Liz’s gaze went to where I had cast it, and she raised a brow. Before I had cast the circle, the man had been just a shadow, now he was clear as day with his brown hair, tired-looking eyes, black shirt, and jeans. He looked just like the man in the drawings, except his face, that looked like Kris’ brother.
“Changed your looks a bit, RJ?” I asked as we all walked closer.
He looked at me and gave me a smile that would have made him handsome if I didn’t think he’d killed a few people. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Agent Collins.”
His words sounded sincere enough that I almost doubted myself.
Beware the appearance.
Glamour? A different kind of spell?
I felt something push against my circle. He was trying to use his own magic to escape. He pushed harder, almost breaking through it when I heard a familiar voice behind me.
“Bring it down,” Kris’ voice yelled.
I dropped the circle, trusting her for a moment, and two gunshots went off. I had a moment where I waited for the pain to come, but instead, the man in front of me dropped dead.
I turned to Kris with wide eyes. “You shot your brother.”
“That thing isn’t my brother,” she spat.
“What the fuck?” Liz stepped up next to me.
That was normally my line.
Kris lowered her gun. “I found my brother’s body.” Her voice shook. “Well, most of it.”
“Let me guess, the head was missing?” I cringed as I asked.
She nodded and opened her mouth to say something. Something clicked in me, a warning.
I threw my circle down a moment before the blast overcame us. I felt Liz’s magic join mine, strengthening the circle as fire and heat flooded over us. Two other magics wrapped around mine, helping reinforce the circle even more. At least if I passed out this time, we weren’t going to almost die.
The fire cleared, and bits of debris fell around us. We all stood there for a moment, waiting for the aftershock to come.
Would there be another blast like the last time?
After a few minutes, the others let their magic fall. I didn’t. Not yet.
“Abby?”
“Find me that roommate, now,” I snapped. My magic came back to me in a rush, and I turned to Liz. “We’re not dealing with a normal warlock.”
Liz nodded and looked to Agent Landry. “Go find Ted.”
I let my circle down and went to what was left of the new shed. Gone were the newly stained wood and crisp craftsmanship, and in its place was a crater and a collection of ruined wood and equipment.
Suddenly, I wish I had the ability to move everything with magic. Sadly, I didn’t know a spell for that, and burning it all was out of the question. Seeing as it was still smoldering and flames were trying to catch, it was probably a bad idea for me to stand so close to it as well.
I let out a frustrated growl and stopped away. I went to the person that had supposedly been Kris’ brother. The man’s appearance had melted into a blond-haired man with deep-set wrinkles.
I glanced at Kris. “Any idea?”
“No.” She shook her head. There were tears in her eyes as she looked down at the body. “I came back as soon as I heard Cornelius was killed. I found my brother’s body in my house.” She swallowed. “I don’t know what’s going on, but it needs to stop.”
“What do you know about Agent Davenport’s daughter?”
Kris’ face went white. “What does Crystal have to do with this?”
So she knew about the daughter. Wait. My mind went back to some of the statements Kris had said about loving Boss Man. “You’re her mother.”
For a moment, I thought she was going to bolt, but she closed her eyes, and, after a moment, she nodded. “Yes. Now please, what does she have to do with this?”
“We think Agent Davenport was reopening that case.”
She swallowed. “He swore he wouldn’t. That it would bring too much trouble. The only way he would was if there was a lead.”
“Would this count as a lead?” I asked and handed her the sketchbook.
She slowly flipped through the pictures and nodded. “Yes, it would. Why wouldn’t he say anything about this?”
“Maybe he wanted to keep you out of the loop. Make sure you didn’t know what he was going to do.”
She closed the book and handed it back to me. I sighed. “Let’s go visit Ted.”
Liz was right on my heels as I ran up the stairs to get to the dorm room. When I got there, the door had already been busted open and the room tossed. Ted was nowhere in sight, and neither was Agent Landry. I looked at my watch, maybe the kid was at lunch.
We looked around the destroyed room. There had been a struggle here, and a sinking feeling started to claim me.
“Abby?”
I turned at the sound in Liz’s voice. She’d opened the door of the closet and found a body hanging there. Not any body, but Ted’s. There was a rune on the door that seemed to do the job of masking the smell of the decaying body.
Beware appearances.
What the fuck were we dealing with here? Warlocks that could take on different forms? Skull bombs?
She shut the closet door, and for a moment, I wondered why, but then the dorm door opened, and Ted’s doppelganger walked in.
“What happened?”
His voice was even convincing.
“There was a break-in,” Liz said easily. “We need you to come to the interrogation room to give us your statement.”
He lunged for Liz. Liz teleported out of the way and drew her gun. I also drew mine, throwing my other hand up, I trapped him in a circle, but he walked right through it like it was nothing.
He turned to me and laughed. The voice that came from his throat was not the same as the body he appeared as. This was deeper, darker. The facade of the cadet melted away, revealing a man with dark hair and an older face, but not one that was wrinkled. But his eyes. His eyes seemed to hold years in them.
“Abigail Collins, daughter of Tobias and Elizabeth Collins, the witch and warlock who translated the tablet and opened the door for others.” He stepped toward me, and, naturally, I stepped back.
My first thought went to Cult. They were the ones that had most of the information on my family, but there was something different about this guy, something was much more evil than any cult member I’d met.
He reached out, and magic wrapped around me. I could feel it, ancient and old. Wind swept through me as it touched my skin. The smell of rain and the moist feelings of droplets fell on my arm.
An illusion of some sort was the only explanation I had as my body seemed to relax in the magic.
Until the gunshots.
The world came crashing back to me, and I fell to my knees in the middle of the destroyed dorm room. I shook off the feeling of the magic and took aim at the body that was now on the ground.
If body was what you could call it. The man’s flesh had sunk into the skeleton, which slowly started to crumble beneath the weight of the skin.
I took a shaky breath and turned to Liz. “What the ever-loving fuck?”
“I wish I knew, Abby. I wish I knew. Think we can get a hold of Vlemeinheil again? Because this looks like immortality gone wrong.”
I had to agree with her on that. I knew from Tobias’ and my mother’s research that there was no immortality or lifesaving magic without a very heavy cost. There was always a cost.
Looking back to the closet, I rubbed my eyes. “I’ll see if I can figure out how to get a hold of him. Meanwhile, I’m going to do some research.”
“I want to run those runes by Merick and see if he knows them. I’m willing to bet we find another skull with the explosion of the shed. Maybe a body under there. I need to ask Oliver a question too.”
“What could your uncle possibly have to offer?” She sounded exasperated.
“He’s the only warlock I know who walks the gray line. I’m hoping he can tell us what we are dea
ling with, if not who.”
She seemed to accept that answer. “Okay, we split up. I’m going to head back to the destroyed shed, you make some phone calls.”
“I’ll be out in the courtyard. I’ll call forensics in.” I pointed to the closet.
She nodded. “Good call.”
We walked out together and down the stairs while I called forensics. I swore the dispatcher sounded annoyed that I was calling again, but what can you do? It wasn’t my fault that we kept finding bodies.
With forensics on the way and Liz looking for clues, I called Merick.
The phone rang once. “You’re getting dangerously close to sundown for someone who should be home resting.”
“Yeah, about that. I don’t think I’m going to make it home tonight unless you come get me. Liz and I are still working a case, and things kind of got a bit crazy.”
“So why are you calling me? Do you need a rescue?”
“No, I need to see if you can translate some runes for me. They’re not a base language I’m familiar with.”
He chuckled. “Nothing that looks familiar?”
“And nothing I really have time to learn right now,” I added. “Maybe when the case is over, I’ll add it to my list.”
“Take a picture, Abigail, and I suggest you find a way home before sunset. You and I both know Levi is going to come visit, and if he doesn’t find you here, he’s going to be unhappy.”
That was very true, especially with the threat of Hannah still out there. “I’ll do what I can, promise. Liz and I are at the Academy.”
“Bring me the picture tonight, and we’ll go over it.” He disconnected the call. I let out a small curse, but realized it was his way of giving me a reason to be home before sundown.
I hadn’t even realized it was that close. If Liz and I left now, I would have time to get there and make it look like I’d been there all day.
But I wasn’t sure if we could leave at this point.
I pushed it from my mind and called Oliver.
“Hello, Niece.”
Oh, he didn’t sound happy with me. “Hey, whatever you’re upset with me about, it’s going to have to wait. I’m not sure what connection you have to Vlemeinheil, but I need you to let him know I need to talk to him.”
“Case related?”
“Yes, but he’s not a suspect. But he may have more information that he was willing to admit to the first time.”
Oliver snorted. “Of course he does, Abigail, he’s a powerful warlock. How do you expect to make him talk?”
“Boss Man was one of his clients, and now Boss Man is dead.” I hadn’t thought I’d need to mention that to Vlemeinheil before, but now it could work to my advantage.
Oliver let out a whistle. “That would probably do it. He won’t want his reputation dirtied with being involved in a client’s death. I’ll see what I can do.” He paused for a moment. “How are you doing?”
“Well, you know, magical assassination attempts, explosive spells, the strange way Levi is acting, so I’m doing pretty well.”
He snorted. “Let me know if you need anything else, Abigail.” He disconnected. I put my phone in my pocket and took a deep breath. I needed to figure out how to go home before sunset because I didn’t want to deal with Levi’s bullshit.
I made my way back to the explosion sight and saw Liz standing there with her hands on her hips. She didn’t look too happy, but of course, this was the second time that she was almost blown up this month.
I looked down at the body that was Kris’ brother, or at least a look-alike. “I think we’re dealing with something totally out of our league.”
“We’re the Black Magic Task Force, nothing should be out of our league.”
I sighed. “This is Cult-level shit.”
“I’m not ready to go completely down that road. Let’s see what we can do without bringing in the Priests.” She shook her head. “We don’t want to owe them any debts.”
She had a point there. I rather liked the Cult owing me instead. “I need to bring the pictures of the skull to Merick to see if he can translate them for me. Also, if we can, I need to be back before sundown.”
She raised a brow. “You didn’t tell Levi that you were working during the day, did you?”
“You know, I don’t know if I like you two working together. I feel like you’re working against me.” I crossed my arms.
She shook her head. “He’s just worried about you is all.”
“I know.”
“I need to go to the office to do some research anyway.” She started walking to the parking lot.
I nodded. “I’d like to do some tonight too. I want to see if we can nail down what we’re working with.”
We walked to the car in silence and climbed in. I was sure her brain was trying to process everything, just like me. There were a lot of pieces to the puzzle, and we just needed to figure out how they all connected.
I wasted no time in getting in the Hummer and speeding home. When I pulled into the driveway, the sun was just sinking completely behind the horizon. I ran into the house and quickly changed into PJs.
Merick already had a cup of coffee waiting for me and a blanket thrown on the couch. I settled into the fake scene and wondered if I was really going to be able to look at Levi and lie to him about being home all day.
I pulled my laptop to me and started going through e-mails. Nothing but junk mail was in my inbox, so much that I was almost relieved when Levi knocked on the door.
I got up and opened the door. Levi and Mario stood there. “Evening boys.” I stepped to the side so they could walk in.
“How are you feeling?” Levi looked me up and down.
“Fine, pain’s almost all gone.” I shrugged. “The super quick healing is starting to come in handy.”
Mario raised a brow at me.
“Because I’m a witch,” I added on, but I didn’t miss the look in Levi’s eyes. Seemed that Mario wasn’t in on all the secrets.
Mario didn’t look like he believed me, but it didn’t matter. I went back to the living room and sat down on the couch.
Levi eyed the laptop and sat down next to me. “Working?”
“Just some research. Liz and I are trying to figure out what we’re dealing with and how to approach it.” I picked up my coffee. “The case has picked up, lots of pieces to put together.”
“I saw that there was another explosion at the Academy.” Levi sighed. “I’m glad you weren’t there.”
I tried to think of a response that wasn’t going to get me in trouble. Time for a switch in subjects. “Did you get all your vampire business settled?”
To my surprise, it was Mario who spoke, not Levi. “If you mean cleaning up your mess, we did.”
“In my defense, I didn’t think anyone was going to miss Grayson, and he betrayed me, the guard, and the King. So, I really think me putting a bullet in his head was probably a quicker death than letting vampires deal with them.”
Levi turned to me. “What do you know about vampire justice?”
“Not much, but I’ve seen the cruelty that vampires can dish out.” I snuggled into the blanket as my mind flashed to Samuel and the warlock he was tormenting the first time I’d met him.
The memory was enough to make my stomach churn. I wrapped my hands around my coffee and took a deep breath. Maybe the smell would chase the memories away. “I didn’t mean to cause problems.”
“You were acting on instinct. and we weren’t expecting Grayson’s body to turn up in a sinkhole.”
“Yeah, how did that happen, by the way? Why wasn’t it taken care of?” I glanced at Mario, waiting for him to have another snide comment.
Maybe, ‘Not your business.’
Or ‘I thought you wanted nothing to do with vampire business, Princess.’ But he stayed silent.
“We don’t know.” Levi shook his head. He was in our morgue waiting to be burned, and the body disappeared during the day.”
I stared a
t him. Last time a body disappeared from the morgue was Nick, and he wasn’t actually dead. There was no way Grayson survived my gunfire. “They found my bullet in his skull.”
“Which shouldn’t have been possible, because we pulled the bullets you fired from out of the wall.”
I tried to think of where else I would have left bullets. “The scene with Ira, who else had access to it?”
Levi looked at Mario and sighed. “All of the council helped us clean that mess up, there were a select few PIB agents.”
“Seems to me that there are more corrupt agents than anyone wants to admit.” I crossed my arms. “So the question is, who would have given Hannah a bullet? There is no doubt in my mind that she placed Grayson’s body there.”
Levi nodded. “We’ll find the list of agents or ask Liz. If there’s a bullet missing from evidence, she needs to know.”
“I’ll make sure to call and tell her.” I looked at them. “Thanks for checking in. I’m sure you’re busy.”
Mario laughed. “You sound like you’re kicking us out.”
“I’m busy.” I motioned to the laptop. “Murders to figure out and all that jazz.”
Levi shook his head. “We need to talk about something else before we leave.”
I didn’t like the tone in his voice. It was the one he used when I was a child that typically meant that I was in trouble.
I met his gaze. “What have I done?”
“A lot.” Mario snorted. “You’ve done everything wrong.”
“Mario,” Levi warned.
Oh damn, this was something big.
Levi’s phone rang, and he sighed. I, however, was thanking the goddess. He picked up the phone and stepped into the kitchen.
I waited for Mario to lecture me, which was typically what he did when we were alone, but he simply stood there and stared at me. I gave him a couple minutes and then pulled the laptop back on to my lap.
In the end, Mario stayed completely silent while I started to search the PIB database for any cases that dealt with doppelgangers.
Levi walked in. “Please excuse us, Mario and I have a meeting we need to get to, to finalize some details.”
A Handful of Skulls (Here Witchy Witchy Book 9) Page 21