Muttering an affirmative, I held out my hand. She paused in her preparation to stare at me. It wasn’t often that I used my magic to transport other beings. However, in this case, I wasn’t going to waste any time.
Zipping up her black leather jacket, Kate fluffed her hair one last time. “I kind of like this new Gemma,” she said. “Even if she still wears book T-shirts that say Book Nerds Rule.”
Glancing down, I grinned to myself. Even though I couldn’t remember what had happened in the last few days, I wasn’t about to change who I was. Except the posters, those had to come off of my ceiling. Ever since Dave had seen them, I’d cringed when I thought about the look on his face. Not that I cared about what others thought, but it was a reminder that I was no longer a teen.
Kate’s fingers wrapped around my hand, jolting me out of my reverie. Closing my eyes, I opened my connection to the ley line and tugged on the magic that thrummed beneath my feet. Although the connection was weaker, I was still the protector of the line.
Magic, warm and tingly, filtered through my feet and up my legs. When it hit my hands, Kate shuddered. Taking a deep breath, I whispered the transportation spell and braced my feet.
“I’ll never get used to that.” Kate glanced around, immediately on alert.
I’d flashed us to the alleyway around the back of the hotel. Luckily, we were hiding behind the refuse bins. It was quiet all around us, no sound alerting us to Joseph or anyone to do with him.
“It is a handy trick,” I said, taking my phone out to put on silent.
The sound of a door opening nearby made us go still. Kate’s eyes grew wide before she stuck her head around the dumpster. Following her movement, I looked to see who came out of the hotel. Joseph Cambridge strode away from the door, towards the street.
“Freeze!” Kate shouted as she jumped out from our hiding place.
Moving close behind her, I yanked out my gun and aimed it at the vampire. Not that it would do any harm if I did shoot him.
Before we could do anything, Joseph started to run. Springing into motion, both Kate and I went after him. He was about to exit the alleyway when I whispered a barrier spell, bringing it up right in front of his face.
Ploughing into it, he almost screamed. The sound was unusual considering he was a powerful vampire. Falling to his knees, he clasped his face in his hands. Kate was beside him before me. Taking something out of her pocket, she threw it at him. A puff of fine dust covered him, making him scream as it hit his skin.
“Sorry, mate,” she said, aiming a gun at his head.
Reaching the pair, I held my hand out towards Joseph and incited a binding spell. His hands were forced together, his wrists joined by an invisible cord. His legs moved, forcing him to lay down as his ankles were tied too.
“Vervain.” My muttered word was joined by an impressive nod towards Kate.
Vervain was the only plant that could hinder a vampire. It wasn’t exactly the easiest to get hold of, although Paranormal MI5 had plenty of the stuff. As a seer, I wouldn’t have expected Kate to be interested in using plants to bring down a vampire. Although, her experience with them wasn’t exactly something to be taken lightly.
“Joseph Cambridge, you are wanted for questioning regarding the murders of the witches, plus your extremely illegal activity regarding the demon you summoned from hell.”
Even though I couldn’t remember being threatened by the vampire, I trusted my colleagues to know that they would be telling the truth. The demon incident sounded petrifying to me, considering I’d never seen one before. I really had to sort out my memory so I could get things clear in my mind.
“You’ll pay for this,” Joseph squeezed between his clenched teeth as he stared up at me.
The burns on his face gave me a slight satisfaction, although, it didn’t last long as the sound of the door opening behind me put me on alert.
Turning, I stood my ground as four vampires came to an abrupt halt down the alleyway. Kate stayed beside Joseph, ready to guard him. No matter how much they tried to get their leader back, we wouldn’t allow it.
Growls came from the male vampires as they bared their extended teeth. They would know who I was, so it was commendable that they were prepared to take me on. And yet, my insides quivered as I pulled magic into my body once more.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” I shouted, a small part of me trying to avoid bloodshed.
If they were members of the PFF, they wouldn’t hesitate to kill me. Their hatred towards Essex witches was all too evident.
Clocking the movement of their feet before they started to run, I clenched my hands and shouted. “Incendia!”
A high wall of fire shot out from the ground, directly between us. Their hisses as they collided with it reached me through the thundering sound of flames flicking in the air.
“We need to get out of here,” Kate said to me, her stance ready for fight, even though her words were ready for flight.
She was right. There was no point in fighting. However, I wouldn’t be able to transport both Joseph and Kate at the same time. The vampires would find a way around my wall, which meant she would be in danger.
“Go!” The seer pushed me towards Joseph where he struggled on the ground.
“I can’t leave you,” I protested.
Her shove forced me nearer our captive. My legs reeled as I almost stumbled to the ground. Only just managing to right myself, I reached for Joseph.
“Kate,” I hesitated.
“Go!” Her hair moved as she spun towards the wall of fire.
Her gun
