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

by Rachel Medhurst

  “You’ve always been there for me.”

  “No,” he exclaimed, rolling onto his back. “I should’ve been at the ritual, not chasing Cameron Fieldman. If I was there, I could’ve stopped him. You would been still part warlock. Your father would still be alive.”

  Wiping my face from the fresh tears that tracked it, I lifted Gerard’s arm and snuggled onto his chest. He held me, his breath uneven as he cried silently.

  “As a witch, you know that when it’s someone’s time to die, they do. My father chose to put himself in danger, he chose to help me. I wish he hadn’t. I wish I’d checked that he was inside the cairn before I cast the protection spell, but I didn’t.” Gerard went to lift his head, but I squeezed his waist. “No, I’m not blaming myself either. I’m just saying that what happened was supposed to be. As much as I fucking hate it.”

  The last part of my sentence was spat harshly. Gerard snorted as he looked down at me. It wasn’t in humour, but an emotion between despair and hope.

  “We have to live for him now,” Gerard said, trying to turn again.

  Instead of letting him, I slunk onto his chest, my whole body covering his. He wrapped his arms around me, a question in his raised eyebrows.

  “My parents, my father, showed me that love was more important than anything else.” I placed my chin on his pec and kept his gaze as I spoke. “I want to live like they did. For each other. For their child. For the good of our community.”

  “They were kind of heroes. Defying the odds and all that. I’m not sure we can be heroes.”

  His chest moved as he breathed in. I placed my hand over his heart to feel its beat. “I’ve fought my feelings for you, I’ve fought myself. I’m done.” Leaning up, I kissed his mouth.

  He cradled the back of my head, kissing me back gently. When I pulled away, he blinked quickly. I smiled as I laid my head on his chest and listened to his heartbeat.

  “I surrender to you,” I breathed. The heavy feeling that dragged my muscles down suddenly lifted. “No matter what happens, we remember him by loving each other until it’s no longer right to do so.”

  Air rushed around my head as he let his breath out. His arms held me to him as I almost melted into his bones.

  “I love you, Devon,” he whispered. “There will never be a time that I don’t.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  “So, let me get this straight,” I said to Kurt as we drove through the streets of London. “You’ve got one of Cameron’s witches from the factory in the back?”

  Kurt braked suddenly. My heart jumped in my throat as a cat ran in front of us. Jeez. Who would allow their cat to roam free in London? It was asking for trouble for the poor sweet thing.

  “Yeah.” Kurt waited patiently for the cat to cross before he moved again. “Justina has made a deal with him. He’s agreed to lure Cameron to a meeting in a public place so we can arrest him.”

  “And what does he get out of it?”

  Glancing at me sideways, Kurt raised his eyebrows. “Do you want to get Cameron or not? He gets away with a life sentence instead of a death sentence. Are you sure you’re ready for this?”

  Sinking back into my seat, I closed my eyes. It had been three days since I’d lost my father, and I couldn’t stay in my bedroom any longer. He would’ve wanted me to catch Cameron Fieldman and stop the witch killings.

  “Yes,” I said, rubbing my face. “I’m…”

  My sentence trailed off as the sunlight came through the window and bathed my whole being. The truth was, I had no idea if I was ready for anything, but I couldn’t not live. The distraction would help me to cope. My therapist had visited a couple of times a day since the solstice. I was getting the help I needed. She had even suggested I try to get back to work over the coming weeks. Okay, so it had only been three days, but I was ready to take down the man responsible for so many deaths.

  Sighing, Kurt rubbed a hand over his face. “Mackenzie turned up to that meeting with Gerard. He’s agreed to testify against Cameron in court.”

  Looking at him, I shook my head. “Do you think we jumped the gun with them?”

  The circumstantial evidence had pointed to the couple, but he had been right. We didn’t have hard evidence, although his bomb threat had been completely real, even if it was at Cameron’s house. He had led us to believe that we were going to be blown up. That was a crime.

  “No.” Kurt glanced in the side mirror. “We would’ve got there in the end. He just didn’t help his own cause.”

  For some reason, I was relieved that Mackenzie had come forward. It helped everyone in the long run and would lead to Cameron’s capture. Hopefully.

  “When we get to the park…” Kurt switched back to the mission in hand. “…don’t show yourself to the witch. Gerard and Justina will get him out.”

  “I feel bad that Justina is having to sit in the back with them.”

  Shaking his head, Kurt switched on his indicator and checked that he was clear to drive down towards the park. “Don’t worry about it. We don’t want him to see you in case he holds a grudge. You did kill his friends.”

  Ah, yeah, there was that. Well, he shouldn’t have been killing people by poisoning Cameron’s drugs.

  “What do I do?”

  Rubbing his hand over his hair, he suddenly looked a little afraid. “Gerard and I will check that the meeting place is clear of other paranormal creatures. We’ll then escort him to the bench where the meeting will take place. A barrier spell will be placed around the perimeter. If you feel like helping with that, you can. After that, you need to park the van a couple of streets away.”

  My gaze snapped to him. “What? I’m driving this beast?”

  His sharp nod was followed by a glare. “Don’t think I’m happy about it.”

  A smile came to my lips unbidden. Kurt had never given me such a bitter look before, and it was all over his precious van.

  “Don’t panic,” I said, a wicked grin emerging. “I’ll take great care of the beast. If it gets scratched, I’ll personally T-cut it out.”

  “Ha-fucking-ha. As if you’d know how to do that.”

  Well, he might have that right. I had no idea how to do anything with vehicles. Still, it gave me a tiny bit of joy to see the look of distress on my boss’s face. “If you’re this bad with an inanimate object, how are you going to cope with me babysitting your kid?”

  His bark of laughter made me glare this time.

  “As if I’d leave my baby with you.”

  “Huh!” I exclaimed. “I’ll have you know that I’m amazing with animals.”

  His frown made me laugh. “Are you calling my child an animal?”

  The implication hadn’t crossed my mind. Hilarity rose up my throat before I could stop it. The giggles overtook as Kurt shook his head, making it worse. “No, I meant that if I’m good with animals, I’ll be good with children.”

  Sighing, Kurt pulled up in a layby next to the park. “Not sure of your reasoning there, but we’ll see.”

  “When you’re wanting some one on one time with your woman, you’ll let me babysit, you wait. You’ll practically be begging.”

  His face finally cracked into a smile. “I’ll be begging both you and Justina by then. Wait, what… No, I’ll be begging you to look after the kid and Justina for-”

  “Okay!” I put my hand up, stopping him from going on. “I get it. Let’s get back to the present, shall we?”

  Straightening his expression when the back door opened, Kurt looked at me. “It’s good to see you smile.” Ducking me under the chin, he cleared his throat. “So, you’ll park the van in an underground car park not far from here. I’ve put it in the sat nav for you. After that, you’ll join us in that bush behind the bench. We’ll need to hide ourselves with an invisibility spell.”

  My gaze followed his pointed finger. Ah, okay. So, we had to literally go into a bush? Since when did our stakeouts involve nature? Not that I was adverse to it, I loved mother earth. However, a bush wouldn�
�t exactly be the perfect vantage point.

  A sudden knock on the window made me jump. Gerard’s face appeared, his bright green eyes looking between us. Opening the door, I let him help me out. They had to prepare the area before the undercover witch could get out. Justina stood beside the van, a questioning look on her face.

  “Did we hear you laughing?” she asked as I went over.

  The others walked towards the bench, their heads turning to see who was around. It was just after lunchtime in the middle of the week, which meant there were several people lazing in the park. We would have to protect the whole area so that no one saw what was happening.

  “You did hear me laugh. Kurt doesn’t seem to trust me with his van… or the baby.”

  Cocking her head, she smiled. “Well, I trust you with both. Although,” she said, gesturing at the park. “I’m not sure this is such a good idea.” Justina absentmindedly stroked her stomach as she spoke.

  The tiny bump that showed made a lump come to my throat. I was basically going to be an aunt. I couldn’t wait.

  Leaning against the van, I checked around us. The tooting of the cars kept making me jump. To say I was slightly on edge was an understatement. However, I was ready. “I’m sure it will be fine. You’ve planned everything out perfectly.”

  “I don’t mean the meeting,” Justina said, placing a hand on my shoulder. “I mean you.”

  “I’m not missing it for anything. If I don’t throw myself into my work, I’m going to get extremely depressed.”

  “We’re ready,” Gerard announced as he marched across the grass towards us.

  Kurt was standing by the meeting point, his arms folded. Our scene was set up, ready for action. In the van behind me, the witch who had survived my fire was waiting.

  “Cameron might be watching the place, so we need to hurry up,” Justina said.

  If he was, surely he wouldn’t come? Although, if he cared about his coven at all, he would check on the witches who had been running his underground drug ring.

  Opening the door, Gerard went inside the van. I stood back, out of sight. The man might have had an adverse reaction if he saw me. I did burn some of his mates to death. My bad.

  “You know your cue?” Justina asked me quietly as Gerard dragged the witch out.

  Ducking to the front of the vehicle, I threw a thumbs up to Justina before I opened the door and jumped into the driver’s seat. Yes, I was finally driving Kurt’s beloved truck. Frowning when I tried to reach the pedals, I froze. When I was a child, my father had sat me on his lap when he drove. He often joked that I might never be able to reach the pedals. It was a memory that I’d completely forgotten.

  Grief flooded me as I switched the engine on and almost stood to place my foot on the accelerator. It was a good job the thing was automatic, or I would never have been able to move it.

  Almost crashing into a car as I pulled out, I laughed when I saw Kurt put his arms on either side of his head as he watched me. What was he worried about? I was literally moving it two streets away before I joined them at our agreed location.

  Slamming the brakes on when the traffic light turned red, I cursed. Driving in London was a nightmare. No wonder Kurt never wanted anyone else to do it. It took a certain level of concentration that I didn’t have. Especially when I was fighting back the tears because of my dad.

  When the green light flashed on, I glanced to my left. My foot pushed the accelerator when I saw Cameron Fieldman striding towards the park. Shit. He was early.

  Grabbing out my phone, I steered the van onto the next street. My hands fumbled as I turned the wheel and dialled Justina at the same time.

  “Don’t tell me,” Kurt answered. “You crashed?”

  “No. I just saw Cameron. He’ll be there in a few minutes. Get out of there!”

  His sharp “copy that” was followed by a beep in my ear. He was gone. Shit, I had to hurry the fuck up. If I wasn’t there in time, I’d miss out on all the action. Not only that, if Cameron thought it was a trap, he’d disappear. My link to the ley line might be the only thing that would catch him. The others were powerful, but the ley line magic was unbeatable. They needed me.

  The tyres of the van skidded as I turned into the next road. Swinging it around the corner, I squeaked as the underground car park entrance came into view. Slowing down, I took a deep breath and managed to manoeuvre the fairly big vehicle under the height restriction post and find a parking space that was empty on either side. I needed all the room I could get to reverse the bugger.

  Getting out, I locked the van before walking back up through the entrance. The rips in my jeans made the air tickle my skin. My thin T-shirt was not enough coverage in the shade of the building. Goosebumps erupted on my arms as I checked around, my hair flying out behind me. There wasn’t anyone about. Good.

  “Here goes,” I whispered, feeling for my witch magic.

  It slowly filtered up as I chanted an invisibility spell before I flashed to Gerard’s side.

  “Shit!” he exclaimed as I landed in the bush beside him. “You scared me.”

  Smiling, I took his hand. He’d been scratching the stubble on his jaw, obviously nervous. Justina and Kurt were standing on the other side of him, their gaze trained on the man who sat on the bench. He had his back to us. It was rigid as he kept his gaze forward. He was anxious. It was obvious from the tap of his foot on the ground. I was about to speak when Cameron came through the entrance of the park.

  “This is it,” Kurt said. “When I say go, we all approach from behind. The witch must be protected at all times. Cameron comes with us, dead or alive.”

  Chewing on the inside of my cheek, I couldn’t take my gaze away from the magnetic mob coven leader. He strode forward when he caught sight of the witch. It was pretty risky to be hiding in the bushes that he now faced. Hopefully, he wouldn’t detect the invisibility spells that were active around all of us.

  The witch stood as Cameron approached. Offering his hand, Cameron went stiff when the man shook it. Oh, shit, it looked like he knew something was up.

  “I’m sorry about what happened. How’s everyone doing?” Sitting on the bench, he patted the seat next to him.

  As the witch lowered himself, Cameron tucked a hand into his suit jacket pocket. I was the only one who could see the left side of him. The bulge in his pocket made me swallow. No, not because I was thinking naughty things about bulges, but because he had a weapon of some sort.

  “He knows,” I whispered to Gerard.

  The others glanced at me, frowns on their face. They had heard me. The energy was thick with suspense, especially now the attention was on me, instead of the suspect.

  Gesturing with my blade, I forced them to turn their focus back to our goal. Where had my dagger come from? I must’ve been so wrapped up in the job, I’d automatically got it out without thinking. I did that way too much nowadays.

  “Some of them died. The bitch who did it got her comeuppance though,” the witch said.

  Ah, yeah, I’d forgotten how much they probably hated me, even though they were bloody murderers, the hypocrites.

  Cameron lounged back against the wooden bench, his hand still in his pocket. “I met her once,” he said, running a hand over his long hair. “She was full of pent up deliciousness that needed to be released. What happened to her?”

  My swallow was audible, or certainly to me, anyway. Gerard glanced at me, his expression clear. Yeah, the mob leader had pheromones pumping out, even now. He must’ve known that I was in the vicinity. He wouldn’t say something so-

  “She’s no longer a half-breed.”

  The pain that gripped my chest made me open my mouth to suck in a breath. Jeez, even the bastard witch could hurt me with the truth.

  “How the fuck did that happen?” Cameron demanded, leaning forward.

  Wow, he really had been in hiding the last few days. That wasn’t exactly a bad thing. Anyway, how did the witch know about my unfortunate circumstances?

 
Glancing at Justina, I glared when she shrugged an apology. She had told the man so he could gain Cameron’s trust. That wasn’t going to fucking work when the runaway already knew that we were here. Pushing my ire down, I clenched my free hand and waited for Cameron’s move. If the others didn’t believe me, then I had to be ready.

  Sitting forward as he leant his elbows on his knees, the witch looked sideways at his boss. “Some evil spirit warlock basically ripped out her link to magic. She’s just an Essex witch now.”

  “There’s no such thing as just an Essex witch,” Cameron said. “They’re more powerful than any of us. If they know how to use the ley lines. Still, I’d like to help her to unleash all that… frustration.”

  Shuddering, I ignored Gerard when he narrowed his gaze on me. His annoyance wasn’t aimed at me, but he knew Cameron couldn’t see the flick of jealousy that crossed his face. Why was he worried? As if I would ever allow the creep that killed witches to get close to me.

  Sitting back again, Cameron whipped something out of his left pocket. His right arm stretched out behind the witch, his fingers wrapping around the back of the man’s neck.

  “If you don’t come out now,” he shouted. “I’ll slice this man’s throat.”

  A knife was held in the air, the sun reflecting off the silver metal. My planned retort was cut short when the others thrust out from the bushes without even looking in my direction. I almost tripped as I followed, my haste making me clumsy. Who was I kidding? I was the clumsiest agent in the field. Probably ever.

  “Ah,” Cameron exclaimed, jumping to his feet. He dragged the witch with him, not even bothering to apologise for using the man to lure us out. “I can feel you, but I can’t see you. Don’t be cowards, now.”

  Glancing at Justina, I raised my eyebrows. Cameron was looking around, trying to work out where we were. Nodding her head to the side, Justina indicated that we move around to the front of the bench so there was plenty of space around us.

  “Freeze!” she said forcefully as she revealed herself.

  We followed suit, each one of us becoming visible. The other three held their guns high, aimed directly at Cameron as he spun towards us. My dagger was by my side, ready for action, but not instantly threatening. There was no point. Three guns was enough to keep him under control.