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

by Rachel Medhurst

  Holding his hands up in surrender, he took a step back. “The team are here, searching for the witches.”

  But how? My mind wanted to scream, but it wasn’t important. That information could wait.

  “Helena?” There was no point in elaborating.

  The witch was extreme, so someone must be-

  “Your mother and father have confronted her. We need to go and back them up. They’re just talking at the moment, trying to reason with her.”

  Going straight over to the window, I searched the dark gardens. No, I couldn’t see them. Were they crazy? If Justina and Kurt were inside, looking for the witches, my parents would be alone out there.

  “Don’t worry, the whole agency is here. But, we do need to go.”

  Taking my hand, Gerard tugged me towards the door. Stalling, I tried to get my thoughts under control. It had been over a week since I’d been in agent mode, and even then, my agent mode had been set to crazy.

  “Devon.” Putting his hands on either side of my face, Gerard gazed at me intensely, his green eyes piercing me. “I gave you the wrong impression before, but I… I have feelings for you. When you ran away from me, something inside me cracked. I’d been holding back, not allowing myself to get close to you.”

  “You don’t have to say this,” I muttered, trying to pull away.

  Holding me firmly, he refused to let me run. Licking his lips, he stroked my cheek with his thumb. “The very first time I saw you, you were in a fight with a bunch of warlocks. You whispered a spell right before throwing warlock magic. My heart pounded in my chest as your sexy body, and cheeky mind, blew me away. Your power, Devon, I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  Trying to drop my head and look away, I frowned. He wasn’t giving up though, the bad arse sexy agent was turning me to goo. Why couldn’t I open up to him?

  “That’s not all. I was attracted to you from the word go, but… being around you made my attraction grow into something more. You’re snarky and annoying, yet, you make me laugh. You’re vulnerable and so powerful, all wrapped up into one. You’re insane-”

  “Okay, that’ll do, Charmer Mac-win-me-over, I’m sold. You like me, big deal.” The massive smile that was probably making me look like a dingbat was hurting my cheeks.

  Bending down, he kissed me lightly before staring into my eyes, breathing slowly. “You’re insane,” he whispered. “But, hopefully you’ll be my insane.”

  I was in an actual romantic film. I had to have been. No one spoke like this in real life, certainly not to me.

  “And, you’ll be my…” I looked at the ceiling as I tried to come up with something. “Nope, I can’t think of anything. You’ve got all the romantic talent.”

  Laughing, he kissed me again before letting me go. “Ready to snap out of it? I need you to be snarky agent Devon.”

  Sobering, I was brought back to reality. Yes. We weren’t here to confess our love for each other and make love on every surface of the room and bathroom. No, that hadn’t been going through my mind at all.

  “I was born ready,” I quipped, holding out my hand.

  He went to take it, but I raised my eyebrows. “Give me a gun.”

  Oh, the anguish on his face. It looked like he was torn between pleasing me and telling me to piss right off. It was going to be an interesting few months as our dating got underway. I’d win over the big pussycat.

  “Wouldn’t you prefer your dagger?” Getting it out of his jacket, he handed me the blade, a smirk on his face.

  Ah, okay, he may have had the upper hand in this particular situation, but it wouldn’t last.

  As my fingers wrapped around the weapon, I heaved a sigh of relief. The blade fit perfectly in my palm, as if it was made for me. The Essex witch heirloom had a secret I was desperate to find out.

  “Okay, let’s go help your parents.”

  Following him towards the door, I almost paused. “We have to go help the witches first. If they’re not disconnected, Helena will have a hell of a lot more power than them. The others will never find them.”

  When Justina’s voice came through the walkie talkie again, I jumped. I’d forgotten it was in my hand.

  “Gerard, update, now.”

  Pressing the button, I held it near my mouth. “Justina, it’s me.”

  “Devon?” Her slight intake of breath made me smile. “It’s good to hear your voice.”

  “And, yours. I’ll apologise later, but in the meantime, you need to go and support my parents. I know where the witches are and how to break down the magic grid without killing them.”

  The other end was silent. Gerard watched me, a serious expression on his face. “It’s good to see you back.”

  Warmth blossomed in my chest as I felt all the emotions. It was good to be back. The frightened Devon, she’d gone in my fury. Ever since seeing what my grandmother was doing to those witches, I’d been ready to step into my power again. It was a harsh reminder, a jolt back to reality. It was the reason I had become an agent to begin with.

  “Roger that,” Kurt came on the line. “Go and rescue those poor bastards.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  My boots were fast on the stone floor as I almost flew across the kitchen. My freedom had been given to me all over again. And, yet, I couldn’t leave until those poor witches were safe.

  “Devon!”

  Arms wrapped around me before I even realised what was going on. Justina clung to me, her boobs pressed against my chin. As much as I liked my boss, this wasn’t quite the welcome I’d expected.

  Kurt stood behind Justina, his eyebrows raised. He wasn’t going to give me an easy time, which was fair enough. If he did, I would think something was wrong.

  “Let her go and do her job,” Kurt said, nudging Justina in the ribs. “She doesn’t want to be pressed against your tits. That’s my job.”

  Surging back from me, Justina waved away Kurt’s comment. “She doesn’t mind, do you? But, he’s right, it’s time to end this.”

  Patting me on the shoulder, she turned serious. Palming a gun, Kurt nodded at me before marching through the kitchen and out the back door. Agents were everywhere, ignoring us as they followed through on their orders.

  “These are your backup. Get them to take the witches to hospital. You’ve got five medics over there.” She pointed at the waiting crew. “When you’re done, join us outside. Hopefully we’ll have her contained by then.”

  They stormed off, taking a small group with them. I watched them go, wondering if it should be me that went after Helena. No, I had to get the witches out safely.

  About to move, I stalled. Gerard was beside me, taking my hand. “Are you okay?”

  The muscles in his arm bulged in his jacket as he lifted it and indicated for the medic crew to join us. He was ready to do his job. I had to be ready, too.

  Swallowing, I nodded, shoving the past behind me. There would be repercussions for my betrayal, I was sure. And, yet, I knew that the people here were not only rescuing the witches, they were here for me, too.

  “I’m ready,” I said, holding my dagger firmly in my hand. “There will be guards down there, so be ready to fight.”

  Speaking to the group of agents and medics, I briefed them on the layout of the place. The agents would go first, clearing the room of the vampires and shifters that were protecting Helena’s greatest assets. The medics would wait a few minutes before following us down. They would stay out of the way until I gave them the command that it was safe to help the witches.

  After my speech was over, I gestured for them to follow me. Leading them to the library, I found the bookcase. It swung open far too easily. Had Helena known we were coming and moved the witches?

  “An elevator?” Gerard said.

  Nodding, I indicated that the five other agents get in first. Once inside, I stepped in and faced the front, Gerard still beside me. Glancing at him, I smiled to myself. He was staring ahead as the door closed and the elevator started its descent. No matter
what happened between us personally, it was good to have him by my side as an agent. I trusted him with my whole heart.

  “We’ve had permission from the leaders of the vampire and shifter clans to take out anyone working for Helena. Try to maim rather than kill them, we want as little collateral damage as possible. We secure the area before the others can aid the victims. And, on that note, don’t shoot any of the victims.” Gerard had turned his head to talk but looked at no one. He was in full work mode.

  Staring at the door as it started to creep open, I straightened my spine, held my head up and aimed my dagger forward. Gerard went first, his gun raised and ready to shoot.

  “There,” I said, pointing at a vampire as he rushed forward.

  As Gerard’s gun expelled a bullet, lodging straight into the vampire’s chest, another agent ran forward and shoved a stake into his thigh. Once down, the agent whispered a spell that made the vampire freeze to the spot.

  My gaze traced the cavern. The witches were still hanging from the ceiling, their magic still being drained. At the end of the room, there was a huge crystal ball that contained the magic that was being pulled from the witches.

  Cables and leads that were attached to the witches ran across the floor to the ball. I had to disconnect them all before destroying the glass that contained all the magic.

  “Stick with me,” Gerard said when two more vampires came from behind the witches. Their hanging bodies were good cover for our enemies. We couldn’t hurt the victims, so we couldn’t just shoot. We had to hunt them down.

  The others dealt with one vampire as I charged another. His teeth were extended, his eyes red. He was addicted to magic, too.

  “Ah, the witch,” he muttered as I jumped in the air, my legs extended in front of me.

  Dropping down, he chuckled as I flew over him. Changing tactics at the last moment, I thrust my dagger down, releasing the small amount of magic that it contained. The zap of yellow went straight into his eye. He was watching me go over him, arrogance all over his face. It was quickly wiped away when the fire of my magic burnt his eyeball.

  “Ah, the vampire.” I grunted as I landed in a crouch and spun.

  He had one hand over his eye, but the other was extended as he came for me. Closing my eyes for a split second, I attempted to pull warlock magic through me. It worked! The spell that had been used to protect the building from other magic had obviously been disabled. Clever agents.

  “You’re lucky I can’t kill you with this,” I said as he jumped.

  Thrusting my dagger up, I emptied the magic through it as it plunged straight into his stomach. The burst of energy burnt my palm as it filtered through me. My body shook as he fell to the ground, dragging me with him.

  Yanking the dagger out, I grinned to myself as he stayed completely still, his one good eye glaring. “You bitch! You’ve paralysed me!”

  “Indeed, I have.”

  Glancing over my shoulder when I heard Gerard’s gun go off, I jumped to attention. He was standing next to a shapeshifter. Going over, I checked out Gerard’s catch. The man was gurgling blood, his own gun laying on the floor next to him.

  We didn’t have time to pause as three other shifters came out from behind the witches. They each held a gun, their weapons aimed towards us.

  Grabbing Gerard’s hand, I cast a protection spell. The bullets that came flying towards us rebounded off the invisible wall right in front of my face. One of them went into a witch’s leg. Shit, she didn’t even flinch from her coma.

  “We need to be more careful,” I said to Gerard as he tucked his gun away.

  Nodding, he rubbed his hands together. “Time for some witchy magic. Drop the guard.”

  The shifters watched us as they attempted to reload their guns. Releasing the spell, I nudged Gerard to let him know it was down. Holding his hands up, he whispered Latin. Ah, a spell for moving objects. I kept behind him as the guns in the shifters’ hands whipped into the air. They all looked up simultaneously, their eyes bulging in surprise.

  Gerard threw his hands down, laughing when the guns dropped straight onto their heads, knocking them all out cold. As they collapsed to the floor, I checked the other agents. They were fighting two vampires and were winning by the looks of it.

  “I’ll scout the area for more of them while you sort out how to wake them up.” His eyebrows were pulled low as he studied the vast room of hanging people.

  “There’s bound to be more of them back there. I’ll come with you.”

  Whistling for the other agents to join him as the last vampire was tied up with vervain soaked ropes, Gerard pointed at the huge ball holding the magic. The power contained in the glass could kill us all if we made one wrong move.

  “Okay,” I agreed when I heard the sound of approaching footsteps. “Be careful.”

  Smiling, he blew me a kiss. “And, you, fair lady.”

  Fair lady? Had he seen me? I was wearing pyjamas with my hair sticking up all over the place. My boots didn’t go with my outfit, but I’d worn them every day, just in case I had an opportunity to run. I was now regretting not making an effort. I wouldn’t look kickass fighting vampires and shifters in PJs with flowers on them. Ever.

  “Just… go get them.” I shook my head, realising that what I wore was not bloody important. I could kick arse no matter what was on my body. I could do it naked if I wanted to. Not that I would.

  Saluting me, Gerard and the team disappeared into the sea of bodies, tucking their guns away so there was no risk of catching anyone else.

  Glancing at the hit girl’s leg, I rushed to her. Blood was coming out of the wound, but it wasn’t pouring. It would be safe for me to disconnect them before attending to the bullet in her leg.

  Rushing over to the big glass ball, I studied the pipes that filtered blood and magic from the witches. There were over a hundred of them running along the floor. Following them, I found a metal box at the back. An electric whirling sound came from inside. Pulling the lid up, I almost gagged at the overwhelming smell of metallic. Blood was a poignant odour, one that made me want to heave.

  “Okay,” I muttered. “I can see what she’s doing.”

  There was a big tank with a pipe that went down into the floor. Another pipe went into the side of the tank, yet, it wasn’t completely connected. The blood from the witches was being discarded down through the ground. The magic on the other hand, was being filtered out by the other pipe. Swirls of bright colours travelled up and into the glass ball that rose high above my head. How could Helena do such a thing?

  Searching around, I found the entry point for the lines that connected the witches. They were connected to one massive pipe along the front of the tank. It would take ages to manually disconnect them all. There must be a way to do it all at once. And, safely too.

  “What are you doing?” someone shouted as I stood up from my crouch.

  “Erm… Can you just tell me how to disconnect them?” I asked, my hand going behind my back to wrap around the hilt of my dagger where it rested in the belt of my jeans.

  The vampire was cute in a vampire way. His hair was long and shaggy, resting around his face. If he wasn’t my enemy, and if I wasn’t badly in… lust… with Gerard, there might have been a future for us. No one could be that sexy without me flirting. Well, in the past anyway. My heart was well and truly taken. So, he was fair game… for hurting.

  Instead of answering my politely asked question, he ran away. Probably to get backup. Oh, great. My legs were starting to get a little shaky from the adrenaline overload. I had to keep my cool.

  About to throw my dagger at his head to save energy, I paused as his foot tripped and he tumbled to the ground. That was too easy, surely. Looking up, I froze, my body completely still.

  “You’re welcome,” John said as he came over to the vamp.

  Shoving a syringe into the guy’s arse, John giggled to himself as I stood open mouthed, unable to comprehend what was happening.

  “It feels good to be
a rebel.” His face lit up as he straightened.

  He looked like a young teenage boy, finally free to walk to school on his own, or smoke a cigarette against his parents’ wishes.

  “You finally found the courage to stick up for yourself… I hope.” I suddenly realised that he might be tricking me.

  He was my enemy, even if he thought he had no choice but to tie me to a bed. I wouldn’t forgive that easily.

  “I was the one who let the barrier spell on the mansion down so your people could get in. I… I’m sorry for what I did to you.”

  Right. He was apologising for torturing me. What could I do with that in the middle of a rescue operation?

  “Let me help you. I know how this system works. If we make one wrong move, the witches will bleed out instantly.”

  Oh, I hadn’t been aware of that. It was a good job I hadn’t tried to attempt to disconnect them by myself. I was sometimes good at riddles, but this whole blood magic machine was past my expertise. Not that I was an expert in much, except being late.

  “Do it then. If you make one wrong move, my dagger will slice your throat open and you can stare at me while the life leaves your body.”

  Stepping aside, I waited for him to come over. He hesitated. “I understand that you won’t forgive me. However, I need your reassurance that you won’t do that after I’ve freed the witches.”

  Holding my dagger up, I grinned. “I would say I’m a lady of my word, but you don’t deserve that. You’ll have to take a chance, won’t you?”

  Laughing nervously, he rushed to the tank. Digging underneath, he fiddled with something, grunting as he did. I was about to look at what he was doing when pain exploded in my head.

  Spinning as I cradled my skull where something had hit it, I growled at the shifter. He saw my expression and turned away. Coward.

  Pulling my hand away from my head, I cringed when I inspected the blood that was puddled on my hand, running down my arm. About to dismiss him, I noticed the way he lifted his legs as wings sprouted from his back. He wasn’t running away, he was giving himself enough room to shift.