Embracing Magick: an Urban Fantasy Novel (The Witch Blood Chronicles Book 3)

by Debbie Cassidy

  She sighed. “Okay. I’ll speak to the magick technicians on staff and see what they can come up with. We can cover a mother and a father but the essential element to this plan is a child. We don’t have any kids on our team, and I hardly think any responsible parent will allow their child to take part in this mission. It’s too risky.”

  They needed a child...Mira. “Don’t worry about the child. I got that covered.”

  Her brows flicked up. “You have?”

  I smiled. “Remember Paimon, the djinn?”

  “Yes.”

  “His sentinel is a Hinn who can shape shift and she’s living with me at the moment.”

  “The Hinn you needed identification papers for?”

  “Yes.”

  “It could work then. We’ll need a chip to mute her powers too, which means that she won’t be able to shift out of her kid form. And this needs to remain under wraps. Classified. Need to know basis only.”

  “I think we get it, Parker,” Kevin said teasingly.

  Parker didn’t crack a smile. “We can’t have this leaking. The kidnappers are able to run a darknet and make people evaporate from their homes. We have no idea what other tricks they have up their sleeves. Let me handle the prep for this. Just show up when and where I tell you. Got it?”

  I nodded. “Are you going to bring Murdoch on board?”

  “Undoubtedly. I’ll request a meeting with the head of covert operations and get a go on the mission, but it shouldn’t be a problem. Just get Mira on board, because we can’t do this without her.”

  It was almost midnight and Mira was probably still dancing the night away. “I’ll get her on board, but a monetary incentive may help.”

  Melody laughed. “I’ll see what I can do.”

  There was nothing left for me to do for now, except go home and recruit a Hinn.

  7

  Mira didn’t suffer from hangovers. Mira suffered from early bird syndrome which meant she was pottering around the flat with the sunrise and making the most godawful racket. Usually, I’d throw something at her, but I needed a favor, so biting back the irate words and plastering a smile on my face, I strolled into the kitchen.

  Mira looked up from the coffee machine, her brows rose in surprise and then her lips curled in a sly smile. “You had sex, didn’t you?”

  “What? Why would you think that?”

  The needing was under my skin, buzzing softly but under control for now. It seemed to be worse when I was around the asura, around Vritra, which made sense if the whole thing was about me choosing a mate.

  “Because, you’re up at five thirty in the morning,” Mira said. “And you haven’t thrown anything at me.”

  I patted her on the back. “Oh, Mira, Mira, my cynical Hinn friend. Is it too farfetched to assume that I may just want to spend the morning with my buddy?”

  Mira slammed down her empty mug and grabbed me by the shoulders. Her fingers dug into my flesh as she stared deep into my eyes.

  “Um, Mira...”

  She released me abruptly, her expression befuddled. “It is you.”

  “Of course, it’s me.” I rubbed my shoulders. “Damn, you have pinchy fingers.”

  Her eyes lit up. “You’re being exceptionally nice to me, which means you need something from me.”

  I sighed. “Yeah, you got me. I have a job for you.”

  “How much?”

  “What?”

  “How much does it pay? Will it cover the rent?”

  “Um, I don’t know.” Melody had to get back to me on the whole payment thing. “Look. This is top secret, super sensitive stuff. So, I can’t give you any details until you commit. But, I can tell you it’s to do with the case I’m working on. I need your help.”

  She gave me her best squinty eyed stare. “Will it involve eviscerating someone?”

  “Er, I don’t know. Probably not.”

  “Hmmmm.” She tapped her fingers on the counter. “What about bloodshed? Will I be permitted to maim?”

  Did she have to look so hopeful at the prospect? Best to give her something, right?

  “Um, possibly. It depends how hairy things get.”

  “In that case, let’s hope things get hairy.”

  “So, you’re in?”

  Her eyes gleamed wickedly and she rubbed her hands together. “Oh, yes.”

  “Melody is setting things up and we’ll be going in for a briefing soon. In the meantime, I think I may have found a solution to my needing problem.”

  “You decided to mate with Vritra?”

  “No. There may be a magitech solution. I’m gonna check in and see what they can come up with.”

  Mira poured her coffee and carried it over to the sofa. “In that case, since I have a job now, I’ll spend the day watching the moving pictures.”

  “Or you could tidy up?”

  She glanced around the flat then switched on the TV. “Yes, I could.”

  Leaving her to her lounging, I grabbed my clothes and headed for the bathroom. The sooner I got the needing under control, the sooner I could go back to Shaitan Enterprises and resume my training.

  The sooner I could see Vritra.

  ◆◆◆

  The magitech department of the IEPEU was in the basement. A state of the art laboratory with high tech equipment supplied by Brahma Corp. Patrick had been an elder witch for the Hyde Park coven years ago. He was pretty clued up on his shit, and every one on his staff was either an independent witch or a tech genius. The lab was all clean white tables and strange warped containers and test-tubes. The walls were lined with storage, some cold and some hot. Several bookcases laden with spell and rune books could be found at the back of the room, along with an indoor herb garden which provided all the essential ingredients required for any spell.

  Patrick was a stickler for protocol, but also couldn’t resist a challenge if one was thrown at him, and boy did I have a challenge for him.

  He looked up from the heavy tome he was flicking through. “Miss Hunter. To what do I owe this intrusion?” His pale gray eyes crinkled at the corners in a smile despite his less than welcoming words. He was a severe looking man, with short cropped silver hair and a long nose he liked to use to great effect when looking down on people. But he was also accommodating when it came to people he liked. It just so happened he had a soft spot for Melody, and she’d been good about singing my praises.

  I leaned back “I have a problem I was hoping to discuss with you.”

  Patrick closed the book and swept his hand toward his office, a glass enclosed space to the left of us.

  I followed him inside and took a seat. Patrick shut the door and settled behind his desk.

  “What is this problem of yours?”

  “Well as you know I’m a dragon asura.”

  He nodded. “The news did filter down to us.”

  “Yeah, well, I recently discovered that female dragon asuras go through something called the needing.”

  He frowned. “The needing?”

  Okay, this was embarrassing. “It’s the overwhelming desire to mate.”

  His silver brows shot up. “Ah.”

  “Yes. And according to all sources there is no way to stop it. Or calm it down. And I was hoping that—”

  “I would be able to come up with a magitech solution.” His eyes narrowed. “Maybe something related to what Miss Parker has us working on right now?”

  I sagged in relief. “Yes! That would be awesome.”

  He smiled. “No.”

  “No?” Yep, I’d been expecting this.

  “The magitech lab is for IEPEU use, not to fix personal problems.”

  Time to play my ace. “I get it. It’s probably impossible anyway.” I sighed. “Thanks for listening. Vritra said he’d have his guys look into it, so I’ll just have to hope they’ll find something. But if you can’t fix this problem, then I doubt they’ll be able to.” I made to stand and paused deliberately looking off into the distance as if a thought had just occurred.
“But then he did say he knew a prodigy.” I grinned and stood. “Thanks for your time. And sorry for trying to lump this task in your lap. It’s probably way beyond your scope of expertise anyway.” I headed for the door.

  “Wait.”

  Fixing an innocent look on my face, I glanced over my shoulder. “Yes?”

  He pressed his lips together and then blew out a breath. “Leave it with me. I’ll see what I can do.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes, tell Mr. Ajagar he need not employ anyone else for the task. Nothing is beyond my scope of expertise.”

  I bit back a smile and nodded gratefully instead. “Thank you, Patrick. You’re a life saver.”

  He smiled smugly. “Well, let’s wait until we have a solution, eh?”

  Leaving him to ponder the task, I made my way back up to the fifth floor. Megan hadn’t checked in yet and the need to hit something, the need for action, was making me twitchy. There had to be something that needed doing on the case.

  Kevin was seated in his usual spot, peering at his computer screen with a hunched back. So much for ergonomics. That guy’s workstation was a nightmare. How the heck he didn’t suffer from constant back ache was a mystery.

  He looked up as I entered. “If you’re looking for Parker she went up to speak to covert ops an hour ago. Haven’t seen her since.

  “Yeah, I rang her but she didn’t answer.”

  Kevin kicked a swivel seat my way. “Park your butt and keep a guy company.”

  “What you doing?”

  “Building our web.”

  “How’s it going?”

  “Good.

  “Okay, this is boring.”

  “Nice.” Kevin snorted.

  Shit, had I said that out loud. “I’m gonna go to the ladies.”

  Leaving Kevin to his screen fiddling, I ducked out the room and into the toilets on the opposite side of the corridor. A blast of cool air swept my hair off my forehead and then Paimon was standing before me.

  Anger reared up in the pit of my stomach, bitter and bilious. “What do you want? This is the ladies.”

  He glanced about. “I’m sorry. I needed to speak to you.”

  Yeah. He probably wanted something. Sod the fact I couldn’t have what I wanted. It was always about him and his stupid betrothed. Well, I was done being his go to girl for everything else but what he should be coming to me for.

  “I need a piss, and I don’t have time.” I made to brush past him.

  He grabbed my arm. The contact sent a shock through me as the ice in his grip battled with the fevered heat of my skin.

  He released me abruptly and stepped back, studying me warily. “Carmella, what is wrong with you?”

  Wrong with me? How dare he? “Just because I don’t want to speak to you it doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with me.”

  He reached for me. “You’re burning up.”

  I shrugged him off.

  “Are you sick?”

  Sick? The haze of annoyance and anger that had clouded my mind dissipated. I wasn’t sick. I was fucking needing. This wasn’t me. I sucked in a deep breath, held it for a second and then slowly released it.

  “Carmella?”

  I licked my lips. “I’m fine. Sorry. Just having a bad day. Didn’t mean to take it out on you.” I needed to keep this shit in control. “What did you want to speak to me about?”

  His brow remained slightly furrowed. “There have been strange disturbances in the overlap between our worlds. The sentinels we have placed on guard reported disorder coming from beyond the veil. They are not permitted to crossover to look into it, but the commotion was so violent they felt it warranted investigation.”

  “You want me to investigate?”

  He nodded. “I would do so myself but diplomatic duties have me tied in knots.”

  Diplomatic duties or Alara duties? Stop it, Hunter. Urgh. “It’s the red zone, Paimon. Shit happens in the red zone, and we don’t intervene. It’s probably just a spat between supernaturals that got rowdy.”

  “Very well. But if this spat should leak into our world, we will be forced to react, and with the balance having just been restored between your people and mine, you should be loath to cause further discord.”

  “You think it would fuel the argument for a takeover?”

  “There are still several members of the council who would happily storm the gates of your world. Your government’s compliance in the missing djinn case soothed some ruffled feathers, but if your world’s problems begin to affect our realm then I am not confident this unofficial truce will stand.”

  “Then maybe we should make it official.”

  He cocked his head, his gaze speculative. “Go on?”

  “A meeting between a representative of our world and your council. I’m sure we can come to some kind of arrangement for long term peace between our worlds. After all, it’s hardly our fault that an overlap occurred in the very place that we have no control over.”

  “I’ll see what I can do to make it happen.”

  “Good.”

  We stood silently, awkwardly, for a long beat.

  “How have you been?” he asked.

  “Since the other day when we spoke last?”

  “We spoke about me and my problems. I was selfish.”

  “So, you’re trying to make up for it by asking me how I feel?”

  His cerulean eyes sparkled with mirth. “I do wish to know.”

  “Trust me you don’t.”

  “This has something to do with your fever, doesn’t it?”

  I leaned back against the sink. “Yeah. I have these...needs.”

  His mouth parted and his eyes darkened.

  My throat dried up and I coughed to moisten it. “Um, it’s an actual female dragon asura thing. It means it’s time for me to choose a mate.”

  “A mate? As in a lover?”

  “As in a for-the-rest-of-my-life lover.”

  It was as if a storm cloud had swept across his face. His shoulders grew rigid and his whole demeanor changed. “Vritra. You will choose Vritra?”

  I’d deliberately avoided dwelling on what if’s, but now that he mentioned it, there was no way to avoid it. “Yes. If it comes to that, I will.”

  He exhaled sharply. “You don’t love him.”

  “No.” I lowered my lashes. The pain etched on his face was too much. “Not yet. But my dragon trusts him. I trust him. He would be the right choice.”

  “You would mate with someone you do not love?”

  My head whipped up. “Hey! You’re one to talk.”

  He turned away, the muscles in his shoulders rippling under the thin fabric of his shirt. “I have no choice.”

  Annoyance flickered in my chest. “And it may get to the point when neither do I.”

  Did he think that he had the monopoly on difficult decisions? How dare he make me feel shitty for the position I was in when I’d done everything in my power to make his decision easy?

  “I have to go.” I made to push past him, but he turned to me, stepped into my personal space, cupped my face with his huge hands and kissed me.

  The world melted away beneath his lips, every sense coming to life with a sweep of his tongue. My knees buckled and he hauled me against him, wrapping me in his embrace like a desperate man clinging to a life float. Tears burned the backs of my eyes and nose and my heart swelled in my chest—a bubble that I’d need to burst. Instead, I threaded my hands into his hair, and pushed myself against him, demanding more.

  He tore his mouth from mine to devour me with his gaze. “Carmella. I want you...”

  The needing rose within me, a rolling wave of want. It was an ache that could only be soothed by having him inside me. The dragon was alive and awake, melding with me, with my heart’s desire for this djinn. For once, she didn’t berate or warn. For once, we were in tune. This could be our moment. Maybe it was time to give in to my heart and body which screamed at me to take what I could get, even if it was only t
his one time. But the road beyond would be paved with shards of glass. The cut and slice of knowing he belonged to another, of knowing I would always be the other.

  I pushed him away.

  Paimon released me, his chest heaving. “Damn this. Damn it all.” And then he was gone.

  The dragon wrapped me in her embrace and forced my spine straight, holding me tall. There would be no more tears.

  The door swung open and Melody threw up her hands. “There you are. You didn’t answer your phone.”

  Had it even rung?

  “We have a situation.”

  I followed her out into the corridor. “Is it the mission?”

  “No. We just got a call from one of our contacts in the red zone. There’s something going down and operations just cleared alpha patrol to go in. I was wondering if you wanted to tag along?”

  The red zone. The danger zone. The place that Paimon had just warned me about had some shit going down. Maybe there was a chance things could get ugly. The ball of aggression within me expanded.

  “I’m in.”

  8

  The air felt different—less ominous and strangely lighter than I recalled. It was midday, and the world usually looked brightest at this time, but not in the red zone. In the red zone, the atmosphere was always oppressive, and an air of foreboding hung over everything. Not today though. Melody led the patrol through the stark empty streets. Streets that seemed cleaner somehow.

  “Is it just me?” Drake said. “Or does this place have a totally different vibe?”

  “It’s not just you,” Melody replied.

  The patrol kept their guard up, cocooning me in their midst. Even though I had the training to take care of myself, as far as they were concerned, I was non-combat personnel and it was their duty to cover me if we were attacked.

  “The IEPEU contact lived in a newsagents store on the north side of the red zone—a fifteen-minute trek from our entry point. We made the journey in ten.

  The building loomed up ahead, a splash of color in the gray landscape. The door opened as we approached and a minute man came striding out. His expression was somber and his dark eyes were huge in his head.

  “Hello, Kosmos,” Melody said.