“Gemma,” Kate squeaked, her voice tight.
Turning, I froze, my stomach dropping to my feet. Florian had two guns held towards Kate, his eyes wide and his cheeks bright red. Was the witch more like his father than he cared to admit?
“What are you doing?” I asked.
My gaze glanced to a pile of ash on the ground behind the altar. Kate must have killed Brianna’s boyfriend without me noticing.
My attention was quickly caught by the others as Dave grunted. Jake was keeping guard over Brianna, forcing her to stay on the ground, away from the demons. Dave still wrestled with Xvair's spell. It wouldn't take long for the old man to lose all of his power, his body was wobbling already.
“He told me to do it, I can't resist.” Florian stared at his father, who glanced towards us, a small smile playing on his lips.
Ah, he had cast a spell on Florian to hurt anyone who tried to rescue me. That wasn't a surprise considering how much the man wanted me dead. However, he needed me alive if he wanted to steal the ley line. Didn't he?
“You think your little team has the better of me?” Xvair shouted, spittle flying. “But, I know your weakness, Gemma Abbott. You'll let me go before you let any one of your team die. What's it to be?”
He was right that I would put my team above all else, that's what a good leader did. My mother may have tried to take me away from those who fought beside me, but I wouldn't let them go down, ever.
Looking over at Kate, I closed my eyes briefly, feeling into the ley line. The magic broke through the strength of evil, soaring through my veins. It seemed that the ancestors were helping me to access as much magic as possible. Xvair Harvey might think he had picked the perfect place, but Mother Earth would never allow an evil witch to destroy her.
“It's okay,” Kate whispered as I opened my eyes.
Her dark hair was braided tight to her head, the ends hanging to her waist. She wore her tight leather trousers paired with her grey denim jacket. She looked every inch the kickass seer agent she was. I wouldn't kill her, but my spell might just hurt her a bit.
“Do it!” she snapped, widening her eyes at me.
Florian looked between us, frowning deeply. “Don't try anything, I'll kill her.”
Raising my hands, I started a chant that I hadn't used in a very long time. In fact, my mother had banned me from casting the spell when she caught me doing it as a child. I was only playing with my dolls, but she claimed that the power of the spell, especially using the ley line magic, was too strong. She also wondered why a young adult would want to cast such a spell. I might have told her it was something I had seen one of the other teens do, but really, my books had shown me that men were not nice... unless they were the saviour of the story, of course.
“Don't...” Xvair called. “You can't!”
Shouting at the top of my lungs, I kept my feet apart, firmly on the ground as wind whipped through the church, flicking my dark hair around me. My hands stretched towards Florian, but the spell was meant for Xvair too. Any Harvey witch for that matter. No one from the evil witch's line would ever threaten the ley line again.
Stones tumbled from the roof as the ground started to shake. The power of the ley line surged through me, causing the walls of the church to creak. I had to be careful. If I wanted a ton of demons released from Hell, this would be the perfect time, but I didn't. As an agent of Paranormal MI5, I had sworn to protect both human-kind and paranormal-kind. That vow was something I would take to my grave.
“Please,” Florian shouted, his face contorting. “Stop!”
Kate's arms were squeezed in Florian's grip. His pain was inflicting pain on my friend. As the spell flew from my fingertips, the blast that rocked through the church knocked everyone to the ground, throwing them away from where they stood. I was the only one who remained standing. Even the demons were disorganised, howling loudly with an eerie scream.
Rushing to Kate, I bent to help her. Florian gripped her tightly, his fingers buried deep in the skin of her arm. The pain he had experienced had knocked him out cold. It was no wonder, I had fried his reproductive organs.
“Thanks!” Kate scrambled to her feet, patting the dust that had fallen from the ceiling out of her hair.
Glancing over to the others, I released her as Dave jumped for Xvair, wrestling the old man to the ground. Both men groaned as Xvair gave up, slumping on the stone tiles.
Kate and I rushed down the steps of the altar and joined our team. The demons were still going mad, bashing against their binds to get free.
Xvair was losing power, the link to the PFF witches broken... that meant only one thing. We had limited time before the demons were free.
“Give him to me,” I commanded Dave who dragged Xvair to his feet.
My boyfriend looked down at me, a smile briefly touching his lips as he brushed his fingertips across my cheek. The silent relief that flooded between us made my muscles weak.
“You'll never get away with this!” Xvair screamed in my face, his feeble attempt at lunging for me thwarted by Dave's restraint.
Gripping hold of his arms, I pinned them to his side. He was weak now, the life force draining from him so quickly, he could barely resist. The pale film across his eyes grew thicker as I turned him towards the demons.
“Xvair Harvey, I have just destroyed your line. Every man left that was born from you, or descended from
