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“Keep back!” Dave shouted as I readied myself.
As if I would let him have an easy ride. He was going to get punched and kicked until he had no breath left in his lungs.
“You were the one who suggested we have a training break.”
We were in the park not far from the Paranormal MI5 building. We’d been putting our case together all morning. Jake and Kate were currently getting ice creams from the local shop. Yep, it was a bit of heatwave and we were all tired of being inside.
Running for Dave, I threw my leg in the air, propelling off the ground when I was close to him. He caught my ankle, twisted and grunted when my fist connected with his head. Dropping me, he laughed when I ended up on the ground, my ponytail flipped over the top of my head and touching the dirt.
“Okay, you’ve been distracted for good reason, but it’s time to use those kickass skills to summarise. First, tell me what you’ve been doing to try and fix your little situation.” Waving me up, Dave rubbed the side of his head.
His hair was tied in a man bun, his jeans and T-shirt casual because it was too hot to wear a suit. When he was careless, it made me like him more. He had been a constant thorn in my side, but ever since he’d known about my problem, he had been a little less frustrating. Even if he did still live opposite me. To be fair, I hadn’t seen him outside of work once since he’d moved in, so he was obviously living his life fine.
“I’ve not really had a chance to work it all out. I’m more worried about the serial killer, especially since he hasn’t done anything for a few days.”
A bleeping on my phone made me pause my impending attack on my desk friend. Picking it up from where it rested on my bag, I froze. “Shit, spoke too soon.”
“Another body?” Jogging over, Dave grabbed a towel to wipe the sweat from his forehead.
The others were making their way across the park, deep in jesting conversation. Kate laughed, Jake pushed her. We were getting more comfortable with each other, which was nice.
“Guys,” I called, throwing my hand up in the air. “We’ve got news.”
Rushing the rest of the way, they gathered around. Dave had his tablet out, the information coming through from my mother. She rarely rang to speak to me, instead using technology to keep that distance.
“Another one, exactly the same as before. She’s been found by a member of the public in a shopping centre. Oh jeez.” Dave cringed as he turned his tablet to show us the picture.
Biting my lip, I studied the image that Logan Hill had sent. We would need to go and investigate the scene, even though we all knew what we’d find. The killer wasn’t sloppy, he would have everything else in the same position, including where he left his trace of magic.
“Okay,” I said, tugging on my Reading is my Life T-shirt. “Let’s profile him officially. I’ll pass it on to Logan when we get there.”
The others nodded, waiting for me to go ahead. Okay, yeah, this was my job. Even if the killer had a personal hatred towards me, I had to keep a clear head.
“Our killer is male. Our victims are female, which means that this man has a hatred towards women. Maybe it stems from a mother figure or a wife. He may have been jilted, hence the wedding rings. All women were not married, which is significant. Maybe he was supposed to get married but the woman called it off at the last minute. He either has a connection or hatred towards Essex witches. He has an obsession with death.”
Okay, so I didn’t actually connect it to his threat towards me, which really wasn’t a good thing. I was only assuming the masked witch was the serial killer because he’d sent the same blood splatter of my blood to the office. What if it was a copycat?
Dave put a hand on my shoulder. “He has a thing about the women being almost naked in a bed. That could mean that it’s sexually motivated, but there’s no evidence that he’s touched the victims in that way.”
“He’s probably in his early thirties, and we know that he harnesses powerful magic. A witch, he’s obviously somehow accessing the ability to hide his tracks well. Not many witches are able to get that sort of power.” I wiped the sweat from my forehead as Dave typed everything up on his tablet.
Jake growled low in his throat. “I can’t believe he’s done it again. Is there a way to strip away the magic that will no doubt be hiding the last twenty-four hours so Kate can see?”
My heart skipped when they all looked at me. Technically, I might be able to use the ley line to do a spell to help Kate to do her job as a seer. I’d have to dig out my grimoire and ask Smudge to help me, considering it would take a huge boost of magic to help me perform a spell that strong.
“Okay, I think that might be our best bet. Dave, send the profile to my mother and Logan Hill at the police department. Kate, Jake, please go to the shopping centre in Westfield and do the usual forensics. I’ll head home to get that spell done. Dave, if you head back to the office, you-”
My phone started to ring, interrupting me. Both Jake and Kate gave me a thumbs up and headed towards the road where they jumped in the car and headed to the crime scene.
“Hello?” I answered the phone when I saw Logan Hill’s number flash up.
“How quickly can you get here?” he barked, his voice almost strangled. “I’ve got a man on the roof of the shopping centre claiming that he’s the killer. Said he’s going to jump. Quite frankly, I don’t care if he does, but he’s claiming to be a witch, so it’s your jurisdiction.”
I was immediately reminded of a book I’d read recently when a man threatened to jump off a building. The angel who’d tried to talk him down failed, which meant they had lost their wings. Oh boy, was I now comparing my own job to one of my fiction books?
“We’re on our way.”
Hanging up, I grabbed my bag and Dave’s hand. “We’re needed.”
He went to speak, but I transported us before he could. We landed in an alleyway next to the shopping centre. Dave stumbled as our feet hit the ground, his frame sending me flying. He managed to catch me before I hit the ground. Warmth radiated out from where his arms were wrapped around me. Looking into my eyes, he laughed briefly. “See, I’ll always rescue you.”
Shoving him, I smiled as I righted my clothes and threw my bag on the ground. Taking out my gun, I clipped it to my holster. My dagger was next. “Whatever, hero,” I said, tightening my ponytail as I stood again. “We’ve got a man on the roof claiming to be both a witch and the killer. Let’s go get him.”
Dave’s hand reached out and stopped me before I could charge past him. He looked down at me, his eyes sullen, searching.
“What’s the matter?”
It was unlike my desk friend to be sad. Well, there had been a few occasions actually. His gaze currently reminded me of his brooding moments. There was so much more to Dave than I realised. I’d wanted to get to know Jake and Kate better, but what about my right hand man?
“I hate to ask...”
When his gaze dropped to the concrete ground, I instantly knew the problem. Snatching his hand in mine, I enclosed my fingers around his. The slight nod I gave him was enough to reassure him that he was free to take my magic.
Closing his eyes, he stepped closer to me, bringing our forms in-line with one another. His breath rushed out as the skin on my hand grew red-hot. He was literally draining my magic. Luckily, my link to the ley line meant that it was replaced instantly. Thankfully, I could at least feel that. What had made it impossible for me to use my magic properly at the library? Was it Joseph himself?
“Thank you,” Dave breathed, the air rushing from his lungs and hitting me in the face.
Stepping back as I licked my lips, I tried to push down the feeling of intimacy that arose spontaneously in me, making my stomach flutter.
“Let’s go.” My snappy awkward command made him smile.
Holding out his arm, he implied that I go first. Yes. It was my job to go and talk to the man on the roof. Oh shit, I had work to do.
Forgetting all about our little moment, I ran out from the alleyway. Logan was in front of the shopping centre, staring up at the roof. There he was, our alleged killer. I wasn’t so sure that he was legit, but I wouldn’t know until I was near him.
“I’m going up there,” I told Dave when he caught up to me.
“I’ll come.”
Blocking him before he could go any further, I shook my head roughly. “No, that will take your magic straight away. I need you to stay down here. If he jumps, you need to throw up an illusion spell so the humans don’t see. We can’t have this getting out to the general public.”
Chewing on the inside of his cheek, Dave clenched his hands by his side. “I hate not being more magical.”
Stroking his cheek for some bizarre reason, I reassured him. “You’re a brilliant agent. I need you to stay here and speak to Logan. It won’t be hard for me to talk the man down. Even if I end up putting up a barrier spell so he can’t jump.”
“You can’t do that, this is one of those freewill bullshit things you can’t interfere with.”
Saluting him, I transported to the roof. He was right. If someone wanted to commit suicide, I wasn’t allowed to use magic to stop it. Every person on the planet had a choice when it came to life decisions. Mother Earth would never allow magic to stop something that was set in motion.
“Who are you?” the young man barked as he looked over his shoulder.
He’d obviously heard my boots hit the bits of stone and dirt on the concrete roof behind him. It was a large roof that stretched back across the whole building. The shopping centre was an old fashioned one in the middle of London. Which meant many people were roaming outside. The inside had been evacuated as soon as the body had been discovered.
“I’m Gemma Abbott from Paranormal MI5,” I called. “I’m here to help you.”
“Help me?” The man was about twenty years old with a short frame, glasses and light brown hair.
Keeping my hand on the handle of my gun, I extended the other to show that I wasn’t a threat. He was standing right on the edge of the building, his toes just peeking over the top. Shit, if he went over, it would be ugly.
“You can’t help me. I killed those women.”
He glanced towards me, his arms held out to the side to hold his balance. Catching the glint in his eyes as they reflected the sun, I froze. He was high on something. Was it the same thing that the killer used to hide the women’s last moments before death?
“Why did you kill those women?”
Keeping my tone steady, I stepped forward two steps. He was a witch, alright, but he wasn’t the killer. I knew my killer, I’d smelt him, I’d felt his essence. So, why was he getting someone else to distract us? That didn’t fit the profile.
The young man shuffled to face me, his arms still out straight to the side to keep his balance. If he was that worried about not falling over, it meant that he didn’t want to die.
“I think I did it because I...” He clasped his head suddenly, hitting his skull with his fists. “...I don’t remember. I just know that I did it.”
Great, the real killer had spelled him with a memory that wasn’t his. The cost of psychological damage would be huge. Seeing those images would damage his brain forever. Poor boy. Not only was the Essex Obsessor sick for killing people, but he was insane for allowing a young man to see such gruesomeness.
“What do you see?” I asked him, my instincts taking me down a risky path.
As he screwed his eyes shut, I took another few steps closer. His distraction helped me to get near enough to grab him if he did decide to fall. At least my physical strength could intervene with his choice.
Crying out, he hit his head again. “I see a woman. She’s... She’s sitting on the floor in front of me, her wrists tied. She’s crying. She’s quite pretty, too. I stroke her face. No!” Smacking his skull, the young lad swayed slightly.
My hand was ready to grab him, but he righted himself as he opened his eyes and looked directly at me. “I had to do it to make her see. She belongs to me.”
Our gaze held as tears trickled down his cheeks. The silence that stretched before us made me swallow hard. We were right about the killer being rejected.
“I... I don’t remember doing it, but I can see that I... I have a gun in my hand.”
He was crying hard now, sobs exploding from him and shaking his chest. The fact that he was still standing brought slight relief, although I had to be on guard, watching his body movement the whole time. If I didn’t keep him engaged, he would freak out and throw himself over.
“It wasn’t you,” I said, keeping my voice calm. “Someone has cast a spell on you. Those memories are not yours.”
Rubbing a hand over his face, he smeared tears and snot over his cheeks. “No, I can see very clearly what I did. She... She thinks she doesn’t belong to me, but she’ll know soon enough that she cannot outrun me. I have to do this. I have to atone for what I’ve done.”
His leg lifted. My arm reached out. A strong breeze picked up behind us, sending my hair flying into my face and blocking my view. Diving, I aimed for his legs, but my arms wrapped around thin air as he jumped.
The wind died down as quickly as it had started. Blood rushed in my ears as the scream of the man filtered up to me before it fell silent. Leaning over the edge, I sobbed. Adrenaline kicked in when I saw a bunch of firefighters holding a catch net. The young lad landed softly, the men only just holding on to keep him safe. Shit, he had survived.
“Your colleague had the genius idea to get the fire crew involved. Good job really.”
Spinning, I scurried to my feet. My gun was in one hand, my dagger in the other. Fury slid through every cell in my body, carrying a heat so hot, I had to blink the sweat out of my eyes.
Standing there, his arms finally revealed, was the man in the demon mask. The serial killer. The bastard I was about to kill ten thousand times over.
