Simon looked worried for a minute and then sighed. He kissed my head. “I’m worried that he won’t be able to repair the damage.”
“He doesn’t think it’s magical damage.” My shoulders slouched.
“He thinks it’s mental.” Simon nodded. “Like a werewolf who loses their ability to control their wolf due to trauma.”
I leaned my head against his chest. “Yeah, something like that.”
“Abby, these last few years have beaten you up. You’ve survived more than most people see in a lifetime.” He kissed the top of my head again, and I sighed.
“So much that it broke me.”
He chuckled, and it rumbled through his chest. “It didn’t break you. Come on, let’s go watch some television and enjoy our dinner.”
That sounded perfect to me.
#
Banging crashed through the dark. I covered my ears as Simon threw himself over me as if something was coming after me. The walls seemed to shake. My heart pounded and all I could think of was that my house was exploding.
The banging stopped and my ears pounded with my heartbeat. Simon pressed against me, perfectly still. “Simon?” I whispered. The last thing I remembered was lying on the couch. Now I had no idea where I was or what was going on.
“It’s okay.” His voice was right against my ear, but the world around me was dark.
“What’s going on?”
“Abigail? Simon?” Merick’s voice came from somewhere in the darkness. I tried to breathe through the panic. Simon got off me and I realized that I had been squeezing my eyes shut. I opened my eyes to find that we were no longer in my living room or bedroom. We were in a living room I’d only seen once.
We were at Merick’s sister’s house.
I tried to find my voice as I stared at Merick. “I have questions.”
Simon stood and helped me up. “Me too.”
“I was going to ask what you two are doing here.” Merick look around, almost as if he expected someone else to show up.
I found my voice. “I was asleep, and I heard this banging, and the next thing I knew Simon was on top of me and here we are.”
“Someone sent you here.” Merick sighed. “I’ll go let my sister know that it’s okay.” He walked off and Simon looked around.
“Where are we?”
“Merick’s old house. It’s his sister’s now that he lives with me.” I ran my fingers through my hair. My fingers got caught in the curly knots. I growled and tugged my fingers the rest of the way. “I don’t even remember falling asleep.”
Simon snorted. “You lasted two hours into television and then you passed out in my lap. I was just starting to doze off when this happened.”
Merick came back in. “It’s just close to ten now. Nothing interrupted my magic at your house, so I don’t know whose magic sent you here. There aren’t many warlocks that can get through my magic.”
“Could Oliver’s?” I asked gently.
Merick nodded. “As long as he didn’t mean harm, but I don’t know why he would send you here.”
“Unless he wanted you out of the house for some reason tonight.” Simon hesitated. “Does he have a code to get into your house?”
I shrugged. “It’s Oliver, I’m not even sure he needs a code. He just kind of gets in and out as he pleases. I’ve stopped trying to prevent him because he always finds a way. Kind of like bugging my phone.”
Merick nodded. “He’s crafty, not only in magic, but technology.”
A second later, I felt like something punched me in the gut, and I doubled over with an arm around my stomach. Merick stumbled too, and we both looked up at each other.
Simon put his arm around me. “Abby?”
“Someone’s trying to get through my circle. Holy shit,” I muttered. The sensation faded, and I straightened up and looked at Merick. “Can I borrow a computer?”
“Yes, Raina has one in the office.” He led me to the room. I noticed that his sister wasn’t anywhere to be seen.
We walked into a room that held a desktop computer and a standard computer chair. On the shelf above the computer sat two stuffed animals, one a black jackal and one a black cat. Merick followed my gaze and laughed. “Anubis and Bast.”
I chuckled and sat down. He took a moment to log me in as a guest. I opened a browser and pulled up my security system camera. Simon and Merick both looked over my shoulder as I scanned the dark area the cameras covered. Something darted in the shadows, and I paused the video and zoomed in.
There in the trees, just outside the circle, was someone dressed in black. The only thing not black was the length of chain in their hand, and dread settled in my stomach. I was willing to bet that the chain was silver. It wouldn’t have burned me, but it would have burned Simon and kept him from shifting.
“Who is that?” Simon asked over my shoulder.
“I have no idea. But if someone sent us here, then someone knew he was coming. The question is who?”
“It has to be Oliver.” Merick sighed. “Call him and see what he has to say about it?”
I went to pull my phone out and realized I didn’t have it. I glanced at Simon. “Do you have your phone?”
He pulled it out of his pocket, unlocked it, and handed it to me without question.
I found Oliver’s number and called it.
“Simon, I’m a little busy right now.” He said in a way of greeting.
I was going to question why he answered the phone then, but I switched my question. “Actually, it’s me. Simon and I got transported to Merick’s tonight, moments before someone tried to cross the magic at the house. Was the spell yours?”
He hesitated for a moment. “Yes, Levi asked me to put an extra spell on the house to keep you out of trouble. I know it activated tonight, but like I said, I’m a bit busy.”
“And you didn’t think to warn me? How does this crap even work? Your magic doesn’t lean towards protection.”
“I’ll have to explain it to you at a different time. If you’re not hurt or in immediate danger, then I need to go.” He hung up without another word.
I put the phone down and Simon was snickering.
“What?”
“Werewolf hearing, I could hear a woman in the background whispering for him to come back to bed.”
I didn’t even want to think about my uncle with a woman. I put a hand over my eyes. “Okay, I’ll call him in the morning if he doesn’t call me first.”
“Let him enjoy his night. I’ll make you two a bed for tonight, and tomorrow we’ll see if we can’t figure out who the person in the video is.” Merick left the room, and I looked back at the screen.
“Whoever it is, can’t get past the magic.”
I nodded. “But then I don’t think Oliver’s magic would have triggered. Something else triggered it, I think, but I need to talk to him about how his spell works.”
“What about the camera in the house?”
“Only activates when I set the alarm for ‘Away.’ I don’t want it recording other things that happen in the house.”
He chuckled behind me. “Okay, well, come on, let’s try to get some sleep. I’ll text Levi and let him know where we are.”
“I bet he makes you take me to the mansion.”
“With what car?” Simon asked and held his arms open. “We poofed here.”
I snorted. “Okay, you text him. I’m going to go lie down on whatever bed Merick made up for us.” I walked out of the room and left Simon alone to report to Levi. Merick was standing in the hall talking to his sister in a low voice.
“Hey, Raina, sorry to barge in on you like this. We’ll be out of here in the morning. Promise.”
She looked up at me with red ringed eyes. “It’s okay, Abby, really. Just forgive me if I’m not very social.”
“Nothing to forgive,” I promised. “I am, however, ready to go back to sleep.”
Merick nodded. “This way, sorry it’s not much.” He led me down the hall to a room with
an air mattress covered in a sheet, a couple of pillows, and a blanket.
“It’s plenty. Thank you.” I crawled on to the air mattress and closed my eyes. I didn’t even hear Merick leave the room.
#
I woke up to Simon pulling me closer to him. I didn’t remember him coming to bed, but I certainly appreciated waking up to him. I went to reach for my phone and realized that we’d left the house without any of my stuff. My bag was at home too.
“Simon, I need your phone.” I crawled over him to see if he’d set it on the ground near him. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me back to my side of the bed.
“Sun is not even up yet, Abby. Worry about things later,” he muttered and buried his face into my neck.
I let out a huff. “The sun is totally up. We’re not home, remember?”
He stiffened at that, and I had a feeling that he was only half awake at first. “You’re right,” he muttered.
He let go of me and grabbed his phone. He scrolled through the screen a few times and then put it back down.
“Hey, I wanted that to text Liz.”
He chuckled and pulled me close again. “Your entire security team knows where you are. Liz says she hasn’t heard anything back from the academy.”
I snuggled back into him. “I really don’t like having a security team. I was perfectly fine on my own before that.”
“I know you were. I saw you work with the hex on you. I’ve seen the way you just plow through, but sometimes you just have to admit that you need more help.”
I didn’t say anything, I just sank into his warmth and waited until he decided it was time to move. Finally, he pushed himself out of the bed and stood. I watched as he ran his hands through his hair and then snatched his shirt off the floor. He put it on and I watched as it covered the muscles of his back, covering the small scars from various battles.
I sighed and got up. I folded the blanket and put it on the pillow before walking out of the room. I followed the smell of coffee to the kitchen and was surprised to see Raina there, making four cups of coffee.
“You don’t have to do that. I could make my own.” I offered, and she shook her head.
“I may be grieving, but I can make coffee for four. Besides, it gives me something else to focus on.” She turned around and handed me a mug and then did the same for Simon.
“Once Merick is ready, I’ll have him take us back home. I want to look around to see what might have visited last night.”
She nodded. “That was an odd spell, especially for your uncle.” She gave a short laugh. “Maybe it went haywire since he rarely uses such white magic.”
Simon’s phone rang, and he pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the number. “I’m going to assume that this one is for you.” He handed it to me.
I saw Liz’s name on it. I swiped to answer. “What’s up?”
“Why aren’t you answering your phone?”
“I thought Simon told you we got popped out of the house.”
“Yeah, but you always have your phone on you.” She sighed. “Look, do you know where your uncle is?”
I thought for a moment. “Um, not really. I called him last night from Simon’s phone and he was, um… occupied. Did you try his house?”
“I can’t get on his property.” She let out a frustrated growl. “Did you know that he’d made threats against Seth?”
“Yeah, once a long time ago. He hadn’t mentioned it in a while. I assumed he had given up on that… oh.” I paused. “He’s a suspect.” It was like my brain was slow to react. Maybe I really was losing it. “Do you want me to talk to him?”
“No, you’re not on the case. I just wanted to know if you knew where he was.”
“Yeah, no help on that. I don’t have a tracker on his phone.”
She mumbled something. “Okay, okay. Let me know when you get home.” She disconnected the call, and I looked up at Raina’s face.
“There was always talk about Oliver wanting to kill my father, but no one thought he’d go through with it.”
I shook my head. “I don’t think this is Oliver’s doing.”
“Why?”
“Because he’s smarter than that. He would have made sure no one found the body and he wouldn’t drag me into it.” I still didn’t think he was the murdering type, but I had no idea what he went through when he was with Ira. He’d said that Ira had him doing some dark magic, darker than he was typically doing. “That and he swore to my mother he’d always protect me. Dragging my name into murder isn’t protecting me.”
“People break promises all the time,” she said, and then looked up when Merick came in. “I made you a cup of coffee.”
Merick nodded and grabbed the mug before sitting at the table with us. “Liz has informed me that she has cleared Abigail as a suspect due to multiple people confirming her alibi.”
“Wolf pack, we were on pack land that night.” I shrugged.
Simon nodded. “She called Travis and at least two of the pups.” He chuckled. “They all thought they were in deep shit when she called. Makes me wonder what they’ve been up to on their trips into town.”
It made me curious too. I finished my cup of coffee and then stood to go get another. The world spun and my body felt like it was slipping into ice water.
I tried to catch my breath before my knees gave out. I wasn’t quick enough, and Simon jumped to my side as I crashed to the floor.
The ice cold crawled through me, stealing my warmth and trying to drag me into unconsciousness. I was losing the fight as my vision disappeared.
CHAPTER THREE
Simon’s skin against mine felt like it was burning. I tried to push him away as my body started to sweat and shake. What the hell was wrong with me? This was worse than any of the other times my body had gone haywire the past few months.
“Abby?” He asked and pulled away from me.
Almost automatically, I started shivering. “I’m okay. I don’t know what happened.”
Merick walked in. “No, you’re not. I thought these fits were getting better.”
“They were.” I looked at him. “Yesterday, I had a small one. But it was the first one this week. They’ve never made me pass out.”
“You need to go to a doctor.” Simon wrapped his arms back around me. “Maybe Adrianna did more damage than we thought, and something’s not healed.”
I shook my head. “It wasn’t Adrianna. It was Samuel.” I tried not to think about that night. “There’s not a doctor that can fix this.”
“I’m not so sure about that.” Merick picked up his phone and shot a text message out. “I’m reaching out to a contact. I’m worried about you, Abigail.”
So was I, and if something like this happened on the field or while I was in danger, I was fucked. I leaned back against Simon. “I want to go home.”
“Let Merick take me back first, make sure it’s safe. Then he can come back for you.”
I wanted to argue, but since I wasn’t sure if I could stand yet, I let it go. “Okay, let me know if anything is out of place?”
Merick nodded. “Of course. Simon, get her tucked back into bed and we’ll go.”
Simon moved out from behind me and I laid down on the bed. He tucked me in and then returned to Merick. It felt strange for them both to worry about me at the same time. Typically, it was one or the other, and there was a delicate balance. This wasn’t balanced, this was the beginning of chaos.
Merick and Simon disappeared, and I leaned back on the bed. Hannah hadn’t touched me at the party, so I didn’t think it was her magic causing this. It was possibly Adrianna, the blood witch who’d almost killed me. She was still alive. Or it could be my magic acting fickle because of how much had been going on lately. I wasn’t sure which I preferred. I’d never heard of a witch having a magical melt down because of stress.
I chuckled at the thought. If that was the case, then there would be more out-of-control warlocks and witches.
“Somethin
g funny?” Raina asked as she walked into the room.
I shrugged. “Just entertaining myself while I rest.”
Surprisingly, she sat down next to me. She didn’t say anything, she simply sat there, staring at the wall. After a few minutes. I looked at her. “Hanging in there?”
“Trying too. There’s so much to do and so much to think about, but all I want to do is sit here and just be.”
I nodded and just sat there. A few minutes later, Merick reappeared. “We have cleared your house.”
I stood. “Thank you.”
He gave me a moment to see if I was steady. “Oliver will talk to you soon about what happened today. I suggest that you are totally honest with him.” Merick gave me a look that reminded me of a disapproving parent.
I held my hands up. “I promise, I’ll be honest with him.”
“Thank you.” He put a hand on my shoulder, and we reappeared in my house. Simon was already in the kitchen cooking something.
Merick didn’t stay. He disappeared a moment after and I went to the breakfast bar in the kitchen. “Thank you for cooking.”
Simon glanced over his shoulder. “I’m going to keep you well fed and then you’re going to rest.”
I snorted. “I’m going to grab my phone and see what I might have missed while we were away.” I went to the living room and snagged my phone off the coffee table.
There were a couple of missed calls from Liz, a text from Levi asking me to let him know when I was home, and nothing else.
There were typical work-related things, but I was on leave.
I shot Levi a text and went back to the kitchen. Simon put a plate of eggs in front of me. “Eat up.”
“You and Merick are acting like I’m in trouble.”
He sighed. “Merick told me it’s possible your magic is draining. You need rest to recover fully.”
“You both think I’m dying.” I tried to suppress a shiver. “I’m not dying. I’m just…stressed.”
Simon raised a brow. “Do I need to go get you a blanket?”
“No, I’ll grab a hoodie in a minute, and don’t you dare start babying me. Even if I am dying, babying me is going to piss me off.” I glared at him.
Something Wicked (Here Witchy Witchy Book 11) Page 3
