“Yeah.” I filled her in on what happened at the council meeting and then sighed. “I’d much rather deal with dead bodies.”
“I don’t blame you, but I don’t have any for you tonight. Are you coming back to your house?”
“Yeah, I just need to get the notes from Levi and then the Hummer keys since my car is shot.”
She chuckled. “At this point, maybe you should just keep the Hummer.”
“Yeah, maybe I should. But I’m a little worried it’ll get destroyed, and I’d be really sad if that happened.”
“I think a lot of us would be. I love that thing.”
I snorted. “Did you need anything else?”
“No, I just wanted to know what you found. I’ll be in the office in the morning.”
She disconnected, and I shook my head. She could have checked her email to get the answer, but oh well. I stood and finished my coffee as I walked to the kitchen.
I paused outside the doorway when I heard Mario.
“Hannah’s hate for Abigail blinds her. If I can use that and get Hannah to attack her here, then Abigail can finish the job.”
“Or, you can anger Hannah so much that she maims you to the point you can’t heal,” Levi answered. “It’s not worth the risk.”
“And leaving Abigail alone without either of us isn’t just as dangerous?” Mario shot back. “What’s stopping the other council members from changing her?”
Levi growled. “They have their orders. She is not to be changed in a traditional manner. The only way she will become a vampire is if she dies and then rises as one. She has been without us both here before and she did a fine job. I trust Catalina to guide her.”
I stayed in my spot to listen.
“That was for a couple days, this is for a few weeks.”
“She’s strong, Mario, and resourceful.” Levi’s voice quieted a little. “And if I’m wrong in this, then I’ll have to beg her forgiveness for fucking things up.”
I turned the corner. “Wrong in what? That I can handle vampire business as Princess?”
“That you’ll be able to handle it that long,” Levi stated. “Mario has concerns.”
I glanced at him. “Still wanting me changed?”
Mario wouldn’t meet my gaze. “I believe it would be better, yes, but I understand your wishes too.”
“That’s good, because it’s not going to happen.” I shrugged. “I’ll walk out in the sun if Samuel changes me.”
Levi put a hand on my shoulder. “And he’d stop you before you even got to the door.”
“Speaking from experience?” I glanced at him.
“I am.” He dropped his hand. “Keys for the Hummer are by the garage door. Notes are on the counter for you. I’ll see you when this ends.” He hesitated for a moment. “I love you, Abigail, I couldn’t ask for a better daughter.”
And with that, he disappeared.
I stood in the kitchen with just Mario. I wasn’t sure how to react to Levi’s words. He had never said he loved me. He had never said daughter out loud without adding adopted in the same sentence.
Mario must have been equally shocked because he didn’t say anything either. I finally moved to put my coffee cup in the sink and then I looked back at him.
“I’ll see you on the other side?”
Mario nodded. “You will.”
“Don’t piss her off. I won’t be there to protect your ass.” I smiled.
He laughed. “You can piss Hannah off enough for the both of us, but if I have a chance to send her your way. I’m not going to miss it.”
“Don’t get yourself hurt beyond healing.”
He bowed. “Don’t worry about me, Princess.” He disappeared as he pulled up from his bow.
I rubbed my eyes. This was going to be a long couple of weeks.
I walked into the house, and Zayne followed me. Merrick was nowhere to be found, so I figured he’d gone home for the night or had other things he needed to take care of. And since he wasn’t under obligation to watch my house twenty-four-seven, it wasn’t really my business what he did during the night.
Zayne went right to the kitchen to make coffee, and I curled up on the couch to go through Levi’s notes on Lady R’s newest business venture.
I always assumed that most vampires would run something like clubs where they could mingle with humans and have donors right there. Where humans could wander in and out, choosing to be donors or choosing to just enjoy the club. But the notes I had in front of me laid out an exclusive club where donors were provided and no humans were allowed without an invitation.
Lady R described it as: “A great place to relax and bask in your true nature.”
And described the donors as: “Exclusively provided food tailored to suit your fantasies.”
She didn’t elaborate, but my imagination came up with some wild thoughts. I’m sure there were some vampires that wanted to give in to their darker nature.
I made a noise of disgust, and Zayne walked into the living room with a mug. “Not impressed by Lady R’s description?”
“It sounds like a brothel for vampires. True nature, fantasies fulfilled.”
“Are there places where witches can embrace their nature?” Zayne asked as he sat on the couch.
I thought about it. “Coven meetings, but we rarely have a need for donors of any sort.”
“Right, and the wolves have pack lands.” He seemed to choose his words carefully. “If the donors are, in fact, willing to be there, then what’s the problem? Vampires have needs to survive. In the old days, those needs forced us to hunt in the shadows and take unwilling victims, unless we trusted someone with our secret. Then we hoped they didn’t betray us and run away.”
I sat there and tried to think about what that would be like. People hunted witches, but Zayne was right. All we had to do was hide what we were, and we didn’t need blood to survive.
I made a note on the paper about donors needing contracts stating they were there willingly, what they were willing to do, that they could get out at any time, and they were well paid.
Zayne looked over and saw the note. “Good call.”
I hadn’t gone through Levi’s notes on the proposal yet, but I wanted to see if his thoughts and my thoughts were the same. If I was going to have to do this for a few weeks, I wanted to match up to what Levi wanted.
Especially facing Lady R. I needed to prove to her I wasn’t just a dumb witch.
I hated the idea that I was going to need to face her alone. I glanced at Zayne. “How much do you know about Lady R?”
“I know her hatred of witches rivals that of Samuel’s. She particularly hates you. I’ve never met her.”
“Oh, good. So she hasn’t had a chance to hate you yet. That should make things easier.”
I started going through the rest of the proposal with Zayne sitting there. I finished my notes and set it on the table and picked up my coffee. “What’s it like to have a good sire?”
Zayne raised a brow. “Catalina is a wonderful sire. She’s never in my head, and she only ever used her ability to control me when I was a young vampire and I couldn’t control my impulses.” He shrugged. “It’s like having a much older parent that sometimes yells at you when you really fuck up, but encourages you to leave the territory to find what you need.”
I leaned back on the couch. “Hannah and Samuel, are they the normal?”
“Suddenly interested in different sires? Are you searching for someone to change you?”
“No, I’m not. I’m just trying to understand, that’s all. I’m a witch. We don’t have sires.” I shrugged. “The idea that someone can control another like a sire and fledgling freaks me out.”
He shrugged. “It becomes a way of life. The nature of the vampire. Just like the alpha can control his wolves.”
I made a face and sipped my coffee. I was about to respond when there was a knock on the door and then the sound of the alarm being disarmed. Zayne stood, ready to strike if needed
.
The only people who had their own code to the house were those I trusted. Merick just popped himself in and out, which left Liz, Simon, Levi, and Mario.
I sipped my coffee, bored with Zayne’s display.
Simon walked in and I jumped off the couch. “You’re not supposed to be here.”
He shut and locked the door behind him and came to the couch. “I know I’m not. But if you’re going to isolate everyone in the name of safety, I wanted to spend one last night with you.”
“Travis is going to be furious.” I tried to make my words sound angry, but part of me was glad he came.
Simon smirked. “Travis doesn’t control me, Abby. I’m the Alpha.”
I pulled him down on the couch and kissed him. Zayne made a gagging noise. “I’ll leave you two be. I’ll be in the basement. Call if there’s trouble.” He walked to the stairs and shut the door behind him.
Simon pulled me close to him. “Heard you and Hannah got into it.”
“She broke the truce.”
He touched my neck where the bite mark still showed. “By getting a taste?”
I shrugged. “She was in a dangerous mood. I pissed her off and she couldn’t control herself.”
“Sounds like you. You’re probably lucky she didn’t do more damage.”
“She threw my car with Merick inside it.”
He stared at me for a moment before speaking. “That explains the Hummer.”
“Well, you know, can’t go more than a year without destroying one.” I shrugged and kissed his cheek. “Soon this will all be over, and we can just date and be a normal couple. No more warning you of crazy vampires, or guards at my back.”
He stroked my hair and kissed my head. “Of course.” But he didn’t sound like he believed it. And I couldn’t blame him.
CHAPTER SEVEN
It was nice to wake up in the morning with Simon by my side. It was not nice to wake up to my phone blaring Liz’s ring tone.
“Morning, Liz.”
“Get down here.” She sounded like she’d already had several cups of coffee. “I have a couple leads I want to follow up on, but I want backup in case we run into some trouble.”
I blinked a few times. “I’m supposed to go to containment today and talk to Adrianna.”
“Yeah, I know. We’ll stop there first. You can do that while I make some phone calls in the car. Up and at-em, Abby.” She disconnected the call, and I shook my head.
It was too early in the morning for this bullshit. I rubbed my eyes and Simon tried to pull me back down on the bed.
“Sun’s barely up, Abby,” he muttered.
I wanted to sink into his warm arms and lay there, but duty called. “I know, but Liz called, and apparently I have to get to work early this morning.”
He sniffed the air and opened his eyes. “She called you from downstairs?”
“She’s here? That’s what she meant by get down here? I thought she meant downtown.” I dragged myself out of his arms and into the shower. I looked over my shoulder to find him snuggled back in bed and sound asleep again.
I rolled my eyes and got ready for the day.
When I made it downstairs, Liz stood in the kitchen with a mug of coffee for her and one waiting for me.
“Sorry to break up your love fest up there…”
I blushed at her words, but stayed silent. No use denying anything.
“But the leads won’t wait. Come on.” She motioned to my coffee and then started out the front door.
I barely had time to grab my bag and follow her out. When I locked the front door, she was already in her SUV and starting the engine. I hurried my steps a little and then climbed into the passenger side.
“Want to tell me what leads you have?”
She nodded. “You’re going to see Adrianna this morning. You’re going to ask her about those symbols, and you’re going to do your best to make her tell you everything about them.”
“The biggest bargaining chip would be to lighten her sentence.”
Liz shook her head. “No, that’s not within your power, and I don’t even want to put that on the table.”
“Understood.” I wasn’t sure what she thought I could do otherwise to convince the witch, but there had to be some way.
“I’m going to make some phone calls and hopefully arrange a meeting with the person who replaced Christof.”
I stared at her. “You’re going to talk to the other sect of the cult?”
“Yes, because it is the only lead we have, and Christof was of no use. I don’t think they’ll harm us. No matter which sect of the cult he belongs to, they aren’t supposed to go against PIB agents.”
“Um. That sect of the cult hexed me,” I reminded her.
She waved a hand. “Misguided information and all that jazz. Trust me on this. We don’t want to lose this chance.”
She was right, and I really didn’t have a choice but to trust her. “Okay. So with these two combined, we might get something useful.”
“That’s the hope.”
“Anything on our witness? How’s she doing?”
She paused for a moment. “I haven’t heard anything. Text Mason and see if he has?”
I pulled my phone out and sent Mason a quick text while I sipped my coffee. “I want to go see her again if she’s awake. Maybe she can tell us a little more.”
“Or she’ll shut down again.” Liz pressed her lips together. “But it would be nice to try.”
“She’s the only witness we have.”
My phone rang.
“Special Agent Collins.”
“Abby, I was waiting to tell you this because I wanted to have more information, but the witness is gone.”
I closed my eyes and tried to keep the irritation out of my voice. “Mason, ‘gone’ has a lot of meanings in my line of work. Do you want to expand?”
“She’s not in the hospital anymore and there is no camera footage of her leaving.”
Fuck.
“Great. That’s good to know.” I glanced at Liz, who was focusing on the road as the traffic on the highway thickened. “We’re on our way to containment to talk to someone else there. I’ll keep you updated.”
There was a bit of hesitation on the other line. “Abby, do you know what we’re dealing with here?”
“We have a theory, but we don’t know for certain. We think we’re dealing with Adrianna’s followers. At least one of them.”
“The blood witch?”
“Yeah, the blood witch.”
“I thought we’d dealt with the last of that crazy bitch.”
I laughed. “Me too, but apparently not.”
“Well, keep me updated.” He disconnected.
“Is our witness dead?” Liz tightened her grip on the wheels.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Apparently, she disappeared from the hospital room.”
“Poof?”
“Poof,” I agreed, and leaned back. “Which makes me think about when Adrianna called me back with my blood.”
Liz nodded. “Me too.”
I wasn’t sure if we’d survive facing another witch like Adrianna, but it wasn’t like we could just let them wander around killing people.
We pulled up to containment and Liz unbuckled but didn’t get out.
“I’ll see you soon. They should have already pulled her for you.”
I nodded. “I’ll be back.” I got out and walked into the building.
I shook off the feeling of my magic being cut off and went to the desk. “I’m here for an interview with an inmate.” I handed my badge over the counter.
“Agent Collins, for your protection, we will have a guard in the room with you.”
“For my protection? I’m PIB. I brought her in.”
The receptionist nodded. “We know, but she’s been making threats to you ever since you brought her in.”
“Lovely. Okay, send me with a guard, that’s fine.” I took my badge back. “I only have a few questions for
her, so it shouldn’t take long.”
“Of course, please make sure you sign out when you’re finished.” She waved a hand to the door that led to containment.
I walked over, and a guard opened the door and walked with me.
“We’ll be in interview room twelve.”
“Thank you for escorting me and staying.”
He chuckled. “This woman is a scary witch. We have extra precautions on her because her magic is almost strong enough to break what containment has in place.”
I didn’t want to think about that. “I know. She almost killed me when I brought her in.”
We stopped in front of a room, and he unlocked the door, letting us both in. Adrianna sat there with her hands bound to the table and her feet to an eye-bolt in the floor. She stared at me and gave an evil smile. “Abigail Collins. They didn’t tell me you were the one coming to see me.”
I sat down. “Adrianna.”
“I was hoping I killed you. Imagine how upset I was when I learned you were alive and had taken my daughter from me.”
I raised a brow. “Last I checked, you didn’t particularly care what happened to that little girl, but I’m not here about that. I’m here to talk to you about the army of followers you supposedly have.”
“You think I’m going to give you information? You broke my spell. You stole my magic. Now I’m aging in a hellhole.”
I nodded. “I thought as much, but it’s always worth trying when there are lives on the line. Hope was close to the two people killed.”
Her smile faded just a little around the edges. “Hope?”
“The name they gave your daughter.”
She was quiet for a moment. “My people would never hurt her. Nor would they be stupid enough to leave bodies around for you to find. It’s not my people.”
I searched her face to see if there were any signs of a lie. “Would you be willing to do that statement under a truth spell?”
“You can’t use magic in here, trust me, I’ve tried.”
The guard stepped up to my back. “But I can.”
We both seemed to tense. I had no idea that the guards had magic, nor that they could get past the barriers. Of course, it made sense when working with supernatural and magical creatures to have the guards keep their access to magic.
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