I couldn’t see anyone, so I tried to write it off as paranoia. I shook my head and texted Simon to see if he wanted to do lunch instead of dinner. I didn’t want to deal with Mario having a shit fit tonight if I could help it. It was already going to be bad enough that I didn’t want to have him around at all right now.
Simon answered that he was at Wolf’s Bane and to meet him there. Wolf’s Bane was a bar that was owned by his pack. It normally wasn’t open at this time, but maybe he was there to do some business. I let him know I’d be down there soon and headed out of the building. The Hummer was sitting right where I left it, but now there was a flamingo with sunglasses sitting on it.
Seriously. What the hell? I shook my head, picked it up and shoved it in the back with the others. “Fucking flamingos.”
I climbed into the driver’s seat and headed to see Simon. I hoped that lunch would be relatively normal, because as of right now, everyone seemed to be against me, be upset with me, or was just being flat-out weird.
I walked into Wolf’s Bane and stopped for a moment. The lime-green wolf done in tiles on the floor was still there, it would glow under the black lights as soon as they turned still on, the bar was still on the far side of the room, but there was something different. Ah, there was a fine undertone of magic buzzing around me. It wasn’t there to warn me off, but it wasn’t my magic so that always made me feel a bit uncomfortable.
“Agent Collins.” Travis’ voice came from the far side of the bar as he walked out of the employee break room. I had no desire to go back in there because there had once been three dismembered bodies in there. I wasn’t sure what one did to get that much blood off the wall and tiled floors.
Travis had shaved his head and was still as big as a linebacker. I actually think he was bulkier now then I last saw him three months ago. His greeting was very different this time around. “I sure hope none of our wolves are in trouble.”
Travis also happened to be Simon’s second-in-command.
“Nope, just meeting Simon for lunch. He told me to meet him down here.” I stuck my hands in my pocket, trying to be a bit less threatening looking than normal.
Travis actually cracked a smile. “He’s in the back room, go on back.”
Of course he was, because that meant I had to go into the break room. “Did you guys get the blood all scrubbed off?”
“Scared of a little blood Agent Collins?” Travis laughed and then shook his head. “You’d be amazed what a hazmat team can do.”
I raised a brow. “No, no I wouldn’t.” I walked passed him. I could still see the scene of dismembered werewolves in my mind when I thought about the back room.
I knocked on the door and heard a ‘come in’ sound from inside. I opened the door and expected the white glare of the break room, what I got was now a deep forest-green break room that now actually had stuff for the employees. Television on the wall, a couch in front of that, a fridge in the corner, and a small round table in front of a counter with a microwave.
“So someone spills a little blood, and you go all out for a remodel?” I walked over and sat with Simon at the table. “It looks good.”
He laughed. “It was needed, I guess a slaughter was just something to motivate our upgrade. How’s work?”
I shrugged. “Oh you know, bodies, criminals, magic. Business as usual.”
“But lunch instead of dinner? Have something else planned with Levi tonight?”
“More like my new suitor. You know how Levi is, every waking moment spent with someone he wants me to date might work.” I let the annoyance sound in my voice. There was a part of me that though Levi actually wanted Mario and me together. Maybe it would make him worry less, or maybe he thought it would just suit me. The Princess of Vampires, dating a vampire. I wrinkled my nose at the silent thought.
Simon mirrored my expression. “That means he’s a vampire.”
For a moment, I had almost forgotten Simon wasn’t in on the big secret. “Yeah, he’s a vampire.”
“Which is better than a werewolf for you?”
There was something in Simon’s voice I couldn’t identify. “I didn’t say that, and I don’t think that’s what Levi is thinking.” Of course, I couldn’t tell Simon what Levi was thinking, or that it was all a big I because of stupid politics.
“And if you had a choice?” Simon raised a brow.
I laughed. “Really Simon? If I had a choice?” I crossed my arms and leaned back into the chair, meeting his gaze. “Levi’s doing the same thing he always has, pushing a relationship he wants to work. I have a choice, right now I’m humoring him. Both him and I know it’s not going to work. Hell, Mario probably knows it’s not going to work either.”
“Mario?” Simon nearly fell out of his chair. “Mario is who he has you dating now?’
I covered my face. I wasn’t sure when he’d met Mario, but since the pack and Levi were allies, I shouldn’t have been surprised. “We’re not doing this. Are you seriously acting jealous of him?”
“Abby, you’re dating a vampire who is a member of the King’s Guard, did you know that?”
So that was the story they fed him, it wasn’t wrong, but I wanted to know how much Simon knew about Mario. “I know that’s he’s part of it and that he’s here to make sure Ira stays away. Since he’s been so interested in Levi’s territory. Which means once it’s all over, he’ll go away. Besides Simon, I’m a witch. We’re not really compatible with vampires because we’re still mortal.”
A look of horror crossed Simon’s face. “What if he changed you?”
“Oh for fuck’s sake. Everyone knows that I don’t want to be changed. To let me die if it came down to it.” I laughed. “Settle down, and let’s go to lunch?”
He went silent for a moment. “Do you like him?”
“Would I be here for lunch if I did?” I lowered my voice. “I’m humoring Levi, he also feels like having Mario around would make me safer.”
Simon sighed. “Okay.” He reached across the table and squeezed my hand. “I don’t like it though. Is he going to be upset that we’re going to lunch?”
“If he is, I don’t care. My life, not his.” I wasn’t sure if he was referring to Mario or Levi, but my answer remained the same either way.
He gave a small laugh. “Did you date me to humor Levi?”
“No, I dated you because I thought we could make it work and then all hell broke loose, now we’re trying it casually again. But if you start throwing a hissy fit, we’re done.” I shook my head.
He nodded. “I’ll try not to throw a hissy fit. That being said, let’s go to lunch?”
“Yeah, let’s go to lunch. They are cleansing my office, so I have some time to kill.”
“Cleaned? Did you kill someone in it?”
I gave him a look that told him I was not impressed with his joke. “No, someone put a hex on it.”
“Abigail, really?” He rubbed his eyes. “Can you not go one case without a hex?”
“The last one there wasn’t a hex. Nor the one before that.” I pointed and looked at him. “Or the case with your wolves.”
He led me out of the break room and into the bar where Travis was stocking things.
Travis snorted. “Glad to see you two weren’t having at it in the break room.”
“No, Travis, as pack master I’ve got a little more class than that.” Simon shot back without missing a beat.
I covered my eyes trying not to think about employees having sex in the break room. “Right, me too. Let’s go.”
“See you later then.” Travis waved a hand and went back to work.
I stood there dumbfounded for a moment. “Seems him getting skinned has changed his attitude about me.”
“A lot of things you did three months ago did. Particularly when you gave yourself up to save the pups.”
I nodded. I had paid for that dearly in terms of what Ira got from me. Blood.
Simon led me to his car, which was parked next to the Hummer. He looke
d at me and then back to the Hummer. “What happened?” I didn’t miss the exasperation in his voice.
I put my hands on my hips. “You know, for once couldn’t you just assume that my car was in the shop?”
He shook his head. “Was it your fault or not?”
“No, landslide took my car down a hill near my uncle’s house,” I grumbled and got into the passenger side of his car.
He got in and started it up. “How did you survive that?”
“Mario used his vampire trick and got us both out.”
He nodded. “Then I’m glad he was there.”
“Me too, because I would have been under a ton of dirt.” I shook my head. “But I don’t want to talk about it. What’s for lunch?”
“I was thinking steak. That sound good? The steakhouse on the north end of town?”
The thought of steak made my stomach growl. “That sounds great. Fill me in on pack stuff while we drive?”
“Like what?”
“Still two packs in the area or one?” I watched the cars go by on the street. Even though my magic protected the pack land, I wasn’t really part of the pack. Simon didn’t have to keep me up-to-date, but the pack was his life, much like work was mine, so there wasn’t a whole lot else to talk about.
He tightened his grip on the steering wheel and took the exit to get on the highway. “Yeah, but it’s getting better. We’ve entered into negotiations with them on joining again. They’ve realized that splitting was a bad idea, especially since they don’t have Levi’s backing.”
“How so?”
“Other packs have been trying to take them over. It’s been a mess, but soon we’ll be a whole pack again.” He sounded tired for a moment, and I wondered if there was more to it then what he was saying.
I knew the pack was like family, they’d do anything for each other, and the split had been hard, but I hadn’t realized that it’d been that hard for both sides of the pack. When I was investigating the murders in Simon’s part of the pack, I had originally suspected that the other part had something to do with it. Now that I knew they had other troubles, I felt kind of silly for the past suspicion. “How bad is it?”
“They lost a third of their members trying to defend against attacking packs. A couple members just disappeared. Don’t worry about it though. It’s wolf business, and I don’t want you involved any more than you have to be.”
I held my hands up. “Trust me; my plate is full enough as it is. I just want to know what’s going on in your life.”
“How’s the um...elemental stuff going?” He kept his voice low as if he was worried someone was spying on us.
I chuckled. “I haven’t set anyone on fire recently, so that’s good, but it’s becoming increasingly hard to keep it a secret. Seems someone wants people to know what I am.”
“With you being a PIB agent, couldn’t that help keep you safe?”
I nodded. “But people fear witches like me.” I sighed. “No matter what my position with PIB or in any supernatural circuit, elementals are loose cannons and no one understands them.”
“So it’s someone who has it out for you then?” He pulled the car off the highway and onto a back road.
“Yeah, but that’s just another story of my life, really, and just one small problem. If I keep low, it’ll blow over.”
“So what’s the problem then?”
I searched my brain for how much I wanted to tell him. He didn’t know the full story about Romania, he didn’t know about Levi, and he didn’t really understand magic, though he tried and continuously asked questions about it. “It’s becoming easier and easier to use. I keep finding myself in situations that are easily taken care of with that ability.” Or my magic. “Control of it comes easy now.”
“Is it addicting?”
I didn’t want to give him the truth, but I needed to. Someone needed to know. “Yes.”
He pulled the car into the parking lot. “That’s what worries everyone.”
“Everyone?”
He nodded. “Levi, Clarissa, me.”
“Is this going to be like an intervention?” I gave a short laugh.
“No, it’s was just mentioned after Nick died.” He put the car in park and got out.
I stayed in the car for a moment. Levi had sent Clarissa to the house a couple times to check on me because they were worried about me grieving, but maybe that really wasn’t all.
Simon came around the car to let me out. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“No, I’m just thinking is all. But none of you guys need to worry about me, Merick is at the house in case I lose my temper, Oliver is always close by, and I’m fine. I promise.”
He shut the door behind me when I got out. “Okay, I’ll let it be then. Let’s enjoy lunch.”
We walked inside and were seated right off the bat. The person put us near the back in a booth, and I settled when I realized there wasn’t a huge lunchtime crowd yet.
I went to say something, but someone stepped up to the table and cut me off.
“Ms. Abigail Collins.” The tall man towered over the table, casting a shadow over the top. “You need to come with us.”
I glanced at Simon who was tense and seemed ready to pounce. “And who are you?” He’d said us, so I knew he wasn’t alone.
“Boss Man has sent us to retrieve you.”
Interesting as I had just talked to him before I left for lunch. “If that’s true, then Boss Man would know that I need an explanation before I even consider going with you.”
He nodded. “He said you would; the explanation is simply this, internal affairs has the leaked video. You need to come to the office now.”
That wasn’t good at all. He’d said he needed to talk to his higher-ups, but I hadn’t expected to be called on again so soon. I wasn’t sure what internal affairs department would have gotten the video. PIB or the government. I stood, trying to keep my panic under control. “Okay. Simon—”
“Yeah, I know, you’re sorry. We’ll try again another day,” he promised.
I nodded and left the booth with the man in front of me.
I pulled out my phone and texted Boss Man.
“Need confirmation of pick up.” I hit send, and not a moment later I got back.
“Confirmed.”
Damn, I was hoping it was a ploy. It was suspicious that they interrupted my lunch for PIB business, but if it had to do with internal affairs, it was serious and couldn’t wait. I didn’t really want to get into a car with this mountain of a man, but at least I knew there wasn’t anything dangerous waiting for me.
The man led me to a black SUV with government plates, that wasn’t unusual as PIB issued cars had them as well. He opened the back passenger door and there in the car sat a woman in a black suit with a tablet on her lap.
She smiled at me and patted the seat next to her. “Hello Agent Collins, my name is Lyra Sinch, and I’m the director of internal affairs, and I’d like to speak to you about becoming a Special Agent.”
Whatever I was expecting, that was not it.
Chapter Eight
I stared at the woman for a second, trying to process what she was trying to say. Boss Man had said there might be a promotion for me because of the video, but honestly, I wasn’t expecting a full rank.
“I’m sorry, I’m in the middle of two cases right now,” was the only thing I could get to come out of my mouth.
The car started moving, and I quickly buckled up as the woman laughed. “I’m well aware of that Agent Collins, and your promotion wouldn’t affect those.”
“What would it affect?” I raised a brow. “Special Agents normally work with cases closely tied to paranormal politics.” Oh, wouldn’t Levi just love that? I kept the snarky thought to myself. “Like Special Agent Yorkingson.”
She nodded. “Yes, but we want you on a different team than Yorkingson, we want you specifically for the black magic task force.”
“Why me? Why now?”
&
nbsp; “Because we know you’re an elemental, and if you want us to keep you out of confinement and lab tests, you’ll humor us.”
Apparently, it wasn’t above PIB to blackmail agents. “I have a couple stipulations of my own.” I was thinking on my feet, but I could get it to work to my advantage. “I want top clearance for the database.”
“Done.” There was no hesitation in her voice.
Interesting. “I don’t want a partner.”
Her hands tightened a little bit on her tablet. “I’ll see what I can do about that.”
“Was there already a partner assigned to me?” I held my breath wondering if someone was finally going to tell me that Nick was alive and that he was also promoted and had reasons for faking his death.
“Agent Grace.”
“I thought Agent Grace was here temporarily.”
“She requested to stay on until Brian Tomes sees trial. Boss Man has put her on the Black Magic task force as well. There was a request to be partnered with you.”
I shook my head. “No, I don’t want another partner. That’s stipulation number two.”
“Do you realize that you’re really not in a position to negotiate?”
I could throw out my connection to Levi, just as a territory leader, but I decided it was best not to. “You have video footage of me being an elemental. That gets out, I go to confinement, and I lose my life to become a lab rat.”
“Good, do you have any other stipulations?” Her voice held a small warning to it.
It wasn’t best to not trust my luck. “No.” I settled into my seat and pulled my phone back out. I thought about texting Levi, but he wouldn’t be awake for a while. I texted Oliver instead.
‘Something’s up with work, keep tabs on me.’ I put my phone back in my pocket.
“You’re not very trusting, Agent Collins.” She gave me the side eye. “Who did you just text?”
I shook my head. “I’ve had a lot happen in my life lately; there are very few people I trust.” And they aren’t the people I had expected to be able to trust. “I just texted my lunch date to let him know I wouldn’t be back.”
Of Life and Death Page 11
