Witchslapped in Westerham

by Dionne Lister

  Now that was out of the way, I stood and gave my brother a ginormous hug.

  “What’s that for?” he asked, knowing I wasn’t generally a hugger.

  I stood back. “I was worried about you.”

  He smiled. “I can take care of myself.”

  “I know. It’s just that Dana has a lot of resources at her command, and she would clearly do anything to get her way. If she found out what you were doing, she’d probably kill you. At the very least, she’d have you arrested for some trumped-up charge. So how did today go?”

  “We stopped all the deliveries from getting to the shelves. We’ve confiscated the lot, and it’s in a secure storage facility. We’ve also got sworn interviews and video evidence of Dana’s involvement. Then, after that, we went and helped Mr Pembleton.” James nodded at Drake.

  Drake rubbed the back of his head. “Thanks again, Agent Bianchi. You and Agent DuPree showed up just in time.”

  I looked at Angelica. “So, what’s our plan now, Ma’am?”

  Her smile was demure. “We’re going to disavow Dana of the notion that she runs the PIB. I believe you younger folk would refer to it as ‘taking her down.’”

  I grinned. Karma was a witch with a bun, impeccable dress sense, and a gruesome sense of humour.

  And she was ready to rumble.

  Chapter 15

  The next morning, we were all up and ready to go by nine. Angelica and James had been so busy the day before that they needed to recuperate so they’d be strong enough to deal with Dana. Drake needed time to heal as well. We were sitting around the kitchen table in our PIB suits—even I’d donned one today. Angelica said it was important that we presented a united front. Plus, it would piss off Dana, and the angrier she was, the more likely she’d be to make a mistake.

  I bit my nails, and my leg bounced under the table like a hyperactive squirrel on a pogo stick. I was pretty sure my resting heart rate was 150 beats per minute. Today was going to be dangerous, and we still didn’t know where Will was, or even if he was still alive. I swallowed and bit the inside of my cheek. I was not going to cry.

  A radio receiver sat on the table. James had recruited one of his army contacts who was also a witch. He was going to help coordinate everything from here with Olivia’s help. We each had a walkie-talkie so we could keep Sergeant Crawford and Olivia updated. That way, we could all be accounted for if things went south.

  A two-person-sized cage with thick magic-infused steel bars stood in the corner. It was for Gabriel. Stage one of Operation Piranha Fishing—I know; I couldn’t believe they agreed to my suggestion either—was to arrest Gabriel, then get him out of harm’s way and secure the warehouse. He would be able to testify against Dana in court, so we needed him alive and coherent.

  The next job was to lure Dana out on her own. If she saw us coming, she would bring a whole army of PIB Agents, and that would create a disaster we couldn’t afford, not to mention it would be noticed by a lot of people—witch wars were hardly subtle.

  For this part, I would take my phone and show up at the warehouse after Gabriel had been arrested. As soon as Dana knew I was out and about, she would come for me. I wasn’t too arrogant to admit I was scared witchless.

  Whatever happened from there was something we couldn’t plan for. James would read her mind to find Will, and we would have to remove the ring if we wanted everyone else’s zombified state reversed. Once everyone had their right minds back, things would be fine. But until then, there was no way we’d be able to catch Dana and put her in jail.

  Drake nodded at Angelica. She stood, her face grim. “Unfortunately, this is not the first civil war we’ve had at the PIB. Although the last one was over twenty years ago, it feels as fresh as yesterday to me. Eleven agents died that day.”

  Oh, crap. I’d never heard about that. All the moisture drained from my mouth and throat, and I coughed. We really were going to war.

  She continued, “Everyone knows what they’re to do. I know you’re not trained for this, Lily, but you must show no mercy. If it’s one of our lives or Dana’s or her agents, you must kill.”

  Her gaze bored into mine, her unspoken words like a knife poised to slice my heart—if Will or her own nephew, Beren, tried to hurt us, we had to kill them. I wasn’t sure I could. In fact, I knew I couldn’t.

  She raised a brow, her stare turning to granite. “If you can’t do this, Lily, you’ll have to stay here. I can’t afford any mistakes.”

  We would just have to neutralise Dana before any of that happened. I would die trying rather than kill my friends. It would have to be good enough. I took a deep breath and made my voice steady, determined. “I’ll die before I let her win.” She gave me a nod. Whether she saw the cop-out in my words, I didn’t know.

  “Ready?” She looked at James, then Drake. They nodded and stood. They each made their own doorway and stepped through. I was waiting here, out of the way, until they returned with Gabriel—we obviously didn’t want Piranha there early.

  I bit the nails on my right hand. Then I swapped to the left. Olivia’s gaze sailed around the room, and Sergeant Crawford sat and watched the radio transmitter.

  Waiting sucked.

  God, now I needed to go to the toilet. I’d only been about twenty minutes ago, so I knew I didn’t really need to, but my damn nerves were freaking out. I shifted from one bum cheek to the other. No way was I going. Angelica could be back any second, and I’d have to grab my phone and move—I’d left it on in the sitting room so it didn’t look suspicious when I suddenly turned it on later, and because of the bubble of silence we had in the kitchen, Dana wouldn’t have been able to listen in.

  Disembodied muffled voices floated in the air before a dishevelled-looking Gabriel stumbled through a doorway, James shoving him from behind. Special magic-blocking PIB handcuffs secured the red-haired criminal’s hands behind his back.

  Gabriel scowled and tried to jerk out of James’s grip. James dragged him to the cage. The door automatically swung open. James shoved the cuffed witch in and shut the door, which clanged loudly and was momentarily outlined by a golden glow.

  I narrowed my eyes at the prisoner, anger sizzling beneath the surface, warming my blood. He’d caused so much pain. Selfish bastard. There was so much I wanted to say to him.

  But he beat me to it. “What are you starin’ at, stupid witch? You think you’re all high and mighty, locking me up. But you’re the ones who ’ave it wrong. They’ll kill all of us, given a chance. Just you watch. Keep ’em in disarray, and we’ll ’ave the upper ’and.” He sneered at me. “Fools. Non-witches are little more than animals. The sooner you realise that, the better off we’ll all be.” He gripped the bars. Electric-blue sparks showered from where he touched the cage. The magic barrier hissed and crackled. Gabriel screamed, jerked his hands back, and blew on them. “Bastards.”

  I shook my head. Bad luck, buddy. As much as I wanted to tell him how much he deserved that and more, I kept my mouth shut. Arguing with him would be pointless and would only rile me up further. I had bigger fish to fry—a piranha, in fact.

  James folded his arms. “Oh, yeah, don't touch the bars. You’ll get zapped.”

  Gabriel gave James a death stare and growled.

  James turned towards me and lifted his chin in a let’s-get-going gesture. I ran into the sitting room and grabbed my phone. Before I stepped through my doorway, I created a return-to-sender spell—who knew what I’d be walking into. I took a deep breath. Here goes nothing.

  I appeared in the alleyway and crept to where it opened into the car park. I stuck my head around the corner. No one was around. I wondered if Angelica had something to do with that. Someone tapped me on the shoulder. I let out a brief scream before slamming my hand over my mouth and turning. James stood there, his eyes wide.

  I angrily whispered, “Well, what did you expect? That was stupid. Don’t sneak up on me.”

  A smile threatened to break out, but he wisely kept it in check. “Sorry.”r />
  “You could have blown our cover.”

  “Don’t worry. We’ve made sure everyone’s staying inside today.”

  I would have asked how, but we didn’t have time. Dana was probably already on her way. I jogged to the driveway, turned left, and ran all the way to Gabriel’s building.

  The pedestrian door was shut, but the roller door was open. We walked into the main warehouse area where Angelica and Drake waited. Angelica spoke into her walkie-talkie, probably confirming we were all at the warehouse and ready to go. Having the large door open gave me the creeps, but we didn’t want Dana suspecting something untoward was going on. For all she knew, I was spying.

  Drake turned to me, his expression reserved and serious. “Remember, Lily, do whatever you can to protect yourself, and let us worry about grabbing her ring. We want you to get out of this safely.”

  “Thank you. I appreciate it. I’ll do my best.” I forced my tense face into a smile. He was actually being decent and seemed as if he meant it.

  “Time to spread out.” James drew his gun. “Lily, you go to the back of the warehouse. If she wants to get to you, she has to come through us.”

  We’d already discussed this, and I didn’t like it. I wanted to fight my own battles. She was stronger than me, but I wasn’t helpless, and to put Angelica and James in danger went against the grain, even though they were trained professionals. I was probably crazy, but what else was new?

  Plus, Dana was scared of me. I didn’t know why, but she was; otherwise, why go to this extent to get me out of her way? But I did as I was told. This was no time to believe I knew better. They’d done this many times before. I had no idea, and I’m sure once things started, it would be all I could do to keep myself alive.

  We expected her to turn up by herself, but what if she didn’t?

  I reached the shelves that ran across the back of the warehouse and turned to face the door. James and Angelica stood against opposite walls about halfway along, and Drake stood in the middle, between them.

  Anticipation and fear coiled within me, tightening my shoulders and clamping my jaw shut. I stared at the large opening and car park beyond. My hands clenched and unclenched, and my ears strained for any indication she’d arrived. What if she had coordinates for inside the building? Surely Angelica and James had thought of that. Maybe they’d set an alarm upstairs. If she was going to pop in somewhere, I wouldn’t imagine she would pop into the warehouse zone where she could get hit by a forklift.

  Warm tingles traced up and down my nape. I shuddered.

  She was here.

  Oh, correction: they were here.

  Crap.

  Dana stood at the front of maybe fourteen agents, who fanned out, covering the whole front opening of the building. William stood next to her. My stomach did a little flip, happy he was alive.

  His gaze found mine, cool and aloof. If there had once been any affection or attraction, it was smothered, buried deep under Dana’s darkness. William was ready to do whatever she asked. I should celebrate that she hadn’t killed him, but my heart shrank from his dispassionate observation. If we weren’t in such a precarious position, I would have slunk into a corner to lick my wounds.

  Dana regarded Will, then smirked at me. Stupid witch. I narrowed my eyes and glared at her. She shouldn’t mistake my heartache for weakness. I was ready to do what I had to. Whatever the cost.

  Then her eyes flicked to Drake, and her confidence wavered for an instant. Surprise! I bet she hadn’t expected to see him up and running around. But she quickly recovered and put her hands on her hips, offering him a saccharine smile. “Hello, sir. I’m so happy to see you’ve recovered.”

  She started to walk towards him, probably hoping to reinstate her spell, but Angelica said, “Stop right there, Agent Lam.”

  I couldn’t help it; I swear. I bleated. Loudly.

  Dana halted and turned her furious gaze on me. At least I’d distracted her from whatever crazy plan she had. Keep ’em off balance was my new motto. If you couldn’t beat them with experience, confuse them with randomness.

  She took another step.

  James approached her. She stopped and turned her head to watch him. She held her arm out straight, and a gun appeared in her hand. “Come any closer, Agent Bianchi, and I will shoot you.” Hmm, way to get around a return-to-sender spell, and I would bet my most-comfortable pair of underwear that everyone else was packing. Being a civilian really sucked sometimes.

  He halted and pointed his gun at her. “Wanna see who’s faster?” Hmm, snark must run in the family. Genetics rocked.

  She didn’t take her eyes off James when she said, “Beren, William, you know what to do. All these people are under arrest for trespassing. They’re also charged with treason, which carries a maximum penalty of life in a PIB prison.” She grinned, her teeth looking very piranha-ie. “That’s if they don’t resist arrest, and we have to shoot them.”

  Beren, his footsteps measured and robot-like, approached his aunt. I knew Angelica’s orders to kill included herself, if it came to that. Was she regretting that stance right now? Her poker face was engaged, so it was hard to tell.

  William moved towards me, stony-faced, devoid of emotion. A cold wind blew through the chambers of my heart, buffeting the flame I’d been carrying for him. My breathing came faster. He had almost reached me. Was he going to hurt me or cuff me and throw me in a PIB cell?

  “Not so smart now, are you, petal?” Dana cackled like the witch she was.

  But I didn’t spare her anymore thought. The man I’d thought I was falling in love with had stopped in front of me. His blue-grey eyes regarded me dispassionately. Normally intense and full of heat—even if it was because of crankiness some of the time—they were the dull battleship grey of a scuttled warship. If I tapped on his heart, I bet it would echo its emptiness.

  Movement registered near the doors as the agents swarmed in and surrounded Angelica, James, and Drake. But I couldn’t think of that now. All I could do was try to breathe and will my heart to keep beating, even as it was torn apart.

  William held out handcuffs. “Lily Bianchi, you’re under arrest for trespassing and treason. Turn around and put your hands on the shelf behind you.”

  “Will? It’s me. I’m your friend.”

  He didn’t flinch. Nothing changed. “Please turn around, Miss Bianchi, or I’ll be forced to do it for you.”

  “If she resists, Will, darling, you have my permission to kill her.” Dana just couldn’t help herself. I took a deep breath, letting the fury seep in and spread through me. No way would she get away with this.

  This could be the last move I ever made, but if I didn’t try, we were all going to jail for the rest of our lives, and that was if Dana didn’t come up with an excuse to shoot us all.

  I engaged my third eye, reached out my hand, and grabbed Will’s wrist. “It’s me, Will. Lily. You don’t want to arrest me. I know you don’t.” I saw his golden aura, but it was intertwined with grey ribbons that dulled its lustre. Whether that was Dana or the ring she wore, I didn’t know.

  He reached out his other hand and grabbed my other arm. Just as he went to spin me around and cuff me, I used the energy inside me to reach out and touch the warmth that emanated from his aura. I channelled my feelings into it—the affection, the attraction, the respect, and, yes, even the love that was a mere bud but had potential to grow. I threw in memories, of him staring at me in the rear-view mirror, of him grinning at a quip I’d made, of our time training in James’s shed.

  My desperate heart was full to bursting, the emotions I’d conjured pulling me into a vortex of sensations. In the maelstrom, I was sure I’d felt the feather-light touch of the real him. I tried to hold it, draw it into me and out of Dana’s shackles—his intensity and passion. The person he was. Sweat dampened my face, and it was as if I had a fever.

  His grip on my arm squeezed tighter. He clenched his jaw and shut his eyes, as if he were trying to resist. Fear, frustration, a
nd anger pulsed through the bond.

  But he didn’t come back, didn’t open his eyes and tell me everything was going to be okay.

  Tears burnt my eyes. It wasn’t working. My idea was as stupid as I was, which made total sense. I didn’t want to give up, but I couldn’t kill him. I held onto the power and my link to him, just in case it was doing something—however small—hung my head and started to turn towards the shelves.

  William swayed and used me for support. I released his wrist and tried to spin around in time to put my free hand out and stop myself from smashing into the shelves, but I wasn’t quick enough.

  My chest slammed into a shelf, William’s weight crushing me from behind. Pain lanced from my sternum into my back. I couldn’t breathe. I dropped my link to the magic river, severing my connection to Will. It was as if someone had punched me in the stomach. Sorrow washed in, drowning me.

  If I made a doorway around myself, I could escape, but then I’d pretty much cut William in half. There was no use trying an attack spell because he had a return-to-sender spell on.

  More than one person shouted. Scuffling, a grunt. Someone else—James?—screamed, “No!”

  A gun went off, the sound ricocheting through the space.

  It was as if a kebab stick had skewered my eardrums. I shut my eyes. My whole world had been reduced to ringing ears and the inability to breathe because of the pain and Will’s weight. I wanted to fight, but I found myself thinking, just cuff me already. What was taking him so long? Had he been shot? My mouth went dry. He wasn’t moving, but nor had he fallen. I needed to breathe. I wanted to scream for help, but only a squeak came out.

  “Now take them away.” Dana’s voice came from behind Will.

  I tried to shout, “no,” but nothing happened. A tear leaked from the corner of my eye. This could not be happening.

  Then there was warm breath at my ear. I could only just hear over the ringing. “Lily, it’s Will. I’m here. You brought me back.” He turned me towards him. When he stared into my eyes, the deadness was gone. It was him! I grinned despite the fiery agony in my sternum. Happy warmth spread through me, banishing the despair. “Wait here.”