Chapter 1

I ris McKenzie walked around the darkened room, mingling with the tourists who had all come to see the jewellery exhibition. People oohed and ahhed over the beauty of the pieces, some of which were the rarest jewels in the world; stunning necklaces, rings, brooches, bracelets and earrings dazzled them all.

But it was the Ocean Flower locket in the middle of the room that held her attention. It was a large oval gold locket, embellished with precious jewels in the shape of a flower. A blue-green pearl sat in the middle of the flower with petals made from rare blue jadeite surrounded by blue diamonds, blue topaz and tanzanite gems. It was stunning. Everyone had been obsessed with it since Christopher had announced it as part of his collection. It was hundreds of years old with gems that had been rare and unheard of fifty years before, so how it had been made before the discovery of these gems was a complete mystery.

It was so rare it was considered priceless, whatever that meant, but it was set to sell for millions in a private auction the following month.

There had been no record of this locket even existing, something that her nan had hoped to maintain. It had never left her neck since she'd got married sixty years before, but she'd always enchanted it to look like something ordinary so it wouldn't draw unwanted attention – until one day she'd forgotten and Christopher had seen it. He had charmed his way into her nan's life, visited her regularly, chatted to her over tea and cake, and then drugged her tea and stole it.

Iris was so angry, she'd spent weeks thinking of all the despicable things she could do to Christopher once she got hold of him. But she was more angry with herself, because Christopher was her ex-boyfriend. She had been charmed by him too and she was the one who'd introduced the slimy little worm to her nan in the first place.

Iris had wanted to go to the police as soon as it happened but her nan had refused and Iris didn't know why. So the arsehole had got away with it and her nan had been left heartbroken.

But Iris was going to make it right, firstly by stealing the locket back and then she would exact her revenge on the piece of turd she wished she'd never met.

The room was filled with easily a hundred people drifting in and out of the shadows but that didn't matter.

It was showtime.

She felt her magic fill her but then she stopped as a man entered the room. He was tall, dark-haired and ridiculously sexy, as if he'd just walked straight off the pages of a fashion magazine, but he was large too, broad and muscular as if he worked out every day. He was actually too big to be a model, but certainly big enough to play a sexy action hero in some Hollywood blockbuster. As he walked past people, women turned to stare at him. He was undeniably beautiful but that wasn't what held Iris's attention. It was the magic that flowed through him – she could see it, feel it, she felt like she could reach out and touch it. He glowed like the sun.

Having a witch here could be an interesting obstacle to her plans. But would he be friend or foe?

Lynx Oakwood walked through the room, watching everyone looking at all the jewels. Everyone was very excited about the Ocean Flower locket and it was the reason he was here, too. His job, retrieving lost and stolen magical artefacts, was an interesting and exciting one, not least because most of the time he had to use every magical tool in his arsenal to retrieve them. It always gave him a little thrill when he pulled off stealing the artefact back for the owners, or if there were no owners and the artefact was considered dangerous, he would store it in the vaults under Midnight Village, never to be seen again.

That was the case for the Ocean Flower locket. Despite its beauty, it came with stories and legends of a great power strong enough to control the seas and oceans. The locket had featured several times in their magical history books, but no one had known where it was until now. Idly flicking through a catalogue for a big jewellery exhibition one day, he'd suddenly come face to face with it and known instantly what it was. He didn't know how or where the owner of the exhibition had come across it, but there was no way he could let it fall into the wrong hands. Mundanes handling it with no knowledge of what it could do was bad enough, but if it fell into the hands of a dark witch who knew exactly what it was, there was no telling the devastation they could wreak. And if he recognised it, what if other witches recognised it too and sought it for their own gains?

He had to steal it and lock it away in Midnight Village forever. He would wait until things were a little quieter, later on in the day, before he made his move. For now he was just here to observe. He would watch the security guards, the cameras, the exits as he concocted his plan.

But then he felt it. The tell-tale prickle that told him magic was in the room and it wasn't coming from the locket. As he opened himself up to it, he could feel it was a living, breathing, force of nature. He quickly scanned the room and saw the woman standing at the back of the room opposite him, watching him. It was her aura that made her stand out amongst the crowds. He'd always been able to see another witch's aura, their magic glowing from them like some kind of internal light, but this was different. Her aura shimmered as if she was made from water, or maybe the aura was. She sparkled as if he was viewing her through crystal-clear water on a sunny day.

Lynx had missed her sparkling aura when he'd walked in because the whole room had been in darkness, apart from the spotlights over and under each item of jewellery, and he'd assumed the bright glow from the other side of the room had been coming from another podium. But there was nothing artificial about her light.

She was a witch, there was no doubt about that. Only witches glittered like that, their magic a visible thing, at least to other witches, but he had never seen anything like this before.

Of course the mundanes, the non-magical people who filled the room, couldn't see it. They would probably freak out if they could, but no one in the room had noticed her at all.

The woman moved round the other exhibits and, as she did so, the watery sparkle around her seemed to ripple. It was extraordinary.

She walked straight up to him as if they were old friends and he couldn't help smiling when he saw her eyes were filled with mischief.

‘What are you doing here, witch?' she said.

She said the word ‘witch' almost as if it was an insult, which was odd considering she was one too.

‘Just… admiring the exhibits.'

She moved to his side as she looked out on the room. ‘Oh sure,' she said, not sounding like she believed him.

She took his hand as if it was the most natural thing in the world and he looked down at her in surprise, even as he found himself entwining his fingers with her own.

‘You're a fire witch. Powerful too. Although you've never used that power in anger.'

He stared at her in shock. It was true he also could sense whether most witches were fire, air, water or earth witches, but that last statement was uttered so casually, it was almost as if she was reading him like a book.

‘Lynx Oakwood,' she said confidently. And then her eyes widened in surprise. ‘You're an Oakwood witch, now that's a powerful line of witches. I don't know many witch families but the Oakwood name extends back hundreds of years.'

‘Wow, that's an impressive skill.'

‘Just one of my many talents.'

He smirked and, while their hands were still linked, tried to get some kind of reading from her, although he was nowhere near capable of getting the same level of information. And her magic felt so different to what he'd been used to living in a village of witches, it was something special and unique. He felt a pull he'd never felt before, as if she was a magnet drawing him in. He studied her. She was pretty with her blonde hair and blue eyes but it wasn't her looks that he was attracted to. There was something about her that drew him in.

‘Trying to get a read from me?' she said, knowingly.

‘Yeah.'

She smiled. ‘How's that going?'

‘Frustratingly so.'

She laughed. ‘Sorry about that. You're like an open book though. You have a brother called Wolf, a sister-in-law called Star and a niece and nephew.'

He felt a small burst of triumph that she had that wrong.

‘Just a niece, no nephew.'

‘Ah yes, you'll meet him in seven or eight months.'

He stared at her. ‘Star's pregnant?'

‘They haven't told you? Some women like to wait until they're three months gone before they announce it.'

He frowned. His niece, Blaze, was only seven months old; he'd figured his brother and Star would wait a while before trying for another baby, but maybe fate had other ideas.

‘Hang on, if you are reading me, how can you know something that I don't?'

She shrugged. ‘That's just how my magic works. I can see glimpses of people's futures, although not everyone's. Witches are easier to read, mundanes tend to be a lot harder. I think it helps when I can feel someone's magic, there's that connection that I don't get from mundanes.'

He sighed with frustration. ‘My grandmother, Zofia, gets premonitions too. It's always bothered me that she knows more about my life than I do.'

‘Are you bothered by powerful women?'

‘I'm in awe of powerful women,' he said, looking her straight in the eyes.

She stared at him and her eyes widened in shock. ‘You're attracted to me. Oh my god,' she laughed.

‘I'm not attracted to you.' Lynx frowned. Surely she couldn't see that before he'd even realised it himself. He didn't mind her knowing about his brother and sister-in-law or their kids but surely he should be the first one to recognise an attraction. He didn't even know her to be attracted to her. But there was something between them, some kind of pull. Maybe it was that she could feel. But that was just their magic connecting surely, nothing more than that.

‘You're going to be so disappointed when you get to know me.' She touched her hair. ‘This isn't even real. None of it is.'

He looked at her in confusion. What did she mean by that? ‘I'm not attracted by your blonde hair. I feel a pull to you like a moth is attracted to a flame. A moth doesn't love the flame, but it wants to get closer to look at it, feel its warmth.'

‘A moth is disorientated by artificial light. Flying near it makes it feel like it doesn't know which way is up and which way is down.'

‘That feels like a pretty accurate analogy,' Lynx admitted.

She smiled and shook her head.

‘So you already know so much about me, do you know why I'm here?' Lynx said.

She studied him. ‘You're a good witch, I can feel that, yet you're here to steal the locket.' She tutted playfully.

‘Why do I feel like you're only here for the locket too?' Lynx said.

‘I am. I planned to walk in, grab it and walk straight back out again. I hadn't counted on meeting you.'

‘It seems we have a stalemate on our hands.'

‘Oh no, this game is wide open. We should have a wager. Whoever walks out of here with the locket wins.'

He grinned. He loved a challenge. ‘What do I win?'

‘Whatever you want.'

He was surprised by that. ‘You'll let me take you out for dinner and you answer all my questions.'

She laughed and shook her head. ‘Such a gentleman. If I win, one night, no strings, no questions , just one incredible night of sex and then I walk away and you never see me again.'

He felt his eyebrows shoot up into his hair. He didn't even know what to say to that. He couldn't deny the connection between them, but he found her fascinating, he wanted time to get to know her, to talk to her properly.

‘Have I embarrassed you?'

‘It takes a lot more than that to embarrass me.'

‘So we have a deal?'

He narrowed his eyes. He had no intention of letting her walk out of here with that locket so he nodded. He didn't think she wanted it for nefarious means, but he couldn't get a read of her like she could of him, though he sensed she wasn't a dark witch. It was more likely the huge price tag that attracted her, but letting her sell it on to the highest bidder was too dangerous. He had to stop her.

She stepped up to him and ran a finger down his neck at the opening to his shirt, her lips mere millimetres from his. ‘I'm going to give you the best night of your life, Lynx Oakwood.'

He swallowed a lump in his throat.

She stepped away with a look of triumph in her eyes.

Suddenly, she waved her hand in an upward gesture and a mist rose from the floor, the kind that hung heavily over lakes and ponds. It filled the room in seconds until he couldn't even see his hand in front of his face. Everyone started panicking, screaming, running, falling over one another.

But he had tricks of his own. With a wave of his hand he summoned the wind and it tore through the room, driving the mist and fog into the corners. It cleared just in time for Lynx to see her melting the glass case with one hand and grabbing the locket with the other.

She looked straight at him and laughed before she turned and ran, the locket in her hand. Lynx couldn't help smiling at her brazen audacity.

‘Stop her!' screamed a man in a suit.

Several security guards charged after her but before she had even got halfway to the door she seemingly vanished into the panicking crowds.

‘Seal every exit to the building, no one leaves until they've been searched,' the man screamed after the guards and then picked up his walkie-talkie and started barking similar orders to whoever was on the other end. And then, to Lynx's surprise, the man pulled a gun from underneath his jacket. ‘I knew she'd try something like this. She's hired some kind of magician to get the locket back. Well, she's getting that locket over my dead body.'

‘Oh hell no,' Lynx muttered. There was no way he was going to let this asshole shoot a witch, even if she was a thief. Besides, there were too many mundanes around who might get hurt too. He flicked his hand and the gun suddenly glowed red with heat. The man yelped and dropped it. Lynx twisted his hand and the weapon flew across the floor towards him. The man was too busy nursing his hand to notice and Lynx grabbed the now cool gun, shoving it in his pocket before joining the crowds charging out of the room.

He had to find this woman and thanks to her unique aura, she shouldn't be hard to find. Lynx could see people at the far end of the corridor hanging around the exit, shouting at the security guards to let them go. There was no sign of her shimmery blue aura in the crowds by the door but the corridor had lots of rooms leading off it with other artefacts inside. A thought occurred to him: while there was such a big distraction with everyone trying to leave, was the witch systematically going through each room and stripping them of all the other priceless jewels? He had no interest in any of those, just the locket, but the other rooms might be a good place to start.

‘Search the other rooms.' The man in the suit had appeared in the corridor and it seemed he had the same idea. ‘We're looking for a blonde woman, in a blue dress.'

Lynx went into the first room on the left but it was completely empty; everyone in here had clearly heard the panic and screams and made a run for it too. The room was in darkness, the only light coming from underneath each piece of jewellery. As far as he could see, every plinth still had a piece of jewellery on it so stealing the other exhibits couldn't be high on her list of priorities. He was just about to go back outside when he noticed a blue shimmer from a darkened corner of the room. He wandered over and, sure enough, found her standing in the corner, a big grin on her face, not remotely bothered at being caught.

‘I knew you'd find me. Bloody witches,' she laughed.

‘I could see your magic, shining from you like a beacon,' Lynx said. ‘You shimmer like an ocean basking in the gold of a midday sun.'

She smiled at that. ‘You glow like the sun, I saw you as soon as you entered the room in there. But if you're here to claim your night of passion, you're going to be very disappointed. I only offered that so you'd let me win.'

He laughed. ‘I should have known.'

‘I'm not in the habit of jumping into bed with strange men, no matter how hot they are.'

He smiled at that. ‘Well, I'm not that strange, you already know my name. Although you have me at a disadvantage as I don't know yours.'

She studied him thoughtfully, looking at him as if she didn't trust him. But eventually she stuck out a hand. ‘Iris McKenzie.'

He stepped closer and took it. Her hand against his sent a spark of energy shooting through him.

He cleared his throat. ‘Good to meet you Iris, but I'm afraid I need that locket.'

She shook her head. ‘Not going to happen.'

‘It wasn't a request. I can't let you leave here with that locket.'

‘And I can't go home without it. So what was it you said, we find ourselves at a bit of a stalemate.'

He frowned. She looked so sweet and innocent, she definitely didn't look like someone who was used to a life of crime. It wouldn't be the first time a witch had been enslaved to use their magic for nefarious means. History was littered with such stories. It didn't really happen so much in this day and age, but nothing would surprise him anymore.

‘Is someone forcing you to do this? If they are, I can protect you. I live in a private village of witches called Midnight. It has high fences around the perimeter and security guards on the gates. No mundanes are allowed to enter, even witches can't visit unless they're related to a witch that lives there. You would be very safe.'

She smiled. ‘You're a bit of hero, aren't you.'

‘I don't know about that but I don't like to see people taken advantage of, especially not witches.'

‘No one is forcing me to do this. I'm here to right a wrong.'

He didn't know what she meant by that but he knew he couldn't let her walk out of here with that locket.

‘Why do you want it?' Iris said. ‘Is your plan to sell to the highest bidder?'

‘My job is to retrieve lost and stolen magical artefacts. This locket, if the legends are true, is used to control the seas and oceans. That's not the kind of thing we want to fall into the wrong hands.'

She laughed. ‘Do you always believe in fairytales? That locket is a wedding gift, there's nothing more to it than that.'

‘I believe that locket has a magical energy, I can feel it now.'

‘That's just me, darling. What was it you said, I shimmer like the ocean?'

‘Your energy is something else entirely.'

Something magnificent but he wasn't going to say that.

‘Are you really expecting me to believe that you just want the locket for the greater good, not for its billion-pound price tag?' Iris asked.

‘I'm not expecting you to believe it, but it is the truth.'

She frowned as she realised he was serious.

Just then he heard someone run into the room behind him, and he moved right up to her so he was protecting her from view with his body, although he was pretty sure no one could see them in the darkened corner. But Iris suddenly leaned up and kissed him. He froze for a split second before he realised what she was doing. A couple kissing was not likely to arouse suspicions. Hell, he'd seen Tom Cruise pull the same move in one of the Mission Impossible films. He gathered her in his arms, shuffled her back against the wall and kissed her back.

But this kiss was not like any other kiss he'd ever experienced. Energy surged through him, her magic and his. What started off as a quick, simple kiss quickly developed into something more. How could a kiss be so potent, so powerful? Lynx felt like he was drowning and Iris was the air he needed to breathe. He was vaguely aware that the security guards had left but the kiss was still continuing. He needed to stop but he couldn't let her go. She let out a soft moan against his lips and he felt his stomach clench with need and desire. He lifted her and she wrapped her arms and legs around him, but with his hands at her hips, he suddenly felt something sharp against his palm. He realised his hand was resting against her dress pocket. Was it the locket? He slipped his hand inside and realised it was. He quickly and carefully pulled it out and shoved it in his own pocket, just as she moved her mouth to his neck. The noise he made was nothing short of a growl. He needed to stop this, but he also needed so much more.

‘Iris,' he gasped.

She looked up at him with clouded eyes, her breath heavy on his lips. Her cheeks suddenly flushed, her face clearing. ‘Sorry, might have got a bit carried away with that cover.'

‘I'm definitely not complaining. This is fast becoming one of my favourite jobs.'

She lowered her legs to the floor and he held her steady for a moment because he could feel she was trembling. He was desperate to kiss her again and the way she was looking up at him told him she was thinking the same.

‘I never came here expecting that,' she said. ‘I just needed to get the locket. And then there you are.'

She stroked his face and he instantly felt guilty for stealing the locket from her. He had resorted to some underhand tactics in this job to retrieve lost magical artefacts, but stealing the locket while enjoying the best damn kiss of his life felt like a low bar.

He took the locket from his pocket. ‘I took this while we were kissing.'

She stared at it and hurt washed over her face. ‘Oh, so that's why you were pretending to enjoy the kiss so much, just so you could get the locket?' she shook her head. ‘I'm such an idiot.'

‘There was no pretence in how much I was enjoying that kiss, but I did use it to my advantage.'

‘So you got the locket and a cheap thrill, you must be feeling pretty good about yourself.'

If he was honest, he felt really crappy. He had hurt her and he definitely didn't feel good about that. But then she was unlikely to just hand the locket over to him so he'd had to do something.

‘Why do you want the locket?' he asked.

She sighed. ‘I'm not sure I have enough time to tell you the sorry tale of the last time I trusted someone. You'd think I'd have learned my lesson when it comes to matters of the heart. But here we are again.'

‘You can trust me, Iris.'

She laughed. ‘You just kissed me and stole my locket.'

‘You kissed me,' Lynx clarified. ‘Look, there's no way you're getting out of here with that locket. They're searching for you everywhere and if they find that thing on you, it's not going to end well for you. I'll look after it for you. Come and find me when all this is over, tell me your story. If I feel you have some kind of claim to the locket, I'll give it back to you.'

There was the noise of shouting and running outside the room again.

She sighed. ‘You're right, I'm never getting out of here looking like this.'

She waved her hand and suddenly transformed to an older woman with black hair. Even her clothes changed to something completely different.

He took a step back in surprise. ‘You're a metamorph?'

She did a little curtsey as if accepting applause.

‘Is this the real you?'

‘No.'

‘Was the blonde?'

She laughed. ‘Do you think I'd come here to steal a locket as myself?'

‘So who the hell did I just kiss?'

She smirked. ‘I like that you're worried. That feels like a small amount of revenge for you stealing the locket from me.'

He grinned. He liked this woman.

‘I will be back to get that locket,' Iris said.

‘I'd be disappointed if you didn't try.'

‘Can I have your assurance that you won't give this locket to anyone until you hear my side of the story?'

‘You have my word. The locket will be safe with me.'

She shook her head. ‘I have no choice but to trust you.'

She turned to go and he snagged her hand, feeling that energy pulse through him again. ‘Iris, you need to take care of yourself. That man in there, the one in charge, he was furious. He said he knew you would try to take the locket, so I'm guessing he knows who you are. He's going to come after you.'

She paled slightly and then her face became determined. ‘I can take care of him.'

‘He had a gun.'

Her face fell and for the first time he saw real fear. ‘You're joking.'

He pulled it from his pocket to show her. ‘That billion-pound price tag is going to make people do desperate things. But if you come to Midnight, we can keep you safe.'

Iris chewed her lip. ‘I better go.'

She started to walk out of the room and he watched her go. She turned back to look at him and as she gave him a wave, she changed again from the woman with dark hair to a six-foot, large, bald-headed man, dressed in the security guard uniform. Lynx laughed and waved goodbye, crossing everything he would see her again soon. He only hoped he would recognise her when he did.