No More Black Magic

by A. L. Kessler

  “No, because they think the picture was placed there as a message and they don’t think it has to do with me, but Michele.”

  Simon frowned. “Do you think it has to do with you?”

  I shrugged and stirred my drink. I didn’t know what to think at this point. Strange things kept popping up and they weren’t adding up. “No,” I lied easily, I don’t even think my body realized it. No tremor in my heart or hitching in my breath. Levi had trained me well and I could pass any polygraph test. “I don’t know what to make from it all, but the runes at the first murder were slightly different from the runes of the people who tried to kill me.”

  He asked and took a long drink of his beer. “Have you told Levi about any of this?”

  “None of the new stuff, I haven’t told him about the searches or this murder scene and hand.”

  Simon snorted. “Maybe we should head up there?”

  “Yeah, I have questions for him anyways. And you’re at my mercy, because I’m driving.” I chuckled and took another sip. “But right now I want to enjoy my drink and not think about random appendages.”

  “So, what else do you do for fun? I never actually see you off the clock.” He smiled and it actually warmed me.

  Well, it was either the smile or the alcohol. “You know, not a whole lot. I work for Levi.” Wow, apparently I needed a life.

  “You know,” he mocked me, “you need to get out more often. Do you read?”

  “Sometimes.” I shrugged. “Occasionally I pick up a book for fun, but not always.” Simon gave me a snarky look of disbelief that almost made me laugh. “Okay fine, I blare 80’s rock when I clean my house.”

  He grinned. “Now we’re getting somewhere.”

  “What about you?” I shot back, a little defensive, but really my life was my work and my magic.

  He nodded. “I collect old cars and restore them. I’m a fan of 80’s rock, but I can’t say that I listen to it while I clean.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Okay, so you’re a car guy.”

  “No, I’m a car werewolf.” He corrected with a smirk. “And, like you, ninety percent of my life is taken up by pack business or the bar.”

  I nodded. “You love that bar.”

  “I do, and that’s one reason I have you ward it. It’s a sacred place to me and I don’t want it ruined.”

  It made sense to me, it was like his home and the home of the pack. “Most people there don’t even like me in it.”

  “They’re scared of you.” He met my gaze and I frowned.

  Yeah, right. “Scared of me?”

  “They see the power you have, with the state, with Levi, some of them wonder if you’re just a ticking time bomb.” He shrugged. “Remember, we don’t know a whole lot about witches. There are witches like you and then there are those who practice Wicca.”

  I shook my head. “We’re not all that different. There should be no reason that you’re scared of me.”

  “I don’t think you give yourself enough credit.” He shook his head and finished his beer.

  I knew how powerful I was; sometimes it scared me. What scared me more was that it could grow to a point where I didn’t know how to control it. But no one knew about that struggle. Not even Levi. There should have been no reason that the people in that club were terrified of me.

  “Don’t dwell on it. Speaking of. After closing do you want to fix those wards at my bar the right way?”

  I downed the rest of my drink. “Yeah, that sounds like a good plan. I’d hate to be put on the case to raid your club.”

  “They’d put you on that case?”

  I placed the empty glass on the napkin. “Sure would. I’m the best they have, they put me on whatever case they can that is paranormal related.”

  “Yeah, if you’re the best at your age, we really need to get you a life. That means you’re a workaholic, my dear.”

  I stood and snorted at his comment. “Come on, let’s get to Levi’s so I can ask him some questions.”

  “There, that’s what I’m talking about.” Simon grabbed my hand as I stood. “You’re not going anywhere until I get at least one dance out of you.”

  I glanced at the small square in the middle of the room that acted as the dance floor for the small bar. There were a few people there enjoying some up beat music pouring out of the jukebox. I shook my head. “I don’t really dance.”

  “You’re not getting out of this, Abby.” He pulled me towards the floor and started dancing.

  I swallowed what little pride I had and danced with him. The last thing I needed was for Simon to be getting any kind of ideas about me changing my mind about dating. But after the last few days the least I owed him was a dance. I knew my rhythm was off and that I probably looked more like a monkey being electrocuted, but Simon went with it.

  He grabbed my hand and swung me around, with a bit of guidance he had me laughing and moving with him. The song ended and I held my hands up. “Happy now?”

  “How have you never learned to dance? Doesn’t Levi throw grand balls and parties?” He walked me back to our table and we grabbed our jackets.

  I shrugged into mine. “Yeah, but he made sure to keep me far from them.”

  “Why?”

  “Hell if I know. I’m just grateful he didn’t dress me up like a doll and show me off.” Sometimes I was a little hurt that he hid me away like an evil stepchild, but as I grew older I didn’t mind. I didn’t want to have to play the games of the paranormal world. I never thought to ask him about it, I just accepted it as a way of life.

  Simon seemed to accept the answer and we exited the bar and headed to my car. I clicked the button on the key fob and let us in. Starting the car, we both sat there as I let it warm up a bit. “So, how come you aren’t alpha?” I asked without any lead up to the question.

  He hesitated. “I don’t want to fight my way up and have to kill. Just doesn’t sound like a whole lot of fun to me.”

  “You like being where you’re at.” I could totally understand that. I put the car in reverse and backed out. Shifting into drive, I took us out of the parking lot and into traffic. “That’s one of the reasons I don’t want to be in the coven hierarchy. I’m happy where I’m at, I have enough responsibilities and I don’t want more.”

  “You don’t want to be responsible for other people’s actions.” He laughed. “Makes us sound lazy.”

  “If only people knew.” I took the on ramp towards the highway. The setting sun caused the mountains to cast a shadow over the road and I took comfort in the fact that night was coming. Supernatural creatures I understood, witches with a vendetta made no sense to me. Especially such a wide vendetta. Despite being human, the night was where my soul belonged.

  I pulled up to the compound and parked in my normal spot. Simon and I both got out. A gust of wind swept up around us and I pulled my jacket tighter around me. It wouldn’t be long until it started snowing up here. That always cut my visits short because I hated driving in the snow and unfortunately I didn’t carry the power to control the weather.

  Simon shivered. “Sometimes I wish I had fur in this form too. It’s damn cold in the mountains at night.”

  I looked at him and tried to decide if he was serious. “You’re so weird.”

  “You’re one to talk.” He nudged me as I walked by him and up the path that led to the door.

  I placed my hand on the scanner and the door unlocked. I opened it and Simon followed me inside. “Levi?” I called out.

  I heard him respond somewhere in the back, but didn’t catch what he was actually saying. I glanced at Simon who shrugged. I rolled my eyes and walked further into the mansion. The foyer was empty and I continued on. I wasn’t sure what Levi did all night, but it certainly wasn’t just sitting around in the foyer waiting to greet people.

  After a few minutes, Simon and I found him in the ballroom. And I frowned at all the decorations. “Is there a party that I missed on the schedule?” The red and black drapes made me question w
hat holiday Levi was trying to celebrate. He attempted to be normal sometimes for my sake, but since he was extremely old, holidays were not really successful; often he got them mixed up.

  “No, this isn’t something I need you for. I have some wolves that will be playing security for me. You, on the other hand, will not be in the mansion tomorrow night.” He pegged me with a stare and I held my hands up.

  It was the same story every time there was an event. I wasn’t supposed to be there. The forgotten child of two witches. Never mind what I did for him. But again, I didn’t want to play with the politics, so I didn’t mind. “Not a problem, I have a lot to work on anyways. I need to talk to you about a few things, if you have time?”

  Levi looked between me and Simon and I sighed. “It’s official, ish, I just have a couple photographs and a name to pass by you.”

  “Let’s go sit down and take a look.” Levi nodded towards the door that led to one of the back rooms he normally reserved for meetings.

  I followed him and Simon tagged along. He didn’t have to and I wasn’t sure why he was. I also wasn’t sure if I wanted him to know the information that Levi was going to give me.

  Levi unlocked the room and motioned for us to enter. I sat down at the round table. The chair was one of the rolling ones that leaned back and I rocked in it for a moment. The room itself had a wall of windows that faced the mountains. This far out of town I could see all the stars in the sky and it made me miss living here a little.

  “What did you need to ask me?” Levi sat down near me. His voice pulled my gaze away from the windows and back to the two men.

  “You seem pretty distracted tonight, Abigail, that’s not like you.”

  He was right, it wasn’t. I shook my head, pulled out the first photo and handed it to him. “Do you know the man in the background?”

  Levi took the photo from me and frowned. “Where did you get this?”

  “I found it in my father’s notes, but when I first picked it up that man wasn’t there. He appeared only after I touched it.”

  He set it down and tapped his fingers on the table. I knew this was his telltale sign that he was thinking. He knew something about the picture and I was sure he was debating on lying to me. “Christof Averin.” The name from my father’s notes. “He’s the man that betrayed your parents.”

  I raised a brow. “He was one of the witch hunters?” Who I was starting think weren’t actually witch hunters.

  “Kind of. Your father was doing some research for me, research that I had demanded that he kept secret.” It sounded like Levi all right. He liked to make demands of people. He tapped the table again a few times with his hand. “He was your father’s research partner. I had hired him because of his skills with darker magic than your father was willing to perform. He knew your dad’s limits but he continuously pushed him and urged him to give up his morals.”

  It was something that Levi taught me, have morals. Though mine were shaky some days, I wasn’t a cold-blooded killer, most of the time. Occasionally I killed for him, but they were never innocent people. Never human. I licked my lips, nervous now. “So how did he betray him?”

  “When the research was done, he forced your father’s hand. He threatened to sell everything to the highest bidder if your father didn’t help him with killing someone.” He shook his head. “Abigail, you were never meant to hear this story.”

  But that didn’t matter now, if there was some type of connection then I needed to know. “No secrets Levi, it was something you promised me as I got older.”

  “He forced your father’s hand in a ritual killing to summon a demon.”

  My heart felt like it stopped. To summon a demon was a death sentence. My mind went back to the Cult of Ra. I couldn’t believe it. I shook my head. “My father would never do that.”

  “Christof managed to convince him. I don’t know if it was more than the research or not.”

  I swallowed, still trying to find my heartbeat. “What happened to Christof?”

  “I killed him for betraying your father and me.” Levi shrugged and handed me the photo back. “This had to have been taken not long after the project started.”

  “What kind of research was my father doing for you?” I needed to see if the pieces fell into place.

  “It was a linguist thing, I found an old tablet and needed it translated. It turned out to be nothing, but I couldn’t trust it to just anyone.”

  “So you trusted it to a man who practiced dark magic and tainted my father’s soul. Great judgment there, Levi.”

  “Abby, his part wasn’t the tablet, it was what the tablet was rumored to do.” He sighed. “You know, even vampires make mistakes.”

  I nodded. “And that was years ago, so there’s nothing I can really say. Except that I’m glad he’s dead.”

  “Really?” This time he raised a brow and the worry disappeared from his face.

  I gave a dark laugh. “One less thing for me to worry about. I thought he might have been the one that sent the Cult of Ra after me. Though now I’m wondering if it didn’t have something to do with my dad summoning a demon.”

  “They aren’t assassins. Besides, your father was cleared by the coven as long as he didn’t do it again. They understood there were circumstances that were out of his control.” He shrugged, “but your father never forgave Christof.”

  And I wouldn’t have either. I sighed.

  “What does this have to do with anything?” Levi met my gaze. “No secrets Abby.” He reminded me and I wanted to curse that stupid rule.

  “The name came from my father’s notes as well, but I’m really trying to figure out if this is at all tied to the murders I’ve been dealing with.” I kept my voice even. “I never understood why my parents were murdered, now someone tried to kill me and there is someone dismantling people in our city.”

  “And other than the runes, why do you think it’s connected?”

  “Because this last crime scene had a hand holding this picture.” I pulled up the picture on my phone. “That’s my father and Michele.”

  He nodded. “I told you that they researched together, but I don’t know why your newest victim would have had it.”

  “I don’t know if the hand belonged to this particular victim or another.” I shook my head. “I have to call Clarissa and find a way to explain that one of her coven members might have died an extremely painful death.”

  “Where you found the hand.” Levi added.

  I shook my head. “No, Detective Mason found the hand. Luckily for me, they are letting me stay on the case and not taking me off.”

  “It’s because you are the best they have.”

  I really hoped that the state didn’t decide to replace me anytime soon, because I’d be terrified to meet someone they thought was better.

  Levi looked at Simon. “And what is he doing here? I thought you didn’t need company now that the hex was off you.”

  I glanced at Simon and shrugged. “We went out for a drink and then I decided that I needed to come here. I drove for the night, which meant that he had to come or be left at the bar.”

  “This was a far more amusing choice.” Simon said without missing a beat.

  A sly smile crossed Levi’s face and I wanted to smack him. That’s not where I was going with my night, Simon and I were not hooking up in any way and there was nothing more than a friendship between us.

  “And on that note, I’m off to find the vampire who is selling thrills.” I rolled my eyes and stood. I glanced out the window and found myself wishing that I could stay in for the night. Here. At the place that I still considered home. I shook off the sudden homesick feeling trying to crawl through me and started out of the meeting room.

  “Don’t forget Abby, you can’t be here tomorrow night.” Levi remained in the chair looking at the photo I left on the table.

  I nodded and started to wonder if the event had anything to do with that package I had picked up a few days earlier. “Don’t wor
ry, like I said, plenty to keep me busy.”

  Simon and I both left the room in silence. He didn’t say a word as I led him back through the ballroom, through the halls and the foyer, and back out into the cold crisp mountain air.

  “You had no idea that your dad was capable of that, did you?” Simon asked as we got back into the car. There was nothing accusing in his voice, but maybe a touch of concern.

  I didn’t really want to think about it, but I shrugged. “I knew he was powerful enough, but I never thought he would do it. Especially for some research.”

  “Maybe there was something more than what Levi knew was going on. I mean, let’s face it. Everyone has their secret, maybe your dad was keeping one from him.”

  It was a possibility and I sighed. “It doesn’t matter, the guy is dead and I don’t have to worry about him being the one that sent the Cult after me.”

  “Do you think that’s why the Cult went after your parents?” Simon asked as I started the car.

  I thought about it. “Someone would have to have told them about what happened. Admitting it meant either they were there with them or they knew someone that was. It wouldn’t have just been my parents that were killed.”

  “Good point.” He was silent for some time and I assumed he was thinking things over. “Shit, I don’t know Abby, it’s what? How many years old?” He leaned back in the seat. “Maybe it’s time to bury the past.”

  He was right. The only problem was, I had buried it and suddenly it was coming up to bite me in the ass. It wasn’t something that I really wanted to come up again. If I could put it to rest now then I wouldn’t have to worry about it later on.

  “I’m going to sleep, I’m not used to your hours. Wake me up when we get wherever.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Liar, you’re a werewolf, your hours are the same as mine. I’ll drop you off once we get back into town.”

  “We should stop for food first. I’m starving.” He yawned and I knew that he was actually tired. He might have kept my same hours, but he wasn’t used to all the running around that I did. Hell, at this point I was exhausted too.