Initiative

by A. L. Kessler

  Levi nodded. "So I see. I'm sure she knows that Jewel betrayed her by letting me know she enjoyed the killings."

  That made Kim pause. She seemed to take a moment to compose herself. "Jewel doesn't speak for me."

  "She seemed to think she did. So tell me, what did the warlock promise you?"

  She shook her head. "Nothing that he could deliver."

  "Did you agree to lett him use you to kill?"

  She pressed her lips together. "Yes. But only because I knew what it would lead to."

  "And what is that?"

  She hesitated for a moment. "My true death."

  That wasn't what he was expecting her to say. "You thought we'd send an executioner after you?"

  "My sister is an executioner. I'm pretty familiar with how it works." She shook her head. "So, just give the order so that I can die."

  "Who is your maker?"

  She shook her head. "I don't know and don't care. I went out for a party one night and woke up a vampire. My sister found someone to teach me to feed, but that was it."

  He watched as shame played across her face. "You should have come to me for help."

  "I had no idea that's what I needed to do." She hung her head. "All I know is I'm supposed to be dead, and instead I'm a vampire. It's not natural."

  "You won't be finding your death for this. You'll be finding a rehab with vampires who can truly mentor you."

  She shook her head. "That's not what I want."

  "I know, but what you need right now is help. If after you've had proper help and guidance you still feel that way, then we'll talk."

  She hesitated.

  "Needing help is nothing to be ashamed of, especially after such a life-changing event."

  She took a deep breath. "I'll agree to the help for now."

  "Thank you." Relief swept through Levi at her words. One less death to worry about. Unless he ever figured out who her maker was, then he'd kill the bastard for leaving her without guidance.

  He rapped on the door, and Grayson came in. "Ready?"

  "I'm assuming you've already talked to her and Jewel about how they know each other?"

  Grayson nodded. "Yes, and it's been documented if you need the report."

  "After I'm done talking to the others, yes." Levi motioned to Kim. "Bring me Chris next please."

  "I'll be back in a few minutes." Grayson unhooked Kim from the table and guided her out of the room.

  Levi let out a long sigh. This was turning into a long night.

  Chris and Dwain's interviews went similar to Meghan's. They remembered nothing but had been promised to be turned human again. All four had been returned to their holding cells, and Levi and Grayson sat in Grayson's office looking over the reports and the notes.

  "We put Meghan, Chris, and Dwain on probation and have someone checking in on them." Levi sighed. "Now Jewel, she's going to be a tough one. We can try rehabilitating her."

  Grayson shook his head. "I don't think that's going to work. She shows no remorse and has expressed joy in what she did."

  Levi nodded. "I'd just hate to cut her life short."

  "You don't like signing death warrants, I understand that. But if we let her loose and she decides to go on a killing spree without the warlock controlling her, what then?"

  Then they'd have more dead bodies on their hands and an out of control vampire. He hated making choices like this. He leaned back in the chair. "High-risk patrol for her, for now. The influences of the warlock might still be in her."

  "I think that's a mistake." Grayson shook his head.

  "Then you can make the call on her life. I refuse to put her to death right now."

  Grayson nodded. "I'll talk it over with Boss Man."

  It was a good compromise to get a non-invested third party involved. "Kim goes to rehab, with a mentor program. She's not acclimated to her new changes, and she is desparate to get out of it. She needs help. Assuming that it's not all a ploy to get out of consequences."

  "It's not, her story adds up, it's all in her file." Grayson motioned to one on the desk. "What she says is true about her sister, it's across the country, but she is a PIB agent."

  Levi nodded. "Then it's settled."

  "Yes, thank you for the help with this. The warlock has been taken care of." Grayson stacked the files. "Now, on to other business."

  Levi raised a brow. "What other business?"

  "Agent Grace wants to meet with you."

  Levi shook his head. "No. I already met with Tomes."

  "That's exactly what she wants to speak to you about."

  "No."

  There was a knock on the door, and Levi glared at Grayson as Agent Grace walked in. "Hello, Levi."

  "Agent Grace." Levi nodded to her. "What can I do for you?"

  "Well, you can tell me what you were doing seeing Tomes and why there seems to be no physical evidence of your visit. No security tapes, no sign in, no badge. Nothing." She met his gaze.

  "If there's no evidence then I didn't visit him." Levi kept his voice level. "Did a witness tell you I was there?"

  She nodded, but there was something in her voice. "Tomes."

  Grayson snorted. "Tomes isn't a credible witness."

  "What reason would I have to visit him?"

  "Because he wanted Abigail dead, and any father, adoptive or not, wouldn't take a threat lightly."

  Levi shrugged. "Abigail is a big girl. She doesn't need me to go after everything that threatens her. If I did, I probably wouldn't have time to be territory leader."

  "And a King's Guard?" she offered.

  He shook his head. "I work for the king on occasion, but I'm technically retired as a guard."

  She looked him up and down. "Why would Tomes tell me you visited?"

  "Because he's insane. He probably thinks that I had something to do with the case." Levi crossed his arms. "Now, if you'd excuse me, I have things that need to be taken care of, and dawn is coming."

  Grace didn't say anything as he left, neither did Grayson. Neither made a point to stop him as he walked out of the office to head out of the building. Tomes knowing and spreading the information about Levi being King could bring up issues that Levi wasn't ready to deal with. They could push it off. For now.

  Ira appeared in Tomes' containment cell. "Hello, Brian."

  The agent's head shot up, and hope flickered in his eyes. "You've come to get me out?"

  Ira looked around the tiny cell, a bed, a urinal, and a sink. Brian had a book laying on the floor by the bed. "No, not right now. I have someone looking into your case, but if I let you out now, then Levi will know exactly who is behind it."

  "They'll put me to death once I go to trial."

  Ira smirked. "That's really not my concern, is it? You are the one who got caught. The one spreading rumors around to get me involved in the case. Bringing me to Abigail's attention."

  Brian shook his head. "I said nothing about you to Abigail."

  "Oh? Then why did Levi come to visit you? On a whim?" Ira looked at him. He'd seen Levi come and go. Ira had been watching, waiting for a time where he could visit without being noticed.

  Brian stiffened. "He came to tell me to leave Abigail out of everything."

  "You've failed me. You've let them know too much, and you've compromised everything." Ira snarled. "I should kill you where you stand, but I'll let you face your peers and pay for your necromancy crimes."

  "Please give me another chance. Spare my life, and I'll find a way for you to get to Abigail."

  Ira paused. There might be somethings that the ex-agent would be useful for. He looked over the warlock. Maybe he would be strong enough to perform the necessary spells. The necromancy would come in handy as well, but he was more of a loose cannon than anything. "I'll see what I can do from the outside."

  The relief on Tomes' face was obvious as his shoulders slouch
ed a little. The warlock was scared of facing his death, his consequence, for his crimes. Ira bowed his head and then disappeared, taking himself back to his office.

  He looked down at an envelope there and ripped it open. He smiled as he realized his contact had sent him pictures of Abigail. He flipped through them. She was currently injured, but it didn't seem to be slowing her down too much. One of the last pictures was of a man dropping groceries off in front of the door. A beau perhaps? He'd have to ask around if anyone knew the man. If he was dropping things off for Abigail, chances were he was important to her. Or he was hired by Levi to watch her.

  He flipped through the pictures and then put them back in the envelope. She was still at the house she'd bought when she finished her first year as a PIB agent, according to the records. He was surprised she hadn't taken up residence at her parent's house, but maybe she didn't want to face the past there.

  He put the envelope in a drawer and pulled out a piece of paper to write Levi a letter. He smiled as he penned the words that he knew Levi would see as a threat, and Ira hoped that his brother slipped up and left Abigail exposed to the dangers now facing her.

  Chapter Thirteen

  A week later, Levi opened the door to find Catalina standing there with an envelope in her hand. Levi raised a brow. "I normally check my own mail, thank you."

  "This isn't your mail. This was addressed to the council, but I need the King's seal before we can put it through." She handed him the envelope. "The government was able to expedite your request for Mario to become your second. So all we need is the council members' signatures and your seal of approval."

  That was good news. The human government was actually moving quickly. That meant Mario could be back under Levi's watch and away from Hannah quickly. Levi led her to his office and pulled out his wax seal from the desk. He lit a candle and waited for the wax to gather. "Such an old way of doing things."

  Catalina laughed. "Old, but it works."

  He dripped the wax onto the envelope and pressed the seal into it, leaving the imprint of the king's crest. He waited for it to harden before handing it back to Catalina. "I want Mario back as soon as possible."

  "You know Hannah, she'll hang on to him with her bitchy claws deep in him until we force her to release." Catalina shook her head. "It's a wonder that Mario survived the bitch. Most of her other fledglings are dead."

  Levi nodded. "I know. Off you go with it, please."

  She disappeared from the room, and Levi sat in his chair. His phone rang, letting out a shrill wolf howl and he laughed. Simon's ringtone. He picked it up. "How is being alpha?"

  "I've been alpha for a week, and it's utter chaos. But I wanted to talk to you about something, and it requires meeting formally."

  That caught Levi's interest. "A formal meeting?"

  "Tonight, if you can. I need to show the pack that I know what's best for us and the divide."

  Which meant he was either going to ask for help in the war or an alliance. "I'm free this evening, you and your second are welcome to come, and we'll discuss what you need."

  "Thank you." There was a sigh of relief in Simon's voice. "How's Abby?"

  The question caught him a little off guard. "Fine as far as I know. She's returned to work, and she's as stubborn as ever."

  "Good. I was worried about her injuries healing."

  Levi snorted. "She wouldn't have had any-"

  "Had you not had her do the job for Greg," Simon snapped but then sighed. "But, had you not, then our pack would probably be under control of Mina, and Greg would still be dead."

  "I'm sorry for the loss of your alpha, but now you can set things straight and solve the pack issues."

  Simon was silent on the other end for a moment. "I'm working on it. I'll be up in a couple hours to meet with you."

  "I'll see you then." Levi disconnected the call and set his phone down.

  He needed to pen a letter to Hannah about Mario's new position. He pulled out a piece of paper and wished for a moment that they could do things like this through e-mail, it would make it much more simple and quick.

  A couple hours later, the letter was in the mail and Simon was pulling up the driveway. Levi watched the wolf and another man get out of the car. The man with him had bleached white hair and was built more like a football player than anything else. Levi raised a brow. "This must be your second in command."

  "Levi, this is Travis. Travis, this is Levi, leader of the vampire territory and hopefully our soon-to-be ally."

  Travis looked him up and down and snorted. "I don't think this is going to fix our problems, but I'll go with it for now."

  Levi led them into the mansion and to the office to speak. The two of them sat down in front of his desk, and he took his chair. "Now, what can you offer me in return for an alliance?"

  "I'd be willing to lend you wolves to help out, much like Greg did, but instead of exchanging favors, you'd be our ally to back us up in fights like we just faced."

  Levi leaned back. "I sent Greg Abigail."

  "As a favor for him helping you out. You basically had an alliance with him already," Travis spoke. "Abigail came to the battle to further that agreement, despite her having already completed the task she was originally given. We aren't looking for an alliance with her; we're looking for one with you."

  Wasn't he outspoken? Levi looked to Simon. "Do you agree?"

  "I agree that Abigail isn't part of the vampire territory and shouldn't be sent to do tasks for you if we form this alliance."

  Levi leaned back in his chair and considered the two of them. "And what about the rift in the pack?"

  "We're going to try and work with them to bring the pack together. If we can't, we'll request that we can split up into two and keep the peace," Simon offered. "We don't want any more bloodshed."

  Levi nodded. "You have my backing, with the understanding that you try your best to pull both parts of the pack back together. I don't want two wolf packs to worry about within the territory."

  Simon looked to Travis, and Travis nodded. Simon smiled. "We'll take it."

  "I'll draw up the agreement, we'll sign it, and file it." Levi met Simon's gaze. "Understand that if you do not put any effort in to healing the pack, that I cannot back you in a civil war with them."

  "Understood," Simon said.

  Levi turned to his computer and pulled up a program to draft the agreement. He, Travis, and Simon went over it before printing it out and signing. Levi smiled as he put his copy in the filing cabinet. "It'll be wonderful to have a true alliance with your pack."

  "It's our honor." Simon stood and offered his hand. "Thank you, Levi."

  Levi shook it. "Don't disappoint me, Simon." Levi turned to Travis. "You either."

  Travis crossed his arms. "My loyalty lies with my alpha. I won't do anything to put the alliance in danger."

  "Good." Levi walked out of the office, leading them to the front door. Levi caught Simon's arm as he walked past. "About Abigail."

  Simon shook his head. "I'm letting her be for now. As you said, I have a pack to heal, and I can't do that with splitting my time between alpha and dating. She's going to be fine, Levi. She doesn't need a man watching over her all the time."

  It wasn't that. Yes, he wanted someone with Abigail to protect her because the threats were getting worse, but he felt that Abigail was starting to slip further into her work and losing sight of anything else. "Thank you for what you've done for her." Levi let him go, and Simon bowed his head before going to join Travis in the truck. Levi stood there and watched them drive away.

  To my dear brother,

  I have watched Abigail grow and become a wonderful PIB agent, from afar, but I believe now is the time that I should make myself known to her. As you know, Tomes, my associate has already told her a little bit about my creatures, and it's only a matter of time before I become one o
f her cases. And when that happens, brother, there will be no mercy for her.

  She will either join the other PIB agents who have come after me in death, or she will join me and become my witch. Neither will be a pleasant experience for her.

  Ira

  Levi stared at the letter on his desk. He would not give in to the threats. If they could keep Ira busy by taking out his labs, he wouldn't have time to focus on Abigail. He just needed to stay one step ahead of his brother.

  The story continues in King Takes Rook

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  About the Author

  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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