The King's Gambit

by A. L. Kessler

  Levi tried to remain professional and not to roll his eyes. “My apologies then.”

  Tomes jerked his head to the door. “Come on Melody, let’s get some food and let the vampires be.”

  The two agents left, and Levi rubbed his eyes. “A necromancer in your territory.”

  “There are no known necromancers in this territory, I swear.” He held his hands up. “Let’s chalk it up to a fluke and worry about the vampire victims.”

  “I left it in PIB’s hands, so we’ll see what they do with it.” Grayson held his hands up. “I’ve got a list of known vampire clubs and hangouts that we can start checking. I’m sure Tomes and Grace have already checked them, but it doesn’t hurt to double check in this case.”

  Except Levi had other things he could have been doing. “Why didn’t you do this when you first got here.”

  Grayson held his hand up to cut Levi off. “There are underground things that PIB can’t get to. Those are things we need to double check. Levi, I need you for that. They won’t talk to me as PIB, even if I’m a vampire. I already have a list.”

  He nodded and bit his tongue, regretting not trusting Grayson to do his job right. “Okay, give me the list, and I’ll work on it.” He checked his watch. “First thing tomorrow night, we’re cutting it close to dawn.”

  They all looked at their watches and nodded. “I’ll send Agent Grace and Tomes a quick update on our plan and see what their plans are during the day.” Grayson pulled out his phone.

  Victor disappeared, leaving Levi and Grayson standing there. Levi’s phone went off, and he looked at the screen.

  ‘Simon bought me tickets to go to Disney! I’m going on vacation! I leave Friday.’

  He chuckled at Abigail’s message. “Abby will be out of town while I’m here.”

  “That’ll be good for her. PIB related?”

  “No, vacation.”

  Grayson laughed. “It’s about time that girl took one. She has yet to take one since joining PIB.” He put his phone away. “Tomes and Grace are planning on doing some more research and then sleeping most of the day.”

  “Good, maybe they’ll turn up something.” Levi sighed. “The hospital…I can’t believe there were so many bodies.”

  Grayson nodded. “Our people are on it. We’ll find out what was going on soon. They’ll pull Oliver in to do some spells and see what he can find out.”

  Levi sneered at the name. Oliver would do it because they paid him pretty well for it, but it didn’t mean Levi had to like it. “Ira’s been working faster it seems, but he still hasn’t managed anything but blood-starved.”

  “Do we truly believe that? I feel he would have given up by now if he hadn’t made any progress.” Grayson walked towards the door. “Come, I’ll show you to your room for the day.”

  Levi followed him, trying to think of what progress Ira could have made at this point. Ten years ago he’d yet to actually create anything but a mindless, blood-starved soldier, which would have fit his need except they were more zombie than vampire. They had all the drawbacks, but none of the advantages except for speed and strength.

  The creatures still couldn’t go out in the sun, needed more blood than a normal vampire to survive, and had no concept of who and what they were. The only way Ira would be able to make the progress he wanted would be to get his hands on the tablet. But Tobias made sure that wasn’t possible.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  The next evening, after feeding from a donor, Levi went to the meeting room. Grayson was there talking with Tomes.

  “Where is Agent Grace today?”

  “I have her doing some more footwork, calling and talking to the victim’s families again. We might have found a connection other than them all being in the PIB academy. They were all patrons at a particular club.”

  “How come we didn’t make this connection before?”

  “Because the club is warded against humans unless a member invites them.” Tomes crossed his arms. “So, an illegal club.”

  Levi kept his mouth shut. There were a couple in his territory that he allowed because he believed supernatural creatures needed a place where they could just be and not have to worry about humans. Simon ran such a club, and it was Abigail who put the wards on it.

  “Did you find the location of the club?” Grayson asked.

  Tomes nodded. “But we don’t want to do a full raid on it until we know that it’s connected to our murders.”

  “You’ll need a warrant to search the location, either way.” Levi crossed his arms and thought. “But I can go in and check it out. I’m not PIB.”

  Tomes thought for a moment. “You’re right. I think that might be a good approach. Agent Yorkingson can go in, but they might know him as PIB. He’s been on a couple high profile cases.”

  “I can do it alone. It’s not that big of an issue.”

  Tomes handed him a piece of paper with an address on it. “Let us know what you find.”

  If it was valuable to the case, then he would, and if not, then he’d let the creatures be in peace. “I’ll be in touch.”

  He looked down at the address and took himself there.

  When he appeared, he looked up at the unassuming building. The red bricks held no clue of what was inside. Except there was a glowing rune on the door that allowed him to see that he was welcomed there. It was much like the sign on Simon’s shop.

  He walked in, and the music hit him, pulsing through his body. It took his senses a moment to acclimate to it, and once he became used to the noise, something else assaulted him.

  The overwhelming smell of blood. Human, werewolf, witch, and a few mixed bloods he couldn’t place. Even though he’d already fed, there was a hunger growing in him. He tried to turn his mind away from the sounds and scents and focused on the crowd.

  The crowd was all vampire. Nothing else mingled in the crowd that he could see at the moment. He sensed the others, but they weren’t walking around or dancing.

  “You must be new here.” A woman walked up to him, a sway in her hips, balanced on her skinny heels. The skin-tight sequin dress seemed to inch up with every step she took. Her dainty fangs peeked through her lips. “What’s your poison?” She trailed fingers down his face, tracing her manicured nails down his skin.

  He wasn’t exactly sure how to answer the question, and she picked up on that, chuckling. “Sex, blood, or magic?” she offered and crooked a finger at him. “Follow me, and I’ll give you a tour.” She turned and walked away from him, leading him toward the back rooms.

  He followed her with ease, his gaze darting around. As they moved through the room, he saw some of the humans that were tucked away behind the bodies of feeding vampires. Some of their eyes were rolled back in pleasure, while others wore a pained look on their face.

  The music masked any sounds they made during the feedings. A sick feeling claimed his stomach. Something was going on here that was beyond supernaturals just wanting a place away from humans. The vampire led him through a door, and she closed it behind him.

  The door blocked out a lot of the noises from the club, and she moved down the hall running her hand against one of the walls. “Here we cater to your true nature. You want blood? We have humans, witches, werewolves, and shifters.”

  “Willing donors?”

  She laughed. “Yes, willing. You’ll find that we have contracts for all of our donors. Are you with PIB or something?”

  “I’m a king’s guard. I happened to stumble on this establishment.”

  She nodded. “We have contracts with all of them and a confidentiality contract. You can see them if you’d like.” She had a little less sway to her now, and her voice died down. “Are you just checking on us?”

  It was time to be honest with her. “We have some people who showed up dead. Are you willing to look and see if any of them are your donors?”

  She hissed. “So you can just expose us to PIB?”

  “I don’t have to expose you to PIB. I could let the king k
now what kind of club you’re running. But if you’ll help me out, then I won’t. I’ll turn a blind eye as long as everything is consensual here.”

  She nodded. “Come into the office then.” She led him to the furthest door. On the way down he heard moans of pleasure and other noises that showed people behind the doors were having a good time.

  She shut the door of the office behind them. The oak desk took up most of the room with two wingback chairs sitting in front of it. She went behind the desk and sat down with a huff.

  Levi took a seat, pulled out his phone, and pulled up the photos of the victims. “We have five victims.” He leaned forward to show them to her and scroll through the photos.

  She looked at them and shook her head. “None of them work here anymore, but they did at one point.”

  “What happened?”

  “They were all recruited for something else. They never said what, but they wanted to be released from their contracts.” She pulled out a drawer and flipped through some files. She laid them out in front of him.

  “Here we go, all five files. Their original contract, their release contract, records of pay, whatever you need is in that file.”

  He pulled them close and started looking through the papers. He looked through the release contract. “None of them disclosed where they were going?”

  She shook her head. “They all left at the same time. There was talk about some research company paying them the big bucks. Which, I mean, how you beat two hundred thousand a year, I’m not sure.” She shrugged.

  “Thank you. I’ll look into it.” Levi stood and took the files with him.

  She stood and let him out of the office. “Sure I can’t offer you a bite?”

  “I’m sure. Thank you though.” He nodded and disappeared from the club.

  Levi reappeared in the house they were using as the central meeting place. He put the files in his room and then went to the meeting room. Grayson leaned back in one of the chairs at the table, his eyes closed in thought.

  “They were serving the club consensually. They all left because they were invited to participate in some research project.” Levi looked at Grayson. “I negotiated to keep the club a secret. It was the only way I was going to get the information.”

  Grayson opened his eyes. “Would the king approve of the club being left open?”

  “It’s on the edge, but she has all her files in order so that she can prove everyone there is a paid donor.” He shrugged. “Nothing too shady.”

  Grayson nodded. “Okay, so now we need to find this research company.”

  Levi looked over the map of the city laid out on the table. “The bodies give us no clue to where the research company might be at.”

  “Directories might help.” Grayson pulled out his laptop and started typing away. Levi stood in silence for a few minutes, thinking back to the club. She had paid them a decent wage, so there had to be a better incentive to leave. Of course, whoever lured them to their death could have promised anything, knowing they wouldn’t have to deliver.

  “Ah, found a couple newer ones in town. On specifically mentions they are looking for supernaturals and humans to donate blood.” Grayson looked up over the computer. “My guess is that we should start there.”

  Levi walked around the table and pulled out his phone to call the number on Grayson’s screen. “Let’s see who answers.”

  “Thank you for calling Lion Research center, where we roar at the possibility of a better future,” a bored voice answered.

  “I saw an ad on your website saying that you were looking for blood donors. Are you looking for people to feed vampires?”

  The guy snorted. “Read the fine print man. We’re basically a supernatural blood bank. We ship the blood off to be used for studies.”

  That was good to know. “And what kind of donations are you looking for? Is there anything else involved?”

  “If the tests come back saying you have certain pathogens that the company is looking for, you could be offered a contract for further research.” It sounded like the man was reading off a script. Levi pressed his lips together and thought. “Thank you.”

  “Would you like to make an appointment?”

  Levi glanced at Grayson. “Yes, I would. My name is Oliver Macintosh, and I’d be interested in donating blood.”

  Grayson’s eyes widened. “He’s going to kill you.”

  Levi smirked. “How about two o’clock tomorrow afternoon?”

  “I’ve got you down, and what are you?”

  “Warlock.” He would have to call Oliver and explain what he needed to do, and Grayson was right, Oliver wouldn’t be happy, but it’d be worth the attitude if they learned something.

  “Do you know how to get to our facility?”

  “I have the address,” Levi said easily.

  “Then we’ll see you tomorrow.” He disconnected the call.

  Levi looked at Grayson who was shaking his head. “You know Oliver hates when you do things like that without asking.”

  “Oliver will get over it, and we’ll consider it payback for him contacting Abigail.”

  “He’s getting brave.”

  “He thinks Abigail is old enough to let him into her life now.” Levi shook his head and dialed the warlock. “I left it up to her, though I warned her away from him.”

  Oliver answered after one ring. “What do you want, Your Highness?”

  “I need you for some official business.”

  “Where are you?” Oliver sounded annoyed, but he hadn’t flat out said no yet.

  “The territory to the north. You need to come up here and show up at Lion Research to donate some blood.”

  Oliver laughed. “No one gets my blood.”

  “Really you need to snoop around and see if it’s a cover for something else.”

  Oliver made a noise that Levi learned over the years that said he was annoyed. “I am not one of your scouts.”

  “You’re right, but believe it or not you’re the best person for this job. So drive up here and deal with it.”

  There was silence on the phone. “What do I get out of it?”

  “Name your price Oliver.”

  “How dangerous is it?”

  “It involves Ira.” Levi waited. Normally the warlock wanted him to look the other way when he performed a particular spell and a body showed up, and if it wasn’t that, it was money.

  Oliver chuckled. “You know that it’s hard to track Abigail in that dark green Hummer.”

  Levi closed his eyes. “Can’t get a tracker on it, can you?”

  “No, the spell on it is pretty damn tight, so I have to track it manually. I need it to be a different color. I know Abigail loves that car and she’ll continue to borrow it when she needs it.”

  Levi sat there and weighed the options. His mouth curved up in a smile. “Okay, the color of the Hummer is a small price to pay. It’ll be a brighter color next time she borrows it.”

  “What time do I have to be there?”

  “Two PM, I’ll text you the address. That should give you plenty of time to drive up here.”

  He paused for another moment. “Is this PIB related?”

  “Kind of, I’ll keep your name off the record the best I can.”

  He grumbled. “Seriously, I hate having my name in the PIB database. It’s a pain in the ass.”

  “I’ll make sure that it’s redacted. If we can tie this to Ira, we have a better chance of learning what he’s accomplished.”

  Oliver hmmed for a moment. “Do you want me to hack into their database?”

  “If you can manage it, yes.”

  “I’ll be there at two.” He sounded much happier that time before hanging up. Levi shook his head and laid his phone on the table.

  Grayson was staring at him. “Did he just demand that you change the color of the Hummer?”

  “Yes.”

  “And you agreed?”

  Levi nodded. “Yes, but it won’t be exactly what he’s ask
ing for. He should learn to word his sentences more carefully.” It’d be a not-so-covert color.

  Grayson started laughing. “This little rivalry between you two is never going to end is it?”

  “Not until he realizes that I’ve won.”

  The next evening Levi woke to a text from Oliver, demanding that they meet at a cafe. Some French place down the road from the research center, and he demanded Levi not bring PIB agents in bold letters.

  Levi found himself a donor and then took himself to the cafe Oliver insisted on going. There wasn’t much of a crowd yet for dinner, and Levi found Oliver sitting back in the corner, savoring a glass of wine. Levi slid into the bench across from him.

  “That place? Squeaky clean. No signs of vampires, Ira, or creatures.” Oliver looked into his glass of wine. “Too clean, so I dug a little bit deeper for you. Assuming you’ll keep your word about the Hummer.” Oliver raised his brow, and Levi nodded. The warlock pulled out a folder. “These are the names and list of their clients, including those who have been called back in to extend their research contracts.”

  Levi opened the folder and scanned through the names. Sure enough, the victims for the current case were on it and had gone in for further research. “Thank you.” He flipped through and found the contracts. “They acknowledged that death could be a side effect of the trial.”

  Oliver nodded. “That caught my attention too. My guess is covering their ass for something. I’ll have to keep digging and see what ties I can find, but that will have to do for now.”

  He was hoping he had a rogue vampire to deal with, not an underground experimentation blood cartel.

  “I think you’re right. I think it’s Ira.” Oliver said and sat his wine glass down. “I think he’s finding a way to collect his specimens without setting off too many alarms.”

  Levi nodded. “I agree. Tonight, I’ll take PIB in there since we won’t find a direct connection to Ira. I appreciate it, Oliver.”

  “Just remember, a brighter color than dark green. I like to keep tabs on Abigail.”

  Levi locked his jaw. “One day she’s going to notice that you’ve invaded her privacy.”