Spells & Death

by Rachel Medhurst

  Nodding, Dave leant his elbows on his desk and looked over at me. “You did the right thing following him. You did the wrong thing losing him.”

  “Don’t I know it.”

  My attention was captured when a photo came onto my screen. It was our suspect Peter with the wife of the vampire leader of PFF. What were they doing together?

  “Where did this photo come from? I haven’t seen it before.”

  Humming, Dave tapped a few keys on his keyboard. His bulk dwarfed his desk, but he insisted he was most comfortable behind it. I was much more suited to the field. That way, I could use my magic and stay in touch with Mother Earth.

  “It’s from the Hunted Witch Agency. They’re working on a related case to do with a couple of witches in the PFF. They happened to catch this meeting and sent us the details.”

  I’d recently had dealings with HWA. They were a strong agency who focused on witches only. They had their own Essex witch, Devon Jinx, who had crossed my path once or twice. I was hoping that they’d get on with their own cases while I got on with mine. However, the intel they had shared was very helpful indeed.

  “Let’s go and see the lovely vampire, shall we?” I said absentmindedly as I stared at Peter’s face.

  My door suddenly opened, allowing access to my new team. Jake and Kate. He a wolf shifter, she a seer. Leaning back in my chair, I watched as they greeted Dave.

  Jake was tall with a shaved head and dark eyes. His frame was slightly smaller than Dave’s, but his attitude made him seem a lot bigger. Tucking his phone into the holster around his tight black T-shirt, he glanced at me. His nod was barely visible, but I returned it as he quickly looked back at Kate and wagged his finger. Pointing to his steel cap boots, he carried on with the conversation they’d obviously been having before they came into the office.

  “You know I’m right. These buggers have saved my toes plenty of times.”

  Eyeing his combat trousers before her gaze landed on his shoes, Kate rolled her eyes. “Yes, but they slow you down. Same as the snacks you carry in your pockets.”

  She pointed at the bulges on Jake’s thighs. He did have a habit of carrying shit in his pockets. Being an agent meant we had to endure a ton of physical training. Our workout routines were part of our contract. Yeah, no kidding. When my mother had insisted that I started to work out when I’d gone through puberty, I rebelled. Who could blame me? Pumping iron was the most boring thing in the world.

  “I’m a growing lad,” Jake mocked. “What can I say?”

  He didn’t flex his muscles, that wasn’t his style. However, I could see the urge quickly doused as he grabbed one of my wooden chairs and spun it so he could sit on it back to front.

  “Well, when you wonder why I’m always faster than you, there’s your answer.” Kate went over to Dave’s desk and leant her butt against it.

  He winked at her as she folded her arms across her chest. She was average height with a slim body, currently dressed in a similar outfit to Jake. In fact, they looked like they’d copied each other. I was the odd one out with leather trousers, flat black lace up boots and my Book Nerd shirt.

  “You do moan about that a fair bit, mate,” Dave offered, holding his hands up in surrender when Jake scowled.

  Fluffing her stunning afro hair, Kate rubbed her dark skinned cheek with her free hand. When her gaze met mine, she tutted. “I’m sorry, Gemma, I didn’t see you there!”

  Pushing away from Dave’s desk, she came over to mine. Standing right next to me, she put her hands on her hips and cocked her head to the side. “Come on...”

  Taking a deep breath, I hastily got to my feet. Her toned arms came around me as soon as I was up, the scent of her strong perfume wafting up my nose. Patting her back awkwardly, I let her hug me close without giving too much in return.

  “I do love seeing our boss look so uncomfortable.” Dave threw a thumbs up when I flicked him my middle finger.

  Jake chuckled as Kate let me go. When my mother had announced that she wanted me to work with a team, I’d resisted profusely. Working on my own had been a habit. When I’d hit eighteen and my mother had insisted that I get a desk friend, I’d threatened to leave. Not because I was amazing and didn’t need one, although my young mind had believed it at the time... but because I was socially awkward. Do you know how hard it is to make friends when you’re a secret agent? Bloody hard.

  “So, what’s on the cards for today? Wait, why are you here?” Kate moved to sit on the other chair. “You did the night shift last night.”

  Considering Kate was hard as nails and trained most agents in combat, she was often a little flaky. Not that there was anything wrong with that... well, until she totally forgot we were on a stake out and started singing at the top of her voice because her favourite song popped into her head. Yeah, she was that type of agent.

  “He finally came out of his house,” I said as I pressed a few buttons on my tablet.

  The projector on the opposite wall suddenly burst into life, the light shining straight into my eyes. “Thanks for the warning,” I muttered to Dave as I moved out from behind my desk so the others could see the photo on the screen behind me.

  “You captured this?” Jake said, cracking his knuckles.

  “No, this was captured a week or so ago, before we put surveillance on him. Last night, I lost him. He knows we’re onto him.”

  Kate crossed her legs as she leant back in her chair and sucked on a Vape. “You lost him?”

  The sweet scented smoke puffed out of her mouth as she spoke.

  Jake waved his hand in front of his face as it travelled nearer to him. His screwed up nose made me smile.

  “You have a go at me for having snacks when you’re putting that shit into your lungs.” Getting up from his seat, he walked to the back of the room and leant against the wall.

  “Don’t get your knickers in a twist,” Kate said, winking at him.

  “Can we focus?” I snapped as my sleep deprived brain decided that now was the time to not want to work.

  They shared a glance before they looked at the photo on the screen. This had been the exact reason I hadn’t wanted a team. When it was just Dave and I, we could just get on with our cases.

  Ever since the heads of Paranormal MI5 had spotted my talent, they’d given me bigger investigations.

  My mother was on the board of directors. I’d never met any of the others, only hearing a few snippets from her. I’d worked with the Prime Minister on certain cases, but never with the paranormals who were at the top. It was a little suspect to me, but my mother had insisted I just get on with my job.

  The others were silent as they waited for me to speak. Swallowing, I took a deep breath as my skin started to warm. I wasn’t used to this much attention. I’d been pretty isolated growing up. Only those closest to me knew that I was an Essex witch, protecting the ley lines. These guys had been told by my mother, but I’d not said a word about it since they’d joined my team.

  “As you can see, this is Peter Mason in the photo.” Pointing at the suspect we’d been tracking, I quickly brought my hand down when it shook all over the place. “And the woman with him is Helen Cambridge, the wife of Joseph Cambridge.”

  “The vampire leader of PFF?” Jake gritted his teeth, the dark stubble on his jaw moving as he clenched and unclenched. His jaw was so defined, I could see the movement from where I stood.

  “The very one,” Dave said, clicking something on his laptop.

  Another photo came onscreen. Joseph Cambridge. A British vampire in his fifties who looked like a politician. His vampire origins were unknown, which made him dangerous. A sire’s power determined how strong a vampire would be. His mousy hair was cropped short, his small eyes close together and his cheeks a little red, even though he was technically dead.

  “I hate that man,” Kate piped up.

  None of us could argue with her. He had been the one to create the terrorist group. He was pretty vocal and open about it, which made it wor
se. He had tried to get interviews with the British media, but luckily, the human government ran it for their own cause. They never allowed anyone to know the real truth. Which in a way was unlucky for the main human population. However, it was bloody handy for us in the paranormal world.

  “Gemma suggested we approach Helen, but I’m not so sure.” Dave smiled apologetically when I raised my eyebrows.

  “He’s obviously connected to the group, which means there’s no reason to question her. This is all the proof we need to bring him in for questioning.”

  My desk friend had a point. If I’d been thinking a little clearer, I would’ve said the same thing. Although, I would’ve still liked to get my hands on Helen Cambridge. The PFF hadn’t acted out any terrorist attacks yet, but I could feel that one was coming. Their style wasn’t obvious, which made me nervous.

  “Let’s go over where we are right now. We were following Peter because we needed to prove he was connected to the group. We got a tip off from a former member that they were planning something big for their first attack. Joseph has been working with the other paranormals for several months to create their group. He doesn’t officially call it a terrorist group, but any person who wants to expose who we are is classed as a terrorist, especially if they plan on hurting the human population to prove their point.”

  Pushing himself away from the wall, Jake came back to his chair. “We need an in. The person who tipped us off has left, so we need to get someone into the group. Someone to go undercover.”

  Biting my lip, I clenched my fists. When Joseph and his cronies had sent the government a formal letter asking for demands, my mother had shoved my team together. She believed that I was good enough to run the department of counter-terrorism. I wasn’t so sure.

  My heartbeat quickened in my chest, reminding me that there was still a bullet lodged there. The feeling of it rubbing against my heart had disappeared. Something had happened to me, but I couldn’t let it distract me from this case.

  “I’m game for going undercover.” Kate licked her lips extravagantly. “There’s bound to be some pretty ladies in the group.”

  The seer had never been shy about her sexuality. She had fancied both men and women since she was young. She threw a smile in my direction, laughing at my deadpan face. I didn’t have a problem with her sexuality, however, I’d been pretty clear about not bringing our personal relationships into the building. We were there to work. Plus, it was kind of depressing hearing how many dates she’d been on when I hadn’t even been able to catch a conversation on a certain fishy dating website.

  “Dave should do it,” Jake said, smirking at my desk friend. “He’s trained in combat. He doesn’t need magic.”

  The usually jolly witch narrowed his gaze on the other male in the group before he looked at me, his expression serious. My palms started to sweat, the moisture lining them so quickly, the tablet in my hand slipped. Catching it, I cleared my throat as I shook my head. The look he’d given always made me nervous, and I wasn’t sure why.

  “I don’t think-”

  The office phone rang, the shrilling noise jolting me. Snatching it up, I answered with my name. Kate was staring at Dave, her expression thoughtful as she rubbed her chin.

  “Gemma,” one of the officers from the police department barked down the phone. “Get down to Camden, we have a body.”

  Chapter 3

  “That’s a lot of blood,” Jake said.

  Air rushed from my mouth as I came into the bedroom behind him. The house was a Victorian era, its insides kept to the old fashioned style. I had glanced towards the door to the library as I passed, my hands itching to explore all the leather-bound books I could see through the gap in the door. Unfortunately, that would have to wait until later. The others would say it was inappropriate, I would say that I was searching for evidence. Evidence of a good book, but they didn’t need to know that.

  In the bedroom, I came face to face with a woman, lying on the bed. Her head was bent to the right, her eyes staring in my direction, their glazed expression chilling. The shiver that crawled over my nerves made me look away.

  “What can you see?” I asked Kate.

  She stood beside the bed, her eyes closed. The forensic team stepped back as she gently swayed back and forth, the tight curls on her head reaching even higher than they already did. Most detectives hired a seer to help them to investigate a crime, but Kate was unique. She could tap into the past more than the future. By placing her energy into someone else, she could see what had happened to them in the last twenty-four hours. Her scenes were never one hundred percent clear and linear time didn’t exist in the dimension she accessed through her power. Which often made for a jigsaw puzzle that we had to put together.

  “She’s been dead for eight hours. A man was here, his face is fuzzy. In fact, the whole scene...” Kate rolled her lips together as she frowned. “...it feels like I’m looking at it with drunken eyes. Everything’s a bit blurry.”

  “So, she was drunk?” I asked.

  Dave’s snort filtered into my ear. He was at the office, watching what was happening through the camera attached to my holster. I was the only one who could hear him, and yet, the others had already guessed when he was talking to me. Maybe they could see me glaze over. Dave’s less than witty jokes often made me tune him out.

  Shuffling her feet, Kate squeezed her eyes shut. “I don’t think so, it feels like... I can’t quite put my finger on it.”

  “Gem,” Jake interrupted, waving me over to the corner of the room.

  Leaving Kate to try and decipher what she was seeing, I tip toed around her. The police officers had been waiting to let us in. My contact was signing off the forensic team before he joined us.

  “What’s that?” I avoided looking at the blood that was splattered up the wall.

  Jake was right, there was tons of blood. It reminded me of my experience only eight hours ago. My tired brain was only just holding up, I did not need the metallic smell to slink up my nose and take me back to the moment I had died. Or, kind of.

  “Are you okay?” Jake asked when I shuddered.

  Nodding quickly, I pointed at what he held between his thumb and forefinger.

  “This,” he said, finally answering my question. “...is an empty wand.”

  Cringing, I stepped back. Empty wands meant that the life-force of the person who owned it had left this plane. For some reason, the concept had always freaked me out. No one loved the idea of death, but considering the last few hours, it was even more scary than usual to me. In fact, a lump came to my throat as I thought of those few moments I’d laid on the ground, blood pouring from my body.

  “I’m just going to talk to Logan, I’ll be right back.”

  Frowning, Jake nodded slowly as I reversed out of the room, almost bumping into Kate as she concentrated.

  “Are you okay?” Dave said in my ear. “I can hear your heart beating twenty thousand times faster than usual.”

  Tempted to rip the ear bud out, I gulped in a breath as I thundered down the stairs. My hands were shaking, my legs a little wobbly. My boots were heavy on the stone floor of the hallway as I went into the library and shut the door behind me. Leaning against it, I took several deep breaths as my head fell back, my ponytail brushing my wrist where I held it against the wood for support.

  “Talk to me, Gem, I know something happened.”

  The soft sound of his voice relaxed my muscles as tears came to my eyes. Blinking hard, I focused on the books around me. The room was light and airy, the ceilings high and the bay window allowed the sun to shine in. The wooden bookcases spoke to me, making me step straight over to them.

  “I know you have an obsession with books, woman, but you need to get back upstairs. The others need you.” Dave’s voice was strained, or restrained really. I could tell that he’d gone from the caring work partner to the annoyed desk friend who got agitated when my mind went off on a tangent.

  My emotions calmed as I ran my ha
nd over the leather spines, my fingers tracing the ancient titles of books so old, they were probably produced in my ancestor’s time.

  As I went to move across to another shelf, I passed in front of a mirror. Staring at myself, I put my hand on my chest, feeling the crude stitching right above my heart. Pulling my shirt up briefly, I quickly slapped it back down when Dave gasped.

  “What the fuck? Gemma-”

  One of my hands ripped the bud out of my ear while the other switched the camera off. Shit, how often would I forget that Dave could see everything that I could? The amount of times he’d screeched in my ear because I’d gone into the toilet without warning him was uncountable.

  A smile spread across my lips as I took a deep breath, straightened my back and faced the door. I couldn’t dwell on what had happened, I had to plunge myself into the case. I’d explain to Dave that it was a flesh wound, he’d buy it. Well, he’d better, or I would fire him. I did have that sort of power.

  “Gemma?” Kate called from outside the room.

  Taking a deep breath, I shook off all the emotions that were bothering me. Being an agent meant that I had to shut off. If I took my emotions into work, I’d be a quivering wreck every single day of the week. I only allowed myself to cry when reading a book or watching a sad film. Once the release was over with, it was back to business as usual.

  “I’m here,” I said as I came out of the library and took the stairs two at a time.

  Taking my hand, Kate squeezed my fingers. “They want to turn the case over to us if we can find any magical residue.”

  Going back in the room, I greeted Logan Hill, the primary human detective that dealt with filtering out human or paranormal crimes. He had a good heart, but his head was hard. Very hard. If he had his way, all criminals of every species would be put out of their misery... his words, not mine.

  “Miss Abbott,” he greeted.

  His tall frame was mainly skinny, except for a pot belly. His middle-aged red cheeks were the tell-tale sign of a man not only under a lot of stress, but a man who enjoyed a glass of wine or ten.