“What is Drake’s surname?”
I wasn’t sure why he cared, but maybe he just wanted to be helpful. There was no emotion in his voice which made me question why he wanted to know. “Moll.”
Mario chuckled and I glanced at him. “What is so funny?”
“I am his maker.”
Chapter Six
His words made my heart skip a beat. “You made him?” That meant Mario could have all the information I needed.
“I did, by order of the vampire who made me. We needed Drake’s particular skills, what we didn’t foresee was that his brain would warp, and he would turn into something different than he was, but, it worked to our advantage.”
Interesting. “What set of skills did you need? Why did that lead to you changing him?”
“People were hunting Drake, he was burnt badly and wasn’t going to live until I came alone. I turned him into a vampire because we needed him to perform some life magic for us.”
I wanted to know who ‘us’ was, but I wasn’t going to interrupt the story to ask. I was worried he’d change his mind in telling me what was going on.
“The problem was, when he was human he had impeccable morals. He only performed life magic on those who he deemed worthy, pure of soul and heart. But after a few years, his morals disappeared with his humanity, and he was able to help us out for what we needed, and then he just disappeared.” Mario sighed. “Those weren’t good times, Abigail.”
Life Magic wasn’t something I thought vampires would be interested in. Of course, maybe it was like lycans, and vampires were looking for a cure, and they thought they could find the cure in life mage.
“What was it you wanted from him?”
He shook his head. “I’m forbidden to talk about it.” He turned to the window.
“Who were you working with?”
“My maker. That’s all the information I’m able to give you. It is enough to give you and your uncle a starting point. I’m sure you have plenty of information on Drake’s human life.”
He’d been arrested a few times from the articles I had found, but if he was on a moral high ground, I was surprised that there were so many. Of course, maybe his moral high ground didn’t match up with the law and what society believed was morally right.
I let the conversation die because I had nothing else to say. There wasn’t anything I could say. As someone who was capable of Life Magic, Drake was powerful. He could very well be a match for my uncle and me, which would be why he as so willing to be under a truth spell.
I drove to my uncle’s house in silence. Mario offered no other information, and I wasn’t going to start asking questions. The more I thought about it, the more I debated on sending him back home. I was safe at my uncle’s house, and I wouldn’t need the extra protection.
I opened my mouth to say something and then shook my head. I knew that as the maker, Mario could be useful, could be our advantage. Since this was probably off the PIB record, I wouldn’t even have to mention that Mario was there. Not unless I wanted to.
If it worked to my advantage.
I snorted at my thought. I guess I wasn’t too different from my uncle after all. I knew how to work the situation so I could get some use out of it.
After an hour, I finally pulled up to the massive house. Mario stepped out of the car and looked up. “Big house for just one man.”
I’d had the thought before, but what I knew was that Oliver had a daughter somewhere, I always imagined he’d bought the house in hopes that one day he’d have a family to fill it. I never asked him about it, because I knew he’d say it was unnecessary information, or he’d just lie to me. It was just his way. Anything that could give a personal look at who he was didn’t exist. It wasn’t important to him. There were very few things that I knew meant a lot to him.
The smell of rain was a welcome change from the unusual heat we’d been having, and the storm clouds rolled in off the mountains. It was almost a perfect backdrop for the meeting tonight.
I walked into the house and heard voices the moment the door closed behind us. They were hushed, but I could still hear them in the empty hall.
“I’m telling you, Mr. Macintosh, it’s not possible. It has been far too long.”
The words bounced off the walls, and I was wondering just what they were talking about.
“Mr. Moll, I assure you that I know the risks and I’m willing to take them.” Oliver’s words dropped, and I couldn’t hear anything at all. “Ah, it seems our other guests have arrived.”
I locked my jaw; I wanted to know who and what they were they were talking about. Mario continued forward like nothing had happened. Either he didn’t care, or he wanted just to get this done and over with. My curiosity got the best of me, I wanted to know, and it was going to drive me nuts until I found out.
“Now remember, Mr. Moll, between you and I.”
I walked into the room. “I thought the meeting was at midnight.”
Oliver and Mr. Moll looked at me. Drake Moll looked like any other burn victim would have, deep rivets of scar tissue covered his face, and a section of it had melted half over one eye. I had heard rumors that when you turned into a vampire, it healed your flaws, but maybe some scars just ran too deep.
I didn’t bat an eye at him, his skin was unusual, but I’d seen burn victims, I’d seen scars from creatures, bodies torn up, many things, and this wasn’t going to cause me to shrink back. His lips lifted up in a smile, showing pointed fangs. “You must be Agent Collins.”
I nodded. “I am, Oliver tells me you’re willing to talk. Is your business with him concluded?” I took a step forward but paused as I felt magic buzz near my feet, reaching out just enough to send shivers through my body and giving me a warning about what might have happened if I continued forward. Pain, lots of pain.
“I hear that you have a victim who was seeking me out. I know what that does to me, Agent, I’m not stupid.” He motioned to the couch. “Please come join us.”
Mario finally joined us, walking in behind me. He put a wrist on my waist from behind and kissed my head. “I’m sorry I’m late. I needed to make a phone call.”
Drake hissed and jumped up, rushing Mario. I expected Drake to hit the barrier of the circle, but he didn’t, telling me that the circle wasn’t meant to keep him in, but to keep people out. I looked at Oliver silently demanding an explanation. The circle disappeared, and I no longer felt the magic licking at my toes.
Oliver stepped up to my side and motioned to the vampires in the room. “Wish to explain that?”
“Mario made him,” I said easily as Drake pinned Mario to the wall yelling at him in some language. “Care to translate?”
Oliver nodded. “The gist of it is that Mario is a bastard and Drake wants to kill him.”
“Ah, yes, sound just like someone cussing someone else out.” I made a fake enthused and interested noise. Mario shoved Drake off, sending the other vampire back about twenty feet.
Mario snarled. “Control yourself, Moll.”
A wave of power shot through the room, almost knocking me to the floor. Oliver tensed as if debating on running. I kept myself where I was, trying to identify the power. Another wave of it came, and I realized that it was Mario, trying to take down the other vampire.
“Mr. Moll,” I raised my voice in pitch to make sure I caught their attention.
Both vampires looked at me, and I had a moment of fear rush through me. “Okay vampires, listen up. If you two can’t get a along, Mario is going to have to wait outside.”
“What is he even doing here?” Drake snarled. “I agreed to meet you and Oliver; I didn’t expect you to bring my maker along.”
I prepared myself for what was going to be the hardest lie I had to tell in a long time and to a creature who could tell I was lying by any change in my heartbeat and breathing.
Mario walked up to me and kissed my cheek again. “Isn’t it obvious, Drake? I’m simply along for a ride with my girlfriend.”
<
br /> The words sounded foreign to me, but I smiled. “There you go. Now, let’s get down to business, shall we?”
Drake gave a questioning look to Mario but then went back to the couch and sat down. “I know what question you want answered Agent Collins, and the answer is no. I did not kill Lark.”
That was the short of it. “Can you tell me where you were the night she was killed?”
“Yes, I was in a meeting with another vampire. One I’m sure you’ve heard of.”
The hair on my arms stood up, and I knew what name he was going to say even before it came out of his mouth.
“Ira wanted me to do something for him. I turned it down because I still have some of my morals.” He leaned his head to the side and looked at Mario by rolling his eyes. “Unlike what my maker thinks.”
The strange words and mannerisms didn’t escape me. He waved his hand in front of his face as if trying to shoe something away. “But you have other questions, don’t you? You don’t want to deal with Ira because he’s been trying to kill you. You’re running away from that problem.”
I wanted to deny it, but the truth was, I didn’t want to talk to anyone about Ira because the stupid vampire had put I giant kink in my life. “I don’t know how to get a hold of Ira, so I can’t verify your story, but what I do want to know about is your daughter.”
He launched himself towards me, and I jumped away, pulling my gun. He landed a few feet in front of me, snarling and showing his teeth. “My daughter, my beautiful Loraine. You aren’t privy to her information. I will kill you before you even look into her.”
Holy shit did I hit a button. “I saw her picture in an article. Does she have your particular skill set?”
“I will drain all of your blood from your body. You will not touch her.”
He lunged for me, and Mario sacked him and pinned him against the wall. “You will not touch Abigail, you will not threaten her, and if you do not talk to her in a reasonable manner, I will tear your throat out.”
It wasn’t exactly how I would have handled the situation, but I guess it was better than shooting him and getting blood all over Oliver’s carpet. I glanced at my uncle who had been silent. He was sitting in his chair, one leg crossed over the other, and he cradled a glass of wine in one hand. The bastard was enjoying himself like this was a show for his entertainment.
“You think you can protect her from Loraine and me?” He laughed and disappeared from Mario’s grip. Poof, gone, leaving Mario, Oliver, and me.
Everyone in the room stood quietly for a moment. Finally, Oliver cleared his throat. “Well, that wasn’t exactly how I expected that to go.”
“I thought you said that he was going to meet us at midnight. That’s still a few hours away.” I holstered my gun and glared at Oliver. “A text or a warning would have been nice.”
“Yes, but I thought that it would be a nice surprise to see how you handled it.” He motioned to the gun at my waist. “I see your first instinct is to still go for your gun, not your magic.”
I nodded. “Because I’m a PIB agent, and let’s face it, me using my magic right now is only getting me into trouble, because people are sending fucking videos out.”
“What?” both Mario and Oliver asked at the same time.
I took a deep breath. “Boss Man and the coven both have videos of my elemental abilities, and the coven got one about the color of my circles changing and the video of me trapping Tomes in a circle.”
“What does the magic matter?” Mario asked. “I know very little about witches.”
Then why the hell was he in charge of me? Oliver sat his glass down on the coffee table. “What moment did they have on video?”
“Someone got footage of me killing the blood-starved vampires.”
Oliver pressed his lips together. “That was on a mission for the king; PIB has you on record there.”
“But the Coven only sees it as killing with magic. They think I’m out of control. I have Clarissa’s phone; I was hoping you were going to be able to track the message.” I handed the phone to Oliver. “That trip has brought nothing but crap to my life.”
Oliver put the phone in his pocket. “I wanted to leave you out of the whole king mess.”
“Because that would have been easier,” Mario agreed. “Now your being in on it gives Levi a bigger weakness than anyone intended.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, you made the clear before. Go home. I don’t need you here.”
“I’m not supposed to leave your side.”
I gritted my teeth. Time to switch focus. “What do you know about Drake’s daughter?”
“I know that she does carry his skill with Life Magic. He taught her everything he knew,” Oliver was the one who answered.
“Why do you know that?” I rubbed my eyes. “Oliver, I swear that if I find out you have anything to do with the murders, I will drag your ass into PIB.”
He chuckled. “Because like you, when I couldn’t find Drake, I looked into his life and found that he had a daughter. I started asking around, and then he contacted me. As you see, he doesn’t like people looking for his daughter.”
Of course not. I don’t think I’d want people looking for my daughter either, especially after being turned into a vampire because someone needed my magic. I leaned back in the chair. “Drake’s still at the top of my list, but now his daughter is right there with him.”
Oliver picked his wine up again and swirled the red liquid. “This is very dangerous territory, Abigail. Are you sure you want to continue with the case?”
“Is there something else you’re not telling me? Because as far as I see it, there’s no more danger than my last few cases.” I folded my hands and met his gaze. “I didn’t expect you to get more protective after this whole princess thing.”
He snorted. “You’re right. You haven’t become weaker. If anything, you’ve gotten stronger. Full speed ahead, niece.”
“Weaker or not, she’s still an open target for Levi,” Mario snapped. “You promised to help keep her safe.”
Oliver took a slow sip of his wine and stared at Mario. “I couldn’t give a rat’s ass about Levi. He’s done nothing but tear my family apart. Abigail is correct; she is a big witch, she doesn’t need babysitters and pretend suitors to protect her.”
I knew Oliver wasn’t Levi’s biggest fan, but the malice in his voice led me to think there was a lot more behind the comment. My phone rang, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen in the room.
I looked at it and saw Jason’s number flash on the screen. “I’m going take this and let you two figure out whatever issue it is you both suddenly have.”
I stepped out of the room and into the office across the hall. “Jason, wonderful timing. What’s up?”
Shuffling of papers came across the receiver. “I have an identity on the first victim.”
“Perfect, now I can dig in. What’s the name?” I sat down in the tall leather chair in front of the desk and looked for something I could to take notes with.
I found a piece of paper in the printer and then a fountain pen to my left.
More paper shuffling. “Her name is Carmen Jones, thirty-three, lived in town, no family that I could find. She’s a registered shifter.”
Another shifter death. Interesting. “Anything else I need to know?”
“Yeah, I found some more of the plaster, and her cause of death was the same. I’m not sure what’s going on, but that alone is really strange to me.”
Punctures right up the spine and plaster. At least the cause of death remained consistent. “Toxicology report?”
“Nothing in their bloodstream that I could find. That’s all I have for you, Abby, if something strange comes up, then I’ll let you know.” He disconnected, and I wrote the name down so I could look into it when I got back to the office.
When I got back to the sitting room where Oliver and Mario were, the two were just sitting there staring at each other. “Well, this is going to make for some
awkward nights when I come up for elemental control.”
“What was the phone call?” Mario asked.
I shook my head. “Case related, and no, not the one that you and Levi have me on,” I clarified. “So really, the information is confidential, but I do have a name to pass by my uncle.”
Oliver nodded.” Go ahead, let’s see if I have a connection to this one as well.”
“Carmen Jones?”
He shook his head. “Nope, that’s not one I know of. Does that clear me?”
“Depends on if any of her family members bring you up in conversation. Lark’s ex-husband was pretty convinced that you killed her.”
“Lark’s ex-husband was one of the reasons she was looking for Drake to begin with.” Oliver shook his head. “Trust me, Abigail, if I were to kill someone, I wouldn’t be stupid enough to leave the body lying around.”
The comment made me pause. “That’s not reassuring.”
“I have many ways of getting rid of a body.” He smirked. “As do most people in our society who don’t want to be caught.”
Yep, totally not reassuring. “Anyways, since we’re done here. I’m going to go home and relax for a bit.”
“The storm’s come in,” Mario added. “We should head back, so we don’t get caught in the flood area.”
I’d seen the clouds coming off the mountain, but hadn’t given it a second thought. “Sorry things didn’t go your way tonight.” I stood. “Hopefully you got whatever information you needed from Drake?”
“Enough to know what I’m dealing with, yes.” Oliver nodded. “Thanks for asking.”
I wanted to ask exactly what he was looking into, but it would be pointless, especially with Mario standing right there. “I’ll see you Saturday to work on things.”
“I’ll make sure to have a lunch ready for us.” It was a subtle way of saying that he was changing the time. We normally worked at night, but I guessed he didn’t want Mario tagging along, and I couldn’t blame him.
“Perfect, okay let’s go.” I spun around to leave, and Oliver caught me by the arm.
“What? No hug for your uncle.”
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