Hunted Witch Agency Box Set Books 4-5 (Hunted Witch Agency Set Book 2)

by Rachel Medhurst

  My fluffy unicorn slippers matched my T-shirt. I hadn’t been expecting to go anywhere for the rest of the day, so I’d taken my bra off and got comfortable. My boots had also been thrown in the corner so I could relax.

  “You know that I could fight in anything.” Going over to my boots, I sat on the floor to tug them on. “Not that there’s going to be a fight today. I forbid it.”

  Standing by the door, Gerard held out his hand as I scrambled to my feet. “I wouldn’t be so cocksure about that, we are dealing with the warlocks here.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean? Have you forgotten that I’m part warlock?”

  Putting my hands on my hips, I stared him down. His jaw ticked as he waited, clearly not in the mood for jokes. What was wrong with him?

  “Does it bother you that I’m still part warlock?”

  His blink was slow, telling me what I needed to know. Yes, it still bothered him. Well, it was tough shit. At the moment, I didn’t have a choice but to stay as I was born. The urgency to disconnect one of my powers had dissolved the moment I had a stronger connection to both witch and warlock magic.

  “We need to go,” he said, wriggling his fingers for me to take them.

  Tempted to flash by myself, I gripped my hands into balls.

  If Gerard couldn’t accept me for what I was right now, maybe we had to rethink our relationship in the long term.

  Taking a deep breath, I decided to be the better man. Or, woman. Reaching for him, I blew him a kiss as our fingers met and we flashed away.

  The wind whipped my hair around my head before I could breathe. It was a tad chilly on top of Arthur’s seat. A part of me had wondered if Gerard would force me to climb the mountain. Okay, it might not be a mountain, but it looked like it from here.

  “Good, we’ve got plenty of time to check the place out and make sure we’re safe.” Moving away, Gerard went to inspect the ruin. Looking over Edinburgh, I heaved a sigh. Part of me wondered if I needed to make the decision. Ever since Helena had kidnapped me, I had put my own magic issues on the back burner. Now that I was connected to the ley line, would I have to choose to become a full witch?

  “That was quick,” Gerard said, coming back over to me.

  Glancing over to where the ridge came up to the top, I froze. Maxwell was huffing as he stumbled up the hill with a woman. Not just any woman, a witch. What was she doing with him?

  “What?” He huffed as he reached us. “Did you really expect me to walk all the way up here? No, my loves, I’m not that stupid.”

  A warm familiarity came over me as Maxwell pulled his navy puffa jacket around him. He wore a bright red scarf and gloves, even though it wasn’t that cold. Trust Maxwell to want to make a fashion statement at a meeting with me.

  “I’m sorry I disappeared,” I said, hoping that he wouldn’t turn against me. “I needed to find out how I fix this.”

  Tilting his head to the side as he glanced at Gerard, he smiled. “Still as tasty as ever.”

  Looking at Gerard, I laughed. His hair was still done in his disguise hairstyle. We hadn’t been out since the night before, so he still had his hair gelled to the side.

  “Why, thank you.” Gerard inclined his head, trying not to smile.

  Maxwell Maddocks would never change. He was feisty, and a little out there, but I liked him.

  Looking at me, Maxwell’s expression changed. The friendly warlock was gone. Sweat lined my palms as his focus centred in on me.

  “For a while there, Devon, I thought that we were on the same page. It seems…” He held up his hand when I went to interrupt him. “…that you are not trustworthy. Of course, I knew that from the first time round when we had a problem. However, I thought that we might have reached an understanding.”

  “We have. I didn’t run away to spite you.” I wrung my hands together in front of me. “Couldn’t you see that my life was in danger? If I stayed in London, every warlock would have hunted me down until they killed me.”

  Wagging his finger, Maxwell ignored Gerard when he stepped forward. My man was coming to my defence, but he had better tread carefully. We needed to make sure a war didn’t break out.

  “And, you didn’t feel that you could come and speak to me? I have a lot more power over the warlocks than you realise. Especially since you gave the leadership over to me. You know, I’m the leader now, not you. You don’t get to decide what happens to our link.”

  Fire rose in my belly at Maxwell’s words. No, I wasn’t the leader of the warlocks anymore. That didn’t mean that I didn’t care about them. It also didn’t mean that I was making decisions for them. It wasn’t like I’d had a choice to make myself the link. Although the magic made me amazing, I didn’t need that much help in that department. My warlock magic had been strong before.

  “I don’t want your stupid link,” I lied. “It’s too much hassle. I never asked for this. I’m working on a way to restore it back to you.”

  The energy in the air changed as Maxwell held up his hand. A navy blue swirling tornado the size of an ice cream cone formed in his palm. “Look how much my magic has deteriorated since you’ve had the link. This is why warlocks are pissed off. You need to sort it out.”

  Wow. How had my connection caused Maxwell’s lack of power? Surely, it couldn’t be because I was using the magic?

  Shaking my head, I moved forward. “I don’t think that has anything to do with me, does it?”

  Throwing his hands in the air, which dispelled the tornado magic, Maxwell screamed in frustration.

  Backing up, I hid behind Gerard as he discreetly got his gun out of his jacket. The sound of footsteps made me spin around. There were several warlocks coming up the hill towards us. It seemed that Maxwell had brought his own coven with him. I recognised several of the faces.

  Adrenaline pumped through my body as I realised that there would be a fight. If we flashed away, it would send the message that I was weak. It would also give the warlocks permission to come after me at Mary’s. I couldn’t have that. I was sick of running.

  “I can’t give the link back until the solstice,” I shouted at Maxwell as he calmed down. “I promise that as soon as the solstice hits you’ll have your magic back.”

  The witch tapped Maxwell on the arm, gesturing for him to bend down so she could speak to him. Whispering in his ear, she said something that made him shudder. I had never seen Maxwell so irritated.

  “Gerard,” I whispered. “What are we going to do?”

  My man took my hand and threaded his fingers through mine. We looked around as the others approached, circling us, surrounding us. They were not there to play fair.

  “Justina says that we have to always be diplomatic.” Looking down at me, he raised his eyebrows.

  Shrugging, I sighed. “If that doesn’t work, I have to fight. These guys will not leave me alone unless I show them what I’m capable of. Unless I threaten their very existence.”

  Rubbing his lips together, Gerard nodded as Maxwell faced us again. His face was sombre, almost sad. What had the witch said?

  “I’m sorry,” he said, rubbing a hand over his face. “But, we need to take you back to London. We need to force you to give us the link back.”

  With that, he thrust his hand down, sending a fireball into the ground. It was the signal that the others should attack. Magic flew at us from all angles. Throwing my hand into the air, I shouted a protection spell. The invisible bubble of magic held us as the physical balls and streams rebounded off of it.

  “Gerard,” I whispered. “I’m scared of what I’ll do.”

  My muscles were shaking, pleading for me to dig into the earth and pull up as much magic as possible. If I did that, I could hurt a lot of warlocks. Did I want to do that?

  “If Kurt was here, he would say that we needed to show them who’s boss. We’re agents of the Hunted Witch Agency. We will defend ourselves.” Gerard squeezed my hand before he let go.

  “I love you.” My declaration was returned with
a smile before something crashed against the wall of protection.

  Crouching as my spell dissipated, I glared in the direction of the witch who was obviously helping Maxwell. Didn’t she know who I was? Oh gosh, I had become that arrogant Essex witch.

  Grabbing out my dagger, I brought up warlock magic from the earth, laughing when yellow magical flames flickered on the edge of the blade. A ball of energy smashed into my shin as I went to walk forward. Grimacing, I tried not to slip. The ground was rough, muddy. There were at least ten warlocks slowly closing in on us. They were being cautious, considering they weren’t able to kill me. Gerard swore as a blast of energy hit him in the arm.

  A gun shot rung out as he aimed towards one of the warlocks. The bullet lodged into the man’s shoulder, making him fall to the ground. The warlocks weren’t used to being shot. Not that many supernaturals were used to being fired at. We usually fought with magic instead of weapons.

  “Maxwell!” I shouted. “Stop this! I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

  Laughter filled the area as I ducked out of the way of another fireball heading straight towards me. Flicking the dagger, I pushed magic out of the end in a long string. It connected to another warlock, trapping his arms as it wound around him.

  Gerard pushed me out of the way as something flew at my head. Swearing, I slid down in the mud, landing straight on my face. The squelch of brown earth against my cheek made me squirm. I did not expect to be face down in the mud. I had to do something.

  Gerard’s arm wrapped around my waist and lifted me from the ground. There was a pause as Maxwell clapped, drawing the attention of the warlocks away from us.

  Swiping at the mud on my cheek, Gerard tried not to grin as he turned back to those who wanted to harm us.

  “Stop messing around,” Maxwell called. “Capture her. Don’t worry about him, I don’t care what happens to him.”

  Heat travelled through my veins, igniting the fire inside me even more. Gritting my teeth, I clenched my hand around my dagger handle. If I wasn’t careful, I would lose it. How dare Maxwell tell his men to basically discard Gerard? My partner, in work and life, would not be brought down.

  As their bodies started to turn back to us, I stamped my foot, making the ground shake. Warlocks fell to their knees, confusion written all over their faces. I had accidentally used the trick in the alley, but this time, I wouldn’t let anyone get away. Not when there was power radiating throughout my body. Throughout my aura. Mother earth literally poured both good and bad magic into me. I would use it.

  “Be careful,” Gerard muttered as the warlocks got to their feet and started to run.

  Not away from me but towards me. Were they stupid? Couldn’t they feel how much power I had? Didn’t they know that no one ever threatened my family? My love?

  “I’ll handle it.”

  When Gerard went to move forward, I grabbed him back, almost propelling him to the ground. For some reason, the power that laced throughout me, made me physically strong too.

  Swinging out of the way when a warlock came from the left, I threw my hands out, freezing him with a witch spell. He screamed as ice formed over his eyes and mouth.

  Another one came from the right as Gerard shot at several of the others. Kicking my leg out, I growled when a stream of pink magic caught hold of my ankle. A small yank from the end in the warlock’s hand brought me to my arse as I flailed backwards.

  It was time to get serious. If Maxwell wanted to disrespect me, I would have to take his warlocks down.

  Flipping myself forward, I sliced the magic around my ankle with my blade. The dagger came in handy when it came to releasing myself. Rolling forward, I grabbed hold of the warlock’s shins and whispered the same freezing spell. He screamed as his feet turned to ice, melding to the mud beneath him.

  A knock on the head from his fist sent me sprawling away. Chuckling to myself as I took a split second to study my handy work, I tried not to get complacent. Come on, it was genius. Although, the bastard could still throw magic.

  Dodging three different types of magic from three different warlocks, I checked that Gerard was doing okay.

  He was punching someone in the mouth, his gun on the ground just out of reach. Shit, if one of the warlocks got hold of that, they would kill him.

  Dropping to the ground, I closed my eyes and drew as much power into me as possible. My body shook, sweat literally poured from every pore, but I held on. Reaching my hand into the air, I screamed a time spell.

  As the sound around me ceased, I allowed some of the energy that was cooking me from the inside out to release. Opening my eyes, I stared. Every single person was solid where they stood, their last action caught as I froze time. I fucking froze time.

  The spell had been one that my grandmother had taught me when I was a child. She’d said that it was a spell that only ley line witches could perform. Links to ancestors, or the ley lines, was the only way a witch could get enough power to cast it.

  Slowing moving to my feet, I brushed the mud off my arse absentmindedly. My hair blew in the wind suddenly, making me jump. There was no breeze here.

  “What’s going on?” a sharp feminine voice barked.

  Spinning, I took a step back when I faced her. Another witch. A powerful one. How the hell was she here? Who the hell was she?

  Raising her hands to tighten her brunette ponytail, the witch stared back at me. She wore leather trousers with motorbike boots and an open denim jacket. A Harry Potter T-shirt winked at me from underneath as she crossed her arms over her chest. I wanted to be her when I grew up.

  “I would ask if you were deaf, but that wouldn’t be polite, considering I know that you’re not. What’s going on?”

  Glancing at Gerard, who was stuck in an action man pose, I swallowed, wishing he wasn’t stuck in time so he could back me up.

  “Who are you?” I blurted, suddenly remembering who I was.

  Being intimidated by the powerful witch in front of me was not on my agenda today. Well, not anymore, anyway.

  Rolling her eyes, pretty-girl brought a badge out from her jacket pocket and flicked it in my direction. “I’m Gemma Abbott, Paranormal MI5 agent.”

  Trying not to roll my eyes, I slunk towards her to inspect her badge.

  Raising her eyebrows at me, she tucked it away. What? How did I know that she was who she said she was?

  “Why are you here?” I asked, straightening my spine when she looked around.

  Er, yeah, the ten frozen warlocks, including their leader, a witch, and my boyfriend… all frozen in time… probably didn’t look too good.

  “I’m a protector of the ley lines, and you’ve just used an incredible amount of power from them. Do you not know that it’s illegal to use it for your own gain?”

  Nope. Not that I would tell her that, of course. Who did she think she was? A protector of the ley lines? That was impossible, only Essex witches were…

  “Wait, who are you?”

  Shaking her head, she advanced towards me. “I just told you. Now it’s your turn. What’s your name?”

  “Devon Jinx,” I blurted. “I’m an agent from the Hunted Witch Agency. I’m dealing with a situation.”

  The witch went quiet as she watched me. She was studying every inch of me, from the bottom to the top.

  It made me feel insecure. Tucking my hair behind my ear, I wished that I’d brushed it that morning. Not that it mattered, I didn’t need to impress anyone. Especially not a bloody MI5 agent.

  “I’ve seen pictures of you, but I didn’t recognise you with all the mud.”

  Swiping at my face, I groaned as the crusty brown stuff came away on my hand. “Yeah, I’m trying not to hurt these bloody warlocks, but…”

  My sentence trailed off when she went over to one of the men that Gerard had shot. He was skilled at what he did, only maiming him in the leg.

  “Looks like he’s hurt…” She pointed to the man who had a frozen face. “Is that ice? You’re not doing a very good job at
keeping the peace.”

  She could be Mrs Judgy all she liked, she didn’t know who I was and what was going down. “Why are you here? This is my fight.”

  Clicking her tongue, she flicked her ponytail behind her head. It was straight, sleek, with a braid down the side. She must have a stylist. Maybe I was in the wrong agency.

  “Like I said, I’m a protector of the ley lines. I know when someone is using the line.”

  Sticking my hip out and putting my hand on it, I pretended to be aggressive, but really my legs were achy from the fight, and I needed to stretch my muscles. “Only Essex witches can… oh.”

  I shut my mouth when she raised her eyebrows. “Yes, Devon, I’m an Essex witch. Your cousin, to be exact.”

  My mother had told me that she had a sister who had become estranged from Helena at a young age. Someone had taken her in, but they’d quickly disappeared into the ether. Apparently, the woman had had a daughter.

  “I didn’t know I had a cousin.”

  Moving to Maxwell, Gemma studied his face. “No, my mother joined the MI5 when she left Helena. I’ve heard all about your antics with that one. Anyway, our ancestry line has been charged with protecting the ley lines while investigating serious underground crimes. I was trained from a very young age.”

  “You protect the ley lines?”

  Nodding, she came back over to me, checking her phone when it beeped. “That’s Dave. He’s my desk friend.”

  “Desk friend? Is that a new term for friends with benefits? Do you make out on a desk?”

  My giggle went ignored. I thought it was funny. Why did no one else ever think I was funny? They didn’t get my humour, they obviously lacked laughter in their life.

  “You don’t have a desk friend at the agency? It’s someone who works the computer when you’re out in the field. They have your back while you’re investigating.”

  Frowning, I shook my head. “No, but I have him. He’s better than any desk friend.”

  Pointing at Gerard, I smiled to myself as I eyed the tattoo on his wrist. It was poking out of his sleeve where he had his arm raised. He looked fierce, gorgeous. My Mr Gorgeous.