"He didn't give me a name, but for some reason, he thought I could help. What I need is for you to make sure that if Abigail goes to any pack event that she doesn't go alone. She doesn't go unprotected." There was no way he was going to let her up there alone and going in blind. Not with the wolves in such a state of disconnect..
"It'll be a simple tracking spell, nothing to worry about. There's no need to make Simon babysit me." He didn't miss the annoyance in her voice.
"I would never let Abby go to a pack event alone, are you crazy? They could eat her alive." Simon put a hand on her knee.
That was the problem. If given the chance, they probably would eat her alive. "The woman Greg is looking for seems to hold some importance to him. He mentioned an attack."
Simon tensed. "We were attacked, there's a coup starting."
"I'm well aware of that. It was one of the reasons Greg came here. He was looking for support. I don't choose sides because pack business is pack business. I did tell him flat-out that I thought you'd be a better Alpha."
Simon sucked in a breath, and Abby swallowed another mouthful of beer, probably to keep herself quiet.
"Hopefully that doesn't cause problems. That attack was brutal. We lost a couple of our younger members." Simon hung his head. "I wasn't aware that one of our members wasn't accounted for."
Levi nodded. "Greg made it clear he wanted to keep it quiet. I don't trust him. I'm sure he has his political reasons for keeping her disappearance quiet. He didn't want to go to the human authorities, but since we're known to the human world, he was supposed to."
"Then how did he end up in my office?" Abby tapped her fingers on the island.
Why hadn't Greg told her Levi sent him? "I sent him there because it was better than him not going to the authorities at all. Did your partner find out about him?" Levi asked and turned his attention back to her.
"No, he was with the medical examiner checking on our bodies."
Good, so she was still managing to work things around him.
Simon spoke, "That is a relief. I don't want him digging around in pack affairs. He made it clear he didn't like wolves when we first met."
"Nikolas is on the same list as Greg when it comes to my trust," Levi stated. That list was very long.
"Nick just tends to do things by the book." She shrugged. "And he worked on cases concerning the Cult of Ra. He can't be all that bad."
The room went quiet at the mention of the Cult, but Abby rolled her eyes. "Next time, call Simon's phone if you want to interrupt a date. It wasn't worth driving up here for that information." She slid off the stool. "Come on, let's go, maybe we can still catch a late show."
Her phone rang, and she took a deep breath. She gave Simon an apologetic look and stepped out into the hall to answer it. "Agent Collins." Her voice faded a little bit as she walked further down the hall.
Simon looked at Levi. "Greg wasn't planning on telling me was he?"
Levi shook his head. "No, he wasn't. He said that I was using you as a spy. So you know nothing about the missing wolf then?"
"No. Greg keeps things pretty close to his chest. I haven't been spending much time on pack land lately either. He's made it pretty clear that he's not exactly thrilled with me, and I'm sure that your little comment didn't make it any better."
Levi nodded. "I know, but if you took the alpha spot, you could secure a good alliance with me."
"You know I don't want to lead. Now if you'd excuse me, I need to get back to my date."
Levi hesitated for a moment. "And how is dating going?"
Simon laughed. "It'd be better if you hadn't called us up here."
Levi just shook his head. "Go, I have a sheep to deal with."
"Yeah, what's the story behind that?"
"Nothing you need to know about." Levi laughed. "It truly is vampire business. Oh and Simon?"
Simon turned around to look at him. "Yes?"
"You know exactly what happens if Abigail gets killed on your watch, right?"
"Yes, my balls will be sacrificed." Simon let out a full laugh. "I see we've upgraded from hurt to killed."
Levi shrugged. "She's been attracting a lot of trouble lately."
"Don't worry Levi, if I can help it, she won't be hurt, or killed."
Levi let him walk out without another word. Levi left the kitchen, but paused when strange presence came over him, a feeling that he knew too well. Most vampires didn't have a connection unless it was to their makers or through a blood oath. But it was power that Levi was feeling now. Raw, angry power that he knew too well. Ira.
Levi took himself outside the mansion and looked around. Not a moment later Mario was at his side. "Abigail?" Mario asked.
"In her chamber, probably trying to calm herself." Levi looked around. The power faded which made him think that Ira was drawing him out.
The cracking of leaves and sticks echoed from the left of the house. Mario and Levi both turned to see what caused the racket. A dozen vampires moved towards them, but not in the fashion of old, practiced vampires. No. These moved more like the zombies, and the red eyes were a dead giveaway.
"Blood-starved," Mario hissed.
Levi nodded and glanced at the mansion. "Let's get rid of them now before Abigail decides to leave." He rushed towards the group, letting his power flair out in front of him.
They paused and tilted their heads to the side, together as if they were attached by strings. Mario was next to Levi, a short blade in his hand and a wicked grin on his face.
Levi grabbed the closest blood-starved by the neck. Clenching his fists, his nails broke the skin, and his fingers dug into the flesh. With a jerk he ripped the vampire's throat out, blood gushing as he did. The vampire gargled on his blood, but he still stood and came towards Levi.
If it had been a well-fed vampire, the wound would have already started healing, but the blood-starved didn't have the extra energy to waste on healing it. He staggered closer to Levi, tripping over his feet. Levi slammed his already bloodied hand into the vampire's chest and pulled out the heart. Crushing it by closing his fingers around it. This time, the vampire fell to the ground.
Mario chuckled as he stabbed a vampire through the chest. "Just like old times, eh?"
Levi flicked some of the blood off his hand and looked down at his ruined shirt. "Just like old times," he agreed and went after the next closest vampire.
An hour later they had all the vampires taken care of and started to drag their bodies away from the main house. The sun would take care of the remains in the morning, burning them to a crisp, but there was no reason to leave them just hanging around..
Hopefully, Jaimie wouldn't go near them when she hunted. Maybe Levi would drive her further out in the property with the sheep and let her hunt there instead of near the house. That might be the better choice.
They finished moving the last body, and Mario dusted his hands off. "Seems to me that Ira is getting a bit testy."
Levi nodded. "I think so too. That was a bold move on his part. Sending his creatures here. Hopefully killing all of them sends him a message back." He looked down at all the blood on his clothes. "I'm going to grab a shower before Jaimie wakes up and sees this."
Mario nodded. "I'm in need of one as well. There's no need to worry the tiger. She's been sleeping quite a bit. She may not even wake tonight."
"She's recovering, and hopefully she feels safe enough to sleep as long as she needs." Levi nodded to Mario. "Thanks for all the help."
"Like I'd let you have all the fun." He disappeared, and Levi chuckled. It'd been a long time since they had fought side by side.
Levi took himself to the bathroom and stripped off his bloodied clothes, throwing them right in the trash. There was no getting that amount of blood off expensive dress shirts and slacks. Part of him longed for the day where he could wear holey jeans and t-shirts that were co
mfortable. But he needed to remain professional as King and territory leader.
He turned on the shower and stepped under the spray to let it wash the blood away. Had it been human blood, the amount could have driven him and Mario into a frenzy, but there was nothing human left about those creatures. Nothing at all.
He wiped the water out of his eyes and sighed. He'd given up long ago on creating the perfect supernatural world, but Ira wasn't going to stop. He'd take out every human and every creature that opposed him if he had to. But Levi hadn't figured out how to stop Ira, short of killing his brother.
Which would bring a whole new host of issues.
He finished up in the shower, dried off, and got dressed before leaving his room. He found Mario and Jaimie in the kitchen. Jaimie had a plate in front of her with a sandwich on it.
"How do you feel this evening?"
Jaimie looked up at him. "I'm ready to see if I can hunt. Seems I'll be losing at least part of my vision from the wound."
He studied her eye and noticed that the slice had started healing already, but it would leave a scar.
"Mario has secured a sheep for you to hunt. I'm sorry, but is the best we were able to do on short notice."
"It's better than what I have been eating." She stood and stretched, but he didn't miss the strain in her body. "Is it safe to hunt?"
Mario and Levi glanced at each other. "Just make sure you stay on the west side of the property," Levi said easily. "You might not like what you find on the East side."
"Vampires and their secrets." She rolled her eyes and headed out of the kitchen. She paused for a moment. "How do I even get out of here?"
Mario chuckled. "I'll show you the way and wrangle the sheep up."
Levi watched them leave and then leaned on the counter. He picked at the dried blood that was still under his nail. Hopefully, Abigail enjoyed the rest of her night that he seemed to have ruined.
Chapter Three
"I've called a council meeting." Mario's voice interrupted Levi's train of thought. He'd been standing in the kitchen for almost an hour now.
"We have no other information than I was attacked tonight." He pushed away from the counter.
Mario raised a brow. "No other information? Six months ago we found one of his body dumps. We found one of his nests. Now he's sending blood-starved to you."
"Ira is trying to scare us into making a rash move. All we can do with the council is talk to them about it. They will put extra guards on me, which I don't want, and maybe send out a hunting party for Ira, which will fail. Our maker will protect Ira to the grave." He shook his head. He couldn't put anyone at risk like that. He needed to make sure that this stayed far away from Abby too. It wouldn't do him any good for her to get a hint of what was going on.
"Abigail is just like you, so stubborn." Mario rolled his eyes. "I will tell them that you do not need more guards for now. But we need to update them on the attack."
"Then send them an email." Levi waved a hand dismissing him. "I don't want to sit through a meeting tonight."
"You have no choice. You are King and the meeting is in a few minutes." Mario crossed his arms. "Do not fight this."
He could call it off if he wanted, but Mario was right. He was King, and not only that, he needed to update everyone who might deal with the same situation. "Fine, let's go and get this over with."
He took himself to the house where the council met in an old house that gave no hint of the meeting inside. Dim light flickered through the dusty windows, just enough to give the Gothic structure a haunted look. It seemed like so long ago that he stood in the building taking an oath to protect and serve vampire kind as a representative to the humans.
In reality, it was only a couple decades. Mario appeared beside him and nudged him forward. "Stop staring and let's get this over. I'm in need of a good meal and a good-"
Levi held his hand up. "I do not need to hear the end of that thought."
"You know, if you took a lover…" Mario mused.
Levi shook his head. "No, there's no need for me to find a lover. Last time I got close to someone it didn't end well."
"Elizabeth-"
"No, Mario." He disappeared from the front of the mansion and into the hallway outside the meeting room. He had no desire to deal with Mario trying to play therapist. He smoothed a hand down his shirt, making sure that it was tucked in. Mario appeared behind him.
"I'm sorry."
"As you should be." Levi let his power flow around him. Just a small show to remind everyone that he was King. He walked into the meeting room and noticed only two council members had arrived.
Grayson and Catalina. He nodded to the two of them. "Are the others coming?"
"They have other things they have to handle tonight. We'll make sure to pass the information on." Catalina folded her hands on the table. "Mario sent an urgent message saying you were attacked."
He thought attack was putting it a little harsh. "I found blood-starved vampires on my land." He took his seat and Mario sat next to him. The ever-faithful guard and council member.
Her and Grayson exchanged looks, but it was Grayson who spoke. "How many?"
"A dozen," Mario stated. "We were able to dispose of them quickly."
"That's quite a few." Grayson raised a brow. "And you just disposed of them and didn't think anything of it?"
"Obviously we thought something of it because we called a meeting," Mario stated and didn't bother keeping the sarcasm out of his voice. "I think Ira is trying to attack Levi directly.
Catalina nodded. "I agree. Levi needs to step out of the limelight for a little bit."
"What limelight? I don't draw any attention to myself when I'm out in public." Levi shook his head. "This was not a public attack. This was an attack at the mansion. Laying low and staying out of the public eye is not going to help in this case."
Catalina leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. "And what do you think will help?"
"I think he's just trying to scare us. Show us that he knows where I am and that he has creatures that he can control now. I say we dispose of the creatures as they come and keep them out of the eye of the public as long as we can."
They all knew it was just delaying the inevitable, a showdown with Ira, or Ira escalating the situation to gain the upper hand, but there was nothing they could really do until the situation got worse or Ira messed up.
Grayson sighed. "I'll take all vampire related cases I can if they cross PIB. My plate is full over there, but maybe I can keep it out of the day shift's hands."
That meant Abigail was less likely to get it, but it wasn't a promise. It was the best he was going to get. "Thank you." Levi stood. "Now if you'd excuse me, I'd like to get back home." He needed to check on the tiger. They had left her alone in the territory without any explanation, and he doubted it would take that long for her to find the sheep and eat it.
He took himself home without another word. The moment he appeared, his phone dinged. He took it out and saw a text message from Abigail.
"Blood-starved vampires at the grocery store. I'll update when I get a chance."
His hand tightened on the phone. What was going on that she would run into them at the grocery store? Hell, the woman rarely went shopping, leave it to her luck that she'd find them when she actually went.
Mario appeared next to him. "What's up?"
Levi shook his head. "I don't know yet. I'll let you know when I have more information.
Three texts later, there were still no real answers from Abigail. Levi sighed and turned on the news, sitting down to watch. Lights flashed, bouncing off the dark concrete of a parking lot.
"Vampires attacked innocent humans as they shopped. Luckily, two PIB agents happened to be here off duty and assessed the situation and acted appropriately. There are currently no deaths, but one person is reported to be in cri
tical condition."
Mario walked in. "Sounds like a hell of a night." He sat next to Levi. "What do you make of it?"
The news hadn't mentioned that they were blood-starved vampires, and he wasn't ready to point that out to Mario, or his guard might just go back to the council and demand that they take some sort of action.
The camera flashed to Nick and Abigail talking to someone. Neither of them was in typical PIB clothing, Abigail was still wearing the same clothes he'd seen her in earlier that night. But her serious face told him she was all business. Her badge was clipped on her pants, and he knew she didn't go anywhere without that.
"Abigail is already on scene? She must have had a boring night."
Levi shook his head. "She happened to be at the store at the time of the attack. Probably picking up some groceries." Or coffee.
He glanced at the clock. They should be finishing up, and she should be leaving soon. So he hoped. Mario sat next to him in silence as they watched. Eventually, the live feed went away, and the news continued to a different subject.
Levi reached for his phone and tried to call Abigail again. This time she answered.
"I just got in the car."
"How many where there?" He didn't bother with small talk. He had one thing on his mind right now.
"Three total that were in the store. All blood-starved. They didn't look familiar to me, and I have no idea what the media is saying about it."
Luckily the media hadn't said anything at all, but three of them was a troubling thought. "Are you all right?"
"Other than being covered in blood, yes. Why are there blood-starved vampires in your territory?"
He didn't want to think about why she was covered in blood. "I don't know, that's not a punishment I use on my people." He let the lie slip easily from his lips. He knew why they were there. Ira let them loose. "No one has owned up to changing any new vampires recently, so I don't think that's it."
"What do you want me to do about this?"
Initiative Page 3