I started going through the desk, grabbing a map and shoving it into my backpack. Levi snorted. “Going to track Simon?”
“I’m hoping to once I know I can perform the spell safely. Don’t worry, I won’t do anything stupid.”
“Good, but I also don’t expect you to just sit this out. Like I said, as soon as you’re strong enough you can work it from my side.”
I nodded. “Give me twenty-four hours, and I’ll be ready.”
He gave me a doubtful look. “Abigail.”
“I’ll have to do research anyway, so that’s where I’ll start. I’m not going to just run into the heat of it all.”
“Okay, twenty-four hours of rest, twenty-four hours of research.”
“Deal.”
#
Levi had taken me to the safe house and promised that he would bring the Hummer when my forty-eight hours out of the field was over. I walked into the bedroom, dropping my bags and looking around. The room was small, just a bed and a dresser with a bathroom off to the right.
There was nothing that distinguished where I was. There was a small window with steel shutters that I could close if needed and would keep the daylight out. I frowned. The place felt foreign and weird.
Levi walked into the room. “Oliver will be here soon. Do you need anything?”
“No, I have my laptop. I’m assuming there’s internet here?”
He nodded. “Secured connection. It’ll scramble your information and throw off your location. You’re essentially in the middle of nowhere.”
I wrinkled my nose. “I don’t like it. It doesn’t feel like home.”
“It’s not supposed to. It’s supposed to keep you safe and hidden.” Levi put a hand on my shoulder. “It’s just for forty-eight hours to give you time.”
I sighed. “I know. We’re just buying time.” I sat down on the bed. “What if Simon’s dead?”
Levi sat with me. “Then we grieve and bring down the person who killed him.”
I didn’t respond. My heart ached like I’d done something terrible and the weight was too much. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I needed to focus on the things I could control. “We move forward.”
“Yes, we move forward. I don’t think he’s dead, though. The pack would feel the loss.”
“They are running tonight. It’s the full moon. Do you think someone would change back to let us know?”
“Travis would. Because it would make him alpha.”
I hadn’t thought about that. “That’s a good point.” There was hope, after all. Alive we could heal damage, dead… there wasn’t a lot we could do about.
Levi patted my knee almost awkwardly. “I’ll check in with you tomorrow night. I want to fill the council in on what is going on.”
“Oh, I’m sure they’ll love your update.” I snorted. “Enjoy your meeting with them. I’m going to go meditate.”
He disappeared a moment later. I gave it a couple minutes before I got off the bed and pulled out my map. Like hell I was just going to sit there. I walked out of the room and went down to the kitchen. I found it fully stocked, including coffee. This was going to be fine for now. Forty-eight hours of not being on the field I could handle as long as I stayed busy, and currently, no one was here to tell me to sit my ass down.
I cleared the living room of the one chair and the couch, pushing them to the wall. I laid the map down, summoned the circle, and then realized that I had nothing of Simon’s with me.
My heart fell. How could I have forgotten something so simple? I let out a frustrated growl and pulled the circle down.
A second later Oliver just appeared in the living room. He looked at me, looked at the map, and then sat on the floor with me.
“Glad to see you’re feeling better.” He ran a hand through his tousled hair.
“How’s Melisandra?”
He smiled a tiny, true smile. “She’s okay. We fought the spell off, and the person pulled the magic back when they realized that you weren’t there. She’s home sleeping.”
“Good. I hope she rests up.”
Oliver motioned to the map. “Simon?”
“I forgot an item of his, so I can’t do the spell.” I shrugged. “I can’t risk using blood in the magic right now because of how weak I am.”
“I’ll go back to Melisandra’s and get your things, Simon’s as well. Then you can perform the spell.”
“I got Levi to agree to let me work the case in forty-eight hours. Twenty-four of that rest, twenty-four of it research.”
“But you’ve already started magic. That’s not resting.”
I shrugged. “It’s just a little spell.”
Oliver’s phone rang, and he held a finger up as he answered it. “Oliver speaking.” He was silent for a moment. “I’ll make sure to let her know. We’ll look at the security footage. Make sure he knows nothing about her whereabouts for now.” He disconnected the call and looked at me. “They found DNA that was a close match to Nick’s at the crime scene.”
“Wait, what?” I blinked at him. “Nick’s DNA?”
“No, there’s only a partial match to his DNA, but enough that it’s a direct relative.”
“Nick’s brother is dead,” I muttered. “His father is dead.” I paused. “His mother?”
“Male DNA,” Oliver clarified.
I tried to think back to any information I knew on Nick. “His dad was a research partner of my parents, but Levi told me he was dead.”
Oliver nodded. “As far as I know, Christof is dead, but if he’s like Nick, it’s possible he could have faked it.”
Maybe that was where Nick got the idea from. “Fuck. I want that DNA.”
“You can’t track him, and you can’t have the evidence.”
My phone rang and Liz’s ring tone blared out. I pulled it out of my pocket. “What’s up?”
“I have to bring you in. I need your location.”
That was not what I wanted to hear. “You seriously just got off the phone with Oliver. What has changed in two minutes?”
“The other DNA sample came back. It’s yours.”
I took a couple deep breaths. “It could have been when I came to see the crime scene.”
“It’s not from Seth’s.”
Well, fuck. “I’ll have Oliver bring me down to the station. I have no idea where I actually am.”
“Thank you for not fighting it.”
“Not my first time being placed on the suspect list.” I put the phone back in my pocket, hung my head, and took another deep breath.
“That didn’t sound like good news.” Oliver put his hand on my shoulder. “Why are we going to the station?”
“Because they also found my DNA at the crime scene.”
Oliver seemed to pale a little before the world around us disappeared.
#
We reappeared in an alleyway near the station. Oliver wanted to keep his little talent hidden from most people. I walked around the corner and approached the station. Liz was already standing at the door with Balin.
“He wants you in a room under a truth spell.” Liz held her hands up like she was giving up.
I met Balin’s beady gaze. “I have no problem with that. I have nothing to hide here. Honestly, I’m tired, and I want to go back home and go to bed. Could this not have waited until morning?” I threw in a little yawn just for fun.
“No, we’re following every lead the moment we get it to save time. We don’t want anyone else to die.” His voice was cold.
“Can I at least have coffee in the room?”
Balin stormed into the building and I looked at Liz. “Is that a no?”
“I’ll get you some coffee, but good luck with Balin. He doesn’t want me in the room.”
They had dedicated rooms now with truth spells activated. I’m sure Balin just didn’t want Liz using her magic to counteract the spell. I walked into the building. Balin was standing there waiting impatiently for me as I took my time to walk over to him and let
him lead me to the interrogation room. He opened the door and motioned for me to walk in.
The magic snapped over me the moment I entered. I shook the feeling off and sat in the chair at the table. Balin walked in after me and shut the door. He glanced up at the camera and then to me. “Suspect: Abigail Collins, in case 9358, brought in due to a hair found on the victim matching Abigail’s DNA.”
I kept my mouth shut. There were so many places that someone could have picked up my hair, but I wasn’t going to fight anything right now.
Balin sat in front of me and flipped open a folder. He shoved it toward me. “Do you know this woman?”
I stared at the picture on top of the file. Her dark hair was laid against a table, her pale face stood out with closed eyes. “Yes, that’s Michele Cache. She was involved in a case a few years back. As far as I knew she was still in PIB custody.”
Balin didn’t seem to like my answer, but we were sitting in a room with an active truth spell, so lying really wasn’t an option. “When was the last time you saw Ms. Cache?”
“When I arrested her for using binding spells. I don’t remember the actual date. I’m sure it’s in the records somewhere.” I folded my hands on the table and looked at Balin.
He closed the file and moved it underneath the second file. “Do you know this man?”
I looked down at the picture of Seth. He looked a lot like Merick in some ways, just with more wrinkles under his eyes. “His name is Seth Gamal. He’s the father of my roommate.”
“What else do you know about him?”
“He’s the high priest… well was a high-priest of the Cult of Ra.” I only had to give one more fact to please the spell, because he didn’t tell me to tell him everything about Seth. Balin wasn’t magical, but he was trying to use magic to his advantage.
There was a knock on the door, and Balin looked irritated. He opened the door to find Liz there with a mug of coffee.
“The coffee Abigail requested.” She handed him the mug.
He looked at it skeptically and then to me. “Did you ask her to put anything in there?”
“No, Liz knows how I like my coffee.” I shrugged. “Look, I’m in a truth spell. I didn’t kill Michele, and I didn’t kill Seth. I wish I knew who did and who was trying to frame me.” I held my hands out. “Coffee, please?”
“Where were you when Michele was killed?” He handed me the coffee.
“A safe house kind of place. I was working on some physical and metaphysical damage.” I sipped the coffee and smiled. “Perfect.”
“Is there something magical about the coffee?”
“No.” I shook my head. “Don’t worry, Liz knows not to interfere with an investigation.”
“Good. Agent Collins, do you have any idea how your hair would have ended up on the crime scene?”
I shook my head. “No. I mean, my hair is uncontrollable. I probably shed at least a piece everywhere I go.”
He thought about that for a moment. “What do you know about Nicolas Averin?”
“Not a whole lot. He faked his death, popped back up about four months ago, supposedly he dated Agent Melody Grace’s sister and broke her heart, but I was never able to confirm that. His mom was friends with my mom, supposedly, I don’t remember. His dad was a research partner of my mother and Tobias.” Oh fuck, his name slipped out of my mouth before I could even think to say father.
Balin didn’t seem to notice. “What else?”
“He’s a warlock.” I shrugged. “He’s damn good at what he does. That’s about it.”
Balin took a few notes and then growled in frustration. “We’re done here.” I stood and picked up the coffee to take with me.
I went to leave, but then I looked at Balin. “What’s your issue with me?”
He opened his mouth and then closed it. After a moment he shook his head but stayed silent. I walked out of the room and let the magic flow off me. I looked at Liz and raised my coffee. “Thanks. Promise I didn’t cause trouble.”
She laughed. “That’s good. Now go back and stay out of trouble.”
I nodded and headed down the hall. I paused when I felt someone watching me. I looked over my shoulder, but Liz was gone and no one else was in the hallway. I assumed she stepped into one of the offices with Balin.
I waited for another moment, but no one appeared. Nothing happened. I shook my head and continued down the hall and into the main lobby.
Few people moved around the lobby this late at night. The sudden realization that it was late made me feel exhausted. I pulled my phone out and texted Oliver that I was done and ready to go back.
I waited outside the entrance with my arms crossed. What I wanted to do was drive to my house and just go to bed.
Pain marched up my body as if a thousand pins were suddenly shoved into my skin. I shook it off and threw up a magic circle. The purple spread up around me and pushed off the painful sensation.
I looked around to see where the magic had come from, but I couldn’t see anyone near me. The streets were dead.
My heart pounded in my chest. I took a few deep breaths and waited for another moment before I let the circle down. I waited for the sensation to hit me again, but it didn’t.
Oliver came walking down the sidewalk, glancing at his phone as if he didn’t have a care in the world. I shook my head. Had I imagined the feeling of being attacked?
“Let’s get you back. I don’t like you being out in the open.”
I nodded. “Yeah, let’s go.”
He put his hand on my shoulder and took me back to the safe house.
#
“You look concerned.” Oliver moved his hand from my shoulder.
“I thought I felt magic is all. I threw up a circle, and it went away.” I glanced at him. “Then you walked up like nothing was going on.”
“So you’re questioning if it even happened, because I couldn’t feel it?” Oliver sat down in the chair at the kitchen table. “That’s worrisome. It means that chances are that someone is targeting you personally. Spells made with your hair or something that belongs to you.”
I paused for a moment. “The night your spell sent us to Raina’s house… we never confirmed if anyone or anything was in the house, right?”
Oliver nodded. “We checked it out afterward and assumed that the spell had gone haywire.”
“Nothing was out of place?”
“Not that we noticed.” Oliver paused. “You think someone was in there.”
“And I think they took my hair to use for spells and plant at the crime scene.” I pressed my lips together and tried to think. “That would be how they got past the magic, they meant us no harm at the time, they just planned on gathering items.”
“So when they got into the house, my magic triggered because it was for unknown people, as a fail-safe. They had to have gotten past yours and Merick’s magic and the alarm system.” Oliver shook his head. “It’s time we start looking into who this might be more seriously. Levi is still convinced that it’s Samuel.”
I shook my head. “I’m not sure if it’s truly Samuel behind it or if the group who killed my parents are just coming back to finish the job, clean up loose ends.”
“Over twenty years later?”
“Because someone was looking into it. Liz, me, Mario, we were all doing our own little investigations into the murders. That might have tipped someone off.”
Oliver leaned back into his chair. “Did you all come to the same conclusion?”
“I was the only one who got further than the vague answer of ‘the Cult killed them.’” I ran my hands over my head. “I got two people killed. Maybe more.”
“I’m not sure Simon’s disappearance is related to this. Think about it. If it was, someone would have gotten pictures of his death and then they would have strung the body up somewhere.”
I cringed. “So we have another issue.”
Oliver nodded. “But right now, it’s late and you need to sleep.”
“
You sound like you’re not going to bed.”
“I’m not, not right now. I have a couple things I want to do and look into.” He shrugged.
He was an adult, so I wasn’t going to ask him about what he needed to look into. The exhaustion was wearing on me, and I dragged my ass to the bedroom.
I got ready for bed and laid down. It felt weird to lie down while Simon was lost somewhere. While there were two murders that needed to be solved. My eyes drifted shut, and I rolled on to my side. The exhaustion reminded me I was still recovering from my magic being ripped out of me. Sleep and rest were okay.
Tomorrow, I could get a start on research and make a plan on how to find Simon and help Liz take down a killer.
CHAPTER EIGHT
I woke to my phone ringing. I groped around until I found it on the pillow next to me. I sat up and answered it while I rubbed my eyes. “Abby speaking.”
“Hey, it’s time we bring you in.” Liz’s voice sounded exhausted.
I snorted. “Levi doesn’t even want me starting research until tomorrow.” I threw my legs off the side of the bed and Liz laughed.
“When did you ever listen to him?”
She had a point. “What can I do?”
“I’m sending you a ton of information on Michele and Seth’s crime scenes. I need you to see if Nick or I are missing anything.” She was suddenly out of breath, like she was running. “I know Levi has you at a safe house, but I need you back in town.”
“Are you okay? I’d love to get back in town, but I think that’s on hold until I’m fully recovered.”
“I’m fine, I’m just running to the car. Okay, Levi won’t give me your location, but has Oliver as a contact if I need to get something to you. Is he awake?”
I had no idea. “I don’t know. I just woke up, so I haven’t even left my room. I’ll get dressed and go see if he’s around.”
“Cool, let him know to meet me at your house in an hour.”
“Will do.” The call disconnected, and I sat on my bed staring at the phone like I was expecting someone else to call.
Simon.
Something Wicked (Here Witchy Witchy Book 11) Page 9