Everyone has Their Demons

by A. L. Kessler

  "I think Mario did."

  I sneered at the name. "Okay, I don't have a phone right now. Melody stepped on mine."

  "Levi brought one; it's on your table."

  I looked toward the table. "Perfect. Anyone feed my cat?"

  "Yeah, I did. Mario said he went and couldn't find cat food, just an empty dish. He assumed that you hadn't gone grocery shopping."

  I snorted. "He didn't talk to my cat either did he?"

  "Said there was no reason too. Don't worry, I did." Because Simon knew the truth.

  Which meant that Merick would be stopping by at some point, which was good. I knew where I had seen those runes before now. On a dead body at one of Ira's labs.

  I reached for my phone and cringed. "Will you please hand me my phone?"

  He did as I asked and his hand lingered for a moment before he took mine and squeezed. We didn't exchange words, but we didn't need to. He was trying to offer me comfort.

  "Thank you." I scrolled through my phone, luckily for me, a quick entering of a password and my contacts were downloaded from the cloud.

  I called Liz.

  "Abby, you're just trouble aren't you?" Her voice was half joking. "Next time you go after a PIB agent, call for back up."

  I snorted. "Well, I was hoping I could catch more flies with honey. I wasn't expecting to be bombarded by a demon and a warlock. Nor was I expecting to be shot."

  "Twice. You were shot twice, and he had all intentions of killing you." The joking fell from her voice for a few moments.

  "You know, someone trying to kill me is pretty typical."

  I didn't miss Simon nodding and rolling his eyes. It made me smile.

  "Boss Man wants me to put you on medical leave."

  I groaned. "Please don't."

  "You're in the hospital Abby, what are you going to do from there? Summon the demon to you?"

  She was joking, of course, but it really wasn't a bad idea. The thought of the demon in the hospital made me shake my head. Scratch that, it was a horrible idea. "I can do research and find the paper trail and evidence I need to put in the report."

  She hesitated. "Okay, then I'm going to put you down as restricted to office work."

  I blew out a raspberry. "Just until I get out of the hospital."

  "We'll see what doctor's orders are."

  I was currently not liking having a team lead. "I'm going to be fine."

  "You were shot in the stomach. Oh, my God, you are so stubborn. I'll be in later to take your statement." She disconnected, and I put the phone down on the bed.

  Simon couldn't hide his smirk. "She's good for you."

  "Shut up." I glared at him but then gave him a small smile. "Even though Levi probably threatened for you to be here, thank you for coming."

  "You know I'd do anything for you, Travis even offered to help."

  I rubbed my eyes with my good hand. "That witch he hired? He's going to want to find another one."

  "Why?"

  "Because she's probably going to skip town, and trust me, she's a whole bag of bad juju you don't want to deal with and not the type of magic you want around your club."

  He nodded. "Will you redo the wards then?"

  "Yeah, whenever I get out of here." I lifted up the blanket to take a peek at my stomach; it was of course covered by a pink floral hospital gown.

  The door opened, and the doctor walked in. "Hello Ms. Collins, I'm Dr. Newport, I'm in charge of your care. Have any of the nurses been in since you've been awake?"

  "No, when can I go home?"

  "Not for a while. We need to make sure you won't contract an infection from the damage done by the bullet. You were lucky that it missed major organs and arteries." He flipped through the chart at the foot of my bed. "Honestly Ms. Collins, you're lucky to be alive. I have a feeling a lot of that has to do with the fact that you're a witch."

  That was very possible. "Thank you, doctor, but I'd like to go home as soon as I can."

  Simon stood. "I'm sorry, she's stubborn. I'll make sure she understands that it's not really an option right now."

  Dr. Newport gave him a skeptical look and then looked down at the chart. "You're looking at a minimum of three days."

  Which meant that I wasn't going to be able to make it to the meeting with Ira. Panic started to fill me, did that count as breaking the truce? "Thank you, doctor; I don't mean to sound ungrateful."

  "You're a Paranormal Investigation Agent, Ms. Collins; I'm sure you're just itching to get back to the job."

  I nodded. "Thank you."

  "I'll send the nurse in to take your vitals and take care of any other needs you have." He signed something on the chart and then walked out.

  I looked at Simon. "If you know what's good for you, you'll-"

  "Go get you coffee." He cut me off and gave me a grin. "I'll be back."

  "I need to make a few phone calls anyways."

  "Don't go anywhere." He winked at me and left the room.

  Like I could go somewhere, I was in pain, there was an IV attached to my good arm, my bad arm was in a sling, keeping it close to my body, and even breathing seemed to hurt my stomach.

  I needed Clarissa's pain potion. I sighed and grabbed my phone. I dialed Merick and waited for him to answer.

  "You're awake finally."

  "Yeah, demon attack, gunshot wounds, I'll catch you up later. I know where I first saw the runes. It was on a body at one of Ira's old labs."

  He chuckled. "Always thinking of work Abby, thank you for the connection. Do you need anything?"

  "I have some of Clarissa's pain potion left, will you bring that and my big book of everything? Also, did you talk to my uncle?"

  "Yes, he's agreed to do the spell, but then you ended up in the hospital."

  I let out a sigh. "It wasn't the plan."

  "I know it wasn't. I'll be there in a little bit. Who does Levi have watching you?"

  "Simon, for now. I have a feeling that Mario will be back tomorrow."

  "And you're going to stand for that?" Merick couldn't keep the laugh out of his voice.

  "I'm not really standing for anything right now Merick; there's a hole in my stomach."

  And he started laughing harder. "Okay, I'll be there in a bit." He disconnected the call, and I settled back into the bed, focusing on my breathing to try and cut the pain down.

  ∞

  The nurse came and went by the time that Simon came back with my coffee. He set it on the little tray that slid over my bed.

  "What did the nurse say?"

  "He gave me some painkillers, checked everything, and then went about his job. He said that I can try to get up and walk a little later if I want, but I can't push it too much because I can tear my stitches." I took the coffee with my good arm. "Everything is so fucked up right now."

  Simon sighed. "Had Nick been here, you would have had back up. Hell, I could have gone with you if you wanted a neutral party."

  "And you would be dead because my magic failed. It was three against one. It was a stupid choice not to go in with back up, and it almost cost me my life. But that's not what I'm talking about."

  He raised a brow. "What's happened since we had dinner?"

  "Mario led me into a trap with his maker and Ira. Ira's ability is apparently to cause flashbacks to his feedings, I found out some things that I need to confirm, my uncle traded my safety for his, Clarissa's killer still isn't caught, but I think the two cases are connected. I…" I frowned. "Simon, I have nowhere to turn because I can't trust Levi and Mario completely, Clarissa's gone, and I'm waiting for Liz to disappear like Nick did."

  "You have Merick and me." He slowly pried the coffee out of my hands and set it on the tray. He took my hand and kissed it.

  I felt myself break, I tried to keep the sobs down, but I bowed my head and let the tears fall. Simon rolled the tray away and climbed on the
bed and slowly pulled me to him. I put my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes.

  "You've been through a lot, Abby." He kissed my head. He let me lean my head on him while he stroked my hair. I ran out of tears at some point, but I didn't move. I wanted the comfort and moving would have hurt.

  He pulled back finally. "Drink your coffee." He handed it back to me before moving the tray.

  I sipped the cooling liquid and sighed. "Thank you for letting me cry on you."

  "Of course, what kind of guard wolf would I be if I didn't." He laughed and went back to his seat. "Besides, you obviously needed it."

  I did. "What am I going to do for three days in the hospital?"

  "You're not going to be staying in the hospital." Oliver's voice came from the doorway. "I'm going to heal most of the damage, and you'll be going home. Still on strict bedrest though, Abby."

  Merick walked in behind him, his face was blank, and I couldn't tell if he agreed or not with my uncle.

  "Why not heal it all the way?"

  "Because Ira has already received word that you are injured."

  "This is going to be like the time you turned me over to Tomes isn't it?"

  Simon's eyes grew wide. "He's going to hand you to Ira?"

  "No, I'm going willingly because there's a truce in place, but if Ira is expecting me to be injured and I show up perfectly fine, he'll start to question Oliver's abilities, because I'm sure he knows that Oliver is visiting me. Ira's not stupid."

  "Exactly, and healing is not a skill listed on my resume. It's a rare ability, and Levi hasn't taken in anyone new who might be able to do it." He shook his head. "I don't like this at all, niece."

  "You're not the one sitting in the hospital with two bullet holes in her, imagine this from my perspective." I tapped my head with my good hand. "Nor are you the one with a nasty vampire bite side-effect. Asshole."

  His smirk quirked up, and he shook his head. "He'd know the moment I fixed that, but now, a spell, anyone can do that for you." His eyes slid to Simon. "Well, except the wolf."

  "Or Mario."

  Both Merick and Oliver growled at the name.

  "Heal her first, let them keep her one more night, and then she goes home. We can't do the spell in the hospital so that will have to wait." Merick crossed his arms. "I can't believe you're going to go back to meet with Ira."

  "She goes to the mansion. Levi will not allow her to be alone when she's still injured." My uncle looked right at me. "Do not fight him on that, please Abigail."

  "I. Have. A. Job." I ground out. "Do you people not understand that?"

  "And I believe that Agent Jefferson put you on desk work."

  How was it that my uncle knew everything? "Fine. Where are you going to do the spell?"

  "When you go home during the day to get more things. Simon will be with you, Levi will believe you are safe." Oliver looked at Simon, and he let out a sigh. "You know I'll do anything for her."

  "Good wolf."

  "Be nice," I growled. "And when the connection is gone?"

  "Ira won't be able to use it against you in the meeting. Which is what he was planning on doing."

  I closed my eyes and leaned my head back. "I hate vampire rules. How is that not against the truce?"

  "Ira was not to touch you, speak to you about certain things, and in exchange for that, you would not attack him or use your magic."

  I wrinkled my nose. "That leaves a lot of things open for him. Not for me."

  "You can take your weapons," Merick pointed out. "Defend yourself without magic."

  Seeing as my magic failed earlier and I now had two holes in me, it wasn't a bad alternative. "He's going to kill me. I know it."

  "No he won't Abby, he wants you alive for now. He's forcing Levi's hands in a lot of things. It's part of his game; you have time to think through your moves." Oliver motioned to me. "Play it right, and you'll be the one who lives."

  I sighed. "Okay, come on, let's get on with the healing." I glanced at Simon. He smiled and excused himself as his phone rang. I wanted to call him back, but I knew he had other things to worry about.

  ∞

  Oliver worked his magic and left. Merick handed me a bag that had my big book of everything and Clarissa's potion in it. "Your uncle playing for both sides is dangerous."

  "I can't say anything." I shrugged my good shoulder; it'd been decided to leave some of the damage on the shoulder that was shot. I took the top off the bottle with Clarissa's potion in it and downed the liquid. Part of me mourned that I'd just finished off the last potion she made for me.

  "I'm living with a member of the Cult of Ra, going after a demon that shreds people, and facing down Ira. Oh not to mention, I'm going to cast a truth spell on my uncle. And you're going to help me." I let out a wicked grin and started flipping through my book.

  "Your uncle is too smart for a regular truth spell."

  Exactly. "But you know what he drinks?"

  "Tea. You're going to poison your uncle?"

  Simon walked in with wide eyes at Merick's words and turned right back out of the room.

  "It's okay Simon; I'm not going to poison him. I'm going to make a potion. Well, Merick is going to make it for me."

  "Why?" they both asked.

  "Because I suck at making potions, and Clarissa's dead." I kept my voice even. "I'm going to get information, and I'm going to get it from my Uncle."

  Merick closed his eyes. "Abigail, there are other ways."

  "Like a trace spell?"

  "I'd rather do a trace spell with you instead of you trying to use a potion on your uncle."

  "Then that's what we'll do." But I continued flipping through the book.

  "Now what are you looking for?" He sounded exasperated.

  "Something to help me with the demon."

  Simon shook his head. "Desk work, remember Abby?"

  "This is research. If I can get Mason something to help, then I will."

  My phone rang, Mason's number scrolled across the screen. I grabbed it. "Special Agent Collins speaking."

  "Abigail, that last suspect, Lars?"

  "Yeah?" I had a feeling I knew what he was going to say.

  "He's dead, and we were able to pull DNA from the crime scene, it looks like a bit of a fight went down, blood splatters on the floor."

  "What's the address?"

  Both the men gave me wide eyes, but I held up a finger for them to wait. Mason rambled off the address to Grace's house.

  "I can tell you what that DNA is going to come back as. Mine."

  "What the hell happened here, Abby?"

  "The person that lives there, she's involved with the case. I went to pay her a visit, and I was attacked." I remembered the strangled cry that I'd heard. I was probably there while Lars had lost his life. I knew I paled a little bit because both Simon and Merick stepped closer to the bed.

  "There's a chance I might have been there when he was killed."

  "Where are you now?"

  "The hospital. I'm on desk work for now, until I heal a little more."

  "What the hell, Abby?" I imagined he was shaking his head.

  I ignored his question. "The suspect you're looking for is Melody Grace, alias Starla Porter. She's a shifter, but she's working with a warlock. I'll be doing research to connect the rest of the dots, and I'll pass that on to you. However, killing with a demon is considered killing with magic, and I can put an executioner request in for both of them to finish the case."

  "Here's the kicker. They killed all the suspects, but the human case just got another murder."

  I frowned. "Are they still convinced that it's not a copycat?"

  "Yeah, they found similar DNA."

  "And it's not matching anything in the system?"

  "Nope. So I don't know what to tell you, because if this is a revenge killing, then she's missing the mark."

&nbs
p; Wasn't that the truth? I rubbed my eyes. A new theory was starting to form in my head. "Okay, I'll put that theory on the back burner. We need to find out who the warlock working with her is. He might be connected somehow." Like by murder. I sighed.

  "Don't worry; we'll figure it out." He disconnected the call, and I leaned back in my bed.

  "I hate this."

  Merick chuckled. "You can never just sit and be, can you?"

  "Do you remember that hex?" Simon was looking at me, but I knew the question was for Merick. Merick gave a nod, and Simon continued, "She worked through that too."

  "You're a crazy witch Abigail. That curse would have taken out most of our kind."

  I shrugged. "It's apparently really hard to kill me." As if reminding me of my own mortality, the pain in my stomach pulsed. Oliver had healed enough that I wouldn't have to worry about infection or stitches ripping open, but I would still have a disadvantage in a fight.

  I closed my eyes as exhaustion started to creep up on me. "If anyone needs me, I'll be napping."

  Both of them let out a snort, and for a moment I wondered what they would talk about while I was asleep or if they'd just stare at each other.

  I felt one of them tuck the blanket around me as I drifted into sleep.

  ∞

  How is she feeling?" Levi's voice pulled me out of my deep sleep.

  "She's healing well already. Dr. Newport says she'll be able to go home tomorrow." Simon's voice was even. "She's slept most of the day.

  "You'll bring her back to the mansion when she leaves the hospital. Mario and I will be waiting for her there."

  I opened my eyes. "Does Mario have to be there?" I asked. "I don't really want him around me."

  "That is not your call to make Abigail." Levi sat on the bed, and I didn't meet his gaze.

  "The vampire betrayed her Levi, courting her isn't going to happen." Simon shook his head. "Stop trying to force her."

  "Stay out of this Simon," Levi warned in a low voice.

  I held my hand up to stop any argument. "It's okay Simon; this goes way beyond that. After what happened, Levi is well aware that any chances for a real relationship between Mario and I are out of the question."

  "Then what is going on?" Simon looked over at me with begging eyes while Levi continued to ignore him.