He didn’t actually need to lead me because I probably knew this house better than him, but I’d let him keep it up just to keep up the facade.
The kitchen was spotless because no one else used it except me. I let go of his hand and started to move around the kitchen to make a cup of coffee. The caffeine would keep me awake for the discussion we were going have.
Mario watched me, never missing a beat as I moved. “You look like you are feeling better.”
“I am. Clarissa wasn’t happy with me leaving the house, but we had another body show up, and I was able to walk. All I feel is some exhaustion.”
He nodded. “I wanted to stay, but she insisted that I leave you in her hands.”
“She’s a good-hearted woman, Mario; you did right by leaving. I wouldn’t have been thrilled to find you both looking over me.” I laughed as I pulled the creamer out of the fridge. “You can trust her.”
He snorted. “I know I can because she pulled me out of that circle.”
“Yeah, she’s skilled like that.” I tried not to roll my eyes. “And before you ask, yes, I’m pretty sure I know who put that wine there, and yes, I’m actually going to need your help in this. But I’d rather not discuss it while Lady R is lurking around.” I stirred the creamer into my mug and then took a whiff of the coffee.
There was just something magical about a singly made cup of coffee, no matter the time of day.
He motioned to the coffee. “I think I’ve gotten it now, lots of cream, lots of sugar.”
I nodded. “Yes, now if you start bringing me coffee, people really will think we’re dating,” I whispered and met his gaze. “It’s the way to my heart.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
I walked into the sitting room, cradling my mug of coffee. I’d have a chance to drink it while it was hot before Levi was done with Lady R. I’d savor every drop of it, because that’s what was going to get me through the drowsiness that was hanging on.
Mario and I had some forced conversation while waiting for Levi, some semblance of twenty questions, and for a little bit, it was like we were in that awkward stage of dating where you’re trying to learn about each other.
Levi finally walked in and sat down with us. He looked at Mario and shook his head. “Sometimes, I question my neighbors.”
“Sometimes I question why you want a territory,” Mario shot back, and it was a glimpse of his normal self. “Why you insist on it when you could just lay low in a council member’s territory.”
Levi looked at me, and I had a feeling I knew the answer. “Because I needed to seem like a normal vampire, hold a territory because of my strength so that Abigail could grow up somewhat normal.”
“Yeah, about that growing up normal thing.” I rolled my eyes. “Let’s not go over my childhood, okay? I have other things to talk to you about.”
“Like?” Levi raised a brow. “I hear a tone in your voice that suggests I will not like what comes next.”
He could always hear that tone; I think it was something that I’ve always had. “Spoke to Oliver today. He said his goodbyes and went on his way.”
“He actually listened.” Mario laughed. “He was told that he needed to leave you alone.”
I nodded. “Under threat of death. Why?”
“Because he’s bringing too much attention to you, Abigail. He’s always pushing you to be stronger, use your magic more. The elemental stuff. He’s not good for you, and I had enough of his influence in your life.”
“You pushed away part of my family.” I tried not to growl. “I don’t know when he’ll decide to walk back into my life, and he was the only connection I still had to my parents.”
Levi shook his head and refused to rise to my temper. “He’s not; you have me. I told him he could come back when things calm down, when you were ready for him to come back, and you weren’t dealing with Drake and what he might bring.”
“What does Drake have to do with this?” I glanced at Mario. “Care to explain?”
The two vampires exchanged glances. “Seriously you two.”
“Your uncle was in contact with Drake because he wants to raise your mother from the dead.” Levi’s voice was even, and I felt like my entire world started spinning.
“Oliver has done some crazy things, but that? That’s Black Magic right there. There’s no going back from that. It not only requires a lot of blood, but a sacrifice, and working with a soul.” There was so much that went into a spell like that, that it wasn’t something someone attempted lightly.
Levi sighed. “He came and asked my help. Wanted Mario to get in touch with Drake. It was Oliver’s contact with Drake that brought these current sets of cases. I’m sure.”
“Oliver mentioned that he and one of the victims had both been looking for Drake. That was the one connection they had. The connection between all the victims is that they’re all mothers, are single, are shifters, and they don’t have primary custody of the kids.”
Mario looked at me. “You need to find Drake and his daughter then. If you think they have something to do with this.”
“I have no other leads. I talked to his granddaughter today; she’s a powerful pint-size witch who may never have true control. She mentioned that Drake sees her once a week, but she didn’t really elaborate on that.
“Then we’re at a dead end.” Levi crossed his arms. “Time to use your magic?”
I shook my head. “No, because Mario made him, there should be some type of connection there?”
“You want my help, that’s what you mean by needing my help in the case. You want me to find my fledgling so that you can hunt him?” There was a small growl to his lips.
“No, I want to talk to him first. I don’t actually hunt anything. I gather the intel, analyze it, and make arrests accordingly. It’s the executioners that do the hunting and killing, and only if they deserve it.” I shrugged. “Who knows, it may not be him.”
Mario sat there for a moment, thinking. I sipped what was left of my coffee and looked at Levi. “Lady R doesn’t like witches.”
“No, she doesn’t. I’m sorry, I wasn’t expecting you tonight until you texted me and she had requested a meeting. I simply assumed that you would show up later than the meeting went.”
I laughed. “Sorry to bust the meeting.”
“Fine, Abigail.” Mario finally spoke. “I will take you to Drake. I know where his factory is, but you may not like what you find there.”
That didn’t help Drake sound any more innocent than I thought he was. “Thank you, tomorrow night?”
“I’d rather do it tonight, closer to dawn so we know that he won’t be there and if he is.”
That would put Mario at risk. “If you’re worried about him being there, why not just give me an address to check out.”
“I can do that. I need you to promise not to kill needlessly. Understand that Drake is a vampire and insane because I made a poor choice.” He looked at me over my mug of coffee. The angle made it so I could just see his eyes.
“I won’t. I’m hoping the shop will be empty. I’m sorry that you were forced to change Drake, but that doesn’t give him the right to kill people.”
“If he’s the one killing them.”
I nodded. ”If he’s the one killing them.” There was something in my gut that said he wasn’t, but of course, maybe my gut was wrong. You help me with this, and you don’t hide information from me. Got it?”
“Got it, Princess.”
I wrinkled my nose at the title but didn’t correct him. The conversations hadn’t gone exactly as I wanted. I didn’t really get information on my uncle, but at least I knew Mario was willing to help now. Which I think was all he wanted at the start of the case.
“You said that you knew who poisoned you,” Mario said suddenly, and Levi shot up from the couch.
“Someone poisoned you?” he snarled. “Why didn’t you say something about it.”
I motioned to Mario, my hand shaking slightly from the
surprise of his outburst. “I figured he probably had said something. Don’t worry. I’m fine. I promise.”
Levi took a few moments to rein himself back in before sitting back down on the couch. “You think you know who did it?”
“Drake, he’s the only one with the knowledge of the poison that was used, and he’s a vampire who can just pop in and out. The fact that he’s not welcomed at my house tripped my magic, but he was in and out before I even go home. It was easy for him to place a bottle of wine in the fridge and disappear. He would have only been in there a couple of seconds, that’s it.”
Mario and Levi both were silent for a moment, and I found myself wishing that I could listen in on their thoughts for once.
“He’s your fledgling,” Levi finally said, “I’ll let you handle it how you want.”
Mario looked at me. “You bring him in, or we deal with this in the vampire manner.”
Which meant death, I wouldn’t have Drake’s blood on my hands. “I’ll bring him in, but I need your help finding him.”
“And I told you that I would help you by giving you the address to the workshop.”
Glad we were still in agreement on that, though he didn’t make me swear again that I wouldn’t kill needlessly. Maybe something had changed in his mind when they learned it was Drake that had poisoned me.
“I’ll make sure to report every detail back to you.” I looked at Levi. “And I’ll make sure to check in at dusk so you know I’m alive.”
There was a look that crossed Levi’s eyes that I couldn’t interpret.
“I think I may need to bring backup to the workshop though.” My mind turned to Liz. “I don’t know what I’ll find, and I don’t want to have to handle it alone if I come up against something unexpected.”
Mario clenched his jaw, but Levi nodded. “It is a PIB case, so you may handle it your way since that’s how Mario wants to proceed.”
I glanced at Mario. “You don’t look happy about that.”
“You just told me that you’d go during the day so it’s safer, but now you want backup.”
“Yep, but I agreed to go during the day, so I wouldn’t run into Drake, not because I wouldn’t run into something else. Drake is a warlock; I’m not going to take my chances not having backup in case I run into something nasty.”
Mario opened his mouth to protest but went silent when Levi lifted his hand. “Remember, Mario, we had a deal that you would not interfere with PIB cases unless she was in immediate danger. She’s taking in backup, which is more than she usually does, so she is being cautious.”
And I might have been trying to make up for my insanely stupid mistake from the night before. “Thank you, Levi.”
“Shall we go? We have a meeting with Hannah tonight.” Mario held his hand out. “I want to get in and out of there as fast as we can.”
I agreed. I’d already picked up on his tension anytime I mentioned his maker or the conversation turned to his past. I took his hand. “Promise you won’t let her bite me?” I joked.
He shook his head. “You know I can’t.”
Which worried me, I glanced at Levi, and he nodded. “There’s nothing Mario can do to protect you from his maker. You have to make it clear that you are there as one of my people, hold your ground, do not use your magic unless you have to.”
I felt like I was walking into a trap. “So this is how vampire politics go.”
“Yes.” They both said at the same time, and Levi’s sitting room disappeared.
We reappeared in a different sitting room. The dark velvet curtains draped down the walls of the room, and blood-red couches were set out around the room, a couple with humans draped on them, blood dotting their necks or wrists. I felt the panic rise as the power in the room brushed against my skin, raising the hairs there, calling to me to come in further.
Mario put his hand on my back, and the power faded a little bit. He wrapped his arms around me and pressed his lips to my check. “It’s her ability; I won’t let her drag you down into it. I promise.”
I squeezed his arm to let him know I heard him. This wasn’t what I was expecting when he said we were going to meet with Hannah, hell I hadn’t seen a vampire’s sitting room look this cliche before. Of course, I hadn’t seen a lot of sitting rooms either.
A woman came out, draped in a sheer red negligee, her black hair fell in waves over her breasts, making her pale skin look almost porcelain. Her red lip pouted a little bit as her eyes landed on us.
Mario’s hug on me tightened just a little bit, and I knew we must have been looking at Hannah.
“Mario, I thought you were kidding about bringing your pet witch along.” She crooked a finger at me, the light glinting off a perfectly manicured black nail. “Come here little one.”
Part of me wanted to, but I stayed against Mario who seemed to be taking the edge off the power. No way was I going to walk to her willingly.
“My name is Abigail Collins, the adopted daughter of Levi Felcos, and I am here on his behalf.”
She rolled her eyes. “Titles, formalities.” She waved her hand in the air. “It means nothing here. What I know is that you’re a witch, and I want to taste your blood, but clearly, Mario doesn’t plan on sharing.”
“That is true.” Mario relaxed a little bit. “Hannah, we’re here to speak to you about Keira.”
The woman paused and wrapped her arms around herself as if suddenly self-conscious. “What about her?”
“She’s killing again and has been for quite some time.” Mario stepped to my side.
She turned away from us and sat down on a couch with one of the humans. She stroked the man’s hair and looked up at Mario. “She knows the rules; her killings are to stay under the radar. She has her dolls and her donors, sometimes she just gets bored.”
Under the radar? Mario put a hand on mine as if realizing I wanted to lash out, but I knew the rules too. “She’s caught the attention of the PIB branch in Levi’s territory.”
Her eyes snapped to me. “How?”
“She left bodies for them to find, and one of the agents walked in on her killing another person. She has also murdered a vampire in Levi’s territory.” See, I could play by the rules. No lashing out, no giving out connections, just giving the information Hannah needed.
She looked at Mario. “Is this true?”
“It is, Levi has petitioned the king to have Keira killed if you do not rein her in.”
“Which explains why you’re here.” She sighed and looked at the human. “You and I could have been so great together Mario. You had to run off to serve as a king’s guard. A glorified messenger that takes orders from whatever puppet the king has set up.”
Interesting, so that’s how they thought that all worked.
“You’ve taken up a lover in another vampire’s territory. His adopted daughter, status, power.” She chuckled a little bit. “You want me to rein in Keira? Go tell her to come home. She always listened to you best. She was always scared you’d seek revenge.”
“Death or come back to you? How do we know you’ll control her?”
Hannah was suddenly in front of me, her face right in mine. “The killings will stop, you have my word on that little witch.” She looked to Mario and kissed him. “Tell her to come home, you know she’ll listen to you, and if not, then let the king kill her. It might be the time that she’s gone from my life.”
The last statement held a type of sorrow that I wasn’t sure I could name.
“Since we have your word, we’ll meet with her and tell her that she may choose her fate.” Mario grabbed my hand. “Have a good night Hannah.”
“I’ll see you again Mario, maybe even your little pet witch too.”
My stomach dropped as the world around us disappeared, when we reappeared, we were standing outside of Levi’s house.
“It’s time for you to go home, Abigail.”
“I think there are a few things I’d like you to clear up for me.” I crossed my arms, and he shook
his head.
“Not tonight. Not until I’m ready to share that part of my life with you.” He turned away from me. “I’ll text you that address. Be safe.” He walked into the mansion and closed the door behind him.
Chapter Twelve
When I had gotten home, I’d sent Liz an e-mail asking for backup, I’d set the coffee pot for the morning, and then I had crawled into bed. My sleep wasn’t peaceful, and by the time my alarm went off, I felt like someone had run me over with a truck.
I laid in bed waiting for my motivation to kick in, but it apparently wasn’t awake yet. I reached for my phone and checked my e-mail, Liz had agreed to be my back up and even agreed to let me take point. As my team lead, that surprised me, but I wasn’t going to question it.
I had a text message from Mario with the address.
And a text from an unknown number. I click on the text and frowned.
There was a picture of Levi holding a baby; it was a picture I’d seen many times before. It was one of him and me together. But now, in red digital letters, the word lies was written crossed it.
This wasn’t the first time I’d received a message like this. The last time someone had left the picture in my house and written on the back.
I shook my head and got up. I could smell the coffee from downstairs, beckoning me to get going. I shuffled to the bathroom to take my shower and tried to forget about the message.
A hot shower and clean clothes later, I was downstairs fixing my coffee when Merick came walking into the kitchen. He put a binder on the breakfast counter and flipped it open.
“I’ve organized the pictures and written notes on the back of them, adding to my father’s notes.”
“What do you make of it so far? I haven’t really had a chance to look.”
He nodded. “I know you haven’t and I’ve been borrowing your notes to compare some of the runes.”
“And?” I went and got a second coffee mug for him.
“And the only conclusion I’ve come to is that it’s a much older version of the Cult of Ra. Old enough that the only similarities is the base writing.”
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