I felt Mario tense. I glanced at him. There was something about that situation that he didn’t like.
“We’ll back you if that happens.” Grayson looked at me. “And we’ll make sure that Princess Abigail isn’t harmed in the process.”
I kept my smart-ass response to myself and smiled at him. He knew that I was more than capable of taking care of myself. Most of the time.
“That is all I have to discuss tonight. We’ll deal with Keira, and I will keep you all updated.” Levi stood, and I took it as my cue to also stand. Mario never left my side, putting a hand on my elbow to guide me. His fingers were cold against my elbow, and I tried not to flinch away.
Once outside the door, Levi used his abilities to take us back to the mansion.
I stepped away from Mario the moment we got back. “Do we have to travel that way?”
“Quickest way, Princess.” Mario smirked at me, and I wanted to smack the look off his face.
“I’m so glad you can’t call me that in public,” I snapped and started towards my room. “I’m going to change, and then I’m going home. And Mario, I expect you to respect my fucking privacy.”
I thought I heard one of them protest as I stomped off to get changed. Vampire politics was something I would have to study now because I didn’t know what to make of the advisory council. I only got two names from the group of people sitting there, and Levi hadn’t bothered to introduce me at all. He was either trying to protect me or just assumed I’d figure it out. The facade with Mario was going to be bothersome, but I agreed with Levi on keeping our statuses hidden. The less attention I attracted, the better for my job, but I wanted to be the one to handle Ira and drive the stake into his heart.
“Abigail?” Levi called through the door. “I wanted to speak to you before you left for the evening.”
I stared at the door and debated on what to tell him. To either go away or to come in. Had I been at my house, I would have told him to go away, but as it was, this was his house.
“Come in.” I sat on the bed as he walked in.
“I know that you’re not happy with me.”
“That’s putting it mildly.”
“And that you haven’t said much to me at all since I got back from Romania dealing with Ira’s mess. Abigail, I never wanted to hide this from you. We agreed that it was best for your protection to allow you to grow up as normal as possible.”
I nodded. “And when I became an adult, you decided to continue to hide, until my life was in danger and you were forced to bring me into it.”
“I would have continued to hide it so that you didn’t have to worry about it all. Now you’ll be watching your back more than usual. At least you’ll have Mario around at night until Ira is secured.”
I shook my head. “What else are you hiding from me?”
“What makes you think that there are still things that I’m hiding?” He leaned against the closed door. “I would deliver the world to you Abigail, and you know that. Everything I do, every choice I make, is to protect you.”
This wasn’t the type of conversation I was used to having with him. I was used to either arguing or figuring out a case. He was never really a sentimental vampire. “I don’t need protecting.”
Levi opened his mouth to say something when my phone went off.
I snatched it out of my pocket and slid the icon to answer it. “Agent Collins speaking.”
Levi waited patiently, watching my every move.
Jason’s voice came over the end of the phone. “I have a cause of death for you on both victims.”
Oh, thank the goddess, a distraction. “What do you have for me?”
“Puncture marks up the spin, all the same depth and same size, it wasn’t the break in the neck. It seems that was done just to fit them into the box.”
Interesting. “Any idea what created the puncture marks?”
“No, but I did find a strange residue on the skin of the face, once that gets back from the lab I’ll have some idea of what it was.”
I nodded. “Thanks, Jason.” What I wanted to ask was if I needed to rush down there for anything, but he disconnected the phone, and I assumed he had everything handled.
I turned back to Levi. “We have an idea of what killed our latest two victims.”
“I heard. Do you have any suspects yet?”
He’d know if I was lying. “I do, but we’ll see if it pans out. They only have a lead on one victim and not the other, as far as I know.” Of course, no one had given me an identification of the second victim yet. “I should probably get back home.”
“Mario will go with you.”
It was too early in the night to argue that it was close to dawn and for Mario to stay here. “I don’t like him. Forcing me to look like I’m dating him isn’t going to make me like him any more. Especially when I know you’re lying to me about him.”
“Mario is my guard, you are now princess, so it is his job to protect you, and he can’t do that from here.”
“Did you know Mario is tracking my parent’s murder?” I asked suddenly. “I discovered a board in his room when I came to get the Hummer last time.”
He was silent for a couple moments. “He’s helping me with your mother’s case.”
“He had a question mark for the king.” I raised a brow. “But he knows you’re the king.”
He nodded. “Just in case someone stumbled on the board. Like you.”
“More lies Levi. Does Mario know everything?”
“Abigail.” Levi shook his head. “I swore to your mother that I wouldn’t tell you everything. Not until I had to.”
I shrugged. “Then I can’t trust you. Or Mario.” I walked out of the room, not giving him a moment to respond.
He didn’t come after me, but Mario stopped me at the door. “Are you ready princess?”
I threw my hand up and trapped in him in a red circle. “Fuck you, asshole. Good luck getting out of that.” I snorted, I wasn’t going to let him out, and Levi would have to find another witch to remove the circle.
“Abigail.” Levi finally came after me. “Do not leave him trapped.”
“Good night. I’m going to go work on my case.” I waved and walked out of the house. I’d eventually have to give in and deal with Levi’s wishes, but I was going to enjoy my hissy fit and the reminder to Mario that I could kill him with my magic. Not that I would.
I walked into my house and tossed my bag on the bench beside the door. Taking a moment, I took my shoes off and then strolled into the living room. There was nothing I needed to do for the rest of the night, so I could go work on my stuff in the basement. I paused as I went to unlock the door. There was something was missing when I walked in.
My cat.
Well, sort of my cat. Merick, the man who masqueraded as my cat. “Osiris?” I called out. I didn’t sense anyone else in the house, nothing had triggered my magic, and nothing had set off the security system.
“I love that the first thing you do is call for me when you walk into the house.” He came out from the hallway. He wore jeans and a black t-shirt. His skin was the tan color you get from genetics instead of spending too long in the sun, and his eyes were a dark brown. “Long day?”
Relief flooded through me. “Yeah.” I couldn’t really elaborate on it. Merick didn’t know that Levi was the king, but he knew that I had gone on a case. He basically knew as much as Simon did about my quick trip. I hadn’t put it on my investigation board because I didn’t want to face the truth. However, if he was going to be around while Mario was here, he was bound to overhear something. “I might have left Mario in a circle at Levi’s.”
“A red one?”
“Well, I wasn’t trying to protect him.” I shot back. “I need coffee.”
“Planning on working downstairs then?” He walked over to the coffee pot and started making coffee.
I nodded. “Yep, I have a couple things I want to put down on my board, but we need to have a little chat first.”
“Are you finally planning on telling me what happened in Romania?”
I sat down at the breakfast counter and folded my hands. “Levi is the king of vampires.”
The glass pot fell to the floor, shattering on the ground. “No.” Merick looked at me with wide eyes. “That means that you’re the princess by default.”
“Yeah. That’s what I learned in Romania. Ira forced Levi’s hand in telling me. He was just going to keep hiding it.” I locked my jaw. “A bit shocked are you?”
He looked down and then back to me. “This changes everything.”
“How so? Are your higher-ups going to pull you out now?”
He shook his head. “No, it means that you need more protection than we thought.”
“I don’t need protection, okay? I’ve gotten out of every situation that has been thrown at me.”
“Like the one with Ira? Where I had to save you?”
He’d blown his cover as my cat when Ira had bitten me. “Don’t worry, Levi is sending Mario to watch after me. After he gets out of that circle.”
Merick went to get the broom to clean up the glass. “I’m more worried about Levi being the king than I am about him sending someone to protect you. That puts me in a very interesting position.”
“Are you going to let me into your little secret now?” I asked. “About why you’re assigned to me?”
He shook his head. “You know I can’t tell you that right now. When the time is right, I’ll let you know.”
I came around the counter to help him clean up. “I still need you hidden while Mario is here. I’m not ready to tell Levi you’re here yet.”
“Nor should he know. I will remain hidden. I suggest you’re very careful with Mario about what you expose him to. Might I suggest figuring out how to hide your investigation downstairs?”
I nodded. “I should probably figure that out.” My phone rang, and I sighed. “I’ll work on pulling it down until I convince Levi that Mario doesn’t have to be here every night.” I looked at my phone. “Oh, it’s Clarissa.” I chuckled and I swiped the phone to answer. “What’s up?”
“You trapped Mario in a circle.” The sound of disbelief was clear. “Levi came to get me so that I could let him out.”
Interesting that she was the one he turned to. Not Oliver who seemed to be the on-call warlock for the vampire king. “I didn’t want to deal with his shit.”
“Well, I suggest you get used to it because they are on their way there.”
I growled. “How soon?” I turned to Merick, and he was already back to cat form, sitting on the countertop. He chose the form of a Sphynx cat, all wrinkly skin with very fine fur over the pink and black skin.
Mario and Levi appeared in the kitchen, and I let out a sigh. “Never mind, they’re here. Thanks for the heads up.”
“I’ll see you for dinner tomorrow night.” She hung up, and I put my phone in my pocket. “Must be nice, to just be able to transport where ever and whatever around. Clarissa have any problems with my circle?”
Levi glared at me. “No, she was surprised that it wasn’t purple. Abigail, I need you to stop acting like a child.”
“I’m done with my childish fit,” I promised. “I’ll work on finding this vampire alongside my PIB case, but Mario has to promise to stay out of the way. He can’t enter the crime scenes; PIB frowns on that.”
Mario started toward the door that led to the basement.
“That’s off limits,” I snapped, and Levi gave me a look of warning. “I don’t want anyone down there.”
Levi seemed to debate for a moment. “Mario, you need to respect her wishes on that, please.”
“Of course, a sacred place, I assume.” He stepped away. “I will need a space to stay during the day.”
I took a deep breath. “The mansion.”
“I’d rather—“
“The mansion will do just fine,” Levi cut him off. “Abby has other means of protection during the day, and Ira is still confined inside when the sun is out.”
He made it sound like he wouldn’t be at some point. “Is there a chance that he’ll figure out how to walk in the sun?”
Neither one of them answered me. I crossed my arms. “If I’m going to work on these missions or whatever for you, then I need you to answer my questions.”
“Your mission doesn’t include Ira. It includes Keira, and that is it.” Levi shook his head. The room turned cold around me, and I swore something brushed up against my body, leaving a trail of goosebumps on my skin. It touched my magic, and my instincts told me to put up a circle.
Power. Levi’s power. It was very rare that he reminded me that he had some.
“Take your power display somewhere else.” I turned away from him. “Mario can stay during the night; I appreciate that you agree with me about him not staying here during the day. The case I’m currently on is dealing with shifters, so most of my running will be daylight so I can work on your child vampire stuff at night.”
The power slipped away, leaving me feeling like a sludge was left over my aura. I rubbed my arms trying to get the muddy feeling off of me. “Thank you, Abigail. I will check in when I can.”
I knew he disappeared because the room felt different. Even when he wasn’t displaying his powers, he always commanded attention, and it was a physical feeling. Mario, on the other hand, just seemed to make the air in the room feel heavier, but I was sure that was my imagination.
“So what do we do tonight?”
“Tonight, I go buy a new coffee pot, because mine broke. Then we sit down, and you give me any and all details on this child vampire.”
“I will tell you what I think is important.”
I spun around and shook my head. “No, you don’t get to deem what is important and what isn’t important. I need all the details because the smallest thing could throw off the investigation.”
“Is that how you work within PIB?” He sounded genuinely curious.
I nodded. “I try, sometimes all the information isn’t available, the system may not have something, it may be classified, or a witness or someone involved may lie or withhold information. But every little piece of information helps build a picture of the criminal.”
“Then I will tell you what I know. Levi is trusting you in this which means that the advisory council is trusting you as well. We need her taken down and out of the public.”
I grabbed my car keys. “We travel my way unless we absolutely have to.”
“Understood, for now.”
He seemed to be playing nice, which was really odd. Maybe me putting him in a circle a few times made him realize that I wasn’t going to deal with his shit. “As for the child vampire, her victims haven’t hit any of the media.”
“Not the mainstream ones, no, we’ve managed to keep them clear.” There was something in his voice that made me pause at the alarm keypad, waiting for him to continue his thoughts.
When he didn’t say anything, I motioned for him to continue. “If not the mainstream ones, which ones have gotten ahold of the information?”
“Tabloids.”
I disarmed my alarm and motioned for him to leave the house. I followed him and pressed the button to lock the door and set the alarm. “Which tabloids?” I had a feeling I knew.
“A woman named Stephanie —”
“Thomas.” I cut him off. “I’m very familiar with her. She’s a leach, but she’s good at her job, luckily no one believes most of her stories. She’s great at taking a single fact and twisting it into a crazy story for that paper.” I shook my head. “We’ve got time before it hits mainstream media.”
I unlocked the car with the key fob, and the lights flashed. I had a spell on the car to tell me if someone had tampered with it. I’d lost two cars to explosions and another one to poltergeists. I wasn’t taking any chances with this one.
“Get in, let’s go. If we’re going to talk all night about this, I need coffee and the nearest store is thirty minutes away.
”
He got in the passenger side. I got into and started the car, giving it a moment to warm up. “How many victims?”
“Recently? Five.” He buckled himself in, and I found myself wondering if it was just a habit or did he really think it would keep him safe
I pulled out of my driveway and headed toward the highway leading into the city. “And all together?”
“Since she started going insane? Probably close to three hundred. We didn’t keep records as well back then.” He shrugged. “We should have put her in quarantine or something when she started having problems controlling her blood-lust.”
I watched the road as the rain started. “And why didn’t you?”
“Levi was hoping that she could get it under control and left her in the hands of her maker.”
Interesting. I wouldn’t think that Levi would want something like that running around. “Good to know. Is her maker going to be a problem?”
“I don’t know. She might.”
Lovely. “That would have been nice to know while we were at the meeting.”
“The advisory council doesn’t have all the details on her. Levi and I do.” He shook his head. “It’s a delicate situation.”
“Which means that I can’t trust you to not withhold information from me,” I muttered.
He didn’t respond, and I wasn’t going to force conversation. He was going to have to prove I could trust him, and withholding information wasn’t going to help his case.
Chapter Four
I set up the new coffee pot and smiled. I wouldn’t be coffee-less tonight. Mario simply sat at the breakfast counter and watched me. I didn’t know if he was studying me or if he was waiting for me to trap him in a circle.
“Now, where can we find this vampire?” I gathered the stuff to make the coffee and found my mug still sitting on the counter from when Merick was making coffee.
Mario didn’t take his eyes off me, and I was finding it kind of creepy at this point. “She’s been on the outskirts of the state. I figured we’d go north and you could do your witchy stuff and figure out where she is.”
Of Life and Death Page 4