Blood Catalyst

by A. L. Kessler

  There was no beating around the bush on that one. "I literally just left the office."

  "Then turn around and get back here. There's no negotiating this. The king wants this job solved, and you're the witch for it."

  I snorted. "Maybe if you hadn't used Alfie for bait you'd have more answers."

  He hung up on me. Part of me wanted to be childish and just keep going, but I couldn't. I needed the case solved just as much as he did because it dealt with Ira and put me one step closer to finding him and having more evidence for PIB.

  I let out a long sigh as I turned around at the next intersection and headed back towards the office. My phone rang again, this time Levi's number popped up.

  "I'm on my way to the office," I said without even saying hi.

  "Grayson is questioning your ability to work this case."

  "I called him out on his mistake with Alfie, that's all. I'm still coming to do my job."

  Levi was silent for a moment. "That would get most PIB officers pulled off the case."

  There was a slight threat to his voice. "But you can't pull me off the case because I am the only witch on the taskforce you can trust, as the king's guard," I added in case my phone was still bugged. "So I suggest that Grayson figure out how to find Alfie and hope that it works out for him. Because King's case or not, using a victim as bait is against our creed."

  "I know."

  I wasn't sure which part he was agreeing to. "I will do my job to the best of my ability to close the case. You don't have to worry about that. I will play nice with Grayson, and I will rein in my attitude."

  "Thank you. We'll see you in a few minutes."

  I disconnected the call and took a few deep breaths. I didn't think people gave me enough credit for not killing my coworkers.

  I pulled back into the PIB parking lot and saw the white car sitting there. I sat in the Hummer for a moment and debated on calling Levi or Grayson to come escort me, but I didn't want to seem like a coward. Of course after ending up in a lake, maybe it just being reasonably cautious.

  I got out of the Hummer, and as if on cue, Grayson stepped out of PIB. Maybe he knew something was up? It didn't matter. Now there was a witness if something happened. I walked to the door. When I passed the car, there was no one in it. Maybe they had gone inside looking for me.

  I met Grayson at the door. "What's with the escort? I know where your interrogation room is." When it came to special cases, we didn't use the police department's rooms. PIB had one of their own that was specially protected for vampires and lycans. I assumed that since they were trying to keep this case quiet, they were using it for the witch as well.

  Grayson looked around and then walked inside without a word, leading me down to the basement. He didn't say anything until we stood in front of the door where Levi was waiting.

  "There's been a development." Grayson crossed his arms. "The witch will only speak to you. She has stated her master has given her instructions to speak only to you."

  This was not going to end well for me. I wrapped my hand around my pentagram and looked at Levi. "You don't look thrilled."

  "A witch that's connected to Ira's blood-starved asking specifically for you? I don't see how this could go wrong." The sarcasm was thick enough that I thought he was channeling me for a moment.

  I stared at him. "Not five minutes ago, you both wanted me here. Now I feel like I'm walking into a trap."

  "I feel the same way. She didn't start demanding you until I asked her for her name." Grayson shrugged. "But now that you're here, let's see if you can get some information out of her.

  I put my hand on the doorknob and paused. "Is she only a witch?"

  "What do you mean?" This from Levi who looked at Grayson. "Something I need to know?"

  "She does not give off the sense of a vampire if that's what you're asking," Grayson replied. "No red eyes like the hybrids, no crazy motions or actions."

  "So she's not the one that attacked Alfie?"

  "As far as we know," Levi answered, but his gaze was for Grayson, not me.

  I nodded and walked into the room to get away from the tension.

  The woman looked at me through long blonde hair that hung in her face. There was something wild about the glimpses of hazel eyes behind the strands. "Abby, it's about time you step onto the scene." Her cuffed hands were folded nicely on the table. I assumed they were PIB issued and blocked her magic. She looked up at me.

  "I heard you wanted to speak to me directly. Said your master instructed it?"

  She nodded. "He wanted to make sure you're on the case. He knows how you love a good challenge and hate a case you can't close." Her voice was perfectly calm and collected. No signs of being out of control.

  "I'm assuming your master is Ira. So he found himself a talented witch, but clearly not strong enough to break the circle of a teenage witch just coming into his powers."

  Something flashed in her eyes, and I wasn't sure if it was my imagination or not, but I thought they flashed red. My heart sped up just a little bit. My gaze went to see if she was chained to the floor at all or if it was just her hands that were cuffed. If she were hybrid, certainly Levi or Grayson would have sensed it. Unless Grayson was using me as fucking bait.

  "Hit a nerve, did I? Are you aware that you're facing murder charges? Several of them actually. It seems like you're sane, so the if there is a hint of magic involved, it's a death warrant." I kept my voice even and careful, almost as if I was bored.

  She remained silent.

  "A moment ago, you wanted to chat." I crossed my arms. "So let's make a deal, tell me where to find Ira, and PIB will cut a deal with you."

  "He won't let you kill me. I'm his prize. I'm just like you." She laughed. "He always tells me that. That you and I are the same." Her laugh turned to a cackle. "A perfect creature." She held her head down as she laughed. When she looked up her eyes were red. She launched herself at me, slamming me against the wall before I had a chance to react. I tried to shove her back, but she was a newly changed out of control vampire.

  She snapped her jaw at me, her teeth scrapping my skin enough to draw blood. The sight of it seemed to send her into a frenzy as she pushed harder against my arms that I was trying to use to push her off.

  I managed to grab my gun and shoot her foot. She cried out and stumbled back. Her red eyes bled back to hazel for a moment, but the red took over again, and she launched herself at me again. This time I wasn't playing.

  I shot her twice in the chest and once in the head. She fell to the ground in a heap, not moving, and not much more than a bloody mess.

  My ears rang from the shots in a closed room. My mind spun as anger filled me. Where the hell were Levi and Grayson while she attacked me. The whole attack hadn't taken more than two minutes, but had they intervened I might not have needed to kill a suspect.

  I wiped her blood splatter off me and stormed out of the room. Grayson and Levi seemed to be locked in a staring contest until they realized I was standing there covered in vampire-witch blood.

  Grayson turned to me. "You killed her."

  I holstered my gun before I could shoot him too. "You fucking locked me in a room with a hybrid."

  "We didn't know she was a hybrid. She was perfectly composed while we talked to her." Grayson shook his head. "Honestly, Abigail, I had no hint that she was a vampire."

  I turned to Levi who shook his head. "I thought I sensed something, but it was gone the moment I did."

  "And why didn't you intervene when she attacked me?" I rubbed my hand over the skin she scored with her fangs and came back with more blood.

  Grayson shook his head. "I was hoping she'd be crazed enough to tell us where Ira is."

  I closed my eyes and counted to ten so I didn't kill him. "You're done playing with my life. Fuck you." I turned to Levi. "And you?"

  "I can't interfere in inter
rogations without putting the case at risk. If we want Ira to officially be on PIB's radar, I had to play along."

  That was a different tune for him to be singing, and it also clarified why they were letting Detective Balin hang around the scenes. "This means paperwork. I certainly hope the security cameras were on so I can prove self-defense," I snapped. "Now excuse me. I need to go home for a shower and some meditation."

  "I'll do the paperwork," Grayson offered.

  "Mm, yes, because that makes up for all of this." I shook my head. "I'll deal with the paperwork before I go home. My office is upstairs, it's empty, and quiet. I'll stop by the locker rooms to shower."

  Levi followed me as I walked down the hall and up the stairs. He was silent, and it was probably better that he didn't say anything at the moment because I couldn't trust myself not to blow up at him. Besides the things I really wanted to say to him couldn't be said for fear of being monitored.

  I walked into my office and dug into the drawers for baby wipes. Since Levi had followed me, a shower wasn't an option right this second. As I scrubbed the blood off my skin and clothes, I realized I was going to owe Merick's sister a new outfit. I threw the wipes in the trash and looked at Levi. "Do you need something?"

  "I wanted to apologize for how Grayson handled the situation. He should have taken better care with learning about the witch. I'll make sure to report it to the king."

  It was his way of saying he wasn't happy about the situation. "Okay. PIB will see it as a mistake, but I don't think there will be any actions for it, but I can't promise my lead will be willing to let me take on other cases after being attacked due to his short-sightedness."

  "Liz really didn't want you on the case?"

  "She had to talk Boss Man into not making me do desk work. I'm sure that taking on two cases was not what she had in mind when I came back to work." I practically threw myself in the chair.

  Levi sighed. "May I come by the house tonight to speak freely?"

  I hesitated for a moment. "I need to check how the spell around the house works. I'll let you know, and if not, I'll drive up to the mansion tonight."

  He nodded and left the office.

  I went to the locker rooms for a quick shower then came back to the office to send in my report. I fucking hated paperwork. I typed out exactly what happened, not leaving out the part where I felt Grayson neglected to do his due diligence and put me in danger.

  I finally clicked submit and leaned back in my chair. It was time to go home and get some rest. The day had been a shit storm, and I was ready for a fresh start tomorrow.

  Shutting the computer down, I grabbed my bag and looked out the window over the parking lot. The car was gone, giving me a small relief that it was safe to walk to the car. I left the office and took the stairs two by two and didn't slow down on my way to the door. I half expected Levi or Grayson to be waiting for me, but Grayson was probably still dealing with the mess I had left down there.

  ∞

  I walked into the house, dropping my bag by the door and kicking my shoes off. Merick was at the counter looking over some papers and looked up as I came in. "What the hell happened to your neck?"

  I touched it and sighed when I felt dried blood. "Out of control vampire-witch. Oh, Levi wants to stop by tonight, is that possible?"

  "He can walk through the circle, he's welcomed here, he's just not allowed to appear in the house."

  I nodded slightly. "I'll let him know. Thank you."

  "I've gotten permission to teach you the transportation spell."

  Both my brows shot up in surprise. "Do I have to take some secret oath to the Cult?"

  He shook his head. "No, not yet anyway."

  I couldn't tell if he was serious or not, I waited for him to crack a smile or something, but it didn't happen. "Well, I guess we'll just cross that bridge when we come to it." I texted Levi to let him know he was welcome to walk up to the door tonight and then we could have a chat about what was going on.

  "I'm going to grab a shower before Levi gets here. I really don't want to be covered in vampire blood anymore. Tell Rania that I'll buy her a new outfit because blood never comes out."

  Merick nodded. "She likes you."

  I raised a brow. "Likes me how?"

  "She thinks you're a good witch, talent, morals, all that fun stuff. Stubborn, which is a trait you both share." He shrugged. "You two could probably be friends."

  I shook my head. "I don't know if you've noticed, but most of my friends end up dead."

  "I'm not dead, and neither is Simon."

  He had a point there. "I'm not going to make buddy-buddy with your sister right now."

  "It was merely an observation, Abigail, not a suggestion." He motioned to the stairs. "I doubt Levi will take long, go take your shower. I'll go curl up on the couch."

  I nodded and went upstairs to the bathroom that was attached to my bedroom. The problem with blood covered clothes was that they became crispy and gross when they dried. I cringed as I peeled them off and threw them in the trash.

  The words of the witch came back to me. She was like me, a perfect hybrid, was what she had said. Except she wasn't perfect, she was still blood-starved, and I was betting if it hadn't been for the handcuffs she was probably out of control on her magic.

  And yet, neither Levi or Grayson could sense that she was part vampire.

  I shook my head and started the shower, giving it a moment to warm up. Ira was getting closer to what he wanted, a perfect hybrid, a world where everyone was part monster. A delusional thought, really. There was so much that wasn't right with the plan.

  Not to mention, sometimes humans were bigger monsters than the paranormal creatures.

  I stepped under the spray of the hot water and started to relax a little. This was what I needed, a moment of peace alone.

  And I took a half hour worth of those moments before I got out and dried off. I opted for pajamas so that when Levi left, I could just crawl into bed. I brushed out my hair and tried to tame it with some goop so that it wasn't crazy when it dried.

  I got downstairs to find a glass of wine sitting on the counter for me. I picked it up as a knock came at the door. I went to answer it and saw Levi standing there, no Mario at his side.

  "Does your guard know that you're out alone?" I teased and then regretted it when he didn't crack a smile. "Come in."

  He stepped in and shut the door behind him. "Mario knows I'm here. He's on alert in case anything happens. You seem to be pissing council members off left and right. Mario isn't happy with you because you won't let him guard you. Grayson isn't happy because he's already been called into Boss Man's office with Liz."

  Did either of those two ever actually sleep?

  "I'm sorry that I'm making things difficult." I took a sip of the wine and walked into the living room. "I don't mean to, but seriously, Mario can't be around me all the time. I can't trust him at my back with how susceptible to Hannah's magic he is, especially since we know Hannah is also working for Samuel. And really, Grayson can go fuck himself because I'm not happy with him. After an attempt on my life, the last thing I needed was for a hybrid to try and take me out."

  I swore that Osiris snorted before he turned his head away from Levi. Levi seemed to hear it too. "What was that?"

  "He sneezed." I shrugged and sat down. "Why the sudden interest to have Ira on PIB's radar officially? When I put the report in and wanted to send the executioners after him, you didn't want that."

  He sat down and took a minute to answer. "Someone has been pinging the system and pulling up old files on Ira." He glanced at me. "And I know it's you, Abigail. I asked around, and after some digging, I learned that Liz has given you permission to gather all the evidence you can on him."

  I nodded. "We want him off the streets. We want the executioners to do their job."

  "It's a vampire case. W
hy did she give you permission for it?"

  "Because it's a continuation of a case before I joined the task force." I took another sip of wine. "What are you going to do about Grayson? I'm pretty sure putting me in danger goes against what the council is supposed to be doing. Seeing as the other day he insisted he was capable of protecting me and made Mario stay away from the crime scene."

  "The council and I will handle Grayson. I wanted to ask you about what you said with Boss Man wanting you to do desk work. Did your eval come back bad?"

  I shook my head. "No, it was just precaution I think, but Liz knew I wasn't going to be happy with it and fought to reinstate me fully so I could work cases. She wasn't pleased when Grayson contacted her requesting that I be a consultant because that's a lot on my plate. It's no big deal, she's just trying to watch out for me."

  I wasn't sure if he believed me, but he nodded. "If you continue pursuing Ira, then you need to kill him."

  I jerked at that. "What? Before you said I couldn't."

  "You, as my daughter, as my adopted daughter," he corrected and sighed, "as princess of vampires, cannot kill him. As PIB, you can. PIB has precautions that they can use, and Samuel won't go after you as PIB."

  "Why are you so sure of that now? Before you said it didn't matter."

  Levi looked away. "I think he's going to target you anyways. If we can show him how powerful PIB is and how powerful you are within them, it might scare him away."

  "I'm pretty sure he's the one who has assassins after me." I picked Osiris up and ran my hand over his back. It was what one did with a cat, and I knew Levi would start questioning everything he observed since he knew that I had a warlock somewhere around.

  Levi shook his head. "Samuel is like Ira, he'd rather play with you and taunt you."

  That would make sense since it had been weaker witches and warlocks that had been sent after me, but I didn't argue. "One big bad vampire at a time."

  "We can't kill Samuel."

  "No, you can't because he's your maker. I, on the other hand, have no maker, and can do what I want."