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

by Rachel Medhurst

  A footstep outside my door had me on my feet, moving closer to it. My little room was nothing more than an oversized cupboard, the door quite inconspicuous. However, Jamie’s room was obvious. He had several signs on it, announcing that he was a man of free will.

  The footsteps passed my door, the sound echoing slowly down the hallway. I was about to open my door when I remembered Beauty. The sword was leaning against the wall beside my bed. If the intruder saw me yielding a blimin’ great sword, maybe they would just leave. It was worth a try.

  Silently taking it in my hand, I used my free hand to pull on the handle of the door. It clicked open without a sound, the hinges well oiled.

  Sweat lined every inch of my body as I gingerly stuck my head into the hall, searching both ways. I was close to the front door, which was firmly shut. I would’ve heard them if they’d entered that way, which meant they must have got into the apartment another way. Were they magical creatures?

  Spotting the shadow of a back as it disappeared into the living room, I stepped into the hall. My feet were bare against the cold uncarpeted lino flooring. A shudder shot through me as the sound of someone bumping into something reached me.

  If Jamie was awake, he would’ve heard the intruder. Knowing him, he would come out, guns blazing or motor-mouth shouting, which would completely ruin my element of surprise. I had to act now.

  My heart thumped in my throat as I snuck into the living room. A street lamp illuminated the room, revealing two hooded figures who stood by the window, searching for something.

  About to run at the first intruder, I paused when Jamie’s door opened and he flew into the room, arm raised. He clutched a tall silver lamp as a cry escaped his lips.

  One of the intruder’s spun towards him, his own arm coming up.

  A grunt left Jamie as he was knocked down, the lamp skidding across the floor and away from him.

  “What do you want?” I shouted, bringing Beauty up in front of me.

  The intruders turned to me, their bright red eyes glowing from under their hoods. The rest of their features were hidden in the shadows. A shiver moved me as I tried to keep my stance strong.

  “It’s her,” one of the men hissed, his voice distorted.

  My breath was fast as I watched them move towards one another. They were male, their body language heavier and more dominant than most females. Including me.

  Lifting my head, I prepared to fight, even though I had no idea who, or what, I was about to battle.

  “You need to leave,” I squeaked, revealing the fear that made my muscles quake.

  How did they know me? What did they want?

  Another grunt resounded from Jamie as he rolled over and attempted to lift himself up from the floor. I edged closer to him, kicking him gently in the ribs in warning. He glanced up at me, nodding when I stretched my eyes wide, telling him without words to stay the hell down.

  “We can take her,” the other man said, his voice more distinct.

  Nodding, his friend turned to me. “Careful with her. She’s royalty.”

  The snort of amusement left my lips before I could control it.

  Both men paused, shocked by my reaction to their claim. What was it with the paranormal world raising me way above my station? Although, if I was a bright woman, which was questionable, I would use that to my advantage.

  A growl rose from their throats as they charged at me. Okay, time to fight.

  Holding up Beauty, I danced out of the way, hoping that Jamie had the sense to get out. “Come on,” I teased as they spun on their heels. Slipping to the side of them, I swiped the sword towards the nearest one. It collided with his arm as he raised the limb in defence. The intake of his breath accompanied by the pressure of the blade making contact, made me smile. I had hit him. Wow, I had actually–

  A fist ploughed into my arm unexpectedly. Pain shot through my muscle as my fingers released the sword. Managing to grip the handle before it fell, I tried to turn. Another fist pounded into my head, knocking it back.

  “Don’t hurt her too badly,” one of the men said. “Just knock her out.”

  I blinked as pain radiated through my jaw, and my feet stumbled on the cold floor. Heart pounding, I managed to right myself and jump out of the way. My sword was loosely clasped in my hand, the weight of it slowing me down. And yet, I kept hold of it, not wanting to expose myself.

  Both men came for me, a cry resounding from them.

  My body shook as I stood my ground, – goodness knows why – until they got closer. Using the floor, I kicked off one foot, swinging the sword in a big arc. The tip of the sword sliced into one of their stomachs. Blood gushed as he tripped back, gripping his wound.

  The other stayed back, avoiding the sword by an inch. I threw my weapon on the floor as a warm rush of energy shot through me, propelling me towards him. His arms came up to defend himself as I grabbed them, wrestling with him. The heat of fire left my palms, scorching his black hood where I touched it.

  Before I could damage him further, he puffed into thin air, leaving me on the floor. I checked the room, searching for the other intruder. He was gone too, leaving a trail of blood on the threadbare rug.

  An uncomfortable energy settled into me as I huffed, almost collapsing on the ground.

  Jamie appeared, holding my phone. “I’ll ring the police.”

  Choking out a refusal, I tried to catch my breath. “No, don’t.”

  Bending down beside me, Jamie put a hand on my back. “Why not? Those men just tried to kill us!”

  Almost laughing, I pushed up from the floor and took out my phone. Dialling Tinniel, I shook my head and waited for him to answer.

  Jamie watched me, his forehead creased as his hands wrung together. There was no getting away from keeping my little secret now.

  When Tinniel answered his phone with an abrupt greeting, I tried not to burst out crying. “I need you.” My words were heavy with emotion as I barely managed to keep a grip on myself. He snapped that he was on his way before hanging up. I didn’t know whether to be shocked that he was coming straight for me, or whether to feel frustrated that he hadn’t soothed me over the phone.

  “What’s going on?” Jamie said, his legs giving out as he lowered himself onto the couch.

  Stains lined the arm of the sofa where a previous tenant had ruined the material. Cigarette burns were dotted all over it, making it appear as if we were drug addicts, not able to look after our own furniture. I couldn’t live like this anymore. Nor could Jamie.

  My breath returned to normal as I climbed to my feet and looked around. Each piece of furniture was scratched or desecrated. My own bedroom didn’t even have a window, let alone a real bed.

  “I’m–”

  The explanation on my tongue disappeared when the front door burst open. Great, was that the police?

  “Lyla?”

  Phew, it was Tinniel. And an army by the sounds of the pounding feet.

  “In here!” I called, realising that any moment now, the police could turn up.

  If a neighbour had heard the commotion, they surely would’ve called the authorities? And, the last thing any of us needed was an interrogation about the blood currently spilled over the carpet.

  Thundering into the room, Tinniel stepped in front of me, studying Jamie as he cowered on the couch. Naz was next, his gaze tracing the blood that had splattered onto my PJs.

  “Yours?” he snapped, coming into the room and searching the floor.

  Shaking my head, I looked down at myself, cringing at the mess. The horrible red substance was even under my fingernails. How was that possible?

  My shaky breath released as I tapped Tinniel’s arm in an attempt to break his stare off with Jamie, who visibly shuddered.

  “We need to get out of here.”

  Nodding, Tinniel turned and took hold of my arm. What was he doing? I was perfectly capable of walking out on my own. Plus, I needed my things, including Beauty.

  “We can’t leave him,
” Naz said, ignoring his twin when he growled low in his throat.

  They were talking about Jamie. Had Tinniel seriously considered not helping my friend? What a bastard.

  As I ripped my arm free, I bent to retrieve Beauty. The tip of her blade was covered in slick red blood. I had to clean her up, rid her of the grossness. Wait, how was I not panicking? Shouldn’t I be clinging to Tinniel, begging him to rescue me? Instead, my heartbeat was slowing, and my hands no longer shook.

  “You’re disconnecting,” Naz explained, nodding at Jamie. “You think we should take him with us?”

  Jamie stared, his gaze darting to whoever spoke.

  A sigh escaped me as I looked around the room. Although I hadn’t known him for long, Jamie had helped me tremendously. I wouldn’t leave him behind.

  “Jamie,” I said, going closer to my friend and crouching in front of him. “I’ll explain everything later. Please, come with us so we can protect you.”

  Swallowing, my friend looked into my eyes. “I didn’t know you could fight like that.”

  A chuckle escaped me as I got to my feet, helping him to stand. “Trust me,” I started. “I had no idea, either.”

  Tinniel took hold of my elbow when I went to walk my friend out of the room.

  Naz stepped up beside Jamie and asked him to grab his belongings. Together, they disappeared out of the room, leaving me with Tinniel.

  “I need your help,” he rasped.

  Heat shot through me to all the wrong places. Something about the way he ducked his head, his hair falling over his face, made me want to wrap my arms around him. Ugh, why did vulnerable men push all the right buttons in us women?

  “What is it?” I tried to adopt a cool and calm collected energy, letting him know that I wasn’t about to drop to my knees in front of him, begging him to let me help him. Oh no, not me.

  “I want to go back in time to see your attackers.” Holding out his hand, he wiggled his fingers. “If you let me link to your memory, I should be able to see what happened.”

  My fingers slipped into his unwillingly, the warmth of his palm making me shudder. “Sure, you can use me. I mean… you know… for my memory, nothing else.”

  His eyebrows snapped up before a small smile lit his face. A sharp nod was followed by his eyes closing. I held my breath, not wanting to disturb his Zen.

  Hold on, the scene around us changed, almost rewinding.

  Naz and Jamie zoomed back into the room, until they resumed their position of a few moments ago. Not long after that, I was in the centre of the room, holding my sword up to the light to inspect the blood on the blade. Man, this was creepy.

  “We can’t leave him here,” Naz said again. This time, his voice was distorted.

  It rewound fast to when Tinniel and Naz arrived, skipping to when I was on the ground, panting. The men appeared again, their black hoodies almost invisible in the shadows cast by the outside streetlamp.

  The swing of my sword made me appreciate how much power I’d put behind my attack. Beauty did look pretty good on me if I did say so myself.

  There… the men’s eyes were visible as everything halted. Tinniel had frozen the scene in front of him. Letting go of me, he kept his eyes closed as he walked towards the men, who stood by the window.

  “I can’t believe this,” I breathed, unable to help myself.

  Tinniel went closer to the men, studying what could be seen of their faces. “Not many people are able to see my power. I’m surprised you can.”

  Whoa, so we could speak with his time travel weirdass spell going on? He was an incredibly talented sorcerer, that much I had to admit.

  “I’m no ordinary person.” My muttered response had been meant in jest, but his sharp gaze snapped over his shoulder, landing on me.

  “That’s true. I keep forgetting you’re a royal witch.”

  Royal witch, my ass. I was pretty certain that wasn’t the case. However, I wasn’t going to disagree with him in the middle of some funky spell.

  Bending his head, Tinniel studied the men’s faces further before taking out his phone and snapping some photos. Jeez, he could record history with his magic? That was some far out shizzle.

  “I don’t know them,” he said, tucking his phone away. “If they’re in our database, we’ll find them.”

  The illusion around us dropped, leaving the room bare. A sharp breath entered me as the blood stain on the floor reappeared. A buzz sounded in my mind, a strange sensation pulsing my ears.

  “Your gift is incredible,” I said, shaking my head to get rid of the sound.

  Snorting rather unceremoniously for such a serious bloke, Tinniel took one last look around the room. “Don’t judge something you know nothing about.”

  Say what now? His sharp retort sent a chill over my spine as irritation climbed each nerve. I squeezed my fingers into fists in an attempt to stop myself from reacting. “What’s your problem? I’m paying you a compliment and you’re acting as if I’ve insulted you.” Good job at keeping cool, Lyla.

  He actually went ahead and rolled his eyes before offering his hand. As if I was going to hold his hand right after he got PMT. That’s pre-man-tension.

  “Do you want to stay here? Alone?”

  Growling low in my throat, I tucked Beauty into my side, checked that my phone was in my pocket and slammed my palm into his. As soon as our skin touched, an electric bolt shot through me, forcing me to rip away from him.

  My butt landed heavily on the ground as the scene around us changed. Soft grass brushed against my fingers, cushioning my fall.

  Tinniel stood above me, his eyebrows drawn into a frown as he stared at his palm.

  My stomach fluttered as I licked my lips, unable to comprehend what had just happened. A spark had literally set my insides alight. Emotion hovered under the surface of my skin, threatening to push tears into my eyes. Had Tinniel just somehow cracked open my cold, closed heart?

  A house loomed behind us, surrounded by a wooden fence and high bushes. We were still in London. I could hear the sirens in the distance, even in the middle of the night. The road was a cul-de-sac with a dozen large expensive properties.

  “Where are we?”

  Tinniel jolted out of the staring competition with his hand. There was no way he was going to win that one, considering his hand didn’t have eyes. “Home.”

  Ignoring me on the ground, Tinniel strode forward and shoved through the gate. I watched him go, my jaw pretty much touching the ground.

  “Everything okay?” Naz asked as he came up the path, almost bumping into his twin.

  “No,” Tinniel snapped, pausing next to his brother. Lowering his voice, he kept his gaze away from me, ducking his head to whisper. “We just got the charge.”

  I had no idea how I heard what he’d said, he’d literally breathed the words, but Naz’s gasp made me push to my feet. I was about to launch into a tirade about rude men when Tinniel looked at me, his eyes full of a deep unrecognisable emotion. The intensity made my throat close, almost choking me.

  “Go inside,” Naz told him. “I’ll deal with it.”

  Tinniel didn’t wait to be told twice, disappearing up the path and through the painted black door without a backwards glance. His hunched shoulders made me want to massage them, just to ease out the tension. Wait, why the hell should I be nice to him? He was a rude, ignorant sorcerer who had no regard for me whatsoever.

  “Have you ever experienced the charge before?” Naz interrupted my internal attack on his brother.

  Oops, I kept forgetting that he could hear my thoughts.

  I pretended to brush invisible grass off my jeans in an attempt to clear my mind. When I looked up, Naz watched me, his arms crossed over his muscly chest.

  “What are you talking about? What’s the charge?”

  Nodding his head towards the door, he indicated that I follow him. I had nowhere else to go, even if I did want to run away and forget about everything. Plus, I had just been attacked in my own home… wh
ich meant someone was after me.

  “The charge,” Naz said, holding the front door open for me when we reached it, “is a physical manifestation of an inner connection.”

  Huh?

  “It means that you and Tinniel are connected somehow.”

  A burst of hilarity expelled from me as I glanced around the hallway. It was fairly majestic, the centre square-shaped with a black and white tiled floor. Several doors led off to different parts of the downstairs and a wooden staircase hugged the left wall before turning and disappearing up to the right, ending in a landing that went out of view.

  “Connected? I doubt that.”

  Seeing Jamie in a room nearby, I hurried across the hallway and into the library. He was alone, sitting in a leather armchair.

  “Are you okay?” I asked, sinking to my knees in front of him.

  Blinking, he looked away from his clasped hands and frowned when his gaze landed on my face. “I’m okay. What about you? You… How did you learn to fight like that? And, who are these men?”

  Throwing my arms around the man who had shown me such kindness, I hiccupped a sob. Living with him had saved me, and yet, it had also drawn him into a world that I knew nothing about. It wasn’t fair to him. In fact, I had to protect him somehow.

  “I’ll explain everything. First, we need tea.”

  Standing, I gestured at Naz, indicating that he should help me achieve my promise of a warm beverage.

  The sorcerer frowned before rolling his eyes and turning on his heel.

  I scuttled after him, catching up halfway across the tiled hallway floor. “What do we tell him?” I hissed. “I want him to be safe.”

  Opening a wooden swing door, Naz let me go through it first. My feet skidded to a halt, squeaking on the immaculately polished floor. The wood finish went throughout the kitchen, the cupboard doors a similar light wood and the work surfaces a lovely medium grey granite. A huge black Aga was nestled in a brick alcove, just like the farm kitchens of days gone by.

  “This is gorgeous,” I whispered as Naz flicked on a modern chrome kettle. “You should really have an old fashioned kettle, though. You know, the ones that whistle.”

  Waving away my interior designer advice, Naz grabbed mugs rather haphazardly. “Tinniel is the cook. He wanted the fancy oven. Me, however, I like convenience. Give me a microwave meal any day.”