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.
“Keep going, John,” I ordered, blinking to clear my blurry vision. “I’ve got a bird to kill.”
The high squawk of an eagle echoed around the cavern as the bird formed. If I let him get close to John, he could…
“Devon!” Gerard shouted, appearing at the other end of the room. “He’s going to try and break the glass.”
Looking up, my heartbeat increased past the point of healthy. Gerard was right. The bird was circling at the other side of the cavern. As he turned back, he headed straight for the big glass ball full of magic.
“What do I do?” I called to Gerard as he was accosted by a vampire.
Fighting him off, he grunted. “Use your dagger.”
My dagger wasn’t going to stop a bird in mid-flight. My aim had become better and better, but… but I could use my warlock magic.
Putting the tip of the blade on the ground, I closed my eyes and pulled as much power from the dark magic of the earth. It filled the dagger up, leaving yellow flames flickering off it.
Watching the bird approach, I visualised a huge bubble of magic. There was no point in trying to throw my blade, I wasn’t accurate enough to hit a soaring bird of prey.
“Now, Devon!” Gerard instructed.
Holding the handle of the dagger with both hands, I aimed in just before the glass. Pushing the magic out of the blade, I laughed when a massive bubble of yellow magic formed into a ball on the end. Flicking the dagger as hard as I could, I sent the ball flying through the air. The lightness of the power made it slam straight into the bird, inches before it reached the glass magic container.
“Whoop!” I screamed, throwing my arms in the air and doing a victory dance.
Feathers rained down on me as Gerard came over. He was covered in blood with a cut over his eyebrow, but he was safe. Chucking my arm around his waist, I bumped his hip with mine and grinned up at him.
“It’s done,” John announced as the whirling coming from the machine slowed down.
Sobering, I released my future man and went over to the machine. The cogs were no longer turning, which meant the spell to extract the magic had stopped. The blood was no longer flowing.
“We need to detach them from the lines. However, there is one thing that you might not be aware of…” John cowered when Gerard came over.
His bulging muscles and cool stare was enough to make anyone nervous. Except me, of course. I wasn’t afraid of him.
A tap on my shoulder made me jump out of my skin. “Devon, shall we start taking them down?”
The medic was waiting patiently, a bag in her hand. I coughed uncomfortably as she raised her eyebrows. Apparently, one of the other agents had let them know that the site was safe.
“Yes, start to lower them on to the ground.” Turning back to John, I swallowed the feeling of discomfort that rose in my throat. “What is it I need to know?”
Wringing his hands together, John flinched when Gerard tucked his gun away. “Well, Helena still has a huge amount of magic. It’s going to take some time for it to drain out of her system. In fact, she’s connected to this…” Waving his hand, he indicated the still glowing glass ball full of magic. “She’s cast a spell on the witches to keep them asleep. She was so paranoid about losing her power, she used a blood spell to bind them to her. As long as she’s alive, the spell can’t be broken.”
Chapter Fifteen
“Justina, are you there?” Gerard spoke into the walkie t
alkie as John led us outside.
The fountain came into view as we rushed down the stone steps that led to it. We had been calling our bosses since we’d left the cavern, but no one had replied. That was a bloody bad sign.
My palms were sweating as I searched for my family. I couldn’t lose them, not now that I knew how much I cared about them.
“There!” John hissed, stopping us from moving forward as he pointed towards the rose garden.
A glow was emanating above the wall, drawing our attention. It would make sense that Helena was in the garden, it was her pride and joy. Hopefully, my parents had kept her at bay.
The shiver that went up my spine made me pause. That wasn’t a good sign. My instincts were usually pretty spot on, which meant something was wrong.
“Your mother can still connect to the ley line, can’t she?” Gerard took my hand.
Tugging him, I frowned when he stayed still, staring down at me. “Yes, she can. Gerard, you don’t need to tell me to keep my personal feelings out of it. I know.”
“Just…” He swallowed, his eyes dipping. “If there’s no answer from the others, something’s horribly wrong. Just be prepared for the worst.”
His nerves were making me on edge. It wasn’t like him to be negative. Well… okay, maybe that was slightly incorrect. Gorgeous Mac-serious was his nickname after all.
“Let’s go.”
About to wrench my hand out of his grasp, I paused as I took a deep breath to calm myself. I needed him by my side. If Helena was as powerful as John made out, I would need to keep my mind engaged and focused.
Squeezing my fingers, Gerard started to stride towards the gate of the rose garden. My little legs trotted to keep up as John stayed behind. There was no point in the witch coming with us, he’d only get in the way.
A scream made us run the rest of the way. Reaching the entrance, we pushed the gate. It was locked. Grunting, I shoved against the metal poles. We could see through it, but we couldn’t get in.
Magically Betrayed: An Urban Fantasy Novel (Hunted Witch Agency Book 3) Page 12