Here Witchy Witchy Box Set 1

by A. L. Kessler

  “Just a quick look, promise.” She nodded and took a bite of her burger.

  Jack came and sat with us and I tried not to grit my teeth at the unwelcome jerk. “It’s nice to see you at a coven event when you’re not in trouble or trying to track down one of our own.”

  It’d only happened twice and no one was going to let it go, were they? “Life gets busy when you’re working high profile cases.” I shrugged one shoulder.

  “You can’t always be working.” He suggested. “What about when you take vacations?”

  I had taken a couple vacations in the last year. One, Simon had sent me to Florida to relax, and one was a book fest that dealt with a demon. “I don’t tend to stay in town for vacations, they tend to turn into working vacations.”

  “Even then,” Clarissa pointed out. “Some of them still turn into working vacations.”

  She’d been there with me when dealing with the demon. The only good thing that had come from that trip was a date.

  “You’re going to work yourself to death, Abby.” Jack shook his head. “You’re too young for that.”

  “Most PIB agents do, Jack.” I dropped my burger onto my plate and took a deep breath. “I lost my partner today, he was only a year older than me.”

  “Nick.” Jack whispered. “In the attack?”

  I nodded. “So thanks for bringing death up.” I stood. “I’m sorry Clarissa, I’m going to go. I don’t really want to be here right now and I’m not in the mental state to force niceties out of my mouth.”

  I ignored the look of astonishment on Jack’s face and kept walking. Clarissa stumbled after me half muttering an apology to Jack and half trying to stop me. I didn’t pay attention to her. I gripped my bag and headed towards the gate to get out. I didn’t want to deal with people I didn’t like. I’d rather deal with Merick and ghosts than the coven right now.

  “Abigail, wait.” Clarissa put a hand on my shoulder and I turned around.

  “What?”

  She took a deep breath. “Jack didn’t mean it.”

  “Jack should keep his mouth shut. I appreciate that you want me to celebrate with the coven, but honestly I just want to finish this case and go home.” I tried to keep my voice gentle.

  She nodded and then gave me a hug. “I’m sorry. You need time.”

  I returned the hug and gave her an extra squeeze. “I’m going to be fine. Everything is going to be okay.” It sounded like a lie, even to me, but sometimes we tell ourselves comforting lies to get through rough times.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow?” She stepped back.

  “Yeah, about noon? I have a feeling I’m going to be up most of the night.” I threw my bag in the Hummer’s back seat.

  “You be careful working magic tonight. Your emotions are high; we don’t want an accidental disaster.”

  “I’m working with a consultant, he’s more seasoned then I am. I’m sure he’ll be able to keep the power in check.” It’d been a long time since I’d lost control of anything. My elemental abilities made me keep everything else in check since it was something I wanted to keep hidden.

  “Anyone I know?”

  I shook my head. “No. I’ll see you tomorrow.” I gave her another quick hug and climbed into the Hummer to leave.

  When I arrived at the crime scene, no one but the officers were there. Merick was no longer dealing with whatever ghost problem had arisen. Mason was probably still at the station dealing with the suspects, and I still had about an hour before the sun even considered sinking for the day. I pulled my bag out of the car before heading to the house. Nick had told me the ghosts found me friendly now, so they wouldn’t bother me, but I didn’t want to go back into the basements until Merick was with me.

  There was one other place I wanted to check out without other people. The decrepit home that we found all the vampires in. If their maker was around, then he was still held captive by the sun. I sent Merick a text to let him know that I was able to make it earlier than we had planned and left it at that. Shoving my phone in my pocket I headed towards the older house.

  There was something peaceful about walking through a less populated area. A lot of witches went back to nature to relax. It was something I enjoyed, but rarely did. Last time I’d really done it for a magical reason it was to be cleansed from the hex. It’d been about a year since then. A gentle wind wrapped around me as I made my way to the house, making me almost forget about the fact that I was heading to where a nest of vampires had been. Until I approached it.

  Yellow caution tape surrounded the house and a single police officer stood guard. I pulled my badge out and showed it to him. “I’m Agent Collins, I’m the lead PIB agent on the case.”

  “Good evening, what can I do for you?” She held her hands folded in front of her. Her light wavy hair had been pulled back enough to keep it from her face, but not enough to tame the volume of it.

  “I just want to take a look around while it’s light out. That’s all. I didn’t really get a chance to examine the house while I was here earlier.”

  She nodded and stepped aside. “Let me know when you’re done.”

  I ducked under the caution tape, watching my step to make sure my foot didn’t find any more rotten boards. The house looked bigger now that there weren’t vampires sleeping on the floor, but it was still a single room shack instead of a full blown house. I wasn’t an expert on development, so dating the house wasn’t going to happen. A wood stove sat crooked on the other end, the floor beneath a fourth of it gone.

  Nothing in the shack stood out. Just an old rotting building that had been used to hide a small horde of vampires. Shadows slowly formed across the floor as the sun started to make its descent from the sky. I walked out of the house and nodded to the officer at the door. Nothing there, nothing to look at.

  A small click of magic went through me, warming me from my toes to my head. It was the magic from the Pack lands, from when I forcefully took over the circle to help save the pack. It was my land, mine to protect from other magic and enemies. To warn humans away and welcome wolves that belonged to it. Every full moon I could feel the energy from it, no matter where I was it made me smile.

  I glanced at the sun and then my watch. I’d miscalculated the time for sunset, but it wasn’t a big deal. Levi would go to interrogate the other vampire soon and I was sure that Ira was long gone by now. Far away from where we’d be able to get him with executioners or by whatever means Levi had.

  Merick was sitting on the porch of the house when I got there. “That was really quick.”

  “I was just down the road getting dinner. Did your coven meeting end earlier than you thought?”

  I debated on my answer for a moment. “Kind of. I decided that I didn’t want to stay and be forced to socialize when I wasn’t feeling up to it.”

  “Always a wise choice.” He stood and walked into the house. “The ghosts were upset earlier because their bodies were removed. They are hushed now because they are understanding that they will get a proper burial and will get to move to the afterlife.”

  Hope. We’d managed to give fifteen poltergeists hope. That was something new, even for me. “And the woman?”

  “I haven’t seen her since my first visit here. She seems to be pretty shy. What are we setting out to accomplish tonight, Abigail?” His back was to me as he looked over the living room.

  “A few things that I’m hoping are possible with a trace spell. To find out who broke the runes and who might have buried ten skeletons out in the yard.”

  He turned to face me. “Lofty goals for a spell you’ve never performed before.”

  “That’s why I needed help. Nick…he wasn’t willing to help me. You want this case solved as well. I don’t know what your motives behind solving it are, but you’re invested in it.”

  “I am.” He agreed, his voice soft. “So you turned to me for help, trusting me.”

  “Am I making a mistake?” I took a step back, putting my hand on my gun.


  “No, no you’re not. Despite what everyone thinks and your first impression of me, I’m not out for your life, Abigail. Quite the opposite, I’m trying to make sure you stay alive.”

  I chuckled. “So really, it’s not the case you’re invested in, but me. Why? Last year you were threatening to kill me if Devon lived. What’s the point now?”

  “I can’t tell you that.” He motioned towards the kitchen. “Let’s get this done. I’d rather not be here longer than we have to in case the maker of the vampire horde shows up.”

  “So doing a trace spell there is a no?” I added as a second thought. “I’d like to see who made them.”

  He glanced at me. “We could, but I don’t know if I’d recommend it.”

  “I don’t really care what you recommend, what I care about is if it helps us solve the case.” I put my hands on my hips. “I’m ready for these cases to be wrapped up and done with.”

  “Always so impatient.” He laughed. “We’ll do one there, but that’s it. And whatever you see there, you must promise not to act rashly.”

  I raised a brow. “You know something that I don’t. What are you hiding?”

  “I guess we’ll find out soon enough.” He dropped his duffle bag on the floor of the bedroom. “I know you can conjure a circle without a physical guide, but for this spell we need to make sure we have a physical guide just in case.”

  “For the record, I don’t just perform random magic without a physical circle, I just use one when I need it to protect me quickly.”

  “Then you’re a smart witch.” He smiled and tossed me a piece of chalk. “Draw us a circle, please?”

  I nodded and drew out a circle large enough for both of us to stand arm length apart. I didn’t mutter anything to close the circle and enact the magic, not until he was ready. He ruffled through his bag before going to the fallen door. He used a screw driver to pop the hinge off. He brought it over and put it in the circle.

  “To connect us to the past.” He said easily and I nodded. He pulled out a knife next. “Blood to ground us in the present.”

  Blood magic was one of those things that could be seen as questionable. It could strengthen the spell, it could be used for good and evil, it could be used as something symbolic, like in this case, and it could be strengthened by emotions. I hesitated. “Both of us?”

  “It keeps us grounded so we don’t get lost in what we see. What has you worried?”

  “I’m emotionally charged on a full moon.” I kept it simple. He didn’t need to know what all had my emotions high.

  “I’ll be here to guide it all. It’ll be okay. If anything, it’ll make the images clearer to see.” He held the knife out. “Just a prick of the finger after we close the circle.”

  I took the knife by the handle and wait for him to step in the circle. Together we welcomed the elements of the directions to aid us in our spell. The magic snapped around us with a shock of power. A red streak crossed Merick’s eyes and I couldn’t stop the gasp that came from me.

  “Don’t be frightened Abigail, I have no intentions to harm you.”

  I wasn’t sure what to think, I’d never seen the effect before. The circle was partially mine, so I knew that his intentions were true. “I swear to you, one wrong move, I gut you.” I poked my finger with the blade and let my blood drop to the ground. The magic pulsed once and I felt it reach out to the room around us.

  “I wouldn’t expect anything less.” He reached out for the knife and I gave it to him. He pricked his finger, giving us the same effect. “Are you ready?”

  I nodded. Foreign words fell from his lips, a language I wasn’t familiar with, but it didn’t mean the magic wasn’t there. Hair on my arms stood to attention as a thrill ran over my body, over my spine, and up my neck. The air thickened as objects around us seemed to move.

  I watched as images of Merick and I played through the room as ghost-like figures, playing out what we had just done only backwards. It was like watching a tape rewind.

  “Now, think of the time between your visit and Nick’s visit.”

  I closed my eyes and did as he asked. I didn’t have to open my eyes to get the sensation of the room spinning. His hand grabbed my wrist. I opened my eyes and met his gaze. Around us the runes were glowing again. Fifteen see through figures sat around the room and I realized I was seeing the poltergeists lounging in the prison that Merick had originally created for them. To see the faces of the victims just added to my nightmares.

  I looked over as the door opened and Jerry walked in. I tilted my head to the side. “That little asshole.”

  “You know him then?”

  I nodded. “We have him at the station on charges for assisted manslaughter. He’s working with a vampire. But how did he know that you had meant this for me?”

  “He has the sixth sense.” He nodded. “Look at him speaking to the ghosts.”

  The words were muted to me. “I’d love to overhear what they are saying.”

  “It’s just a whisper to you. Close your eyes and concentrate on the sound of his voice. You should be able to hear that. You won’t be able to hear the ghosts.”

  I closed my eyes and remembered the sound of Jerry’s voice.

  “The goal is to make sure she’s unable to function. I don’t care how.”

  There was something that sounded like radio static.

  “Both of them. If you have to kill them, that’s fine. If you fail, I won’t be laying you to rest.”

  More static, this time louder as if all of them were speaking at once. I resisted putting my hands over my ears.

  “No, neither of them should have the sixth sense. I know for sure that Collins doesn’t.”

  How wrong he was about Nick. Had he not been there, I could have been killed, which seemed like Jerry’s goal. At the thought of Nick my magic flared, rushing out of me and into the circle. It hit the invisible barrier and wrapped around me. I opened my eyes to meet Merick’s wide eyes.

  “Deep breaths.” He reminded me. “Pull it back in, we got what we came here for.”

  I tried to focus on the warm fuzzy feeling of my magic around me and pull it in, but it pulsed against the circle and against me. A strangled cry came from my throat as the magic went from warm to burning. I hadn’t felt this out of control in a long time.

  “Abigail.” Merick warned. “Rein it in.”

  If I couldn’t pull it in, there was only one thing I could do. Push it out. “You’re going to have to trust me.” I gasped through the sensation. Pinprick pain marched up my body, leaving burning trails in its wake.

  I could feel Merick’s magic and his portion of the circle. I fell to one knee and put my hand against my blood splatter. I looked at Merick and he nodded as if he knew what I was going to do. I closed my eyes and shoved the magic into the ground and circle. Purple light flew up around us and into the circle as I forced it outwards.

  The light moved out, widening the circle without a physical guide. I pushed it out until it surrounded the areas I needed it to reach. I could breathe again when it reached the other house. I looked at Merick. “We can reinforce it if you want, but now we can just walk.”

  “So much power Abigail, it’s unlike you to lose control like this.”

  I nodded. “I tried to warn you.”

  “Let’s walk and see that past, then we’ll talk about it.”

  Talk about it, like he was my mentor. I didn’t argue the point. There was no use arguing while there was magic about. I didn’t want to make it worse. Not only did I overtake his circle, I made it bigger and stronger with a little bit of blood and a lot of grief.

  We walked out to the yard. Shadows moved around us, brushing against us. I stopped where I had first found the skull and closed my eyes. Doing what Merick had told me, I thought about ten years ago when the bodies had been dropped.

  I opened my eyes to see someone dragging body bags from a truck and dropping them in a pile. Ira appeared and the two shook hands like they were good friends
and not doing a business deal. The man turned towards where Merick and I were standing. I didn’t know his face. I pushed more magic into the spell and the words spilled out loud and clear.

  “Ten bodies, as I promised. I kept the thumbs.” He pulled out a bag from his pocket and gave it a shake.

  “Strange fetish, Nathanial.” Ira looked at the bodies. “I wanted them alive.”

  “Sorry, I had unfinished business I needed to attend to. You requested bodies, not living beings. And I told you, it’s Agent Heights now.”

  Agent Heights. FBI? PIB? I had a full name to put in the system now, and ask Agent Grace about. A name to go with the thumbs…which were just a fetish?

  Ira wrapped his hand around Nathanial’s throat. With a flick of his wrist the neck snapped. Well, shit. There went my only suspect.

  Merick had his hand to his chin like he was thinking. The vampire swooped down and snatched up the thumbs.

  “Jerry!”

  The shifter came running out of the house.

  The vampire tossed him the bag of thumbs. “Do what you want with them. Don’t upset my experiment.”

  The scene faded away and I growled as time started to shift again. Until a woman danced around the yard. The same woman that I’d seen as a ghost. Merick started to walk away, but I put a hand on his shoulder. “No, let’s wait and see what happened to her.”

  Ira approached her and she threw her arms around him. They kissed, lips moved together, hands tangled in the other person’s hair, her foot even went up a little bit. That didn’t seem like a hostage situation to me.

  “What was the cause of her death?” Merick asked.

  “Blood drained, multiple bites. She was thought to have been kept in a basement.” I motioned to the two lovers. “This is not a hostage situation.”

  “Yet.” Merick motioned to the forest. “Look familiar?”

  Figures moved in the distance, a horde of vampires.

  “I’m sorry my love, I have no choice.” He grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards the house. “This is the only way.”

  “The blood-starved vampires went back that far? Her death was a century ago.”