The King's Gambit
Page 16
He nodded. “I’m going to wait for Grayson to finish up with his PIB case and then I’ll head back. Mario has things held down for now.”
“And Abigail? What kind of trouble is she bound to get into when you aren’t there?”
He chuckled. “She’s on vacation.”
“Must be nice.” She walked off to deal with the bodies, and Levi turned to oversee some of the work. A power slammed into him, and he turned to see the workers all standing there, looking around to see where it came from. He knew exactly who it was, and the show of power was merely meant to draw him out.
He made no show of what he was doing. He moved to the stairs and went up into the abandoned hospital.
The zombies were gone, but the power that had flooded downstairs was still trickling through the hospital. Levi followed it to a destroyed wing. Chairs and beds were dashed over the floor of the hall. The paint and wallpaper peeled away from the walls.
He swore he heard the ghost of a child giggling as he walked further down the hall. Dread filled him as he turned into a room and found Ira standing there, behind him was the small skeleton of a child.
“She died here, you know.” Ira moved away from the skeleton. “Left by her parents, and she gave up as the hospital was abandoned. Her body was dying, and no one would help her, even with magic. She refused to leave, and the humans just left her here, forgotten by everyone.” Ira pegged him with a stare.
“What are you doing here?” Levi remained calm as he walked closer to his brother. If he could get close enough, he could take Ira to a containment place until they could figure out what to do with him.
Ira bent down and picked up a disintegrating stuffed bear. “I wanted to speak to you. About Abigail and what she could provide. To all of us.”
“Abigail has nothing to do with this, Ira. Nothing at all.”
Ira laughed. “You think that’s true brother? Abigail has everything to do with this. The only living child between a vampire and a witch? A child who hasn’t been torn apart by the magic in her blood. Elizabeth had to have done something powerful, which means she was on the brink of creating what we’ve always wanted.”
“It’s not something I want any more. Please, give up your madness and come with me.” Levi held his hand out. He just needed a moment of touch, that was it, and it could all be over.
Ira held his arms out. “Madness?”
Vampires started to fill the room one by one, each of them with red eyes, staring right at Levi.
“I will never give up our dreams, Levi. I’m not like you. I won’t give up, and you won’t be able to keep Abigail to yourself for much longer.”
The vampires lunged at Levi. A few of them grabbing his shirt and jacket to drag him into the fray. He tried to transport away, but he couldn’t.
Ira laughed. “Oh brother, when will you learn?”
Levi called on his power and shoved it out of him, throwing all the vampires away from him. He stared at Ira and rushed to him, but he disappeared and reappeared behind the recovering vampires.
“You can’t defeat me, because you refuse to kill me. You know Samael will come after you, and what he’ll do to Abigail is so much worse than what I plan on.”
Levi met Ira’s eyes. “You touch her, and I will kill you, consequences be damned.”
“Careful Levi, people hear you talk like that they may start to think you actually care for your daughter.” Ira gave a mock bow. “I shall see you later, my king.” Ira and the other vampires disappeared the moment Grayson came into the room.
“I thought I felt your power.”
Levi stood there staring at where Ira had stood. “Ira paid me a little visit. Nothing to worry about here.”
Grayson hesitated for a moment. “Threats? Attacks?” He motioned to Levi’s jacket. “Nothing to worry about?”
“Just a bunch of blood-starved. I threw them away from me.” Levi pulled his jacket off and folded it over his arms. “Did you get the PIB scene finished up?”
Grayson nodded. “I did. There’s nothing they need from you. Are you alright?”
Levi nodded. “Yes. I’m fine. Ira thinks he has the advantage. He doesn’t though.”
Grayson stayed oddly quiet as they walked through the hospital. A couple people greeted them as they moved through until they got outside where it seemed nothing was going on. Just a few vans placed near the building. No markings or anything to tell a passerby what might be going on. It was the way that they had to work to keep things away from PIB and under the radar.
“You’re taking a gamble with not pulling Abigail into this and letting her go about life thinking that she’s safe.” Grayson finally spoke when they were further away from the house.
“Abigail doesn’t think she’s safe. She’s used to watching her back because of PIB.” Levi shook his head. “I bring her into this, and I ruin the life she’s worked so hard to build. I can’t do that to her.” The milestones of Abby’s life ran through his head. “She has no idea what’s in her blood or the circumstances of her birth.”
They walked aimlessly for a few minutes. Grayson sighed. “We knew the risk when you adopted her.”
Levi nodded. “We did, and I’ll deal with the consequences of my lies if it comes down to it. Let’s go home, old friend.”
Grayson nodded. “Let’s.” He disappeared, and Levi turned back to look at the hospital. This was just the start of Ira’s move. There would be so much more coming, and Levi knew it. He took himself back home to the mansion, hoping that things were still calm when he got there.
Mario stood there waiting for Levi when he appeared. “The council called.”
Levi nodded. “A large number of bodies, more experiments, a possible small nest of fledglings from Ira.” He didn’t dare mention there was a small chance that Samael might be involved. Mario didn’t like Levi’s maker any more than Levi did. “And a possible connection to a research facility. I don’t think I’m missing anything.” He paused. “Wait, zombies, there were zombies involved too.” Which had never been explained, but it wasn’t his issue. That would be Victor’s issue to figure out where the necromancer was and what to do with them.
He rubbed his eyes. The hospital just happened to have the bodies for a necromancer to practice on, thanks to Ira.
“Abigail has been having fun in Florida. Her social media page is full of pictures on the beach.”
Levi chuckled. “Good for her for relaxing a little bit while we’re knee deep in bodies and threats.”
“You didn’t mention the threats.” Mario narrowed his eyes. “You faced Ira, didn’t you?”
Levi nodded. “Tried to get to him.” He hung his torn suit jacket on the hanger by the door. “He had blood-starved at his command. He’s threatening Abigail.”
“Then we need to bring her here,” Mario said automatically. “She is a weakness to you, and he knows it. Her working for PIB puts her at a disadvantage, she’s always out, always working, always in danger. It puts you and the territory at risk.”
Levi shook his head. “No, we pull her in, then Ira knows that he can use her to his advantage. Abigail has been taught to not give in to threats. She knows that she can’t be used as a weakness to me. We keep her away from this.”
“Your need to keep her protected and sheltered from the vampire world is going to be your undoing,” Mario snapped. “You are telling me that if Ira were to take her and send you a body part, you’d let him torture her?”
He didn’t answer. As king, he knew the answer should be yes, but nothing had put them in that situation yet.
“Levi.” Mario followed him. “You are willing to let Ira torture her?”
Levi spun and faced him. “What do you think Mario? Did you go running when Keira slaughtered your family?”
The vampire flinched. “No, and I regret it every day. You would do anything to protect Abigail, but you are going about it wrong.” He disappeared without another word.
Levi growled. He’d done everythin
g he could to give her a safe, semi-normal life. He’d weaved a web of lies to keep her away from the vampire politics. He was willing to call Ira’s bluff and keep Abigail out of it for now. He went to his office and started shuffling things around to make room for his laptop. He pulled out the computer and started it up. He needed to update the rest of the council on the bodies and the information on Ira. They would take care of it from there. They’d keep him updated on anything they discovered.
It would take them a while to process the scene and the corpses that he probably wouldn’t get much information for at least a week. He opened his email and paused at one from Abigail.
He opened it to find a picture of the sunset over the ocean.
“Thought I’d share.”
He studied it for a moment. It’d been a long time since he’d seen the sunset. Hidden in the dark away from the sun and she’d managed to capture a tiny moment of happiness for him.
He couldn’t take that from her. He couldn’t force her to hide. She’d hate him forever over it. And forever was a very long time.
Ira reappeared in his own home. Levi thought he could save him. That was hilarious. He laughed as he leaned against the walls. If only Levi knew what he had planned. What he had accomplished with his creatures. What he knew about Abigail.
His phone rang, and he answered it. “Plans in place?”
“Yes, sir. I have everything set to go in three months. Everything will go off without a hitch,” the male voice answered. “I’ve done the research you’ve requested, and there’s no doubt that PIB will put Agent Collins on the case, and she’ll be smart enough to make the connections.”
Of course she would, because she never left a stone unturned in her cases.
“There’s only one problem.”
“What is that?” Ira snarled.
“They’ve assigned her a partner, and I can’t find much on who he is. His profile for PIB is pretty bare. He’s been kicked off a case in regards to the Cult of Ra, and he’s only a couple years older than Agent Collins. There’s no reason in the system as to why they assigned him to her.”
Levi’s doing? No, Levi would have made sure there was a reason in the system for the partnership. Interesting. “He won’t be a problem. Proceed as planned.”
“Yes, sir.” The call disconnected, and Ira pushed off the wall. The only thing left to do now that the pieces were all in place was wait for things to play out.
The story continues with Initiative
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A.L. Kessler is the author of the best-selling series Here Witchy Witchy. She resides in Colorado with her family and pets. Her addiction to coffee and chocolate fuels her creativity to bring her readers wonderful stories
Other Series by A.L. Kessler
Here Witchy Witchy
Normalcy
Parlor Tricks
Dark War Chronicles
Children of the Apocalypse
The Case Files of Abigail Collins
The Syndicate (with Mia Bishop)
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