Here Witchy Witchy Box Set 1

by A. L. Kessler

  “It’s creepy that you know that.” I muttered and picked up the mug. I cupped my hands around it, enjoying the warmth, but could only hold it that way for a couple of seconds before my arm started hurting.

  “I’m sorry that this was so last minute, but I needed to talk to you.” I put the mug down.

  He nodded and kept his mug in his hands. “You’ve had a rough week and I expect that you changed your mind after the second attack on your life.”

  “You were right that the murderer wasn’t exactly Cult. He’d gone rogue and was out for revenge of his own. He didn’t want to leave it to be handled by the others.” I laid my bad arm on the arm of the chair. “He was an Elemental and had he been raised properly, he would have been more powerful than me.”

  He watched me closely. “You said that all in past tense.”

  “I had to kill him. He trapped me in a burning building and then tried to strangle me.” I kept my hands from shaking. “Before I keep going, I have to ask you something.”

  “I know what you’re going to ask me Abby, and the answer is yes. I arranged the truce between you and the Cult. It was the least I could do. I realized that I went about telling you in the wrong way. Trust to you is sacred and I started out on the wrong foot.” I heard the honesty in his voice, but I still wasn’t comfortable with him keeping things from me.

  “What is it that you want in return? I didn’t ask you to put that truce in place, but you went ahead and did it.”

  “I simply want to be a part of your life. It’s something that can happen now. You are an adult. Levi doesn’t control you, even if he employs you.” It sounded like he spoke from the heart, but it also sounded like he’d practiced his small speech.

  It was true. I wasn’t sure if I wanted him completely involved in my life. It seems to me that the more people I had in my life, the more people I put in danger. “Then let me continue with the reason I’m here.” I felt like I was stalling for time. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to say or how I wanted to approach the situation.

  “There’s nothing to be nervous about, Abigail, it’s just you and I having a conversation.” He sipped his coffee. “You’re still shaken up from yesterday.”

  I nodded. “Something strange happened to me in the building. Something that I hadn’t been expecting.”

  “What is that?” He asked and put his mug down on the table next to him. “If you want my help with something you have to be completely honest with me.”

  I took a deep breath and thought about the best way to word it. “I fell when I was in the building. The fire caught my arm, but after that, after I lost control of my emotions and my adrenaline took over. My magic came back from a binding spell and the fire…”

  “Just parted for you.” He smiled. “I was wondering what element was going to end up being yours.”

  So he had known about it. “What is yours?”

  His face closed up and he growled a little. “What makes you think I’m one?”

  “My father left me a book. It’s like a Book of Shadows mixed with genealogy. It dates back to the 1500’s and has all known abilities listed.”

  “I was wondering where that book went.” He sighed. “Mine is water, but you haven’t explained why this has brought you here.”

  I picked up my coffee with my right hand and focused on the liquid. “Levi knew it was a possibility that I was an Elemental. The government takes people like that and locks them away for studying. I can’t let that happen to me.”

  “I can’t protect you from the government, especially since you work for them. I wanted to bind your magic, not for you to grow in power with it.”

  I knew that and I wasn’t happy with it, especially after dealing with Devon. “I don’t expect you to keep me safe from them. I know how to do that.”

  “Then what do you expect?” He met my gaze.

  I took a deep breath. “I want you to teach me how to control it. That’s it. I don’t want to be able to use it, just control it.”

  “You’re worried about the government finding out.”

  I nodded. “I’m the best in my precinct and they just stuck me with a partner. I can’t afford to lose control and have him notice the abilities.”

  “You don’t trust him. Isn’t that cute. Levi has taught you how to be paranoid enough to keep people around you in the dark. Your partner, what kind of supernatural is he?”

  I sipped my coffee. “He’s a warlock, related to Devon.”

  “Ah, Nikolas.” He chuckled. “I’d received word from his mother that he joined the state. Wonder why he transferred here.” Oliver set his mug down. “But back to you. You need my help?”

  I nodded. “Yes.” I didn’t want to end up like Devon. Accepting Oliver’s help meant that I could keep both the Cult and the coven off my back. I refused to become a victim just because I didn’t learn control. I’d worked too hard to make sure my life went smoothly. Levi had done too much to raise me how my parents wanted to have me locked up and be studied.

  “Then I will help you. We start after your vacation.”

  I opened my mouth to ask him how he knew about it, but he held his hand up. “I have my ways, Abigail. I have my ways.”

  EPILOGUE

  I got off the plane and sighed when the cold weather hit me. Even in the tunnel I could feel the icy air. Winter had finally set in and I wondered if it was possible for me to go back to Florida.

  I got into the terminal and took my phone out of my pocket. Switching the setting from airplane mode back to normal, I looked to see if any messages or calls popped up. It took a moment, but then in flooded ten text messages, four voicemails, and twenty e-mails that I had received while I was in flight.

  I knew that my vacation was officially over when the first text message was from Nick.

  Murder in the park, looks like shifters. Need you ASAP.

  Yep, it was back to the life of blood, magic, and criminals.

  Deathly Magic

  Here Witchy Witchy

  Book Two

  A.L. Kessler

  CHAPTER ONE

  I swiveled in my chair, swinging from left to right over and over. It had been six months since my last big case. Sure, my new partner Nick and I had solved small cases since, but I was starting to think the big bad supernatural creatures in the world were either plotting something huge or they were all too scared to try anything.

  "Abby, you're making me nervous." Nick's voice drew my attention from my screen He’d slicked back his brown hair into a business style and his green eyes would have any woman swooning. Honestly I’d have fallen for him, if he hadn’t lied when I first met him. He’d been working on his own mission as a PIB agent, but had told the office that he was my boyfriend. He thought I had something to do with his case but told me the reason he sought me out was to reconnect with an old friend. It turned out I was hunting his brother. After my case was over, the department decided to make Nick and I partners. Great…except for I killed his brother.

  I stopped rotating in my chair. "Sorry, the paperwork was so fascinating I needed something else to do." Not that there was paperwork on my screen. He was working in front and to the left of me. He faced me from behind his desk so we could see each other. Our partnership was supposed to be temporary, which is why he was sharing my office, but we'd yet to figure out when he was moving out.

  "Right. I'm going to go grab lunch. You want something?"

  "No, thank you. I think I'm going to go take a walk." My phone went off and I swept it up. Nick had paused halfway out of his chair.

  "Agent Collins speaking." I said. I knew the number on the screen. It belonged to Detective Mason, which meant something had happened. Finally.

  "Hey Abby, we've got bodies down by Memorial Lake. It's not pretty, can you get down here?"

  Bodies? Multiple. "Nick and I'll be down there as soon as we can."

  "I'd prefer if it was just you." He sounded irritated, but there wasn’t much I could do about bringing Nick along
.

  "Can't. Rules are rules." I sighed. "Give us fifteen minutes, we're at the office." I motioned for Nick to continue to get ready.

  "Hope you haven't eaten yet." Were Mason's last words before the call ended. I looked at Nick. "We have multiple bodies, Mason sounds shaken."

  "It's noon, how did no one find them until now?" He shrugged his jacket on.

  I grabbed my jacket off the back of my chair and pulled it on. "I don't know, maybe they've been working on it all day. Mason doesn't call unless he's sure it's supernatural. He's seen the darker side of human nature, he'd rather it be that."

  Nick nodded. "Back home, we'd be lucky to get a call before the body count hit five."

  I snorted. "Luckily for me, Mason's damn good at what he does."

  "Ever gotten a case outside his jurisdiction?" Nick asked and held the office door open for me.

  I smiled, because that could mean so many things. I've worked cases for Levi, the vampire who raised me, that were outside of Mason's jurisdiction. Nick didn't need to know about that. "I've gotten called to consult once or twice, but never have I gotten a case specifically handed to me."

  "It can get tricky." Nick shrugged. "I'm driving."

  I wanted to drive my nice new SUV, but since my last car blew up, I couldn't blame him for wanting to drive. We got into his shiny new black Charger and he took off for the crime scene. "I really wanted lunch."

  "I'm sure lunch before a multiple body homicide is a bad idea." I chuckled. "But if it's not gruesome, lunch is on me."

  "And if it is?"

  "Lunch is on you."

  "Deal."

  We fell into an easy silence. Working with Nick wasn't bad, but I had to be more careful about how I did my job. I wasn't exactly "by the books" and used my other contacts when it came to cases sometimes. Many of those contacts were supernatural creatures who knew me because of my association with Levi, either as his adopted daughter or his killer— a title I haven’t earned. Rumors, all rumors.

  Nick and I both groaned when we saw the crowd at the lake, including news vans and camera crews. Human curiosity at its finest. Nick parked and I got out.

  "You're thinking about something, I can see your brain working. What's up, Abby?" He looked at me over the hood of his car.

  I pulled my brown wavy mass of hair out of its ponytail and tied it up tighter, giving me just a couple more seconds before we had to work our way through the swarm of onlookers. "I'm wondering if Stephanie is in the crowd."

  "The supernatural tabloid reporter?" He chuckled. "Have something against her, do you?"

  I shrugged. "Doesn't matter." I pulled my badge out and held it up as we made our way into the gawkers. Most people parted for us while some tried to stop us for questions. Nick and I we were both taller than the majority of the people in the crowd and made our way through without a problem.

  No one I recognized greeted us at the yellow tape, so Nick and I ducked under and went in search of Mason. I froze when I saw the line of bodies, three of them, lying on the dirt near the lake.

  Nick stopped next to me. "I love the smell of multiple bodies first thing in the afternoon.”

  I rolled my eyes and studied the victims. There was a gray tone to their bodies, all their eyes were shut and they were all male. At least they weren't dismembered. I knelt down for a closer look. All three of them had their throats torn out.

  "Lycanthropes," Nick said.

  He'd taken the thought right out of my mind. "That's what it looks like, but in animal form they aren't coherent enough to dump the bodies."

  "Even your friend Simon?" Nick asked. "He's pretty strong.”

  I shook my head. "There's nothing saying that these are wolves." I knew that Simon was more himself than animal in his wolf form, but there was no need to go into that. Besides, dumping the body was a lot more work than, say, eating it. "Besides, they wouldn't dump it off of pack grounds."

  "How do you know that?"

  I raised a brow. "How do I know what?"

  "Where pack grounds are. They don't normally share that information." Nick's brows furrowed and I managed to hold back a growl of irritation.

  "I just know they are in the mountains, not close to town." I shrugged. It wasn't a lie; I probably couldn't pinpoint the pack grounds on a map, even after Simon had taken me there. The drive back had been too full of adrenaline to make a mental map of where I was going, but Nick didn't need to know that I had been there at all. "It's part of my job to know things like that."

  He made a noise that sounded like he didn't believe me, but it didn't matter. "I wouldn't rule out wolves yet."

  "We'll see what the medical examiner says." I stood and dusted my knees off. "Assuming we've gotten a new one."

  Mason walked up, looking through his notebook. "We did, his name is Jason. Try not to get this one fired. I hear he's good. What do you think?"

  "At first glance it looks like lycanthropes, but I can't know for sure until the bites are examined. Where were the bodies?"

  "In the lake, they floated up this morning and were called in by some runners." He flipped through his notes. "They said they thought the bodies had been drowning victims. They went to pull them out to see if there was any chance."

  This lake was a popular running spot, the path around it was exactly a mile and in the mornings no one was usually there except for runners. During the day the two parks on either side of the lake were filled with laughing children and the banks of the lake were dotted with fishermen.

  "What took you so long to call us?" Nick asked and I wanted to smack him. I knew why, but I'd let Mason enlighten him on how he worked things.

  "I wanted to make sure it wasn't a human case. I hate to waste Abby's time with such nonsense. I'd rather make sure she gets cases that belong to her."

  I pressed my lips together; trying not to smile at the way Mason excluded Nick. It wasn't fair, but I had a feeling that Mason wasn't happy about me having a partner.

  "Fair enough." Nick said without missing a beat.

  I pulled a pair of gloves from my pocket. "I'm going to take a closer look at the bite marks and see if I can at least rule out wolves."

  "You just want to—"

  "Don't even say it. Even if I'm trying to protect Simon, he deserves it; he stuck by my side when I had to deal with your brother and had a hex." Any time that I had attempted magic while under the hex it had tried to kill me. Simon stayed with me so I wouldn’t be alone in case the hex took me down. "Now you can either help me examine the bodies or see if you can get any useful information from the runners."

  Nick made a noise that I had learned meant he didn't agree with me, but he'd listen to me since it was my jurisdiction.

  I put on my gloves and went back to the bodies. I was just thankful nothing had exploded yet. I'd gladly look at a bloody wound instead of explaining why magic blew something up...again.

  "What are you thinking?" Mason asked after a moment.

  I wiped some of the smeared wet blood away the neck and only revealed untouched dried blood, but the dried blood at least let me see the shape of the bite. "This isn't a wolf bite. I'm not sure what it is, but the punctures aren't deep enough to be anything canine." I felt around the wound hoping to find something, but I couldn't find anything.

  "Do you think I was right in calling you?"

  He was second-guessing himself. I looked at the other two victims. There was a lot of blood and sediment smeared on their bodies from the lake. They all had similar marks and I was sure we'd find some type of defensive wounds once the bodies were cleaned. "We're facing something that overpowered and tore out the throats of three humans. Yes, I think you were right. If I find something else that says otherwise, I'll call your best team." I promised.

  "How much longer do you have a partner?" He asked suddenly.

  I snorted. "I don't know, but my boss is determined to keep Nick by my side. I don't know why."

  "I'm sure it has something to do with his brother's case." Ma
son said.

  I stood and crossed my arms. "All I know is that it's making me nervous, I don't like having someone at my heels every case. We get along well enough, but he doesn't like Simon and I know he's not a fan of vampires. He made that pretty clear."

  "Which means he doesn't like Levi." Mason laughed. "What does Levi think?"

  I shrugged. "Oh, you know, he doesn’t like anything that might hold me back." I joked. Levi stayed out of my state work, most of the time. He knew I was a big girl and could take care of my own cases.

  Mason chuckled. "I'll call the M.E. and get the bodies taken care of. Let me know if anything comes back on prints and I'll help start building a case."

  I took my gloves off and stuck them in a nearby biohazard bag. "I'm hoping we didn't lose much in the water."

  "I have people canvassing the waves and walking the shores. I'll let you know if anything turns up." He said easily and walked off to talk with one of his officers.

  There was nothing left for me to do here. I had expected the scene to be more gruesome than it was, but maybe Mason was getting soft in his old age.

  I started towards Nick, but shouting made me turn back towards the lake. I saw a crew in scuba gear pulling something out of the lake.

  I didn't have to be close to see what it was. Four limbs, something that resembled a head, but all the flesh was torn off leaving only muscles and bones. I felt my stomach drop and my gag reflex activate. I refused to throw up or even dry heave. The body was completely different from the others.

  "Agent Collins," Mason called and waved me over.

  I steeled myself and walked over to our newest corpse. "What the hell happened to this guy?"

  We both took a second and I wondered if Mason was thinking the same thing that I was. Was it actually a guy? My eyes drifted towards what was left of the pelvic area. Looked like a guy to me. Poor bastard looked like he was eaten alive. I hoped that wasn't the case. "I need the water canvassed for flesh and anything that might belong to any of these victims."