He gave me a serious look and nodded. “Sure do. Time to be all alpha and such.” He walked out.
“I’ll be right back.” Liz went out after him. I was sure she was going to have him catch her up on what happened when Samuel was here. Simon was no longer part of my security team after it had almost gotten him killed and Travis had threatened to pull the alliance. Simon not being on my security team was part of the new alliance agreement.
It meant that I saw less of him, but it also meant he was safe.
Liz walked back in a few minutes later and took Simon’s seat. “Samuel shouldn’t be showing up at your workplace.”
“I know, and I plan on dealing with that tonight when I get home. I’m assuming Simon filled you in?”
She nodded and leaned back in the chair, twisting back and forth in it. “We also talked about some other things going on.”
“Do you want to share?”
She laughed. “You’re going to find out eventually, so I guess so. This is what Simon told me. Samuel visited Travis and wanted to offer an alliance. Promising to keep them safe if things came down to war or a coup.”
“Samuel is planning something. I don’t know what it is, but I feel it.” I tapped my fingers on the table. “It’s almost like I can feel his emotions when he feeds. I’m not sure if it’s lack of control or if he’s letting me. I don’t like it, but I can tell he’s anticipating something.”
Liz raised a brow. “You’ve never mentioned that before.”
“Because it wouldn’t change anything. He still gets to feed from me despite what consequences come from it.” I shook my head. “Honestly, Liz. I’m tired. I’m tired of the games and the politics. If something is going to happen, it needs to happen soon. Or I’m not sure I’ll have the motivation to fight it.”
There was silence between the two of us. “Maybe that’s what he’s hoping for,” Liz said suddenly. “That you won’t fight after all this.”
My heart felt heavy at the realization that she was probably right.
She was about to say something else when my phone rang. We both paused at the ring tone.
Oliver.
I snatched it up and put it on speakerphone. “Where the hell have you been the last couple months.”
“Abigail, is that anyway to greet your uncle?” But it wasn’t Oliver’s voice. It was Melisandra, the witch he was staying with.
I took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, it’s been a long few months.”
“So I’ve heard. Have you heard from your uncle recently?”
I glanced at Liz. “No, I haven’t, if you couldn’t tell from the way I answered.”
“That’s what I was afraid of. Oliver disappeared a week ago.” Melisandra’s voice was guarded, and I wondered if she was hiding something.
“What do you mean, disappeared? It’s Oliver. He goes out to work on jobs all the time. Sometimes overseas.” I tried to read into what she wasn’t saying.
There was a moment of silence. “Who is in the room with you?”
“Liz, no one else, Oliver hasn’t bugged this phone yet either. So it is truly just us three.” I knew I wouldn’t like what came next.
“There was blood on the floor. I tried to use it to track him, but something is blocking the spell.”
Oliver worked as a mercenary or a hired warlock. I knew he had some questionable clients, but I wasn’t sure if any of them would come after him. “Could this be a consequence of his past?”
“I don’t know. I’m worried about him, Abigail. I’m doing everything I can to find him. Please let me know if he shows up.”
I swallowed. Oliver typically knew how to get himself out of trouble. And even if he disappeared, he gave some signs that he was around. Mysterious texts, a letter, a phone call. Something. “I will. Thank you for letting me know.”
The call disconnected, and I leaned back in my chair. “Well, fuck.”
Liz pressed her lips together. “Get Merrick involved. Oliver is Cult. They don’t like it when their members go missing.”
“I haven’t talked much to Merrick since I’ve been… training.” I forced the words out of my mouth.
She nodded. “You wanted to keep everyone away from the situation. I understand that, but this doesn’t relate to Samuel. This is your uncle who normally takes care of himself.”
I took a deep breath. “Okay, you’re right.” I picked up my phone and called Merrick.
“Abigail, I just heard from Melisandra a few minutes ago. I’m assuming she called you?” Merrick’s voice came across the line. He’d stepped into his father’s spot as high priest of the Cult of Ra, but he still acted as my personal Cult bodyguard and lived at my house most of the time. He used to masquerade as my cat, but luckily that act was up now.
“Yeah, I didn’t think she’d call you, so Liz told me to. Anything I can do to help?”
“Not right now. My people are on it. I’ll let you know if I need to bring you in. What I need from you is for you to survive these last few weeks with Samuel.” There was something strange in his voice. “After that, I’d like for you seriously to consider joining the cult officially.”
I was seriously thinking about it at this point. I could probably use the extra protection. “I’ll think about it, honestly. Thank you, please keep me updated on Oliver?”
“I’ll do the best I can.”
I hung up and looked at Liz. “So now we wait on everything.”
“I’d suggest going home, but I have a feeling you don’t want to face Samuel this early.”
I glanced at her. “And I don’t have my car, so really I’m not going anywhere.”
She laughed and stood. “Come on, let’s go get you some coffee and maybe by the time we’re back something will have come up.”
One could hope. I got up, grabbed my bag, and followed her out of my office.
Nothing came up while we were out. In fact, both of our phones had been eerily quiet. We came back to the office and went our separate ways. I poked around on the internet for a while, got caught up on all my emails, made sure all my paperwork was in order, and laid my head down on my desk for a bit. I twiddled away the day until the sun went down.
I looked up when there was a knock at the door. I could see Zayne standing there through the small window. I was getting used to him now, but I had expected Mario to be the one to pick me up tonight. I grabbed my bag and went to the door and let Zayne in.
His hair had grown out a little, letting me catch glimpses of the blond, but his eyes were still an icy blue.
“Good evening, Princess.”
I still hadn’t trained him to drop the title, but he did have coffee in his hand. So he was getting better at some things. Of course… “Why did you bring coffee?”
“Because we’re going straight into a meeting, and I know you’ll need it to get through it.”
I wrinkled my nose. “What kind of meeting? How come no one tells me things, or do you guys not plan ahead?”
He chuckled. “I’m sorry, Princess, I’m under instructions to not tell you what is going on.” All joking faded from his face. “I won’t be leaving your side though.”
I sighed and took the coffee from him. “Okay, let’s go.”
The world disappeared around us and we reappeared in Levi’s ball room. Levi, Hannah, Mario, and Samuel stood there. I suddenly had a feeling that I had fucked up big time today.
“Princess.” Samuel smiled, but I could feel his power sneaking into me. I wasn’t at work anymore. I was standing on training grounds.
“Samuel,” I greeted.
Levi stepped up next to me and Mario followed his lead. “Please, let’s sit while we discuss this.” Levi pulled out a chair for me. I sat down, placing my coffee on the table in front of me. Zayne took up his position at my back and that gave me some comfort, but I wasn’t sure what he was going to do against Samuel and Hannah.
Samuel’s power became a pressure in me, not painful yet, but enough to let me know he was th
ere. “We’re going on a trip, Abigail.”
“I’m in the middle of a case,” I countered. “And I can’t leave the territory unless Levi negotiates for me to visit another one, or it’s under PIB.”
Hannah giggled, and I wanted to punch her. “You’re coming to Samuel’s territory.”
I glanced at Levi, and his face was carefully blank. “The negotiations stated I would stay here in the territory.” I tried to keep my face as blank as Levi’s, but I was always bad at it. My heart hammered against my chest. I didn’t want to be anywhere out of the territory with Samuel.
And judging by the smile on his face, he knew that.
“Don’t start looking for excuses right now, Abigail. Levi and I are still in negotiations for it, but it will happen during your last week of training with us. I want to see how you perform when you’re not worried about others around.”
I didn’t like how sounded. I could feel a pull in me, wanting to answer yes, even though my mind was fighting against it. I wanted to give in to the demand from Samuel that I knew was coming.
Fuck. That.
I called on my magic a little, shoving his influences out for the moment. My head cleared, and I stared at Samuel, understanding now why he wanted to have his influences as part of the negotiations. “Hopefully, my case is solved by then.” It was the most diplomatic response that I could come up with. Zayne put his hand on my shoulder as if he understood that something was off.
Or he was trying to calm me down.
“Since Abigail has a case that may or may not last that long, we will put negotiations on hold.”
Hannah huffed, almost like a spoiled child. “She will still be coming. Her job doesn’t mean she can’t come to play.”
I didn’t like the way she said play. I glanced at Levi.
“Abigail will stay until she finishes her case.” His voice held a bit of power to it, and I waited for Samuel to lash out in return. Mario shifted, letting me know that he’d felt the power as well.
“As you know, Hannah,” Mario spoke, keeping his words slow and careful. “The original negotiations said that you would not interfere with Abigail’s work. That would mean taking her out of the territory during a case.”
Hannah sneered at him. “I’d take you both if Levi would allow me too.”
I shivered at that. Hannah had a thing for pain and sex, and neither was mutually exclusive. “If you’d excuse me, I believe we have put negotiations on hold for the time being. I’d like to grab dinner before we beat up on each other.” I stood and took two steps from the table before Hannah wrapped my body in her magic, keeping me from moving my feet.
I closed my eyes and counted to ten. One day soon, I’d kill the bitch. That thought kept me calmer than the counting.
“You do not get to walk away, Princess.” Hannah walked up to me. “We did not dismiss you. We did not say that the meeting was over.”
I couldn’t say anything, so I simply stared at her as she walked closer to me, my heart pounding in my chest. I reached toward my magic and, for once, I found it there waiting. Hannah’s magic hadn’t wrapped around it this time.
Maybe I was making progress.
I pulled on my magic and felt her hold cracking. I met her gaze. She didn’t realize that I could crack it. Good. I let my magic fall back into place.
She put a hand on my cheek. “This meeting isn’t just about that. It’s about what Samuel has to ask Levi.”
I really didn’t like the sound of this. I couldn’t look behind me at Levi.
“Levi, I’m here to ask you about your daughter. Abigail is your blood. Isn’t she?”
Fuck.
CHAPTER THREE
I stood there under Hannah’s hold. I knew that this was coming. There was silence in the room.
Levi laughed. “She might as well be my blood. I raised her from four years old. I adopted her after her mother was slaughtered.”
On Samuel’s orders. I’m sure he left that out on purpose. I still couldn’t say or do anything without Hannah realizing that her magic wouldn’t work on me much longer. I could only wait for Samuel’s response.
“Ah, my fledgling, you know what can happen if I learn she is actually your blood, right?”
I had no idea, but I had a feeling I wouldn’t like it. Samuel came up to me, standing right next to Hannah so that they both looked at me. My heart pounded. If he asked me, I wasn’t sure if I could pull the lie off right now. Not with so much of his influence in me.
As if reading my mind, pain flooded my body as Samuel called on the power of his bite. Just like Ira, I felt the pain of the last feeding. If Hannah’s magic hadn’t been wrapped around me, I would have fallen.
It hurt like a bitch, but I wouldn’t give Samuel the satisfaction of hearing me cry out. I met his gaze and gritted my teeth so I wouldn’t make a noise.
“Levi?” Samuel prompted.
“I know exactly what would happen. You’d be within your right to call her home as well, because if she were a child of mine, she’d basically be my fledgling.”
Well, fuck. The pain receded and my body relaxed against Hannah’s magic. This was a power game with Samuel and Levi. He couldn’t use his power over Levi while he was here because of negotiations, but that wasn’t the same for me.
Levi stood. “Enough games. I believe Abigail wanted dinner before working with you and Hannah.”
Honestly, I could go for a good dead body at this point to call me out to work. My phone rang, and Liz’s ring tone blared through the room.
Everyone froze, and Hannah’s magic dropped from around me.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket. All eyes turned to me. I could almost read what everyone was thinking. And it was along the lines of ‘What the fuck, Abby?’
“Special Agent Collins speaking.” I made a show that I knew it was going to be a work call.
“Hope you aren’t too busy, but I have another dead body and a potential witness. I need you downtown, ASAP.”
“I’m all the way up at Levi’s. Do I have time to drive down, or should Zayne pop me over there?”
There was a moment of hesitation in her voice. “Go head and drive. I walked to the scene, so one of us should have a vehicle.”
She walked to the scene? It had to have been close to the PIB building then. “Shoot me the address. I’m just finishing up a meeting here.” I disconnected the call and then turned to everyone. “Well, duty calls.” I put my phone in my pocket. “Thanks for this riveting meeting, but there’s a body downtown. Come on Zayne, you’re on duty tonight.”
He stepped up to my side, and we both walked out of the ballroom. I wasn’t going to stand there and play vampire politics when there was a murder to solve.
I waited for someone to stop us, but none of the other vampires said a thing. Samuel had made his point, and he also made me realize I needed to get my team together sooner rather than later. If we could kill him right after the truce ended, we’d be better off. Of course, I wouldn’t have my team if I finished my training in his territory.
Zayne and I got to my car. I had finally decided on a dark green sedan after I destroyed my last car. I paid more than I wanted to for it, but the hope was that it wouldn’t end up in a pile of scraps. So far, so good. I got in the driver’s side and Zayne the passenger side. “We’re going to need to pick up food on the way into town.”
Zayne laughed. “Of course, because you haven’t eaten since when?”
“I ate lunch, actually. Simon brought me food, and it was really nice to see him for a bit.” I wouldn’t mention Samuel’s brief visit, because I wasn’t sure if Levi already knew or not and I was not getting a lecture from Zayne right now.
“Oh good, glad to see someone is taking care of you.” There was a small joke in his voice, and it was nice to hear him lighten up a little.
I drove toward town. “Tell me,” I started, “about the negotiations before I arrived.”
Zayne was silent for a moment, and I thought I wa
s going to have to push him for an answer. He finally looked at me. “It’s a trap.”
“Oh, I know that much already. Nothing screams trap like ‘Abigail out of Levi’s territory.’ But that’s not what I asked. What negotiations did they make before I walked into that room?”
“They hadn’t gotten past you going there when I left. Samuel said he wanted to take you to his territory that last week, and Levi was considering it and started asking questions. I can’t imagine he’d simply let you go. There’s nothing to keep Samuel in place if you leave.”
I nodded. “Except negotiations, and he’s disappeared off the face of the earth before, so he can do it again. Before or after he gets what he wants from me.” I tried not to cringe at the thought of Samuel changing me.
“There’s only one of two things that vampire wants from you, Princess. And that’s to either change you or kill you.”
“Yeah, well, if we get to either of those options, someone make sure they take the pleasure away from him and kill me first.” I shook my head. “I will not let him touch me. I emptied an entire clip into Ira’s head for trying. I’ll do the same to Samuel.”
I saw Zayne smirk in the mirror. “You’ll have a team to back you up with Samuel, if we can keep you in the territory.”
“I think he knows that we’re planning something and that’s why he wants to leave Levi’s.” I didn’t like the thought. “And you and I both know that the moment the truce expires, he’ll kill me.”
Zayne nodded and leaned back into the seat as I drove.
“I see your car is still in one piece,” Liz said as a way of greeting when Zayne and I stepped up to the crime scene tape.
Emergency crews buzzed around as Liz lifted the tape and let us both under. I followed her inside the office building. “You said we had a potential witness?”
She nodded. “Mason has taken her to the station to chat with her. I wanted you to look at the body before we went down there.”
“Which is why you needed me to drive, so you had a ride to the station?”
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