Witch's Bell Book One

with a haughty silence.
    'Because I'm not,' Nate chewed the gum from side to side. 'You're a witch, after all.'
    'I didn't use my magic,' she assured him, 'I'm just that good,' she gestured a hand towards the target.
    'Right, of course you are.'
    Oh lord. She hated it when he said that. It seemed that every second word Nate said was a sarcastic "right".
    'Na,' Barney walked off behind Nate, grabbing something from the wall, ‘Eb can't use magic to shoot – it's one of the restricted magics. Her old man was DI Bell. He still holds the unbeaten record for accuracy,' Barney dusted the photo he'd grabbed from the wall, with the corner of his sleeve, and smiled down at it.
    'Your father was Detective Inspector Derrick Bell?' now Nate finally looked impressed, but only mildly.
    Ebony virtually curtsied. 'Yes, indeed. And, like father like daughter, he taught me everything I know about those funny gun things.'
    'Right,' Nate began to roll down his sleeves, still chewing on his gum. 'Things make a lot more sense now.'
    Ebony couldn't keep the smile off her face. She'd won.
    'I always wondered why you got this job,' he began to push past her.
    'Because I'm trained in both ordinary and magical forms of combat,' Ebony drummed her fingers against her chest.
    'Nope,' Nate put a hand on the door, not bothering to turn around, 'nepotism.'
    'Why you little-' Ebony began.
    Barney gave a sharp laugh and handed back her hat, taking the gun. 'That guys a laugh.'
    'That guy's is just so-'
    The door to the shooting range opened suddenly, and a very serious looking Ben dashed inside. His face was that shade of white it always took when Ben realized that not even his usual sense of cheer would see him through.
    'What?' She crammed the hat on her head, even though she was inside. 'You look like you've just seen a -'
    'Ghost,' Ben finished her sentence, 'yeah, we've just had a report of someone doing a Death Summoning out at the graveyard.'
    Ebony's hand froze on her hat, her face setting like starch in the sun. 'Blessed be Hecate,' she said softly, words shaky.
    'I'll start the car.'

Chapter Five
    E bony felt her heart pounding as she half-jogged, half-ran beside Ben. One hand was clenched, fingernails scraping against her palm. The other hand was removing the wide-brimmed hat from her head and unceremoniously dumping it onto the concrete floor of the depot. 'What do we know?' her voice was icy, practically chilled to zero Kelvin from her usually sunny disposition.
    'Not a lot,' Ben ran a hand over his mouth, eyes still rounded with shock. 'But this is really bad, right Eb? I mean, do we call in the Coven?'
    Ebony swallowed carefully, taking a quick sigh. 'They'll be there... if it gets serious enough."
    That was the thing about the Coven, the entire reason they had set up their special relationship with the police department in the first place was so that the police had the means and knowledge to deal with magical crime on their own. A witch was kept on as liaison. But mostly the police were expected to be able to deal with whatever crazy, hideous, and unfortunate magical maladies might strike the citizens of Vale, without calling in the big guns.
    If, and only if, something got completely out of hand and the sanctity of the Portal itself was at risk, would the Coven come in. They might send more representatives; add a couple more witches to the force. But the Coven – as the ruling council of the witches – would only be seen on the streets of Vale if Hell, or its equivalent, bubbled up from the depths. The Coven weren't there to save the ordinary citizens of Vale from the everyday mishaps of magic. They were there to save their souls from the once-in-a-nightmare offerings of damnation.
    So, much to Ben's disappointment, he was never likely to see the council of hags march onto the streets to instil a little bit of much-needed order. No, by and large, the police were trusted to be able to deal with these things on their own. And if they couldn't....
    'Look,' Ebony unclenched her hand to grab at the passenger door handle. 'This is bad, Ben, I'm sure it is. But you know the rules. The Coven aren't going to bother getting out of their rocking chairs and putting down their knitting for this.' Ebony was about to pile into the car, when she saw Detective Nate occupying her seat. 'What?' she spluttered. 'That's my sea-'
    'Just get in the back,' Ben's voice was short and sharp.
    Ebony, for once, just did what she was told.
    'But they'll send