I made my way outside, the heaviness lifting from me as I found a small wood carved chair hidden in the shade of a wild rose bush. The heads of pink roses brushed against me as I sat, closing my eyes and listening to the surprising quiet. The cars on the other side of the pub were drowned out by the high walls. The area was fairly small, leading onto a bit of grass wasteland.
My phone vibrated in my pocket, distracting my peace.
Where are you?
It was Antony. Gosh, that was quick. I believed in the power of surrender, however, I hadn’t expected him to-
The phone started ringing before I could even reply to his text.
“Hello?”
“They’re following me,” Antony said, his breath puffing.
“Who?” Standing up, I came out of my hiding place, pausing when a man dressed in black stepped out through the French doors and folded his arms across his chest. “The warlocks.”
“Yeah.” The honk of a horn was loud in my ear. Antony must have been walking down one of the busier streets of London. “Your father warned me about them when I admitted that I’d had dreams about your eyes my whole life.”
“What?”
Shaking my head, I eyed the man who stood in front of me, a smug smirk on his face. My escape was blocked. How had they known where I was? Did they know where I lived?
“Are you safe?” Antony asked.
He was being chased by the warlocks, and instead of worrying about himself, he checked in on me.
“I might have a visitor here too. I’m at the Tears & Dreams pub.”
“I know it, I’ll head over.”
The phone went dead, the tone in my ear reminding me that I was alone. My hands were slick as I put my phone away and cleared my throat, ready for a fight.
“What do you want?” I asked the warlock.
Shrugging, the man stayed still, not moving from the spot. Imitating his gesture, I turned back to the little table and snatched up my cider, throwing the glass straight at his head. His arms came up in defence as I ran across the small area and onto the patch of grass. A wall lined it, just slightly taller than me. I couldn’t be so useless this time, I had to get away.
“I wouldn’t do that,” a familiar voice called from behind me as I tripped on a clump of grass.
Looking over my shoulder, I hissed in Nick’s direction as he came out of the pub. The people inside were cowering low, trying to hide from the man who held a gun in his hand. Oh crap.
Slowing my footsteps, I sighed, totally pissed off that my quiet drink had been interrupted.
“Don’t worry,” Nick called. “They won’t remember a thing. We’ve gained enough power to cast a memory erasing spell on them.”
“Oh,” I called back, spinning again. “That means I can leave.”
My feet took me closer to the wall, my breath giving me the strength to push forward. A gunshot was followed by screams, forcing me to come to a halt.
“Why would you want to harm those people?” I said, turning and putting my hands on my hips. “They’re innocent.”
Cocking his head to the side as he waved the other warlock away, Nick took two steps towards me. “Because I know you. Witches have a pact to always protect humans from dark magic. So, I’m using that to my advantage.”
“Coward.”
My spat reply went ignored as he glanced around, studying our surroundings. The wall ran along the length of the grassy patch, either leading into another garden or one of London’s many alleyways. If the humans weren’t in danger, I would’ve made a run for it. If Nick couldn’t kill me, I could cope with a gunshot wound. If he was a good enough hit, anyway. However, there were frightened humans, currently huddled under the tables in the pub. Leaving them would be cruel.
“You were lucky your brothers rescued you, although you won’t be leaving the basement quite so quickly this time. My offer of living with Daniel was more than generous.”
Tutting, I shook my head and sneered. “You’re evil.”
A gunshot in the pub made Nick glance over his shoulder, his greying eyebrows pulled low. The distraction gave me an opening. Rushing for him, I shoved him hard, thrusting the bottom of my palm up into his chin.
He stumbled backwards before finding his footing and swinging his leg out, swiping it around my ankles.
“Don’t-” he started, still trying to look into the pub as I fell to the ground.
Hopping up, I jumped onto his back, clinging to his jaw as I attempted to wrench it. He gritted his teeth, reaching up to try and grab me off. A grunt from just inside the pub made me look up. Antony.
The humans were leaving, ducking out the front entrance while Antony distracted the other warlock. The pair were skipping around in a circle, one hitting out and the other dodging out of the way. Antony had a gun in his hand, and yet, he didn’t aim and shoot. Why was that?
“Antony!” I shouted when the warlock lifted his hand and opened his palm.
Nick swung us around, his gloved hands desperately clawing at my arms in an attempt to dislodge me. I held on tightly, too interested in watching the others to dare to let go.
A swirling ball of black ethereal threads grew bigger in the other warlock’s palm. Grinning, he pushed his hand forward with a shunt, straight into Antony’s chest.
“Nooo!”
A scream accompanied my own. It wasn’t Antony’s, he had gone still, his eyes wide and his mouth agape as the swirls buried into his chest.
Blinking, I glanced down as Nick lowered to his knees, throwing me violently. The air left my lungs as my back thumped onto the ground and my hair covered my face. Nick’s whimper made me look up. He was holding his jaw at the same time as staring at my hands.
I chanced a look, even though a shiver of cold flew through me. My fingertips were blue, ice forming on the tops.
“It can’t be,” Nick muttered. “The magic isn’t supposed to return.”
Before I could speak, he turned and thundered through the pub, pushing his friend out along with him.
“Antony!”
Thrusting to my feet, I ignored the numb sensation in my hands as I scrambled to Antony’s side. He was lying on the ground, writhing in pain. Small moans came from his mouth as the black swirls travelled over his skin. I had never seen anything like it, and yet, I knew I had to get it out. Otherwise, it would consume him.
“What do I do?” I asked no one as I glanced around, looking for an answer.
A long groan left Antony’s lips, alerting me to his presence of mind. Leaning down, I looked into his eyes. They were wide, pleading. I had to help him before it was too late.
“Kiss,” he said so quietly, I only just heard it.
“You want a kiss?” Okay, so that was a new one. And totally inappropriate.
Unless he was going to die and wanted one last kiss. No, that was completely morbid and probably not what he was thinking at all.
“Lake.” Antony’s words were pushed through his teeth as they locked together.
Sweat lined his skin, the colour of it turning more and more pink. I had no idea what he was talking about, he-
His hand clamped around my wrist and he tugged me to him. My forehead almost bashed into his nose as he opened his mouth, his eyes getting even wider. He wanted a kiss? What did that have to do with the lake?
Wait.
Placing my mouth over his, I breathed into him. He choked, moving his head from side to side and gasping loudly.
“The other way?” I asked as it suddenly clicked.
Nodding, he blinked rapidly as his arm dropped from me. He was losing the fight against the scary black magic. No, I wouldn’t let that happen.
“Relax,” I told him, placing my mouth over his again.
Sucking hard, I closed my eyes and instinctively felt into the magic. Black clouds blocked my inner vision as the power fought with me, pulling away. Words I had never heard before rose in my throat, the sound of them forming as they left my mouth.
The inten
sity of the darkness made me cough, the image of Antony dying strong in my mind. I wouldn’t lose him this time. For too many years, we had been fighting the warlocks, trying to be with one another. This was it, this lifetime we would bring back the witches by successfully uniting.
Blinking my eyes open, I gasped when shadowy black threads swirled in front of my face, spinning around my head. I was still speaking another language, my voice rising as the swirls got smaller and smaller, puffing into nothing as I stood and shouted the last part of an ancient spell.
“Penny?” Antony’s weak voice echoed in the sudden silence.
“Are you okay?” I asked, dropping back to my knees.
Huffing, I took his hand, squeezing it hard. His throat moved as he swallowed, staring up at me.
“I’m sorry,” he breathed.
Shaking my head, I blinked back the tears that sprung to my eyes. My throat constricted as our gaze met and a thousand sparks danced over my skin. There was no denying it anymore.
“Penny,” he whispered.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered back, avoiding eye contact.
I couldn’t look at him. It hurt too much. It had only been a short acquaintance, and yet, he had awakened the magic inside me without even knowing. He had changed me in ways no one could ever have predicted.
My energy was weak, the magic that had risen through me leaving as quickly as it had come. My father was bound to want all the details of how I had sucked dark magic out of Antony. I wasn’t sure I could tell him.
A siren blasted outside as vehicles screeched to a halt. We had no time to run, the police had arrived.
“We need to talk,” Antony said, sitting up and looking towards the door.
Ignoring him, I helped him to his feet. My mind was trying to process what had happened. Not only had I evoked an ancient spell with magic I thought was dormant, the warlocks had infused Antony with a deadly dark charm.
Three policeman burst through the door, their guns aimed at us. Holding up shaky hands, I glanced at Antony, who did the same. His strength had returned, the colour coming back to his cheeks.
“What happened here?” one officer asked. “Someone heard a gunshot outside.”
“Erm…” I stuttered, unable to explain.
Our whole childhood, our parents had preached that we could never get caught by authority. And there I was, not long into my mission, breaking that steadfast rule. Oops.
Those who had left the pub hopefully hadn’t remembered. Nick had mentioned that he’d cast a spell on them, so if he was right, it would be easy to bluff our way out of it.
“I fainted,” Antony said. “The landlord went to get someone. Not sure where he got to.”
“The gunshot sound must have been a car backfiring,” I added, not looking at Antony.
A frown creased the officer’s brow as he looked around, indicating that his colleagues search the place.
Lowering his weapon when he saw that nothing was out of the ordinary and his friends gave him a thumbs up, he glanced at Antony. “You should get checked over.”
The landlord came out from behind the bar, rubbing his head in confusion as he glanced around the room. “I forgot why I went out back,” he said, shaking his head.
Putting his gun away, the officer narrowed his gaze on him. Crap, if the landlord gave us away, I didn’t know what we’d do.
“There’s an ambulance out front,” the officer said. “Go get seen.”
Another of the officers went near the landlord, cringing when he got close. “Had a few lunchtime tipples, sir?”
Not waiting for the landlord to reply, we casually left the pub, me holding Antony around the waist, even though he no longer needed my support. My breath was heavy as we approached the ambulance, one of the officers following closely behind. Several emergency vehicles were parked out front, readying to leave now they knew it was a false alarm.
As Antony climbed into the ambulance, the police officer bid us goodbye and went to his car. I waited until there was no attention on me, listening as Antony explained our fake story to the paramedic.
“Sorry,” I whispered under my breath as I ducked around the back of the ambulance and blended into the crowd who were desperate to get around the blockage in order to go about their day.
My chest tightened as I glanced over my shoulder, checking that no one followed me, especially the men in black.
Antony was better off without me in his life. Seeing him almost die, right in front of me, and because of me… well, it had made me think twice about the mission. He had been in danger since the moment we had met.
“Penny!”
Alex and Lee came towards me, both frowning when they saw the emergency vehicles. Not allowing them to talk, I grabbed their hands and dragged them away.
“How did you know I was here?” I asked as Lee put his arm around me.
They pushed their way through the crowd, pulling me along with them.
“Antony texted us. We weren’t sure where you were, but when we saw the pub on the news, we thought we’d check it out. What the bloody hell happened?” Alex hissed.
Sadness made me almost choke as it squeezed my throat. Swallowing it down, I shook my head, not ready to tell them that Antony had almost died.
“Lee, please go and make sure Antony gets back to Father safely. Alex, just get me home,” I croaked.
Lee shook his head quickly when Alex opened his mouth. They didn’t say any more and I was grateful.
I didn’t notice how fast our legs carried us home. It wasn’t until we got to the foot of the steps that I realised Alex had actually carried me most of the way.
Putting me down, Alex went to speak.
“I need to go to bed,” I interrupted, glaring when Alex tried to protest.
Sprinting up the steps, I ran through the kitchen and straight into my room. I was glad the others were talking in the living room. I needed to be alone.
“Will you let me in?” Clarie called from the hallway a moment later.
The boys had sent her to talk to me. Ignoring her, I started to pack a bag. It was time to leave, once and for all. My mission could bugger off; I wasn’t prepared to do it anymore, it was too hard. Tears ran down my cheeks and I let them. There was no use in fighting.
Antony was in danger, through no choice of his own. It wasn’t fair of me to keep him entangled in a web of war between the witches and the warlocks. He was his own person, entitled to his own life.
“I’ll leave you alone for now,” Clarie called. “Let me know if you need anything.”
Her footsteps faded away, leaving the silence to envelop me. It was time. Turning off my phone, I opened the bedroom window and threw my bag over the ledge. Climbing into the back courtyard, I made my escape out of the gate.
I had no idea where I was going, but I needed out. I was done with fighting.
Chapter Seventeen
“I’ll have a hot chocolate, please,” the voice said.
Writing the order down, I held out my hand for the menu. As it hit my palm, I saw the black sleeve.
“Hello, Penny,” he said as my gaze landed on a pair of grey eyes.
“Nick, how are you?”
I didn’t move, not even to flinch. It had been two months since I had last seen him. I had almost forgotten that he existed. I had been staying in a rented room in East London, quite enjoying the mundane days of serving coffee in my local café. In the evenings, I facetimed my siblings and watched Netflix. What more could a girl want?
“I’m well, thank you,” Nick replied. “Especially now that I don’t have to worry about you.”
I smiled. “No, you don’t need to worry about me,” I said, tucking my notepad in my apron. “I’ll just get your drink.”
The hair on my arms prickled as I went to make the hot chocolate. He watched my every move, waiting for me to do a runner.
“Why are you here, then?” I asked, coming back to him and placing the mug on the table.
He ges
tured for me to join him, his grey eyes wrinkling at the corner.
The only other customer in the café was deep in conversation on his phone so I sat opposite him.
“I have something that you might be interested in.”
My back stiffened as I fiddled with the salt shaker.
“If it’s Antony, I’m not interested,” I said, sitting back. “He never wanted this mission.”
Nick sat forward and looked me in the eye. The tiny lines around his mouth made him look older than he was.
“Are they not teaching you anything anymore?”
Laughing, I shook my head and sat back, crossing my arms over my chest.
“You think you’ve abandoned your mission, don’t you?”
Putting my head to the side, I took a deep breath. “Yes, I have.”
The corners of his lips lifted into his cheeks. “You gave up?”
His finger reached forward and flicked the silver charm on my bracelet. The Salem elemental water symbol twinkled up at me in the fake florescent light.
“I suppose I have. It’s been nice not having to worry about being a witch or finding my soul-match. Why the witch cursed us to fall in love is beyond me. What’s the point? She could’ve just made us lust after our soulmate, not love them, like the rest of society.”
Shutting my mouth when he raised his eyebrows, I shook my head. Oh dear, I had said too much to my enemy.
“What is the point to love?”
His question startled me. “I don’t love him.”
The chuckle that came from his lips made me want to reach out and punch him in the face. Why did I feel violent around him? Was his energy that bad?
“If you don’t love him, why is it such hard work?”
If Nick wanted to lecture me about love, I wasn’t prepared to listen. He knew nothing of love and never would. His sole purpose was to make sure the world was full of pain by bringing back dark magic and keeping humans under his control.
Snarling, I went to stand. He grabbed my wrist to stop me, the bracelet under his palm. The pressure squeezed the charm into my skin. Feeling the bite of it, I swallowed to stop the emotion that had been pushed down for weeks.
Chasing Magic: The Last Witch Coven Book 1 Page 17
