The Witch & the Bounty Hunter (Federation of Magic Book 1)

by Rachel Medhurst

  The buildings were the typical red brick found in London and the pavement was littered with chocolate wrappers and beer cans. My city held such rich history, and yet, sometimes I wondered where our British pride had gone.

  A sign for a fish and chip shop glared ahead, bright in the dim street. Wait, there were no other shops nearby. Where was the club?

  The surrounding houses were mostly in darkness, except a light here and there.

  “Don’t start!” a man shouted from the doorway of the chippie.

  He was facing inwards, his slurred words giving away his intoxication. Ducking past quickly, I let my hair fall over my face. I didn’t need a cocky drunk teenager noticing me. I was too ready for that drink.

  Getting out my phone, I checked the map. Hhmm… According to the electronic device, I was near the club. Why did it look like a slummy plain street? No clubs around, no–

  “Stop it!” a female’s voice, tight and frustrated, reached me as I went to pass a walkway.

  Unable to help myself, I peered into the darkness, freezing when I saw a woman being held by her wrists. A street lamp above just highlighted her golden mass of hair as the man with her yanked her further into the shadows.

  “Leave me alone!”

  Her desperate plea made me kick into motion. Thrusting down the walkway, I took three silent steps before lunging.

  My foot kicked out in front of me as the man turned, obviously hearing my approach. His hand caught my black leather boot, twisting it so my leg wrenched painfully. Sucking in a breath, I went with the movement, able to wrench my foot free.

  “What’s going on?” the woman cried, backing away.

  Not bothering to answer her whimper, I threw out a fist, grinning to myself when the bones in my knuckles crunched into the man’s hard jaw. He grunted as he continued to come for me, his arms outstretched.

  Backtracking, I swung out of the way, adrenaline forcing me to stay and fight. The street lamp illuminated him as he snarled loudly. My heart flipped into my chest, constricting my throat.

  Crap, he was… well, not my type, that was for sure. His eyes bulged, the bright yellow of them reflecting the light. The thickness of his skull showed through the skin on his forehead, making it look like he had a bowling ball on top of his neck. I wasn’t usually one to be rude, but he was a scary ugly mo-fo.

  “What are you doing to her?” I asked, my previous courage deciding to do a runner back to where it had come from.

  His lips pulled back from his buck teeth, revealing very sharp incisors. Errr… What had I walked straight into?

  “It’s none of your business. Although,” he spat, spittle literally flying from his mouth, “I admire your courage.”

  I would be a fool to believe that his words were a compliment. He still advanced, his hands held up by his side. He was going to beat me until I was a dead girl. I could feel the anger from where I stood, pulsating out to me.

  Maybe it was time to run. Would I be classed as a coward if I did? Well, even if I did, who gave a flying f u c k? Surely it was better to save my skin than to try and beat a freak?

  “Leave her!” the woman shouted.

  Her words made the man pause for a second, his gaze flicking to her. I took my chance. My knees crouched gently before I launched in the air. Kicking both legs out, I shouted as all my strength went into the move. His head was turning back to me when my thighs wrapped around it, tightening around his neck. He grunted loudly, the sound muffled by my most private parts.

  Eww, I hadn’t quite counted on being so intimate with the man. The thought made me shudder as I reached for his head, ready to wrench it. My instincts took the lead as my hands wrapped around his skull.

  A blast of heat so powerful it burnt, exploded from my palms. The force of it sent us flying to the ground. My legs released their prey as I crashed into the wall of the building.

  “My god!” the woman cried. “I think you killed him!”

  Every inch of my body shook as I looked down at my hands. The skin on them stung like a bitch, small bumps raising to form liquid filled blisters.

  What in the name of sanity had that been?

  The woman bent down to the man, who laid on the floor, completely unconscious. Or so I hoped. I took a shaky breath as I got to my feet, unable to use my hands for anything.

  Pressing on his neck, the woman looked up at me. “He’s alive. Barely.” Shaking her head, she licked her lips. “Wow, I’ve never seen a witch defeat a vampire before.”

  I played the part of a fish well as I gaped at her, my mouth opening and closing before I cleared my throat. A vampire? Did I seriously have to tell a grown woman that there were no such thing as vampires? Or witches.

  “I don’t suppose you know where the club Mystic Fever is?”

  Blinking, she frowned at me, her pretty eyes puzzled. “Sure, it’s just at the end of this walkway.”

  Nodding at her, I shuffled my feet. “Okay. Well, I hope your friend no longer attacks you.”

  Her eyes bore into me, the heat of her gaze making me awkward. Pointing towards the shadows, I tucked my free hand into my pocket, hissing in a breath when the sharp sting of burns rubbing on denim made me pull it free. “I’m going to go.”

  I set off, not looking back. I had no idea what had just happened, but the pain in my palms hurt like a real bitch. Still, I had to find Tinniel and Naz. Once my mind was made up, I stuck to it. Even if weird stuff happened along the way.

  “Do you need anything?” a thin man with short blonde hair approached as I neared the end of the walkway.

  Ahead, a small group of people waited outside a wooden door. A yellow light flickered above it, showing a small sign that read Mystic Fever. Righttt, talk about grimy and underground.

  Before I had hit my head, my world had consisted of a day shift in the local supermarket, followed by a kickboxing class and a pint down the pub. I had no friends, preferring to keep to myself. I had never found it easy to talk to people, although if the situation had called for it, I made an excellent karaoke partner. Not that many people in the pub had appreciated me butting in on their singing sessions.

  “No, thank you,” I replied to the man when he probed me about drugs.

  This did not look like the sort of place where two very handsome twin men would hang out. Why the hell had I come?

  The door swung open just as I was about to turn and leave. Two women came out, grumbling about the smoking ban. Following them was a burly guy with red eyes. Yes, red eyes.

  “Is this place…?” I couldn’t quite form the words as the drug dealer eyed me.

  Something about him was off. I didn’t feel afraid as he stared at me, his intent too focused. He was probably high, but still, my gut told me to pay attention.

  “You’ve never been here, have you?”

  Although he looked like a rat, his face softened when I blinked, unsure how to answer. If it appeared that I had no idea what was going on, I would probably be eaten up and spat out. This wasn’t your usual London club, full of wannabes and Barbie dolls. This place was different.

  “Don’t worry, darling,” the man said. “You’ll fit right in.”

  “I will?”

  My choked reply made him smile. “I get it. You’ve been wondering why you’re so different your whole life.”

  I may have been staring at him, considering the bastard had read me like a bloody book. I hated it when people did that. Not that many bothered to try to read me. Still, it was unsettling.

  “I can tell you don’t have a coven. Same here.” Sighing, he took out a cigarette packet and offered me one.

  Refusing politely, I swallowed down a snap response that wanted to explode from me. Wait, why did I bother?

  “Clearly we’re in the same boat. Have you been diagnosed with anything?”

  His frown creased his forehead as smoke left his lips. “Excuse me?”

  “Covens. I mean, I’ve watched all the witch programmes, they’re fun, but I don’t think
we have the same delusions.”

  Instead of punching me in the face, which I had sort of expected, he laughed loudly. A couple of the people hanging out by the door glanced over, ignoring us when they saw that we just stood chatting, nothing unusual. Except for the fact that my palms were still on fire, the blisters throbbing badly.

  “Let’s go inside,” the man said, throwing his cigarette on the floor. “I’ll show you my delusions.”

  Was it me or had that sounded like a weird invitation to some dirty strange sexual fantasy of his?

  My hesitation made him laugh again. “I didn’t quite mean it like that,” he said, indicating that I follow him. “Trust me, it will all become clear.”

  As the man with red eyes went back inside, I found my feet moving. Not backwards, like my brain had tried to instruct, but forwards, towards the door. I was crazier than I had thought, agreeing to go inside the creepy club.

  My heart thumped loudly in my ears as the man opened the heavy wooden door and ushered me inside. As soon as my feet stepped over the threshold, a heady dark beat thudded through the soles of them, vibrating my body.

  The small hallway was only a few steps long, the red lighting making it look like a stripper club. Not that I’d been in stripper clubs. They weren’t my scene. Films had become my social go to. Yeah, the loner had to find out about the outside world somehow.

  “Straight ahead,” the man said, indicating a set of black double doors.

  A woman came through them, laughing with a friend. They shoved themselves into the toilets, which were near to the main door, the sound of hilarity following as the door swung shut behind them.

  So far, it was pretty normal. What weird voodoo did the man want to show me?

  Pushing the doors, I walked through them, shuddering as I came to a stop on the other side. Blue strobe lights flickered in my eyes, making me squint. The music wasn’t too loud, a low undercurrent of sexy bass beats and a sensual overtone of percussion. A dancefloor was directly ahead, on the lower floor. Several men and women danced, their bodies swaying or grinding together.

  “Drink?” Pointing to a bar on the left, drug man set off without waiting for a reply.

  Couches and armchairs were set around the raised semi-circle that encased the dancefloor. At the head of the floor, a DJ bent over his decks, his eyes closed. To be fair, the music was pretty good. I hadn’t been clubbing much in my time, but I liked the smooth erotic vibe of the place. It was enticing.

  What was wrong with me? When did I ever use the word enticing? Even if it was in my mind?

  “What do you want?”

  Reaching the bar, I plonked myself on a stool next to the man. “You do know this isn’t a drink-drink? It’s more of a drink-because-I’m-thirsty drink.”

  Inclining his head, he smiled. “Yes, don’t worry. I promised to show you what it was like in here. Not because I want to get in your pants, but because I know that look.”

  “What look?” My snapped response was met with raised eyebrows.

  Okay, so I was a little defensive. He had to give me some slack, I had been trying to find a club all on my own. Not that I wasn’t used to being on my own. Oh, who was I kidding? Ever since Tinniel and Nazeriah had turned up, I was on edge. Big time.

  “I’ll just have a beer please. Anything that comes in a bottle.”

  His snort was short lived as the barman approached. There was something odd about his gait. I quickly looked away when he made eye contact.

  “What can I get you?”

  His deep, deep voice was too hard to ignore. Looking at him from under my hair, I studied his broad shoulders. What was different about him?

  Ordering the drinks, the drug man flicked him a coin. As it spun in the air, a blue strobe caught it, glinting off the silver. A wolf’s head became visible before it flipped, showing a symbol I had never seen before.

  “That’s a strange pound coin,” I noted as the barman caught it in his hand, thrust it into his pocket, and turned to retrieve our drinks.

  Frowning, drug man shook his head. “You really haven’t been exposed to your natural world?”

  Ah, here we went again with the delusions. Did I play along or keep a sane mind?

  “Hey!” a chirpy voice called.

  Drug man turned, a smile spreading across his lips as a bubbly blonde-haired, big-busted straight out of American high school woman, ran down the other side of the bar, coming to a halt when she reached us.

  Leaning forward, she extended an arm to drug man and stroked his cheek. “How are you doing? Is business going well?”

  “He failed to sell to me,” I interjected without invitation. “So, not really.”

  Clearing his throat as the beauty blinked at me, drug man waved away my remark. “Ignore her, she’s new.”

  “New?” The woman straightened up and offered her hand to me. “Welcome! It’s always good to meet new people.”

  “Is it?”

  Her sickly sweet nature made me want to vomit. I wasn’t the type of girl who threw her arms around strangers in an attempt to–

  “Come here!”

  Wait, was she–?

  Shit, yes. She climbed up onto the bar, jumped down the other side, and threw her arms around me. I stood frozen, looking over her shoulder at the drug man, who laughed his little head off.

  “What’s your name?” the woman asked, pulling away and grabbing my hand.

  Sucking in a breath as pain sliced through my palm, I tugged away. The crazy lady noticed that I had gripped my hand to my chest, trying to act all cool and collected. Truth be told, my skin was still burning like mad.

  “What happened?” Grabbing my arm, the woman yanked so that I had no choice but to show her my palm.

  Her gasp made me drop my gaze. Yeah, it was disgusting and really weird. How could I explain what had happened with the bloke outside?

  “Looks like you’ve been in a fight and misused your magic.”

  Choking, I shook my head quickly, trying to pull my hand away. Instead of releasing it, the woman closed her eyes and whispered something that I couldn’t hear over the music.

  “It’s okay,” Drug man said. “She’s a healer woman.”

  Tingling in my hands intensified before the pain subsided. Looking down at where our hands joined, I blinked, unable to comprehend the relief. My skin didn’t burn anymore. In fact… Ripping away from her, I inspected my palms. They were clear, perfectly smooth. How the hell…?

  “I see you’ve met Lyla Ford.”

  The masculine voice came from nowhere, making me jump back. Hitting my hip into the bar, I cursed under my breath as my gaze landed on Tinniel and Nazeriah.

  “Lyla Ford?” the girl hissed, her eyes bulging out of her pretty face.

  Seeing a bottle of beer on the bar, I whisked it into my hand and downed a big gulp, almost choking when all four sets of eyes turned to stare at me.

  “Can I help you?” I squeaked, regretting my insane decision to come to this place.

  “What?” The girl smacked drug man around the head. “You could’ve told me I was talking to royalty, you twat!”

  Smiling at me, she stepped forward and curtsied. Yes, bloody well curtsied. “I’m Synthia Holland.”

  “And, I’m Zac Finery.” Drug man went to bow.

  I thrust out a hand in an attempt to stop him, almost knocking him over with the force of my push.

  Okay, it was a little bit of an overreaction, but what the actual fuck?

  “Sorry, I, um… I… need to go.” About to thrust past them, I paused when Tinniel stepped forward.

  His hair was tied on the top of his head, his normal scowl fixed in place. With his green eyes fixed on me, he slowly licked his lips.

  “We’re surprised you came.”

  Indicating Naz, he glanced around the club. Several people stood at the end of the bar, sipping on cocktails. It was a classier club than most. It was nice to see people actually having conversations as opposed to downing shots, snogging
and vomiting everywhere. Typical English lager louts.

  “This is all a little overwhelming,” I said, trying not to faint as stars danced in front of my eyes. “I think I need to leave.”

  “You must do as you wish.” Pushing the words through his mouth, Tinniel glared at his brother with a told-you-so look.

  Faking a smile, I trod past him, my boots heavy on the glass floor. Wait, glass floor? Looking down, I almost stumbled when I saw the booths below us. People sat in them, drinking and laughing. Tables laden with cocktails and nibbles were encircled with plush white leather seats.

  “Lyla, Lyla, Lyla,” Naz chanted, linking his arm through mine before I could escape. “What’s the harm in having a drink with some new friends?”

  The man towered over me, his crop-haired head looking down at my feet. I tried to hide the shudder that ran through me. His energy was lighter than his brother’s, and yet, one squeeze of his thick meaty hand around my skull would kill me. Funnily enough, something about the glint in his eye and the tattoos on his neck, made me agree to his offer of a beer.

  “Great!” Waving to Zac and Synthia, Naz put his arm around my shoulder and guided me across to the steps that led to the dancefloor.

  Tinniel followed, his shoulders lowered and that ever present scowl lining his face. Would the man ever smile? Although, considering I was about to enter a private booth with two strange men, my mind should’ve been more alert and not wondering if one of them was ever happy.

  When my feet hit the dancefloor, I clenched my hands into fists. The music vibrated through the floor, almost stroking the soles of my boots. My black jeans changed colour as the strobes lit them up. The dark grey of my cami top brightened, making it look electric blue.

  “Through here.” Naz indicated an open archway.

  There were several of them in the wall surrounding the dancefloor. As we passed one, I paused, looking inside. A man and a woman laughed together as… wait, what? Was that a floating barrel of beer above their table?

  Before I could confirm the vision with my own eyes, Naz pulled me through an archway, gently leading me to the booth.

  “What was that?”

  Settling on the plush white leather seat, I reached for a bright pink cocktail. Naz knocked my arm away as he joined me, indicating that his brother should do the same.