Of Life and Death

by A. L. Kessler

“Okay, a tracking spell or two will work for that.” I watched the coffee brew so I wouldn’t have to look at Mario. “Shouldn’t be too hard to bring her in. Unless there’s something that’s going to complicate the situation.”

  Mario tapped the counter. “Keira alone is a force to be reckoned with, but yes, with magic finding her should be easy.”

  “How come you guys haven’t been able to hunt her down?”

  “Because she is a master at hiding amongst the humans. We don’t have a magical ability to find each other unless we’ve taken a blood oath to serve another vampire. But we are connected by being a maker or to our sire.” He shook his head.

  “Ah, so no internal homing beacon for her then. And why am I handling this instead of Agent Yorkingson? No one covered that.”

  “Because Keira likes women better than she does men.”

  The coffee finished, and I filled my mug. Mario remained silent as I put plenty of sugar and creamer in the black liquid turning it a tan color.

  “You’re using me as bait.” I raised a brow. “Levi agreed to this?”

  “We’re not using you as bait; we’re using your gender to our advantage,” he corrected. “No one would ever mistake you as a victim Abigail, you’ve taken on creatures that would scare the piss out of most agents.”

  “Thanks. I think.” I sipped my coffee and looked over the mug at him. “Do you have a case file on Keira?”

  He nodded. “I’ll make sure you have it by tomorrow, that will be easier than me telling you what I remember off the top of my head.”

  “Thank you.” I took my mug into the living room, and Mario followed me. I sat down on the end of the couch and pulled my feet up. Osiris came bounding in and hissed at Mario before jumping up to lay by my feet. It was Merick’s nice way of letting me know he wasn’t really happy with the situation either, and I didn’t doubt he was unhappy about being in the cat form.

  Mario sat down on the other end of the couch where he wasn’t close enough to touch me, and that was good. We weren’t in public; we didn’t have to create a facade at home.

  My phone rang, and I pulled it out of my pocket. “Agent Collins speaking.”

  “Abby,” Jason’s voice came across the receiver. “I just got the labs back on that odd substance.”

  “What’s it say?”

  “It was a liquid plaster. There was a fine layer all over her face, on top of the makeup. I also found some inside her nostrils and mouth.”

  Interesting. “Are you telling me someone plastered her face?”

  “I’m just telling you what I found.”

  I imagined that he was holding his hands up in surrender. “Is there anything else I need to know?”

  “No, we’re still waiting on the identity of the first victim. I’ll let you know as soon as I have that. I’m actually heading home for the night. I’ll be in the office bright and early. They brought in a possible vampire victim, but we were asked to hold off on it so that PIB could look at the body first.”

  That struck me as odd. “Who’s handling the case?”

  “No one in the human world, straight to PIB, an agent Yorkingson.”

  “Special Agent Yorkingson,” I corrected. “You be nice to him. He’s kind of an ass, and I don’t want him to treat you like crap.”

  Jason snorted. “Aye aye Agent A.”

  He made me smile. “Go get some rest, Jason, I have a feeling both of these cases are just heating up.” I disconnected and looked at Mario. There was a strange look on his face, a mix of disbelief and something else that I couldn’t identify. “What?”

  “They aren’t supposed to call Yorkingson. They are supposed to call you.”

  “That’s not how it works in PIB. I already have a case that’s within my ability range. Yorkingson probably matched up the criteria for that case. Looks like you’ll get a crash course in PIB procedures.” I chuckled.

  “This is not funny, Abigail.”

  “Lighten up some.” I sipped my coffee and leaned back into the couch.

  Mario didn’t say anything. I turned on the news and let the background noise sooth the awkwardness of the silence. This was something I was going to have to get used to, at least until I could change Levi’s mind about needing a guard.

  Mario was gone by the time I woke up in the morning. I rushed to my uncle’s to meet him for coffee so he could explain things to me. I was hoping he wasn’t a suspect and that he could account for his whereabouts and explain his paper trail. Technically I shouldn’t have been interviewing him; I should have passed it on to another agent. If I had still had a partner, I could have passed it to him.

  I parked the car in front of the huge house. The faux rock exterior seemed to go up for miles with a small overhang that covered the front door. I walked in without knocking. He had a fancy security system that made mine look ancient, so he knew I was there, and he’d left the door unlocked.

  “I’m in the office.” His voice came from a speaker near the door. The house was big enough that if I had yelled out Marco, he wouldn’t have been able to hear me in the office.

  I kicked my shoes off and walked over the plush carpet to the office. Oliver had his back turned to the door. His dark hair was styled in a business cut with lots of gel to keep it where it belonged. He wore a suit as he normally did, and not a cheap one.

  In front of him were multiple computer monitors, each showing something different. One of them was the camera at my house for my security system.

  “Did you hack my security system?” I growled. “Seriously, I thought you and Merick had a deal.”

  Oliver chuckled. “I didn’t hack it. I just logged into your account. I only check occasionally.” He clicked something, and it disappeared, replaced by an image of a car in a garage. “Want to fill me in on your case?”

  “You have my phone bugged; there’s nothing to fill you in on,” I shot back. “So why don’t you enlighten me. What were you looking for that made you put a restraining order on my victim?”

  He spun around in the chair and faced me. “Let’s talk over coffee. I was just going over security footage from last night while the coffee brewed.”

  “You normally drink tea,” I pointed out as we walked to the kitchen together.

  “That is true, but this conversation requires something a little bit stronger.” He chuckled. “Besides that, you don’t need tea. I saw that Mario was visiting you last night, so I feel like you need coffee.”

  That was true. “Levi has him…courting me,” I muttered. Oliver wasn’t privy to the information that Mario was Levi’s guard, so it was time to put the stupid act into place. “Apparently that means night time house calls, and I made him go to the store with me to get a new coffee pot.”

  “Why did you need a new one?”

  “Merick shattered mine when he dropped it. His reaction to finding out that Levi was the vampire king.”

  Oliver stopped and put a hand on my shoulder. He pushed a little bit, forcing me to face him. “You told Merick?”

  “Yes, he was going to find out anyways, with Mario hanging around the house and Levi not knowing that Osiris is actually Merick.”

  Something crossed Oliver’s face that was akin to horror. His eyes widened a little, and his nostrils flared as he drew in a deep breath. “Oh Abigail, that’s going to complicate matters a lot more than we need them to be.”

  “That’s what he said, but no one is explaining why. Everyone is playing things close to their chest. So, why don’t you tell me what is going on?”

  Oliver thought for a moment. “Do you remember our original deal?”

  “The one where you wanted me to kill the high priest of the cult?” I nodded. “Never worked out.”

  “Because I had a different approach. But the problem is that any information Merick has on you goes to the Cult.”

  I rolled my eyes and followed him into the kitchen. “What does it matter? They already have a huge file on me.”

  “Abigail, do you know
why the Cult has an interest in you?” He pulled out two mugs.

  I shook my head. “I just assumed it had to do with Levi and my parents’ death.”

  “There’s something else in your past that puts you as a subject of interest to them. Originally they thought you were a threat, and now…now I’m not sure what.” Oliver shook his head. “The problem is that they could see you as more of a threat than before.”

  I crossed my arm. “So, like everyone else these last couple days, you’re telling me I’m in danger.”

  “What I’m telling you is that you’ll be seeing the Cult again. Danger or not, I think you can handle them. After seeing how you handled a horde of blood-starved vampires, there’s no doubt in my mind that you can use your magic to protect you.” He handed me my mug. “Now, let’s get down to the real reason why you’re here, shall we?”

  He walked in front of me and led me to the sitting room. I sat down in the squishy, brown leather chair and cupped my coffee with both hands. “So you and Lark…” I let my words trail off.

  “Were both looking for someone by the name of Drake Moll. She was looking for him for a different reason than I was, but we were still looking for the same man.” Oliver leaned back in his chair. “The problem was that someone sent her my way and she continued to harass me until I finally had to take legal action and put a restraining order on her. It was the only way to deal with it legally.”

  I snorted. “Legally, that word worries me. Why didn’t you do some magic to frighten her away?”

  “Because I figured she was going to get herself in trouble and I didn’t want to end up with PIB knocking at my door.” He gave an amused smile. “Since you’ve constantly been here, I wouldn’t think you’d want PIB here either.”

  “I am PIB, but you’re right, I’d be pulled off this case if they found out we were related and I was here that often.” I sipped my coffee. “So who is Drake Moll and why was Lark looking for him?”

  “She said she owed him some big money for something or another. What she said didn’t make sense. She sold him something for research, but he never gave her the money for it.” Oliver met my gaze. “He’s a taxidermist and a bit on the insane side.”

  I raised a brow. “How insane are we talking here?”

  “He’s a magic taxidermist.”

  So there was magic involved, which I already knew. “Dark sort of magic right there, Life Magic?” Life Magic was a really gray area.

  “Yeah, Life Magic.” Oliver looked away. “If she ended up dead, he would be the place to start.”

  “And why were you looking for him?”

  Oliver shifted in the chair, and it was the first time I’d seen him act nervous about things.

  “Oliver?” I prompted.

  “This doesn’t go on the record. I was looking for him to discuss a spell.”

  “A life magic spell.” I put the pieces together. “What were you planning on doing with it?”

  “What I’m planning on is none of your concern, niece.” He looked away. “What matters is that I’m sure I have an alibi for when Lark was killed.”

  Not using my name was a way to shut me down. It pissed me off, but I knew that meant whatever he was hiding, I wouldn’t like it. “What’s your alibi?”

  “I was at Levi’s the night she was killed. We were discussing your future. Is the king of vampires’ word good enough for you?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, as long as you two aren’t plotting anything. Then I might have you thrown into jail just for fun.” I rolled my eyes. “I’ll be looking into that restraining order, and I’ll be looking into Drake. So if there’s anything you need to tell me, now would be a good time.”

  Oliver shook his head. “I’ve told you everything you need to know for this case. Once I’m cleared as a suspect, I expect that you leave me alone about it.”

  “You’re hiding something.”

  “Aren’t I always, Abigail?” He sipped his coffee. “And aren’t we all?”

  He had a point, and I settled back to finish my mug. After a few moments of silence, I spoke up, “Have you heard from Nick at all? Any other clues?”

  “Not since he sent me his key card. No word from him on your end?”

  “No not since Mason found his fingerprints on my car.” I sighed. “Part of me hopes this isn’t some sick joke by someone.”

  Oliver nodded. “It may not be a sick joke, but it may be messages for you.”

  “About what?”

  “That I have no idea about, Abigail. Now, if you would, I think it’s time for you to get to work, and I have a meeting that I need to get to.”

  I nodded and finished my coffee. “I’ll be checking on that paper work and your alibi.”

  “You could check the security cameras at Levi’s. We had a pretty heated argument.” He chuckled. “Stupid vampire.”

  I rolled my eyes and took my mug to the kitchen. Oliver didn’t follow me, and when I peeked back into the room, I saw him staring at the empty fireplace. “I’ll be back Saturday.”

  “For our session yes, then dinner. I’d like to take you out again.”

  He’d started taking me out about once a month to a fancy French restaurant that he was in love with. It had been one of my mother’s favorite places, and I guess he went there to feel close to her.

  “Sounds good.” I left and got in the car. For a moment, I was worried about him. The way he acted when I had mentioned why he was looking for Drake set off a warning in my head.

  I walked into my office and paused at seeing the desk gone. Something in my heart broke as I realized that Nick truly wasn’t coming back to PIB, even if he was alive. Part of me hoped that he just disappeared to work an undercover case, it wasn’t unheard of.

  I rubbed my eyes and went to my desk. I woke the computer up with a stroke of the login keys. I had all intentions of searching the name that Oliver gave me, but something in the back of my mind kept me from doing it. My fingers paused, poised over the keys, something was telling me not to put that name into the search. Not right now.

  I was always taught to trust my instincts, but this was something I needed to do for the case. If I didn’t, I could lose any lead that I had. My phone rang, making me jump. I pulled it out of my pocket and answered it. “Agent Collins speaking.”

  “Abby, I found something that you might want to come take a look at,” Mason’s voice came across the phone. “It’s just down the road from PIB, and it’s not pretty.” He gave me the address, and I jotted it down.

  “I’ll be there in just a few minutes. I just got in the office, and I was following up on a lead.”

  “Hurry, because I don’t know what to do with this mess,” he muttered. “Any luck with your lead?”

  “No, turns out that he only knew one of the victims and that he had an alibi.” Which of course happened to be with Levi, but Mason didn’t need to know the details.

  He muttered something, and the phone went dead. I looked back at the computer screen, and the lock screen was back up. I took that as my hint to follow my gut and leave it be for now. I grabbed my bag and left my office. Without the desk there it felt more lonely than it did before. Which I knew was silly, because it was just a desk, not a person, but it still gave off that feeling.

  I took the stairs two by two until I reached outside, quickly walked outside, and took a deep breath of fresh air. I had no idea what I was walking in to, but it was only a few blocks away from PIB at one of the newer housing developments. I didn’t need the car, because walking was quicker, especially if I had to avoid emergency vehicles.

  Sure enough, there were about two blocks of emergency vehicles, and mixed in were tabloids. Stephanie included. She sashayed towards me, and I shook my head. Glancing around, I looked for some kind of exit. I saw a small part in the crowd of gawkers who were gathering, and I ran for it.

  “Abigail Collins! Agent Collins!” her shrill voice called after me, but I didn’t stop. There was no way I was giving her any more article id
eas.

  I dodged between a few people and into the crowd. “Excuse me, pardon me, Agent coming through.” I made it to the PIB crime scene tape at the front of the house and ducked under it. The standing officer gave me a look. “I’m avoiding someone,” I said easily. “I wasn’t going to make it to the checkpoint without being stopped.”

  He chuckled and motioned to the officers talking with Detective Mason. “I believe they’re waiting for you.”

  I walked over. “Okay, I’m here, so are the tabloids and the mainstream media.”

  “Yeah, I had to avoid Stephanie by going through the ally. She’s getting more and more aggressive in her approaches.” Mason shook his head. “I’m not sure what to make of this next scene.”

  “Does it have to do with our bodies in boxes?” I started up to the front of the house with him by my side.

  He shook his head. “I don’t think so. Unless there’s something here that you see that I don’t.” He motioned to the house. “To your left, in the basement.”

  Basement. The last time I’d gone into the basement of a crime scene, it was a body pit. I glanced at Mason. “Really? Anything else to go on?”

  “You’re not going to fall into a pile of bodies, there are no ghosts that I can tell, and I doubt anything is going to explode.”

  Those were all very comforting words. “Okay, that’s good to know.” I walked into the house and noticed that the upper floor was set perfectly to reflect a pristine home. There was a little bench with a mirror attached to the back in the entryway of the house and a floor runner with some geometric design. I followed it in and looked around for a moment before going to the basement. Everything that I could see looking like a magazine, almost like the home was staged to sell. I went to my left and saw the stairs that led down. I carefully went down the steps, and it led me into something completely opposite of the picturesque upstairs.

  The damp air hit my nose, and my first thought was that the basement hadn’t been watertight and now moisture was sinking in. The unfinished room was set up with a stained couch and a TV on a rickety stand. Three humans were set up leaning on the couch, their heads cocked to the side, blood dried on their necks. One had their hand on the arm of the couch, fingers touching the remote. His eyes were still open as if watching the screen. The middle person was female, and her hands were carefully folded in her lap. While the third was also male and he was looking away from the TV, his dead gaze cast down the finished hallway.