Witness Enchantment (The Federal Witch Book 4) Read online

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  What's Next?

  Author Notes

  Claire Kane

  Lee Hayton

  Summer Donnelly

  Anne Adair

  More Books by the Author

  Copyrights

  Chapter 1

  "Get in the car!" I had my shield up and was tossing fireballs like popcorn!

  Marvin Loman, the man I was supposed to be protecting, was standing in the middle of the street frozen in fear with a dumb look on his face.

  "Damn it, Marvin!" I shouted while ducking behind a large blue mailbox. Turning toward him, I hastily threw a shield around the little man. Churning black clouds with dangerous shards of lightning formed above us. Bolts of bright blue electric death raced straight for me as I rolled out into the open. Suddenly I felt a burst of heat and glancing behind witnessed the mailbox melting. Now the post office was going to be after me too. Climbing to my feet, I ran toward the frantic man. Grabbing his arm, I dragged his stiff body to the car.

  "Let me go! It's too much. Just let them have me!" He tried to fight me, but I had defense training against Weres.

  "Get. In. The. Car." I'm not sure if it was my tone, my gritted teeth, or the fireball in my hand that made him finally do what I said.

  Boom! Boom! Boom! Three successive blasts echoed down the once quiet streets of the town. My ears rang with the concussive sound. I could barely hear a police siren but prayed to my Gods that they stayed far away.

  "Just give us the little man! The mundie is no one to you. We'll let you live. We promise!" One of the three black-clad figures said as they stepped through a rip in the universe.

  "Not going to happen. Why don't you just turn yourselves in? I'm sure we can work something out." I hollered back. Assuming a fighting stance, I prepared for the worse.

  The three Warlocks stood closer together, and one responded, "time to die then." All at once, my shield was hit by plasma and fire both. I could catch fire, but not the plasma. Magical plasma is nasty stuff. One of the instructors at the FBI Academy called it 'liquid sun.' Unlike a fireball, this stuff would stick to you and burn its way all the way down. Think of it as liquid thermite.

  My energy levels were draining fast as I manipulated my shield to slow down the worse effects of the plasma. Finally, exhaustion caused me to dropped my protection. The asphalt in front of me now had a boiling, ever-deepening hole in it. Magical plasma would burn until the temperature dropped below seven thousand kelvin. Once cooled down, it would fade away like water vapor. The deflected fireballs caught the house and nearby trees on fire. So much for our security deposit. Concentrating, I tapped into the magical battery I carried with me and felt my energy level renewed. Fergus would definitely bitch about it later, but that was the purpose of a Familiar after all. He existed to provide magical support.

  Time to slow these bastards down. Throwing lightning wasn't my thing, but ice was. I hit the attacking magic users with more fireballs to distract then pulled out the big guns. I took a firm stance and formed two balls of blue fire in my hands. Pouring my magic into the pulsating blue spheres, I gave the strangers the 'one-two punch,' as Chuck calls it.

  The first ball hit their shield and exploded. It sprayed magical constructs that ate through the shields. The second ball froze the three Warlocks in mid cast. Their own castings fizzled out as their consciousness faded. I barely caught myself as I hit the ground.

  "Agatha! Are you alright," Mr. Loman called, jumping out of the car and running over to me. He bent down and gave me a poke.

  "That isn't the way to help someone, Marvin." I groaned turning over to stare at him.

  "Uh, I didn't want you to hurt me." Marvin babbled.

  "I'm going to do that if you don't help me up right freaking now!" I said as I held up my arm and he pulled me up, almost falling over. A body builder Marvin was not. In fact, he met all the stereotypes of a poor-down-on-his-luck accountant. Probably why he was hired by the Mafia in the first place.

  My vision wavered a tiny bit as I stood. All the blood rushed from my head to go help other parts of my body, or that's what it felt like. Shaking my head to clear the cobwebs, I could hear those sirens again and much closer this time. Time to go.

  "Back in the car," I ordered Marvin. Without a looking back, I walked to the battered and partially melted, former government-issue sedan. More deposit money I won't get back. I gave the little man a push when he faltered.

  "Don't you need to talk to the local police?" Marvin asked me as he climbed into the car. The door was melted shut, so he used the window.

  "And tell them what?" I fired back. "It would make them a target too. They know where we are now. I won't get more people killed needlessly. We go. Now." Saying a small prayer to Hephaestus, I put the key in the ignition and started the car. We were running out of places to hide. How in the name of Hades were they finding us? Was it only a week ago, I got the call that started this mess?

  ~~~~~~~~~~

  Alchemy is tricky.

  Grandmother wanted me to have a strong foundation in all of what she called, the Magical Arts. Her list was like the coursework from one of the Barry Trotter books I read as a child. I didn't miss the fact that she started me on them early. Alchemy, potions, herbs, spell work, culinary arts, and high magic were but a few of the subjects' I was taught. Culinary arts were the worst. Asking me to cure a cold or fix a broken leg is much better than asking me to cook. It's a wonder I didn't kill us all. Alchemy is something I'm relatively good at. The biggest issue is getting the mixture just right and not having anything freak you out. Like now.

  "What you doing?" Fergus's voice came out of nowhere, almost causing me to drop the mixture.

  "Don't do that! Do you know how long it took me to get that right?" I said looking down at a smiling unicorn sitting on my notebook.

  "Nope. Don't care. Can we go out to eat for lunch?" He complained.

  "Why?" I looked down at him suspiciously. He'd been pretty quiet lately, which in itself is really suspicious. He still hadn't forgiven me for leaving him locked in the RV when we took down the Reverend last month. According to him, he had his own adventure, but won't tell me what it was. Speaking of not telling me something.

  Looking him in the eyes, I asked, "how did you get up here? You were passed out in the magickal hay field."

  He looked up at me with a puzzled face. "No idea what you're saying right now. Jumping up here was easy. So... Eating out, can we do it?"

  "We need to discuss your jumping one of these days. Where is it you wanted to go?" I said.

  "Do you remember Jodi from Anchors a Weigh? She doesn't work there anymore." He commented.

  "OK. Was she the blond waitress?" I asked.

  "No, you always get that part wrong. Jodi is the brunette, and Amber is the redhead. Easy." He answered, then began trotting around the various jars I had on the table.

  "Wasn't there another one too? I seem to remember another name." I tapped my finger against my lips while trying to remember.

  "Forget about her. She got married last month. This is all about Jodi. I mean all about eating lunch." He spoke quic
kly trying to cover his gaffe.

  I made a circular motion with my hand as I asked. "Can we speed this up? I do have an experiment to finish."

  "What are you trying to do, anyway?" He mumbled sniffing at a small bouquet of wolfsbane flowers on the table and taking a tentative taste.

  I slid the flowers out of reach. "Don't eat those! Do you have any concept of how expensive those are?" Once again, he just looked up at me.

  I'm telling a unicorn to not eat flowers. "This is an enchantment to make bullets find the target on their own. If I got the recipe correct, they should give me a better than fifty percent improvement in my range scores."

  Fergus peered at the vial sitting in front of me. "As long as that isn't something you eat your fine. You suck at cooking. So can we go?"

  "Go where? You never finished what you were saying." I asked. Why couldn't I have changed something less annoying like a sloth or something?

  "Oh. Well, Jodi went to work for a new place called Juan's in town. Can we go there for lunch?" He said, continuing to trot around on my table.

  Frowning I looked back at him. "Do you even like Mexican food? How do you know about this stuff?"

  "Jodi's cousin owns the place. She told me last week that Obie had a job opening and she wouldn't be able to see me anymore at Anchors. She sent me a picture of the new place, and it looks cool. It has lots of pretty colors and flags. Can we go?" He asked anxiously.

  I swear he's like a little kid sometimes. "Sure. You aren't going to shut up until I agree anyhow. One thing, though. Doesn't it bother you that a guy named Obie owns a restaurant called Juan's?" I asked him.

  He cocked his head one way and then the other. "So? Why would that bother me?" He said as he trotted off to the far edge of the table. I kept a horse bed there for him.

  Unicorns. I shook my head and went back to my experiment.

  ~~~~~~

  Once I cleaned up my workspace, it was time for lunch. I carried him to our truck for the trip to the restaurant. We had not traveled very far before Fergus vomited on the seat. Apparently, Fergus was not having a good 'travel' day and had gotten sick. Climbing back into my vehicle after cleaning up the mess I checked my phone. It was blowing up a moment ago, but I ignored it.

  "I'm going to die! Ugh." Fergus choked and coughed out.

  "If you get sick in my truck again you're riding on the outside. I mean it, Fergus!" I commented as I finished cleaning up his second heap. How can one tiny creature hurl so much?

  "Just bury me in Mothra like you promised when I go." He groaned.

  "Don't you mean Montana? Mothra is one of those movie monsters you like so much." I absently responded. Scrolling through my messages, I could see two from the B's and three from Director Mills. Cat and Chuck had at least one in there too. Maybe I could blame Fergus for this delay. He's the one that ate the Wolfsbane.

  As I pulled up to the restaurant, Fergus said. "See, what did I tell you. Pretty flags and colors everywhere." Fergus was sitting on my shoulder like a deranged parrot as we walked into the incredibly garish restaurant. I like Mexican food, but I could tell this was not going to be fun.

  Fergus's favorite waitress of the month stood at the cash register with a big fake smile on her face. "Jodi!" Fergus yelled, jumping around and nearly falling off.

  "Hey, little dude! I see you found the place." Jodi replied looking up at me. "Hello, Agent Blackmore."

  "Jodi. How's business?" I inquired. The restaurant was inside a former gas station which I thought was a bit strange. The pumps outside were all gone. Only the poles that once held up the awning remained.

  Jodi grinned and said, "Great! The lunch rush just ended. Let me get you a table." As she led us to a table, I checked my watch, and it was only twelve thirty. Maybe people ate early here in Virginia.

  The walls were still glass but painted over in red, green, and white. There were painted smiling girls with red hair and pigtails staring up at me from our tabletop. "Nice tables," I remarked.

  Jodi blushed a bit saying, "My cousin was on a budget. We plan to paint over them soon. What would you like to drink?"

  I could only shake my head as Fergus ordered a sweet tea. Maybe it was time to take his phone away from him. I just asked for water. Leaving two menus in front of us, she let me know she would be back to take our orders. Fergus hopped around and stared at the pictures.

  "What's this stuff? Is it a salad?" He asked as he turned the pages with his nose. It was probably a good thing the health department wasn't here. A seeing eye unicorn is not a good description of Fergus.

  Cocking my head, I looked at the picture. "Traditional Chiapas salad with peppers and local greens encased in a fried flour tortilla." I interpreted for him.

  "Cool! I'm getting that one!" He said as he did a little dance on the table.

  Pulling out my phone I looked up the word Chiapas. Another word popped out during my search, spicy. I couldn't remember if he liked spicy food. Grandmother used to let him try stuff while she cooked. Since I was so bad at cooking, I was rarely in our kitchen. It should be fun to watch no matter what. Good thing he was indestructible.

  My phone rang again as I was deciding who to call back first. "Hello?"

  "Agatha? Thank the Gods. I was about to send out searchers for you." Director Mills sounded frantic.

  "What's wrong Madeleine? Fergus wanted to have Mexican for lunch and got sick. What's happening?"

  "I have a new assignment for you and your team. WITSEC has formally requested your help with a case." The director didn't look very pleased for some reason.

  "And..." Raising an eyebrow, I looked at her on my phone.

  She chuckled. "Caught that I see." Director Mills let out a breath. "Inter-agency assignments can be challenging. At times the lines between good and evil, right or wrong are not as clear. I have been ordered to assign you and the team to this."

  "Ordered?" I was aware that my former boss, Jack, had someone higher that he spoke to regularly. That person or persons so far hasn't materialized around me yet. Somehow Madeline managed to take over. She now gives my team orders as well as oversee the school. I was afraid of the answer I might get if I asked about the change.

  "Like you, I have those I answer to. Don't worry about them, I have your back. The case is magical in nature which is not something they deal with usually." She affirmed.

  That disturbed me. "How? Magical folks are everywhere. The spell-weaver community keeps its distance, but not the others. Do they only deal with humans and let the rest die?" I knew the concept of WITSEC, but this was my first encounter with it.

  Madeline looked me in the eye and didn't lie. "Pretty much, yes. If they are magical, they die or disappear. It's one of the dirty little secrets of the Justice Department. Or at least it was. As you might be aware, we have a new Attorney General in office, and he wants to shake things up a bit. You might say he's my boss's, boss's, boss." She looked upwards as if tracing a chart in her head. "I need you to get back here ASAP. We have a lot of information to go through."

  Fergus and I quickly ate our lunch. I had to drag his unicorn butt out of the restaurant as he sputtered, "But, but, I want to talk to her." I dashed to my truck as he was still protesting.

  On the drive back to the Academy, I finally lost my temper and told him, "If you don't stop complaining, we will never go back there." I think he figured out I really meant it and stopped.

  As soon as we reached the Academy, I jumped out of the truck and grabbed Fergus. I told him, "Hang on, I have to run to the conference room."

  As I entered the crowded conference, everyone stopped talking and turned to look at me. I hate this part. I am what I am (even with the unicorn on my shoulder.)

  Director Mills continued, "Which brings us to you. Have a seat because this is a long one, Agatha." She pointed to a chair. "What do you know about organized crime?"

  ~~~~~~~~~

  The meeting was long and arduous. Way too much information to digest. The Director was thinking and
put all of it on a secured drive so my team could get working on it. The RV's were parked at my lab. I left the conference room to take the trip to my team at the lab. On the short drive back my mind was awhirl with the new information. In the past, Magical Crimes was footloose and fancy-free when Jack was in charge. It had no home base to speak of. My former supervisor, Jack was a human. He would get a phone call with the information and just go.

  My team had to be set up differently because I am a bit different. My lab was my home and supplies were a necessity in my line of work. The local military might not agree with me being here, but I was about as secure as my Grandmother's house. My wards would be able to keep out most attackers. Grandmother might be able to get in if she tried hard enough, but few others could. After our last assignment, it had been determined that my team should be given a place to work and deploy from. Since my lab facility had the space surrounding it and security was already in place, I set up a general access for my team members only. I still would not let them into my conjuring areas or greenhouse without me. It was just too dangerous for all of us. Accidents do seem to happen around me.