"Agent Collins," her voice was like nails on a chalkboard.
I ignored her and kept walking, Merick behind me. Stephanie began to walk along with us. "Agent Collins, can you tell me what is going on with this scene?"
I continued to push forward through the crowd and towards the caution tape that had been wrapped around a small area of the park. I ducked under the tape, and Merick simply stayed behind me the whole time. Stephanie turned to him. "Sir, are you part of this investigation? What do you think is going on?"
I glanced back at Merick and gave him a subtle shake of my head to tell him not to respond to her. He nodded, and we continued toward a tall oak tree where we saw Mason and a few officers.
Merick chuckled behind me. "That woman is persistent."
"You have no idea. She works for the tabloids." I shook my head. "She's also really good at digging up dirt on people, so it's best to not say anything."
"Stephanie?" Mason asked as we approached.
I nodded. "She's canvassing the crowd."
"She was here when I arrived, trying to talk to the officers and the person who found the heart."
I rolled my eyes. "I hope they were smart enough not to say anything because I don't want to see the headline from this."
"Me either." Mason motioned to the tree. "From what we can tell. It's a ritual of some sort. The rest is your department." He nodded to Merick. "Morning. Thanks for coming along."
Merick nodded, but his eyes were all for the heart on the tree. I hadn't looked at it yet. Honestly, I was dreading it. I finally turned to look at it and saw the knife first. A decorative black glossy handle about the perfect size for my hand was attached to the blade. I took a step closer and stopped as magic started to push against me.
The blood from the heart had dripped over the tree, but instead of following the lines in the bark, it had dried into the shape of runes. These weren't Cult runes though, no, they were local ones again.
"Abigail?" Merick asked.
"Judging by the runes, it's a curse, a slow releasing one, painful, and eventually leading to death. Local coven runes again." My eyes scanned over them. "We need to cleanse the area, then we'll be safe to touch the knife and maybe be able to get some prints off of it." I stood there wondering who in the local coven would be stupid enough to do something like this so close to home. Of course, maybe someone was trying to frame them.
"A penny for your thoughts?" Mason stepped up to my side.
"Just trying to figure out the motive behind this. Friends say that Zayden was kind and calm, very collected. I can't imagine someone like that had made a lot of enemies. The local coven turned him away for things in his background, mainly Cult of Ra related things, but only two of the Priests knew that he wanted in and about his rejection."
Mason chuckled. "Boy, I bet they were happy to hear from you."
"Yeah, well, they're going to hear from me again. I need to look into the particulars of this curse. That might give me a lead on who would do this." I pulled my eyes away from the heart and looked at Merick. "I'm going to need to talk to Seth."
Merick nodded. "I'll set up a meeting with him and see if he can come into town early."
"Thank you. I'm going to head into the office and do some research. I'll send a team out to cleanse the scene so your guys can pull the knife down and get some prints." I stepped away from Mason and away from the heart.
Merick walked away with me. "Abigail?"
"Yes?" I tried to keep the irritation out of my voice.
"The curse, you know it. Why?"
I shook my head. "I know what the runes are. I don't know the curse itself. That's why I need to research it. I've had the local coven language drilled into my head since I started showing signs of magic. My tutor made sure that I'd know it so that I could join the Coven and not need to be taught when I got older."
"Levi hired tutors for you?" Merick sounded amused for a second.
"For magic related things, yes. He couldn't teach me, so he found the best people to do it for him." I shrugged. "I'm going to call the crew to come cleanse the area. You go call Seth so that I can meet with him about this. I want every tiny detail I can get on Zayden and his brother that he can get me."
Merick nodded and stepped away from me. I pulled my phone out and dialed dispatch to order a crew. I turned around while giving them the information and saw Stephanie staring right at me. Chills marched up my skin at the look in her eyes. I didn't like her at all, and I didn't want her near me. I'd have to find a way to get back to the Hummer without her seeing me because I wasn't going to give an interview or any ideas as to what was going on.
I hung up with dispatch and made my way back over to Mason. "They'll be here in ten minutes. I'm going to walk around the rest of the scene before I head back to the office."
"I didn't spot anything, but that doesn't mean you won't. By the way, I have witnesses saying you were here last night?"
I nodded. "Met an old friend here, we talked, and I left to have some coffee. If you need to verify, I have witnesses."
He shook his head. "I just thought it was odd. Who did you meet?"
I pressed my lips together, debating on telling him. "Nick."
"So that bastard is alive."
I nodded. "That's all I can tell you right now because I'm not even sure what is going on."
"Do you think that he could have done this?"
I shook my head. "I think he's trying to lay low for a bit, but I won't completely discount him." I shoved my hands in my pockets. I started walking around the scene to find anything that the crimes scene guys hadn't marked yet. The further away from the tree I got, the more I could breathe and the less the magic pushed against me.
The crime team had marked footsteps along the dirt, but nothing stood out to me that was special. I let out a small growl of frustration, this crime scene was too clean. I was even willing to bet that the shoe prints wouldn't show up with anything. I crossed my arms and turned back to the tree.
Merick appeared beside me. "Anything?"
I shook my head. "Nothing. You?"
"You'll meet with him tonight. You have dinner reservations at La Soeur
I paused at the restaurant name. "My uncle is a patron of that place."
"We know. We thought a familiar place would be nice for you to talk."
Though part of me wondered if my uncle would be there spying on us. I shook off the paranoia and nodded. "Alright. I'll see him there tonight. Want me to drop you back off at the house?"
"No, I'll take myself there. I'm going to go help my father dig up the information that you want." He disappeared without another word. I shook my head and turned around to head back to the tree. When I got there, the cleansing team was there and already setting up. I gave Mason a quick goodbye and snuck back to the Hummer.
∞
I walked into the office building and noticed that the receptionist was missing. I paused at the idea of the front desk going unmanned. No one to check visitors in, no one to make sure unwanted people stayed out. I stood in the empty lobby for a moment, wondering why it felt so off. It was like the whole office was empty. Not a feeling of life to it. What the fuck?
Then it hit me. Hard. Magic rushed through the hall and slammed me against the glass doors of the building. The glass cracked under the impact, and I found myself grateful that it was shatter resistant. I felt it pulse again, and this time I was ready for it. I threw my circle up, and the magic bounced off of it.
My gaze darted around the room trying to find the threat, but I could see nothing. Now my magic could feel it, but that wasn't going to help me without being able to see my target.
"Come out, come out, where ever you are," I whispered. Magic swirled around me, touching my circle, testing it. I waited for it to make a move, but it didn't press forward at all, as if waiting for me to take it down. It was go
ing to be a test of wills unless I could draw the person out.
I took a deep breath and let my circle down, prepared for the magic to attack me, but instead, a woman appeared as if her magic was just wrapped around her, hiding her. Her hair was tied back, and with her black clothes she would have blended in well with the rest of the PIB agents in the building if any of them had still been there. This was my attacker. Her gaze met mine and she smirked, throwing up a hand, her magic manifested into a red ball and shot toward me.
I called on my own magic, and the purple took the form of a bright whip, I snapped it, and her ball disappeared. "Who are you?"
She didn't say anything, but rushed towards me, red light flowing around her. I shook my head. I didn't have time for this shit. I dropped my magic and pulled out my gun and aimed it at her.
She stopped in her tracks and looked at the gun and then to me. "Resorting to human weapons?"
"Look, I could trade magic against magic all day, or I could just shoot you in the knee cap, call the authorities, give a statement, and go about my business." I wrapped my finger around the trigger. "Which would you rather have?"
She tilted her head to one side and held up her hand. A circle appeared around me, red and black in its colors, and I knew that if she closed her hand, she could kill me in an instant. If I shot, my bullet would most likely bounce off the magic and kill me.
"For fuck's sake," I growled and holstered my gun. I put my hand against the circle and shoved my magic into it. A swirl of red and purple started to overtake her colors. Her eyes grew wide as my heart pounded. I took a deep breath and used my magic to shove the circle towards her and capture her in it.
"You really are a wonder, Abigail Collins. You did that as if it was nothing." She hissed. "But remember, you're not the only one who can take over circles." She put a hand against the circle.
I let out a dark laugh. "Try me, bitch." I let my elemental ability use the circle as a guide and flames wrapped around her. "Now, I'll ask you again, who are you?"
She pulled her hands away from the flames, but she refused to answer.
I grabbed my phone and hit the buttons for Liz's contact. I never took my eyes off the lady.
"What's up, Abby? Have something for me?"
"I have a witch trapped in the circle at the south PIB building. Where are you at? I could use some backup and a containment van." I watched the lady's face change into an unreadable mask.
Liz hesitated for a moment. "We all went out to lunch. The idea sounded good to everyone."
"And that didn't strike you as odd?"
"Powerful magic rarely does, Abigail." The tone in her voice reminded me to curb my attitude. "I'll be there in two minutes, a van will follow."
The line disconnected, and I stood there staring at the witch. No magic surrounded her, the only sign that she was upset was the reddening of her cheeks. "Look, I'm going to assume you're from the underground and you were sent to kill me. First of all, you suck at being an assassin. Second of all, I'd like to know who sent you."
"Fuck off," she snapped. "You can't prove anything."
I shrugged. "We have video footage all around the campus, and we have witnesses that will say that when you came on scene they all suddenly wanted to leave."
"You can't prove anything."
The doors behind me swished open, and I pulled the flames of the circle down as Liz walked up behind me. "The door's cracked."
"Yeah, I know, I hit it with my back." I motioned in front of me. "Her magic slammed me into it."
"And who is she?" Liz raised a brow.
"My best bet? An assassin from the underground. Seems I've made a name for myself down there."
The woman sneered. "You're simply an insect that needs to be squashed."
"Or I'm an insect." I shrugged and looked over my shoulder as the containment team came in. They surrounded the circle and on the count of three, I let it down so they could snag her.
The slapped silver cuffs on her wrist that would block her magic. I crossed my arms as they matched her past me.
She turned and spit at me. "Fuck you, Collins."
I shook my head and turned away only to come face to face with Liz, who was staring at me.
"The underground?"
I shrugged. "A friend warned me that it was a possibility that I was a target. I have no idea why. It was mentioned when I was on leave, but really I thought the underground just blew everything out of proportion."
"The underground is no joke. Why would they send an assassin after you?"
I sighed. "Well, you see, there was a case where a corrupt agent thought I had a connection to the king, and well, that rumor just kind of took off." I shrugged. "Hell, I had a contact ask me to help him to take down the king of vampires."
She stared at me for a moment and then started laughing. "If you had a connection to the king, you'd be in frigging hiding right now, not working on a case."
Oh, if only she knew. "Right." I smiled. "So my official statement? I came in from a scene to do research, no one was here, I was attacked. I retaliated and then trapped her in a circle and called you."
She nodded. "I'll let you know if I have any questions. I'll check the security cameras, and I'll take on interrogating her. Assaulting a PIB officer isn't taken lightly."
My second assault charge in a week, I think it was a record. "Okay, let me know what you find out." I shrugged. "I have some research to do on curses."
She chuckled as I walked away to the stairs. I hesitated at the door, the woman was too easy to defeat, what if she was just the distraction? I shook my head and opened the door to the stairwell, and as unusual, I took them two by two until I reached my floor and went to my office.
∞
An hour or two into research and looking at other similar cases, I'd narrowed down the heart to a curse that matched the runes. I needed to call Jack again to see if anyone in the coven was coming down sick or already was.
My desk hadn't been big enough for all the images, so I was sitting on the floor of my office with the papers of the runes and circles I'd printed off spread on the floor. I had a mug of coffee sitting next to me as I looked over all of it. I picked up my mug and studied the runes. I had been hoping for a clue on who the intended target was, but nothing was standing out to me.
A knock on the door drew me away from the problem in front of me
"Abby?" Liz's voice came through the door, a bit muted, but I knew it was her.
I pulled myself off the floor and answered the door. "What's up?"
She walked in, paused for a moment at the papers on the floor, and then sat in the extra chair in front of my desk. "I interviewed that witch."
"Oh? She have anything interesting to say?" I asked and sat back down in my circle of papers, starting to stack some of them up.
Liz chuckled and swiveled in the chair a little. "Not at first, but with the right persuasion she told me a little bit about why the underground is so interested in you."
I froze mid-motion. "Was my theory right?"
"Abigail, there's a vampire named Samuel offering a reward for you, dead or alive."
My stomach fell at that, and my breath caught. "Did she say why?"
"No, because it's not part of the contract. Many of the people in the underground apparently think you can single-handedly take out anything or anyone that is thrown at you. They believe Samuel is scared of you. You have ties to the vampire world, and with your power, that's apparently something to fear."
I snorted. "Again, they blow things out of proportion, but that's good information to have. I'll be making sure to watch my back a little bit more now." And I'd be informing the King's Guard of it as well. I was going to have to tell Levi about the attack from Samuel sooner or later. I was hoping I could push it off until I knew if the vampire who attacked me and Levi's maker were one and the same.
"Do you know anything about this guy?"
I nodded. "Yeah, he attacked me when I was on leave. He's a daywalker."
She stared at me. "Have you considered going into hiding? Daywalkers are some of the oldest vampires."
"I've considered it." I sipped my coffee. "But it's not going to happen. I rather like getting a paycheck."
She laughed. "I don't think I've ever had to worry about my team members being hunted."
I shook my head. "I'll deal with it eventually. I'll have to poke around the vampire world a little bit and see what I can come up with."
She nodded. "Anyways, she's in custody and will probably be seeing some sort of trial for assault and attempted murder."
"I appreciate it." I started collecting papers again. "I'm not thrilled that I was attacked at work, but it's the only place I don't have several safeguards in place."
She laughed. "Yeah, your home is protected by a lot." She stood. "I'll let you work, I just wanted to give you an update." She hesitated slightly.
"We know what the heart was for, I'm just trying to connect some dots," I offered. "That's all I can really tell you right now."
She nodded. "Thank you." She walked out of the office, and the door clicked shut behind her.
I set my papers on my desk and then went back to my coffee. I had put on a blank face about Samuel coming after me, making it a not-so-big deal, but it scared the shit out of me. I needed to deal with it soon, or I was going to have to fight off assassins left and right.
I grabbed my phone to switch my focus back to work.
I called Jack, and the first thing I heard when he answered the phone was a growl.
"Well good to speak to you again, Jack."
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