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  “You start, and then, I’ll follow.”

  Slicing the blade down my palm, I allowed a drop of my blood to fall onto the centre of the symbol. The earth hissed, a faint aroma lifting to my nose. Maxwell did the same, holding his arm out to me.

  We clasped hands as our palms met. Opening my mouth, I took a deep breath before I stated my intention. “Mother Earth, ley line lore, I renounce my claim to the leadership of the Emendatus coven. I declare Maxwell Maddocks the new leader. So it shall be.”

  The flames around the earth symbol rose high, forcing Maxwell to drop my hand. Pain sliced through my head, making me grab my skull.

  “What’s happening?” I bit through my clenched teeth.

  Maxwell groaned from outside the circle. I couldn’t see him, the flames too high. If we weren’t careful, they would set off a fire alarm. Just as my thought finished, they extinguished, and I fell to my knees, the pain leaving as quickly as it had come.

  “Ouch.” Maxwell was sitting on his butt, rubbing his chest.

  My breath was huffing as I pulled myself up and brushed the dirt off my jeans. I felt lighter somehow.

  “I think it worked,” I said, stepping out of the circle.

  Fumbling to get up, Maxwell swayed when he finally got to his feet. His big bulk almost stumbled forward. Helping him to get steady, I looked up into his eyes. Lightning bolts zipped across his irises, showing that he was holding back his magic.

  “How are you feeling?”

  A laugh escaped his mouth as he tapped my arm. “As if I’ve just taken a burden off your shoulders and placed them on mine.”

  The grin that lit my face was real. He really had done exactly what he’d described. The switch had worked, which meant that Isaac and our ancestors had approved of the new leader. If they hadn’t, it wouldn’t have been a success.

  “Maxwell, please, take me seriously when I try to tell you what’s happening.”

  The sudden change of topic made him sober. He swallowed, his wobbly chin almost covering the movement of his Adam’s apple. “I promise to listen to your advisement. What I do with my coven is no longer a concern of yours.”

  A sting of emotional pain flickered in my chest. And, yet, I knew that I couldn’t be a part of the coven any longer. Not that I had ever played much of a role in it in the first place. Isaac may have trained me, but no one had ever really accepted me.

  “Good luck,” I said to him, patting his shoulder. “You’re going to need it.”

  Moving away, I blinked as tears suddenly popped into my eyes. My back was to Maxwell as I made my way to the door.

  “Wait,” he called, forcing me to stop.

  Turning, I smiled at him when he cocked his hip and crossed his arms over his chest. “You don’t think I’m going to let you get away with it that easily, do you, Sweet Cheeks? You need to help me with this so-called baby making grossness.”

  Waving my hand, I unlocked the door. “I’ll be in touch,” I said, smiling to myself as the door closed, shutting off Maxwell’s laugh.

  First, I had to get back to work. Gorgeous Mac-agent would be wondering where I was…

  Chapter Eight

  “Why would you go without me?” Gerard’s questions were getting on my nerves.

  Firstly, it was none of his business. Secondly, it had nothing to do with him. And, thirdly, it really was none of his business.

  The night was warm, the summer evenings making it lighter than usual. People were lazing around, basking in the fun-filled London nightlife. Me, on the other hand, I was marching through the streets, yet again. With Inquisitor Mac-frustrating on my tail.

  We were on our way to see Becky, the seer who had told me about my split personality, or you know, my witch warlock problem.

  “Look,” I said, spinning when Gerard tried to get me to stop. “Far too much attention has been on me. We need to get a lead on the witch investigation. After I’ve seen Becky, I’m off to interrogate the three stooges we captured.”

  He was about to speak when I put up a hand. “Yes, I have got permission from Justina.”

  Heaving a sigh, Gerard looked down at me, his hands on his hips. “I know you have, I was there, remember? She told me to come with you.”

  Ah, crap. I was so in my own head, I was losing touch with reality. Or, maybe I just hoped that Gerard would go away.

  “There’s the bar,” he said, his hand taking hold of my fingers before I could leave him standing there. “Listen to me. I’ve got your back. No matter what happens, I’m here for you.”

  Doing an impression of a goldfish… Yes, my mouth gulped open and closed… I stared up at him. His green eyes were mesmerising as his tongue came out to flick over his lips. I had forgotten how sexy he was in all my drama.

  Dropping my gaze, I brought my free hand up to trace the outline of the now healed blister on his arm. The tattoos under it were distorted. And yet…

  “You got another one?”

  The tender moment was ruined as I spotted tattoo number, literally, sixty-seven. Pulling away from him, I almost ran the last few hundred metres to the bar. Becky had wanted to meet out, considering it was a Friday night.

  “Devon, stop!” Gerard caught up, looking down as he walked beside me. “I can’t help it, you know why I get them.”

  “Jeremy?” I spat. “He wasn’t a criminal. He wasn’t a murderer. He was a sad pathetic witch who only ever threatened. His tattoo will not clear your guilty conscience.”

  Ouch, where had that come from? Maybe my opinion on Gerard’s weird tattoo fetish was harsher than I had realised.

  “You’re a fine one to judge.”

  I paused my footsteps, slowly turning to face him. He was right, I wasn’t one to berate him for his weird killing method, but… I also wasn’t hell bent on killing.

  “I…” I couldn’t say anything.

  As I watched him, staring at the ground, it clicked. My view of him had changed. Seeing him snap Jeremy’s neck so cold heartedly had made me wonder if I could trust him.

  “I know that look,” Gerard whispered. “My sister gave it to me when I couldn’t save her. Ever since, she’s looked at me that way.”

  My eyes closed, my breath rushing out. I was forgetting the reason behind everything he did. He punished himself for his best friend, he punished himself for his sister.

  “Becky said that if you don’t work through your shit, it will ruin you. I don’t want that. I...” Forcing him to take my hand when he tried to refuse, I tugged him down so his face was level with mine. “…care about you.”

  His glare intensified before it softened. Our breath mingled as my hand held firm to the back of his head. He needed to know that I wasn’t abandoning him. The same way he had just offered me his support.

  “Let’s stop letting our stuff get in the way of our job. Justina and Kurt are going to notice and probably fire us.”

  Blinking, Gerard pulled my hands off him, holding them in his. “You’re right. I need to deal. I’ve been pushing it down, but since meeting you…”

  “What can I say?” I said, nudging him with my shoulder. “I’m amazing enough to stir up all the crap.”

  He lifted one eyebrow. “You say that as if it’s a good thing. I’m not sure it’s something you should boast about.”

  Laughing, I dragged him towards the entrance to the bar. Becky probably wouldn’t give me any herbs to make me high, so a beer was in order.

  The noise hit me as we entered, the humans talking loudly amongst themselves. The smell of alcohol and sweat filtered up my nose. A typical Friday night in London City. In fact, it was nice to be around people for a change.

  “Hello!” Becky called from the other side of the bar.

  Worming our way through the crowd, we reached her side. She was all smiley, her cheeks bright red, almost matching the colour of her wine. Ah, she’d already had a few. So… How would she be able to help me?

  “Oh, don’t worry,” she said when I eyed her glass. “I’ve already
done the work. I just need to tell you what I saw.”

  Letting my held breath seep out of me, I lifted my shoulders and went to wave to the barman. Gerard extended a bottle of beer towards me before I could even turn fully. Wow, my respect for him soared as he greeted the seer.

  “This may, or may not, be a celebration,” Becky declared.

  Frowning, I took a swig of my drink, pretty sure that it would not be a celebration. My pulse suddenly sped up. She had seen something. But, what?

  “Don’t keep us in suspense,” Gerard said, checking around us.

  Doing a little weird dance movement on her barstool, Becky held her arms out to me. Er, what did she…?

  Leaning forward, she hugged me tight. Oh, that’s what she had wanted? Well, it wasn’t something I came across very often. Supernatural creatures weren’t prone to being nice. Except Becky. The seer was feeling on top of the world, apparently.

  “I saw the dagger,” she whispered in my ear, her arms loosely flung over my shoulders. “You’ve stored your magic. I also saw a way for you to maybe, and this isn’t a guaranteed maybe, find a way for you to keep both sides of your magic. To be both witch and warlock without risking your life.”

  Inhaling sharply, I almost ripped away from her. Instead, I kept still, allowing her words to sink in. Wait. If there was a way for me to stay… me, then I wouldn’t have to choose. But, hadn’t I already chosen? Wasn’t that the reason I was there?

  “I... don’t know what to say.”

  Leaning back, Becky looked me in the eye. “If you keep filling your dagger with your warlock power for now, your witch power will grow stronger. Try and keep a balance. Let me work out the details. It might take me some time.”

  “You!” The shout made everyone turn and stare at a young woman.

  Gerard stood in front of me when it became evident that she was pointing at me. Great. Who had I pissed off now? Was the girl annoyed at my awesome hair? Or, maybe it was the handsome agent that stood beside me.

  The humans parted as the pretty brunette approached. There was a whole bar of people about to witness whatever this psycho bitch wanted to throw at me.

  A sudden faint smell of gone off meat reached me. Gerard’s hand came to my shoulder at the same time. He obviously smelt it too. A Dark Crawler.

  “You killed me. Or, tried to.”

  Becky slid off her stool, ready to step beside me. Taking her hand, I pushed her back, hissing at her to leave. If the Crawler wanted revenge, it would probably jump into the seer. And, that couldn’t happen.

  “You’re going to have to be more specific,” I said to the Crawler as she got closer.

  Stepping in front of me, Gerard shielded me as I bent and retrieved my dagger, holding it behind my back. That was the problem with warm evenings, there was nowhere to hide my weapons.

  The girl was quite solid, her form not rotting badly from the inside. However, it wouldn’t be long. A few weeks of looking good would give way to the bloated look of someone who had drowned.

  “We met in an alleyway, you killed my body. Luckily, this beautiful girl was just behind you. You were so engrossed in yourself, you didn’t think to check if there were any humans around.”

  Flicking her hair over her shoulder, the Crawler came closer. Some of the humans were still watching, but most of them had gone back to their conversations. They were sensible. It helped me immensely. Dark Crawlers didn’t care about hiding. They were evil, detached. The police found it hard to capture them because of the hopping from one body to another trick.

  “What do you want?” Gerard asked as I nudged him out of the way.

  Pretending to rub my neck, I glanced behind me to check if Becky had gone. She had. Good, that meant she was at least safe from the vile thing inside the already dead girl.

  “I want revenge. I know I said that I wasn’t going to take over the half-breed, but I’m ready for a fight.”

  Oh no, it didn’t. Did the Crawler just threaten to possess me? My fingers itched as I prepared myself. A smile came to my face as I took Gerard’s hand. He looked down at me, frowning. Was it that shocking for me to want to hold his hand? Okay, he was right, I was going to use him for his magic. But… still…

  Closing my eyes, I focused my attention on the girl slash Crawler. Whispering, I chanted the spell that I had used to trap a Crawler in my friend’s grandpa. Yes, it wasn’t my finest moment, but I wanted to make sure it couldn’t jump into me. I liked having him around. Her grandpa, not the Crawler. And, I knew that as soon as it decided to leave, his sweet face would be gone. My mistake for caring about a human friend.

  Gerard felt me pulling on his magic. At first he resisted, but after a second, he allowed it to channel through me. He had no idea what I was doing, but his trust in me made my skin warm.

  “You can try,” I said when the spell was done.

  It was a barrier spell. It lined the human body the Dark Crawler possessed, not allowing it to jump out. Which meant that it would die as soon as she did.

  The corner of the girl’s lip lifted into her cheek. “An open invitation, I never expected that.”

  It was true that most underworld creatures detested the Crawlers. They rarely survived in the powerful bodies of any creature other than humans, but it didn’t stop them from trying.

  About to step forward, I was pushed to the ground by Gerard. He didn’t realise what I had done. Taking two strides to the girl, he came to a stand right in front of her. “Take me.”

  My heart almost exploded. The man was protecting me like some warrior Viking. Now, that made a woman’s heart flutter.

  Scrambling up from the floor, I tried to move forward. An invisible barrier stopped me. Stupid Mac-hero was really taking his role as saviour a little too seriously. I couldn’t exactly shout out what I’d done. The humans who were listening would think I was insane.

  “I mean it,” Gerard said, his frame tall in front of the girl. “Take me instead.”

  Cocking her head to the side, the Crawler laughed in a high pitched tone. Shuddering, I watched as Gerard opened his arms, offering himself.

  “Stop it!” I tried to get him to look at me.

  No, he wasn’t paying attention. Luckily, neither was anyone else. I was about to try and push through the barrier when the girl brought a knife out of her bag. No. The Crawler might not be able to jump, but she could still kill my partner.

  “Wait!” I shouted. “I’ll do it!”

  Bringing my dagger forward, I sliced it down in mid-air. Gerard doubled over as his spell was ripped in two, draining him of magic. The girl was still extending the knife towards him. Thrusting through the split in the barrier spell, I launched myself at Gerard, knocking him sideways.

  He fell to the ground as the blade made contact… straight into my side. The Crawler was laughing as she gripped my shoulder with one hand. Gritting my teeth as hard as I could, I pushed the Crawler off me. The knife clattered to the ground as I held my side tightly. Wetness made me cringe as pain exploded. Son of a bitch.

  Instead of staying for a fight, I kicked out my leg. My boot connected with the Crawler’s chest, sending her flying back into the crowd. As she was swallowed by humans trying to help her, a man took hold of my arm.

  “Are you Devon Jinx?”

  I shoved away from him, staring at his familiar eyes. Who was he? Why did it feel like I’d seen him before?

  “I can see that you are. Here, your father asked me to give you this.”

  Before I could reply, Gerard took hold of my ankle from where he was on the ground and flashed us to the agency. Landing on the lab floor, I groaned as darkness invaded the side of my eyes. Nope, I wasn’t able to stay awake. Maybe that was a good thing.

  Chapter Nine

  “That bastard stabbed me!”

  My exclamation was met with a grin from both Justina and Kurt. They were sitting in the armchairs of the living room. A television was showing a vampire show in the background. Really?

  Trying to
move, I cringed when my side twinged. The pain wasn’t as bad as I’d imagined, but it still hurt like a bitch.

  “How long have I been out?”

  Looking around, I searched for Gerard. He wasn’t there. Sighing, I sunk back on the sofa. I was laid out… again.

  “About an hour. Kurt gave you some healing potions. You’ll be back to normal in no time.” Justina came over and sat on the edge of the sofa next to me. “You were clutching this when you got here.”

  An envelope was addressed to me, the writing familiar somehow. The eyes of the man who had shoved it into my hand before Gerard flashed us out the bar came into my mind.

  Gingerly taking the letter, I resisted the urge to rip it open. I had no idea who would write to me, but I had a gut feeling that I wasn’t going to like it.

  “He… The man said that my father asked him to give it to me.”

  My memory came flooding back as I sat upright. Groaning when pain took hold, I grabbed my side, trying not to dislodge Kurt’s patch up handy work.

  Justina’s eyebrows furrowed as I carefully opened the envelope. I ignored them, almost wishing that Gerard was there as I opened the folded piece of paper.

  “It…” I stuttered. “…it says… Devon, for so long, I’ve waited to write to you. I told Isaac Senior to make sure that you were trained in your magic so you could be prepared for anything. However, I’ve heard that what you’re going through isn’t exactly what I was expecting. Please know that I never abandoned you. And, when the time is right, we’ll see each other again. All my love, Dad.”

  My chin wobbled as I threw the paper on the floor. Who would pull such a cruel trick? Too many people knew about my story. Both witches and warlocks were aware of my parents dying.

  Picking up the letter, Justina scanned it before handing it to Kurt. “Will you test it for authenticity, please?”

  Nodding, he left us to do exactly what she’d asked. There was a non-written rule between them. One asked, the other did. It flowed well, unlike me and Gerard.