A Little Blood Magic (Here Witchy Witchy Book 10)

by Kessler, A. L.

  It all sounded so easy.

  “In that case, I’m going to head out then.” I gave him a little wave and left his office. I walked down the hall and out the door.

  I pulled my phone out to text Oliver an update. I walked out of the building and got to the car before Oliver called me.

  “Vacation?”

  “He claims that he wants me to take it easy. That I shouldn’t be on the field because of my past cases.”

  “So that means he either really is looking out for you, or he wants you out of the office. Any ideas why?”

  “None, but Mason told me he can’t get a hold of Liz, and he’s got three very nasty scenes.”

  “Have you heard from Liz?”

  “Just the other coordinates, nothing else. Wherever she is, she’s in deep, and if I try to contact her, I might blow whatever cover she has.”

  “Just keep your eyes and ears open. Mason called you in on the case?”

  “As one of Levi’s people, yes. I’m sure I’ll be called into the council tonight to discuss it. Catalina loves when I get pulled into vampire business, and there hasn’t actually been any vampire connection made yet. She’ll really love this.” I couldn’t keep the sarcasm from my voice.

  Oliver laughed. “I’m sure it’ll be an entertaining conversation. I’ll talk to you later.”

  He disconnected the call, and I started the car.

  Well, tried to.

  One click.

  Two clicks.

  It didn’t want to start. Which was odd because it usually ran fine. It wasn’t pretty to look at, but the engine was in good condition.

  I sighed, popped the hood, and opened the door to get out.

  I looked at the engine. Yep, it was still there.

  And that was about all I knew about cars.

  I sighed and pulled my phone out to call Simon.

  “Hey, what’s up?”

  “So my car—”

  “Blew up?”

  “No.”

  “Was destroyed?”

  “No.”

  “Was—”

  “Damn it, Simon, it won’t start, that’s it. It’s still intact.” I growled. “Will you please come look at it or pick me up until I can get it towed?”

  He laughed, and it warmed me, chasing away the small bit of anger I had been feeling.

  “I’ll be right there.”

  I disconnected the call and put my hands on my hips. “It’s not very nice to just stop working.”

  The car didn’t answer back, and had it, I probably would have run for the hills.

  #

  It wasn’t long before Simon and Travis showed up. Travis had an amused smile on his face as he looked under the hood. “I’m going to test your battery. You may just need a new one. It’s an easy fix. I can get it done tonight.”

  I was hoping it was an easy fix, but that wasn’t how it usually worked for me. “Okay. That sounds good. I shouldn’t need it tonight if I can at least get a ride home.”

  Simon nodded. “I’ve got you covered on that. Were you heading to lunch?”

  I snorted. “No. Impromptu vacation. Long story, but it’ll be okay. I’d rather take a vacation than work from the desk for a week or more.”

  “Oh, maybe I can take you out for your birthday then.”

  Travis rolled his eyes and slammed the hood down. “Let me have your keys, and I’ll make sure to get the car fixed.”

  I tossed him the keys, and he looked at the car again and shook his head. “Or just buy you a new one.”

  “Don’t you dare. It’ll be gone in six months. There’s a reason I’ve stopped spending money on cars.”

  Simon nodded in agreement. “It’s true. Don’t waste funds on it.” He opened the door of his truck for me. “Just get it fixed.”

  Travis saluted Simon. “Yes, boss.”

  I climbed into the cab of the truck, and Simon shut the door behind me. He got in the driver’s side and glanced at me. “Vacation?”

  “Just from PIB. There’s a lot to keep me busy, and I plan on taking advantage of that and being one of Levi’s people.”

  He hesitated for a moment. “Abby?”

  “What’s up?” My heart sank, there was a tone in his voice that hinted at me not liking what he was about to say.

  “The wolves want you to come up for the full moon.”

  That wasn’t the worst statement that could have come out of his mouth. “Really?”

  “Yeah, the pups especially. Your magic seems to calm them. You may not be alpha anymore, and you’re not a wolf, but your magic is part of the pack, and we’d like you there.”

  I smiled. “I’d be honored to be up there during the full moon. As long as no one eats me.”

  He reached over and squeezed my knee. “No one is going to eat you.”

  “Famous last words,” I teased.

  The first time I was on pack lands, someone tried to eat me. The whole pack, actually. And once, I accidentally became alpha. It was nice to be invited up as a witch. “Tomorrow night?”

  “Evening. I’ll pick you up around five, and we’ll head up. Travis is cooking, so you know the food’s going to be delicious.”

  I nodded. “He’s a good cook, and it probably tastes better than the healthy crap Merrick is trying to feed me.”

  “He’s taking care of you.”

  “Yeah, yeah, a burger occasionally wouldn’t hurt, though.”

  Simon laughed. “Have you let him know that you’re on vacation?”

  “Not yet. I’m just going to show up at the house. I’ll be honest, I’m not even sure what he does during the day while I’m gone.”

  Simon shrugged. “Me either. I handle my business, then I spend my nights with you.”

  Which had been lovely. I was glad we’d seen a lot more of each other lately. He handled the pack’s night clubs and politics. We tried hard to leave our work at the door when we came home, but sometimes it was impossible, especially when I was on a case.

  “What are you thinking about?”

  I looked at him. “Oh, just life and how everything seems to be trying to fit into place.”

  “A nice turn.”

  “Something is coming.”

  He snorted. “Don’t be like that, Abby.”

  I shook my head. “No, I can feel the magic. Something is coming.”

  He looked up in his review mirror. “We’re being followed.”

  The black SUV was staying close to our tail. The front license plate was missing, and the windows tinted too dark to see inside. It wasn’t a car I knew, and I had a feeling it wasn’t friendly. “Try to lose them. Do not lead them to the house.”

  Simon nodded and sped up down the highway. I kept an eye on the car behind us as Simon continued to swerve in and out of traffic. I didn’t know where he was going, but I didn’t care as long as we weren’t leading them to the house.

  I texted Merrick to meet us at PIB. “Circle back.”

  “What?”

  “Just trust me. I want you to drop be back of at PIB. Leave and see if the person follows you.”

  He twisted his hands on the wheel. “And what about you?”

  “Merrick is going to meet me back at the office. He can get me home from there. If the person doesn’t follow you, then you head to my house. If he does, call me, and I’ll figure something else out.”

  He nodded and pulled off the highway. He circled back, and the person continued to follow us.

  We got to the office, and the car pulled in two spots away from Simon. It wasn’t subtle at all, which made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I was prepared for an attack.

  I stepped out of the truck and motioned for Simon to stay in. Travis was still standing by my car a couple spots away. He took a step closer toward me, and I shook my head.

  “Just forgot something in the office.”

  He nodded slightly. As soon as I was out of reach of Simon’s truck, magic surrounded me.

  I threw up my circle
, the purple haze of my magic slid over me, and the attacking magic bounced off. I felt the impact physically and let out a grunt as it hit a second time.

  I couldn’t see it, but I knew it was there.

  “Show yourself,” I snapped, staring at the car. “You want to fight magic with magic, I’ll gladly take you on.”

  The magic fell, and the car sped away.

  I waited a moment before I let my circle drop. Simon took it as a sign that it was safe to get out of the truck. “Any idea who that was?”

  I shook my head. “No, and they are a coward if they didn’t want to show their face.”

  “Someone just trying to scare you,” Travis offered. “You’re still a newly announced ‘Princess of Vampires.’ There are people out there who are going to want to test your resolve. Like stronger members of a pack will test a new alpha.”

  I didn’t like that idea. “Yeah, maybe.” Or maybe it was related to the shooting. I hoped not because I was trying to chalk that up to random violence, not an attack on me.

  “Merick’s here.” Simon motioned to the front of the PIB office.

  “That was eventful,” he said as he walked up to us. “You alright?”

  “Yeah, I don’t think they were serious.” I glanced at Travis. “I think you’re right, I think they were just trying to scare me.”

  Merrick put a hand on my shoulder. “I’ll see you at the house then. I want to let you know, though, I saw O’Donald around your office.”

  “He won’t enter it. I don’t know if it’s because he intends to harm me, but for some reason, he will not cross that threshold.”

  “Even after you’ve invited him in?”

  I nodded. “The doll must be doing her work because he hasn’t come into my office once.”

  “Interesting. I’d stay away from him if I could.”

  “That’s the plan. I’m on vacation now. Simon’s going to give me a ride back to the house while Travis fixes my car.”

  Merrick eyed the car. “What did you do to it?”

  “The battery died, thank you. It’s still in one piece, and it’s a perfectly normal thing to happen to a car.”

  “Nothing is normal when it comes to you, Abby. Now, if the excitement is over, I’m going to go back to my visit with my sister, and you two can head home.” Merrick bowed his head and disappeared.

  I felt guilty that I had interrupted his family time.

  Simon frowned. “He has a sister?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, she’s pretty nice too. I met her once when someone was trying to drown me.”

  Simon ran a hand over his eyes. “I’m going to remind myself that you survived.”

  I took his hand and squeezed it. “These things keep our lives interesting.”

  “This is true.”

  And he had no room to talk, seeing as he’d almost died on me during a pack battle. He walked me back to the truck, we got in, and headed home.

  When we walked into the house, I went straight to the coffee machine, and Simon followed me.

  “You want to tell me what you actually plan on doing on this vacation?”

  I nodded. “Working with Mason to help Liz and him on their case.”

  “And they need help?” Simon grabbed mugs for us as I started putting the grounds in the machine.

  “No one has heard from Liz in at least twenty-four hours.” I glanced at him. “O’Donald told me that she was undercover, but she’s sent me two texts. Mason can’t get a hold of her. And I don’t want to reach out in case she actually is undercover.”

  Simon leaned against the counter while we waited for the coffee to brew. “You don’t believe O’Donald?”

  “When I was shot the other day, Liz helped me to get back to headquarters. She told me she thought O’Donald was behind the shooting and that I needed to make sure he didn’t realize I was seriously injured.” I tried to shake some of the memories from my brain. I didn’t want to think about the illusions again. “I didn’t get a chance to ask her what she was talking about before she went ‘undercover.’”

  Simon grabbed the creamer. “So, you’re helping as one of Levi’s people. What if O’Donald finds out?”

  “There’s nothing he can do about it. Unless he wants to fire me, but then he’d make a few enemies. If he likes his job, he won’t fire me.” I shrugged.

  Simon snorted. “Untouchable?”

  “Unless he kills…” I stopped mid-sentence. “That’s a little drastic.”

  Simon filled the mugs. “But in your life, it’s not out of the question.”

  He had a point. I tried not to think about getting shot as an assassination attempt. There hadn’t been any real attempts or credible threats recently. Anything that looked like it might harm me or thought about harming me was investigated by Levi’s people and taken care of.

  What taken care of meant, I didn’t ask. I grabbed my coffee off the counter and went into the living room. “We what drug was used on the bullet. Levi’s dealt with it before.”

  “You neglected to tell me you were drugged.”

  I pressed my lips together. “Sorry, I assumed someone filled you in. The bullet that hit me was laced with enough Thrills that had it stayed in my body, it would have died of an overdose. It was a terrifying trip that I never want to experience again.” I shook my head. “It’s over now, though. So, let’s enjoy our coffee and watch some movies. I’m on vacation from PIB. I’d like to enjoy some time with my boyfriend before Levi pops in.”

  He kissed me quickly, and we moved to the couch and sat down.

  I snuggled up against him and flicked the television on, going straight to my streaming service. I didn’t want to risk seeing the news and regretting my choice to take a vacation.

  Simon pulled me close. “Action-adventure movie tonight?”

  “Sounds like a good choice.” I sat my coffee down on the coffee table. “But, we could have other fun.”

  He looked down at me and kissed me quickly. I returned the kiss with passion. His hands skimmed up my sides, tugging my shirt up. I broke the kiss long enough for him to pull it over my head and for me to rid him of his shirt.

  I straddled him and leaned over to kiss him as his hand curved around my waist.

  I heard a couple of small beeps, but I didn’t pay too much attention until the alarm chirped that it was disarmed, and the front door opened.

  Shit.

  “Abigail?” Levi’s voice came through the house.

  “Shit,” Simon and I both said at the same time and started scrambling to put our shirts back on like two lust-struck teenagers.

  It was too late. Mario and Levi appeared in the doorway of the living room.

  Levi put his hand over his eyes and sighed. “Abigail?”

  “It’s my house,” I countered.

  Something flashed in Mario’s eyes, and for a moment, I thought it might be jealousy. Simon seemed to see it too because he wrapped his arms around me and laid his chin on top of my head. “Did you need something?”

  “Please put a shirt on.” Levi turned around.

  I snorted and slipped my shirt back on before Simon did the same thing. “You can turn around now.”

  Osiris walked in a moment later, and I wondered how long Merrick had been sitting on the other side of that wall.

  Levi turned around and motioned to the couch. “We need to talk about the case that Mason called you in on today.”

  “Oh, this is going to be a fun conversation.” Simon sat back on the couch and grabbed the coffees. He handed me my coffee, and I looked at Levi.

  “Mason called me in as one of your people. He said he got your permission for it.”

  “Because O’Donald won’t let you on the field, and I don’t want this to get out of hand. Whatever, whoever is out there killing people, needs to be stopped.”

  I nodded. “I’m on vacation from PIB, so I’m all yours for a week.”

  He was quiet for a moment, but Mario spoke up. “Who’s with you during the day the
n? Where’s Liz?”

  I glanced at Levi. “Did Mason tell you?”

  “Liz has been out of contact for more than twenty-four hours. Oliver messaged me to tell me that she’s been on the move, or at least her phone is.”

  “She’s sent me a couple locations, but with a DNR attached to it. So I haven’t reached out to her. What do you know about this case?”

  Levi looked at Simon. “This stays here.”

  Simon nodded in agreement.

  “Some of the victims have been vampires.”

  I stared at him. “How many?”

  “Three.”

  I pressed my lips together. Mason had said there were only a few bodies, and he was waiting on Levi to confirm the vampire aspect. “Why was the Black Magic Task Force called in then?”

  “Because we’re pretty sure the symbols have something to do with magic. Liz was going to check into something and said that she might be out of touch. But I didn’t think it was going to be for twenty-four hours.”

  I studied my coffee for a moment. “So, I’m going to take over for her.”

  “And find her,” Levi added.

  “I need any notes she’s given you, and I’ll see if I can get into the PIB database to get any notes she might have put in there. How many victims were there all together? The scene Mason called me to didn’t have any bodies.”

  “Five. Three vampires two humans,” Mario spoke up. “The humans were associated with the vampires that we found.”

  Interesting. “Okay. I’ll see what I can do.” I glanced at Simon.

  “I’m here for the night. Tomorrow night you’re with the pack, though.”

  Levi raised a brow. “For the full moon?”

  “They want me to be there for them to run. They like me there.” I smiled behind my coffee mug.

  Mario huffed. “Being with the wolves makes you hard to protect.”

  “I’m safe with them and with Simon,” I promised. “I’ll be back first thing in the morning.”

  Mario looked at, Levi who shrugged. “She’s safe there. The wolves will protect her.”

  “We talked about this,” Mario stated, and it was my turn to raise a brow. “She is the Princess now.”

  “The tabloids already know that Simon and I are dating.”

  “I’m worried about someone knowing you’re up there and attacking,” Mario growled.