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

by Rachel Medhurst

  Following the guys, I stayed quiet as we made our way into the club.

  Synthia and Zac muttered between themselves, clearly discussing what had happened.

  Naz strode onto the dancefloor, where there were several people already assembled.

  They had no shame in glaring at me, showing their disapproval. Five men and three women were gathered around, sitting on bar stools that had been placed on the floor. They could stare at me all they wanted, I didn’t care what they thought about me. Unless it was bad, then I’d want to correct them, let them know that I wasn’t as amazing as my mother.

  My palms started to sweat as I took a seat next to Naz, using his hulking body as a shield between me and the creatures who only looked away from me when Klarita clattered in, her high heels clicking loudly as she walked.

  I had only met Donald and Klarita. The others must have been disappointed to know that their previous boss’s daughter was no match for her. Or so I assumed. My mother must have been kickass to run a whole bounty hunter federation.

  Looking down at myself when Klarita ran her gaze over me with raised eyebrows, I frowned. What was wrong with my ripped jeans, cami top and messy wet strands? Yeah, I probably should’ve attempted to style my bobbed hair. Or brushed it at the very least.

  “Jimmy has Tinniel,” Klarita announced, pausing dramatically when the others gasped.

  Come on, they must have known that by now. They were obviously putting on a show to make me feel worse than I already did.

  “Not everything is about you,” Naz whispered.

  “This…” Klarita started, gesturing at me. “…is Lyla Ford, Mariah’s daughter.”

  And cue another gasp, this time with all eyes on me. Shrinking in on myself, I ducked my head, letting my hair fall to cover the hot flush that covered my cheeks.

  “Lyla,” Klarita addressed me. “These are the bounty hunters your mother hired. She got to know each one of them personally, so they’re dedicated to finding her. Of course, they’re having to concentrate on their own bounties, but they’re available if needed.”

  “There’s something you don’t know.” Donald looked at me, his wrinkled eyes narrowed. “Your mother was planning her retirement. She hoped that she could leave without you ever knowing about us. She would be extremely disappointed to know that you’d become a hunter yourself.”

  Synthia’s hand slunk onto my wrist, her fingers pressing gently when my stomach dropped. Was my mother so ashamed of me that she never wanted me to be around such powerful people?

  Klarita must have seen the look in my eyes. She cleared her throat, straightened her spine and looked around at the hunters. “Moving on. We need Lyla and her tracking skills. I’ve always pushed Mariah to train her daughter. As you know, their line is dying out. It would be a shame if that did happen, although the risk is high. Especially if they’re not under our protection.”

  “Excuse me?” I barked, a spark of heat flying over my skin as I stood. “You’re talking about me as if I’m not here. And it sounded like you issued a thinly veiled threat.”

  Coughing, Naz grabbed my arm and tried to pull me back. I shrugged him off as Klarita looked down her nose at me before clicking her fingers at Donald. He produced a cigarette, lit it for her and placed it in her waiting hand.

  “Like I said,” Klarita drawled. “I encouraged your mother to capitalise on your skills. And now we have you, we’re helping you do that. Can you not already see how powerful your magic is? What’s wrong with me being excited about keeping that alive? You’re royalty, and we need you.”

  She made a good point, I couldn’t deny it. Maybe she had been the one to encourage the twins to hire me as a hunter. If that was the case, I had to be grateful. I was lost before they’d found me, outside the foodbank, clutching onto my bag of groceries like my life depended on it.

  How things had changed in a matter of days.

  “Let’s move on,” Klarita reiterated, her eyebrows raised in challenge.

  Sinking back onto my seat, I nodded for her to continue. She looked down at her nails, picking off the mauve nail polish and dropping it on the floor.

  “Jimmy has Tinniel. Jimmy also knows where Mariah is. Apparently. As you know, several of our bounties are connected in this ring of human trafficking. Goddess only knows why the officials let them all out on bond, the stupid arseholes.” Klarita fluffed her blonde hair and dismissed the arseholes with a wave of her hand. “We find Tinniel, we find Jimmy.”

  “How do we know he’ll keep him alive?” one of the men asked, flicking his hand to create a small flame out of the end of his fingertip.

  Lighting a cigar with it, he puffed out the flame by shaking his hand as if it were a match. Wow, that was a cool trick, one that I would love to master. How amazing it would be to create fire.

  “He’s a pyro,” Naz whispered. “It’s his thing. You’ll have to stick to tracking.”

  “I can be a pyromaniac, thank you very much,” I replied, going quiet when the woman sitting next to Naz glared in our direction.

  Klarita cleared her throat as she watched the spiralling smoke rise up from the man’s cigar. “We don’t,” she muttered, finally answering the pyromaniac’s question.

  “He’s not a pyromaniac,” Naz said under his breath. “He’s a pyrokineticist.”

  “Ohhhh.” Yeah, still wasn’t sure what one of those was, but his magic was incredible. Maybe if I asked him to show me, I could work it out.

  Naz shook his head when I raised my eyebrows at him. It was easy to wind the brother up. I wouldn’t trust me with fire as far as I could throw it. Literally.

  “We have Lyla,” Klarita said loudly, drawing my attention.

  They did? What did that matter? And had I already signed a contract that I wasn’t aware of?

  Coming closer, Klarita looked me in the eye, staring into my soul. Fidgeting on my seat, I wrung my hands together, glancing at Naz for distraction. Nope, when I looked back, she was still gazing into my eyes as if I had a secret locked behind them, and she desperately wanted to will it out.

  “I’m a descendent of the first witch line your ancestors created,” she said. “I can use Earth’s pure magic to create spells. I’ve seen the most powerful sorcerers, warlocks and of course, witches. Until you.”

  “I know,” I quipped. “I’m pretty terrible. I should be ashamed. I don’t live up to the whole royal hype.” Gesturing my hand in a stupid impression of a royal wave, I giggled awkwardly, wishing the pyro would light a fire under my feet so I would at least have an excuse to be distracted.

  Sighing, Klarita slowly shook her head from side to side. “Oh, but you do.”

  Either we were having a moment, or I was being tested. Her intensity caused sweat to break out on my neck. Moving my head to match the shaking of hers – don’t ask me why – I cringed when my hair stuck to the perspiration. “I do?”

  “You,” she said, jabbing a finger in my direction before she whipped around and marched to the head of the group, “will connect with Jimmy again.”

  “I… Er…” I stuttered. “I can’t. I tried just now, upstairs. He was with a witch who cast a spell and shut me out.”

  Swearing, Klarita turned back to face us. Her cheeks were pink as she closed her eyes briefly. “Yes, why doesn’t that surprise me? He’s a wily one, that Jimmy. Time is running out on his bounty, we have to find him.”

  “Can’t she connect to Tinniel?” the man with the cigar asked, blowing out a long line of smoke.

  Naz sat up straight in his seat. “She is… connected to him. It might be worth a shot.”

  If it were that simple, why hadn’t we thought of it before? Although, a part of me was reluctant to track Tinniel. Wouldn’t it be classed as spying on him?

  “Try it,” Klarita ordered with a flick of her wrist. “Please.”

  My pulse increased, my throat going dry. She wanted me to connect to Tinniel right there? In front of everyone?

  “You’ll be fine.” Naz nod
ded his head in encouragement.

  Well, there was no point in being shy. I would have to be queen or something one day. Maybe not, but the royalty angle had been used far too many times for people not to expect a crap ton of amazingness from me. Might as well disappoint them now.

  Closing my eyes, I repressed the shudder that tried to rock my whole being. If I focused all my energy on Tinniel, I would forget about the audience who now stared at me, expecting a spectacular show full of fireworks.

  A bright light started to build behind my eyes as I pictured Tinniel’s lush, often messy, shoulder-length hair. His green eyes were piercing, even when he was downcast, which was most of the time.

  “Can you see him?” Naz whispered as my inner vision cleared.

  “Yes,” I muttered when my breath inhaled sharply, and I rushed around a bathroom.

  No, it was Tinniel. I could feel the thumping of his heart, deep in his hard muscular chest. His breath was short as he switched on the shower and the sink tap, turning them both to the highest heat setting.

  “He’s in a bathroom. I’m really hoping he doesn’t go to the toilet.” Perspiration broke out on my skin when someone hammered on the door, calling Tinniel’s name. “Someone’s outside, ordering him to hurry. It must be one of Jimmy’s men.”

  Tinniel’s hand came up and covered his pec. I might have stared, just a little, as he looked down at his bloody bruised fingers. Had he been fighting his captor?

  Glancing up, Tinniel looked directly in the mirror, which was starting to steam. He moved closer, his eyes boring into me. Well, it couldn’t have been me. He was looking at himself.

  A shock of sexy electricity bolted between my thighs when his lips spread into an irresistible grin. I had never seen him so happy before. It was as if he was letting me know… Surely not?

  “What’s happening?” Klarita asked gently, her foot tapping loudly in the distance. She was clearly impatient for me to do my job.

  When Tinniel winked, I almost jerked out of his perspective. Who had stolen my miserable hunky brooding sorcerer? Not that he was mine. Yet.

  “He’s leaning towards the mirror, which has now filmed over with steam. He… He’s writing something on it.” Unable to prevent a smile, I kept up with my commentary as my heart beat rapidly in my chest.

  “What’s he say?” Naz said, his voice hitched slightly higher than usual.

  “He says… Lyla, London Eye. Tonight.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  A chilly breeze brushed against my cheeks as I climbed out of the car. Naz had driven us to the car park nearest to the London Eye, a huge Ferris wheel that had been built to mark the millennium.

  Marching across the park in front of the wheel, I pulled my hood down low over my face and glanced at Synthia, who did the same.

  Naz had analysed the buildings around the landmark, choosing a couple of rooms above the aquarium. He was quickly able to arrange a stake out, which was crazy considering we weren’t police.

  I just hoped we would get there in time. Tinniel’s message had been pretty basic. It wasn’t a surprise considering he had only just managed to wipe the steam away before one of Jimmy’s men stormed into the bathroom and our connection was severed.

  My chest squeezed as I righted my dark sunglasses and linked my arm through Synthia’s. He had felt me connect with him. Now that I knew what the charge was, I could tell that the others were right. We were fated. Not that he wanted to be linked to me, but still, he had no choice.

  “There,” Synthia muttered as we approached the London Eye, swerving to the left to head straight into the aquarium.

  Looking over my shoulder, I spotted a red carpet on a walkway that led to the capsules on the Eye. Ah, there would be a private event. Jimmy.

  “No one’s there yet,” Synthia said into her nifty earpiece as we went into the aquarium entrance.

  Naz obviously replied because she chuckled as we paid for our tickets, waving to him when he appeared beside a door marked private. We followed him silently, sneaking through the door and up the stairs.

  “Wow,” I exclaimed, ripping my hood down and my glasses off when we stepped into a boring looking office, “that view.”

  The sun beat down on the Thames, highlighting the ripples in the water. Straight ahead, the London Eye rose in its glory. It was the perfect spot to watch what was happening below.

  “This…” Zac gestured to a laptop and what looked like a telescope. “…is the future in scope outs.”

  Frowning, I went over to the telescope and looked through it. “Whoa. I was about to say that it looks like a simple get up… but… Just wow.” A shudder went over me as I focused.

  Through the little hole, I could see the people of London, walking up and down the sidewalk lining the river. A small dot highlighted each person, bringing up their name, date of birth and address. It was a snapshot of hundreds of people, going about their day, totally unaware that we knew exactly who they were.

  “Is this magic?” I asked, taking the coffee cup that Synthia offered.

  Smiling, she shook her head. “Nope, that’s all human. The coffee is magic, though. I just asked Naz to whip it up. Much quicker.”

  “I can’t believe that.”

  “Me neither.” She sighed. “I wish I could magic up coffee. It would make life a lot easier.”

  Snorting a laugh, I went to stand next to Naz, who looked out of the window, his arms crossed over his chest as he chewed on a fingernail.

  “It looks like he’s having an event,” I said.

  The tall handsome sorcerer glanced down at me, his forehead creasing in a frown. He had been quiet ever since Klarita had ordered us to take Jimmy down and bring Tinniel home. Her threat to fire us was probably still ringing in his ears. Once again, not that I’d signed a contract.

  “I don’t give a monkey’s bum about the job,” he said. “Bounty hunting is fun, exciting and a good earner, I’ll admit. However, bringing Tinniel home is more important. If that means letting Jimmy go…” His sentence trailed off.

  Reaching for him, I clasped his forearm and looked up when he glanced down at me. “I’ll follow your lead. Whatever you want me to do.”

  “Well,” he said, his chest raising when he inhaled. “I’m glad you brought Beauty. Might need you to use your kickass kickboxing skills. My brother won’t want to leave Jimmy, so you might also need to use your feminine charms.”

  Eyeing my breasts, he shrugged and smiled apologetically. “I know, I’m sorry, it’s totally sexist.”

  “Just a bit!”

  “Needs must.” He checked the clock on the beige wall. “The charge will draw him to you. I have a feeling that Jimmy will want to show my brother off to his friends. A little high profile, if you ask me. Totally risky. Totally Jimmy.”

  Staring out of the window, I placed my hands on the cold stone windowsill and closed my eyes. “It sounds like you know him well.”

  Picturing Tinniel in my mind, I grunted when nothing came. Was he somehow blocking me on purpose or had Jimmy worked out what was going on and taken Tinniel to see his witchy friend?

  “We have a profile of every bounty. It’s detailed so we can track their lifestyle and find them in the hideaways that suit them the most.”

  Naz nodded at Zac, who winked in return.

  Ah, Zac really was the tech guy, obviously taking care of that side of things.

  “Why would Jimmy rub it in your face? Surely he knows you’ll be on to him?”

  A small chuckle rose from Naz’s chest as he glugged from his coffee cup. “He doesn’t know we have the Ford tracker witch, although he knew we were trying to find you.”

  “He must know, he had a spell put on him to cut our connection. Plus, he left that note for me.”

  Synthia joined us. “Not for you, for us. Your mother is our boss, our leader. He knows that we want her back and will do anything to track him. Not only that, he’s addicted to the chase.”

  Glancing out of the window, I lean
t closer when I spotted a woman, dressed in a stunning cream skirt-suit, walking onto the red carpet. She held a clipboard and pen as she sauntered to the front and stood looking out over the water.

  There was still a queue leading up to the Eye. Jimmy must have only hired a couple of capsules. In fact, going to the telescope, I moved it to face the monument. Being so close to it, I only needed to zoom in a little bit. “It won’t be long,” I muttered. “Ah, there.”

  One of the capsules was empty, a reserved sign plastered across the door. Inside, there were tables laden with canapés and bottles of champagne. Jimmy really was a man of fine taste, clearly wanting to put on a show.

  “She’s human,” Naz said, gesturing to the woman who answered her mobile phone. “He’ll have a handful of human women there so the vampires can feed.”

  Eww. My face screwed up as I turned to look at him.

  He shrugged unapologetically, a small smile lighting his lips. It was the first time I’d seen him humorous since Tinniel had gone missing. I didn’t blame him, it must have been tough knowing that the last time they’d been separated, one of the brothers hadn’t made it.

  “I can hear you,” Naz said, his attention snapping to the wheel as a loud cheer sounded below. “Great, they’re early.”

  It was autumn and the sun already descended into the horizon, even though it was the middle of the day. When Tinniel had written that something was happening tonight, we’d assumed it would start later.

  Leaning closer to the window, I looked down, gasping when I caught sight of dark hair, slicked back from a pale forehead. Jimmy.

  He was surrounded by a group of extremely stylish people, who clapped as he walked onto the red carpet and waved for them to follow. He loved the attention. It was obvious as a smarmy smirk stretched over his face, sending my tummy into churning overdrive. “Ugh. What’s the plan?”

  “There’s five vampires, four humans and two witches,” Naz barked.

  Picking up a beany hat, he pulled it on as he watched the crowd. Jimmy and his friends boarded his private capsule, chatting happily between themselves.