Rise and Fall

by A. L. Kessler

  I took a deep hissing breath as Liz wiped her fingers in my blood and then smeared it on the map. My arm tingled a little as I watched my blood make its way across the map and stop right around the area we’d just been.

  Alice and the Queen.

  I raised a brow. “You don’t think…”

  “The hostess?” Liz looked at me.

  “If so, then we just warned her,” Merick muttered. He pulled the circle down.

  “If she was, then she would have known that she marked me. So maybe she was expecting it.” I went to the desk where I kept baby wipes and started cleaning off my shoulder.

  Liz’s phone rang, and she answered it. “Special Agent Jefferson speaking.” She walked up the stairs as she talked.

  Merick helped me patch up my shoulder. “This magic is dark, even by Cult standards.”

  “Your sect, yes. Christof’s sect no. But either way, it’s dark. We’ll deal with her, and if we can’t as PIB…”

  “Then I will have my people take care of it.” Merick nodded.

  My phone ran and Simon’s ring tone sounded. I picked it up. “Hey you.”

  “Hey, I was hoping we could have dinner tonight? Are you free?”

  I sighed. “No, I have to do a PIB thing and then I have to do a vampire thing. But I could use a good night surrounded by magic. Why don’t I come up after the vampire thing?”

  “I’m not on pack grounds right now. Travis is handling the pups so I’m back at my place.”

  Which was weird since he’d been spending most of his time at my house until Samuel and Hannah were here. “Okay, meet me at my house after? I just have a meeting with Catalina and then I can be home.”

  “That sounds good. We can do a late dinner.”

  “Perfect.” I grinned. “I’ll see you tonight. Love you.”

  “Love you too.”

  I disconnected, and Merick stared at me.

  “Do you think that’s a good idea? Simon should be on pack lands to stay safe. Travis is agreeing to him being in town and around you?”

  I paused. “I’m not sure if Travis knows Simon plans on spending the night with me. I think we’ll be okay. Let’s focus on surviving the club tonight.”

  Merick nodded. “Seems like that is our first problem. I’ll be at the house tonight and so will Zayne, so you won’t be without security.”

  “And my house still stands as the safest place with all the magic surrounding it.”

  “I’m still wondering how Levi got in.” Merick went up the stairs.

  I followed. “Me too. All I could think is that my magic wore down enough for him to get it.”

  “Except it’s my magic that keeps the vampires out.”

  I wasn’t sure how I’d forgotten that fact. “So it should have stayed strong even though I was down for the count.”

  “Exactly.”

  I shut the door behind me after we exited the stairwell. Liz stood there with her hands on her hips. “Mason went to talk to Carlos at the house.”

  “And?”

  “Found his body instead.”

  I pinched my nose. “Same type of murder?”

  “No, someone hacked him up with an ax.”

  I opened my mouth and then closed it. “Okay… So?”

  “There’s someone leaving the house on a security camera. Turns out that Carlos installed them after we visited because he didn’t like the idea of someone being able to sneak a body into his attic.”

  “I can’t say I blame him.” I shook my head. “But my guess is the attacker didn’t know about the camera?”

  “I’m assuming not, but the attacker did wear masks, gloves, and there wasn’t anything identifying about him.”

  “Great. Do we need to go down to the scene?” I went to the kitchen to find something to eat. I opened the fridge and found it empty. It wasn’t even on.

  Weird. Levi typically kept food for me here. I had a sinking feeling maybe I shouldn’t be here. “Guys. We need to go.” Something was wrong. All the signs were there. It was like the mansion was abandoned. Nothing here for me to eat. None of his people coming in and out during the day.

  “Abby?”

  “Levi cleaned out the fridge and turned it off. The coffee pot is gone.” I opened the cupboards and found them empty. “We’re not supposed to be here. We need to go.”

  We all went out the front door and got into the SUV in silence. I wasn’t sure what was giving me the dreadful feeling. But Levi wouldn’t have gone through the trouble of all that before he left if he wanted me to visit or feel welcomed.

  “Abby?” Merick asked.

  “I don’t why, but Levi doesn’t want me there. My only guess is that he knew it wouldn’t be safe for me to visit.”

  “It’s daytime.” Liz paused. “But Samuel is a day-walker.”

  I nodded. “Exactly. It would have been a good place to ambush us. We typically think of the mansion as safe, and so we let our guard down. If we had, Samuel could have easily taken us down. Much like Hannah did.”

  Liz started the SUV. “Okay, well, we can head back up to Alice and The Queen.”

  “We’ll be early, but I want to look around the area a little.” I texted Zayne an update and an address. I expected him to pop in right as the sun fell.

  “I’m going to go back and help my two men process some more of the forest.” Merick said. “Keep me updated on what happens at Alice and The Queen.”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  This time, when we pulled up to Alice and the Queen, there were a few more cars in the parking lot. Not enough to call it a busy night by most bar standards, but this one was pretty far out of the way, so maybe it was a busy night for them.

  Liz and I sat in the car for a moment. “Zayne should be here soon.”

  “He’s going to try talking you out of this,” she muttered.

  “No, he’s pretty good about letting me handle PIB stuff.” I shrugged. “Better than Mario and Levi are.”

  Zayne appeared next to the car and knocked on the window. Liz and I got out.

  He glanced at the club and then at us. “Do you want to explain what we’re doing here? I don’t like the feel of this place.”

  “We’re hopefully catching our witch tonight.” I shrugged. “Thought you’d enjoy joining us.”

  He didn’t look amused. “I’m not here to protect your PIB ass. I’m here to make sure that the vampires don’t get you.”

  I motioned to the club. “Do you see the look of this place? There are probably a few vampires in there. I mean, you can stay outside. Liz and I can handle it. But per the council, you’re supposed to be glued to my side.”

  He chuckled. “Come on Princess, let’s go get your witch.”

  As we got closer to the club, I could feel the rune on my arm bleeding again, soaking through the bandage. Zayne looked at me. “You’re bleeding.”

  “Yeah, we’ll catch you up on that later.”

  “You’re going to attract every vampire in there.” His voice was low. “Abigail.”

  I waved him away. “Don’t worry. I was joking about the vampires.”

  He was still muttering as we walked in. The same woman from before was there.

  “So you have returned.” Her smile faded a little around the edges. “Randy is expecting you, but please, come have a seat for a bit. He’s finishing up something.”

  I didn’t like the way she said that.

  She led us to a table and set two menus down. She looked at Zayne. “Your type doesn’t normally come here. I’m sorry I don’t really have anything to offer you.”

  He raised a brow. “You have something, because I smell blood.”

  She shrugged and walked off.

  I looked at Zayne. “My blood?”

  He shook his head. “No, someone else’s and a lot of it.”

  Liz pressed her lips together. “I think I need to go use the lady’s room.”

  I followed her lead. “Me too.”

  “Well, that’s a shame.�
� Randy Parks walked up to the table. “I was just coming to get you, Abigail.”

  I raised a brow. “Me specifically?”

  “Yes. I heard you wanted to see the Heart Room.”

  “Me and my partner, yes.”

  Liz took a step closer to me. Zayne sat in his chair looking almost bored at the conversation, but I knew he was paying close attention.

  “Agent…?” Randy asked.

  “Jefferson.” Liz met his gaze. “We stopped by earlier. We were told that your hostess would tell you we wanted to see the room.”

  “I’m afraid that room is only for who I invite in there. So it’s Abigail or no one.”

  I thought for a moment. “How do you know my first name?”

  “You gave it to the hostess for your reservation.”

  “No, I didn’t.” I met his gaze. “You were at the police station talking to Mason and said how much you despised PIB, so I doubt you remember my name from a news article or press conference.”

  He stared at me for a moment. “Well, Agent, I think I’ll rescind my invitation to the room, because you’re right. I despise what you do and who you are.” He spun around and walked off.

  “Way to go, Abby.” Zayne laughed. “You drove all the way up here for nothing.”

  I shook my head. “No, not for nothing.” There was a reason he’d singled me out. And he wanted me alone. Nothing about that situation screamed safe. I sat back down and watched him move around the dining area and the bar, but he never took another woman to the room.

  “Abby?” Liz asked me after a while. “I don’t think we’re welcomed here. No one has come taken our order.”

  I nodded. “I know. I’m just observing.”

  We all stood and walked out. I glanced behind me at the building. No one stopped us as we left. Hell, the hostess hadn’t even given us a second look.

  “Zayne, could you tell where the smell of the blood was coming from?”

  “Toward the back. That’s all I know.”

  Liz and I looked at each other and then started toward the back. “The back of buildings, the basements of buildings. You know, there’s never a surprise location for this kind of thing,” I muttered as we turned the corner of the building.

  There was no door or window back there except for the employee entrance, which was propped open. So it wasn’t likely the Hearts room.

  Zayne motioned to the door. “By all means.”

  I peeked in the door and saw a couple of employees standing around in what looked to be a break room. I turned back to them. “Yeah, we’re not getting in there.”

  “Alright, let’s get back and we’ll think of a plan.” Liz crossed her arms. “Besides, you have meetings with Catalina and Simon tonight.”

  As soon as we got home, Zayne took me to Catalina’s. We appeared in her living room where she sat with a book, reading.

  She glanced up at us. “I was expecting you to take longer tonight.” She put a bookmark in and laid the book down on an end table.

  “Yeah, well, it didn’t really go as planned. So here we are.” I held my arms out. “Time to handle vampire princess stuff and then I can go home to my wolf.” I grinned.

  “Zayne, you’re dismissed. Go feed while Abigail and I talk.” Catalina smiled. “Your donor has been asking about you.”

  He smiled and disappeared.

  “Shouldn’t he be feeding every other night?” I asked as I took a seat.

  “He’s powerful enough and old enough to go about a week between feedings. Sometimes he likes to push it, especially when there’s a lot going on.” She folded her hands in her lap. “And speaking of a lot going on.”

  “We have choices to make. There’s only two that I see.” I paused for a moment, wondering if I was willing to admit what was best for people that weren’t even truly mine. “We either let the war continue, or give Samuel what he wants, within reasons and with negotiations.”

  Catalina raised a brow. “You know what he wants. Are you willing to go into his territory with very little protection? His negotiations won’t be easy, and even if he breaks them in his territory, there is very little we can do.”

  “He’s bound by his negotiations. Just like I’m within my rights to kill Hannah. If he breaks them, I’m within my rights to kill him.”

  She nodded. “If you were a vampire.”

  “And as a witch?” I asked.

  She smiled at me. “You can do whatever you want. You’re not really beholden to our negotiations. The reason we’ve been having you follow them is because of Levi.”

  “Because with your laws, I’m under Levi, and therefore, me breaking the treaty would give Samuel the right to hurt Levi.” I wrinkled my nose. “So I really don’t have the freedom that you say I do.”

  “Is Levi here?” she asked.

  “No,” I said slowly. “He’s with Samuel.”

  “And he’s not part of the negotiations this time.”

  I hadn’t thought of that. “He won’t know about them, so Samuel can’t hold him responsible for my actions.”

  “And if you kill Samuel, who’s there to say otherwise.”

  I took a deep breath. “We draw Hannah out first. Magically, she proved I am not stronger than her. I can’t take her and Samuel on.”

  “Can you take Samuel?”

  I thought about it. I had help with Ira, but Samuel’s downfall was his pride. “I don’t know, but I’m willing to try.”

  “This isn’t a situation where it’ll be near death. It’ll be death.” She met my gaze.

  I nodded. “I’d rather take him out or die trying. None of you guys can pop in there. So where are you going to find another witch?”

  “Your uncle…”

  “Is out of commission.”

  She sighed. “I will let the council know what the plans are, then. Draw out Hannah. Soon. Levi… Levi is in rough shape.”

  “You care for him, don’t you?” I asked, and her gaze flicked away. “Dare I say you love him?”

  She laughed. “We’re too old for love, Abigail. We enjoy each other’s company, and it is a welcomed change to the surrounding chaos.”

  “Good. He needs someone like that.” I stood. “Now, speaking of other company…”

  “Go enjoy your wolf, Abigail. Keep me updated, please.”

  Zayne walked in, his face flushed a little. “Ready, Princess?”

  “Yeah, let’s go.” There was a feeling of dread in my stomach, like I had just signed my death warrant.

  Zayne held his hand out, and I took it. We disappeared and reappeared at my house.

  Simon was sitting on my couch and a huge smile spread across my face and the feeling of dread disappeared as I basically threw myself at him.

  He wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tight. “Long night?”

  “I’m just happy to see you.” I snuggled into him. “It’s been a long few nights.”

  He laughed. “Yeah, I heard Hannah took you down for a bit.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Freaking Hannah had a black spell up her sleeve. All good though. I’m alive.”

  “I smell blood.”

  Zayne was the one who answered. “Yeah, the thing on her arm keeps bleeding.”

  I sighed. “We’ll take care of that soon, though. I promise. It’s nothing we can’t fix.”

  Simon lifted my sleeve. “It’s bled through the bandage.”

  “I’ll swap the bandages out. It’ll stop when the person who caused it stops tracking me.” I stood and headed to the kitchen to get the first aid kit from under the counter.

  I got back into the living room, and Simon took the kit from me. “And who is it that’s tracking you?”

  “A witch or a warlock that’s killing people. You know, nothing new in my line of work.”

  He chuckled as he took the bandage off. “This looks painful.”

  “That’s the funny thing, it’s not really, not unless I touch it.”

  He went to work getting a fresh bandage on it,
muttering the entire time about if he leaves me alone for too long, I come back with weird shit.

  Zayne laughed about it the whole time.

  Simon finished and shook his head. “So is this one going to try killing you too?”

  “I have no idea. I know they killed the other people that have it.”

  He took a deep breath. “Your job is going to be the death of me.”

  “You knew the risks when we decided to continue dating.” I teased. “Besides, as Alpha, you have risks too.”

  He nodded and pulled me to his side. I laid my head on his shoulder and we sat there for a few minutes in silence. “Can you come up on the full moon?”

  “I’ll have to see how this case plays out. I’d love to be up there. It’s been a bit.”

  Simon kissed my head. “It has.”

  I reached for the remote but paused as something pushed against my circle. Hannah’s magic. I’d become so familiar with how it felt that I knew it was her out there. I hesitated. “Not now,” I muttered.

  “Not now?” Simon frowned.

  I frowned and felt the push again. “She can’t pass my circle.”

  Cringing, I knew I was wrong with the last push. If she tried harder, I’d be in a world of hurt.

  I took a deep breath. “Simon, stay in here. Zayne, come with me.” Merick appeared a second later. I looked at him. “It’s time to do this.”

  “I felt it too.” Merick nodded. “I’ve got your back.”

  Simon stood up. “I’m coming with you.”

  I put my hand on his chest. “No. You are not part of my security team, and if something happens to you, I couldn’t forgive myself. Travis would have my skin. And we’d be breaking the terms of our alliance.” I leaned up and kissed him. “She won’t get us by surprise this time.”

  He took a deep breath. “Fine. Don’t die.”

  “That’s the motto,” I muttered and walked out of the house.

  I stared at Hannah, standing right outside my circle.

  She smiled at me. “Oh, you are home. I wasn’t sure if I was knocking loud enough.” She rapped her knuckles on the circle, sending just a little wave through the magic. “Knock, knock, Abigail. Glad to see you’re still alive.”

  I shrugged. “That’s the way Samuel wants me, right? So he can have the pleasure of changing me?”