Hunted Witch Agency Box Set Books 1-3 (Hunted Witch Agency Set)

by Rachel Medhurst

  “I couldn’t be bothered to hurt you,” he muttered.

  Pushing my hair away from my face where it covered my eyes, I studied him. He was older, unremarkable. The slight hunch of his shoulders told me that he was a slave. Ah, that might just work in my favour.

  Feeling myself for any injuries, I bided my time as he tucked his wand away. So, he was a witch. However, he was using a tool to help him perform magic. Which meant he didn’t have access to the power that Lucia had been using when we caught her.

  “You need to let me out. Before I hurt you.” Launching from my place on the floor, I extended my arms out.

  My body still hadn’t quite regained as much energy as I’d hoped. I collapsed in mid-air, my shoulder crashing into the hard ground.

  “Shit!” I muttered, pulling on mother earth to try and get some magic into me.

  Nope, she refused to oblige. I wasn’t strong enough to contain anything. My warlock magic wasn’t even playing ball.

  “There’s nothing you can do here,” the man said, his voice booming in my ears. “She’s in control of everything. And, her power… well, no one can ever match it.”

  I was about to open my mouth and blurt that my mother could use the ley lines, but I stopped myself in time. My grandmother didn’t need to know that her daughter was still alive.

  “How did I get here?” I asked as he grabbed the top of my arm and hauled me to my feet.

  Last I remembered, I had fallen asleep while watching a classic stripper film… yes, it had become my go-to-fall-asleep film. My lip started to wobble as I thought about Kingsley. I just prayed to mother earth that he’d been left behind and someone had saved him.

  “I picked you up. May have drugged you with magic.” Tugging me towards the exit, he almost sent me flying when my legs gave out.

  He managed to keep me upright somehow as he shoved me through the door. Flicking my hair out of my eyes, I studied the stone walled hallway. It was similar to the dungeon in the castle. But, surely my grandmother wouldn’t be stupid enough to go back there?

  “She’s impatient to see you,” he muttered, keeping his eye on the medieval wooden door at the end of the wall of cells. “I’ve kept her waiting long enough.”

  My feet dragged, my soles sore from the cold. I had my purple fluffy socks on with my unicorn PJs. Great, I was going to meet my evil grandmother for the first time wearing… awesome nightclothes.

  “Well, you could’ve at least brought me a change of clothes.”

  My words went ignored as he bruised my arm by squeezing my flesh. It was a warning as he tugged open the door.

  “Don’t bother trying to fight.”

  I couldn’t have tried even if I was able. My eyes were drawn by the creepy hallways. The place looked like an old hospital, one where everything had been left to ruin. The lights above flickered on and off. Oh, man. Was I seriously being escorted through a creepy old asylum or something? That would be just my luck. The woman who was terrified of horror films was about to meet a clown or something just as freaky in an abandoned hospital. Great.

  Tiles on the floor were ripped, the stone underneath showing as I tried not to trip over it. The man, who looked like he was enjoying my discomfort, led me down one corridor, towards an open lobby area.

  “Don’t tell me,” I almost whispered. “This used to be a place for the mentally depraved?”

  His chuckle unnerved me even more. He found this hellhole amusing? Was he insane himself? If he was a patient, I would probably shit my pants. Literally.

  “Yes, you’re right. Your grandmother thought it would be the safest place to keep her…”

  A bang on my left had me screaming as I jumped backwards, slamming into the wall opposite. My heart tried to escape my chest as my breath huffed in and out.

  “I’ve been meaning to fix that frame. It’s been hanging precariously for a while. No point now.”

  I held my hand to my chest as I stared at the picture that had fallen. It was a mansion house with trees and hills in the background. A beautiful piece of art lying on a disturbingly brown stained floor.

  Shuddering, I quickened my step, almost dragging my captor with me. Bloody place was giving me an adrenaline rush far too strong to contain. Which was good…

  Spinning, I slammed my elbow into creepy man’s face. He grunted as he bent forward, releasing me as he clutched his nose. Serves him right, nasty man.

  “Don’t!” he shouted as I ran forward, straight into the lobby.

  Ignoring him, I slung left, straight towards the glass doors and windows. Most of them were boarded up, but one had a shiny cover over it, making sure no one could see in from the outside.

  Sprinting towards it, I clenched my muscles when I threw my arms over my head and thrust towards the covered window. It was going to hurt like a bitch when the glass smashed, but at least I’d be free.

  Just as the force of my jump was supposed to push my body out of the building, a tingling sensation ran over me. Oh, crap.

  Instead of going straight through the glass like I’d planned, I rebounded off the window and propelled into the air, landing flat on my back. Pain exploded all over me as muscles bruised and bones jarred. Bastard, bitch, bugger. That hurt. A lot.

  Groaning, I turned to get onto all fours. My knees dug into the lino floor as I looked up. The man’s footsteps came to a stop in front of me.

  “I told you not to do it,” he said, apparently unbothered by my attempted escape.

  As my breath evened out, I got ready to try again. My head hung forward, my hair covering my eyes. Placing my palms firmly on the ground, I begged mother earth to give me some magic. She obliged.

  Warmth entered my hands, my warlock magic filtering gently into me. I couldn’t take too much, it would risk my witch ties.

  I was about to leap from where I was, ready to throw a fireball at my opponent, when something thin was pressed to the crown of my head.

  “This wand will obliterate your brain if you try anything. She’s waiting, and you’re costing me precious time. Let’s go!”

  And, just like that, I decided to meet my evil grandmother.

  Chapter Two

  The meeting room was just as creepy arse as the rest of the hospital. I’d been waiting, tied by my wrists, for at least an hour. The horrible man had complained that we were late, and my grandmother hadn’t even been there.

  I glanced around at the almost bare room. It had an old worn out bed in the corner, the mattress stained with dirt. My thousandth shudder made my body hurt. I wasn’t going to be able to walk in the morning after my flying lesson earlier. I should’ve guessed that a barrier spell would encase this hell.

  A noise outside made me sit up in my chair. It was actually clean, which had surprised me considering how gross the rest of the place was. There was no window in the room, which didn’t surprise me considering it had been an insane asylum.

  When the door unlocked, I got to my feet. My captor came in, his wand held out before him. Ah, he was wary of me. So he should be. I was going to feed his eyeballs to Kingsley. Okay, the place was obviously having an effect on me because that was horrific and something I could never do. Besides, Kingsley liked biscuits, not eyeballs.

  “Sit down.” His barked order was almost ignored, but when I heard footsteps behind him, I did as he’d demanded, my butt screaming in pain when it hit the hard chair.

  “Devon Jinx,” a strong female voice said before the attached body came into view. “It’s been a while.”

  My jaw dropped open at the beauty of the woman. She was the spitting image of me, albeit a little older. Wasn’t she supposed to be ancient? How did she look so young?

  Her small frame was counteracted by the vastness of her energy. She engulfed the room as soon as she closed the door, her power trying to push its way into my skin.

  Hiding another shudder, I stared at her, unable to look away as she stepped forward. Her hair was long, coming just above her waist. It was dark, just like mine,
the ends curling slightly. She wore a floor length dark red dress, Victorian in style, with a short black jacket to keep out the chill.

  “I’ve never met you,” I murmured, suddenly realising what she had said.

  Placing her hands on her hips, she cocked her head to the side. “Really?”

  The lift of her arm had revealed a tattoo on her wrist. The pentagram. The roses and vines. Of course.

  “I remember…” My memory was still hazy as I tried to place where I’d seen that tattoo before.

  “No, you don’t. You were a very small child when I saw you last. We were playing in a park in South London. Your parents arrived and took you away.”

  Shaking my head, I chewed the inside of my cheek. A hot burning sensation started in my chest, my anger suddenly bursting into life.

  “I can see that you judge me for what I do…”

  “Judge you? You’re evil. You’re draining witches of their magic, just so you can be powerful again. Your failure as a ley line Essex witch-”

  The breath was sucked out of my lungs with a flick of Helena’s wrist. I gasped for air, my body flailing as I tried to breathe.

  “You have no idea what you’re talking about!” My enemy-by-blood almost screamed as she stood stock still, totally in control of her frame.

  My eyes bulged, my veins hot. I was going to die. She was going to kill me straight away, which meant I would have failed. As an agent. As a decent person.

  “Madam,” the man said, drawing her attention. “You need to keep her alive.”

  A burst of energy vibrated around the room as she swirled her hand again. Oxygen rushed into my airways as I fell forward, almost retching from the lack of air. The man nudged me into a sit, my back pressing against the chair as I stared at the woman in front of me. Bitch witch, more like.

  “You will not speak. You will listen.” Waving a chair towards her, she smiled when it scraped across the room.

  The man moved it to the right position as it stopped in front of me. Lowering herself onto the chair, Helena leant her elbows on her knees as she faced me. Not as elegant as she made out.

  “Your parents went against tradition. At first, I hated you. You were half warlock, half witch, and the light of your mother’s world. I was forgotten when you were born. You see…” She paused as she narrowed her eyes on me. “I’d been against the illegal match for a long time, but when your mother fell pregnant, I saw it as an opportunity to make amends.”

  Yawning, I held back a laugh when her jaw tightened. I wasn’t bored with her story, well, not much, anyway. I was just tired from all the hallucinating.

  Resting her chin in her hands, she watched me. “You look so like us. I fell in love with you as soon as you were placed in my arms. Julia had come round to the idea of me being in your life. I wanted to help raise you. To make amends for the mistakes I’d made when she was young.”

  “Your greed of magic, you mean? Er. What happened?”

  Grinding her teeth, Helena sat back. I wasn’t going to call her grandmother anymore. She wasn’t related to me as far as I was concerned. She might be beautiful on the outside, but her evilness was saturating the room.

  “Have you ever had an addiction, Devon?”

  Her question was genuine. She wanted me to answer. How could I? Was there any point in revealing a weakness? No, my agent mind knew that to get friendly with her would be pointless. Even if diplomacy would’ve been Justina’s answer. Something couldn’t quite persuade me to befriend my grandparent.

  An image of Gerard came into my mind as I thought about her question. I could be addicted to him. He did enter my mind a lot more than I would’ve liked. Plus, he was the thing I looked forward to most when on my way to work. Oh, crap, that wasn’t a good thing. Hunky Mac-Gerard was getting under my skin. And, I didn’t like it.

  “No, I’m afraid not. I have seen people who are addicted to magic. Warlocks more than anything.” I snapped my teeth together, but the words were already released. Stupid, stupid, Devon.

  Helena’s pale cheeks turned pink as my sentence sank in. “Yes. Warlocks have a lot to answer for.”

  Coughing, I pulled on my warlock magic. Helena could stop me doing anything with her power, but she wouldn’t be as strong against warlock magic. Or, that’s what I convinced myself anyway.

  “You’re part warlock. When your mother found out what I was doing to build up my magic, she stopped me from seeing you. That was a while after I met Vernon Jupiter.” The smirk on her face made me question her sanity.

  “I killed him, you should thank me.”

  My flippant remark was met with a sneer. “I didn’t want him dead, you idiot. I enjoyed torturing him. You put him out of his misery.”

  Considering I was sitting across from the woman I had been hunting with the agency, I was feeling numb. Where was my anger? Why wasn’t I more emotional? She was evil. She had been draining witches of their magic and selling them on as slaves. For some reason, in that moment, it didn’t matter. I was powerless.

  “Glad I’ve done something to combat your plan.”

  My deadpan reply made her sit back and cross her arms over her chest. “You seem less bothered than I imagined. I’ve had reports from my friends that you’re pretty tough. You’ve developed both witch and warlock magic, but you’re not impressing me yet.”

  Tilting my head to the side, I lifted the corner of my lip into my cheek. “You’ve made it impossible for me to impress you. You’re too scared to allow me freedom, so you had your slave drug me. You don’t think I see how weak you are under all that borrowed magic?”

  Good, I had ruffled her feathers. Her cheeks turned bright red, her lips pressed together. The witch was unstable, too much power running through her body. She might pretend she was the almighty powerful goddess of magic, but I could see straight through her.

  “You really think you’ll be able to keep me hidden here? Right now, the agency will be searching for me. And, I have a way of being caught. It’s in my nature. I’m not as slick as you.”

  Helena rose to her feet when the man next to her went to speak. “John, what did I tell you about remaining silent?”

  I glanced at the man as she started to pace the room. His tall frame was hunched even further now she was around. His dark hair was greasy, stuck to his head. The tatty dark trousers and white shirt were supposed to make him look respectable, but he just looked lost.

  “I wouldn’t have been worried about your team finding you. The agency has a lot of tools behind them, including the human government. However, the spells cast around this place makes it impossible for them to see it.” She wrung her hands together as she turned to face me. “Your mother, on the other hand. She inherited my link to the ley lines, so…”

  Letting her sentence drop, Helena went still as she stared at me. “There’s no denying that you’re an Essex witch. Just look at your face. If only your mother hadn’t married a warlock, you’d be a full witch, able to carry on the line.”

  It was interesting that she didn’t know anything about my magic predicament. Becky, the seer, had told me that I could release my warlock side and become a full witch. If I did that, I would become a full Essex witch, allowing me to carry on the line… as long as I married another Essex witch line. Which meant I couldn’t be with Gerard.

  Helena noticed my sharp intake of breath as I had my realisation. She thrust forward, clicking her fingers as she bent in front of me. My hands were suddenly loose, the sting tying them gone.

  “You’re powerful, my child. I watched you when you were young. I loved you so very much. You might not remember, but you adored me too. We were inseparable. I wrote you stories to send you to sleep.”

  The inside of my body shivered at her revelation. No, my mother wrote me stories, not her. She hadn’t even been around. I didn’t remember her at all.

  Bringing my hands forward, I reached out to push her shoulders. She grabbed me, forcing my hands down into my lap. Her magic made her physically str
ong, too. There was no way I could ever beat her in a fight. Not when I was still both witch and warlock.

  “I don’t know you. And, even if I could remember, who you’ve become is so deplorable to me, I would never accept you as my grandmother.” My teeth were clenched as I spoke, the tension mounting inside me.

  She was trying to win me over. Why would she do that? I was my mother’s daughter, through and through. I hunted Helena, wanted to end her. And, I would.

  An image of my mother and father came into my mind. They had explained how they’d tried to get the evidence needed to prove that Helena was kidnapping people. Unfortunately, she had found out about their quest and threatened them.

  “I must admit, it’s been a while since I’ve thought about any of you. It hurt too much to remember the happier times.”

  Maybe studying psychopaths should have been part of the training at the agency. Did the woman know what she was talking about? She was certainly in the right place if her views on life were anything to go by. Insane was an understatement.

  “What are you going to do with me?”

  There was no point in dragging up a fake past. She might as well have killed me if that was her plan. I was too strung out to play mind games. My little brain was far too weary to figure out her motive.

  Sighing, she stood up and went towards the door. “There’s something, deep down inside of you, that I need.”

  “You’re going to drain me?” I blurted, thrusting up from my seat.

  Her hand flung up, the fingers spread wide. I froze, one foot in front of the other. I couldn’t move. Her power was crazy strong. No matter what I did, I wouldn’t get very far. It looked like I would have to do as she wished.

  “John,” she said, glancing at her slave. “Take her to the room.”

  Chapter Three

  As soon as John marched me into the room, I spun and slammed my fist into his jaw. There was no way I was staying here. Thrusting my chest with his big meaty hands, he sent me spiralling into a padded wall. Yep, padded wall.

  “There’s no point in fighting, I’ve told you that. Just tell her what she wants to know.”