but head home and wait for Melody’s call. I was almost out the door when the IEPEU came striding through in their uniforms.

  Fanny sat up straighter. She reached for her phone and jabbed a few buttons but didn’t pick up the receiver.

  Probably a code to alert security that law enforcement was on the premises. A second later Rajan came striding out of the office, followed closely by another two asura. The officers stopped at the reception desk, and Rajan met them. He shook his head, and the officer in charge held up a touch screen pad. Probably a warrant to search the vault.

  Shit. This was what I’d been afraid of, what I’d hoped to avoid by finding answers myself. But the evidence that had come to light today, plus the threat of a djinn invasion, gave me no choice. The least I could do was make this as painless as possible.

  I walked over to the reception desk and Fanny’s gaze fell on me. Her lips tightened. She must know I worked for the IEPEU.

  “Hey, Rajan,” I smiled up at him. “Can you grab Vritra for us please?”

  He blinked down at me. “They say they have a search warrant.”

  “Yeah, they kinda do, and it’s important.”

  His brows snapped down. “You knew about this.”

  “Yes. And believe me, if it wasn’t imperative we wouldn’t be here.”

  The lifts at the back slid open, and Vritra came storming out. His face was like thunder, his eyes flashing dangerously.

  Crappity crap.

  I stepped around Rajan to intercept the dragon asura. “Let me explain.”

  He speared me with his fiery gaze. “I can take it from here, Miss Hunter. Your assistance is not required.”

  It was a clear dismissal, and man did it hurt. Fanny smirked and my hand itched to slap the smile off her face.

  “Come with me,” Vritra said to the IEPEU operatives. I left them to it and made for the exit. I’d done nothing wrong here. He’d had no right to be so dismissive, or look at me in that accusing way.

  Fuck him.

  I was out.

  22

  Melody’s call came an hour and a half later, and it wasn’t the news I wanted to hear. They’d found five more x-eyes around the house, but decrypting them was going to take some time. Like possibly a day, maybe more. Great. I’d jumped out of the shower and dripped all over the place for nothing.

  A knock at the door.

  “Hang on a sec!” I grabbed my bathrobe and slipped it on. “Coming.”

  Banner stood on the doorstep. He glanced down at my robe then up at my face. “You’re not ready.”

  “Ready?”

  He made an O with his mouth, and his shoulders slumped. “You forgot.”

  Forgot? Oh shit, pizza and a movie. “Damn it. Banner, I’m so sorry. Look, give me five minutes.”

  He pouted. “You could just come like that.” His eyes twinkled teasingly.

  “You wish.” I grabbed some clothes and locked myself in the bathroom.

  Ten minutes later we were in his flashy car and parked outside a pizza place. Banner ducked inside to grab our food. My phone beeped with a text from Henna asking if I wanted to grab a drink in Camden. I text back asking for a rain check, explaining I had plans with Banner tonight.

  The door opened and Banner ducked back into the car. I tucked my phone into my pocket and grabbed the hot pizza box. And then we were away. Five more minutes and we were crunching up Banner’s gravel drive.

  “This way,” Banner led me past the sitting room, all the way to the back of the house and through the patio doors into the garden, painted in the early evening hues of red and orange.

  “Where are we going?”

  “Cinema room.”

  “You have a cinema room outside?”

  He grinned over his shoulder. “I’m Mal Banner, honey, I have everything.”

  “Braggy much?”

  “In awe much?”

  Sure enough, a building came into view between a cluster of carefully planted trees—a low, long, cabin with blacked out windows.

  A shiver ran up my spine. “It looks like something out of a slasher movie.”

  He turned to face me, turning his hands into claws as he walked backward. “Mwahahaha. That’s exactly what it is.”

  “Idiot.”

  The interior was all recliners with cup holders and movie posters on the walls. And the projector screen was huge.

  “Awesome, right?” Banner asked, looking smug. “Take a seat and I’ll grab a selection of movies.” He moved over to a storage unit fixed to the wall. “So how are things with the investigation?”

  “Which one?” I drawled. “No. Wait. There is only one, because we’re pretty sure they’re both connected.”

  “Really?” His voice went up an octave in surprise. “The yamduth case is linked to the asura and djinn kidnappings?”

  “Yeah. We found some … stuff at Shukra’s today and we should have solid answers in a few hours.”

  “Stuff?”

  “You know I can’t go into details.”

  “The life of an IEPEU agent. All mystery and danger.” He turned to face me. “So, rom com or action?”

  “Rom com?” I winced.

&
nbsp; He rolled his eyes. “Fine. I have Maid of honor?”

  “Yeah, that will do.”

  He popped the movie on and turned on the projector. “Here,” he handed me a can of coke. “Phone please?” he held out his hand.

  “What?”

  “Cinema rules. No phones.”

  “I’m expecting a call from Melody.”

  “And you think they’ll have answers in the next hour and a half?”

  She’d said a day maybe more … “Fine.” I handed him the mobile, grabbed the can, and took a swig.

  Okay. Banner settled down and swung the pizza box round so it was sitting between us. “Let’s chill.”

  An hour and a half later the credits were rolling. I’d forgotten how much I liked the Scottish accent. And how much the particular movie annoyed me. “Seriously, men are so stupid, why wait till she was about to get married to someone else to realize he loved her?”

  Banner sat forward. “Because he didn’t realize he loved her until she was about to be taken from him.”

  “You know, I’d love to find a man who was in touch with his feelings and not afraid to share them. Someone who knew what he wanted.”

  Banner swallowed hard. “Um, prime example sitting right here. Problem is, sometimes, even when we do everything right, even when we are honest, it just isn’t enough.”

  Oh, crap. And there was that look in his eyes. The one he’d hidden from me.

  “Mal I … I don’t know what to say.”

  He smiled sadly. “You don’t have to say anything. You are the most amazing woman I’ve ever met. Even when you have nothing, you make the effort to give. You give your time and energy to the homeless. You give your heart to your friends. You take responsibility when there’s every reason to say fuck you. You never needed power to be a hero Carmella.”

  My chest grew warm with the heat of his words.

  He reached out and tucked a strand of my hair behind my ears. “This has been great, Just the two of us. I wanted it to end of a good note, you know.”

  My scalp prickled. “End?”

  “Being your friend, your confidant has been one of the highlights of my life. I’m going to miss you so much.”

  Miss me?

  A blur in the periphery of my vision was followed by a sharp pain at the side of my head, and then darkness claimed me.

  23

  Shit, my head ached. I opened my eyes to candle light and incense. What had happened? I’d been talking to Banner and then … He’d hit me and knocked me out. Adrenaline flooded my veins. I tried to sit up, and pain ripped through my arms. Fucking hell. Had he hogtied me?

  The room was unfamiliar—a windowless chamber. And where was the door? Something was glowing. I shuffled, trying to swivel my body to see what was casting the strange illumination.

  Mother fucker. An orb. A huge orb filled with swirling shifting light. No. Not lights. These were souls. The missing souls we’d been searching for. My cuff … Fuck. I’d taken it off to shower and forgotten to put it back on. My gut twisted and a sob caught in my throat. Banner was the missing piece of the puzzle.

  A door slammed and footsteps echoed off the walls.

  “You’re awake.” Banner’s face came into view as he crouched by my head. “Damn. I was hoping you’d sleep through. Just slip away. Looks like drugs don’t work too well on asura.”

  “You drugged me?”

  He sighed. “Yes. I knocked you out and then I drugged you. Didn’t want you waking up and going all dragon on me. The cocktail I prepared works as a sedative for you and severs you from your asura power. I didn’t want you to feel any pain. But it looks like a painless death isn’t an option for you.”

  Death? He wanted to kill me? “Why are you doing this? I don’t understand. I thought we were friends.”

  He smoothed the hair off my brow. “We are. It’s why I know you’ll help me with this. I’ve seen your compassion. How you give of yourself to help others. Now it’s your turn to help me.”

  “By dying?”

  “It’s the only way, Carmella. If you don’t die then I will.”

  He stood up and walked over to the wall where a long table was set up. “I’ve been dying for a long time—a rare genetic disease that can’t be cured. I accepted it for a while and decided to have fun while I could: women, booze, drugs. I mean, why not, right? And then I found something.” He walked over to me, with a bowl in his hand and crouched by me again. “The Piccadilly High Witch is going senile.” He chuckled. “The old fool kept mistaking me for his predecessor. He told me the original witch’s dirty little secret. They were scientists who discovered the skein and opened a doorway to summon a demon, except … it wasn’t a demon they summoned. It was a cosmic god. This god wanted to taste humanity, experience it through the claiming of souls, and in return he gave the thirteen scientists access to this skein. There are others out there, you know? Cosmic beings who care nothing for earthly pleasures, but because they experience nothing they’re unable to self-actualize. It’s a big thing with them apparently.” He dipped his finger into the bowl and began to smear the wet sticky concoction across my forehead. “Long story short, I got hold of the ritual to summon the cosmic god and made a deal—eternal life for me, in exchange for an orb full of souls for him.”

  I jerked sway from his fingers. “You kidnapped the djinn and ordered the hit on the yaksha?”

  “The djinn weren’t even from our world. They wouldn’t be missed. But we needed someone to retrieve them for us which is where the rakshasa came in and to control them we used protsaahan extracted from the apsara. But you know that already, don’t you?”

  I nodded.

  “Yes, so clever. If not for your interference the plan would have gone smoothly. The apsara are so flighty they wouldn’t have been missed, and even if they were, we had a cover story ready to download into their memory. We took the protsaahan from them and returned them once we were done. The Kubera tech, Piccadilly coven salvaged from the red zone, was invaluable. But then you interfered, and Shukra and I couldn’t use the rakshasa any longer, so we had no choice but to recruit the rogue Yamduth.” He sat back on his heels. “We couldn’t go after the djinn any longer because they knew what was hunting them.” He smiled, and if the situation wasn’t so fucked up I’d say he looked impressed. “You really made this difficult.”

  “But why me? Why did you order a hit on me?”

  “Because my time is running out.” He glanced at the orb. “It’s almost full and if we’d been allowed to continue using djinn souls it would have been full weeks ago. Yaksha souls didn’t even make a dent, but your soul … the soul of an asura-witch hybrid, now that is a powerful thing. It’ll fill the orb right up. You’re my final kill, Carmella. Your soul will save mine.”

  My eyes burned. “You’d kill me to save yourself?”

  He blew out a breath. “Honestly, when I found out what you were, when I discovered how little time I had left, I wrestled with the decision for hours. But I’m not like you. I don’t put others first. I want to live. And if you have to die to make that happen, then so be it.”

  “How can you be so cold?”

  “Impending death can turn the warmest heart to ice.”

  “So all this time you were playing me? Pretending to care about me? Pretending to be my friend while you plotted to have me killed?”

  “God you make it sound so dirty. Look. I do care about you. I think I’m actually a little in love with you. First time a woman has touched my heart this way.” He winked. “I’ve donned a lot of masks in my lifetime. I loved being the guy you turned to for a while. That mask was my favorite. But it won’t save me, so it has to come off.”

  The man I’d thought of as my friend, the man I’d felt guilty for not loving, was a killer. How could I have not seen this? How could my gut have been so wrong? Focus. My power was unresponsive, but there had to be a way out of this. Maybe if I kept him talking?

  I cleared the lump of terror in my throat. “So I u
nderstand what you were getting out of this, but what about Shukra? How did this benefit him?”

  “Shukra got access to the skein.”

  “What? How? That’s impossible.”

  “I’m sure you saw the symbol on his arm. The infinity sign?” He yanked the color of his T-shirt down to reveal the same symbol just above his pectoral. “It was a connection to me. And through this connection he was able to access the skein’s power. I promised him a permanent solution once we were done. Once I was eternal.” He chuckled. “Poor sod didn’t know there is no permanent solution. But he helped me strip you of your connection.” Banner reached for me, lifting the chain around my neck with his index finger. “He helped me forge this chain to mark you for the Daayan. He opened the doorway with an incantation when the witches were chanting at the Mayfair Ball, and he closed it too. But everyone blamed you. The chain made you the key and it was enough for the High Witches to rule in favor of cutting you off.”

  “You wanted me weakened so you could kill me.”

  “Yes. When your asura and witch power intact you probably would have healed too fast for a killing blow to make a difference. Unfortunately, one of the Daayan got away and it almost compromised our original deal with the cosmic god. But thanks to you, the Mayfair High Witch has her back, and with a little help from me, after we’ve mourned your tragic death of course, we’ll send the Daayan back.” He stood up and walked over to the table again. “The Yamduths’ weapons were connected to the orb. A killing blow from those would have yanked your soul straight into the orb over there. But your dragon skin was a problem. Luckily for me, Shukra knew how to pierce dragon skin. He even retrieved the bones for me.” He turned to face me. “If I’d known about your cuff and your connection to the djinn, I would have planned for it. But unfortunately sometimes you just have to get your hands dirty.” He stopped and sighed. “Shukra was a great ally. Shame he made mistakes. He took Urvashi, a apsara not on the list. I never intended her to come to any harm. I like her. But in a way I should thank him. It forced you into my life, gave me a chance to play hero on a mission to save the apsara. Now that was fun.” He held up something slender and white. It gleamed in the candlelight.