Here Witchy Witchy Box Set 2

by A. L. Kessler

  Clarissa went to say something, probably to ask what I meant, but stopped as a new customer walked in. She went to greet her customer, and I gave her a little wave as we walked out.

  Simon looked at the box. “That was an expensive information trip.”

  “Yeah, but I got what I needed, and you helped keep the tension down.” I gave him a small kiss on the cheek. “And you might have also kept her from using magic on me.”

  He opened his mouth to protest but then shook his head. “Next time warn me if you’re going to use me like that.”

  “Okay, I guess.” I winked at him and started back to the car. I hesitated a little in front of Loraine’s shop but kept going. Clarissa’s words echoed in my head about the child. For magic to be mistaken for a mental illness, it had to be completely out of control, but it seemed that insane power ran through the bloodline. Drake’s sanity was shaken, was Loraine’s?

  Chapter Nine

  Simon had dropped me off at the north PIB building to get the Hummer, and I drove back to the South building. Now, I sat at my desk with the doll on its stand sitting on the corner of my desk, staring at the door. I chuckled to myself thinking about the confusion that anyone who walked in would have. Might not be worth the money, but it’d at least keep me entertained.

  I’d been on the computer looking things up, finding dead ends, but I still had one more search I wanted to do. I wanted to see if I could find Loraine’s daughter.

  I typed in Loraine’s full name and hit enter. Search results popped up, and I scrolled through the non-relevant information. Finally, I found what I was looking for, a file with death and birth certificates in it. I opened it and saw a birth certificate for a female child named Cynthia Moll. The father unknown but the mother was Loraine.

  I wrote the name down and then searched it. Cynthia Moll was currently a resident in Tree Leaf Mental Asylum in the next city south of here. She’d been there since she was seven and now she would be about ten. They didn’t have a diagnosis for her disorder yet, but was said to be delusional, magical, and considered dangerous.

  It broke my heart that a child was considered dangerous. Maybe she needed better training; maybe her magic just wasn’t controllable yet. Children were always innocent when it came to magic; they didn’t know the difference good and bad until someone guided them.

  I sighed and leaned back in my chair. I needed to speak to her. The problem was, the words and memories of a child weren’t always the truth, or at least the truth as adults think of it.

  A knock came on my office door, and I looked up to see Mario standing outside the glass. I glance behind me told me I’d worked until sundown already with my research. Great.

  I got up to let him in, and he paused at the doll on the desk. “That’s creepy.”

  “How did you know where I was?” I raised a brow. “I hadn’t told Levi about the switch.”

  He shrugged. “You turned the tracker on on your phone for some reason.”

  “Oliver did because I wasn’t sure what was going on.”

  “Fill me in?” He walked over to the doll and touched the curled hair. “She looks just like you. A gift?”

  I shook my head. “No, Simon and I went to get some information and to help with the cover, Simon had to buy a doll. This was the one the storekeeper suggested.”

  “You saw Drake’s daughter then.” He looked at me as I sat back down at the desk. “She’s dangerous, you know?”

  I nodded. “That’s why I took Simon with, to have an innocent bystander there to help defuse the situation.”

  “Do you think she has something to do with the deaths?”

  I didn’t want to give him information. “I can’t discuss that case with you, but the case I can discuss with you will be up on my screen in just a moment.”

  I closed out the files on Cynthia and opened the files from the vampire victims we found the other night. “Does this look like the work of Keira?”

  He pulled the other desk chair over and carefully examined the screen. “Yes, it does. This looks exactly like her doing. Is this the only one that’s shown up?”

  I nodded and flipped through the pictures. “This here.” I stopped on the picture of the bedroom with the doll who had painted fangs, much like mine. “This is what made me think it was her.”

  “That doll looks similar to the one that you have. Same maker?”

  I hadn’t thought about it while we were there. “Possibly, it’s a little worn though, older than mine.” I paused. “Drake?” I questioned and looked at Mario.

  “Drake made dolls in his spare time, that’s probably where Loraine learned how to do it.” He tapped the screen. “That one isn’t porcelain like yours.”

  “No, it’s a soft fabric doll with a plastic face.” I pressed my lips together. “I didn’t expect these two cases to come together.”

  Mario nodded. “Don’t count on it yet; it could be just a coincidence. Now, we need to go back to this scene and take a look around.”

  “Mason hasn’t gotten back to me with any other information, so I was just sitting tight.”

  Mario stood and put the computer chair back. “It’s not a sit around type of situation Abigail, you don’t know the creature like Levi and I do. She’s likely to be still using that place.”

  “Not with PIB and cops swarming around it. Besides, I thought she was staying with someone up north.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “But, I’m going to humor you, to show you that PIB has their shit together.”

  He crossed his arms. “And if she’s there and PIB is not?”

  “Then I know we’re dealing with something bigger than just PIB can handle and I’ll let you help me more.” I stood from my chair and grabbed my bag. I patted the doll on the head. “You have a good night, mini-me, keep the office safe.”

  Mario shook his head. “You can’t trust a doll to keep a room safe.”

  I smirked. “You can if you put a protection rune on the bottom of it.”

  He said nothing to me as we walked out of the office. Maybe I’d stunned him into silence, or maybe he thought my response was silly, either way, it made him stop talking, and I enjoyed the break from him rambling.

  We walked out into the parking lot and to the Hummer. He put a hand on my shoulder to stop me and motioned to the vehicle. My heart skipped a beat, wondering what he saw that I didn’t. And then I noticed it. Another fucking flamingo was sitting next to the car; this one had swimsuit wrapped around its neck.

  I shook my head and kept going forward. “It’s just someone playing a prank.”

  “How do you know that for sure?”

  I picked it up, opened the back of the Hummer, and threw the flamingo on top of the pile. “Because someone keeps leaving them for me.”

  “How many?”

  I shrugged. “Thirteen of them surrounding the car at the mansion and since then there’s been two more that joined the crew.”

  “And this doesn’t bother you?” He raised a brow.

  “Nope, there’s no magic to them, so I’m not that worried about it. When I get a chance, I’m going to swing by the shop that I know sells them and see if someone bought them in bulk.”

  Mario peeked into the back of the Hummer. “What are you going to do with them?”

  “No idea. Might put them on my lawn, might try to return them, might just keep them in the back of the Hummer.”

  He climbed in and leaned back in the seat. “I wish you’d just let me take us there.”

  “I don’t like traveling that way.” I turned the key and gave the engine a moment to warm up. “I don’t like not having a car, or depending on someone to take me places.” I was also tired of rehashing this conversation.

  He chuckled. “You like control.”

  “Wouldn’t you? It’s the only thing I have to cling to in my life. Take away my control, and I’m nothing but a puppet.” I looked at him. “It’s why I fought Levi so hard for control over my life, why I joined PIB, why I moved out.�
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  Mario didn’t glance at me and remained silent.

  I put the car in gear and then started out of the parking lot, heading toward the highway.

  “Why do you think that?” Mario crossed his arms. “The more control you have, the more danger your life is in.”

  I gave myself a moment to think. “When I was four, someone slaughtered my parents. You know that though. I was ripped from my life and thrown into Levi’s. When I was ten, my powers started showing up, and Levi found a witch to teach me control. When I was eighteen, I lost that control for the first time, almost killing someone.” I sighed. “I begged Levi not to lock me away in the mansion. I told him I’d find a way to make sure I never lost control again.”

  “And that clearly didn’t work; you’ve started losing control again.” Mario pointed out.

  “No, I haven’t. I had perfect control when I killed all those blood-starved.” I reminded him. “I joined PIB after Levi said he’d find someone to help me. The argument we had before I went into the academy was the worst we had, but in the end, he ended up agreeing it was best. You see, Mario, if I give in and let Levi make choices for me, let you make choices for me, then everything I’ve fought for and everything I worked for is gone. I go back to being Levi’s adopted daughter and nothing more.”

  I wasn’t sure why I let him in on that secret. I hadn’t even really explained it to Levi. I tightened my hands on the steering wheel.

  “You’re scared,” he said after a few minutes. “Don’t bother denying it; I can sense the fear in you.”

  I nodded. “For reasons I don’t want to explain to you.” I was scared of being pulled further into the vampire world, of not being able to maintain who I was, allowing myself simply to become the Princess of Vampires, Levi’s adopted daughter who must be protected.

  “Then I won’t push tonight.”

  We pulled up to the house where the vampire victims had been found, and I noticed that no officer was guarding it and the PIB tape was gone. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

  Mario had the balls to laugh, and I shot him a glare I was sure would murder him if looks could kill. “Told you, Princess,” he whispered.

  I took a deep breath and resisted the urge to smack him. There was no reason that he needed to keep calling me that. I got out of the car and pulled my gun out.

  Mario looked at it and then to me. “You’re here as a PIB agent?”

  “Yes.” I raised a brow. “You have a problem with that?”

  “I just think you’d get further as one of Levi’s people.” He shrugged one shoulder. “Do I need to stay out here then?”

  “No need for that.” I heard an ear-piercing scream. Darting into the house, I didn’t bother with waiting for Mario.

  I aimed my gun the moment I got into the main room. On the couch sat a child, dressed in a white frilly dress, blood-stained down the front. Her little feet peeked out from underneath the bottom, and she looked at me with wide brown eyes.

  “Oh hello.” Her voice matched her childlike body. She wiped the blood off her chin in a small movement, staining a white glove on her hand. “I’m sorry, but I was taught it was rude to interrupt someone’s dinner.”

  I had no words; it was even creepier in person. My mind knew she was old, that she was a vampire, but my eyes were telling my brain that she was a child. “I was taught it was rude to kill your dinner.”

  Her tiny lips quirked up in a smile. “Aren’t you fun.” She jumped down from the couch and started toward me. I resisted the urge to run. “You’re under arrest.”

  “Oh, I don’t think so.” She met my gaze, and a strange fuzzy feeling started to come over my body. I called my magic up, and the feeling faded. I watched as her smile faded. “Witch.”

  I nodded. “Yep.”

  Her eyes darted to the door, and she started jumping up and down clapping her hands. “Mario!”

  “Hello, Keira.” He didn’t sound happy about the situation. “The killing needs to stop. We have orders to take you in.”

  She patted the skirt of her dress, causing it to sway a little bit. “Take me in? You mean the council and the king?” She motioned to me with a tiny, slender finger. “Or you mean PIB? Are you working with them now Mario? Get tired of being a lap dog for the king?”

  “No. Come on Keira, either come with us, or we’ll be forced to put you down.”

  Put you down. Like she was a dog. I looked at the thing in front of me and wondered if I could shoot the innocent looking vampire in the face. Then she bared fangs and hissed. Yes, yes, I could shoot her if I had to. Because if those came after me, there was no doubt my life was in danger.

  “I’m not going back so that the king can shuffle me around in an attempt to rehabilitate me. There’s nothing wrong with me; I am as I was meant to be.”

  That was an interesting way to put it. “What do you mean?”

  “Now is not the time, Abigail.” Mario reacted a little too quick for my taste.

  Keira laughed, and it was a high squeal that made me flinch. “Oh, she doesn’t know.” She shook her head. “Look into it. You’ll see what I mean. I’ll leave the territory, but only because I know Levi wants it. You, Mario…if it was your territory, I’d leave more bodies for you to find.” I didn’t miss the hate in her voice.

  She disappeared before I could react. I turned to Mario. “What the hell was she talking about?”

  “She wasn’t made in the typical way. Really, it doesn’t concern you, and now she’s gone from the territory, and we failed.”

  Not like he or I did anything to stop it. Was there anything we could have done to keep her from disappearing. I didn’t like the tone in his voice, but I restrained myself in from screaming at him. “Look, it is my concern if I’m going to be on this case. And you don’t strike me as the type of person to give up so easily.”

  “Where would you go for the next step then? She could be anywhere.” He motioned to the couch and the corpse of the person she’d been feeding from.

  I thought for a moment. “Levi said he had to work with Lady R because it was on the outskirts of his territory.”

  “Yes, but then Keira came into Levi’s territory completely.”

  I nodded. “She wants something; she didn’t go far. I’m betting she goes back to the outskirts.”

  “Have you ever met Lady R?”

  “Nope, but I have a feeling we’re going to meet her soon.” I walked back out of the house and pulled out my phone. I dialed dispatch and looked back to see if Mario had followed me out of the house. He hadn’t, and I wondered what he was doing inside.

  “Dispatch, this is Abigail Collins, I need a team down at this address.” I gave them the address. “One body, vampire victim.”

  They confirmed, and I got off the phone with them. I dialed Mason next. “So, no PIB agents or officers at the vampire victim house. Where the fuck are they? Came here to check on something, found our vampire.”

  “That’s a hell of a way to start a conversation, Abby.”

  It really was, but I wasn’t in the mood for pleasantries. “We’re dealing with a vampire child.”

  Silence on the other end.

  “Mason, she looks like she’s five or six.”

  More silence.

  “She disappeared when I walked in on her feeding.”

  “Well shit,” his reply finally came.

  That was my thought on the whole situation. “I might have to bring in Levi on the case since it’s his territory.” Technically, Levi was already part of the case because he was the King, but since Mason didn’t know that, I needed to explain why Levi’s people would be on scene.

  “You know I don’t like that, Agent Collins.”

  I sighed. “Yeah, I know, but really, we could probably use the help.”

  “I’ll come down with the forensic team. Will you be there when I arrive?”

  “Probably not, I’ve seen the scene, and I really want to go home and just grab some dinner.”
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  He grumbled something and hung up. I put my phone in my pocket and started toward the Hummer. Mario ran to catch up to me. “Police coming?”

  “Yeah, Mason and a forensic team. I told him I already looked over the scene and caught the vampire in action.”

  Mario climbed into the passenger side. I got into the driver’s side and started the car, wasting no time getting on the road.

  “Where are you going?” Mario asked after a few minutes.

  “You said that Keira was staying up north with a vampire named Kathrine. Right?”

  He nodded. “I don’t think she’d be stupid enough to go back there.”

  “That’s true, but maybe Kathrine can give us some idea of where Keira is or may be heading. Better yet, she can tell us what the creepy child vampire is here for.”

  Mario leaned back in the seat. “And why do you think she’s headed for something?”

  “Because she hasn’t left yet, she came back to the scene of the crime, and she’s been leaving bodies around. She wants us to know that she’s here, which means there some reason behind her visiting.”

  “Exit here.”

  I glanced at him. “I’m sorry, what?”

  “Do you know where the house is?” he snapped back. “Exit here.”

  He had a point, but I still didn’t like the command in his voice. I listened anyway because he was right, I didn’t know where exactly the house was. “I thought you were giving up.”

  “And I thought the only place you knew to look was on the outskirts of Levi’s territory.”

  I rolled my eyes. “What do we know about Kathrine?”

  “She’s a low-level vampire that doesn’t normally stir up trouble; she’s been in the territory for about a hundred years.” He shrugged. “Not sure why Keira would stay with her.”

  “Low key, no trouble, why would the territory leader check in on Kathrine? It’s actually a good hiding place.”