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

by Rachel Medhurst

  “Okay,” Justina interrupted before any unsavoury discussions could start. “I’ve cleared the energy that was here. It’s gone for now, but I’m not sure how long it will stay gone. Like I say, it’s not a magic I recognise.”

  “We better get on with it then.” Mary almost shoved Gerard towards the main stone. “I sent you the memo of what we’d need.”

  Kurt grunted as he unloaded the satchel from his shoulder. “Candles, salt, sand. Enough to build the foundation of a house.”

  Waving his remarks away, Mary glared at me. “And you?”

  Releasing the air from my lungs, I took the dagger out of my pocket. “One Essex dagger. This is my baby, okay? Please don’t do anything to harm it.”

  Holding out her hand, she pursed her lips without saying anything. There was no point in being teenagery about it. She had to use the dagger to prepare for the unlinking in three days’ time.

  Slipping my beloved dagger handle onto her palm, I stuck my bottom lip out. Not having my baby with me made me feel naked.

  Shuffling to the middle of the group as we gathered around, she handed the dagger to Kurt. “You’re going to have to cast the preparation spell. Justina would’ve been the one to do it, but now that she’s with child, we can’t risk it. I requested that Devon’s parents stay behind because too much magic will hurt the area. I need agents who will fight if there’s a threat.”

  Kurt’s face was serious as he took the weapon. His eyes widened slightly before he tucked it into his own pocket. Probably couldn’t handle the power it possessed. Or, maybe he was icked out by the fact that it had been close to my body. Either way, I missed the dagger already.

  “Gerard, Kurt,” Justina said, holding up her tablet and scanning it around the area for the seventh time. “If you could run the sand and salt around the perimeter of the clearing, I’ll watch out for any interference.”

  The men grunted but set to work instantly, chatting amongst themselves. Justina stood in the middle of the clearing, spinning slowly. Her tablet beeped every now and then, usually when it passed me. Yes, my energy was strong enough to cause an electronic reaction. Now that was something I could put on my CV. Just in case the agency ever kicked me out, which they better not. I wouldn’t know what to do without my new family.

  “Okay, so, Devon,” Mary started, pointing to the main stone. “You’re going to use this powerful energy portal to transfer the link. On solstice, the portal will open at exactly midnight. The reason we need to prep the area now is so that no one can steal the warlock magic when the moon hits the apex and you touch the stone.”

  My palms grew damp at the idea of the link leaving me. It was good. It really was good. It would be fine. I wouldn’t die. I would stay alive. And, I would be kickass without the extra magic.

  Mary tucked her long grey hair behind her ear. “It’s natural to be nervous, wee one.” Taking my hand, she wiped away the perspiration. “You’ve tasted the nectar of what magic can be. But, you’ve lost yourself in the process. Time to get you back.”

  Swallowing, I dropped my head, tears coming to my eyes as my chest squeezed. “Thank you,” I whispered.

  Slapping my hand, Mary brought me back to attention. “Buck up, half-breed,” she sang. “Let’s get to it.”

  Pointing at the stone, she indicated that I join her right next to it. “Once the protection spell is up, you and Kurt will stand side by side, just here.” Taking my waist, she pushed me to face the stone head on.

  It was quite a flat stone, considering how tall it was. But, there was something mesmerising about it. Something powerful.

  Mary chattered on. “Kurt will cast the blood spell.”

  “Blood spell?” I almost choked.

  Placing her hands on her hips, Mary frowned. “Of course. How else do you think we can keep you here? When the link goes, you’ll stay in this clearing. You do need to decide where to send it first.”

  “Oh, shit.”

  Yeah, Mary had asked me to speak to Maxwell about that. It may have slipped my mind considering Gerard had been in a coma, and Mackenzie had escaped prison.

  “You know what’s on the top of your priorities list then, don’t you? Otherwise, you’ll have a ton of ex-warlocks ready to completely annihilate you. And, quite frankly, I wouldn’t blame them.”

  Turning away to walk around the stone, Mary muttered to herself. I tuned her out as I stared. She was right. Of course she was. If I let my scatterbrain run amok much longer, every paranormal creature in the world would come looking for me for some reason or another.

  “So, the blood spell,” I said, following Mary as she walked around. “Is there anything I need to do?”

  Nodding, the seer grasped my hand in hers and placed it on the stone. “Yes. Your hand will be covered in blood. It must go here as soon as Kurt has sliced your palm. He will repeat the spell three times to connect to the earth, the sun and the moon.”

  “You know a lot about witch magic considering you’re a seer.”

  Letting me go, she grinned to herself. “Oh, I’ve seen more than you can even imagine in your mind. More than your whole lifetime will encounter. Be grateful that you get to contain your own experience to yourself and those around you. Being able to see what’s going to happen to everyone else is a tough burden.”

  I didn’t doubt her, not one bit. It was hard enough to figure out what I was going to eat for dinner, let alone everything she had to decide. A seer had a moral obligation to help those in danger when they came to them. If they had seen the outcome, they couldn’t tell a person, but they could guide them. The responsibility would send me over the edge.

  “Once the blood spell links you to the stone, you’ll be the only one able to control the portal when it opens.” Justina made me jump as she came to stand next to me. “We will leave it alone, with the strong barrier spell around the clearing, until the solstice. I’ll have a magical surveillance ward set up by the gated entrance.”

  Kurt strode over to us as he rubbed his sandy hands on his jeans. “All done. Let’s get the circle done. The candles are in place. All lit. We just need two more witches to perform the spell.”

  Movement commenced as we all walked to a candle. There were four of them, spaced quite far apart. I almost couldn’t see Kurt as he went behind one of the cairns.

  Four candles was an odd number. Well no, actually, it was even. But, still, it wasn’t often used in the spells I’d cast. Not that I’d done any traditional witch magic for a while. I would probably have to go back to practicing once I was disconnected from the ley line. A weird excitement made the tips of my fingers tingle as I thought about that.

  Reaching my allotted place, I turned to face the centre of the clearing. We had agreed an exact time to start chanting the barrier spell. The others were going to put in as much magic as I was. I wasn’t going to use anything more than I would have if I was a normal witch. A normal witch. Me, a normal witch? The hassles of my current life would fade away. It would be refreshing to not worry about anything other than whether the next bastard I was hunting was getting away.

  My phone beeped on the hour. Holding my arms to the side, I glanced at Mary to check all was well. She was holding Justina’s techy tablet, moving around in a slow circle to watch for danger. Apparently, my boss had turned the sound up so we could hear it if it went off. Mary wouldn’t be able to do anything to protect us, so we had to know if there was a threat.

  “Here goes,” I muttered as I started the spell.

  The small sound of my voice disappeared as the flame on the candle in front of me rose higher, almost scorching my face. Shit, we were a powerful foursome. No, brain, no. Just no. Why did my brain instantly go to inappropriate thoughts?

  The other flames around the clearing were as high as mine. That was good. I didn’t want to be putting too much energy into the spell. My feet were warm, but in a nice way, not the heat that attacked my nerve endings.

  Just as we were about to finish the spell, Justina’s tabl
et burst into high frequency beeps. Shit, there was an intruder. Rushing away from the flame, towards the inner circle, I looked around for the others. They were on their way, instantly heading to the centre.

  By the entrance, the shape of Bradley loomed. He suddenly leapt over the wooden gate, his tiny frame speeding towards us.

  Reaching into my pocket, I froze. Kurt had my dagger. And, he was currently half way across the clearing. Oh boy. We all knew that I wasn’t any good at hand to hand combat. Being so close to the entrance, I was the one nearest our enemy.

  “Mary!” I shouted. “Get in there!” Pointing at the cairn next to the stone, I planted my feet on the ground, ready to defend the others. If I had to use my magic, so be it.

  Doing as she was told, the seer went inside the built up circle of stones and ducked down. The roof had worn away a long time ago, leaving her vulnerable, but at least she was out of sight.

  “Devon Jinx,” the male seer called. “I have a message for you!”

  My arms flicked out to the side as warlock magic poured into me. The flames licked my skin, enticing me to pull more. No, I had to keep control. I had the right amount to-

  Something blasted past my shoulder, knocking me back. Pain burnt the skin that had been hit. Probably by a bullet. The little bastard, he’d drawn blood.

  “Devon!” Gerard shouted. “Get to safety.”

  He wanted me to flash out of there?

  Ignoring my man, I formed a ball of pink flames in my hands. The colour was tinged with red and black. That wasn’t a good thing.

  Bradley was closer, his arm extended. The gun he had fired was still aimed at me. “Your warlock magic is contaminated.”

  His shout made me pause. Was that the message?

  My arm throbbed as the others approached. They held back, clearly seeing the threat. If Bradley fired, he could hit me. Although, the bullet probably wouldn’t get through the ball of magic I was holding.

  Everyone in the clearing stopped dead. The proof of what Bradley was saying was evident. The black that swirled in my magic was new. I had never had that before. The only person I had seen-

  “Vernon Jupiter sends his love.” Flicking his hand in the air, Bradley pulled the trigger.

  Although there was a lot of noise, my ears focused on the swish of the bullet as it flew towards me. Shoving the magic ball, I grunted as the heavy energy weighed me down. As soon as it left my arms, I jumped to the side to avoid the bullet. The pain that sliced through my thigh told me that I hadn’t been successful. My arse collided with the grass, my bones rattling at the impact.

  “Devon!” Gerard shouted.

  Another gunshot rang out at the same time as my magic blasted into Bradley. He was hit by both, his small frame instantly crumbling to the floor.

  Somehow scrambling to my feet, I hobbled to meet Gerard as he came to me. I opened my arms, ready to be hugged, but he grabbed the tops of my arms to check where I’d been hit. Boo. I wanted a hug.

  “I’m okay. They’re just flesh wounds.”

  Lifting the sleeve of my shirt, he nodded. “Yes, a graze here. However, your leg is pissing blood. We need Kurt to get the bullet out.”

  “Wait!”

  He had gone to turn, but I tugged him back. “We need to finish the ritual.”

  “Don’t be crazy.”

  His green eyes narrowed on me when I put my hands on my hips, almost falling over as the pain from the bullet in my thigh made my head pound. “We have to finish this! Especially if Vernon is somehow connecting to our world.”

  Kurt came over after making sure Bradley was dead. Justina was closing down the slit of magic that had opened by the entrance again.

  “Get his body out of here,” Mary called as she came out of the cairn. “Then finish the spell!”

  My muscles started to shake uncontrollably. Gerard reached for me just as I stepped back. We had to finish the…

  Chapter Eight

  Gasping awake, I sat bolt upright. Kurt put a hand on my arm, forcing me to lie back down. The spell. Bradley. How did I get here?

  “You lost a lot of blood.” Kurt glanced around the infirmary. “But, I sorted you out.”

  Sorted me out? Was that code for something? The throb of the wound in my leg made me relax against the plush pillow.

  “The ritual?” My stomach was heavy as I tried not to worry about the implications of what had happened.

  Shaking his head, Kurt pulled his mixing table towards him. A bowl of red tincture was the only thing on it. Hopefully he’d healed me with his magic, although, the pain was still there, which meant that the bullet must have done some damage.

  “All went well.”

  Huh? Had I just woken up in the twilight zone? What the hell was he talking about?

  Smiling, he undone the dressing around my thigh. Blinking, I noticed that he’d cut my jeans. “Dude,” I exclaimed. “These were my favourite pair!”

  “Who gives a fuck about clothing? You were losing blood. I saved your life. You should be saying ‘thank you, Kurt, you amazing man, you’.”

  Did he seriously just do an impression of me? High pitched voice and all?

  A giggle escaped as my head fell back on the pillow. A sharp pain where he was working made me look up again. Teeth clenched, I watched as he peeled the dressing away. There were a fair few stitches.

  “It went deep,” Kurt said, obviously reading my expression. “I had to cut a fair bit.”

  “Nice.” My stomach rolled slightly.

  Picking up the bowl with the tincture, Kurt took the soaked dressing out and placed it on my wound. I sucked in a breath as heat pulsed, making the wound on my leg feel tight.

  “It’s a bit of cayenne, ginger and ginkgo biloba. Mixed with a healing spell, of course. It increases blood flow to the site of your stitches, quickening healing time to literally a day or two. How do you think I managed to get about so quickly after my legs were broken?”

  Sighing, I looked up at the ceiling. I felt a little bit strange. As if my head was swirling.

  “I gave you some opiate painkiller.”

  Kurt was seriously reading my mind.

  “No, you’re talking aloud. You have a habit of being weird when you’re delirious.”

  “You don’t say!” My brain cleared suddenly.

  Holding a wand over my third eye, Kurt had whispered something. “There, the effects of the painkillers will still do their job, but your mind is no longer foggy. Can’t stand you acting weird.”

  The thought of being offended slipped from my mind when I remembered the ritual. Kurt had said that it went well. That wasn’t possible. I’d passed out before we could even get the protection spell up, let alone anything else.

  About to open my mouth, I paused when Gerard strolled in, a box in one hand and Kingsley in the other.

  Tears popped to my eyes as Kurt moved away to let Gerard sit next to me. Kingsley did a flying jump from Gerard’s hand as soon as he was near the bed. My furry best friend ran up my good leg, then crossed over my stomach. Tickling the skin on my arm, he was light on his feet as he made his way up and onto my shoulder.

  Stroking him, I laughed when he squeaked loudly. There was nothing like a Kingsley hug. Picking him up, I kissed his little head and stroked his back. He nudged me, asking for a biscuit.

  “I don’t have one, little fella,” I whispered, feeling guilty for not spending more time with him.

  “Here,” Gerard said as he sat down. “I figured you’d greet him before me.”

  My gaze went to his, my heartbeat relaxing when he smiled and handed me a biscuit. He knew me well. Not that I didn’t love them both equally. Actually, that was bull. Kingsley won every time.

  “I love you, too.” I laughed, putting Kingsley on my lap so he could eat his treat.

  Leaning his elbows on the bed, Gerard put his chin in his hands as he looked up at me. “You’re so pretty.”

  A bolt of fizzling excitement rushed through me. Why was he being complimentary
? He was never-

  “Oh, yeah, that was my next job,” Kurt said. “I’m going to update Justina so I’ll let you take care of it.”

  What? Bringing my hand up to my face, I cringed when my fingers traced something dried on. “I still have splatters of my own blood over me?”

  A tide of anger tried to ride up my chest, but I released it through a breath. I wasn’t cross with Kurt, he had saved my leg. But, Bradley was a bastard for drawing blood in the first place.

  “The ritual!” I said again, frustrated that I was getting so easily distracted. “What happened? Is Bradley dead?”

  Nodding, Gerard got up and retrieved a bowl of water. Coming back, he sat down and soaked a cloth in it.

  “Both your magic and my bullet killed him.” Brushing my hair away from my face, Gerard started to rub my cheeks, cringing when he glanced at the bright red blood residue left on the cloth.

  His touch was tender, yet deliberate. He didn’t want to hurt me, but he wouldn’t be too gentle. He needed to get the job done. It was basically his whole persona. It was no wonder I loved him. A man who was tough enough to reach his goals, but kind enough to soften a blow.

  “Kurt said the ritual went well. What was he talking about?”

  Gerard’s neck flushed with a light pink as he avoided my gaze, his concentration completely enraptured on cleaning my face.

  “Tell me!” My patience was wearing thin.

  Kingsley turned three times on the sheet that covered my top half before settling on my good thigh. He knew important stuff was going on near my shoulder.

  Clearing his throat, Gerard sat back and dropped the cloth in the bowl. “There, all clean.”

  “You weren’t complimenting me at all. And, there I thought you’d turned a new leaf.” My smile was joined by the slight raise of my eyebrows.

  Shrugging, Gerard winked before turning serious. “Your mother joined us at the clearing.”

  Ah, good, he was going to tell me exactly what had happened. Hopefully they had found a way to finish it without me, although that kind of seemed impossible.

  “We then…” Gerard almost choked on his words. “…don’t get angry, but Kurt had tied a tourniquet around your thigh. Mary kept a close eye on you while we finished the protection spell.”