Of Life and Death

by A. L. Kessler

  What the hell was he talking about? “What were you tracking?”

  “Come over and I’ll show you everything. Do not tell Levi.”

  “I can’t come over tonight. I have to be at the mansion; Levi needs something from me.”

  Oliver cursed. “The fucking vampire doesn’t own you.”

  “Look, I can be up there in a couple hours, but you don’t own me either. I’m going because honestly, I think Levi has enough trouble on his plate and doesn’t need me acting like a child on top of that. You…you’re up to something. I’ll come over first thing in the morning to figure out what that something is.”

  “I’ll make sure to put some coffee on then.” He hung up.

  I wasn’t exactly sure what Oliver did on his free time. I knew that he occasionally worked as a consultant for the king of vampires. I knew he was a tech guru, and like me, he was an elemental. He, of course, was not listed as such in the PIB database because he somehow managed to erase it, making him almost like a ghost.

  I reached for the keyboard and started to type his name, but at the last minute, I backspaced as an uneasy feeling slid through me. I could trust Oliver with my life. He trusted me to make my own choices in my career and anything magic-wise, but this was different. He was a suspect in the case.

  The rest of my afternoon was uneventful. Jason hadn’t called about either of the bodies, and Mason hadn’t called to tell me there was another murder. Until I talked to my uncle, I was kind of at a dead end. Five o’clock rolled around, and I was running out the door and down the stairs to avoid anyone that might stop me. I needed to make it to Levi’s before sundown, though part of me wanted to drag my feet until I was late. I wasn’t sure what to expect except for Simon’s warning about a new suitor. I was hoping Mario wasn’t there because I didn’t want to play nice. I hadn’t talked to him much since Levi’s secret came out, but when I did see him, he mostly muttered under his breath and glared at me.

  I pulled up to the mansion and threw my car in park. I got out just as the sun finished setting behind the mountain. Placing my hand on the scanner, I briefly wondered if Levi had any problems with random intruders like I often did.

  The tumbler clicked open, and I walked in. The silence of the mansion wrapped around me. It used to be this was the only other place that felt like home to me. Lately, it didn’t seem like that. With all the recent lies it felt like I was walking into a trap each time I came through the doors.

  “Hello?”

  Levi didn’t always sleep through the day; sometimes he woke a few hours before dusk.

  “I’m in the kitchen.” Came Levi’s voice. As usual, there was a slight accent to it that I couldn’t place. I assumed it was from him speaking so many different languages throughout his long life.

  I walked in, unsure what I would find. The only reason the mansion had a kitchen was for me to keep food when I lived here. Levi never used it since he required blood to keep going. He stepped away from the counter, a tie draped around his neck on top of a white button-up shirt, and a black suit jacket was laying on the counter.

  “A bit fancy for me visiting, isn’t it?”

  He looked me up and down. “Work clothes, I told you to dress nice.”

  “No, you suggested that I dress nice. I came straight from work because you also told me not to be late. You can’t have both when I live on the opposite side of town.” I put my hands on my hips. “And since you haven’t told me what any of this is about, I didn’t think it was that important that I dressed up.”

  He considered me for a moment. “There’s a black dress in your room, go get changed.”

  Still no explanation. “Why?”

  “Abigail, please.” It was the tone he used when he was trying to keep me out of vampire business, but he’d dragged my ass into vampire business three months ago.

  “If you’re going to make me wear a dress, I want to know why.” I crossed my arms and met his gaze. “Is this a king thing? Or is this a weird father-ly thing?”

  His eyes flickered to something behind me. I glanced over my shoulder to see Mario standing there. Mario’s olive skin stood out against the red shirt he wore. It was tucked into a pair of black dress pants that fell over shiny shoes. I raised a brow. “Hello, Mario.”

  “Princess.” He kept his word short, and I rolled my eyes.

  “Can we please drop the title?”

  Levi shook his head. “No, not tonight. Tonight you’ll need that title. We have a situation we have to deal with.”

  “But no one is supposed to know who you are or who I am. Remember? That’s what started all this crap.”

  Mario chuckled. “We’re dealing with the advisory council tonight.”

  Well, that wasn’t what I was expecting to hear, not after Simon’s warning. “You have an advisory council?” They both nodded. “And what exactly is the topic of the night?”

  They exchanged looks, but Mario was the one that spoke. “There’s a vampire who’s out of control, but it’s out of PIB’s jurisdiction.”

  “Nothing is really out of our jurisdiction.”

  Levi motioned to the door. “Go get ready, and we’ll get going to the meeting. I’m going to take Mason’s approach on this and not cloud your judgment.”

  That didn’t bode well. I spun on my heels and went to move past Mario. “Move.”

  “Manners get you a long way, princess.” Mario chided.

  I forced a sweet smile. “Move please, asshole.”

  “Abigail,” Levi warned.

  I rolled my eyes and motioned with my hand. “Will you please move?”

  Mario bowed his head and stepped to the side. “You and I are going to have to learn to get along.”

  I ignored him and continued down the hall to my room. I stepped in and closed the door. I wasn’t expecting this tonight; there hadn’t been any real changes in my routine and life since Levi announced me officially as the princess. I pushed off the door and went to find the one black dress I kept at the mansion. The rest of my clothes were work clothes because that’s all I really needed.

  I took the time to shower before changing. I ran some goop through my curls and let them settle however they wanted. I normally kept my hair up, but this was a fancy occasion apparently, and I didn’t think a ponytail or a bun was going to be appropriate.

  I pulled on the tight black dress and smoothed out the wrinkles. I wasn’t sure why I had this dress. The slit was too high for comfort, coming up close to my thigh, but at least it allowed me to move. I looked over at my guns on the bed and knew that I wasn’t going to be able to take them with me. Vampire politics and all that. What I did make sure I had was my mother’s pentagram. I normally kept it in my bag, but tonight I wanted the extra protection in case I was walking into something deadly. Paranoia at its best.

  I walked back into the kitchen, bouncing on one barefoot as I tried to put my shoe on the other foot. Once I was successful, I switched to leaning on the wall to put the other shoe on.

  I looked up to see Mario staring at me. “What?”

  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look so…put together.”

  What the hell was that supposed to mean? “Seriously, I look put together in my work clothes.”

  He walked over to me and made a hm noise. Reaching up, he pinched one of my curls and pulled it down, so it bounced up. “I’m trying to compliment you. You clean up nice.”

  I stepped back. “I’d prefer if you didn’t touch me. Where’s Levi?”

  “He’s finishing getting ready.” Mario stepped away as Levi came around the corner and joined us. “Looks like he’s done.”

  There was a new flush to Levi’s cheeks, and I assumed he’d fed. “Abigail, there are somethings you need to know about tonight.”

  I raised a brow. “Other than you have an advisory council?”

  “We’re going in to discuss the topic of a child vampire.”

  I tried to keep the shock off my face. “Is that even possible?”
>
  “Yes.” Levi and Mario said at the same time. Levi held his hand up, and Mario stepped away. Levi continued, “We’re going to need your expertise in tracking to find this child.”

  I shook my head. “I want nothing to do with a vampire child.” Dealing with an undead child wasn’t the path I wanted to go down. I’d heard stories, read case studies. Most children vampire made Ira look sane, but there was still that idea in my brain that a child could never be evil and I could never bring one to vampire justice or PIB justice.

  “Please Abigail. The child is over a hundred years old.” Levi met my gaze. “Come to the meeting, make your judgment then.”

  Levi didn’t say please often, and it made me pause. “Fine, meeting first, answer afterward.” I jerked my thumb at Mario. “Is he part of the council?”

  Mario snorted. “You haven’t told her then?”

  “You’re always stuck to him like a lost puppy, wouldn’t you know if he told me?” I batted my eyes at him.

  “Mario is my guard, and when you’re dealing with vampire business, your guard. The only people who know this are the three of us.”

  “Someone’s going to get suspicious if he’s always around me.” I narrowed my eyes. “You’ve got a cover for him, don’t you?” Simon’s words popped into my mind, a new suitor. I glared at Mario who smirked and crossed his arms. I shook my head. “Oh, no, no, no, no. No.”

  Levi let out a sigh. “It is for your own protection, Abigail, and it’s just a cover. He will be masquerading as your suitor and the public will believe he is courting you.”

  “Modern words, Levi, the public will think we are dating.” I couldn’t get the sarcasm from my voice. “In whose mind did you think this was going to work?”

  Mario let out a dark laugh. “The other members of the council will think Levi is trying to tie you closer to the vampire world, and yes, people who are not privy to the information on you being the princess will think we are dating.”

  So he was a member of the advisory council, great. “Someone’s going to catch on to this.”

  “It’s not unusual for Levi to try and find suitors for you, that’s how you and Simon became friends and briefly dated.”

  I hated the fact that he was right. “No way around this?”

  “No, he’ll be with you every night as you work on the case.”

  I locked my jaw. “And if I refuse to work on the case?”

  “He’ll still have to be around Abby. There’s no telling when Ira might make another attempt on your life. And any case that is vampire related, he needs to be kept in the loop.”

  I rubbed my eyes. “I don’t like this.”

  “I know, but come. We’re running late, and it’s never good for the King of Vampires to be late.”

  Chapter Three

  Levi used his ability to take us somewhere I wasn’t familiar with. I gave my stomach a moment to stop churning from the dizzying way of travel. My legs stopped shaking, and I found my confidence in my stride.

  Mario took my hand and placed it in the crook of his elbow. I glared at him. “What are you doing?”

  “The facade starts now,” he reminded me and walked me down the dark hall. Levi walked in front of us, his feet making almost no sound on the deep-brown hardwood floors. A shiver rushed over my skin, and I looked at Mario.

  “His power, there’s no reason for him to hide it here. Letting it leak out around him like that reminds the council that he is king for a reason,” he whispered. “He kept you hidden from all this, and now you’re going to get a crash course in vampires, Abigail.”

  I pressed my lips together as Levi opened two carved oak doors for Mario and me. He motioned for us to walk through. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t a room with eight vampires dressed in suits sitting around a conference table. Because of what I was required to wear, I had assumed it would be fancier, more formal. Mario pulled a chair out for me, and I sat down as he gracefully scooted it in. He took the empty chair to my right.

  Levi shut the door and sat down in the chair to my left. I was in a vampire sandwich, and suddenly, fear tightened in my throat. I scanned the people at the table until I met the mismatched eyes of Grayson Yorkinson, a PIB special agent who had tried to warn me away from the blood-starved vampire case.

  I locked my jaw to keep from lashing out at him. He’d known the whole time that Levi was the king, that’s why he was trying to warn me away from Ira.

  “As you know, Ira forced my hand in bringing Abigail further into our world. It was originally understood that I would keep her as far away from vampire politics as I could. That has now changed, but instead of forcing her into hiding and away from her normal witch life, I have chosen to invite her into the advisory council so that we may use her as an asset in cases that are handed to me.”

  There was a grumble around the room, and I wondered who was happy about it and who wasn’t.

  “Her newest suitor is also amongst the council.” He motioned to Mario. “I believe they will work best as a team on the case of Keira.”

  Grayson cleared his throat. “I can handle the case as a PIB agent; there’s no need to bring Princess Abigail into this.”

  The title sounded weird to me, and I tried not to shift uncomfortably. I glanced at Levi, and he nodded as if he knew I also wanted to defend my abilities. “I can move around in the daylight, perform tracking and trace spells, I can spin traps with my magic, and move through territories with very little questioning. Can you do the same, Agent Yorkinson?”

  His lip lifted up in a half snarl. “Are you saying that I can’t handle it?”

  “No, I’m saying that certain aspects might be easier for me than you. I’m not here to cause problems.” I folded my hands on the table, and Mario covered them with one of his.

  I resisted the urge to yank away from him. “Mario can help me with any of the vampire politic aspects without giving another tie-in to PIB. I’ve acted as a consultant for Levi before, both as a PIB agent and off the record; this is no different.”

  Grayson leaned back in his seat. “So eager to step into the role?”

  “Ira didn’t really give me a choice now, did he?” I shot back, keeping my voice low. I could be diplomatic when I wanted, but as of right now, I just wanted to make sure these people understood that I wasn’t going to turn into a damsel in distress just because the word ‘Princess’ was suddenly in front of my name.

  Levi nodded. “Keira has left us several drained bodies surrounding the edge of my territory, so that makes it my responsibility to work with Lady R to figure out what is going on and what Keira wants. It’s been about twenty years since the tiny vampire has shown up, and it’s time we put a stop to her.”

  I’d clarify later if he meant to kill her or simply lock her away. It wasn’t a question I wanted to ask in the company of the council.

  “I suggest we allow her to live,” one of the women spoke up. “Assign her to be rehabilitated out in the country somewhere.”

  Could one rehabilitate a vampire? I kept my mouth shut and just observed. There wasn’t anything I had to say on this matter. I wasn’t sure what anyone would do with a tiny vampire.

  Grayson shook his head. “Catalina, Keira is far gone, she’s almost to the same point of insanity that Ira is at.”

  “And yet no one has put a stake in that bastard.” The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. Levi put a hand on my shoulder, and I took it as a warning.

  “Ira is a special situation, Princess,” Grayson snapped back at me.

  So people kept telling me. All I could gather was that if I killed him, his and Levi’s maker was going to come after my ass. I bowed my head to acknowledge what he said, but it didn’t mean that I agreed with him.

  “If Princess Abigail finds herself facing Keira would she be able to kill her?” Catalina looked at me. “No offense, but we are aware of your no-kill morals.”

  “I’ve killed in self-defense a few times. If she backed me int
o a corner, I would deal with it.”

  “Mario can help her bring Keira in, and we can decide judgment from there.” Levi nodded. “And until then, we keep all of this away from the media at any cost. Grayson is our in at PIB. Now Abigail can help with that during the daylight hours. Since her outing, PIB has raised her clearance so she can access more.”

  More, but not everything. It was an interesting way of phrasing it, and I knew Levi did it on purpose. So there were still things that would be hiding from me. Great.

  Mario let go of my hands. “Princess Abigail and I will be able to handle the tiny vampire, and if not, I will make sure that we call for backup.”

  I smoothed the wrinkles out on my dress, trying not to glare at anyone in the room. I didn’t want to be involved in this and carry on more charades and lies. I wanted to forget all about it and go back to just being a PIB agent.

  “So what of Ira and his experiments?” another woman asked, and my interest perked up a bit. I wasn’t aware that was going to be discussed tonight as well.

  Levi didn’t answer right away. “He was hurt when we found his main lab. We have reason to believe that he is continuing the research elsewhere, but is currently playing it safe. We haven’t seen him in the last three months, and we have easily dealt with any attempt to harm me.”

  I hadn’t been aware there were any other attempts, other than what had happened when Ira held me hostage. “PIB also has an execution order for Ira that should keep him quiet for a bit as well.”

  There were murmurs around the room, and Grayson nodded. “I made sure that the order went through. There was apparently a hang up because of another case.”

  That was news to me. I made a mental note to check on that situation next time that I got to the office.

  “And if he manages to avoid PIB?” Catalina asked. “They’ve failed before.”

  Levi nodded. “Then I’ll be forced to step in. Despite the consequences.”