The majority. Of course, there wasn’t a way to protect everyone, there never was. “Okay, so we need to send the council to contact people.”
“We know that Samuel and Hannah’s primary target is you. You need to wrap this case up and stay out of sight.”
“I can handle the case,” Liz cut in, and I wanted to argue, but I didn’t think it was an option right now.
“No, we want Abigail visible for a little while,” Catalina stated. “We want to draw Hannah and Samuel’s attention to their primary target and keep them distracted from others.”
I nodded. “Hannah and Samuel only have Levi and Mario for the rest of the time I was supposed to spend with them. That gives us two weeks to work with the case and get things ready for when Levi comes back to handle everything.”
“We have to consider the fact that Levi may not be in shape to lead when he first comes back.”
“What?”
“Think about how Mario comes back from Hannah,” Catalina offered. “Levi has told me some of how his maker treated him. It is a real possibility he will need several weeks of recovery time when he returns.”
“Well fuck,” I muttered. “Okay. We’ll deal.”
Liz sat by me finally. “Zayne, did you have any luck finding people to increase security?”
“We’re spread pretty thin right now. Most of what we have left are daytime people who are there to observe, not protect. The wolves will send people now that Hannah has declared war.”
I didn’t want the wolves getting hurt on my behalf. I tried to think of a different way through this. “Can we send assassins out for Samuel and Hannah?”
Catalina and Zayne stared at me for a moment. “We have a few trained assassins, two have failed already.”
“Lovely.” The sarcasm dripped from my voice, and I rubbed my eyes. “Okay. No assassins then.”
Liz pressed her lips together. “We’ll talk to the Cult and see if they have any members they can spare to protect Abby. Maybe work with her to come up with a plan to draw out and kill Samuel.”
“Did you miss the part that we want her out of sight after the case?” Zayne growled. “Not to send her into the fray.”
“Then I kill him while I work on the case. He knows I won’t step away from the job. He’s been around enough for that. If we can draw him out, make him slip up, then I can get my chance. It was part of the plan with my team anyway.”
Catalina raised a brow. “You haven’t informed the council of your team’s plan at all.”
“That’s because I’m still not entirely trusting of the council. Zayne knew.”
“But I don’t agree,” he added. “I’m just going to point that out now.”
Liz shrugged. “You guys said she could do it with a team, but that you can’t help. So she’s doing it.”
And I’d do it soon. I wanted Levi and Mario back home and free of their makers. Which brought me to a question I wanted to ask Catalina.
“Samuel said something that caught my attention. He said he hadn’t let Levi go yet, as his sire. Can sires destroy the connection to their fledgling?”
Catalina nodded. “We can release it. When our fledgling is powerful enough and if they request it, we can. Why?”
“Can a fledgling break it?”
She hesitated slightly. “If they are powerful enough, they can resist the commands.”
“Like when Levi missed my stomach with the knife?”
She nodded. “He purposely fought against the command because he knew Samuel wanted to leave you mortally wounded.”
I had my suspicions, but Levi wouldn’t talk about it. “Thank you for the information. We’ll let the council know about the declaration of war and send them out to speak to our allies to prepare them.” I pressed my lips together as I thought. “I want to send some of our daytime people to search out any nests of blood-starved vampires or hybrids that might hide out waiting for Samuel’s command.”
“Good call.” Catalina nodded. “Those attacks have been minimal since you took Ira out.”
“Except Samuel used blood-starved at the press conference last time.” Liz glanced at me. “That’s what made you think of it?”
“Yes, I don’t want blood-starved vampires running around anyone’s city, here or overseas.” I swallowed. “I’ll call Simon myself and explain what is going on. We’ll see what he can spare from his pack and then I will hand him off to a council member to communicate with.”
Zayne crossed his arms. “Call him tonight.”
Liz sighed. “So we all have our assignments. Abby and I have been working closely together on this case, so she won’t be without me during the day. We keep working the case as normal.”
Catalina nodded. “We’ll have a council meeting tomorrow night so you can address us all, officially.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re making the right choices, Abigail, even if standing in Levi’s spot makes you insecure.” She smiled at me and then disappeared.
I closed my eyes. “Fuck.”
“I don’t think I could sum it up any better,” Zayne agreed. “Think your boyfriend is going to take this news well?”
“I’m not sure, honestly.” I picked up my phone and stared at it for a moment. “I started a war.”
Liz laughed. “You didn’t start a war. Samuel did.”
But there were so many thoughts flooding through me about how I could have handled things differently if I had just played nice and not pissed Hannah off that night.
“Liz is right, Abigail. Samuel couldn’t get his way with you, so now he’s trying a war.”
I nodded, but didn’t respond. I found Simon’s name in my phone and hit call.
The phone rang twice before he picked up. “Hey.” His voice was soft. “Heard Travis yelled at you earlier. Sorry about that.”
“He was just being Travis, but he’s probably going to yell at me more.” I forced a laugh.
“What’s wrong, Abby?”
“I wanted to be the one to tell you this, not the council. Samuel and Hannah declared war tonight. We’re going to need to call on the wolves if there’s an attack.”
Simon was quiet for a moment, and I reminded myself to breathe and not imagine what he was thinking.
“We were afraid it was going to come to this. Thank you for telling me. I’m assuming the council will be in touch?”
“Yes, they will. We have a meeting tomorrow night and then they’ll get in contact with you.” I closed my eyes, exhaustion already eating at my mind. “I’m sorry Simon.”
“This is what allies are for, Abby. You don’t have to apologize for it. I’ll go speak with Travis.” The phone disconnected before I could tell him I loved him.
Fuck this.
I tossed my phone on the couch next to me. “I need some coffee if we’re going to do research tonight.” I stood up and headed to the kitchen. Neither Zayne nor Liz followed me, which was a good thing, because I needed a moment just to be alone and get my shit together.
I walked back into the kitchen a few minutes later. Liz was still on the couch, but she’d pulled her computer out and was working or playing games.
Zayne had sat down in what I was dubbing as his chair. He looked like he was deep in thought and barely spared me a glance when I sat down on the couch. I put my coffee cup on the table and then grabbed my computer.
“Have you looked up the name Hugo gave us?”
“He only gave us a first name, but I’m trying to narrow down where that house might be and the name on the deeds.” Liz turned her computer toward me. “It looks like it belongs in the gated community of Cheyenne Mountain, but I’m not finding the name Monica on anything.”
I studied the houses that she’d pulled up. They looked similar to the house Hugo had given us a picture of. I pulled out the photo in question and compared them a little more. “Did this development company build a new community out east recently?”
I turned to my computer and put the company
’s name in. “Looks like they’ve been busy. In the last two years, they’ve added two new communities and are trying their hand at low income housing.” I clicked through my search results. “Seems like they’ve bought up a lot of land lately.”
Pausing, I opened an article about a protest regarding the new development out east. “Look at this picture.” This time, I turned my screen to Liz.
“That’s our two victims right there. Protesting?”
I looked back at the article. “Apparently, they’re worried about the effect of more people out east. Things like water rights on the land and adding more taps. Fire escape routes. There are a few magical communities that don’t want the big housing communities there because it means losing land that they can practice safely on.”
“Hope’s foster house it out there. It would make sense that two people who worked at that house were out there protesting.”
“And I wonder if that would be a reason to kill? Because there are several articles here about how the city almost didn’t pass the approval for the housing development.”
Liz went silent for a moment as she typed on her keys at a furious pace. “Take a look at who heads that company.”
I looked at her screen. “Monica Parks. Well, damn.”
“We have motive.” Liz shrugged. “I say we bring her in for questioning.”
“Sounds like a plan.” I clicked a couple of things in the files and articles, looking for more connections. “Hold up here. That office building where we found our second victim. Did we ever figure out what type of offices were there?”
Liz nodded. “A mix of companies. Why?”
I turned my screen toward her. “Because look where one protest took place.”
“Right outside,” Liz muttered. “Looking more and more like Monica Parks is our woman.”
Hopefully, it was that easy. I shut my computer and leaned back on the couch. “Has anyone ordered dinner yet? I’m starving.”
Zayne snorted. “I’m a vampire, remember?”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” I waved a hand at him. The front door opened and Merick walked in with bags of Chinese food like he’d read my mind. Beautiful. I got up to help him in. “You are wonderful.”
“Liz texted me to say neither of you had eaten all day and to bring you some food.” He laughed. “I figured you two were deep in a case and just forgot.”
I glanced at Liz, who nodded. “Something like that, we also need to talk.”
Merick raised a brow as he set out the containers. “Are you kicking me out?”
“No, I’m asking if the Cult can spare people in case of a war.”
Those words stopped his motions. “Vampire wars are none of our concern,” he said carefully. “I’m no longer under obligation to protect you but I do such because I’ve grown fond of our friendship.”
That was a no. “I don’t want to involve the Cult. You’re right, it’s not your concern or your place. You belong in the world of magic, witches, and warlocks. We simply told the council we’d ask.”
“Ask? Not demand?” Merick turned to me.
“Not demand. You’re not in an alliance with the King of Vampires. You are part of my security team and the head priest for the Cult. I can’t demand anything of you, and I won’t.”
He nodded. “Thank you for that respect. Now, let’s eat.” He went back to setting the food out and the three of us went about making our plates.
We sat back down in the living room, and Zayne hadn’t moved from his chair. We ate in silence until my phone rang with Mason’s ring tone, while I was mid-bite. Liz picked it up for me.
“Agent Jefferson speaking.” She put it on speakerphone.
“Why are you answering Abby’s phone?” Mason sounded grumpier than normal.
I swallowed my bite to answer. “Sorry, I had a mouthful. What’s up?”
“I have another body. I need you two down here to confirm that it’s the same rune on her.”
“Okay, text us an address and then we’ll head that way in just a few minutes.”
He hung up, and I looked at Liz. “Want to take bets on who it is?”
“I’m going to say someone else that was at the protest.” She shoved a couple bites in her mouth. “Eat up.”
Liz and I followed the address out east to where they were starting the development of another gated community. A couple of houses had already popped up, and in front of one of them were all the emergency crews. We parked behind them and got out. Caution tape was already up, and a few officers were standing around chatting when Liz and I walked up.
“Well, at least the press isn’t here yet,” I muttered as we flashed our badges and ducked under the tape.
Liz snorted. “Come on, your favorite person in the world is Stephanie.”
“You know, someone should check that lady out. I swear she’s weaseled her way into places that she’s not supposed to.”
“Have you ever checked the database on that?” Liz asked as we started toward the house.
I shook my head. “Never actually crossed my mind.”
We stopped when we got to Mason. “Do you want to take a guess at where the body is?”
I didn’t even give him an eye roll. “Basement, it’s always the fucking basement.”
“Wrong, attic.”
Liz and I stared at him for a moment. “I’m sorry where?” I asked, making sure I heard him correctly.
“In the attic. New homeowner went up there to see about the insulation, because they thought the house was too cold. Found a body, no insulation. Like the attic had never been touched. The smell isn’t bad enough yet to come through the rafters.”
“Well, that’s a new one.” I followed him through the house.
We stopped at a pull-down ladder and Mason stepped to the side. “Up you go. Try not to step between the beams, or you might go through the ceiling.” He handed both Liz and me headlights.
I put mine on. “But there’s an adult body up there and it hasn’t fallen through?” I smelled dead body and tried not to gag.
“You’ll see why when you get up there.”
I grumbled and went up the ladder first. I had to crouch and balance on two-by-fours to make sure I didn’t accidentally shove my foot into a random room.
I saw what Mason meant. The woman’s body was hanging from the rafters by her wrists, her body in a weird arch, her back almost brushing the floor of the attic. There was no pool of blood under her, but dried blood caked her naked body. I wrinkled my nose as I moved closer. Liz came up behind me.
“Well, shit.” She duck-walked closer to me, keeping her balance on the wood.
My light bounced off the woman’s face, and I sucked in a breath. I knew this woman. So did Liz. Our only suspect in the case.
Monica Parks.
“Fuck.”
Liz nodded. “Seriously fuck.”
The sound of creaking wood surrounded us, and I looked at Liz a moment before the rafter holding the body broke and busted through the attic floor, taking us down as well.
I cried out as my limbs flailed around, trying to get into a position to break my fall. Liz turned over and landed without getting hurt. Whereas I, in all my grace, landed half turned on my side.
Luckily for me, nothing crunched as I landed.
I laid there and stared at the body that I had landed next to. “Well, fuck.”
Liz stood over me and held a hand out to help me up. “We’ve said that a lot in the last few minutes.”
I took her hand and got back on my feet with a groan. “Well, I think this situation calls for it.” I looked back up at the hole we’d made. “Honestly, you’d think the rafters would have held her weight.”
She nodded. “I’m betting something was done to it or it was a weak board. Either way, our one suspect is lying dead on the floor.”
I glanced down at Monica and sighed. The same rune was on her shoulder. “Mason was right. The rune matches. That makes three dead.”
“And still
no actual suspects.”
“I’m not counting out your man at the park. Not after the way he attacked us.”
She nodded. “But he’s clean in the system and doesn’t have any motivation.”
“Are we sure about that?”
Mason came into the room and looked at the body and then at us. “I thought I told you guys not to put holes in the roof.”
“It wasn’t really our fault.” Liz shrugged.
I motioned to the body. “She started it.”
Mason shook his head. “Are you two alright?”
“Yeah, just a little bruised up,” I answered.
Liz smirked. “I landed on my feet.”
Mason chuckled. “Okay, if you’ve confirmed what you needed to, I’ll call Jason and get his crew in here to move the body to the morgue.”
“Yeah, we’re done with the body. But we need to talk to who found the body and who owns the house.” Liz glanced back down at the body.
Mason nodded. “He’s in the kitchen.”
I dusted the rest of the debris off myself and headed out of the bedroom. Liz was at my heels almost instantly until we stopped in the kitchen.
A man stood there with a beer in his hands, leaning against the counter. He glanced up as we walked in. “I swear, I had no idea that she was up there.”
I held my hands up. “It’s okay, we just want to ask you a few questions is all.”
Liz motioned to the little table that was in the middle of the kitchen. “Have a seat?”
He nodded and sat down with a sigh. “My name is Carlos Medina, and I just closed on this house two days ago.”
Liz and I sat down. “I’m Special Agent Collins and this is Special Agent Jefferson. We’re from the black magic task force.”
“Black magic,” he repeated slowly. “There was no magic up there.”
“Are you a warlock?” Liz asked.
He nodded. “Yeah, it’s one reason I wanted to move out this way. Lots of space and nature.”
I could see that, but there wouldn’t be once they built all the other houses. “Do you know the victim?”
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