“I don’t think so either, but I’m not sure what she is doing. It’s time we find out though.” The feeling lifted the further I went into the forest.
Liz wiped her arms once we were a few yards in. “Ugh, it’s a circle. I’m sure we tipped her off.”
The feeling of the magic still crawled over my skin. “Yeah, well, we’ve come this far.”
We continued to tromp through the forest of evergreens and underbrush. Piles of old needles and anything that would grow with low light and acidic soil. Our boots crunched over everything, making the hike anything but silent. Neither of us spoke, so we could hear what was going on around us. Occasionally, one of us would reach out with our magic, trying to find something. Anything.
After a couple of hours, I reached out one more time. Letting my magic search for something that was unfamiliar, and it hit another magic. I jerked as my magic came back to me quickly. “Just a few yards ahead.”
Liz nodded, and we made quick work of the yards. We paused as we came to the edge of a magical barrier. I could physically see it gleaming in what sunlight was making its way through the trees.
But it wasn’t the magical circle that made me stop. Not really.
It was the four bodies hanging in the trees with blood pooling below them. Liz put a hand on my arm. “We need to take down the barrier and get these bodies down.”
I swallowed and put my hand against the circle. “It’s a basic circle. I can take it over and pull it down. The one I’m worried about is the one we passed coming in here.”
“On it.” She had her phone out and was typing away already. I wasn’t sure how she had service out here, but I wasn’t going to question it.
Once she finished, I glanced at her. “Have my back?”
She nodded. I took a deep breath and placed my hand on the magic’s surface. I closed my eyes and called on my own. Originally, the circle had shot my magic back, but that’s because I had attacked it, testing it.
Now I imagined my magic surrounding this circle, finding any imperfections in the lines, any weaknesses that the owner of the magic might have left. When I opened my eyes, my red and purple magic was taking over the shimmering gray of the circle.
Once it completely took over, I owned the circle. It was my magic now. I took another deep breath and pulled it down. Leaving no magic in its place.
Liz and I rushed in and started checking the bodies. I paused when I heard rustling nearby. I pulled my gun and moved toward the noise. I turned around a massive tree trunk and found Bridget hiding there.
I holstered my gun and touched her arm. “It’s okay. We’re here now.”
“She’s going to come back. She’s going to kill more,” she cried out. “The room is red. It’s completely. Red.”
She’d said something similar the first time I had interviewed her. Now was not the time to ask her though.
I helped her up and went back around the tree to see Liz staring out at the forest.
“Liz?”
“Merick is coming with help. Wyoming PIB will be here soon.” She glanced at Bridget. “You’re alive?”
She nodded. “Yeah, I think so.”
“There was an illusion of you at the coffee shop talking to Mable.”
She snorted. “Astral projection. I was with someone I thought was safe. I wanted Mable to be there too. Glad she didn’t come. Turns out. He wasn’t safe.”
“Does he have a name?”
She shook her head. “Not a real one. I’ve known him as Tommy for years. The witch calls him Timothy. Another victim…” She pointed to the second woman hanging from the tree. “Called him John.” There was something in her voice that told me she was lying. I didn’t know if it was about the names or that there was a person who she actually considered safe, but it didn’t sit right with me.
Great. “Okay, come on, let’s get back to the edge of the forest.” I urged her forward.
Merick appeared with two men I didn’t know. Merick looked around at the hanging bodies. “This is dark.”
“The room is red,” Bridget said again and looked around like she wasn’t seeing the forest. “It’s all red.”
She tried to bolt away from us, but I caught her arm. “Bridget. Listen to my voice. What are you seeing?”
“The blood is everywhere. It feeds the beast. The room is red. She bleeds them there.” She seemed to gag.
Merick took her from me and helped her sit on the ground. He started talking to her calmly.
I glanced at Liz. “The beast?”
“You don’t think it’s a vampire, do you?” Her thoughts echoed mine.
“I don’t know. Do you know anything else that needs an insane amount of blood?”
One of the other cult members stepped up to a body. “Merick said he thought these symbols were to keep people alive during torture?”
“That’s what all our sources told us. Yes.” I crossed my arms. “He was going to run it by someone else in the Cult.”
“That would be me. I’m Bradley Cromwell. There’s one line on this rune that’s different. This mark isn’t to keep someone alive. It’s a calling rune.”
I raised a brow. “A calling rune?”
“Yes, it acts like a tracking spell. The wound bleeds again when the person who put the rune there is trying to find them. It’s a nasty piece of magic. Forbidden, even within the Coven of Ra.”
That was good to know. I could hear sirens in the direction we’d come from. “It took us a couple hours to hike through here. Hopefully, they can get here faster.”
“Hopefully,” Liz agreed, her voice sound almost distant.
Luckily for us, Wyoming PIB was much more equipped for supernatural happenings in the forest. A few agents rode in on ATVs, making quick work of the couple hours' hike. They promised to work with the Colorado PIB and share the details of what they found.
I leaned against one of the four wheelers watching the PIB teams and the one EMT they brought with them working with Bridget and trying to get her settled enough to ride back on the ATV.
“We can air lift her,” one of the PIB agents said. “But she’s not really injured. Really freaked out, but not injured.”
I nodded. “She’s been in the hospital once already. She needs police or PIB protection for now. This is a nasty case, and I’d hate for more bodies to show up.”
“How many did you say you had now?”
“Seven, the four here, and the three in the Springs.” I watched as their PIB team worked on pulling the bodies down. “She’s a victim, and we’re lucky she’s alive. We also have one more in protection. She’s the reason we knew where to look and find this.” I motioned to what was going on in front of us.
He nodded. “We never enter these woods because…” He frowned.
“Because there was a spell on it warning people away. Agent Jefferson and I had to force our way through that, then I had to take over a circle around this area. Whoever this witch is, she doesn’t want people finding her playground.” I rubbed my eyes. “I’m not familiar with the area. Is there any place here that’s known for having red rooms?”
He thought for a moment. “No, not here in Wyoming, that I can think of. However, there’s a bar named Alice and the Queen. It’s a themed bar that has a Queen of Hearts room? I haven’t been there, but it’s right on the border of Colorado and Wyoming, on the Colorado side.”
It was better than nothing. “Thanks, maybe we’ll check it out on our way back.” I put the name of the bar down in my phone so we could look it up when we got back to the SUV.
Liz stepped up with Merick at her side.
“Okay, Agent Collins, I got what we needed from here. The PIB team will be in touch with us.”
“Thanks. Ready to hike back?”
Both of them nodded.
“Thanks again, Agent Collins, we’ll be in touch.” The agent nodded at us, and we walked into the woods, following the trails of the ATVs.
All three of us remained silent for a few
yards. I’m sure none of us had a lot to say. Besides, who wanted to talk about four dead bodies hanging in the forest?
“This is far enough.” Merick put a hand on my arm to stop me. “I’ll take us back from here.”
Oh, thank the goddess. I was done with this forest. In the blink of an eye, we were standing next to Liz’s SUV. I climbed in the front, Merick in the back, and Liz in the driver’s seat. She started the car and gave it a second.
“Apparently there’s this bar, Alice and the Queen? They have a room that’s Queen of Hearts themed.” I pulled up the address on my phone. “It may be nothing, but…”
“It’s worth checking out. It’s on our way home, might as well.” Liz looked at the address on my phone. “Merick?”
“I might as well come.” He shrugged. “Did my guy have anything more to say on the rune?”
“Yeah, it’s a calling rune. Not a life prolonging rune like we thought.”
Liz cringed. “I hate that kind of magic.”
“Me too. So, let’s put a stop to it.” I buckled up. “Let’s find this witch.”
Liz pulled the car back onto the road. “Bridget is in rough shape.”
“She’s going to get protection. Just like Mable. If we can keep those two alive and safe, I’ll be thrilled.”
Liz nodded. “Their safety is priority right now. I don’t want them disappearing again.”
I rubbed my arm and then cringed as I hit something. My fingers came away with blood. “What… the actual…”
“Did you get hit by a branch?” Merick asked as he leaned from the back to see.
“No. I didn’t.” I rolled my sleeve up to see the rune carved into my arm. “What the actual fuck?”
Liz swerved off the side of the road and grabbed my arm for a closer look, pulling me toward her. “Abby…”
“I promise I didn’t get lost in the woods with a crazy witch. I’m sure that’s one thing that is not on my resume.”
We all stared at the bloodied rune for a moment. “Does this mean she’s tracking me now?”
Merick shrugged. “Guess we’ll find out if she comes knocking on your door.”
“How did it get there without you noticing?” Liz pressed her lips together. “Mable said the witch carved it on them when they were in the woods.”
I shook my head. “Nothing carved me. I just rubbed my shoulder and there it was.” I paused. “Unless…”
“Unless?” Liz pushed.
“When I hit the magic circle the first time, the magic came jolting back to me.”
“A magical carving.” Merick hmmed for a moment. “That’s an interesting talent.”
“I’m not sure if I would consider it a talent right now or not.” I glared at him. “Someone marked my skin without my permission.” I grinned. “But, we’re going to use this to find our witch.”
Liz raised a brow.
“We used Adrianna’s magic to track her. We can do it the same way.” I grinned. “Come on, we’ll check out the club and then go to Levi’s. We’re closer to his house than mine.”
Liz nodded and pulled the SUV back on to the road.
Alice and the Queen was a black building with very little signage to show where we were. There was a little red heart with a gold crown on the door that sat against a scripted ‘A’. I paused at the door for a moment. It wasn’t much to look at, and there was a strange magic around it. Not the type of magic that pushed us away, but it was a type of magic I was familiar with.
“It’s warded against humans.” I smirked. “It’s the same spell that I was using for the wolves.”
I opened the door and walked in. A podium stood there with a sign that said, ‘please wait.’ Beyond that was a dark Alice and Wonderland themed bar and restaurant that had images of Alice as a hunter of some sort instead of a little girl.
Red and black made up everything that I could see. A woman came up wearing a black and red suit with white bunny ears.
I stared at her for a moment. “Oh, um hi. We’re Special Agents with PIB, and we were hoping we could see a room called The Hearts room?”
The woman smiled. “Sorry, can’t do that. I don’t have the key. That room is by special invitation only.”
“Does your manager have a key?” Liz asked.
“Of course, but he’s not here.” She shrugged. “You’ll have to come back tonight if you want to see that room.”
I pressed my lips together. We could break the lock. Use magic to get in. But we didn’t have a warrant. I could see that Liz was thinking the same thing when I looked at her.
“What time is your manager in?” Liz crossed her arms.
“He comes in at sundown. Should I make you a reservation? I can’t promise he’ll show it to you, but he’ll at least talk to you.”
I tried to remember if I had anything else going on in the vampire world tonight. As far as I knew, I was good. “Then we’ll be back. Go ahead and put us down.”
She grinned at us. “Great, see you tonight.”
The three of us walked out. Liz started laughing as soon as the door shut. I glanced at her. “What?”
“Oh, I can’t wait to see Zayne’s face when he has to go with you.”
I chuckled. “He did okay when we went to the Underground.”
“I’ll be coming tonight as well,” Merick said. “I want to be magical backup for you.”
I glanced at Liz. “And you have to come as PIB, right?”
She nodded. “Yeah.”
“So we’ll have a full crew tonight.” That would be good if someone attacked us again.
My phone rang as we climbed back into the SUV, and Catalina’s number popped up. I answered. “It’s just after noon. Why are you awake?”
“We’ve had our first civilian attack.”
That threw me. “What? It’s daytime.”
“Here, yes, but the attack was overseas in Samuel’s territory.”
I took a deep breath. “Okay, what happened and what do we do?”
Liz and Merick stayed quiet in the back as Catalina spoke.
“We have three dead vampires and five dead humans. Our people are taking care of it now.”
“How do we know this was part of the war? And not some other attack?”
“Hannah sent us a video of them slaughtering the victims.”
My stomach churned. “I’m going to take your word for that because I don’t want to watch it. What do we do?”
“Can you meet with me tonight to discuss our options?”
I hesitated. “I have a place to check out for the PIB case. It shouldn’t take long. We can meet after that.”
What I expected was an argument. What I got was: “That will do. Have Zayne bring you to my house to have this discussion. Once we settle on a potential solution, we’ll pass it to the council.”
I was really glad I had her there to guide me, because I was at a loss at this point. “Okay. Sounds good.” The call disconnected, and I leaned my head back against the seat and sighed. “Vampire business tonight, guys. We’ve got a video of Hannah slaughtering people.”
Both Liz and Merick were quiet. I glanced at the window. “I didn’t sign up for a war.”
“You didn’t sign up for any of this,” Merick reminded me. “You didn’t know any of that world until the last few years.”
I could almost predict what he was going to say next.
“It might be time for you to choose which world you want to walk in.”
I glanced back at him. “I am a witch.”
The silence in the car made the unsaid ‘for now’ hang in the air much longer than usual.
Liz continued to drive back to the city in silence. I searched on my phone to see if I could find any more information about the club.
“Says here that the owner is…” I paused at the name. “You’re not going to believe this. Randy Parks. “
“Parks is a pretty common name,” Liz stated. “Mr. Parks was pretty insistent that Monica no longer used magic.”<
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“You and I both know you can’t just quit magic. It’s part of us.” I looked at the picture of Randy Parks staring back at me. “I’m not sure what we’re going to find tonight, but now I want to know how all this fits together.”
Liz nodded. “I agree. Let’s get to Levi’s and we’ll do the tracking spell and see if we can’t find the witch at least.”
I glanced at the clock. We had time to at least find a location before we needed to be back to Alice and The Queen. “Sounds like a plan.”
Levi’s mansion was eerily quiet when we walked in. All the lights were off. There was nothing to show if someone was here or not. Even during the daytime, there was always some noise in the mansion. Some sign that someone was here.
I dropped my bag by the door and took off my shoes. I resisted yelling ‘Hello’ into the empty home.
This was ridiculous. Levi should have been here. Mario as well. There should have been a trusted human or two walking around during the daylight, restocking things, or taking care of any business Levi had during the day. But there was nothing.
All thanks to Samuel.
A new rush of anger rose in me. This wasn’t right.
“Abby, come on.” Liz put a hand on my shoulder like she understood the emotions flooding through me. “Let’s focus on the witch. We’ll get Levi and Mario back soon.”
I nodded, and we all went to my chamber. Liz and Merick went to the circle etched into the floor while I got my map out of the desk.
I stepped into the circle with the two of them and laid the map out. Merick closed the circle, and the magic snapped over me. A couple of years ago, I would have thought that Merick’s magic was awkward or overwhelming, but now it was comforting.
Liz stepped up to me and put her hand against the rune. “I don’t know if this is going to hurt or not.”
“Well, it can’t hurt more than the binding spell. Right?” I smirked and her, and Merick started the Latin words that would work for the tracking spell.
Pain swirled through the marks of the rune on my shoulder, and I felt fresh blood flow again.
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