Simon pulled up in his truck and helped me get Travis in the backseat of the cab before I climbed in. We remained silent as he drove through the downtown streets and back to the highway. “We have to take him up to pack grounds. The doctor there can help look him over. What the hell, Abby? I thought we agreed to wait a couple days to see if we can get you back on the case.”
“And I just found the one man who could vouch for me strapped to a table.” I snapped. “Zachary is alive, all I need to do is confirm his identity and I can send info to PIB. I wasn’t expecting to stumble upon this, but they have Travis’ pelt. How is it possible that he’s still alive?”
“The wolf pelt is different, there’s still damage in human form, but thanks to our ability to heal quickly, we can survive a skinning. It’s extremely painful.” Simon let out a noise that was a half growl and half sigh. “They are torturing our wolves, but why?”
“Is there any other connection everyone might have? Anything that you can think of, as obscure as it might be?”
He thought for a moment. “I’ll have to go over their records when we get back to the pack. Maybe there’s some little detail that we’re missing.”
“I’ll help if you want to take care of other pack things. It’s not like I have much else to do.”
“You don’t want me to drop you back off at home?” He glanced at me.
“No. I don’t, because there’s nothing I can do to help you from there.” I glanced back at Travis. “He’s clutching something in his hand.” I frowned and unbuckled to reach back there. “Don’t crash, okay?”
I swore I could feel Simon roll his eyes. “Get your ass back in your seat.”
I pried Travis’ hand open and pulled out a chunk of hair. “Looks like he went down fighting.” I grabbed a small ziplock bag from my bag and shoved the hairs in it. “I’m going to be performing some magic tonight.”
“On pack land?” Simon sounded hesitant.
“It’s a big circle that I control; there’s really no better spot to do it other than Levi’s mansion, and I don’t really want to be there.” I held the hairs up to the light of the moon. “Travis just gave us a huge break in this.”
“Can you use it for DNA testing?” Simon asked. “Compare it to Zachary’s files?”
“Not until my badge is reinstated.” I buckled back up. “Then I can.” Things would be easier that way, but now, I could track them and figure out where they were gathering other than downtown. They weren’t killing them in that restaurant, judging by the lack of splatter. No, they had to have another place they were working for that. I settled back into the seat and watched as the city turned into mountains. My mind raced on why they were torturing wolves. What were they getting out of this?
“You need to warn the other part of your pack.”
“I know, I’m already in talks with them over this. I want to make sure they are safe too despite the disagreements.”
Good. Because I didn’t want them blaming it on him and his pack. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“That your second-in-command was taken out.” I shook my head. “If we hasn’t found him you would have been delivered a pelt and then later a body or a head.”
He sighed. “It’s not your fault.” His shoulders slouched down a touch as he drove. “The world of lycanthropes and shifters is a mess. Things like this are bound to happen until we find a way to go back and police our own people in a manner that works. The human law…it’s just not enough, Abby.”
I knew what he was getting at, where he was coming from, but I didn’t want to agree. “We all have to live peacefully together. That’s why PIB was created, to handle the supernatural cases—“
“Yet look what happened when you tried to shoot your suspect. Your life was in danger, you shot, and now you’re suspended.”
I looked out the window. “PIB can’t be treated differently; if it had been a cop…”
“They might have gotten away with it because they are human. The fear of infection is very real for them. Not for you though.”
Because I was a witch. There was a lot to be said for that. “Paranormal creatures can’t just go back into hiding.”
“No, but maybe we need better representation. Like the vampires have with their king. PIB lets him handle the cases that are out of control.”
I frowned. “How do you know that?”
“I thought that was common knowledge. Is it not?”
“I haven’t been able to confirm that. Everything in our systems pertaining to him is redacted because it’s some big secret about who he is.”
Simon’s eyes widened a little bit. “It’s known in the supernatural world that he gets involved in those cases. I assumed you knew.”
“No, but it would have been nice if someone had mentioned that to me.” Now I had another piece to add to the board. Maybe that’s why Levi was so desperate to keep me away from the case he was working on. He might have been working directly with the king. Interesting.
“I thought that was information you got as a PIB agent.” He shook his head. “See, this is what I’m talking about. How can you help the paranormal world when you don’t have information like that?”
He had a point. “So you want something like the vampire king? A wolf king?”
“Yes, I think that it would let our voices be heard more in the human world.”
He could be right. “Then start writing to your officials, start getting it out there.” I shrugged. “It’s either that or let the humans try and push out lycanthropes, and no one wants that.”
He snorted. “That’s very true.”
Panic struck me and I gasped. Magic, something just walked through the wolf’s circle. I couldn’t breathe past the panic, which told me it was somebody that truly wasn’t welcomed in the circle. I gasped for air, forcing myself to remember how to breathe.
“Abby?”
“We’re going to have trouble when we get to pack grounds,” I muttered and closed my eyes.
“What kind of trouble?”
“I’m not sure exactly what, but something big and bad just crossed over the threshold of my circle.”
Simon and I walked along the path to the cabin, my gun by my side. We left Travis in the car until we were sure of the situation. I had to play by supernatural political rules since I wasn’t PIB right now, but that wasn’t going to stop me from trying to protect Simon and the pack. I had his permission to have my gun on grounds, and he knew that I wouldn’t do anything to harm his pack.
When we stepped through the tree line, I wasn’t sure what I expected to see, but it wasn’t Ira standing behind the pups with a matching number of blood-starved vampires.
“Ah, Abigail. The rumors are true; you’re running with the wolf pack.” He held his arms out like he was welcoming us. “I thought I’d chance it and come up here to talk to the alpha. Imagine my surprise when these young pups told me that you’d been up here talking about a case and that you dated the alpha.”
I glanced at Simon, letting him take the lead. “I’m the alpha of this wolf pack. You’re on my ground and threatening my people.”
“Yes, and no.” Ira shrugged. “You see, I’ll hurt them if Abigail doesn’t come with me.”
I frowned. “Seriously, you’re willing to risk war with the wolves for me? What the hell drugs are you on? I’m a witch! I’m a witch who has no particular attachment to whatever political game you’re playing with the fucking king.”
“Maybe it’s not the king I’m worried about. Maybe it’s because you’ve managed to take out two of my people and I don’t want PIB looking into this any further.” Ira ran his fingers through Brittany’s hair and then yanked her head back. “These pups are terrified. First, there is someone around killing their people, and now there’s a vampire threatening to kill them.”
I tightened my grip on the gun, and he pulled harder on Brittany’s hair so she made a noise. “No, no, Abby, this can’t be solved with guns.”
This was my circle. I should have been able to do something to protect these pups. I reached out with my magic to see if I could find any fire, maybe they had started one in the cabin? Anything to help. Nothing was there but dead coals. I took a deep breath. “Let them go, and I’ll come with you.”
“Peacefully.” Ira stated.
Politics were all about how things were worded. As Levi’s person, I was bound by what I said. I had purposely left the word peaceful out of it. “Peacefully.”
“Without your weapons and your badge.”
I hesitated and he put his lips to Brittany’s throat. “Fine, without my weapons. I don’t have my badge.” I put my bag on the ground and put my gun inside.
“Simon, the bag with the hair, drop it off at PIB, from there, go to my house. Feed my cat.”
“Abby…really?”
I glanced at him. “My cat likes to know where I’m at, talk to him.”
The look Simon gave me was wide eyes. “Abby…your cat? Have you gone crazy?” I could hear the tone of disbelief, almost shock in his voice.
“Just trust me.”
He nodded. “I don’t think this is the best idea.”
Levi had always taught me not to let the bad guy use someone against you, which was exactly what Ira was doing. However, I knew that Ira didn’t want me dead. Not right now. He wanted to be able to use me against the vampire king, and with any luck, I would only endure a little torture and come back with a wealth of information. Assuming I was able to escape. My fear suddenly manifested in my throat. As long as Simon listened to me, Merick could come get me, or tell Levi where I was. Or something. “It’s not the best idea. But you have five pups on the line and vampires on your land. If I don’t go, we’re all dead.”
“She speaks the truth, now be a good boyfriend and go feed her cat.” Ira disappeared from behind the pups and reappeared next to me, grabbing me by the throat. “You’re a stupid witch.” The world around us faded, and the last thing I saw was the fear on Simon’s face.
CHAPTER NINE
We reappeared in a well-lit room. My head took a moment to stop spinning and adjust to where we were. Empty medical beds were lined up against the walls with IVs of blood hanging next to them. “Levi putting a damper on your test subjects?” I asked, not able to keep the snideness from my voice.
“Yes, but now that I have you, I’m sure he’ll back off.” He shoved me towards the blood-starved vampires that had been on the pack lands. “Do not feed from her. Hook her up, drug her, take a blood sample. Make sure she’s too drugged to use her magic.”
My heart fell. “I came peacefully; I’m not about to fight my way out of here. One or two of your blood-starved I can take, not a whole horde of them. I’m not that stupid.”
Ira ran a hand down my cheek. “You came here willingly because you know that I don’t have Levi. You just sacrificed your life for a bunch of werewolves that aren’t worth the air they breathe.” He chuckled. “You have no idea why I want you or what I’m planning on doing to you.”
He was wrong. He wanted a sample of my blood which told me he wanted to have something to have for his experiments. A shiver chased after the touch of his fingers against my skin. I resisted every urge to move my face away from him. I refused to show my fear. He was a vampire; he knew I was scared simply by the hitch in my breathing and the change in my heartbeat. Just like he knew I’d be lying if I answered any of his questions.
“Tomes said that he wanted to leave me broken and dead for the Vampire King. Apparently, that’s not your goal here?”
One of the blood-starved grabbed my wrist and slid a needle into it. Drugs. But fighting against them wasn’t going to do me any good. Not when I had nothing to fight with. I wondered how much Ira knew about witches. The drugs wouldn’t stay in my system long; maybe I could bank on that. If not, I was probably going to die here.
A smirk crossed Ira’s face, showing his fangs. “That’s the end goal, but I don’t plan on letting you die quickly.”
The world started to become blurry as my legs buckled. Whatever drug they were using moved quickly. The blood-starved vampire let me fall against the cold tile, and I struggled to lift my head. Ira put his boot under my chin and tilted it up.
“We used the same drug on you that I use on all my subjects. It’ll last a few hours, long enough for me to get the blood results back.”
Why was he so obsessed with my blood? I couldn’t form the question. No smart-ass remarks came from my lips. My thoughts barely moved through my head in a coherent manner. Someone lifted me up and put me on one of the beds. The world went black for a moment, and I struggled to swim to the surface of consciousness. My vision came back, and Ira was staring down at me.
His lips formed words, and I swore he said something about my mother. But that was impossible. Ira shouldn’t have known her. Faint fingers on my arm brought my attention briefly to the vampires taking my blood. The red liquid filled the tubes, one, two, three…they disappeared out of sight, and the darkness came again.
Smoke filled my nostrils, and my eyes shot open. To my surprise, the drug had mostly faded from my system, and I could form thoughts again. Yelling came from outside in the halls, and I tried to sit up, but the leather straps held me to the bed. There was a fire blazing in the building, and my magic could feel it. I flexed my hands and was relieved to feel that there was no IV stuck in my veins. I wiggled and tried to squeeze my way out of the straps. Nothing budged. I took a deep breath to control the panic flooding me. I could accidentally stir the fire and make it worse.
The door to the room burst opened and Ira came running in. He ripped the leather bonds from the buckles and threw me over his shoulder in a fireman’s hold. “I should let you burn, it’d serve him right.” He snarled at me.
I forced myself to stay limp. He was too focused on getting out of the fire. The heat in the building was nearly unbearable, but was quickly replaced by cool air as he transported us outside. I took a breath of clean air, and he dropped me to the ground. The world spun a bit as I landed with a thump.
“Abigail.” Levi’s voice caught me off guard. I hadn’t expected him to be the one to come for me. Not after all the lecturing and training he’d given me on loved ones being used against you. “Ira, she is no concern of yours. Return her to me.”
Ira laughed. “No concern? Levi, how quickly you have forgotten the secrets and lies that you keep from her. You know exactly what my concern is.”
It’d be nice if someone would let me in on the secret. Ira pulled me up by my hair and held a knife to my throat. My night wasn’t getting much better. Drugs, fire, knife…fire…I opened my eyes and met Levi’s worried gaze.
Out of everything, unless Tomes was able to talk to Ira from jail, Ira didn’t know that I was an elemental. I closed my eyes and focused on the fire. I tried to imagine the fire creeping closer, but my mind wavered and struggled at the idea of controlling it. The drug tried to steal my thoughts as I forced my magic into the fire, drawing it to Ira and me. The heat rushed to us and almost overwhelmed me.
“Abigail…” I heard a vague warning in Levi’s voice. He didn’t like me using this ability. It was too risky, but I had to. The fire whipped around us, the flame licked my shoulder, and I held in the scream of pain that wanted to escape. Ira thrust me forward as he cried out and I stumbled to the ground, my legs still numb from whatever drug they gave me. Sirens wailed, and I turned to see Ira disappear into the night.
Levi wrapped his arms around me, and the walls of the mansion replaced the blazing building. Whatever was going on, Levi didn’t want to be there when the authorities showed up. He sat me down against the wall, and the room spun. “Abigail?”
“I can’t see straight,” I muttered. My magic still hummed through me, and my stomach churned. “I think I’m still drugged.” I had assumed if I could form a coherent thought that I wasn’t under the influence anymore.
“What did they give you?” He put a hand on my cheek. “F
ocus.”
My eyes had closed without me realizing it. “Sorry, I’m tired. I don’t know what they gave me. It’s not like I can just ask.” I tilted my head. “But Jason might know…if he ever got the results from the bodies…Simon feed my cat?”
“I don’t know. He came to the mansion looking for me.” Levi growled. “I don’t know what they gave you, so I don’t have anything to counteract it.”
“Just let me sleep it off. I promise I’ll be okay in the morning.” I leaned my head against the wall.
“You’ve been missing for two nights.” Levi stood. “Mario, call Oliver. Let him know we have her.”
Where the hell had Mario been when I was with Ira? I didn’t see him at the building. “Did I get the bastard?”
“Ira? He’ll probably have a good scar or two, but you’ve exposed yourself as an elemental.” The worry in his voice caught me off guard.
“They won’t lock me away,” I muttered. “I’m going to sleep now.”
“Right here in the hall?” He asked with a chuckle.
“I can’t feel my legs, I don’t think walking to my room is an option, and I refuse to crawl.” I closed my eyes. Levi picked me up, but I was already asleep before I felt him put me down.
Images raced through my mind as I tried to make sense of everything crashing over my senses. Fire, blood, screams. I could control the flames, but nothing else. I couldn’t save those who were screaming because they weren’t victims of the fire. No, they were victims of a werewolf. Zachary. I saw my mother’s bloodstained face as the life left her eyes, her hand reaching out to me.
I woke with a jump and reached for my gun, only to remember that I didn’t have it.
“Good evening, Abigail.” My uncle’s voice pulled my gaze to the doorway of my room. “I heard you’ve had an interesting couple of nights.”
Not that I could remember them completely. “You could say that. I didn’t think you were allowed to step foot in Levi’s mansion.”
“He made an exception to let me watch over you during the day. He was worried about how you were reacting to the drugs they gave you. You had nightmares all day, but that’s it. No throwing up or thrashing around uncontrollably.” Oliver shrugged. “But he was concerned, and I wanted to be here for the explanation of what happened.”
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