The Lost Ones (Here Witchy Witchy Book 12)

by A. L. Kessler

  Levi nodded. “We need to prepare you to go to Samuel’s. You’ll need to learn your vampire manners and have a plan in place for PIB.”

  “I was hoping you’d put in a request for me to work something with you as King. Nick resigned so I don’t want to shock the agency with another quick resignation, and I can’t take any more leave after staying with Melisandra for three months and barely passing my psych eval.” I wasn’t going to mention needing to have something to come back to.

  “We can arrange that.” Levi nodded.

  I expected an argument from him. “Thank you.”

  “Nick resigned?” Mario asked. “Why?”

  “Because he couldn’t fulfill his duty to PIB.” I wasn’t getting into it right now.

  Mario stood slowly. “I need to feed again, then I’m returning to my room.”

  He limped his way out of the room. I looked at Levi. “If I could just kill Hannah… and Samuel. If I could take on two vampires…”

  “You can’t. Not as a witch without back up, and not right now,” Levi stated. “You’re strong, but Samuel knows your weaknesses. You have to learn his and Hannah’s, then you can take them out.”

  I glanced at him. “I’m sorry, are you encouraging this suddenly?”

  Levi nodded. “As King, I know they need to be put down, but because Samuel is my maker, I cannot give that order. The council cannot move forward without my okay.”

  But they could with mine. As long as I had a plan and a weakness. “I hate vampire games.”

  “But you’re getting good at them.” Levi stood. “You need to go home and rest. I can see the exhaustion in your eyes. I’m sure PIB has been keeping you busy.”

  “Yeah, big case, all that jazz.” I paused for a moment. “Do you know when Oliver is coming back?”

  “No, he didn’t say.” Levi shrugged. “I’ll take you home.”

  I stood, and he pulled me into a hug almost immediately. He didn’t say anything, but just held me a little tighter than normal, before the world around us disappeared.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  I woke way too early to Liz banging on my door the next morning. I opened the door and blinked at her a few times. She shoved coffee at me and then grabbed my wrist, dragging me out of the house.

  “I got the warrants, let’s go.”

  I grabbed my bag on the way out and had a moment to shut the door behind me. “It’s just after sunrise.”

  “And you fell asleep in your clothes from yesterday, lucky me. Let’s go.” She got into her SUV and let out a long sigh before climbing in.

  “I’m tired, Liz.”

  “I know, but we’ve got a break in the case and we are not going to let the Petersons escape.”

  I closed my eyes and leaned my head back on the seat. “Okay, wake me up when we get there.”

  “Abby, drink your coffee and wake up. We have important things to do.”

  I sighed and pulled myself up straight and drank my coffee. I was becoming more awake with each sip, but today was going to be a day that I needed a fucking nap.

  “Okay, I sent Mason to the house to talk to the Petersons. He caught them off guard because they don’t know that we IDed the man in the video.”

  “How did this result in getting a warrant?”

  “Well, turns out that Agent Torrid was out there to speak to the Petersons last night about the vampires. He wanted to assure them it was a freak situation that shouldn’t happen again. And he saw Aaron walk in with a teenager with a burned shirt.”

  My heart fell. “Was it the teen we’d seen earlier?”

  “I don’t know, but Torrid put two and two together, so we got the warrants and we’re heading there now to help Mason with any trouble he might run into.”

  I nodded, more awake and my brain rolling now. If it was one of the teens from last night, that meant that Aaron knew where the new house was. “Okay, so we go in there and we look around. You take the property, I’ll take the house, and Mason can make sure that the Petersons stay out of our way.”

  “That sounds like a good plan, but I was going to take the house.”

  I shook my head. “Every time I investigate outside, I find a bunch of dead bodies. I don’t want to today.”

  She laughed. “Name one time you found a bunch of dead bodies.”

  “When I fell into the pit at the haunted house,” I pointed out.

  “Ah, that was before you were on my team.”

  My last case when I worked with Nick alone. “Yeah, seems like a lifetime ago.”

  “I thought you wanted to avoid basements too?”

  “Yes, but if I find the kids, I can get them to trust me. I’m like them, you’re not.”

  She was quiet for a moment. “There is that. Guess you never thought your ability would come in handy like this, huh?”

  I snorted. “Never. I always thought I was going to end up in the government ran facility if I wasn’t careful. Situations forced me to use my elemental ability more and more often. I found myself depending on it like I do my magic, but this is different. I may not understand exactly how these kids feel, but they know if I hold the same power, I probably hold the same fears.”

  Liz nodded. “Okay, you take the house. I’ll call you out if I need back up.”

  “Okay.”

  Liz tightened her grip on the steering wheel. “I heard we’re going to be adding a new security member to your team.”

  “Yeah, Simon needs to focus on his pack for a bit.”

  “Travis called and asked me if I could escort you to pack lands when you wanted to be there.”

  That was almost a shock to me. I knew Travis had offered to have someone approved to be there with me, but I didn’t think he’d figure it out in less than twenty-four hours. “And?”

  “I told him as long as nobody ate me.” She smirked. “So I guess we’re going up on the full moon.”

  I smiled. “Thanks. I really want to see Simon after I almost got him killed… again.”

  She snorted. “You know, let’s not get your boyfriend killed. Or anyone else, for that matter. You’d get in so much trouble without us.”

  And there it was, that moment that I realized I had more than work to look forward to when I got back. Liz, Simon, Merick, everyone would be there the moment I set foot out of Samuel’s territory and came home.

  That made the anxiety ease.

  “Abby?” Liz asked.

  “I’m okay,” I promised. “Just thinking.”

  She nodded, and we stayed quiet the rest of the car ride.

  Liz pulled up to the actual house this time. This side of the city, houses could go either way, big swanky mansions or ready to fall over mobile homes. Occasionally you found something in between. This house was not in between and was on the top spectrum of the swanky houses.

  Three stories with three pointed overhangs, two of which had entrances under them, and the third had a three-car garage. Mason’s cruiser sat in front of the garage.

  I got out and whistled. “That is a lot of house.”

  “Yeah, it is. Grab a gun from the trunk.” Liz popped the trunk.

  And I was sure we both thought the same thing. A lot of places to hide teenagers, but this didn’t exactly look like a facility. At least on the outside.

  I’d seen Ira turn warehouses into fully functioning hospital-like places. I knew someone could do that to a house as well. My mind went back to the basement at the haunted house.

  Of course, hidden basements were always an option.

  Liz and I walked up, and she knocked on the door. The man from the picture answered, and Liz and I gave our most polite smiles.

  “I’m Special Agent Collins and this is Special Agent Jefferson, we’d like to speak with the Petersons and look around the property.”

  He shot out of the house, nearly knocking me over, and I let an irritated sigh. Liz rolled her eyes. “I’ve got him, get inside.”

  Funny how PIB made him run, but there was a detective sittin
g in the house. At least I hoped he was sitting in the house. I unholstered my gun and swept inside the door.

  No one was waiting for me in the entryway. “Detective Mason?” I called out, lowering my gun for a brief moment.

  “He’s downstairs.” Mrs. Peterson stepped from around the corner. “You know, searching the house as the warrant says.”

  “Mrs. Peterson, I’m also here to fulfill a warrant for the house and the surrounding property.”

  Her face pinched at that. “Emma, please. Mrs. Peterson makes me sound so old.”

  “Emma, I need to search your house and your property. We have reason to believe you are running an illegal facility for Elemental children.”

  She put a hand to her chest and gave me a fake look of surprise. “What evidence is that? Detective Mason came in here accusing me of kidnapping as well.”

  “I don’t have to share the evidence.” I was about to say more when I heard gunshots. I darted toward the sound, only to have Emma grab my hair and pull me backwards.

  I elbowed her in the stomach, forcing her to let go of my hair. I swept her legs out from under her and pinned her down. I reached for my cuffs and slapped them on her. “Stay here,” I grounded out and darted away again as another gunshot sounded, this time screams followed.

  I found a steel door at the back of the house that was already opened. I darted in and found Mason against the wall, a hand to his shoulder, blood coating his fingers.

  Fuck.

  My eyes scanned the room as I pulled my gun out. There were a variety cages lining the wall, each with a teenager in it. My heart pounded at the scared look in their eyes as they pressed against the back wall.

  “Attack her,” a male voice yelled. I couldn’t see the owner, but I didn’t want to take my eyes off the kids.

  None of them moved.

  One shrieked suddenly as something took me down from above. My body hit the concrete ground with a thunk. A shock went through my body and my arm went numb from the impact.

  I turned to see what had taken me down and saw Mr. Peterson regaining his footing. I snatched my gun up from the ground and flipped back to my feet. I took aim. “Mr. Peterson, you’re under arrest…”

  I didn’t know what it was. If it was the subtle gasp from one of the teens, or the sudden footsteps on the stairs, but I threw up a purple circle before the gun went off.

  The bullet ricochet of my circle and embedded itself in the ceiling. I turned to see Aaron standing there with a gun pointed at me.

  Which brought up the question of where was Liz? I kept the surprise off my face as I studied his gaze.

  “They sent two weakling witches to handle us. They didn’t think they were going to find anything.”

  Weakling witch, huh?

  Mr. Peterson damn near pouted. “I was hoping they’d send us an elemental. We need someone to show these children the damage their powers can do so they’ll let us remove the abilities.”

  I jerked at that. “Excuse me?”

  “That’s what we do here, Agent Collins. We are learning how to strip them of their abilities. With Aaron’s help, we can cure them of this genetic magical malfunction.”

  I stood there dumbfounded for a moment. “I’ll give these teens a lesson alright.” I controlled the new rage inside me. I’d show them what they could do if they trained and harnessed the power of their ability.

  I swirled around to face Aaron, and as I did, my circle changed from purple to fire in the same motion. The flames swirled around me as I met Aaron’s gaze. “You’re the one who can turn abilities back against the elemental.”

  Aaron nodded and flexed his hand. “And this will be no different.” He opened his hand, outstretched his arm, just like he had in the video, and my flames went to him, gathering in his hand.

  “Parlor trick.” I shook my head and tapped my foot, bringing the fire back to my circle. “Control and training, I have both of these. I’m not the elementals you’ve picked off from the underground. I’m not a teenager just learning that I have this ability.”

  He swiped his hand to the side, and my fire disappeared. It was an impressive move, but it wasn’t touching my powers. I was barely pushing them at this point. All those years training with Oliver, all those times I used it, it was now paying off.

  The fire suddenly came back, snapping around me, but I wasn’t the one who controlled it now. That made my heart skip a beat. A lash of it swung out at me, wrapping around my arm.

  I used my magic and my ability to push it back. I remembered what Phillip had said, that Aaron could turn it back and control all elements.

  I cringed as the burn on my arm laced me with pain. I was being too confident and thought I had Aaron beat with skill. Now he controlled the surrounding fire, having taken it over with his own ability, much like someone taking over a magic circle.

  Muttering the words, I used the transportation spell, taking me out of the fire. The moment I appeared by the cages, the circle of fire disappeared, and Aaron looked at me.

  I met Aaron’s gaze. “You know how to play with fire.” I breathed through the pain in my arm. “Who trained you?”

  “The government facility.” He snarled at me. “They taught me how to use my abilities and control others so that I could kill. They recruit us, train us, keep us from our families, just to put us in the military.”

  That wasn’t part of the rumors I’d heard before. I couldn’t deny it though, because I didn’t know. “So you what? Take these kids and experiment on them to strip their abilities?”

  “I don’t experiment on them. I know how to do it.”

  That was interesting.

  “Then why did Lisa die? Why did the man in the woods die?”

  He jerked like I had hit him.

  “I saw it on the trail cam.”

  He didn’t answer, and a whip of fire came at me, but it was my turn to surprise him.

  I grabbed the fire and called it to me. The flames wrapped around my arm without touching the skin. I walked forward, and he threw a ball of flame at me. I held my hand up, and it disappeared. “You learned control, you learned how to attack, but not defend.”

  With a deep breath, I pushed the fire out at him. He raised his gun and fired twice, but both shots went wild as the fire came closer to him. I threw my hand out and a red circle surrounded him, and the fire died out.

  He gave me wide eyes. “Not going to kill me?”

  “I have more control and more morals than that,” I snapped and then looked back at Mr. Peterson. With a wave of my hand, I threw a purple circle around him. “What’s your game, Peterson? You’re not an elemental, you’re not a warlock.”

  He stared me down through the purple haze. “An elemental killed my daughter. I swore that I’d cleanse the world of you monsters.”

  I let out a sigh and pulled out my phone to call for an ambulance and a containment van. I went to Mason.

  “How’s your shoulder?”

  “Hurts like a bitch,” he grumbled. “Get the kids out of here, I’ll be fine.”

  I went to the cages and looked at the lock on it. Just a basic pad lock. I smiled and melted each one with the heat of my hand. The locks dropped to the floor in a hunk of metal and each kid just stared at me.

  The last one looked at me. “There’s a first aid kit in the back rooms. They needed it often here.”

  I didn’t want to ask. “Thank you.”

  I followed another door that led to a row of rooms. I walked into the first room I could see. Scorch marks marred the ceiling, and I swore there was blood on the walls as well, but I wasn’t going to stop to find out. I looked around and found a big white first aid kit in the corner.

  “They would bring us in here and make us lose control.” A voice caught me off guard, and I spun around with my gun drawn and aimed.

  The kid from the last cage stood there with his hands up. “Then when our outburst exhausted us, Aaron would come in, and it was like he drew the ability out of us, but it neve
r lasted.”

  I put my gun away. “There is no quick fix to what you are. The only thing you can do is learn how to control it.”

  “And hide, so we don’t end up like Aaron.” He held his head down. “I want to go back to the Lost Home. I don’t want to be turned over to the government. Please.”

  It sounded like he was crying, and I realized that’s what he thought was going to happen.

  I walked to him and put a hand on his shoulder. “Titan and Pam are waiting for us to return you guys. I hadn’t realized you guys named the home.”

  He gave me a small smile. “Mr. Macintosh named it. He said because even those who feel lost deserved a home.”

  That sounded like the wisest thing I’d heard Oliver say. “He sounds like a smart guy.”

  He nodded and wiped his eyes. “We can go back?”

  I nodded. “We’re going to make sure you guys are okay first.”

  I dropped my hand from his shoulder and looked up when I heard voices outside the room. “Come on, let’s get back to the other room.”

  He followed me back, and I went straight to Mason, ignoring Aaron who was shouting at me about everyone being monsters. Mr. Peterson was being awfully quiet.

  Mason ripped off what was left of his sleeve and I patched his wound up. “The EMTS can do a better job when they get here. Stay here with the kids. I need to go get Mrs. Peterson and figure out what happened to Liz.”

  Mason nodded. “Your magic will hold up?”

  “Yeah, it should be fine, unless I go unconscious.” I ran up the stairs and went looking to see if Mrs. Peterson stayed where I had left her. Of course, she was not, but I didn’t see cuffs anywhere, so I don’t think she managed to get out of those.

  I swept the house and didn’t find her. Shouting outside caught my attention, and I went out front to see Liz standing there with Mrs. Peterson in a circle.

  Liz looked a little worse for wear. Blood soaked her pants, and the bottom of her shirt was burned.

  “Hey Agent Collins, want to tell me why she was running?”

  “Probably because I have Aaron and Mr. Peterson in a circle downstairs.”