Chasing Warlocks: The Last Witch Coven Book 2

  Chasing Warlocks

  The Last Witch Coven Book 2

  By Rachel Medhurst

  Copyright © 2020 by Rachel Medhurst

  THIS BOOK USED TO BE CALLED ARIES – BOOK 2 IN THE ZODIAC TWIN FLAME SERIES

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty One

  Chapter Twenty Two

  Chapter Twenty Three

  Chapter Twenty Four

  Chapter Twenty Five

  Theo – Book Three

  Copyright

  Author

  Chapter One

  The air was warm against my skin as I crouched on the ground. My leg muscles screamed at me to move. The burning sensation made me shift as quietly as I could.

  “Alex…?”

  Turning my head towards the whisper, I scowled. I had told my brothers not to speak under any circumstances. The alleyway next to the house was pitch black, making it impossible for me to see the owner of the voice.

  Refusing to answer, I rose from my crouched position and crept towards the back of the alley. The Victorian house was tall beside me. We had no idea if anyone was inside, which was why I hadn’t wanted to draw any attention to us.

  “What is it?” I hissed into the darkness.

  The words flew away from me and rebounded off the stone brick walls. The shadows moved, revealing the shape of a shorter man. I smelt the aftershave before I could make out his face. Guy.

  I had told both him and Theo to wait up the road. Why hadn’t he bloody listened to me?

  A cat screeched nearby. I dropped to the ground, my heart skipping a beat. The midnight surveillance wasn’t going to plan.

  “We saw a car drive by the house. It slowed right down but didn’t stop.”

  I grabbed Guy’s arm and squeezed. His voice was too loud, the sound of it carrying through the alleyway.

  It was the third time in as many days we had checked out the house where Penny had been kept prisoner. The previous night, Theo had noticed a small light in one of the windows. We had decided to come back, equipped to investigate.

  “And? Why have you come to tell me?” I whispered, not moving an inch.

  “Because it’s gone past twice now.”

  My head snapped towards the mouth of the alleyway. Footsteps passed the entrance as the shadows shifted. I kept hold of Guy’s jacket sleeve and pulled him to a stand. We crept forward, stepping lightly on the concrete. I had never understood Guy. He was a ladies’ man who loved to look good. He took time with his clothes and appearance. Even now, creeping through an alleyway, he smelt like a perfume shop.

  “Be quiet, we don’t want anyone to hear.” The voice ahead of us made me freeze.

  It came from the steps of the Victorian house. I pushed Guy against the wall by the entrance to the alleyway. Letting him go, I took a step forward, hoping he would stay put.

  “We’ll be fine. Nick has no idea I have the keys to this place.”

  A man and woman stood on the top step as she searched through her bag. I kept my back pressed against the wall and took quick glances around the side, doing my best to stay in the shadows.

  “He would kill us if he knew what we were doing,” the man said, wrapping his arms around the woman from behind.

  Trying to stop the grin that came to my face, I bit my lip. Theo had been right. There had been someone in the house. And the best part was, they knew Nick.

  Nick was the man that had kidnapped my father. The man that I was going to kill with my own bare hands when I got hold of him.

  “Stop it, come on!” The woman giggled, opening the front door and leading the man inside.

  I reached out to grab Guy, my hand moving in thin air. Glancing around, I rolled my eyes when I spotted his shadow leaning against the wall on the other side of the alley. He didn’t like doing what he was told, especially by me.

  “Let’s go,” I called in a loud whisper, gesturing for him to follow me.

  Checking that there was no one in the street, I sprinted away from the house. His footsteps were slow behind me. Sighing, I fought the urge to leave him behind.

  Guy was a professional gambler. He didn’t have a proper job. He claimed it was his job to gamble in casinos every night. I didn’t like to question my brothers and sisters choice of career.

  There were eight of us, we were bound to be different. There was no point in telling Guy that he shouldn’t do something. It was up to him what he did. Just because I became a fireman to help others, didn’t mean that everyone had to do the same. Although, Guy was a waste of space and needed to get a proper job.

  The Last Witch Coven was made up of eight witches, all born in the same year. Even though we weren’t biological siblings, we were raised by two witch elders who taught us to treat each other as if we were brothers and sisters. We would all turn nineteen this year. My birthday had just passed.

  All ten of us, including the elders, were cursed to return to earth over and over. Magic had been drained from the earth hundreds of years ago, ensuring that the witch race almost died out.

  The warlocks, our enemies, almost went too. They had been male witches before using pure magic for evil, creating their own black magic.

  The witch who cursed us bound our ancient Salem blood to a soul who carried a strain of DNA from a different witch bloodline. Once all eight Salem witches were able to unite with their human match in one lifetime, they’d awaken the magic in them, in turn, igniting the magic in the earth. So far, we hadn’t succeeded.

  “Did you see them?” Theo asked when I reached him.

  He stepped out from behind our car when I approached, pulling his baseball cap down over his dark eyes.

  Nodding, I looked back to see where Guy had got to. He was coming down the road, huffing loudly. In the streetlight, I could see his perfectly gelled cropped hair. He wore a suit, the top buttons on the shirt undone. It seemed that our small mission had taken its toll on my brother. Shaking my head, I climbed into the car, ready to brief them both.

  “Well…?” Theo asked, getting into the driver side.

  “Yes, I saw them. They’re using the house as a shag pad.”

  Theo’s meaty hand wrapped around the steering wheel as the other one smacked it.

  Guy climbed in the back. His puffing filled the car, making the windows steam up.

  “Let’s go,” I gestured.

  Lee, who was currently at home, was my best friend in the coven. However, I needed all of the men to be involved with the hunt for our father. He wasn’t our real father, but along with his wife, who we called Mother, he had looked after us until we were old enough to look after ourselves.

  “Are we going to kidnap them?” Guy asked, moving forward as he leant his arm on the back of my seat.

  Theo started the car and drove us out of the quiet posh London street.

  “No, not tonight. We’ll be back. Next time, we’ll bring the right equipment,” I said, smiling at the thought of getting justice.

  My sister Penny had been kidnapped by the warlock leader Nick three weeks ago. I had worked my arse
off to rescue her, managing to find her after a few days. The bastard had now captured both our father and mother, which was a real pain in the arse.

  Our parents had separated five years ago. We hadn’t seen our father until recently. His abandonment had stunned us all, but he’d come back to help Penny find her soul-match.

  He had remarried a nice woman in the time he’d been gone. However, we knew our mother was his witch match. Penny had learnt that Mother now worked with Nick, the warlock who was on Earth solely to stop us from completing our mission. The warlock who I would try to kill, even though I had been told it wasn’t possible.

  “I look forward to that.” Theo chuckled, pulling a joint out of the glove compartment.

  “Are you really going to smoke that now?” Guy asked.

  Resting my head against the headrest, I closed my eyes. The others started to argue over the joint. It was now lit, the smoke wafting around my head. Trying not to inhale, I waved a hand in front of my face when it spiralled up my nose.

  “He’s right, mate,” I said, opening the window to let the smoke filter out.

  Theo grumbled as he stubbed out the joint. He had a bit of a habit, and although we didn’t say anything to him when he was in his bedroom, most of us didn’t want to be around it.

  Being a firefighter, I never smoked. I only drank a pint or six when I wasn’t due on shift. I did enjoy a good night out, though.

  “How long has it been since Father was taken?” Guy asked me.

  “Two weeks. Why?”

  The scent of his aftershave mixed with the weed smoke. The sickly smell made my throat burn. I stuck my head out of the open window to take a deep breath of spring air.

  “I think we need to make a move soon. We haven’t—”

  “What did I just say?” I barked.

  Guy sat back in his seat. He bristled, which reminded me why we didn’t get on. All three of us had short tempers. It was the reason Theo got stoned every day.

  “Who made you the boss?” Guy muttered.

  “You didn’t even want to get involved, but you haven’t got a choice,” I said slowly.

  “I offered to do this!” he snapped.

  Huffing, I wound the window up and tapped the dashboard. “Stop the car!”

  Theo slammed on the brakes. I climbed out, ignoring their shouts as I started to run. A girl jogged ahead. I was sure I knew the long legs and dark hair that blew back from her face.

  “Natalie!” I called.

  Her step faltered as she glanced over her shoulder. She stopped running as I caught up with her, her hands going to her hips. How the bloody hell had we come to be in the same London street, at the same time, in the middle of the night?

  “Alex, what are you doing here?” She panted as she stared up at me.

  We were by the Thames, not too far from our home in Clapham. Looking out over the river, I cleared my throat. The lights on the bridge reflected into the water.

  “I was passing when I saw you,” I replied, not actually sure why I had stopped her.

  The car went past, Theo and Guy shouting out of the window. Her eyebrows rose as I ignored their catcalls.

  “Do you know them?”

  Shrugging, I nodded, not bothering to elaborate.

  “What do you want?” Her tone was sharp. I deserved it.

  We’d met when we were fifteen. Young love had quickly taken hold and we’d started to date. She had been my own little secret, my siblings and parents knowing nothing about her. I had really liked her at first, but she had become jealous. I couldn’t handle it when she’d had a go at me for flirting with other girls, so I’d broken it off.

  Every time I had seen her since, I wanted to take her to bed. As we got older, I often did.

  “I tried to call you the other day.”

  She shook her head and stepped towards me. She was athletic and had a very sexy smile. I couldn’t see that smile now, which wasn’t a surprise.

  “I know you did. I told you, I’m not interested in being your friend with benefits. I’m sure there’s plenty of girls that will have you.”

  Taking a step forward, I looked down into her upturned face. She was tall, which made it easier against my six foot three. Her gaze skipped over my hair, her eyelids dropping. I could tell that she wanted to run her hands through it.

  “I don’t want to be just friends with benefits,” I argued, reaching out and stroking her cheek with one finger.

  “But you don’t want a relationship with me, do you?” Her words were tight.

  Vulnerability flashed over her gaze before it disappeared. I didn’t usually take much notice when someone felt vulnerable, but something about her made me see it.

  “We don’t get on well in a relationship. We’re better off as friends. However, we get on very well-”

  “Stop it!” Shoving my chest, she growled when I caught hold of her hands and held them to me.

  “What are you doing jogging at this time of night?” I asked, letting her go when she pulled away.

  “I couldn’t sleep,” she muttered.

  I fell into step beside her as she started to cross the bridge. My muscles itched to grab her waist, to feel her wrap herself around me. The surveillance mission had left adrenaline pumping through my veins.

  “I could help you with that.” I slipped my arm around her waist.

  Not pushing me away, she sighed gently. She couldn’t resist me. Just like I couldn’t resist her. We weren’t destined to be together, but there was something between us.

  Our mission to save the witch race had always sounded very romantic to me. As much as I tried to deny it, I had been bought up with the belief that I had to find my soul-match. Natalie was an amazing girl, but we couldn’t handle being together. That’s why I knew she wasn’t the one.

  “I hate it when you do this,” she said sadly, leaning into me as we walked.

  A grin spread on my face. I had won. Loving a challenge, I would never give up on anything. I wanted Natalie under me and that’s exactly what was going to happen. I would think about the consequences later.

  Chapter Two

  “Where did you end up last night?” Penny asked when I came in the door.

  She was sitting at the kitchen table with her match, Antony. They had united fairly quickly, which gave me hope for the rest of us. I wasn’t fussed by how fast it took me; in fact, I hoped I would have a few more years of freedom before I had to think about settling down.

  “I was out,” I replied, not able to stop the twitching of my lips.

  “You’re such a manwhore.” She laughed, shaking her head.

  Antony shared a look with her. Their companionship made me queasy, so I headed to my room.

  When I passed Theo’s door, I caught a whiff of dope. I had sneaked out of Natalie’s early and couldn’t believe that he was already lighting up a joint. He obviously didn’t care about Guy, who had to share a bedroom with him. How did my brother put up with it?

  “Alright, mate.” Lee greeted as I came into the room.

  He was lying on his bed, scribbling in a notebook. His guitar was lying next to him. I had to bite my tongue before I said something I shouldn’t. He was working on his band’s album and was always writing lyrics or humming to himself.

  “You’re up early,” I muttered, yawning as I laid down.

  “Did you get any sleep, or have you been up all night?”

  Grinning, I wiggled my eyebrows when I looked over at him.

  “Who was it this time? Someone we know or a stranger?”

  He chewed the end of his pen, shaking his head as he watched me stretch out.

  The apartment we lived in had four bedrooms, which meant everyone had to share. Penny and Antony were the first united couple so they got their own room. Sharing with my brother didn’t bother me most of the time. However, there were moments when we needed our own space.

  It hadn’t always been that way, especially when we had still lived with our mother and father. We had
moved a few months ago, when we decided that we needed to live by ourselves.

  “It was Natalie.” As soon as the words left my lips, I wished I could take them back.

  “You son of a—”

  “Don’t!” I interrupted, an unfamiliar pang squeezing my chest.

  Lee had seen how heartbroken Natalie had been when I’d split up with her. He always had a go at me when I slept with her.

  He sat up and leant against the wall, scowling in my direction. I glanced over at him, frowning when he scratched his bare chest. His torso and arms were covered in tattoos of all different shapes and sizes.

  “Come on, mate,” I said. “You would do the same if-”

  “No, I wouldn’t. You need to stop messing with her head.”

  Lee wrote love songs, even though he didn’t come across as very romantic himself. I hadn’t bothered to go to any of his gigs, being too busy with my fireman training, so I didn’t know the lyrics to his songs.

  Rock was my favourite music. I preferred the heavy tunes, as opposed to the meaningful words.

  “I know. I will,” I said.

  “No, you won’t.”

  Growling, I turned on my side, facing away from him. How dare he judge me? I could do what I liked, when I liked, and with whoever I wanted.

  “Theo and Guy told us that you saw a couple in that house last night. When are we going back to get them?”

  I turned towards him again, the subject too important for me to ignore. I wanted to plan the next step as quickly as possible.

  “I’m on call with work tonight. We’ll do it tomorrow night. I tried to get my shift covered, but it was useless. I hate not being able to rescue dad.”

  Lee nodded and went back to his scribbling.

  “What are you writing?” I wasn’t quite ready to go to sleep.

  “Why do you want to know?”

  Lee had an attitude with me. What was wrong with him? Did he like Natalie or something?

  “I just do.”

  My phone buzzed with a text. Pulling it out of my pocket, I groaned when Natalie’s name showed on the screen.

  “Is she pissed off?”

  Glancing at him, I nodded. I thought I would have a couple more hours before my actions bit me in the arse, but it hadn’t worked out that way.