She cried out and scrambled back to him, falling to the ground as smoke started to rise from her skin.
Damn it. It hadn't worked. He glared at her. "Back to containment until I can find someone to feed you."
She glared up at him. "You changed me?"
"Not in the typical way, but it seems that you are more vampire now than witch." He pulled her up by her shirt. "Now, back to containment."
"You stole my magic," she hissed as they disappeared.
When they reappeared in front of her containment cell, he shoved her in it. "I didn't steal anything. You signed up for the trials. I have a contract saying that we could do these experiments."
Her eyes turned a darker shade of red, and her words turned back into snarls and growls, the way they had been before. She seemed to be fighting different stages of being blood-starved, which had been typical in some of the other subjects, like the ones he'd given to Tomes. They were aware enough to obey orders as long as they stayed on the rational side of being blood-starved. This witch though was getting ready to pass over the point of no return.
Which meant that he could either add her to his horde or toss her body. Or keep her for himself. She was the only female subject after all. He wanted to work with the males first because in his opinion women were far too feeble to withstand the treatments. But this witch had proved him wrong on that.
He shoved her in and locked the door. She stared at him for a moment before giving him an evil smile and turning away.
Ira watched her for another moment or so before going down the hall to head back to the main part of the lab. She was stronger than he gave her credit for, and for that he would try to sedate the bloodlust and see if she became more controllable and more coherent if she fed. It hadn't worked with any of the others, but she also seemed to have more fight than them.
He stopped at the door and faced the vampire there. "Feed the witch, use a lycan and let her drain it to death. I want to see what happens."
"I'll make sure to take notes, sir." The vampire bowed his head and went into the lab.
Ira took himself back to his manor, appearing in the library where a book was waiting on the table for him. Elizabeth's journal. Marked and dated for the times from when she officially betrayed him to not long after Abigail's birth. He smiled and ran his hand over the cover. He'd spent the last nights looking for it and had finally found where he had tucked it away.
He flipped through the pages until he saw a drawing of a tablet. They had all been looking for that tablet. It had been a myth, a fable, and now she had a drawing of it. "Oh, Elizabeth, what hell did you unleash for your daughter?"
She neglected to put the detailed runes into her drawing, but she had some notes written around it on what was needed. A human sacrifice, strong magic, blood. He shook his head. Elizabeth may have walked the gray line, dipping into black when she needed to, but he didn't think she had it in her to sacrifice another human. Her goal with everything was to save humanity, not kill her own kind.
He flipped to the next page. The date across the top was smeared.
"The magic I'm using to keep Abigail alive inside me is taking its toll. I feel like she'll slip away the moment she enters this world. I have not spoken to Levi about this, because I don't wish to worry him any more than I already have. Tobias is insisting just to let nature take its course, but I cannot take this gift away from Levi."
Ira swallowed his anger over how much Elizabeth had loved Levi over him. She would never have gone to these lengths for Ira.
He looked back down at the page and continued to read.
"I have devised a plan with Oliver if something is to go wrong with Abigail's birth. My baby girl will be here soon, and I want to make sure she survives."
He flipped through the pages, but the torn leftovers told him that the pages detailing Abigail's birth were gone. He was guessing that Tobias or Levi had covered it up and it was now gone. Whatever she'd done must have been shameful if they went through great lengths to cover it up. Or powerful and dangerous. He grinned. There was something there that they wanted to hide, and he would find it.
Chapter Twelve
Levi woke in the evening to his phone ringing. He'd done nothing during the day but rest and worry about Abigail. He still felt exhausted as he grabbed his phone. "Levi speaking."
"I thought I told you to lay low." Grayson's voice came over the other line.
Levi rubbed his eyes. "I am laying low."
"You went and visited Tomes last night."
Levi growled. Oliver was supposed to erase the tapes of that. "How do you know?"
"Because I just saw Agent Grace talking to Boss Man about Tomes ranting and raving about the king. She's trying to convince him to up her clearance."
That meant trouble. "And what did he say?"
"That she's not under our jurisdiction, and she'll have to ask her own superior if she could get a clearance that high."
Well it was a relief that Boss Man had his back on that. "Yes, I went and saw Tomes. He knows about Abigail."
"How much does he know?"
"He knows that she's considered the princess." Levi sighed. "Look, it's not a big deal anymore. I had the tapes erased, and no one is going to believe his ranting. With any luck, they'll sentence him to death for using necromancy to kill, and then we can wash our hands of him."
"And if not, then I can arrange something from the inside. There's something else."
"Yes?" Levi asked, trying not to be irritated.
"Dr. Webber has called a council meeting tonight. You have two hours to get fed and ready." The phone line went dead in his hand.
That meant the good doctor found something and had information to share on the vampire. Levi rushed to get ready for the meeting.
A good meal, shower, and suit later, he was ready for the news that would hopefully give them a better insight into what Ira had accomplished. He took himself to the manor to meet the council, feeling odd without Mario at his side. The two of them rarely went through council meetings without each other, and he doubted that Hannah would let Mario come.
He walked in to find Mario's seat empty, but all the others there. Grayson looked less than pleased to be there, with his arms crossed and his hat pulled low.
"Good evening, Grayson." Levi tried to meet his gaze.
"Evening. We need to wrap this up quickly. I have a case to finish, and I don't want to leave the PIB witch alone on it for too long."
That meant that he was making progress, which was good. They didn't need baby vampires running around killing people without remembering.
Dr. Webber nodded. "Then I shall get to the point here. The vampire that Mario brought me is one of Ira's specimens. We were able to confirm that. What I wasn't expecting to find was lycan blood in his vampire blood."
Levi jerked at that. "Lycanthrope blood?" he clarified.
"The body didn't reject it?" Grayson asked. "If we're bitten, our body rejects the virus. Just like magic does for the witches."
"We don't know how it was possible. I'm just telling you what I have found."
Levi pressed his lips together. "So would the vampire have shifted on the full moon?"
"No, I don't think so. There wasn't enough for a full infection, so I don't know if he's getting the mix wrong or if the vampire blood cells are killing the infection."
"So what does this all mean?" Levi asked, though he had a sinking feeling he already knew the answer.
Dr. Webber was quiet for a moment and looked over the table at other council members. "It means that Ira is closer than he was a decade ago to creating the hybrid creatures. I believe that the vampires attacking aren't only blood-starved but hybrids. After my observations and tests, I think they are blood-starved because their bodies are trying to fight off the lycanthrope infection, and knowing Ira, he's probably seeing them as a failed exp
eriment and keeping them starved."
"Would feeding them make it successful do you think?" Catalina asked.
Dr. Webber shook his head. "No, we'd need an army to feed them and keep off the bloodlust. The one we had in containment was past the point of no return."
Levi nodded. That's why he had Mario kill the creature. "We need to find Ira's labs and start taking them out one by one. We can't allow this to continue."
"I agree." Grayson sighed. "I will dedicate PIB resources to it, but we need to keep it to top priority people only. We can't allow the media to get a hold of this or there will be widespread panic."
Levi agreed of course, but it could get tricky if PIB got involved more as well. "There's one other thing we need to talk about tonight. I'll be putting in official paperwork for Mario to be joining the territory as my second. Hannah already knows, so she called Mario back to her until the paperwork goes in."
There was silence around the table.
Levi continued, "I will make all the arrangements for it. The king will, of course, grant permission as soon as the human government approves it."
Grayson nodded. "I think it's a good idea. It gives Mario a reason to be in your territory, so he can be seen more often with you without causing suspicion about who you actually are."
Levi nodded. "With the need to be guarded more closely and concern for Abigail's safety increasing, it'll be helpful to have more eyes around the territory."
"If you put any more stress on Abigail's safety, more people are going to catch on," Grayson stated. "She's a big girl, and she can take whatever is thrown at her."
Levi nodded. "I know."
"Now, if that's it, I have a case to get back to." Grayson stood and disappeared.
Levi also stood, but Dr. Webber cleared his throat. "Levi, if you are truly concerned with Abigail, we can find a way to pull her from her life and protect her."
It was a tempting offer, but he shook his head. "She'd hate me forever if I did that. It's not that bad yet." But it could quickly turn that way.
"We don't hate Abigail, Levi. We just don't think she's prepared to come into our world. Especially as princess."
Levi nodded. "I didn't want this life for her."
"I know."
Levi disappeared, taking himself back to his mansion.
Levi's phone rang a few hours after he sat down to work a rush request for the paperwork he'd turned in to the city. He sighed and picked it up. "Levi speaking."
Grayson's voice came over the phone, and Levi didn't miss the exhaustion in it. "We caught our creature. I need you to come down here, please. I have a small group of vampires who have been controlled by him, and as territory leader, you're in charge of what I do with them."
They were being controlled when they were killing, but he needed to asses them to make sure they were fit to go back to society or if they needed to be contained. "I'll be there in a few minutes."
He stood and sealed his letter in an envelope and dropped it in his mailbox before he took himself to PIB. He walked into the north building and checked in at the reception desk.
"You seemed to be visiting an awful lot lately, Levi." She flashed him a smile. "Must be a good case going on."
He laughed. "The less time I spend here, the better, because it means the territory is running smoothly."
"You do a great job." She handed him a badge. "You're all checked in. Agent Yorkingson is in the basement in the temporary holding area."
He nodded. "Thank you." He walked to the elevator and took it down to the basement. When the doors opened, he followed the bleak hallway past the offices to where a guard stood behind bulletproof glass. He looked up as Levi approached. "Agent Yorkingson is expecting you." He reached over and hit a button, and the door to his left clicked.
Levi opened the door and walked in. He walked down the hall until he found a female PIB agent standing there. She looked up and narrowed her eyes a little bit at him.
He raised a brow. "I'm Levi, Agent Yorkingson called and asked me to assist with the assessment of some vampires."
Her look softened just a little a little bit. "Levi, I'm Agent Jefferson, it's nice to meet you."
"You as well, thank you for your help with bringing this creature in."
She nodded. "I've never seen a warlock who could walk through dreams like him. It makes him something completely different. Seeped in black magic and bad intentions, enough to give you nightmares."
"Literally," Levi added, and she cracked a small smile. "I'll head in, thank you."
"Of course." She opened the door for him, and he walked in to find Grayson leaning against the wall, staring at the vampires who were all seated at a large table, handcuffed.
Grayson nodded to him and then looked back at the vampires. "Meghan, you already know Levi."
She wouldn't meet his gaze.
Grayson continued. "Levi, this is Chris, Dwain, Kim, and Jewel. They were all under the dream spell of the warlock that Liz and I hunted down. Children, this is Levi, the territory leader. Your fate is up to him. He'll interview you and decide if you are responsible for your actions or not."
Jewel licker her lips. "No court? No trial of our peers?"
"This is a trial, without the peers. I don't need a bunch of vampires to tell me if newlings are guilty or not for their killings." Levi met her gaze, and she laughed. "Do you think this is a joke? Your mind was influenced by magic. You were made to kill people."
She quieted for a moment and leaned back in her chair. Meghan sighed. "I'll go first."
"Thank you, Meghan. I'll take you and Levi to one of the smaller rooms to talk." Grayson went and unhooked her cuffs from the table and led her to the door. Levi looked over his shoulder at the others as he walked out. Jewel and Kim were snickering in each other's ears while the men sat there in silence.
Levi walked into the room behind Grayson and watched Meghan stare at the table. The young vampires weren't typically good at hiding their emotions, and their bodies still responded to physical signs of lying. That was going to be his clue on if these vampires were remorseful about the killings.
"Hello again Meghan."
"Hi," she muttered and still wouldn't meet his gaze. "How can a warlock take over the mind of a vampire?"
He raised a brow. "I should be asking the questions, but, to answer yours, there are certain dark magics that allow for such a thing."
"That's such a terrifying thought. I killed someone because of him. I tried to kill my boyfriend because of him." She shook her head. "God only knows what my maker thinks of it all."
Levi watched her. "Tell me what it felt like."
"What what felt like?" She finally looked at him. "I told you before. I don't remember anything which is why I didn't think I did it."
"The dream, what did the dream feel like?"
She shifted in the chair. "Like the man could give me anything and everything I wanted if only I asked."
"Did you ask for anything?"
She didn't answer.
"Meghan?"
"I wanted to be human again, but he said that everything comes with a price. And in order to be human again, I had to find a witch that dealt with life magic and would make a human sacrifice."
Levi watched as she fiddled with her fingers. "And how did you feel about that?"
"I wouldn't trade another life for mine." She met his gaze again, and her fidgeting stopped. "I was lucky enough to be changed and not have my life cut short. I just have to deal with the changes. A sacrifice wouldn't have that option."
He nodded. "Thank you, Meghan. It looks like he still used you to kill, but you gave me some valuable information." He walked to the door and knocked to let Grayson know they were done.
Grayson came in and led her out. "Who do you want next?"
"Jewel please." Levi leaned against the wall and waited for the exchange t
o happen.
A few minutes later Grayson returned with the light-brown-haired vampire. He watched as she gave him a smug look and settled in the chair while Grayson hooked her to the table.
"Hello, Jewel."
"Hello, territory leader." There was a bit of snot to her voice that he couldn't quite understand, an underlying smugness that she had.
"Tell me, what did your dream feel like??"
She rolled her eyes. "It wasn't a dream. It was a vision. He promised me great things, and soon, they'll come to me."
"What was the price of these wonderful things?"
She jerked like he'd hit her. "Sacrifices."
"Do you remember killing?"
She stiffened and didn't answer him. Her gaze went to the side, and she gripped her hands.
"Jewel?"
Finally she looked at him, and a wicked smile grew on her face. "I do, and you know what? It felt wonderful." She laughed. "To ruin people's lives, using abilities and powers I've been given as a vampire? So much better than just moping around and listening to my maker."
"You do realize that makes you a murderer."
"Oh, like you're so clean? You're old enough to have done some regrettable things, I'm sure." She snorted. "So we've killed a couple people."
"You and Kim?" he asked.
"And the others, but I don't think they enjoyed it. Not like Kim and I." She shook her head. "We're vampires. We shouldn't have to act human."
"We live in a society of humans, and we need to co-exist peacefully."
"If you say so." She rolled her eyes.
Levi shook his head and knocked on the door. He'd heard enough to know that she was going to be found guilty. Grayson came in without saying anything when he took her. Chances were he was listening to the conversation. Levi closed his eyes for a moment. The one thing he hated was young vampires who thought they were invincible and acted like monsters.
A few minutes later Grayson brought Kim in. Kim was trying to rip her hands away from him as he shoved her to the table. "She's a little riled up right now."
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