I poised my fingers over the keyboard and thought about my uncle and what I knew about him. He was a jerk, he was out for himself, yet he had a love there for his family. He was willing to sacrifice a stronger member of his family for a weaker one. He was completely devoted to my mother. My mother, his sister. I knew what the answer was.
I typed in the name of the restaurant and hit enter. No error came back, but the document popped up on the screen. It was a scanned image of a handwritten letter. The penmanship was pristine and elegant with its loops and carefully slanted lines.
My dearest Abigail,
Today you were born, your mother cried the moment you took your first breath. The magic in you was strong, and you fought so hard to stay alive. I thought we might lose you before the night was through. But you, like your mother, are stubborn. I write this because I do not know what your future holds, all I know is that the course of my sister’s life has changed and I fear that this will bring danger to her and you, my only niece.
When you read this, know that I have every intention of protecting you and Elizabeth until my last breath. Know that there are evils out there that not even your father can perceive and even a choice made with a good heart can lead to horrible outcomes. Know, that despite every circumstance surrounding you, that I will never hate you. That I will never wish you dead. For you’re just a babe, and the real monsters are around you. Forever yours,
Uncle Oliver.
I leaned back on my bed and looked at the letter. He must have still had the original somewhere. It’s not something that had ever been shown to me, and I wondered if he gave it to Levi to give to me after my parents died. Or if my parents had it. I wondered if my father had seen it or not. I knew there was no love lost between the two of them, so if my father had seen the letter, it was likely gone at this point.
I don’t know why my uncle chose to send this to me now; he didn’t do anything without reason. He made certain to hide it from Mario, so I knew that I wasn’t supposed to let anyone know that I had it.
I closed the file and ejected the flash drive. I had no idea what was going on. I reached for my phone to call him but decided against it. I didn’t know what he’d say or if he even wanted to approach the subject. Hell, I didn’t know what I needed to say. He must have known that Levi was going to accuse him of wanting me dead. I felt like those two communicated more than they let on.
What on earth was I supposed to do with this? I rubbed my eyes. I needed to get ready for work. I needed to put all the personal drama behind me and focus on my PIB cases. I had a handful of dead bodies and two criminals to find. Personal drama was going to have to wait.
The hushed silence of the office came over me when I entered it. Nothing had changed, no magic hit me, all my things were in the right spot. Yet, something felt off again. Wrong. I stood a few yards away from my desk, trying to place what the feeling was. Paranoia. That’s all it could be. My office required a key card to get in.
SWAT had to get in somehow. I assumed they had a master key, or maybe the system unlocked it for them when someone was alerted that there was a situation in my office. Either way, they got in which meant chances were, someone else could too.
I cringed at the thought. Who had been in here without me knowing? I needed to put a rune on this door as well. This was why I didn’t want to do anything unrelated to PIB in my office. I never knew who was watching. I was glad I didn’t open Oliver’s letter here.
Unlocking the computer, I went down the mental list of things I needed to do, check on the name Carmen Jones, try a search for the baby vampire, and search for Drake’s daughter. Lots of research and no real answers. I almost wish I had a partner so that I could do street research instead of computer research. Go talk to someone and see if they knew anything about these people. I could talk to the moms’ group on if they knew Carmen, but that depended on if there was any reason for her to be connected.
Something was keeping me from wanting to be in my office. But why? Did I risk another cleansing spell to see if someone had cast another spell, but how were they getting in to do this crap? I growled in frustration and stood up. I went back to the chalk spell from the day before and activated the rune again, this time without a circle.
A jolt shot through me and I flew back into the wall. I hit the concrete with a thud and fell to the ground. What the hell was going on? I took a deep breath. Someone had hijacked my rune. I rubbed the back of my head as I stood up. That wasn’t something I wanted to experience again, but the question was, who the hell had managed to turn my own rune against me?
I waited for the SWAT team to come storming in again, but nothing happened. I slowly walked back to the rune.
I could feel the magic buzzing under my feet, marching up my skin, raising the hairs there and warning me to stop. I stopped a foot away from the rune and debated on if I wanted to touch it again or not. The first time was probably a warning, the second time it would probably hurt me.
What I needed was a clean office, and it looked like someone else was going to have to clean it up. I rubbed my eyes and went to the desk. Grabbing my bag, I grumbled. I needed to do the research, and I wanted to know why someone was so desperate to keep me out of my office.
I swung my door open and came face to face with Boss Man. His narrow features always reminded me of a rat, and his beady eyes didn’t help much with that. Boss Man was what we were told to call him, we had never been given a real name to go with his face, but all the agents just went with it, I followed them and never questioned. Until recently.
“What’s up?” I asked, tightening my grip on my bag. It wasn’t like him to leave the top level of the building.
He looked at me and then into my office. “Office troubles, Agent Collins?”
“Seems someone has hexed my office, using my cleansing rune.” I shrugged. “I’ll get security on it and find someone to cleanse it for me.”
He just stared at me. The look in his eyes made me want to squirm, but I refused. “Case related?”
“Most likely, seems just to be warning me off of my office. I’ll make sure security checks the records and see who’s been in and out beside me.”
“And Nick.”
I raised a brow. “Nick’s dead.”
“But someone has used his key card a few times.” He stared at me. “We talked about this before. Still have no idea who it was?”
I shook my head. “Nope, but I assumed PIB had deactivated it by now.” Of course, I was lying. My uncle had been the one who used Nick’s key card to get in and out because our IT guys hadn’t updated the system yet and my uncle took advantage of it. Boss Man didn’t need to know that though.
“We updated it, but I wanted to make sure you hadn’t had any unwanted visitors. Seems my hunch was right.”
I tried not to lock my jaw and to keep my voice even. “What hunch.”
“That something more was going on down here than what SWAT said.”
I shrugged. “Like I said, I’ll take care of it. Once I talk to security, I need to get back on my case.”
“I need to speak to you about the video.” He met my gaze, and I knew exactly what video he was talking about. “The local coven called me to warn me about you.”
My voice dropped low. “They have issues with me so I wouldn’t believe what they said.”
“They think you’re dangerous and sent me proof.”
I bristled at that and didn’t want to respond because if I did, I would end up screaming at him.
He took that as a sign to continue. “I know that the case with the King was a difficult one for you and I know that there wasn’t much of a choice with what you had to do, but that was more of a position for the executioners to handle.”
“There was no time to call an execution sir. Lives were in danger. I did what I had to.”
He nodded. “And your aura isn’t tainted by it.”
“What are you getting at? I didn’t get away without remorse or guilt because of
it. I still have nightmares about it.”
“I know. I wanted to hear your side of the story before going to my higher-ups.”
I closed my eyes. “Am I going to be suspended again?”
“No, the opposite actually, I’m hoping they move you into a different position.” He started toward the elevator. “Have a good day, Abigail.”
I watched him walk off, a bit stunned at the conversation. What on earth was he going on about exactly? I shook my head. I needed to focus on my cases. If I wasn’t going to get suspended, then I didn’t need to stress out about it. I didn’t really want to move to any other positions, but if it meant keeping my job. I would. I was happy as an Agent. I got my job done, I brought in the bad guys, and I got to use my magic on a regular basis, there wasn’t much else I could ask for.
I took the stairs up one floor and went to the office of our head of security. The woman sat at her desk, her caramel-colored hair pulled up in a tight bun, with a couple loose strands hanging around it. She peaked up over her thick-rimmed glasses. “What can I do for you, Agent Collins?”
“I need to pull some security footage of my office and then I need a cleaning crew to swipe through it.”
“Of course, anything particular you’re looking for?”
“Someone hexed my office; I need to look for any sort of anomaly in the footage or someone entering my office without permission.”
She nodded and typed in a few things. “It’s going to take me a couple hours before I can get one of my guys on it. I’ll let you know what we find.”
“Thanks.” Though I knew security footage could be deceiving, it was a good place to start. I walked back out of the office and looked around. Something was eating at the back of my mind telling me that someone was watching me.
I couldn’t see anyone, so I tried to write it off as paranoia. I shook my head and texted Simon to see if he wanted to do lunch instead of dinner. I didn’t want to deal with Mario having a shit fit tonight if I could help it. It was already going to be bad enough that I didn’t want to have him around at all right now.
Simon answered that he was at Wolf’s Bane and to meet him there. Wolf’s Bane was a bar that was owned by his pack. It normally wasn’t open at this time, but maybe he was there to do some business. I let him know I’d be down there soon and headed out of the building. The Hummer was sitting right where I left it, but now there was a flamingo with sunglasses sitting on it.
Seriously. What the hell? I shook my head, picked it up and shoved it in the back with the others. “Fucking flamingos.”
I climbed into the driver’s seat and headed to see Simon. I hoped that lunch would be relatively normal, because as of right now, everyone seemed to be against me, be upset with me, or was just being flat-out weird.
I walked into Wolf’s Bane and stopped for a moment. The lime-green wolf done in tiles on the floor was still there, it would glow under the black lights as soon as they turned still on, the bar was still on the far side of the room, but there was something different. Ah, there was a fine undertone of magic buzzing around me. It wasn’t there to warn me off, but it wasn’t my magic so that always made me feel a bit uncomfortable.
“Agent Collins.” Travis’ voice came from the far side of the bar as he walked out of the employee break room. I had no desire to go back in there because there had once been three dismembered bodies in there. I wasn’t sure what one did to get that much blood off the wall and tiled floors.
Travis had shaved his head and was still as big as a linebacker. I actually think he was bulkier now then I last saw him three months ago. His greeting was very different this time around. “I sure hope none of our wolves are in trouble.”
Travis also happened to be Simon’s second-in-command.
“Nope, just meeting Simon for lunch. He told me to meet him down here.” I stuck my hands in my pocket, trying to be a bit less threatening looking than normal.
Travis actually cracked a smile. “He’s in the back room, go on back.”
Of course he was, because that meant I had to go into the break room. “Did you guys get the blood all scrubbed off?”
“Scared of a little blood Agent Collins?” Travis laughed and then shook his head. “You’d be amazed what a hazmat team can do.”
I raised a brow. “No, no I wouldn’t.” I walked passed him. I could still see the scene of dismembered werewolves in my mind when I thought about the back room.
I knocked on the door and heard a ‘come in’ sound from inside. I opened the door and expected the white glare of the break room, what I got was now a deep forest-green break room that now actually had stuff for the employees. Television on the wall, a couch in front of that, a fridge in the corner, and a small round table in front of a counter with a microwave.
“So someone spills a little blood, and you go all out for a remodel?” I walked over and sat with Simon at the table. “It looks good.”
He laughed. “It was needed, I guess a slaughter was just something to motivate our upgrade. How’s work?”
I shrugged. “Oh you know, bodies, criminals, magic. Business as usual.”
“But lunch instead of dinner? Have something else planned with Levi tonight?”
“More like my new suitor. You know how Levi is, every waking moment spent with someone he wants me to date might work.” I let the annoyance sound in my voice. There was a part of me that though Levi actually wanted Mario and me together. Maybe it would make him worry less, or maybe he thought it would just suit me. The Princess of Vampires, dating a vampire. I wrinkled my nose at the silent thought.
Simon mirrored my expression. “That means he’s a vampire.”
For a moment, I had almost forgotten Simon wasn’t in on the big secret. “Yeah, he’s a vampire.”
“Which is better than a werewolf for you?”
There was something in Simon’s voice I couldn’t identify. “I didn’t say that, and I don’t think that’s what Levi is thinking.” Of course, I couldn’t tell Simon what Levi was thinking, or that it was all a big I because of stupid politics.
“And if you had a choice?” Simon raised a brow.
I laughed. “Really Simon? If I had a choice?” I crossed my arms and leaned back into the chair, meeting his gaze. “Levi’s doing the same thing he always has, pushing a relationship he wants to work. I have a choice, right now I’m humoring him. Both him and I know it’s not going to work. Hell, Mario probably knows it’s not going to work either.”
“Mario?” Simon nearly fell out of his chair. “Mario is who he has you dating now?’
I covered my face. I wasn’t sure when he’d met Mario, but since the pack and Levi were allies, I shouldn’t have been surprised. “We’re not doing this. Are you seriously acting jealous of him?”
“Abby, you’re dating a vampire who is a member of the King’s Guard, did you know that?”
So that was the story they fed him, it wasn’t wrong, but I wanted to know how much Simon knew about Mario. “I know that’s he’s part of it and that he’s here to make sure Ira stays away. Since he’s been so interested in Levi’s territory. Which means once it’s all over, he’ll go away. Besides Simon, I’m a witch. We’re not really compatible with vampires because we’re still mortal.”
A look of horror crossed Simon’s face. “What if he changed you?”
“Oh for fuck’s sake. Everyone knows that I don’t want to be changed. To let me die if it came down to it.” I laughed. “Settle down, and let’s go to lunch?”
He went silent for a moment. “Do you like him?”
“Would I be here for lunch if I did?” I lowered my voice. “I’m humoring Levi, he also feels like having Mario around would make me safer.”
Simon sighed. “Okay.” He reached across the table and squeezed my hand. “I don’t like it though. Is he going to be upset that we’re going to lunch?”
“If he is, I don’t care. My life, not his.” I wasn’t sure if he was referring to Mario or Levi, but my ans
wer remained the same either way.
He gave a small laugh. “Did you date me to humor Levi?”
“No, I dated you because I thought we could make it work and then all hell broke loose, now we’re trying it casually again. But if you start throwing a hissy fit, we’re done.” I shook my head.
He nodded. “I’ll try not to throw a hissy fit. That being said, let’s go to lunch?”
“Yeah, let’s go to lunch. They are cleansing my office, so I have some time to kill.”
“Cleaned? Did you kill someone in it?”
I gave him a look that told him I was not impressed with his joke. “No, someone put a hex on it.”
“Abigail, really?” He rubbed his eyes. “Can you not go one case without a hex?”
“The last one there wasn’t a hex. Nor the one before that.” I pointed and looked at him. “Or the case with your wolves.”
He led me out of the break room and into the bar where Travis was stocking things.
Travis snorted. “Glad to see you two weren’t having at it in the break room.”
“No, Travis, as pack master I’ve got a little more class than that.” Simon shot back without missing a beat.
I covered my eyes trying not to think about employees having sex in the break room. “Right, me too. Let’s go.”
“See you later then.” Travis waved a hand and went back to work.
I stood there dumbfounded for a moment. “Seems him getting skinned has changed his attitude about me.”
“A lot of things you did three months ago did. Particularly when you gave yourself up to save the pups.”
I nodded. I had paid for that dearly in terms of what Ira got from me. Blood.
Simon led me to his car, which was parked next to the Hummer. He looked at me and then back to the Hummer. “What happened?” I didn’t miss the exasperation in his voice.
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