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

by Debbie Cassidy

“Nothing we didn’t already suspect. There have been several disappearances in the supernatural community, all male, all early to mid-twenties. They’re calling them the takings.”

  “Catchy. Wait till the press get hold of that,” she said.

  “So we have families, supes from the red zone, and now male supes from the city,” I pondered out loud.

  The door opened and a smartly dressed woman strode into reception, she smiled warmly at us. “You can go in now.”

  Melody led the way into the large conference room. Three men were seated at one end of a long oak table.

  “Xavier, Nolan, Maxwell.” Melody greeted them all.

  “Parker, please take a seat. You, too, Miss Hunter and, Mira, is it?”

  Mira snorted in response and parked her butt on a seat next to me, halfway down the table.

  “We’ve liaised with Kevin Summers and the magitech department,” Xavier said. “And covert ops has located a family we can switch with and is making arrangements for the switch as we speak.”

  “With all due respect, Xavier,” Melody said. “I could have done all of that.”

  He nodded. “Indeed you could have, but this case is no ordinary case, and must be handled with the utmost care. A slip up or leak would be disastrous.”

  “So, basically, you don’t trust me to do my job.”

  “I’m afraid it was out of our hands,” Nolan said.

  “What does that mean?” Melody asked.

  The door behind us opened and a tall bronzed Adonis with dark hair in a surfer dude cut strolled in. “Hello, ladies and gentlemen,” Varuna said.

  Melody’s spine straightened and her mouth turned down. She turned to Xaviar. “What is he doing here?”

  Xavier ignored her, standing up to greet the god. “Welcome, Varuna. How are things at the Division?”

  “Good.” Varuna smiled warmly. His dark gaze roved over us, snagging on me. “How lovely to see you again, Miss Hunter.”

  I inclined my head.

  “And, this must Mira, our hinn.” He smiled at Mira.

  Mira sat back and folded her arms under her breasts.

  He fixed his attention on Melody. “And you are Miss Parker, the head of the Alpha Patrol, correct?”

  Melody ignored him, bristling with indignation. “This is supposed to be a classified meeting to discuss protocol on a delicate case. I hardly think it’s appropriate to have a god present. Brahma Corp may supply our tech but they have no place at this meeting.”

  “You’re right,” Xavier said. “Brahma Corp doesn’t have a place here, but Varuna isn’t here as a representative of Brahma Corp.”

  Melody looked from Xavier to Varuna. “Who does he represent then?”

  “Our other division of IEPEU.”

  The secret division? I sat up straighter. The door opened and another figure stepped inside. Tall, lithe and dressed in his signature black clothes. Excitement bubbled up inside my stomach. Aaron locked gazes with me and dropped me a wink.

  Melody threw up her hands. “And who is this?”

  Varuna took a seat at the end of the table. “Aaron will be accompanying Miss Hunter on his mission. He will play her husband in the scenario.”

  Melody pressed her lips together. “Was it necessary to bring in outside operatives?”

  She addressed Xavier, but Varuna answered.

  “This is no regular case, Miss Parker, and My Black is a highly trained specialist operative who will be an essential asset to this mission. I believe his friendship with, Miss Hunter will lend the scenario an authenticity that would be lacking otherwise.”

  She shot me a look and I lifted a shoulder. Aaron was my friend, and yeah, it would be easier to pretend we were married due to the ease of our relationship.

  “Who knows what they will face once taken?” Xavier said. “If the kidnapers realize they’ve been duped, then our operatives’ lives could be at risk, and the mission, our last chance to figure out what the hell is going on, would be blown.”

  He had a valid point, but there was more to this intervention from this secret division of the IEPEU. Why were they so interested in this particular case?

  “What do you know that we don’t? What are you hiding?” I asked Varuna.

  He smiled. “I’m not hiding anything. You’ve been briefed on the information relevant to your role in this mission.”

  Yep, he was definitely hiding something. Question was: did Aaron know, and could I strong arm him into telling me?

  “Okay,” Melody said. “We get the point. You’re unofficially in charge. So, let’s get on with the briefing.”

  Varuna’s smile was tight. “We believe we may know what we are up against.”

  I sat forward in my seat. “How?”

  “A few weeks ago, after the incident with Malcolm Banner, the covens approached our division of the IEPEU for assistance. They explained that his efforts had released thirteen Daayan into our world. The ritual he performed, which was interrupted by your division operatives, resulted in a doorway opening into our world. They explained that if these Daayan were not captured, then the cosmic balance of our world would be put in jeopardy.”

  Nice spin on the real tale. The covens had enlisted the IEPEU’s aid but managed to hide the true nature of the Daayan and the pact they’d made with the cosmic god. I understood why they’d want to withhold that information—it made them look greedy and callous—but what I didn’t understand was why they’d turned to Varuna’s division.

  “Why’d the covens approach you?”

  Varuna ignored me and continued. “We captured the last of the Daayan a couple of weeks ago and it seems order has been restored. However, when the High Witch learned of the families being taken, she contacted us with her suspicion that something else may have entered through the doorway.”

  The place the Daayan had come from was controlled by the cosmic god. Who knew what else resided there. If Banner had indeed opened the maw again releasing the Daayan, then it was perfectly reasonable that something else could have hitched a ride.

  Melody leaned forward, her hands clasped on the table. “You think we may be dealing with a creature or spirit from another reality?”

  “No. Not another reality, but another dimension.”

  “I’m confused. What’s the difference?” Melody asked.

  “We know of the existence of alternate realties and each of those realities is made up of a specific sequence of events which form the realities’ timeline. The universe the reality belongs to is its dimension. There are several dimensions, some scientists theorize as many as eleven, and in each dimension there are thousands, possibly billions, of realities. Whatever entered our world, did so through a tiny crack in time and space, and it came from an alternate dimension.”

  “So, what now?” Melody asked. “How do we fight something from another dimension? Something we know nothing about.”

  “You do reconnaissance. Gather intel, find its weaknesses, and then we exploit them. We find a way to capture it and send it back to where it belongs, just like the witches sent the Daayans back.”

  “And save the humans that have been taken,” I added.

  He turned his dark eyes on me. “No. Saving the taken will be our responsibility. Your primary objective is to gather data. Your team will be embedded with trackers and we will find you. Once we have the humans, we can use the data to rid our world of this threat.”

  “There is something else.” I glanced at Melody who nodded giving me the go ahead. “We don’t believe it’s just humans that it’s been taking.”

  Varuna’s eyes narrowed. “Tell me.”

  I filled him in on the red zone attack and the Night Owl reports, and his expression grew stormy. “Why haven’t I seen these reports?” He turned on Xavier, eyes flashing dangerously.

  Xavier looked thrown.

  I stepped in. “We only just filed them.”

  Varuna deflated somewhat. “Make sure they get to me,” he said to Xavier, who nodded.
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br />   I licked my lips. “It’s planning something. Nathaniel Ranger, the reporter I mentioned, believes that there’s something huge coming.”

  “He may be right.” Varuna said. “But we are going to stop it. Mr. Summers is confident that the darknet site is an automated roaming site that searches for certain keywords on the net and then homes in on a user. In the case of the Finches it was the boy, Ben. But that may not have been the case for the other families.”

  “Then the assumption it was targeting kids wasn’t correct?” Melody asked.

  “No. We believe it is targeting people who are unhappy or dissatisfied with their lives.”

  “Well, that’s like half the population of the city.”

  Varuna snorted. “You’re probably right, and more users may have been invited to click on the darknet site. Maybe they just didn’t click.”

  “You think clicking to enter the site is what alerts this being?”

  “I can’t say for sure, but it seems like a trigger of some kind. This creature is highly intelligent, resourceful and able to hack into our main method of communication. It’s found its way into every home.” Varuna’s lips turned down. “We must stop it. We are gathering our brightest minds to work on a solution to expel it from the net. Taking away its access will undoubtedly weaken its hold on our world.”

  “So, in a way it is an alien?”

  Varuna’s smile was mirthless. “Yes, Miss Hunter. We have an alien in our midst.”

  “What now? You set up a base for us?” Melody asked.

  “We’ve identified a family who we will be relocating. You will take their place and live in their home, taking on their identities. We’re making relocation arrangements as we speak. A day or so at the most and then you will be moved in.”

  I sat back in my seat. Two days to get my shit in order. Two days to prepare for the unknown.

  11

  It was Thursday, my day at the kitchen, but I usually did more days. Except since taking on the IEPEU role, I’d barely covered my own shift, let alone done extra. I exited the aerial tram and ran lightly down the stone steps leading to the street.

  I needed to train with Vritra. Varuna had been clear—we’d be going in unarmed. No magic and no weapons. We couldn’t risk detection, but at the same time we had no idea what we were going into and needed to be prepared. Mira and Aaron could take care of themselves, and I was pretty confident I could too. But so far, I’d always resorted to my asura power, or the skein when training. I needed some hand-to-hand training, without any magick or power involved. The last thing I wanted to do was be a liability on this mission.

  The kitchen came into view, and I pushed through the door, out of the chilly September air and into toasty warmth. It was gone six-thirty in the evening and usually the place would be rammed by now, but there were barely a handful of people in tonight.

  Honey was leaned up against the counter, her back to me, chatting to Victor while he stirred a pot of—I sniffed the air—chili. Yeah, my senses had grown sharper over the weeks too. If I strained, I might be able to listen in on their conversation, but just because I could, didn’t mean I should.

  Victor looked up at that very moment, his handsome face breaking into a grin. Honey turned to the door and raised a hand in greeting.

  “It’s slow today. Where is everyone?”

  Victor frowned. “I’m not sure. It’s been getting worse all week. People are dropping like flies. First, I thought there was another kitchen opened up locally, but Honey checked, and there isn’t.”

  My scalp prickled with unease. More missing people? This wasn’t good.

  Honey was watching me closely. “You think this is related to the family disappearances, don’t you?”

  “I can’t discount the possibility.”

  Victor put down the ladle. “So, what do we do?”

  “We don’t do anything.” I smiled to soften my next words. “The IEPEU have got it under control.”

  Victor looked skeptical. “Have they?”

  “Just let us know if there is anything we can do to help,” Honey said.

  “Of course.” I toyed with a napkin. “Listen. I may be gone for a few days. I don’t want you guys to worry though.”

  “IEPEU business?” Victor asked.

  I sighed. “Yeah. I’m so sorry for leaving you in the lurch like this. You have every reason to be mad at me. The kitchen was my project and, since I started working with the IEPEU, I’ve barely been down here.”

  Victor gave me a half smile. “You’re helping people, Carmella. This kitchen, the djinn and now all the families of the missing people. I know that if you could, then you’d be here.”

  Honey nudged Victor. “Besides, he has me for company.”

  The tips of Victor’s ears colored and I bit back a smile. Those two really needed to get together soon.

  Victor glanced around the room. “Go prepare for your IEPEU thing. We got this.”

  “How do you know I need to prepare? I could be all prepped and ready.”

  Victor arched a brow. “I can smell your anxiety. There are things you need to be doing, so go do them. Bring back the missing people.”

  “Perceptive should be your middle name. I’ll call you guys once I’m...back.”

  I left them to the empty kitchen, my stomach churning with worry. Had the taking spread to the homeless too?

  ◆◆◆

  I strode through down the corridor to the training rooms at Shaitan Enterprises. It was late, almost eight thirty, but Rajan had said that Vritra was in the training room so that’s where I was headed. My collar was on, and this was the perfect time to test whether Patrick’s invention worked. The training room was deserted save for Vritra. He was moving in a kata, his body rippling, fluid and beautiful. My chest tightened and my core throbbed, but the overwhelming desire to pummel or fuck didn’t assault me. But I wanted him. Even without the needing at full force, I wanted him.

  He finished up and padded over to the bench and his bottle of water. “You found a solution then?” he said.

  I walked into the room. “Yes. It’s temporary, but it gives me time.”

  He turned to me, his ember eyes flashing. “Time for what?”

  Something wicked unfurled inside me, unrelated to anything but my desire to do some mischief. “Until I decide whether I want to fuck you or not.”

  His eyes flared and his lips twitched. “Oh, Miss Hunter, you already know the answer to that.” He leaned in, the scent of his body, hot cinnamon and manly sweat was a heady combination. “Once you let go of that which you cannot have, the things that are within your reach will fall into your lap.”

  Was he talking about Paimon? Damn him, why did he have to bring up the djinn? The playful atmosphere deteriorated.

  Vritra sighed. “I want you, Carmella, but I will not be your second choice.” He reached up and traced an index finger across my collar bone, and my breath sped up as my groin tightened. “Your body wants me.” He leaned in and inhaled, running the tip of his nose up the side of my neck. “I can smell your desire. You want me, even without the needing.” He stepped back, taking his heat with him. “But I don’t have your heart, and I won’t take you without it.”

  Something inside me shifted—a new clearer understanding of the man standing before me—regal and powerful and proud, yet vulnerable and needing in his own way. Henna had asked me to watch out for him. Had been convinced I was meant to be with him, and it was crazy, but there was a part of me that could almost see it now.

  He gently caressed my face with his knuckles. “So beautiful. Inside and out.”

  It was the first time he’d said something so soft. Not his usual, I want to fuck you, or the other favorite of let me slam you up against the wall and take you. This was a different side of him. One I’d caught glimpses of over the past weeks, but never fully been introduced to. Right now, in this moment, he wasn’t Vritra the dragon asura and head of an empire, he was merely a man complimenting a woman.

>   My neck heated and I tore my gaze away from his. “Thank you.” My voice was a rasp.

  He dropped his hand. “What did you want, Carmella? You came for a reason?”

  Yes. The reason. “I have two days before I go on a mission for the IEPEU. I need you to train me in hand-to-hand without magick or power.”

  He cocked his head. “What is this? Where are you going that will strip you of your power and magick?”

  I so wanted to tell him, but the mission was classified. “I can’t tell you.”

  He inhaled and exhaled sharply. “There is the possibility of danger?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you know what you will face?”

  “No.”

  He placed his hands on his hips and hung his head. This was hard for him, I could sense it. My dragon zeroed in on his dragon’s agitation and the urge to sooth his fears was almost instinctual.

  “I have a hinn with me, and my best friend, Aaron, who used to be an assassin. I’ll be fine. Just... teach me some moves.”

  He moved toward me. “I warn you, I’m not going to go easy on you.”

  I grinned. “I wouldn’t expect you to.”

  And then he swept me off my feet, but not in a nice way. I hit the ground hard, my head slamming against the mat. The world was still spinning.

  “Carmella, Carmella.” His hands were all over me, testing for broken bones and sending shivers up my spine despite the swirling in my head.

  “I’m fine. Just stunned.”

  He pulled me into his arms and cradled me. “You were supposed to evade.”

  “Yeah. I know. You were just so fast.”

  “Shit.” He smoothed the hair back from my face with his calloused fingers.

  The world stopped rotating and his face filled my vision, stern in its concern for me. He looked so serious: his brows knit together, his mouth pursed as he studied my pupils—probably looking for signs of concussion.

  I crossed my eyes.

  He gasped. “Carmella?”

  I stuck my tongue out, and he blinked down at me in surprise and a giggle erupted from my lips.

  He snort-laughed and his lips twitched. “Are you making fun of my concern?”