The King's Gambit

by A. L. Kessler

  “And one day you’ll thank me for being able to track her during the day while you’re helpless.” Oliver held up his wine glass. “And maybe she will be too.” He took a sip and met his gaze.

  Abigail wasn’t one who depended on people to save her, so he wasn’t sure what would come of Oliver’s prediction. “Either way, you have my word that the Hummer will be a different, brighter, color.”

  Oliver finished his wine. “That’s all I ask, Levi. I know you are a vampire of your word.”

  “You know I am.” Levi stood and grabbed the files. He walked out without another word to the man. He had nothing else to say. Oliver had delivered the information and provided some evidence. Now they at least knew they weren’t going to go in and find nothing.

  He texted Grayson to grab the PIB agents and meet him at the research facility. He walked around the town for a few minutes while he waited for a reply.

  “We’ll be there in fifteen.” Was the response.

  Levi waited for a few minutes and then took himself to the research center. The sign on the door was still flipped to open, and there was a light on inside. He waited for the others to show up before he entered. Letting PIB take the lead was the best option he had right now.

  The agents arrived a few minutes later. All three of them getting out of the car. Grayson looked more annoyed than happy to be there, and Levi made a note to talk to him about it later.

  “So this is the place.” Tomes walked up and looked at Levi. “We’re handling this.”

  Levi nodded. “I’m well aware of that. I’ll stay out of your way.” He’d been planning on going inside, but there was no need to mess with PIB. He’d let them do their job.

  The Agents went inside, and Levi waited outside to see what they would return with. He paced the area, listening to what he could through the walls and door.

  “I don’t have to give you any records,” the man argued. “But I’ll comply because I have nothing to hide.”

  There was a low grumble that he couldn’t quite hear, but then the voices started to fade away even more. Levi looked in the window and saw the group going further into the building. Levi walked in and went to the computer while the others were in the back.

  His fingers flew over the keys as he searched for the computer’s owner. Oliver wasn’t the only one who knew his way around a computer.

  Systems owner came up as Johnny Smiths. An obviously false name. He growled, but then heard the others heading back. He closed the windows on the computer and took himself back outside before they could return to the front of the building.

  He leaned against the wall and waited. Keeping his face blank as the agents came back out. They all remained quiet as Agent Tomes and Grace got into their car and started driving away.

  Levi looked at Grayson. “They’re meeting us back at the house, but we don’t have much to go on. Did you find anything interesting?” Grayson asked.

  “Just a fake name in the system, that’s all.” Levi shrugged. “No sign of who or what might actually own the research.”

  Grayson nodded. “That just makes it all that much more suspect.”

  “What do you think about the victims?”

  “I think they took the extra research opportunity and it turned out to be something that took their lives.” Grayson shook his head and started walking further away from the facility. Levi followed him, watching the humans that hustled through the streets during the evening.

  “Such a shame, they were all young.” Levi tried to imagine what would drive someone so young to do something so potentially dangerous. His mind drifted to Abigail. She seemed to constantly live dangerously with no regards. Maybe it was a generation thing.

  Levi and Grayson appeared in the meeting room the same moment Agent Tomes and Grace walked through the door.

  Tomes put some papers on the table. “That place was spotless. He has signed waivers from the victims saying they agreed to the studies and signed exit contracts from the further research. He has no idea what might have happened to them after. But he says the results of their bloodwork is confidential. We can get a warrant if we need to, but I don’t think it’ll lead to anything.”

  Levi expected that, but at least it was a lead. “Back to square one then.”

  “Let’s start canvassing the area for suspicious vampires. Maybe we can find something that will either lead us to the rogue vampire, or something that might give us a clue.” Grace stepped up. “Five victims, there will probably be another one soon, according to our vampires here.” She jerked a thumb at Levi and Grayson. “So the sooner, the better. Maybe we can catch the rogue in the act.”

  Grayson nodded. “If we can get something off him, you two can do a tracking spell. Might lead us to something more.”

  “Are you suggesting we don’t take him out if we see him?” Grace looked shocked. “I think you two and the king are blowing this out of proportion.”

  Levi raised a brow. “If there is one rogue there tends to be more. I’m sure they taught that in PIB training.”

  “They teach us to take down our suspect at all costs, not to tag them and let them go,” she snapped back at him.

  Tomes held up his hand. “If we can find the vampire, I think it’s a good idea. It means that we’ll have to deal with fewer rogues later down the line.”

  And if Levi were lucky, the vampire would be a minion of Ira’s, and they could take down a group of blood-starved vampires and mess with Ira’s plans, whatever those might be.

  Grace didn’t look happy about the choice, but she didn’t argue any further. Grayson looked at the papers and handed one to Levi. “Look familiar?”

  Levi read it and nodded. “It’s a classic donation contract for those who donate to vampires. Why would they have one of those on file as well?”

  “The man at the center said it was protocol because it was possible that the blood donations could go to a vampire.”

  Which meant that they would have to have a normal donor contract to comply. He nodded. “Smart.”

  “Covering their bases is all,” Grace said, “But I still find it all too clean.”

  She was right. Usually, when things were squeaky clean, it meant that something else was going on at a deeper level. He looked at the PIB agents. They simply needed the help to solve the current case. When Levi got back to his territory, he would reveal what he learned to the advisory council and then they could dig further into the research center.

  There is nothing out here.” Grace looked around. “Nothing but silence and darkness.”

  Levi looked around. “I can sense something out here, so can Grayson.”

  “Well, maybe you need to get your senses checked because it doesn’t seem like anything is lurking in this park.” Grace crossed her arms as her eyes scanned the area. “Nothing moving in the shadows. I can’t smell anything.”

  “What are you?”

  “Shifter,” she stated without hesitating.

  Grayson and Tomes had taken the other side of the park, leaving Levi with the rookie. “So you’d smell the vampire.”

  “Yes, I would.”

  The wind whipped around them, and she paused. “Oh.”

  Levi nodded as the wind carried the familiar scent of dirt and death to his nose. “He’s here.” They turned in the direction the wind came from and ran.

  They paused at the sight of a vampire leaning over his victim. He looked up at them with red eyes. From his spot, Levi could see the blood dripping down his mouth after a sloppy feed.

  He flashed himself to the vampire and grabbed him by the neck, ripping him away from the human. The woman dropped to the ground, and the vampire flashed away from Levi and laughed as he tumbled a few feet away. “You can’t catch me.”

  Levi motioned to Grace. Her body easily flowed from that of a human to a lioness. She snarled at him, and the vampire chuckled. “Vampire versus. shifter, guess who is going to win.”

  So he was cocky and aware, which was more than he’
d seen from others of Ira’s experiments, so maybe, just maybe, he was just a rogue vampire. That would be a nice change of pace.

  Grace pounced on the vampire, but he disappeared and reappeared a few feet away from her. Levi let his power flow out around him, and the vampire stopped.

  “Oh, I know you.” He laughed. “You have the same feel as him. My maker.”

  “Then you know exactly what I’m capable of.” Levi snarled and rushed the vampire, grabbing him by the throat. His fingers dug into the neck, threatening to break it and tear his head from his body.

  A roar from the cat reminded him that he needed to stick to the plan. “You tell whoever is pulling your strings that we are on to you. You have one chance to leave this territory, and I suggest you do it. Find yourself a new mentor and control your feeding habits.” He snarled and threw the vampire away, purposely ripping a shred off his shirt.

  The vampire disappeared without another word. Agent Grace, still in cat form, came up to his side, and a moment later Grayson appeared with Agent Tomes. Grayson ran to the victim, and Levi handed Agent Tomes the cloth. “From our vampire.”

  “Thank you.” He put it in a ziplock bag. “Tomorrow I can work the tracking spell and see what we find.”

  Levi nodded and wondered what the vampire would tell Ira or whoever was behind this. Especially since his power felt familiar.

  Grayson came up next to him. “What are you thinking?”

  Levi shook his head. “Nothing I’m willing to share right now.” He heard the faint sound of the sirens. “How is the victim?”

  “She’s alive, but barely. Hopefully, with some medical intervention, she’ll survive, and she might be able to tell Agent Grace and Tomes something.”

  Levi nodded. “Good, keep me updated. I’m going to head back to the house.”

  “Of course.”

  Levi disappeared and reappeared in the house. There was no need for him to be at the scene, and the less he appeared in the press in a different territory, the better. He looked down at the pictures and files from the case. Part of him was glad it didn’t seem to be Ira, but there was part of him that was urging him to look deeper.

  Mario once warned him that if he always looked for connections, he’d see them where there weren’t any. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to clear his mind. They needed to focus on what they knew.

  They had at least one rogue vampire with bloodlust.

  They had a living victim.

  All the previous victims had a connection through the research center, PIB, and the illegal club.

  They had a way to track their suspect.

  He could go home now and leave the case in Grayson’s hands, but the vampire wouldn’t have called him in if everything was going to be that simple. They could have found another vampire to get into the club. Of course, he had gotten Oliver to get in and hack the systems of the research center, but PIB certainly had their own hackers they could have relied on.

  He shook his head and sat down. There was something else here. The hospital, the bodies; those both screamed Ira’s work.

  Home and Abigail seemed so far away, and he hoped they both remained safe because he’d never forgive himself if something happened to her that he could have prevented.

  His phone rang, and he picked it up without looking at it. “Levi speaking.”

  “The victim was conscious when they loaded her into the ambulance. She was talking about a feeding nest, Levi.”

  He cringed. He’d only dealt with a feeding nest once before. “Are you going with Grace and Tomes to deal with it?”

  “No, she flipped out the moment she realized a vampire was standing there. We’re going to have to trust the shifter and wizard on this. Grace was getting an extra change of clothes while Tomes was trying to talk to the victim.”

  Levi pressed his lips together. “Let’s hope the two of them can get the information that we need then.”

  A feeding nest meant more than one rogue. It usually meant at least twenty.

  Levi leaned back in his chair and played games on his phone to keep from pacing the room waiting on information from the agents. Grayson was also keeping himself busy doing something on the computer.

  “Do you think Abigail is enjoying her vacation?” Grayson asked without any lead up to the question.

  Levi snorted. “I’m betting she took files with her to look over or is planning on doing some magic while she’s out there. I wouldn’t put it past her to get wrapped up in a PIB case in Florida.”

  Grayson started laughing. “You raised a workaholic.”

  “She’s her mother’s child for sure.”

  “And her father’s,” Grayson threw at him. “She’s a good agent though, Levi. You made a smart choice by letting her join. If not, I fear her magic would have gone to a darker side.”

  He had no doubt about that, but now was not the time to think about it. “She’s a good witch. Elizabeth would have been proud.”

  Grayson nodded and was about to say something when Agent Tomes and Grace walked in. Whatever he was going to say turned to, “What did you find out?”

  “She’s in critical condition, we have her name, last known address, and her connection to the others, thanks to the system.” Agent Tomes sat at the table.

  Grace sat next to him and pulled a few of the files closer to her. “She has multiple bites on her body. She has the same marks on her wrists and ankles as the other. Tomes said that before they loaded her into the ambulance, she was describing a feeding nest.” Her eyes shot to Levi. “Which are illegal.”

  “I’m well aware of that Agent Grace, and I do not allow anything close to a feeding nest in my territory. This is something we need to talk to Victor about and make sure he is in compliance.”

  She nodded. “We plan on going in tomorrow to talk to her a bit more, assuming her condition has improved. The doctors are hopeful that she will live through the night, and after some blood transfusions, antibiotics, and proper nutrition, she’ll make a full recovery.”

  That was more than the other victims had, so Levi was counting it as good news. “Do you think if she was clear-headed she could give you the location of the feeding nest?”

  “No, I think that she’d either deny knowing where it was because of fear or she doesn’t know,” Tomes answered him. “We’ll continue with our plan, and I’ll do the tracking spell tonight. Tomorrow Grace and I will follow the path.”

  Levi leaned back in his chair again and considered the two agents. They had a handle on this, but a feeding nest was a big case. He contemplated calling Abigail in to help but thought better of it. She needed her vacation, and she wasn’t ready to consult on a case that the King of Vampires was already consulting on.

  Grayson stood. “I need to go find a meal. I trust you two have this handled and will keep us updated?”

  “We will. Thank you for your help, Grayson,” Tomes said as he stood.

  Grace was still going through the papers when Tomes tapped her on the back. “Come on, we need to get going. It’s late.”

  She took one last look at something and then stood. She followed Tomes out, and Levi went to see what the agent had been looking at.

  The map of the locations of the victims.

  Levi picked it up and studied it to see what she might have seen that caught her attention. Nothing there that he could see.

  “Levi,” Grayson interrupted his thoughts. “You also need to go find a donor.”

  Levi nodded. “I will. Thank you.” He put the paper down, and when he looked up, Grayson was already gone.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Ira had watched Abigail leave the state to go on a trip of some sort. His niece nearly bounced her way into the airport, obviously excited about where she was going, which led him to think it wasn’t a work trip. Imagine his surprise when he learned that Levi was also out of the territory.

  He couldn’t sense his brother anywhere in the area, but Mario was still hanging around making sure ever
ything was running smoothly. Tonight though, Ira had taken himself to check on his newest location and the volunteers who had come under the illusion they were helping their people.

  He walked through the room of hospital beds, the IVs with the infused blood dripping into sedated people. Now things were much more sanitary, which meant a better chance of survival than when he and Levi had first set out to change the world.

  Small groans of pain filled the air, but that was the most his subjects could manage, being only half-conscious. Witches and werewolves being mixed with vampire blood, and some vampires being mixed with both. They’d never gotten past the pesky magic in the witch’s blood killing the lycanthropy virus, so they didn’t bother mixing the two.

  He reached the end of the row and found one pale, still, corpse instead of a witch. He looked at the chart at the end of the bed. Twenty-three, witch from the local area, no known family, and now she’d become another body in the dump.

  The dump that Levi and Grayson had found in the old hospital. He made a note on the chart and put it back. The man he was paying to help him with the lab in this area would take care of the body when he came by. Until then, it’d just take up a bed.

  He paused at another bed, a witch twitching as her blood tried to fend off the transfusion. She moaned while her magic tried to push the death of the vampire blood off. She settled after a couple moments, and Ira reached over to increase the blood flow and then made a note on her chart. She let out a strangled scream, and he imagined the blood was burning in her veins. He made a note to increase the sedation meds in her and to keep an eye on the little fighter.

  Vampire witches were possible, but because of the constant battle of magic in their blood, they tended to go insane. If he could find the right mix or the right solution he could have a powerful witch-vampire hybrid army at his disposal.

  He ran his hand over the witch’s cheek. She looked much like Elizabeth, his Elizabeth. He stepped away from her and walked back to the front of the room. He couldn’t linger here. He needed to take care of other things. Levi was getting close with PIB on how this was all connected to the current case. He needed to make sure that none of his connections were still there.