The King's Gambit

by A. L. Kessler

  The next evening Levi walked into the meeting room to find it empty. He sat down and started shuffling through the papers. No one had added the file for the newest victim yet, but that’s not what he was looking for. He wanted the pictures of the original five victims.

  He found them and laid them out, focusing on each detail. The bruising was consistent with being restrained to limit movements, all four limbs. The agents had said the bites were all the same size, so they assumed the same vampire, but feeding nests weren’t typically for only one vampire.

  Either their measurements were off, or there was something they were missing.

  “Find something interesting, Levi?” Agent Tomes ask when he walked in.

  Levi shook his head. “No, just going over the details again to make sure we’re on the right track.”

  Tomes set down a map. “We have the location of the vampire. Or at least where he stays for the day. We’re hoping it’s the nest.”

  “How is our victim doing?” Levi took the map from him. The location was a few miles away from the abandoned hospital which made him pause. Could the body dump be from the feeding nest?

  “Agent Grace is with her now. She’s conscious, and once Grace is done interviewing her, Grace will head this way.” Tomes sat down. “Meanwhile, I want to go check out this location.”

  Levi nodded. “I’ll go with you, and we’ll have Grayson wait here for Agent Grace.”

  As if on cue, Grayson appeared. “Sorry I’m late. What did I miss?” He adjusted his suit and looked over the map. “That’s near the abandoned hospital.”

  Agent Tomes nodded. “Levi and I are going to go check out the location. You’ll wait here for Agent Grace and see what news we get from the victim. Maybe she’ll have names or something to help us.”

  There was that small sinking feeling in Levi that told him that this location could be a trap, but he pushed it off. What was it Abigail always said? Paranoia?

  He focused on the map. He was a vampire. He could always grab Tomes and transport them out of the location if things got bad. It was a nice advantage for Tomes.

  Grayson looked at Levi. “You on board with this?”

  “Yes, if we run into something we can’t handle, I’ll have Tomes call for back up.” Levi knew what Grayson was getting at. The King without his guard could mean danger if they were walking into a trap, but there was no reason for Grayson or Levi to protest the plan.

  Tomes glanced between the two vampires but remained quiet. Levi gathered up the map. “Let’s go.” He put his hand on Tome’s shoulder and took them to the where the rogue vampire spent his days.

  Levi and Agent Tomes appeared in front of a large farmhouse. It wasn’t a typical ranch-style house. This one was two stories, maybe three if it had a basement that they couldn’t see from the outside.

  Tomes stepped up to the door and knocked. Levi stood a few feet behind him and waited to see if anyone would open the door.

  To his surprise, a female vampire opened the door. Her red eyes peeked out from the crack between the door and the doorframe. “What do you want?” She looked at Levi, and her eyes widened a little bit. She went to throw the door shut, but Tomes slammed his hand against it, stopping it from closing all the way.

  “We just want to talk.”

  She shook her head. “Like hell you do. You’re PIB, and he’s a strong vampire. Go away.” She pushed on the door but didn’t manage to close it. That told Levi that she was younger and weakened. He appeared on the other side of the door next to her, and she squealed.

  He grabbed her shoulders to force her to look at him and hold her still. “Is your maker here?”

  She shook her head. “No, we haven’t seen our maker in months. He left us all here.”

  “What are you doing for food?” Levi’s brows furrowed. Who the hell left new vampires on their own? He noticed that Tomes backed off to let him deal with the woman.

  She ran her hands up and down her arms. “We… Um…” She shook her head. “I can’t tell you, because then he’ll come and take the food supply away.”

  “How would he know that we’re here?” he asked, keeping his voice calm.

  She huffed. “There are cameras and such on the property.”

  “Then he already knows that we’ve been here. Let me help you please.” He met her gaze and used a tone similar to what he used when Abigail was a child. One not meant to frighten her, but persuade her.

  She glanced at Tomes. “But PIB will lock us away.”

  Tomes shook his head. “We can help you, but first you have to help us.”

  She hesitated, and her eyes went up to a camera. Levi waited for an answer. If he pushed, she might not help. She looked at Tomes. “I want you to promise you will protect us. All of us.”

  “How many of you are there?” he asked.

  “There’s six of us that are here and need help. Our seventh, he’s…he’s gone crazy.” She opened the door wider so that Tomes could get in.

  He stepped in and gave her a wide berth and not scare her or make her nervous. “It was actually a rogue vampire that led us to you. Do you think you can identify him?”

  She nodded. “Our seventh. He’s tall, blonde hair, his eyes are red because of the bloodlust of course. We’re all blood-starved here. He just decided to take things into his own hands.” She wrapped her arms around her stomach, and Levi knew she was feeling the cramps that came with needing to feed.

  Tomes made some notes. “That sounds like the vampire we’ve been looking for.” He pulled out his phone. “Do you know any of these people?”

  She glanced at them and nodded. “Those are from Kevin’s feeding stock.” She cringed. “Our maker met with another vampire. He was able to get us a supply of donors to feed from. But…they weren’t willing, and there were only so many, so we had to make them last.”

  Levi could hear the horror in her voice. “Show us to the feeding nest, and then we’ll call for someone from PIB to get you and the others and get you fed properly.”

  She nodded and motioned for them to follow. As they made their way through the rooms of the house, Levi counted the other five vampires. They all watched with wide eyes. The oldest being no more than twenty-five and the youngest, barely eighteen, if not younger. Anger filled him. How did someone get away with changing and leaving vampires? Why hadn’t Victor noticed, or why hadn’t anyone brought it to his attention?

  As king, Levi hated seeing things like this. She led them down the stairs, and the first scent that hit him was the smell of death and decay, much like the zombies. He resisted covering his nose, but Tomes didn’t. The man had a handkerchief up to his nose halfway down the stairs.

  When they reached the bottom, the woman looked embarrassed. “I’m sorry about the smell; it’s awful. There’s at least four dead down here, but I don’t know what to do with the bodies. The other’s have given up and don’t care.”

  Levi looked over the large room. People were chained to the bed with the medical grade cuffs they suspected left the marks on their other victims. “There are fifteen people here.” Levi tried to keep the surprise out of his voice. “How long have seven of you been feeding from them?”

  “We’ve been here for a year. We all have three donors we are allowed to feed from. That was until Kevin started taking over. He’s killed six of them.”

  The six victims, except that sixth one was alive still.

  “We’re trying to keep them alive, but as you can see, some of them died. There’s only ten down here for us to share now.” She sounded like she was on the verge of tears.

  Levi nodded and looked over the place. “Tomes, call PIB and make sure these vampires get taken care of properly. Have Grace send a crew over to help with the victims down here.” He turned to the woman. “It’s going to be okay. Tell the others to prepare to leave.”

  He wished as King he could give her his word, but that wasn’t possible, nor did he think she’d trust it. She stared at him with big eyes and nodde
d. She ran back up the stairs and Tomes stepped up to him. “They were forced to stay here.”

  “They are new vampires who were never taught. We’re lucky only one has gone rogue. The others have a chance to recover, and I expect that to happen. I’m going to talk to Victor about what is going on and make sure that PIB has his support in rehabbing these remaining vampires.”

  “And the seventh?”

  Levi shook his head. “It’s hard to reign in a rogue. Execute him.” Not one part of him felt guilty. The rogue was the only vampire who seemed able to leave and not be tucked away in fear. He chose that opportunity to dump bodies instead of helping the others.

  He went back upstairs and saw the scared faces of all the vampires. He tried to give a gentle smile. “We’re going to get you help.” That was the best thing he could promise. He saw a little bit of hope in their eyes before he took himself away to talk to Victor.

  Levi appeared in front of Victor and he looked up surprised. “Levi, not like you to drop in uninvited.” He let the human in his lap go. The man giggled before stumbling out of the room.

  “Forgive me, but we found a feeding nest near the old hospital.”

  Those words caught Victor’s attention quickly. “Have you figured out where it came from?”

  Levi shook his head. “No, I thought it best not to interrogate the six blood-starved vampires that were in the house. They were scared enough as it is. They are worried their maker will come for them. PIB is currently working on protection for them.”

  Victor nodded. “Good. And the rogue?”

  “We’ll work on hunting him down. He’s beyond rehabilitation, and PIB plans on taking him out. What I want to know is how you had a feeding nest in your territory and no one noticed.”

  The vampire met his gaze. “I don’t know, Levi. It’s not like I routinely check for these things. I let PIB handle all the suspicious activity and try to stay out of it if I can. I tried to stay away from the rogue case as well, but Agent Yorkingson was called in, and he dragged me into it.”

  Each vampire ran their territory differently, but he didn’t like the idea of the guy not paying any attention to it. “Know that PIB will be delivering six younglings to you. They will become your responsibility.”

  He nodded. “Of course. Thank you.” He turned away, dismissing Levi.

  Levi took himself back to the house and saw everyone there waiting. Tomes stepped up to the table. “Shall we start planning on how to trap this rogue vampire?”

  “He’ll return to the house to feed.” Levi pointed to the house on the map. “It’s the only place that he knows there are easy targets. He’s blood-starved, so chances are that he won’t notice that something is different in the house.”

  Tomes pressed his lips together. “You’re putting a lot of faith in that.”

  Levi nodded. “Feeding habits of younglings tend to be exactly that, habits. He’s been stealing the food from the other vampires. He knows that there were humans set up down there specifically for feeding. He’ll return there.”

  “Or he’ll attack someone out in the open because he saw all the commotion at the house.” Grace crossed her arms and met his gaze, and for a moment Levi had the feeling she wasn’t a rookie. Something about the way she held herself and the tone of her voice reminded him of older PIB agents.

  “I was hoping your people would be out of there by tomorrow night.” Levi looked at the two agents. “Grayson is taking care of the scene I assume?”

  “Agent Yorkingson is securing the scene and making sure the younglings are taken care of.” Tomes nodded. “Chances are PIB won’t be out of there by tomorrow night. So you need an alternative plan.”

  Levi nodded. “What would you suggest?” He could let PIB take the lead. Maybe they were more equipped than he thought to take care of one rogue vampire. Of course, if that was the case, then they should have already caught the rogue.

  The two were quiet for a moment until Tomes spoke. “We set up bait. Someone close by the house so he can spot an easy victim. He won’t go near the house if he sees the commotion, but he’ll be in the area.”

  Bait, why did plans always seem to come down to bait? He was about to say something when his phone rang.

  “Levi speaking,” he answered without even looking at it.

  “You and the others need to get here now. Our vampire just appeared in the feeding room.” Grayson’s voice came over the receiver and then the call disconnected.

  “Well, looks like our vampire isn’t that smart.” Levi let out a wicked grin. “Let’s go, shall we?”

  Levi appeared with the two agents outside the house. PIB was swarming the area with swat gear, and Levi raised a brow. “What are they going to do if he just decides to disappear?”

  Tomes snorted. “A circle can trap him long enough to get a containment team out here and get him in the truck.”

  Levi had seen it done before, a magical circle that was meant to keep people in. Abigail used it, and it was rare that a vampire could teleport out of it. He doubted a youngling could do it.

  He and the other agents passed through the line of PIB and started into the house. Levi let the PIB agents lead because without magic, and without getting close to the vampire, he couldn’t keep the youngling from disappearing.

  They entered the room to find the vampire already trapped in a circle. He snarled and banged against the magic. Agent Yorkingson walked up and motioned to a witch nearby. “She’d set a trap before we even got through the victims.”

  There was a strange tick in Tomes’ jaw, and Levi was willing to bet that the man was upset about something with the situation. “Well done, Agent,” Tomes said through his tight jaw.

  The witch nodded. “I’ll leave him in there. We need to go take care of the victims.”

  Tomes walked around the circle, looking at the vampire inside. Levi stood back to watch. The creature in front of him tracked Tomes with hungry eyes. The red seemed darker than their last encounter just a night ago. As if all the feeding he’d done hadn’t quenched his thirst.

  He spun to look at Levi. “You,” he snarled and rammed up against the circle.

  Levi nodded to him. “Hello againKevin, isn’t it?”

  The vampire shook his head. “How do you know my name?”. Let me out of this circle. You have no right to hold me.”

  “You’ve killed five people, possibly more. We have every right to hold you,” Tomes snapped. “We could get an executioner out here right now to kill you.”

  Levi was sure there was paperwork involved, but maybe Tomes had a good reason for threatening it.

  Kevin laughed. “You think you scare me? My maker could take you all out in a single breath, slaughter you all.”

  Levi raised a brow. “And just who is your maker?”

  Kevin turned to him. “Do not mock me. You know him. You feel the same as him. You ooze power that commands attention and respect. You could strike fear into everyone.”

  “Ira’s kin then.” Levi raised a brow. “Or Samael.” It’d been a long time since he’d said his maker’s name out loud.

  Kevin cocked his head to the side. “You can’t tell either way?”

  “We aren’t magical creatures,” Levi snapped. “It doesn’t matter who your maker is. Now you’re in PIB’s hands. He won’t be able to save you.”

  Kevin threw his head back and full on cackled. “I demand to see the king.” He stared right at Levi. “He will spare me.”

  Levi shook his head. “The King of Vampires doesn’t meet with people.”

  “Then he is a false king. Serve no king,” he snarled, and banged against the circle. Levi walked away to let PIB deal with it. Yorkingson came after him.

  “Levi.”

  Levi turned to look at him. “Yes?”

  “Thank you for the help on this case. It was you going into the club that broke the case open.”

  Levi nodded. “It wasn’t that big of a deal. Now though, I need to talk to our people dealing with the
bodies at the hospital. “

  Yorkingson nodded. “I’ll handle the things here. Thank you again.”

  Levi took himself away from the house and back to the hospital. He could trust PIB to take care of the vampire, and despite the connection he claimed to have either to Ira or Samael, it wasn’t the king’s business anymore. No, now he needed to see what kind of progress his people were making at the hospital.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Levi appeared at the abandoned hospital to find a little more hustle than he’d been expecting. At least twenty people that worked for the king moved around, lining up bodies, taking notes, inspecting things.

  Catalina came up. “I was wondering when you were going to show up. We have a mess here. Whatever Ira has been up to, it’s increased the number of his deaths. We have at least fifty bodies. We’re lucky it’s out in the middle of nowhere because had it not been, we would have been on the local news in a minute’s notice.”

  Levi crossed his arms. “Are you done?”

  She looked taken aback, but she kept any rash comment she had to herself. “Yes.”

  “Good, what I need to know are the types of victims, the number of each, and the cause of death. You need to make sure that anyone who works on this is not PIB related and has the trust of the King and the King’s council.”

  She nodded. “We’ve already taken those precautions; the area is secure. PIB is on a different case right now, as you well know.”

  Which he was starting to wonder if it had been a distraction of some sort. He looked over the bodies. Or if Ira didn’t want to lead them here for some unknown reason.

  “Levi?” Catalina asked.

  He blinked a few times and looked at her. “I’m sorry, I was thinking about something.”

  “I said that we have things handled here if you want to head back to your territory.”