Something Wicked
Here Witchy Witchy Book 11
A.L. Kessler
Table of contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
To my secret readers group.
Thank you <3
Acknowledgements
Thank you to everyone who cheered me on while writing this book. Thanks to the readers group and my sprint group, both groups keep me going. Thanks to Jasmyn for editing, and Mia Bishop for the covers. To my husband with his undying support and unending coffee.
CHAPTER ONE
“This is Rodger, he’s a two-foot velociraptor.” I clicked the button that flipped the slide to a small dinosaur that had feathers starting to grow out of its front limbs. “A child accidentally brought him to life with just enough spilled blood to bring it out of fossilization. His father tried to do it on a bigger scale, but we were able to stop him before he completed the spell.” I looked over the crowd of PIB academy students. “We’re starting to see more and more cases of life magic in our Black Magic Task Force.”
I clicked the next slide and an image of three lifeless dolls in a chalk circle. “This is from a crime scene of Drake Moll. He was using life magic to bind souls to inanimate objects. He’d created the dolls from his victims.” I cringed at the thought of being thrown around by Moll. “Drake Moll met his demise at the end of the case.”
A hand rose.
“Yes?”
“Did you kill him?”
I nodded. “In self-defense. Moll had trapped me in his workshop.”
The mood in the room turned somber.
“The thing with this job is that you can’t always bring people in. Either they force your hand, or they get away. Your life is in danger when you go after people like Moll. If you don’t want to risk your life, request desk duties.”
None of them said anything. I clicked the slide. “The unique thing about Moll is that he was a vampire-warlock. He was insane and out of control.”
I clicked another slide, and I refused to look at the next picture. “Clarissa Summers, a victim of life magic. In this unique situation, a warlock under the name Carson Trimm was using a demon to kill the sacrifices to keep his aura clean. He escaped, after he killed his accomplice, later to show up in another city. Turns out he was a nasty-ass demon. None of these people could complete these spells properly because part of it is missing. But this does not stop people from trying. Life Magic is a black magic that will taint a soul, but some people are desperate enough to try it. When it goes wrong, it can go really wrong.”
The door of the room opened, and Liz Jefferson walked in. Her short hair stuck out. Her brown eyes looked tired today, and the coffee in her hand confirmed that. I wasn’t sure why she was here, because she wasn’t supposed to be at the lecture hall.
“Special Agent Collins, I’m sorry to interrupt, but I need you.”
I glanced at her and then at the class. I wasn’t sure what the protocol was for interrupting a lecture. Luckily for me, the agent in charge of the class walked in.
“We will reschedule Special Agent Collins for another day, she’s needed at a scene.”
I bowed my head and stepped out of the room with Liz. She handed me the coffee. “You’re going to need this. Let’s go.”
“Let’s go?”
She nodded. “We have a crime scene and I need you to confirm something for me.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Runes?”
“A body.”
My stomach fell. “I don’t like the sound of that.”
“Yeah, I didn’t either, but I’m pretty sure I know who it is, but I want you to confirm it.” Liz shook her head and led us through the academy building and out to her car. She’d parked next to my newest car. A nice little two-door sports car that I bought cheap. She looked at my car, then to hers. “I’m going to drive.”
“I’ve gone a few months without it blowing up.” Or getting crushed.
She shook her head. “I’m driving. Get in.” She pulled her keys out and unlocked her SUV. I climbed into the passenger side and shut the door.
“How bad is the scene?”
Liz started the car. “It’s bloody.”
“Are we talking when I found the heads in the werewolf club bloody? Or sacrifice bloody?”
I swore she rolled her eyes at me while she drove.
“If I had to put it on that scale, I’d say sacrifice bloody, but it’s not a sacrifice.”
“What is it then?”
“I wish I could tell you.” She sighed. “Now, stop asking questions and listen. I need your confirmation, but you can’t work the case.”
“Why?”
She hesitated. “You know how Levi has me tasked with your protection during the day?”
“Ugh, yes, because he doesn’t trust me to behave.” That wasn’t exactly the truth, but it still irritated me that he thought I needed a daytime guard.
“Yeah, well, this is one of those situations he’s worried about.”
That made my stomach sink. What the hell kind of scene were we going to. “What happens after I confirm the ID?”
“I take you home and talk to O’Donald about taking you off duty for a while.”
“You can’t do that to me, Liz. Seriously. I cannot just not work because something has you spooked.”
She sighed. “I’m not spooked Abigail, I’m scared.”
I let those words sink in. Liz was scared. Out of all the things we’d seen, through it all, she was scared.
I tried to push off any sarcasm out of my voice. “We’ll see what the situation is.”
“Okay, that’s the best I can ask for.”
#
Liz was quiet the entire way to the scene. She drove us out to the warehouse part of downtown and pulled up to an alleyway. I’d been here before. I’d taken down an out-of-control warlock and burned down a warehouse. It was a near death experience I didn’t want to relive any time soon. There was a line of caution tape, but there were no officers that I could see.
We got out and walked toward the scene. Not even Mason, the detective that typically called us in was there. Just Nick and Detective Balin. I didn’t particularly care for Balin, and he like me. That was only going to complicate this situation.
“Special Agent Collins.” Nick nodded to me. “Thanks for coming out on such short notice.”
“You know, we normally do identifications in the morgue.” I crossed my arms. “I’m going to be sorely disappointed if this is a simple dead body.”
“It’s not, Agent Collins, and I would keep that attitude in check,” Balin said.
I pressed my lips together to keep any smart-ass remarks in.
“You’ll have to forgive her Detective, we pulled her out of a lecture on life magic to come to this scene.” Liz put a hand on my shoulder and nudged me forward. “She simply wants to make sure we’re not wasting her time.”
Liz was always a little more diplomatic than me. Truth was though, sarcasm was how I dealt with things. Nick knew that, Liz knew that, Detective Tight-Ass did not. “My apologizes. I’m a bit testy early in the morning. I was enjoying how the lecture was going.” I motioned forward. “Lead the way.”
Nick walked in front of me. He’d cut his brown hair recently, k
eeping it short and kempt verses wild. He was taller than I was and walked with a well-deserved confidence. He was a master at deceiving people, and he’d escaped death. He turned the corner, and I knew we were in the dead-end where I had killed his brother.
On the wall at the end, a body was hanging from chains. The chains had bit into the skin enough to cut it, but the lack of blood drip patterns told me it’d been done post-mortem. The man hanging was one I was familiar with. Seth looked like someone had beaten the living hell out of him. Dressed in his traditional black cloak embroidered with the eye of Ra, blood coated his body. He was the high priest of the Cult of Ra. My roommate’s father. And the man who had signed the death warrant for my parents at the request of a vampire.
My stomach churned, and I looked at the ground where there was a poster board. “His blood is on Abigail Collins’ hands.”
Well shit. I looked at Nick and Liz. “It’s Seth Gamal, high priest of the local branch of the Cult of Ra. His son lives with me.” I sighed. “I’m going to assume that I’m a suspect in this.”
Liz pressed her lips together, and Nick turned to Detective Balin. Balin stepped up and pulled out his cuffs. “Abigail Collins, you’re under arrest on the suspicion of murder.”
“Because of the sign.” I assumed. I pulled out my gun and handed it to Liz.
She shook her head. “He’s not going to arrest you. He has no right. You’re a suspect, yes, but arresting you is out of the question. This is clearly someone trying to set you up.”
“What makes you think it isn’t her?” Detective Balin asked.
“She’s too smart to leave a trail.” Liz snorted.
I tried not to add anything, but I really couldn’t hide the smirk behind my coffee. She wasn’t wrong. I knew the ins and out of the PIB system. I wouldn’t have left a corpse for someone to find.
My phone rang, and I pulled it out to look and see who it was. Merick, I could only assume that he knew already. I glanced at Liz. “Anyone call next of kin yet?”
She shook her head.
Great, so if he knew, he found out some other way. “Okay. Look, I’ve ID’d him, I don’t understand why this was handed to PIB unless there was something paranormal about it. Or is PIB just involved because my name is on it?”
I saw a truck pull up near the crime tape. My eyes grew wide as Stephanie stepped out of it. Her hair was pulled up in a tight bun, and her glasses were perched on her nose. We all heard her heels click on the ground as she walked to the crime tape. Nick moved past me.
“I’ll handle her.”
Nick had dealt with her before, so hopefully he’d make sure she wasn’t coming to see what the murder was all about.
“It’s because of Seth’s status and your name that it was handed to PIB. If the Cult found out anyone other than PIB was handling it, they’d take matters into their own hands.”
I looked back at the body and tried not to cringe. I wasn’t sure if the cult wouldn’t take matters into their own hands anyway. “Do you want to question me here or at the station?”
“I want to take you in until we know you had an alibi,” Detective Balin chimed in, but Liz gave him a death stare.
“Once we know some things, I’ll be calling you into the station for questioning. Right now, you’ll be going home.” She put her hands on her hips, and I knew she was getting serious. “And I do mean home, Abigail. I’ll be speaking to O’Donald about you being on leave for a bit until we can get this sorted out.”
I nodded and headed back to the car, but realized that Stephanie was still talking to Nick. “We cannot let her get a hold of this. Levi will kill me.”
“Or her,” Liz muttered under her breath. “Hang back until Nick is done dealing with her.”
“You know being on leave is going to drive me nuts, right?”
She nodded and looked back at Detective Balin and then me. “Yeah, I know.”
There was something in her voice that I couldn’t place.
“You know, maybe you could bargain for desk work?”
“We’ll see how this goes.” She jerked her head. “Stephanie is leaving.”
Liz and I walked over to Nick, who crossed his arms. “I can promise you she’s going to be back. Abigail, I never thought I’d come back and find you mixed up in… that.” He waved his hand back toward the crime scene. “And you said you lived with this guy’s son?”
“Live, and yes, you know him. You said you couldn’t cross the circle because of him.”
Nick paled a little. “Merick is the son of the high priest.”
His voice said oh fuck and so did his face.
I shrugged.
“Boy, do you know how to pick them.” He shook his head. “Why is he living with you?”
“Not really any of your business.” I dismissed his question. “I’m sure I’ll be seeing you for questioning.”
Liz and I continued to the car, and I got in with a sigh. I leaned my head back and closed my eyes.
“What are you thinking, Abby?”
“That Samuel is playing with me. I know that Seth fed Ira information. That was clear the night I met with him, and he knew I’d been exchanging information with the Cult.” I locked my jaw as she started the car. “And I know that you’re thinking the same thing, because you said this was a security risk.” I shook my head. “I can’t just sit at my house and wait.”
She nodded. “You’re not going to. On paper you’ll be on leave, maybe desk work, but I’m going to need you to research this as one of Levi’s people. I need all the information you can get me on Samuel.”
“Levi won’t give me any information.”
“He will if he understands either we solve this, or the Cult does. And after what the Cult did to your parents, I think he’ll understand the importance of us handling it.”
Of course, Liz was practically Cult herself. And me? Well, I still had the invitation from Seth sitting on my desk at home. I paused at the thought. Could it be retaliation for me not joining the cult? Had Samuel set things up so that Seth would basically deliver me to him?
No. I pushed that thought away. Seth played the sides he wanted. I didn’t think Samuel controlled him.
“Do you want me to call Levi and give him the update?”
I glanced at my watch and then shook my head. “He probably just went to bed a few hours ago. I know he’s been working late into the day. I’m sure I’ll get a call and or Mario will pop by just as the sun goes down.”
“I will update Simon and make him aware of the situation and that you are to stay put in the house until further notice.”
“Yes, mom,” I muttered. “Merick is at the house, but I’m sure he’ll need some space to grieve.”
“I’m sure. There will also be a Cult gathering to mourn too.”
I hated anything that counted as a gathering when it came to covens. The Cult of Ra was no different. The last gathering I’d gone to was to get some information on a victim, and there had been way too many people for my liking there, and I still felt out of place among a group that made up of a bunch of mix-matched witches and warlocks.
My phone rang again, and I pulled it out of my pocket. “It’s Merick again.”
She nodded. “Go head and answer it.”
I swiped the icon to answer the phone. “Hey.”
“I need you back at the house now. No room for argument. Nothing Abigail. Now.”
That wasn’t like him. “I’m on my way back to the academy to get my car. Then I’ll be heading straight home.”
“Good.”
I tried not to think about what was waiting for me. I didn’t want to tell Merick that his father was the dead man hanging in the alleyway. I didn’t want him to think it was my fault.
When the thought came, I knew I believed it. Seth was dead because of me.
#
I walked into the house to see Merick sitting at the breakfast bar, his head held down.
“I’m home,” I muttered as I dropped my ba
g by the door and walked into the kitchen. I went straight to the coffeemaker. I didn’t know what to say. I knew he had to have known or he wouldn’t have called me freaking out.
After I made a pot of coffee and set his mug down in front of him, he finally looked up at me. His eyes sat in a sea of dark skin, rimmed with red from crying. His dark hair was sticking out all over the place even though I knew when I left this morning it was gelled back and styled.
“I’m sorry, Merick.” I had no other words that I could give him. No comfort I could offer. This man had been living in my house for over a year, we’d grown to be friends, and yet I had no way of easing the grief.
“Promise me it wasn’t you, Abigail.” The words were clipped, and I knew not to get offended, even though that was my knee-jerk reaction. When people died, we looked for someone or something to blame, no matter how illogical it was.
“It wasn’t me. Hell, you know I have people watching me twenty-four seven. I’ve been angry at your dad for years, even before I knew who he was, but I wouldn’t have killed him.” But there was one person I knew who originally wanted Seth dead.
My uncle. I wouldn’t bring that up to Merick right this second, because then the Cult might go after Oliver in a manhunt. I’d make sure to let Liz know when I got a moment.
“Liz said they hadn’t contacted next of kin yet. How did you find out?”
“Always in the work mindset, Abigail.” He snorted. “I received a package.” He hung his head again. “Pictures, Abigail. The note said his blood was on your hands.”
I placed a hand on his shoulder, half expecting him to shrug it off, but instead, his body shook in soft sobs as he broke down again.
I sat with him for a few minutes, letting him sit in his grief and in his silence. I was no stranger to grief. Sometimes just having someone else there helped. No talking. No expectations. Just another presence.
“Thank you, Abigail. My coven will help and cooperate in any way that PIB needs us to.”
His coven. “You’re taking your father’s place?”
He nodded. “Yes, my sister didn’t want the spot, so I need to step up. I’m not sure what that means right now for my place at your side.”
Something Wicked (Here Witchy Witchy Book 11) Page 1