Time was up.
I silenced my phone and looked up. Liv’s worried eyes met mine. “Be careful, Lily.”
“I will.” Even though she didn’t want me going, the man she loved was in there, and that was enough for her to give in.
I swallowed the lump of fear clogging my throat and set off. I’d meant to walk quickly, but my brain had other ideas, and I ran. I reached the door—dizziness returning from whatever that spell was—and grabbed the handle, but before I could pull it open, it swung outwards, bumping me out of the way.
Will stepped out, Ma’am cradled in his arms like a very big child. Her eyes were closed.
I stepped out of the way to give them room. “Is she okay? Are you okay?” Beren followed Will out, Imani over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Will and Beren walked away from the building and laid them carefully on the grass.
Will pulled out his phone, made a call, and was off within a minute. “Lily, I’m calling other agents. We’ll need help. There are six agents and fifteen non-witch staff inside that need our help. Beren and I are going straight back in. When the agents arrive in the circle, direct them to the building. Tell them we need two agents in the cafeteria, two to the reception room, and the rest, we need a sweep of the ground floor and basement levels. You got that?”
“Yes. Is there anything I can do for Imani and Ma’am?”
“Call James. Give him the coordinates for the landing spot. He’s not the healer Beren is, but I’m hoping it’s just the horrible effects of the spell that make you feel like you have the flu. There hopefully won’t be any permanent damage.”
“Come on, Will.” Beren stood at the door, holding it open. His magic shone from him—the repulsion spell was obviously working hard to deflect whatever the attacking spell was. At that rate, he and Will would be lucky to last another ten minutes in there.
“Be careful,” I said as Will followed Beren through the door. It clicked shut. I tried to focus on what I could do, so I dialled James and knelt in between Imani and Ma’am. Liv had joined us.
James picked up. “Hey, Lily. I’m just in the middle of something.”
“I’m sorry, but we’ve got an emergency at headquarters. I’m outside and fine, but the alarm went off. There’s some spell on the place, knocking everyone out. I have Imani and Ma’am unconscious out here on the grass. They need healing. I’ve set up a special landing place, but there’s only about fifteen minutes left on it, and Ma’am and Imani really need help now. I’m going to send you the coordinates. Okay?”
“Hang on.” James covered the phone. I couldn’t understand the muffled noises. Finally, he came back to me. “Okay. I’ll be there in a moment. Send those coordinates. Bye.”
I concentrated on my brother and opened up to my magic, then imagined the coordinates flying through the cosmos to him. You could send thoughts that way or just think really hard of the person you wanted to contact, and imagine you were physically speaking to them or transferring a picture mind-to-mind. I supposed it was just the intent, but your magic needed to be clear on who you were sending to.
I gently patted Ma’am’s cheek. “Ma’am, are you awake? It’s Lily. Hello.” Pat, pat, pat.
She groaned and opened her eyes. Thank God. Relief tumbled through me. She sat up. The movement must’ve brought on more dizziness because she held her stomach and slammed her eyes shut.
“Argh, what the hell happened?” Imani’s weak voice came from behind me. I turned. She hadn’t sat up, but she had a hand on her forehead, and her eyes were closed—the eternal position for someone suffering a hangover. Unfortunately, there’d been no fun getting there.
“We’ve been attacked, dear.” Ma’am’s snark couldn’t be subdued. I smiled. She was definitely going to be okay.
I explained everything that had happened since Liv had called her the first time. “And here’s James.” My brother strode from the landing spot, five agents on his heels. When he reached me, more came through their doorways. Seemed like we’d roused an army.
James knelt next to me and took Ma’am’s chin in one hand, directing her to look straight at him. “I’m going to assess you now,” he said. She gave a brief nod, and her skin took on a green tinge. That nausea was a killer.
The familiar warmth of my brother’s magic trickled over me. The other agents ran past, donned protection spells, and stormed the PIB, guns drawn. A plethora of magic cascaded over me—it was like being doused with cold water. I shivered. It took a few moments to adapt to the sensation of that much power emanating from so many people.
James finished with Ma’am and turned to Imani, where he repeated whatever he’d done to Ma’am, who stood, straight and sure, back to her old self. That boded well for everyone else Will and Beren were going to drag outside.
Speaking of which, both men exited, each with a man slung over his shoulder. One looked to be a security guard, the other was one of the guys who served at the cafeteria. Ma’am called out. “Set them down here. James will see to them in a minute. Brief me. And drop the protections—conserve your energy.”
Will and Beren did as asked, both breathing as if they’d run a sprint. Okay, so they had just simultaneously held a draining spell and carried men who weighed as much as they did. What did I expect? They were witches and agents, not superheroes.
Ma’am walked away, the men following. James had finished with Imani and was working on the cafeteria guy. Liv helped Imani stand. “Are you okay?” she asked.
“Yes. That was ridiculous. We landed in the reception room, wary because we knew the alarm had been activated. But our return-to-sender spells had no effect. Before we knew it, we were on the floor throwing up. I ended up passing out.” She frowned. “Whatever that spell is, it’s a doozy.”
“How are they going to turn it off?” Liv asked.
Imani carefully shook her head. “I don’t know. Either it’s a spell unleashed in the centre of the building, set to pulse out power for a certain amount of time, or it’s been integrated into the protective ward around the PIB, which would be pretty impossible. If someone had the know-how to do that, we’d be in massive trouble.” My eyes must have radiated the horror because she was quick to continue. “But don’t worry. That’s pretty much impossible.”
Hmm, bit too little too late. I totally needed something else to worry about. And, yes, that was sarcasm. I made a bubble of silence. “Do you think it’s RP?”
“I don’t know. The PIB has many enemies. We’ve put away some of the most psychopathic witches that exist. A powerful one with a grudge is just as dangerous as RP, and I can think of two or three that would have the resources on the outside to pull this off.”
The PIB door opened, and one by one, agents emerged, carrying or dragging groggy and unconscious people. James had finished with everyone and motioned for the agents to lay them down near him. Boy, did he have a lot of work to do. Thankfully, Beren joined him. Ma’am must have reassigned him.
Will came over to Liv, Imani, and me. He magicked a clipboard with paper attached, and a pen to his hand, then passed them to Liv. “Can you please do a staff count? Mark off everyone who’s out here, and who ends up out here. We need to see if we’re missing anyone who was at headquarters when this started, and anyone who was called back. The names are already on there.” He turned to Imani. “Get your name ticked off and go home.”
Her eyes widened, and she planted her hands on her hips. I couldn’t see her arguing with Ma’am like that, but Will was pretty much her equal as an agent. “But I’m all right. Agent Bianchi healed me. I’m ready to serve as needed.”
“Ma’am’s orders.” Will wasn’t having it, though. Imani scowled but said nothing further. Will looked at me. “Ma’am has asked that you go home for the rest of the day. She’ll be home later to question you about what happened, but for now, you need to recuperate. And you did an exceptional job with the landing spot. Thank you.”
Now I knew Will was okay, I wasn’t going to argue about going ho
me. The fewer people Ma’am had to worry about, the better. “Okay. I’ll see you later. Stay safe.” I smiled and made my doorway. Afternoon nap, here I come.
Chapter 2
After my three-hour nap, I got up and read for a while. I waited until seven, but Will and Ma’am were still at work. I texted Will to make sure they were okay. He responded to say they were staying until they could turn off the spell and secure the premises. That was two hours ago. I’d eaten dinner alone, and even though Ma’am wanted to question me when they got home, I despaired of that happening any time soon. I yawned, contemplating going to bed. Unfortunately, Liv was still staying at Beren’s, after having to move out just in case the tattoo made me dangerous. It meant I was often home alone because Will and Ma’am worked such long hours.
Meh, there wasn’t much going on, except me holding a pity party for myself. It was definitely time to go to bed. I could answer Ma’am’s questions tomorrow. I stood from the chair in front of the fire—my favourite spot in the house—and walked to the hallway. Just as I placed my foot on the first stair tread, the reception-room door handle rattled. Ooh, someone was home! It was sad how excited I was. I did my best not to jump up and down. Maybe I was turning into a dog.
Ma’am stepped through, followed by Will. I grinned. “Hello!” I bypassed Angelica—who wasn’t on board with too much touchy-feely stuff, and, to be honest, I normally wasn’t—and gave Will a massive hug. He brought out cuddly Lily. Totally mushy, but true. “How did it go? Did you work everything out? Do you want a cup of tea, something to eat?” Both of them had dark circles under their eyes—a sure sign they’d used way too much magic—and they weren’t exactly smiling.
“A tea would be lovely, dear. Let’s retire to the living room.” Yes, it would’ve been easy for Angelica to magic herself one, but she’d used too much today, and she definitely needed a rest.
We took our places on the Chesterfields: Will and I sitting opposite Angelica. I magicked her a cup of tea and Will a cup of hot chocolate. Even though he hadn’t asked for one, I knew he enjoyed them. They both thanked me as they sat back and relaxed, hot beverages in hand.
After drinking some of her tea, Angelica placed the cup back on the saucer on the low table between the couches. She sat up straight, as if she had all the energy in the world. I wanted to tell her it was okay if she was tired, that I wouldn’t think any less of her and neither would Will, but I didn’t. Maybe showing strength was her way of coping? It was probably better for all of us. If Angelica freaked out, it would be easy to believe we were doomed. She was the master at keeping us calm and thinking rationally, even in the worst situations.
Ma’am—which was how I thought of her when she had her serious face on—met my gaze. “Tell me what happened today. Everything from start to finish. Don’t leave out any detail, no matter how minor you think it is. Oh, and would you mind”—she waved her hands about—“doing the honours?”
I nodded. Whatever they’d had to do at the PIB had obviously drained them completely. Happy to be able to help, even in such a small way, I made a bubble of silence, then recapped my day, starting with Imani and I covering the theft at the antique-furniture shop, to making the doorway landing spot, and feeling sick. I stopped at the moment I’d come home. And because I hadn’t already done it, I texted Ma’am the photos I’d taken, showing the man who’d stolen the antiques.
She scrutinised the pictures and looked up at me. “Thank you for these, Lily, and for all your help today. You did well.” She smiled.
Ooh, a compliment from Ma’am! A rare thing indeed. It warmed my chest, and I grinned. “Thank you. It was my pleasure. So, what happened with the spell? Did you manage to dissolve it? And do you have any idea why this all happened?”
Ma’am and Will looked at each other, poker faces intact. How they could decipher each other’s guarded expressions was beyond me—wasn’t that what the poker face was for? Making it hard for people to know what you were thinking? They were totally next level.
Ma’am gave a small nod, then said, “We managed to stop the spell, and, yes, we know the reason we were targeted… at least, part of the reason. We don’t know who it was, as the signature isn’t in our database, but it’s the same magical signature that was at all of our call-outs today.” She swallowed and licked her bottom lip. This wasn’t going to be good. “The criminals, whoever they are, broke into one of our safes. It wasn’t only protected with non-magical security, but we had spells on it. They stole three items.”
So many questions popped into my brain in a whirl of fear. That was some feat to break through all that security. And what items had they taken? Were they things to use against us later? Were they things that would pose a national or international security risk? And lastly, was it the snake group? Were we about to lose the battle against them when we’d hardly started? “Was it RP? What items?”
“We don’t know for sure, although, as I said, the magical signature wasn’t in our database. They stole the ring Dana used to mask and increase her power. The other items were two bracelets that connect the witches wearing them, and they can share power, making them much stronger, and another ring made of platinum that a witch can put on another—witch or non-witch—and control their mind. All dangerous items that will make catching this person, or group of people, more difficult. We’re leaning towards this being more than one person because the magnitude of the heist was too complicated. It seems the perpetrators have been planning this for a while, and all the jobs we were called out for today were to make sure there were as few agents as possible at the PIB so the major crime could be perpetrated. What their end goal is, we have no idea.” She shook her head and pursed her lips. “There was one other clue. They left a short note that said, ‘You made it too easy. Try and make it more fun next time. Oh, and gesundheit.”
Huh? That was weird. “Is someone doing this for fun? Or is that just what they want you to think? And what’s with the bless you?” Ma’am’s subtle shrug was the only answer she gave. I sighed. I didn’t want to ask—there was surely no good answer—but my curiosity won, again. “What do we do now?”
“We investigate it, of course.” She looked at me as if I’d asked what my own name was. “I have agents working around the clock. The sooner we get those artefacts back, the better. We’ll meet tomorrow at nine, but rather than the conference room, we’ll convene in the PIB lecture hall.”
“There’s a lecture hall?” There was so much I didn’t know.
“Of course, dear. How do you think agents learn everything they need to know? We have a gymnasium for the physical side, and lectures for the legal and operational side. There’s also a spell-testing room.”
“It sounds a bit like 007.” I giggled. “Do your agents practice blowing stuff up with magic?”
* * *
Will grinned. “Yep. You should try it. It’s loads of fun.”
Ma’am rolled her eyes. “In any case, I need sleep. I have an insanely busy day tomorrow. I suggest you both get some sleep too. We’re all going to need it. I’m sorry, Lily, but it’s all hands on deck, and we definitely require your help.”
“Okay. I’ll be there tomorrow. I’m sure Gus or Will can show me where the lecture hall is.”
Ma’am stood. “I’m sure they can. Goodnight.” She gave a wan smile and walked out.
Will put his arm around me and pulled me into him. He sighed out a heavy breath, his voice low. “This is like nothing we’ve ever faced.” He shook his head. “They made our defences look like crepe paper. I want you to have your return to sender up when you’re in the PIB from now on.”
“Um, okay, sure.”
“I mean it, Lily. We can’t afford to drop our guard at all.” He looked at the ceiling and frowned.
“What?”
He turned his gaze on me. “The spells protecting this house and James’s are going to need an overhaul. James and I are going to work on some tomorrow. We could use your help.”
Huh? “My help?
But I’m… I won’t say stupid, but, you know, I’m not exactly top agent material. There’s nothing I could come up with that you two couldn’t.”
He smiled. “That’s where you’re wrong. The spells we normally use are ones that have been used for generations. When you create a spell, there are many threads of magic that weave together. Normally, the magic dictates how that happens, and hence, spells are passed down through the ages via a grimoire, without any need to change them. To make magic easy to use, you just have to tell the magic your intent, and it will work out most of the rest for you, but it is possible to craft spells, weave the golden threads until no one can decipher them. But it takes time, patience, and a lot of energy. It’s next-level stuff and not something every witch is skilled enough to accomplish.”
“And we’re sure RP can’t spy on my magic while I have this thing on my arm?” I held up my arm, but my sleeve covered the offending tattoo, and I wasn’t about to reveal it. The less I saw it, the better. It creeped me out. No matter how many times they said it was okay, they still couldn’t prove it, and that worried me.
“Even if RP could tell whether you were drawing magic, there would be no way they could tell what you were doing with it. Okay?”
“Okay.” Well, if anything happened because of it, I’d at least know I’d done my best to make sure everything was safe. Hmm, maybe there was a spell I could come up with that isolated my tattoo, cut off any kind of awareness it had, and cut off its ability to transmit information. I’d brought it up with Ma’am the other day, but she’d said it would take too much time and energy to devise something and then implement it, but if I was working on spells with Will and James, maybe I’d learn a few things I could use?
Will yawned. I smiled. “Time to get you into bed, mister.”
“I need a shower first. What a day it’s been.” He stood. “Come on.” He held out his hand, and I took it. Who would’ve thought we had anything to look forward to, but we did.
Witch Cursed in Westerham Page 3