I glared at Mario. “We’re talking about a little girl, Mario. Come with us if you’re that worried.”
Mario looked over my head, and I turned expected to see Levi, but it was Oliver.
“Let her go Mario, go with her, stay vigilant. Remember that pain grounds her.”
What the hell kind of advice was that? I shook my head and threw my coat on.
“Hummer keys?” I asked Mario.
He shook his head. “Levi has them.”
Liz grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the door. “I’ll drive.”
I wondered for a moment why we weren’t going to pop in and out. Liz threw a look over her shoulder. “Get in the car Mario.”
Ah, I had a feeling she was hiding that ability again. Mario followed us with a look of exasperation on his face.
I got into the passenger seat of the car. “I didn’t get any coffee.”
“I’ll pick some up for you on the way,” Liz promised. “Tylenol is in the glove compartment.”
I leaned forward to grab the Tylenol.
“And food,” Mario added.
I glanced at him. “What?”
“You need to eat too.”
Liz chuckled. “He has a point. We’ll hit food up too on the way. Mason’s going to meet us there and scout the area out.”
I didn’t like that Liz agreed with Mario, but it didn’t matter at this point. I wasn’t driving.
‘Abigail…come to me, my dear…’ Samuel’s voice floated through my mind again.
I called on my magic just enough to push his power away.
“I can feel that, Abby,” Liz muttered. “Don’t be losing control on me.”
“I’m not. It’s perfectly under control.” I wrapped my hand around my necklace.
She didn’t push, but I didn’t miss Mario pulling out his phone and sending someone a text. “Where was Levi tonight?”
“With the rest of the council,” Mario stated. “I’m sending him a quick update on where we are going. I would expect a lecture when we get back.” There was a smirk on his face.
“I wouldn’t expect anything less.” I leaned back in the seat, keeping my magic active as I could still feel Samuel’s power clinging to me.
I pulled out my phone and texted Oliver and Merick. ‘The cleansing spell has to happen tonight.’
It wasn’t long before I got a response of ‘what’s wrong’ from Merick.
‘I can feel his power, I don’t like it.’ It was a little bit of an understatement, but I didn’t want Merick or Oliver to just suddenly pop into the car.
My phone was silent after that, and I focused on the trees passing by. Soon they changed to houses as we moved into the city.
After quick stops for coffee and food, we were on our way to Mason’s location. To my surprise, we were in my neighborhood, and I looked at Liz. “You’re kidding me.”
“Same address the tracking spell led us to.” She nodded.
“I wasn’t expecting to face her tonight.”
She shook her head. “No, I don’t think we’ll be facing her tonight. Let’s see what Mason has to say first. We’re going to meet him at your house since it’s close.”
And it wouldn’t be as suspicious as two cars sitting outside a random house out here. “That’s fine. I want to pick up some things anyways.”
Liz nodded and drove to my house.
I narrowed my eyes as we approached my property. I recognized the truck sitting nearby. “Nick.”
“Why is he parked all the way out here?” Mario asked.
“Because that’s where the protective circle starts.” Liz tightened her grip on the wheel. “And he can’t cross it.”
I nodded. “Not the first time he’s been out here and he couldn’t get past the magic.”
Liz didn’t bother slowing down. She just drove right past him and up my driveway. She parked, and we all walked into the house without even looking back. Mario closed the door behind me. “Are we not going to talk about the fact that Nick’s sitting out there and can’t get into the yard?”
I shook my head. “Nope. He can sit there. If he means me harm, his ass can stay as far away from me as I can keep him.”
“I should just kill him,” Mario mused. “Or send one of the assassins after him.”
I shook my head. “No, not until we know why he came out of hiding.”
“Ah, Princess, always thinking ahead. Find out why, find out his allies, then kill him.”
I rolled my eyes and went to the living room. “He’s not the biggest threat out there right now.”
‘Abigail…’
There he was again, now just at the edge of my mind instead of the forefront. My magic around the house seemed to drown him out. Or maybe it was Merick’s magic. Either way, he was further away, and that let me relax a little bit.
Mason was sitting on the porch. He looked at Liz and then to me. “Liz, how are you feeling?”
She shrugged. “Better than expected. I’m sure PIB has informed you that Abby will be taking over the case with Nick?”
“Yes, and I don’t like it. I’ve never liked Nick.”
I nodded. “I’m going to try to keep him to just paperwork.”
“I noticed he’s sitting out there instead of in this meeting.” Mason motioned. “He still can’t get onto your land, huh?”
I shrugged. “Maybe he should change his intentions if he wants be let in. Next meeting we’ll have to do at PIB or O’Donald will get upset about leaving Nick out.”
“Okay. This was close to the location, though.”
“Tell me about the little girl,” I said.
“She literally just disappeared. Poof from the room. The social worker and I were both there talking to her when it happened. She started crying and said, ‘she’s coming for me,’ and she disappeared two seconds later.”
I frowned. “Seriously, just poof?”
“Yes.”
Liz pressed her lips together. “People don’t typically just poof, especially little girls.”
“Unless there’s magic involved that pulls them back to someone.” I got up and went to my big book of answers. “It’s a black spell, but it’s possible.”
I went into the guest room, grabbed the book, and came back. The book was given to me by my mother. The leather was still clean and crisp. A beautiful pentagram was stamped into the leather, and I could feel the spell flow over it that was meant to let just selective people in. I called it my Big Book of Answers, but really it was my mother’s Book of Spells and our family history.
I flipped through the pages, looking over the spells. Over the last few years, I’d learned that she’d kept the darker spells towards the middle of the book.
I paused at one. “It’s a type of binding spell.”
Liz hissed. “Nasty things.”
I nodded. I’d almost been a victim of one before. I felt my powers draining the moment the spell had been started. Luckily for me, Clarissa had a heads up and pointed me in the right direction of how to counter it.
“It’s not only black magic, but blood magic, Adrianna’s favorite,” I muttered. I looked over the spell. “Here, to call someone back to you.”
I spun the book toward Liz and Mason.
Mason held his hands up. “I don’t understand any of this.”
“That is a really nasty one,” Liz muttered. “Holy shit. She could do this to any of her victims. All she needs is their blood.”
I nodded and looked at Liz. “Any of them.”
She paled a little bit. “That’s how my Gabby ended up back there.”
“She could call you and Jude back too. The only way to break this is to kill her.”
“You can’t kill her. No one can.”
I shook my head. “No being is truly immortal.”
“Without knowing the magic that she’s using, how do we do this.”
“Then we find out what kind of magic she’s using.” I leaned back and called Oliver.
“Yes,
Niece?”
“Good time to chat?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“What spell is Adrianna using?”
He chuckled. “Why do you think I know?”
“Because since my mother died, you’ve been obsessed with anything and everything that could bring her back. I have no doubt you learned something when you were with Adrianna.”
There was silence on the phone, and after a moment, he sighed. “You’re right in that assumption. She’s using powerful blood magic, but it has a focus point. I don’t know what that is, but find the focus point. Destroy it, and then you can kill her.”
A focus point. Something that acts like a beacon for the magic. “Thanks.” I hung up and looked at Liz. “She has a focus point, according to Oliver.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t trust him.”
“I know you don’t like him, but he’s the best we have right now. Can you think of something?”
She shook her head. “I can’t.”
‘Abigail…’
Samuel’s voice came again, and I shook my head, trying to ignore it. He was going to be a pain in my ass until I could get rid of him.
“Abby?” Liz asked.
“Sorry, just trying to clear my thoughts. So we know she has a spell on the little girl and a focus point. That’s not much to go off of.”
Liz’s phone rang. She answered it. “Hello?” Her eyes widened. “Jude? Jude!” She put it on speakerphone.
“Liz, Liz she’s here. Oh, goddess Liz, she’s got a child.”
A crashing noise came across the phone, and then the line went dead.
“Jude’s there now too.” Liz’s voice raised a pitch. “Abby?”
I nodded. “I’m going now.”
I went up the stairs to my bedroom and grabbed an extra gun. I wasn’t going in with magic alone. I called Merick. “Meet me at my house. Watch out for Nick.”
“What do you mean, watch out for Nick?”
“He’s at my entrance, but he can’t get in. I need you to have my back with Adrianna.”
“You’re going after her tonight?”
“I don’t really have much choice. She has a child and both of Liz’s sisters.”
He seemed to hesitate for a moment. “And what about Samuel?”
“We’re going to hope that he doesn’t try anything tonight. I’m going to go talk to Nick. If he’s on this case, I want him as back up.”
“Trust him?”
“It’s a huge case. If he fucks it up, it’s on him, and it makes PIB look bad.” And he might kill me later because my name would be attached to another huge case, taking the glory from him. The thought made me laugh.
“Are you drugged again?” Merick asked.
“No, sorry, I was just amused by a thought. I’ll see you in a few minutes.” I disconnected the call and then went back downstairs. “Liz, stay here with Mario.”
“I’m coming.” Mario stood.
“No, you’re not. I need you here with Liz. Merick is coming. He’s going to be my back up.”
Mario sat back down on the couch. “I’m trusting him.”
“Yeah, me too. If I’m not back by sunrise, send Nick.”
Both of them wrinkled their noses. “PIB case, he’ll want the glory. Just trust me.”
Liz sighed. “Okay.”
“I’m going to go talk to him now. Mason, I need you to stick with Nick.”
“Got it.”
I walked out the door and hiked up the pathway that led to Nick’s truck. When I approached, he rolled the window down. “I thought you were going to leave me out here all night.”
“Well, settle in. I’m going in, and I need you here in case you get an SOS, or I don’t return by sunrise.”
He raised his brow. “I’m not the type to just sit around, and you know that.”
“Listen up, Nick.” I stepped up to the window, so we were almost nose to nose. “I’m going in after a lady who is using black magic to bring her victims back to her. She’s damn near immortal, and in case my ass gets caught, I need someone to have my back. I don’t know why you can’t cross this circle, or what your end game is, but I know you won’t fuck up a PIB case because you need to be in PIB. You need the cover it provides for your little death stunt.”
He stared at me for a moment and then nodded. “I’ll wait here to save your ass.”
I smirked. “Thanks.”
Merick appeared next to me. “Let’s go.” I jerked my head toward the road. “It’s about four city blocks away and into the forest.”
He nodded, and we both started that way without a word.
Merick and I approached the house and stopped. “I can feel the magic,” he muttered, and so could I.
Something dark marched up my skin. It was almost thick enough that I swore it was physical and not magical. It reached out to that darker side of me, calling to me. Merick paused, and I assumed he felt it too.
“Dark. Careful, sometimes temptation can be stronger than your will to stay on the lighter side of things.”
I glanced at him and wondered if he’d been there before. What could call to someone enough to make them change their ways in a split second. When the magic crashed over me, I realized what could.
Power.
The promise that you could change your fate if you just gave in to it. I swallowed at the thought of being able to live forever. I didn’t want that. It was the reason I didn’t want to become a vampire.
I glanced at Merick and wondered what he would do. Did the idea of being immortal call to him?
“Don’t worry, Abigail. There’s nothing this witch could offer me that would make me betray you.”
That was comforting. I reached out with my magic and took a deep breath as it pressed against the circle. “She wanted us to get into the last house,” I muttered. “There wasn’t a circle up like this one. She’s strong enough she could have left a circle up if she wanted to.
“Why, is the question.”
There was a strange sensation crawling through my body, and I started to feel like I was using the transportation spell. But it wasn’t me, and by the look on Merick’s fading face, it wasn’t him either.
“Abigail!” His voice faded as the world did.
When the world reappeared, I was standing in front of a woman who was covered in blood. The blood was thick enough that I couldn’t tell what her hair color actually was, but it was tied back in a tight bun. Her skin was covered in dried brown blood, but her green eyes were very clear and terrifying.
When she saw me, she titled her head to the side. “You’re not her.”
I shook my head. “I’m not sure who you were trying to summon, but you picked the wrong fucking witch.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
I was pretty sure this was going to be the end of the line for me. I stood in front of Adrianna, who was just as confused as I was. I pulled my gun, but my arm stopped moving halfway up.
“Oh no, little witch.” She shook her head and walked up to me. “You used your blood to track me, didn’t you?” She put a hand on my cheek. “It was your blood, but it was her magic.”
Realization dawned on me. The tracking spell that Liz and I did. Oh shit. She was expecting Liz, not me. I tried to move my arm, but she touched it, and I dropped my gun as her magic crawled through me.
“You can’t defeat me. You are useless against me.” She waved her hand, and I went flying back into a cage, and the door slammed shut. “I’ll be back, little witch.” She walked out of the room.
With her gone, I could move again and take a look at my surroundings. The silver bars of the cage blocked some of my view, but I could see the table in the middle of the room with blood on it. I heard a whimper that drew my gaze to what was next to me. Another cage, like mine, tall enough to stand in, wide enough to sit in, but that was about it.
A pink-haired woman had her head down on her knees and her arms wrapped around them. “Gabby,” I hissed, and she looked up at me in surp
rise. Like she hadn’t been paying attention to the commotion that happened right in front of her.
“Agent Collins.” She looked up and had a gash over one cheek that was nicely stitched. “What are you doing here? Where’s Liz?” Her eyes searched my face, and I wasn’t sure if she was looking for hope or something else, but whatever it was, she didn’t find it.
Tears started gathering in her eyes. “She’s going to kill Jude.” She hiccupped.
“Why?”
“Because Liz was supposed to come, not you,” she screeched, and I cringed at the noise.
I was about to say something when Adrianna walked back in, dragging another woman. My breath caught because I knew instantly it was Jude. She looked identical to Liz. “Don’t hurt her.”
Adrianna looked up at me, and fresh blood coated her lips. “I’ve already hurt her, but now it’s her turn to die for my cause.”
I tried to call on my magic to get me out of the cage, but it didn’t answer. My heart pounded as she dragged the woman up on the table. Jude’s eyes met mine as Adrianna snapped cuffs around her wrists, and I felt Jude’s magic try to push out as she begged for help.
Adrianna pulled out a small knife. “Her blood is so powerful…” She dragged the knife over Jude’s arm, not enough to cut, not yet. But Jude started whimpering and shaking.
I tried to think. My magic was blocked by something. She could control me because I’d used just a little bit of blood in a spell to track her. Jude’s scream disrupted my thought.
My eyes shot back to the scene to see Adrianna chanting before licking the blood off of the knife. She closed her eyes, and her magic around the area flickered like she was losing her focus.
I felt some of my magic return and grinned. I knew there was one thing that she couldn’t block.
“You like powerful blood? Then you have the wrong witch on your table.”
Adrianna’s eyes opened, and she stared at me. “You think you’re stronger than her?”
“I’m certain I am.” I met her gaze.
Adrianna came over and crooked a finger at me. “Come here, little witch.”
I moved toward her, and she grabbed me by the shirt. “A vampire bite?” She ran her fingers over the bite, and I did my best not to flinch as she dug her nail across the scab.
A Little Blood Magic (Here Witchy Witchy Book 10) Page 17