46

AFTER LIAM MOVED OUT, Ciara worked even more than before. She was avoiding her home, because she hated living alone. She also kept away from her friends in fear of putting them in danger.

Ciara didn’t remember the last time she had seen Henry or Jenna. But it was worth it if it meant she didn’t have to lose them. She was done losing people.

Kellan had tried to tell her to stop working so much, saying it wouldn’t help. Ciara knew it, but she needed something to do with her time. Kellan eventually accepted it, but he continued to keep an eye on her. Ciara told him it would be temporary—only until they managed to get the witch hunters.

But she didn’t know how long it would take.

***

IT WAS TWO WEEKS AFTER Liam had moved out when Ciara’s crazy work schedule brought actual results. It was around five in the evening when she found a new address.

Luckily the team hadn’t gone home yet, so they looked further into the location. They were all gathered in the meeting room—even Kellan. Niles had his laptop on the table and was searching for information on the address.

“It looks like a small manor,” he said, frowning at the laptop screen.

Bill stood up and walked closer to see the screen. “That doesn’t look small.”

“Well, small for a manor,” Niles said, shrugging. “Based on the photos I found, there are more than two ways in. There’s the front door, a door at every balcony, and two back doors. It’s supposed to have a basement, too. A building that old could even have an entrance straight to the basement.”

“Alright.” Kellan nodded. “Everyone ready in thirty minutes. I’ll meet you all here,” he ordered and left the room.

Theresa made her way over to Ciara. “Do you think we could find them this time?”

Ciara sighed. “Some of them, I hope.”

They were going to be quick, so they had a better chance of catching witch hunters if there were any. This time the witch hunters wouldn’t have time to escape.

“Will you finally stop training all night and every night if we catch them?” Bill asked, wrapping an arm around Ciara’s shoulders.

She rolled her eyes. “I have nothing else to do.”

“But when we catch these idiots who threatened your friend, you can start hanging out with him and the rest of your friends again.”

“If we catch them.”

“You just said you think we could find some of them in the manor. Don’t be such a buzzkill.”

“Finding them doesn’t mean catching them. That won’t be as easy.”

Bill sighed. “Fair enough.”

***

KELLAN CAME BACK DOWN to the training hall exactly thirty minutes later. By then everyone was dressed for the job and ready to go.

Owen was working from home with his laptop in case the team needed additional information while they were out in the field. It was late Friday evening, so the other teams had already gone home.

The team teleported near the manor, but far enough so as not to trigger any magic-detecting alarms. Still, just in case, they stayed unmoving and listened.

“Nothing,” Kellan said when they had been listening for any alarms for long enough. “Now we need eyes on the building.”

“I’ll go,” Ciara volunteered.

“Me, too,” Bill said right after.

Kellan nodded. “We’ll wait here.”

Ciara and Bill sneaked closer to the house. They moved slowly to make sure no one saw them. They had to observe the trees, the bushes, and the house while remaining undetected.

Little by little they approached the house, eventually hiding behind some bushes. There appeared to be no lights on inside the manor, so they couldn’t see much, but they spotted the entrance to the basement.

“I can’t see anything inside,” Bill whispered after they had been on watch for a while.

Their legs and backs were beginning to ache from staying still in such uncomfortable positions.

Ciara was eyeing the windows, trying to see any movement inside. Sighing, she almost turned to Bill to tell him they should go back to the others, but then she swore she saw something move. It could have been a hanging body—or a witch hunter.

Ciara’s eyes widened. “Something just moved inside,” she whispered.

Bill cursed under his breath. “Do you think they noticed us?”

She shook her head the tiniest bit. “No. But we should tell the others. Let’s go back.”

“Alright.”

Ciara kept her eyes on the windows and signed for Bill to run behind a nearby tree. She ran after him while trying to keep her eyes on the house and especially its windows.

It seemed as though no one saw them. But they weren’t far enough from the house yet. And they were also going to have to keep their eyes on the trees on their way back. There could be witch hunters around—even outside—and they had no room for surprises.

Ciara waited a while to see if she saw anything through the windows. When she didn’t, she signed for Bill to move. They ran further away from the house and hid behind another set of trees.

Not much longer and they would be far enough to run back to the others without having to hide behind bushes and trees all the time. Ciara gave Bill a sign again, and they ran.

They couldn’t see the manor and its windows anymore, so they turned their full focus on the surrounding forest.

“We can run back,” Ciara said. “Just keep your eyes on the surroundings. We don’t know what could be out here.”

They jogged back to the spot where they had left the others.

But the team was gone.

“Where are they?” Bill spun around frantically.

Ciara shushed him.

They heard a quiet thud. Ciara nearly cast a curse at the object that fell from the tree.

“Don’t shoot.”

She lowered her wand, seeing River hold his hands up.

“Just us.” River smiled a little as the others jumped down from the trees.

“We didn’t know if it was you when we heard footsteps,” Theresa explained. “Probably Bill’s heavy footsteps,” she added with a teasing grin.

Bill rolled his eyes.

“We need to go in there,” Ciara said, mostly expecting Kellan’s permission. “The lights are out, so I have no idea what’s inside, but something moved in there.”

“Did you find a way in?” Niles asked.

Bill nodded. “We found the entrance to the basement.”

“We should use that,” Kellan said and turned to face Ciara. “Lead the way.”

Ciara nodded and began to head back to the manor. No one dared to speak, following her all the way to the old wooden doors that supposedly led to the basement.

River cast a silencing spell on the doors to make sure they didn’t squeak. Then he and Bill pulled them open slowly and carefully.

The team waited. Their hearts were thundering in their chests, expecting someone to emerge.

But nothing came from the darkness.

Ciara went in first. She wasn’t planning to have any more accidents when she was in charge.

She tried to look around. Even after letting her eyes adjust to the darkness, she couldn’t see much.

Her team and Kellan joined her.

None of them could see anyone in the basement. To be sure, Ciara lit up the room with a silent snap of her fingers. She had her wand in her hand, even though she didn’t necessarily need it. She could have used her magic even without the wand. But if there was a fight awaiting inside, she preferred to have her wand in hand.

When the basement was lit up, the team could confirm it was empty. There were no corpses hanging from the ceiling or any sign of someone having brewed a potion in there. Nothing out of ordinary.

Once they had checked the basement, Ciara put out the lights with another snap of her fingers.

“What now?” Bill whispered.

“Up the stairs.” Again, Ciara was the first one to ascend. At the end of the stairs was a door. She waited for everyone to walk up before she pushed it open.

At first glance, they didn’t see anyone, but it was just a matter of time. Ciara wished they would find someone alive rather than a corpse. Preferably a witch hunter.

Ciara’s heart pounded wildly in her chest. Whatever was going to happen, she was ready. She just hated the waiting—the calm before the action.

Ciara split the team into smaller groups. Using hand gestures, she ordered Kellan and Niles to check the left side of the first floor and Declan and River to check the right side. Then she gestured for Bill and Theresa to follow her.

The manor was old, and the floorboards were creaky. The team had to use silencing charms. But then, it was eerily quiet.

Ciara headed to the bottom of the stairs, Bill and Theresa following her.

She couldn’t hear Kellan, Niles, Declan, or River. But silence was better than fighting noises. So far everyone was okay.

But they certainly weren’t safe. Not in that place.

Ciara feared it was a trap. No other address had shown so many signs of the witch hunters. It wouldn’t have been the first time she had walked into an ambush. What made it worse was that she was the one in charge this time—even if Kellan was there, too.

Ciara stayed at the bottom of the stairs, listening. When she couldn’t hear anything, she gestured for Bill and Theresa to follow. She stepped onto the first stair. It made a quiet squeak.

Moving her hand in the air, she put a silencing enchantment on the stairs. Luckily, no one seemed to have heard the sound from the first stair. Or if they had, they stayed hidden.

She moved up, one stair at a time, as quietly as she could. Bill and Theresa tiptoed right behind her.

She was awfully aware of how heavy her breathing was.

Her heart was beating rapidly, but that happened on most missions. It was her body’s reaction to danger.

In fact, she felt unusually calm. It was just her, Kellan, and the team. She dreaded the idea of losing any of them, but she would rather lose one of them than Henry or her other friends. Just thinking about losing Henry—or anyone from her personal life—sickened her.

But it didn’t mean she was willing to lose any of her team members. She would do anything to prevent even one of them getting hurt. Still, she was used to being in dangerous situations with them. She had got accustomed to the idea since she had first met them.

Losing people was part of the job. She had to accept it, despite how hard it was.

Ciara stopped in the middle of the steps again to listen to their surroundings. She couldn’t hear anything.

She was just about to step on to the last stair when she heard a creak. Her hand flew up, and Bill and Theresa halted.

Ciara moved to stand as close to the wall as she could, listening. The only sound she could hear was her own heart beating. She held her breath to make sure she heard everything.

Just when she was about to take one more step, she swore she heard footsteps. They were quiet, but they were approaching.

Someone was upstairs.

Ciara waited patiently for the footsteps to come closer. Her heartbeats reminded thunder, her body preparing for the upcoming fight.

She could hear Bill’s breathing become shaky when he heard the footsteps too. Ciara didn’t dare to turn to look at him.

Her muscles tensed as the footsteps came even closer. She was dying to switch her weight from one leg to another, but she couldn’t in case she made a sound.

She needed the element of surprise on their side. And she was praying no one downstairs ruined that.

The rest of the team hadn’t made even one sound, and that was worrying her.

She could no longer hear Bill’s breathing. Apparently he was holding his breath—probably afraid someone could hear his shaky breaths otherwise.

Ciara ran through the worst-case scenarios in her head as the steps came closer and closer. She could imagine the torn-up corpses they might find. She felt sickened by the thought, but she didn’t let it affect her.

In her work mode, she didn’t have room for feelings and emotions. There would be time for that after the mission.

The footsteps were no more than two strides away. Ciara closed her eyes for a second and prayed before the person took another step closer.

Just then there was a loud thud—like someone dropping a body. It came from below them.

Perhaps someone from the team had found something.

The person around the corner took a step back. Then there were more hurried steps, heading away from the stairs.

Ciara reacted instantly. Moving around the corner, she tripped the first person. The second man turned around, and she punched him in the face with a right hook.

She was about to send the man down the corridor, using magic, when she saw his face.

“Henry?” she hissed.

“Ciara?” Henry’s eyes widened. His voice was unusually nasal, because Ciara had broken his nose with her fist.

“What the hell?” Ciara hissed. “You’re not supposed to be here.”

She turned to see Shawn on the floor at her feet. “He’s not alone,” he mumbled, slowly getting up.

“You checked this floor?” Ciara asked in a whisper.

Before anyone could answer, someone opened the door Ciara was standing beside. A hand nearly grabbed Ciara by her arm, but she punched it away. She tried to hit the man in the face when his fingers curled around her wrist.

“Wa—” Henry’s nasal voice was cut short by a deeper voice.

“Ciara?”

Her eyes widened as he stepped closer, still holding onto her wrist. “Liam?” she hissed.

She turned to look at Henry and Shawn. She couldn’t believe what a bunch of idiots they were.

“Yes, we checked this floor,” Shawn said, rubbing his cheek, which was likely going to bruise.

Liam glanced at Shawn and released his grip on Ciara’s wrist.

“Bill and Theresa, it’s fine,” Ciara said, still keeping her voice low. Both Bill and Theresa walked into view, revealing themselves to Ciara’s friends.

“We also checked downstairs already,” Shawn said.

So the building was safe. But unfortunately that also meant no witch hunters.

Ciara wanted to punch a hole in the wall, but she saved that for later. “Kellan, Niles, Declan, and River, come here!”

“Hugo! Jenna!” Shawn called out.

Ciara turned to look down the corridor. It was dark, so she shone light with a snap of her fingers. “What the hell are you doing here?” she yelled when she saw that Jenna and Hugo were there, too.

Right then Kellan jogged up the stairs with Niles, Declan, and River right behind him. “What is this?” Kellan asked, moving to stand beside Ciara and looking at her friends.

“I’d like to know, too,” Ciara said, turning to look at the four guys and Jenna. “Are you out of your minds? It could have been dangerous in here! What are you doing?”

She had been avoiding all her friends to avoid exposing them to danger. Still, they were doing it themselves.

“Liam can explain,” Jenna said and moved to stand next to her boyfriend. “I’ll take Henry home before he leaves his blood all over the carpet.” She took Henry’s hand in hers, and they teleported away.

Liam sighed, looking only at Ciara. “We reformed the group.”

“We are already working to find the witch hunters. What’s the point?” Ciara asked, clenching her hands into fists.

“Doherty caught more of them when working off hours,” Liam said, defending their cause.

Ciara shook her head in disbelief, her jaw tight. “You are so stupid.”

She couldn’t believe how naïve they were. Especially Liam. She had forced him out of her flat—nearly out of her life—to keep him safe.

“They could be helpful,” Kellan said thoughtfully, tapping a finger on his cheek.

“See? Even your boyfriend agrees,” Liam said defensively, gesturing towards Kellan. His eyes stayed on Ciara but they narrowed.

Ciara didn’t bother to reply. Instead, she turned to face Kellan. “No, they can’t.” She wasn’t willing to discuss the matter.

“You two are dating?” Shawn asked, pointing between Ciara and Kellan.

“Not now,” Ciara snapped at Shawn, but she kept her gaze on Kellan.

“We need help,” Kellan tried to whisper, but Ciara wasn’t hearing his point.

She shook her head. “It’s illegal.”

“I reckon you were in the group before Doherty died,” Kellan bit back. “Besides, I’m the head of the department, so I make the decisions.”

“This is against everything we’ve been doing recently,” Ciara argued through gritted teeth.

“We’ll talk about this later,” Kellan said, dismissing Ciara. He even turned to look at Liam instead of at her.

Ciara wanted to yell at Kellan, but instead she sighed in frustration and rushed past her team down the stairs. Before she reached the last step, she teleported to her office. It wasn’t anyone’s home, so she could teleport inside the building.

She wanted to throw something at the wall. Her hands were shaking from frustration. Just as she was about to wipe everything down from her desk, Kellan appeared in her office.

“You can’t be serious!” she screamed and walked up to him, poking a finger at his chest.

His jaw clenched, but he remained calm. “Ciara—”

“I just avoided them for weeks to keep them safe! Now you want to throw them to the wolves as if nothing!” she continued to scream. “That makes absolutely no sense, Kellan! They’re not trained for this!”

“They looked like they were doing just fine.” Kellan’s voice was calm, but that only added onto Ciara’s anger.

“Doherty died on a mission like that!” Ciara yelled at him. When the words really hit her, the tears started flowing down her face. She rapidly wiped them off as if they were burning her.

She couldn’t lose everyone. She would lose her mind if she did. She wanted it all to end. She wanted Doherty back. She wanted Theo back. And she wanted the witch hunters gone. Preferably dead.

“Ciara—” Kellan took a step closer, only for her to raise her hand at him.

“Don’t!” She took a step back, keeping her distance. “Have you not lost enough to realise what it’s like?”

She was shaking even more—both from crying and the anger.

“They are already in danger because of their own actions. Wouldn’t it be safer if they had all the information we have?” Kellan tried to reason. “I know how you feel, especially after everything you’ve been doing for them. But even you can’t make them stop what they’re doing. No matter how much you wish you could.”

Ciara walked over to her office chair and sank down on it, defeated. “Someone is going to die,” she said, her voice breaking.

“The witch hunters will,” Kellan said determinedly.

Ciara sighed shakily. She had seen so many colleagues die, but she had never lost someone she knew from outside work. Except Theo. She couldn’t imagine losing Henry or Liam—or anyone else.

But there was nothing she could do.

She was too tired to fight. “They’ll only join missions when it’s absolutely necessary. And if there’s something I say we should keep from them, you listen to me. Okay?”

Kellan nodded, seeming to agree with Ciara’s terms. “Okay.”

“Thank you.”

“You should go home and get some rest.”

Ciara nodded.

“Good job out there.” Kellan turned around and headed to the office door.

Ciara leaned against the back of the chair before her muscles tensed, realisation hitting her. “Wait!” she blurted, making Kellan stop.

“Yes?” he asked and turned around.

“What was the thud?”

“What thud?” Kellan asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

“It came from the ground floor before I tackled Shawn and punched Henry.”

Kellan shook his head, confusion washing over his face. “I heard nothing.”

“It came from below us, so—” Ciara’s eyes widened. “The basement,” she choked out. “Is the team still there? Or the group?”

“The rest of the team.” Kellan’s eyes widened, too. “I-I think Liam and your friends left, but—”

Ciara ran to Kellan, grabbing him and teleporting them to the front of the manor. They ran in, heading for the stairs. The team was still gathered at the top, unaware of the danger.

“We need to—”

Ciara was cut off by the basement door slamming open.