“Okay,” I said, clearing my throat as I made a decision. “Tell me how to overcome it.”
I was speaking to them both but looked at my father. If he had experience with addiction, he would be the best person to help me wean off my magic. The thought of working closely with him made my skin warm slightly. It might not be the best reason, but hopefully, he would be there for me.
“It’s a process. It doesn’t happen overnight. We won’t be able to start implementing anything until you get rid of the warlock link. In the meantime, I’d like you to cut back on your magic use. Not altogether, just slightly.”
Swallowing hard, I nodded. I was determined to overcome the thing that was drawing me away from my family. If I didn’t rectify it, I would do stupid things. Like keep the warlock link. Yeah, it had gone through my mind a couple of times. Which was exactly why I needed my father’s help.
“I do need to do this magic thing for Gerard though. I know it’s not going to help my addiction, but-”
“I have to agree,” Kurt butt in when my father went to protest. “I know it’s going against all protocols, considering, but we need to try it. The longer he’s in a coma, the worse it is for him.”
A rush of minty air expelled from my father’s mouth. “Okay, you do what you need to do. I’ll go and inform your mother of what’s happening. She’s currently watching the CCTV cameras.”
Poor mum. It was a boring job. However, it had to be done. The streets of London were littered with paranormals. The agency had a duty to the people, and the government, to keep surveillance on our kind.
“I’ll come and join her soon,” I said, standing up.
Opening his arms to me, my father smiled when I frowned. “Can’t I give my daughter a hug? I’ve watched you battle various creatures, destroy a slave trade, defeat your grandmother. I’ve not been able to help you. You’re too strong. You haven’t needed me. However, I’ve never seen you stop to deal with your own shit. Not properly. And, now, I can finally help.”
Giggling, I wrapped my arms around him. “You said a naughty word.”
As his scent filtered up my nose, my muscles relaxed. There he was, my father. He’d been distant. I’d been distracted. It was pretty ironic that we would bond over my addiction to magic. Nothing was ever normal in the Jinx household.
“Let’s get on with it.” Kurt came over, almost shoving us out of the way in the process.
The air rushed around me as my father left. My mother wouldn’t be as accepting as he was about my problem. Especially since her mother had been in the same position. Or, similar anyway.
“Okay. This might sound strange, but this spell is a conduit for earth magic. The herbs are healing, attracting. So, I’m hoping that by having you place your fingers over his heart, with this on the tips, you’ll be able to send magic from the ley line into him.”
“Like an electric shock of magic?” I asked, screwing my nose up when Kurt indicated that I scoop out the gloopy green grassy paste.
The colour instantly reminded me of Gerard’s eyes. Tears almost erupted as I realised that I hadn’t seen them in five days. Somehow, I regained control and swallowed down my sorrow.
“Put your fingers here, like this.” Pulling down the blanket to reveal Gerard’s bare chest, Kurt placed the tips of his forefinger and middle finger on my man’s pec, just over his heart.
My tongue flicked out to lick my lips as droplets of perspiration suddenly formed above them. It had grown hot all of a sudden. What if it didn’t work? What if I couldn’t bring him back?
“It’s okay,” my boss whispered, indicating with his head.
Doing as he directed, I pressed gently, the paste making my fingers slide. Closing my eyes, I connected into mother earth, asking her to give me the purest magic of all. Anything to bring Gerard back to me.
As the tingling shot up my legs, the magic followed. Envisaging the pure white flames that had shown on my blade before I disarmed the bomb, I imagined them going down my arms and into Gerard.
Like warlock magic, witch magic could be manipulated to do what the caster was seeing. Although, only ley line magic could be visible. I didn’t open my eyes when Kurt gasped, but I could feel the flames licking down the skin on my arms. They drained out of me and into my man.
“It worked.” Kurt’s voice was so quiet, I almost didn’t hear him.
My body was buzzing. A calm, almost blissful feeling enveloped me as I sighed out a breath. This. This was the freedom I craved when I performed magic. It was also why I was addicted.
Opening my eyes, I expected to see bright green irises. Instead, Gerard’s pale lids were still closed.
“What do you mean it worked?” I snapped. “He’s still in a coma!”
Steadying the shake of my hands by gripping them, I turned to my boss, ignoring the squelch of paste on my fingers.
“I saw the white light go into him. It might take some time for his aura to absorb it. It might be a little while-”
The sound of pounding footsteps caused Kurt to pause. Justina thundered into the room, her cheeks bright pink, her hair escaping from her little ponytail. Her breath was short as she looked at us.
“We’ve got a problem,” she said. “Mackenzie has escaped prison.”
Chapter Two
“This is his last known address,” Justina whispered as she checked her tablet.
The thing beeped quietly as she tucked it away. It was often attached to her hand. She recorded every single detail in the high tech gadget. I wouldn’t know how to use it, even if they gave me a degree in it. My technophobe mind was resigned to the fact.
“So, Cameron’s sister… what is her bloody name?”
Prepping her gun, Justina tucked it into the belt under her jacket. Her long legs were encased in leathers, her boots finishing the hot kickass look. My outfit left a lot to be desired. Jeans with holes so big in them that my legs were more bare than covered and as usual, my trade mark mop of dark hair. Unbrushed.
“Candy Fieldman.” Gesturing for me to follow, she checked the street as she stepped out from behind Mackenzie’s neighbour’s garage.
Justina had revoked the ban on flashing between cities. It would’ve taken far too long to travel from London to Scotland by train. Fuck what the human government said. We had to find Mackenzie before he put people in danger again.
“Keep your head. No magic, or if you have to use it, only a little, please.” Ah, it seemed my other boss had noticed my problem too.
Well, my father had made me promise that I would cut back. Maybe that wouldn’t be a bad thing. Especially after I’d accidentally killed five witches in the drug factory.
“What a terrible name,” I said, almost as an afterthought.
Approaching the house in the leafy suburb, we kept our footsteps light, casual. The detached house was lit up by the setting sun. It was a warm evening, too warm. I was already sweating.
“I doubt they’re here, but it’s worth checking.” Justina indicated that I went around the back.
Slipping my hand into my pocket, I pulled out my dagger. I wasn’t prepared to go into a warlock’s den without some sort of protection. I’d tried to fight Mackenzie with my fists, but it hadn’t worked very well. Maybe the threat of my blade would ward any enemy off.
It was quiet around the back of the house. The garden was pretty, flowers blossoming in their little beds. Would I ever live on the outskirts of London with Gerard? Would we have little kids running around with our ten dogs and fifteen cats? What? I liked animals.
Double glass doors were on the far end of the house. I couldn’t walk in front of the windows, in case anyone was inside. My phone vibrated against my leg just as I ducked under the kitchen window. The sound made me jump, making me almost curse out loud.
The text on my phone was from Justina. Alerting me to sounds in a room on the first floor of the house. Ah, who could it be?
Glancing in the kitchen window, I smiled. No one there. Trying the back door,
I twitched when it wouldn’t budge. Magic was the only way I could get in. Using it was my lifestyle. How the hell would I beat an addiction to it?
Whispering the spell, I pushed the thought away and silently opened the door. The smell of a home well lived in made me pause. Mackenzie had a life. He was in love. And, that was the problem. He had let himself become obsessed with the idea that he couldn’t be in a relationship with his witch.
My gaze traced through to the hallway as Justina crept through a gap in the front door. Either she’d done a spell, or the couple had been careless.
Voices raised above us suddenly. Almost marching down the hallway, I met my boss at the bottom of the stairs.
“You!” Mackenzie shouted from the top.
Shaking his head, he bit his lip. His long leather coat hung from his slumped shoulders. His cheeks grew dark red as he stared at us.
A pretty tall girl came to stand next to the warlock, tugging on his arm. “Let’s go,” she said, tears streaming down her face. “Please.”
Glancing at her, he scowled. “You never fight for me.”
His attention returned to us as he dismissed Candy and moved onto the next step. “How did you get here so quickly?”
Justina raised her gun, her feet apart, her stance ready to shoot. I kept my dagger pointing down by my side.
“You don’t have to do this, Mackenzie,” I said, trying to reason with him.
The slight raise of his eyebrows told me how ironic my words were. What choice did he have? Managing to break out of the agency’s prison meant that he had major backup. Surely, Candy Fieldman wasn’t strong enough to get past all of our wards?
Looking at the witch, I decided to change tactic. She obviously loved Mackenzie. Why else would she be risking so much?
“Are you seriously okay with him killing people by spiking the drugs your brother deals?”
Justina was obviously proud of my diplomatic approach. Her silence meant that she trusted me to lead with the questions. Candy was a pretty girl. Her long dark hair was messy where she’d obviously been rushing around with her man. Their shared look was fleeting, but the threat in her eyes gave me pause. Was she the one running the show?
“You’ll never understand,” she said. “Let’s go, Mac.” Taking his hand, she tried to yank him towards her.
My chest squeezed tightly at the use of my old nickname for Gerard. All the anger that had boiled within me when we had argued about my link to the ley line had disappeared. I just wanted my man back.
“You are determined to kill people,” Justina interrupted before they could disappear. “If you continue to run, the government will issue a warrant for your death. They will not tolerate supernaturals who are willing to kill.”
The flash of guilt that made Mackenzie cringe was caught by my keen eye. He wasn’t in control. That changed everything. Well, kind of. The bastard had still thrown a bomb at me. He would pay for that. Shame it wouldn’t be me who was dishing up the punishment.
“If you don’t leave now,” Candy said. “You’ll blow up with this building.”
A sudden humming of energy intensified. The pair disappeared just as we made a run for the stairs. Grabbing Justina back, I stopped her from ascending. If the energy in the house was anything to go by, Candy was telling the truth.
“We need to get out of here,” I said, dragging Justina to the front door.
She tried to pull back, her initial instinct to search the house for evidence. However, I could feel the magical pulse of the house getting stronger by the second.
Thrusting through the front door, I grabbed my head as a high pitched sound blasted through my ears. Justina caught me before I fell to the ground, my legs giving out from under me. She obviously felt my urgency because she half dragged, half ran me away from the building. We had just reached the footpath when a blast echoed behind us, sending us sprawling into the road.
Smoke choked me as debris littered the ground around us. Justina coughed before she stumbled up to her feet. Sitting up, I cringed as I rubbed my knees where I had scraped them on the concrete. The grazes stung badly, my ripped jeans useless for protection. Maybe my wardrobe was in need of a kickass update.
Staring at the impressive destruction that used to be Mackenzie’s home, I shook my head in disbelief. The houses on each side were completely intact. Candy had obviously created a spell to protect them. If they were killing people just to drag Cameron down, why would she care about Mackenzie’s neighbours? Something was off.
“Who are you calling?” I asked as Justina dialled someone on her phone.
“The police. Can you do a spell to make it look like the house is intact please? Quickly.”
My skin itched all over as I thought about the intensity of the spell she was asking me to cast. It was my job to use magic in the field, but I had promised to rein it in to help deal with my addiction.
Placing my hand on the ground, I took a tiny amount of pure power from the earth beneath me. Whispering an illusion, I covered the torn apart building with the spell. To others, it would look like Mackenzie’s house was normal. And yet, as my fingers shook slightly, I stared at the smoking ruins of brick and mortar. We could have been blown up. How many times would the illegal couple risk our lives?
“The police are coming to deal with the destruction.” Justina held out her hand to me. “We need to search what’s left of the premises before they get here. Just in case any evidence has survived.”
Letting her pull me up, I brushed myself down as much as I could. Bits of unknown material clung to my hair as I tried to pry it out with my fingers.
Glancing over her shoulder, my boss gestured for me to follow. Tempering the urge to use magic to filter through the shit left over, I went with her. Physical labour wasn’t a part of my job description. Especially when there were a bunch of policemen on their way.
“She had something to hide,” Justina said as we picked our way through the shattered hallway and into the small office by the front door.
Going to the desk, I rooted through the drawers. “I think she’s controlling him. It seems strange that she’s so determined to keep him out of prison. It’s a shame they got away.”
Stretching up, Justina reached to a shelf that still clung to a partial wall. It was ridiculously dangerous in the building, but I understood why we needed to try and gather any clues before the police descended. If I broke so much of a fingernail while pissing around in MacKenzie’s home, I would kill him in more ways than one.
“There’s nothing in this desk,” I muttered, my gaze drawn to the length of Justina’s back as she struggled to reach something.
“I would offer to help, but as I’m probably the length of your legs, I doubt I can offer you anything of value.”
Justina’s snort was swallowed by the bang of something hitting the ground as she swung her arm. A wooden box smashed open as it landed, spilling the contents onto the light blue carpet.
Bending down, I picked up the vials of clear liquid as a grin spread across my face.
Justina’s phone started to ring. Our gaze locked as I held up the evidence that suggested MacKenzie had been in on the poisoning.
“Hello,” Justina answered.
The instant tensing of her back made me watch her closely. Chewing on her lip, she listened intently to whoever was on the end of the line.
“Really?” Justina glanced at me, her light blue eyes narrowing on my hand. “That’s interesting.”
Thanking the person who had obviously given her information, she hung up. Holding out her hand, she indicated that I should give her the drugs.
“These must be the poison,” I said, frowning when she shook her head.
Tingles spread up my arms as I gave her the vials and stepped back. The confusion written across her face made my stomach clench in anticipation. Someone had just given her some juicy news.
“That was the lab. The drugs from the factory were clean. There was no trace of the poison that’s kil
ling clubbers. It looks like Keith is cleaner than we thought.”
Crap. That meant Mackenzie must have a different premises. It seemed that the case wasn’t as closed as I had originally thought.
Chapter Three
Sweat lined my forehead as I came out of the gym. Working out was the only way I could stem the temptation to use my magic. Not only that, it helped to stop the urge to break down and cry every time I thought about Gerard.
The hallway in the agency building led me to the swimming pool. The swimming pool was in the basement. I often escaped work by doing a few lengths. Although the building was only small, there were several floors. A handful of agents lived with Justina and Kurt, but they were rarely around during the day.
Without thinking, I went through the motion of changing into my swimsuit, my mind swirling my thoughts. Keith was still guilty of running part of the drug trade, but his place in Scotland wasn’t being used to contaminate the drugs. Why had Mackenzie been in that building the day I had caused an earthquake if he wasn’t poisoning the drugs?
Diving into the water, I swum the length of the pool, allowing the cool liquid to ease my tense muscles.
Coming up to the surface, I gasped in a breath, almost jumping out of my skin when Lilia’s feet appeared right in front of my face.
“Devon,” she said before I could turn to go back the other way.
The witch had become a vital part of the agency. Her vulnerability had warmed me to her when I had rescued her. That sweetness still remained, but her strength had returned. She was now an official agent. Although she never worked in the field, she had slowly become one of my good friends. Especially now that she looked after Kingsley so well when I wasn’t around.
“Everything okay?” I asked, brushing my wet hair back from my face.
Grabbing the hem of her dress, Lilia bent down towards me. Her wavy blonde hair was unruly as she reached forward and cupped my chin. “Gerard’s awake.”
Hunted Witch Agency Box Set Books 4-5 (Hunted Witch Agency Set Book 2) Page 16
