Rise and Fall

by A. L. Kessler

  I scrubbed myself clean and took a few minutes to let the warm water soak into my sore body. There was just something about hot showers that helped take the edge off a shitty situation. I stepped out and was towel drying my hair when I heard my phone ring. I snatched it off the bed.

  “Special Agent Collins speaking.”

  “Abigail.” My uncle’s voices sounded weaker than I’d ever heard it. “Are you safe?”

  “Well, depends on what your definition of safe is, but I’m alive and still a witch. You?” I tried to keep my voice light and joking, but I could tell from his voice that he wasn’t doing great.

  “I’m only going to be awake for a few minutes. I’m too tired to do much else. Niece. I need you to stay safe. Levi, Mario, Samuel, Hannah… none of them want you alive right now.”

  I cringed at the fact that Mario and Levi were on that list. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. You rest up.”

  “Abigail, don’t go. When it’s time, don’t go there.”

  The line disconnected, and I stared at the phone. What on earth was he talking about? I got dressed, trying to push away his cryptic message. The smell of coffee wafted up the stairs, and I followed it to the kitchen to find a fresh pot. Merick was already nursing a cup.

  “Heard your phone go off. Work?”

  I shook my head and made myself a cup of coffee. “No, Oliver. With a cryptic warning of ‘when it’s time to go, don’t.’ Or something along those lines.” I shrugged and stirred the cream and sugar into the coffee. “Then the line went dead. He sounded like shit, so I hope he went back to bed.”

  “I’m surprise he’s awake. Melisandra wasn’t expecting him to wake for another day or so.” He shook his head. “He looks like someone tried to put him through a blender and then ran him over a few times.”

  “You got to see him?”

  “As his coven priest, yes.” He nodded. “We like to check in on injured members.”

  I sipped my coffee. “I’m going to do some research on the computer today to see if I can figure out any more about our homeowner and the contractor history of that house.”

  We walked to the living room with our coffee. I pulled the computer to me and started my search.

  Nothing showed up for the name Carlos Medina, and the only thing that pulled up on the address was that Monica’s company built it. I tried to dig further to see if I could get anything else to pull up, but the company’s information never mentioned the contractors or anything that would be useful.

  I let out a frustrated growl as I picked my coffee up.

  “You might have to do it the old fashion way and call them.” Merick looked up from his book. “They put limited information on websites so you call, then they get you to do a tour, and then hopefully you decide to purchase a home.” He shrugged.

  “Okay, fine.” I picked up my phone, but it rang before I had the chance to unlock it. Liz’s name flashed on the screen. “Aren’t you supposed to be resting?” I said in way of greeting.

  “I could say the same for you, but you’re up and working, aren’t you?”

  I rolled my eyes. “On the couch, at home, with Merick watching over me.”

  She made a hmph noise. “Look, I called the housing development trying to figure out who might have had access to that house. They said none of the contractors were there after last week, but they gave me a list of them to call just to verify.”

  “Thanks. I didn’t want to call the company. I’ll split the contractors with you.”

  “Yeah, no need to. All of them are fronts.”

  I thought about that for a moment. “What?”

  “All those numbers go to the same virtual system. IT is looking into it now. They have to be getting the work and materials from somewhere, so I don’t understand why they’d set up a front for all of it.”

  “That’s an excellent question. Was Monica married?”

  “Yeah, I have Mason pulling in her husband for questioning today. Think you can make it down there?”

  I glanced at Merick. “Are you willing to go to the station with me today?”

  He nodded.

  “Okay, yeah. I’ll head that way now so I’m there when he brings the husband in.” I shut my computer down. “How are you feeling?”

  “I should be back up to speed tomorrow. Lots of rest, lots of tea, so I’m hanging in there.”

  “Good. I’ll update you after I talk to the husband.” I disconnected the call and put my computer back on the coffee table. “Okay, let’s head into town. I’ll grab us lunch on the way.”

  Merick stood and stretched, tucking his book under his arm. “You and Liz are impossible. Neither of you will stay still for more than twenty-four hours.”

  “Yeah, the only way for me to do that is to be unconscious.”

  “Not the best time to make jokes, Abby,” Merick reminded me as we walked out to the car.

  We got to the station right as Mason was walking in with a gentleman. He was chatting idly with Mason as they passed us. Mason didn’t break his stride and just kept going.

  He was probably focused on the conversation. You could glean a lot of information from a simple talk. Merick and I walked into the station after him. We followed him silently through the halls and to an interview room, where we waited outside.

  I watched through the window to see what Mason was working on with Mr. Parks.

  “Your wife’s death must have come as a surprise to you,” Mason said, sitting down. “Any idea who would have wanted to hurt her?”

  Mr. Parks looked down at the table, studying his fingernails. “No, not really. I mean, we just had protesters over at the new development, but I don’t think any of them would be violent.” He shook his head.

  “What are they protesting about?”

  “Some are there because they think we need more low-income housing, not the luxury homes we have. Some are there because they don’t like that we’re developing the land and growing the cities. Some claim it’s because of traffic.” He shrugged. “Like I said though, I don’t think any of them are violent.”

  Mason made a couple of notes and then looked up. “I have an agent from PIB here to speak to you about your wife. She’ll be in to speak to you in a moment.”

  “I don’t speak to PIB.” There was a hostility in his voice that made me pause. I studied him for a moment. There was no way to look at him and figure out if he was magic or not. “Especially that little harlot that followed us in here.”

  Ah, so he had noticed me. And now, I was a harlot. I’d been called worse.

  “Special Agent Collins is an expert in her field. We found your wife with a rune carved into her that falls into the realm of black magic.”

  He waved a hand in the air. “We’re not looking for some mystical person who thinks they can do magic.”

  Ah, he was a non-believer. Great. I glanced at Merick behind me, and he rolled his eyes.

  “Do you know who killed your wife?” Mason asked.

  “No, of course not.” Mr. Parks' face turned red.

  “Then don’t you want help from whatever department I can get it from?” Mason’s voice continued to stay calm where I would have just told the guy, ‘Fine, come back when you need me,’ and walked off.

  Mr. Parks nodded. “Yes, but I’m telling you, you’re not looking for a magical person.” He let out a sigh. “Well, maybe, but that rune on my wife. It’s been there for years. Recently it turned red and started bleeding like a fresh wound.”

  Oh, that was super interesting. Assuming he was telling the truth. I sent Liz a quick note to see if we could find out if the other two victims were the same.

  “I won’t talk to PIB. If they have questions, they can give them to you. But I don’t trust the agents.” He glanced at where the one-way mirror was. “I know you’re watching.”

  I crossed my arms. If we wanted any information from him, we were going to have to work for it. I turned to the table in the small room and grabbed a legal pad and a pen,
and started making some notes.

  Mason was a skilled detective, and with how often we worked together, he probably knew most of the questions I was going to ask.

  “When did that start with the rune?” Mason asked.

  That would have been my next question.

  Mr. Parks took a moment to answer. “About a month ago.”

  I tried to think back to anything significant that had happened in the magical community a month ago, but my mind came up blank. Of course, I’d been pretty busy and exhausted. I might have just missed it.

  Merick tensed next to me, and I suspected he knew something. I glanced at him.

  “I’ll tell you about it after this.” He motioned to the one-way mirror. I nodded and went back to the interview.

  “Did your wife belong to a coven? Or did she practice any magic?”

  Mr. Park sneered. “No. My wife dabbled in such nonsense when she was younger. That’s when she got the stupid branding. She refused to get it professionally covered or go see someone to see if she could heal the scar. Said it reminded her of her past.”

  I made another note. I waited for Mason to ask a follow-up question.

  “I know that when we’re young and stupid, we make pacts with friends to get matching tattoos, or branding. Did she do it with a group of friends?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe? She didn’t keep in contact with any of her old friends. I told you, we don’t do the magic thing. Are we done here?”

  So hostile. Different from the way they were chatting when they got in.

  Mason nodded. “Yes, I’ll let you know if I have any further questions.” Mr. Parks stood and left the interview room.

  A moment later, Mason came into where Merick and I were. “He’s pleasant.”

  “He seemed to be before you mentioned PIB.” I crossed my arms. “The good news is, he gave us a couple of things to go on that we didn’t before. I have Liz digging up some information now. Thanks for bringing him in.”

  Mason nodded. “Liz mentioned there was one more person you wanted me to interview?”

  “Carlos Medina. He’s the owner of the house we found Mrs. Parks in. But I want to hold off because we have new information on the rune, so we’ll focus on that first.”

  Mason nodded. “Alright. Also, we have video footage of our witness. She’s up and walking around downtown. We’re trying to get a solid location on her so we can bring her in for questioning.”

  “Any idea how she got out of the hospital yet?”

  “No, their IT is looking for anomalies in the camera footage.”

  I glanced at Merick. “You seemed to know what happened a month ago, when Mr. Parks mentioned the timeline.”

  Merick nodded. “There was this coven, much like Adrianna’s, who bathed in blood and tortured their victims. They’d been around for centuries before the Cult disbanded them. That was twenty or so years ago, but last month, we got a letter that simply stated, ‘We’ve returned.’”

  “And you didn’t think to mention this to me?”

  “I didn’t put it together until now. I was young when we disbanded the coven. Barely know their story.” He pressed his lips together. “My father would have known.”

  But his father was dead. I thought for a moment. “Okay, can you go check out your records?”

  Merick nodded. “As soon as my shift is up.”

  “Let me know if there’s anything else you need from me.” Mason walked out and I looked at Merick. “I don’t like the looks of this.”

  “Me either.” He jerked his head to the door. “Let’s go.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  We walked into the house and paused as something moved in the shadows. I pulled my gun, and Merick stepped to my side. My heart raced as the figured moved further into the living room.

  “Abigail.”

  Levi’s voice. And it sounded pained.

  “Abigail.”

  Merick and I moved closer to the living room. Merick put a hand out to keep me from going too far. “Remember the other night.”

  I nodded. “Where’s Samuel?”

  “Home. For now.” Levi stepped out of the shadow, staying away from the sunlight coming in the window. There was a gash across his face. His eyes were red, showing he needed to feed. His skin looked gray and hollow. All this damage in a few days.

  “You shouldn’t be here.” I kept my voice calm. “We just have another week.”

  He reached out to me and stopped. “Samuel knows. Abigail. He knows now.”

  Merick stepped up. “I need you to leave Levi. You’ve tasked me with keeping her safe. She is not safe with you here.”

  Levi frowned, and the skin stretched over his forehead, giving him a weird older appearance. “Her magic would kick me out if I meant to harm her.”

  “It would,” I agreed. “But right now, I’m more worried about what Samuel is going to do to you if he finds you here.”

  Levi bowed his head. “My Abigail, always worried about others.” He disappeared, and I looked at Merick.

  “I never got a notification about someone coming in. He shouldn’t have been able to just pop in here.”

  Merick shook his head. “I never did either.”

  Fuck.

  “Maybe just Levi can get through?” I offered and then went into the basement. “Zayne, wake your ass up!”

  I heard a groan from his room. “Princess, it’s still daylight out.”

  “Yeah, well Levi was chilling upstairs while you were down here sleeping.”

  Zayne threw the door open and stood there in a pair of flannel pajama pants with paw prints on them. “Levi was what?”

  “Didn’t sense him?” Merick asked.

  Zayne shook his head. “I’m pretty much dead to the world during the day.”

  I motioned to him. “You’re awake right now.”

  “Because you came down yelling at me. Look, I’m tired. If I don’t sleep today, I’ll need to feed tonight and we have Lady R to deal with. We’ll talk about Levi in a few hours.” He shut the door in my face, and I raised my hand to pound on it again, but Merick caught my wrist.

  “Let him be, Abby.”

  I took a deep breath and marched back up the stairs. “Levi looked like shit. I’m willing to bet that Samuel tortured the information out of him.” I started pacing the kitchen. Merrick sat at the breakfast bar and watched me.

  Levi could pop into my house during the day. Or had he been waiting here since I had been unconscious? It was possible that my magic came down while Hannah was trying to kill me. Which meant that Levi or Samuel would have known that Hannah was going to attack me and were ready for when the magic came down.

  “Abigail.” Merick’s voice drew me out of my thoughts and made me stop pacing. “You’re going to worry yourself sick about this.”

  I nodded. “Hard not to worry about it. If Samuel knows…”

  “We don’t know what he knows.”

  “There’s nothing else that Levi would risk coming to tell me. Samuel knows about the connection.” I ran a hand through my hair and started pacing again. “We need to draw Hannah out again, and this time, take her down. Then we move to Samuel. We’ll have Mario at our side after that, assuming he’s in any condition to fight.”

  Of course, he looked much better off than Levi had. I let out a frustrated growl, and Merick stepped up and put a hand on my shoulder.

  “Abigail. You need to find your calm.”

  He was right. I was going to explode and do something stupid if I didn’t calm down. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. This wasn’t anything like before. This wasn’t Samuel playing games. He started a war, and as Princess of Vampires, it was up to me to stop him.

  We were fucked.

  I’d found my calm by stuffing all my worries into a mental box and going back to work. I searched for any information I could find on the fake contractors or anyone might have worked with the company to build the homes, but all I found were dead ends.

  My phone ra
ng, and I hesitated at first at the unknown number. I finally picked it up. “Special Agent Collins speaking.”

  “Hi, um, are you the agent handling my sister’s case?” The female voice sounded younger, college age maybe.

  “That depends on who your sister is. Do you have information for PIB?”

  She took a deep breath. “My name is Mable Wheeler and Jenny Wheeler is my sister.”

  One of our victims. “Yes, that would be me then. Would you like to meet for coffee and chat?”

  “I’m on my lunch. I have three hours left on my shift. Can we meet then?” Her voice shook. “I work at the Coffee House downtown.”

  “I know the place. I’ll see you in three hours,” I promised.

  “Thank you.” The phone disconnected, and I looked at Merick. “Looks like we’re getting coffee this afternoon.”

  He nodded. “I guess so.” He glanced at his watch. “You’ll be cutting it close for your meeting with Lady R.”

  I tried not to cringe at the name. “I know. We’ll get it handled. I haven’t heard from Catalina about the meeting at all. I’ve gone through Levi’s notes. I just need to know what to wear and where to show up.”

  “I’m sure Catalina will contact you this evening.” Merick chuckled.

  I bet I would have to wear a dress of some sort. I did cringe at that thought. I pulled my computer back onto my lap. “Well, while we wait, I’m going to see if I can find anything on these sisters. Hopefully, this is the break that we need.”

  Merick stood. “I’m going to go make a phone call. I’ll be back soon.”

  I waved him off. He was still going to be in the house. I didn’t need him to be right next to me all the time.

  A quick Google search of the two names gave me an article from ten years ago. They rescued two sisters lost in the woods. Jenny and Mable had been lost for five days and were lucky to still be alive. Jenny credited her magic.

  I checked my notes. Ten years ago, Jenny would have been twenty. She would have come into her magic just a couple of years before, and growing in strength. There was no mention of what kind of magic she used, but the article made it sound like the ravings of a crazy person. Which made sense because magic wasn’t widely known then.