Here Witchy Witchy Box Set 2

by A. L. Kessler

  He directed me down a side road that led into a patch of the area that’d been damaged by fires. “That’s true, had it not been for one of our vampires knowing who Keira was, then we wouldn’t have known where she was staying.”

  Some part of me was happy that he actually agreed with me like we could get along if we had to. He continued to give me directions until we came to a steep dirt-covered parking lot. I highly doubted that the vampire who gave us this piece of information was just out for a stroll and happened to see Keira. No, I’m betting they were out for something else because this was way too private for that.

  The Hummer crawled up the steep driveway, and we stopped at a faux log house with a balcony that stood above a three-car garage. There were strange contraptions on top of each window and no lights on in the house.

  “She has steel shutters, that’s impressive.” He whistled. “That’s not a cheap way to keep the house sun-tight.”

  I walked up to the house without asking for an explanation on why he knew that. I knocked on the door. Once. Twice. Three times.

  Mario was still standing where I left him.

  “No one’s home.”

  “No, she’s dead.”

  I went back to him. “How do you know that?”

  “I can smell the scent of a decaying body, and I can’t sense another vampire.” He grabbed my hand, and suddenly I found myself standing on the balcony, looking into a massive kitchen and dining room. The sliding-glass door was open with no signs of forced entry.

  I glared at Mario. “Warn me before you pull that shit.” I ripped my arm away from him and walked into the house. I pulled my gun out and kept it at my side, just in case.

  “There’s no one here, Abigail.” Mario came up behind me.

  I didn’t trust him to really know that. I didn’t want to depend on vampire abilities to keep me safe. I rounded the corner that led into a hall and there on the ground was a head. Set up as if it was staring down the hall at me. I let out a little bit of a squeal and Mario came running.

  “Were you frightened by a mouse?” The tone of his voice was joking, but I still wanted to smack him.

  “No, there’s a fucking head in the hallway.”

  He looked a crossed his arms. “So there is. Wonder where the rest of the body is.”

  I debated for a moment on if I should call PIB or not. Mario echoed my own thoughts. Where was the rest of the body? The long black hair of the head stuck to the wood floor with dried blood, the eyes were open, but glazed over, and there was no sign of the rest of the body. Great. “Handle this as Levi’s person?” I asked and put the gun away. “I don’t even know who to call at this point.”

  Mario walked over and squatted down by the head. “Yes, as Levi’s person. Now what we do is we contact Hannah, and we start talking with her about Keira.”

  “And Hannah is?”

  “Her maker.” He reached out his hand again. “I’ll have Levi’s people clean this mess up. For now, let’s head home.”

  I could see the tension in his jaw and debated on questioning what he was thinking, but thought better of it. I took his hand, and he transported us to the car.

  I started the car and looked back up at the balcony. “Keira is technically a PIB case, and this is related. I should turn this into PIB, but I know it’d be better to handle it as Levi’s person.” Doubt started to stir in my gut as I wrapped my hands around the wheel.

  “How long do you think you can walk between two worlds?” Mario turned in his seat to face me, ignoring my statement.

  I drove back down the steep driveway. “I wouldn’t have had to walk in two worlds if Ira hadn’t dragged me into this.” I studied the road. “Or, had Levi let me in on his little secret I might have found another way to find my independence than working for PIB.”

  “Or you would be dead already.” Mario snorted. “Ira would have found you as a child and slaughtered you.”

  Slaughtered me, like my parents were. “Do you know who killed my parents?”

  He actually jerked like I had hit him. “No.”

  “Whoever killed them left me alive for a reason. Levi and I have spent my entire life thinking that person would come back for me. That’s no different than Ira being a threat to me as a child. I would have survived.” I took the exit for the back road that led to my house. “Levi never should have hidden this from me.”

  Mario didn’t answer, maybe because he knew he wasn’t going to win the argument, maybe he had nothing more to say about it, who knew, but I was grateful for the silence.

  I pulled up to the house and hesitated. A slightly painful feeling marched over my skin, letting me know that someone was here without my permission.

  “What’s wrong?”

  I looked around as I got out of the car. “Someone was here.”

  He put an arm around my waist, and I knew he was just putting on a show in case someone was still there. “Friend or foe?”

  “Not welcomed that’s for sure.” I led him to the door and looked at the knob; there wasn’t any sign of forced entry, and my alarm hadn’t alerted me to any other entries being opened or forced. I put my code in, and the tumbler unlocked. The door creaked slightly as I opened it, Mario surprisingly didn’t jump ahead of me but kept right behind me. His hand on the small of my back.

  Osiris sat in the entryway and meowed at me, trotting forward. I assumed that it meant things were safe or Merick would have found a way to tell me otherwise.

  I relaxed and put the gun away. Mario raised a brow. “Trusting the cat?”

  “Remember, he’s the one who saved Levi, you, and I when the house imploded.” I locked the door behind us. The security system would rearm itself in ten minutes, so I didn’t bother with that.

  Mario walked in and sniffed. “I smell another witch or warlock.”

  “Your imagination.” I waved a hand in the air. I assumed he smelled Merick since he ran around in human form most of the time now.

  I went to the control panel for my alarm and navigated to the videos from the front cameras. If someone approached the front door, the videos would show me. There was nothing on the cameras but the wind setting it off on occasion. I frowned and heard Osiris meow from further in the house.

  Mario came up behind me. “Magic, technology, the only thing you’re missing is a bodyguard.”

  I did have a guard, because Merick was there, but Mario didn’t know about that. “Why are you even here?”

  Mario wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me close. “Because we’re supposed to be together. If someone is watching the house, we need to make sure there’s no doubt in their mind that we’re dating.”

  He kissed my cheek, and I shivered. I didn’t want to keep up the facade, and cheek-kissing and snuggling were as far as I was willing to go. Anyone who’d seen my relationship with Simon would know I didn’t kiss and tell. Not that there had been a lot to tell.

  Osiris meowed again, and I pulled away from Mario. “I should go feed him.” Except that was a lie because I didn’t have cat food in the house anymore.

  “I’ll wait for you here.”

  Oh good, so he wasn’t going to stalk me around my own house. I walked into the kitchen to see Osiris sitting on my counter. There was an envelope under his paws, and I sighed. I knew exactly what was in there. The photos that Seth said he’d drop off.

  I picked Osiris up and put him on the chair before picking up the envelope. “I’m going to run upstairs and get out of work clothes.”

  I swore I heard Mario snicker. If he was thinking I was going to put on something sexy just for the sake of pretending, he was going to be disappointed.

  Osiris followed me to the stairs and then to my room. We wouldn’t be able to talk without Mario hearing us, so I wasn’t sure what he was doing. I just wanted a chance to look at the pictures without Mario looking over my shoulders.

  I shut the door and looked down at the cat. Osiris slowly changed into Merick as if the cat was stretching upward
s and took on human form. Luckily for me, Merick was dressed after he shifted back to human form. Unlike werewolves or regular shifters.

  He motioned silently to the envelope, and I opened it. About twenty different pictures of runes laid inside. I emptied them out onto my bed and flipped them over to see that there were notes on the back of them.

  “Abigail,” Mario called up the stairs.

  I rolled my eyes. “I’ll be down in a minute.” I put the pictures back in and looked at Merick. I handed the envelope to him, and he nodded as if he understood that I wanted him to look at them. I grabbed my flannel PJ pants and a tank top and went to the master bathroom to change.

  When I got out, Merick was sitting on the bed, looking at the photos, putting them in some kind of order. I let him be and headed back down the stairs.

  Mario was in the kitchen standing by the breakfast counter with a glass of wine in front of my chair.

  So he could be thoughtful. “What’s this?”

  “Every time I’ve seen you at home, you have a glass of wine.”

  It was a fair observation. I took the glass and lifted it to my lips. A strange scent hit my nose, and I put the glass back down. “This isn’t what I normally buy.”

  He raised a brow. “It was in your fridge.”

  Maybe Merick had bought it. I noted the cork and the corkscrew on the counter. “Must have forgotten I bought it.”

  I took a sip and savored the sweet liquid, I normally didn’t like my wine sweet, but this tasted pretty damn good.

  Another few sips and something strange went through me. My limbs started to go numb, the glass slipped from my fingers, crashing to the floor and shattering. I looked at Mario with wide eyes as my knees buckled.

  He lunged forward to catch me before I hit the floor. “Abigail?”

  My hand shook as I pointed to the wine. “Something in it,” I rambled out. “Clarissa.” My hand fell as the world around me went dark.

  Chapter Ten

  I woke up in my own bed, Osiris by my side, purring. Clarissa peeked her head in. “Oh good, you’re awake.”

  “I have a killer headache, and my entire body hurts.”

  “Well, you did drink a few sips of some nasty poison.” She shook her head. “Really, Abigail.”

  I sat up and stroked Osiris’ back. “I should have known better.” I shouldn’t have assumed that Merick had bought the bottle. It really had been stupid. “It’s a long story. Why didn’t Mario smell the poison?”

  “He said all he could smell was the sweetness of the wine.”

  “Where is the vampire?” I looked at my window, the rays of the sun trying to peek out below the block out curtains.

  She sat on the edge of the bed and picked Osiris up to scratch his ears. “I sent him home before sunrise. Promised him I’d take care of you. The poison wasn’t meant to kill you, just knock you out.

  So someone got into the house, put wine in my fridge, and then meant to do what? I rubbed my eyes. “Thank you for coming. I think I just need an Advil and some rest.”

  “Oh no, I’m under strict instructions to not leave you home alone. In case whoever it was comes back.”

  Oh yes, because there was a lot that Clarissa could do against an enemy. “That’s cute. What does Levi expect you to do?”

  “Cast a spell.”

  “I have spells on the house.”

  She snorted and gave me a look. “Clearly they aren’t strong enough.”

  “I can’t put and maintain a giant protective circle around the house that blocks everything out. Just one that warns me when something evil crosses it. There wasn’t anything on the video monitor, and my alarm was still set.”

  I looked down at Osiris. “And until my cat starts talking, no one can tell me if someone was here.”

  “Well, wine doesn’t just appear Abby.”

  That was true, but there were several creatures that could appear and disappear as they will. “Well, someone put it there. The question is who and if they were waiting around.”

  “Well, today you rest, and I’ll be around.” She put the cat back in my lap.

  “You need to open the shop, don’t you?”

  She shook her head. “Saturday, it’s my one day off.”

  Oh shit, I was supposed to see my uncle today. I looked at my alarm clock; it was only ten. But I’d have to leave now if I was going to make it in time for lunch. “Where’s my phone?”

  “On your dresser, why?”

  “I’m supposed to meet my uncle this afternoon.” I got out of the bed and put a hand to my heart as it sped up and my head spun.

  “Lay down,” Clarissa snapped. “It might not have been meant to kill you, but it still took a toll on you.”

  I growled. “I have shit to do.”

  “I’ll get your phone; you can call your uncle and explain that you can’t go.”

  But I needed to talk to him about his letter. I had a murder investigation to get done. “Okay, I need my laptop too please.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I need to e-mail my higher-up and tell them I’m working from home today.” Because I had no idea if my team lead cared if I showed up to the office or not. Boss Man didn’t, as long as I got work done, but there was now Special Agent Liz who was in charge of the task force.

  Clarissa gave me a questionable look but finally nodded. “Okay, I’ll be back with that and a cup of tea.”

  “Coffee.”

  “No, tea, Abigail. Brewed it myself and you will drink it.” She shut the door behind her, and I whistled. I got a glimpse of what it’d be like if she were a mother. She’d left me no room for argument in that statement.

  Osiris changed into Merick, and he quirked a brow. “Demanding, isn’t she? At least I know you’ll be taken care of.”

  I opened my mouth to ask him about the wine, and he shook his head. “No, I don’t know. Seth called me to come get the envelope. I came home, and my magic was also disrupted, but when I checked the house out, I didn’t see anything out of place or find anyone. I assumed they came and left. Which is why I greeted you at the door, to let you know there was no danger.”

  “And you didn’t buy the wine.”

  He gave me a look. “Come, Abigail, you know that I wouldn’t have bought a sweet wine.”

  “The thought hadn’t crossed my mind. I assumed it was safe since Mario had opened it.”

  We both looked at each other. “It couldn’t have been Mario,” I stated.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes. Because if he’d wanted me dead or otherwise, he has had other chances to do it and not in my own home that would warn me.”

  Merick nodded. “But we’re looking for someone who can transport like that.”

  “Like the cult member that came after me the other day?”

  Merick nodded. “Like that or a vampire.”

  The creepy child came into mind. I wondered if she would have been small enough not to activate the motion camera outside. Merick switched back to Osiris and curled up right before Clarissa walked in with a tray. On the tray was my laptop and a mug of tea. She sat it on the foot of my bed and then grabbed my phone from the dresser.

  “Who were you talking to?”

  I shook my head. “Myself, just trying to brainstorm who would poison me.”

  “Is it a long list?” She chuckled. “I’d hope not.”

  I smiled. “Shorter because of how they would have had to get in.” I picked up the tea and sniffed it. “Raspberry?”

  “Yes, made from my own leaves. So you better drink it. I know that you’d prefer coffee, but tea is better for healing.”

  But coffee was from the goddess. “Okay, one cup of tea, then coffee?”

  “Two.”

  “Fine, two,” I muttered. I grabbed my phone and texted Oliver real quick that I wouldn’t be able to come up because of an issue.

  Clarissa watched me, with her hands on her hips and her lips pressed together.

  “What?”
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  “Nothing, just trying to decide if I should take your phone and your laptop so I know you’ll rest.” She shook her head. “I’ll go downstairs and cook you some breakfast instead.”

  I shook my head. “Don’t, just relax. You’re welcome to stay in here.”

  My phone rang, and I looked down at it. “That’s my uncle.”

  “I’ll let you talk. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” She walked out, and I answered my phone.

  “I’m okay, I promise.”

  “Except you had an issue last night. What happened?”

  “Someone poisoned me.” I leaned back against my pillows. “I’m okay though, Clarissa assures me that it wasn’t actually meant to kill me.”

  “Then what was it for?” Oliver growled.

  “Hell if I know. I don’t think they were planning on Mario being there. I’m still trying to figure out who put it there.”

  “We need to talk; I’ll bring you lunch. I don’t want to talk over the phone.”

  I sighed. “Yeah, I figured. Clarissa is here.”

  “I’ll make sure to send her on an errand or something when I get there. I’ll see you in a couple hours, Abigail.” He disconnected.

  I opened up the laptop and connected to my work e-mail. I sent my new team lead an e-mail just letting her know that I was under the weather and I’d be researching from home today. I also took a moment to withdraw my registration from the coven. I didn’t dwell on it, and I didn’t see the situation improving, so it was really for the best.

  I shut the laptop when I was done sending the email, and I laid my head back on the pillows and closed my eyes. Exhaustion overtook me, and I sank into a deep sleep.

  “Abigail?” The worried voice of my uncle woke me up.

  I rubbed my eyes and moved my computer next to me. “I’m okay.”

  “Clearly not.” He shook his head. “I have lunch downstairs, and I sent Clarissa out to get you some groceries. With a very extensive list.”

  I rolled my eyes. “She’ll know exactly what you’re up to.”

  “Probably, but she did it anyway. Can you make it downstairs?”

  I swung my legs out of bed and noticed that my heart didn’t start racing. “Yeah, I think I can.”