Rise and Fall

by A. L. Kessler

  “Hello, Abigail.” Samuel appeared in the room as if the shadows lifted and he was just there. Like he’d been waiting for me. “Did you enjoy killing Hannah?” He walked closer to me.

  I met his gaze. “She got what she deserved, but I don’t enjoy killing.”

  “That’s a shame. Because when you become my fledgling, that’s what you’ll be doing. You’ll be killing everyone I want dead.”

  I smirked. “Ask Levi, I’m not a hired killer.”

  “I can’t ask Levi anything right now.” He waved his hand, and a coffin appeared.

  What the actual hell? I tried to keep my face blank.

  “He came to visit you and Catalina. He’s paying for it now. No food. No relief. Silver chains.”

  “You’re torturing him. You and Hannah have a thing for it. I’m not surprised.”

  He rushed me, putting his hands on the arm of my throne, his face right up to mine so we were almost nose to nose. “You’ve seen nothing yet. I will torture you and kill you slowly before I force you to change and be mine. Levi may have hidden who and what you are for years, but the secret is out now, Abigail Felcos.”

  Levi’s last name sounded so weird after my name.

  “I’m a Collins.” I met his gaze. “A witch.” I threw my magic out and shoved him away from me.

  Samuel laughed, and he and the coffin disappeared.

  I woke with a jump when the alarm went off. Simon tried to pull me back down, shushing me as he pulled me closer. “Come on, let’s sleep a little longer.”

  “Simon, it’s nine. I have to get up and get to the office.”

  He let out another protest and refused to remove his arms from me. “Can’t you work from home today?”

  I rolled my eyes. “I don’t know. I’ll have to ask Liz.”

  “Text her and see.”

  I reached for my phone and sent Liz a quick text. Simon nuzzled my neck. “Perfect. Now we don’t have to move for a bit.”

  Except right at that moment, the phone rang, and he let out a long sigh. “That’s Liz’s ringtone.”

  I nodded and answered it. “Hello?”

  “You can’t work from home today. I need you to meet me at Alice and the Queen.”

  I sat up. “What for?”

  “Because I got a warrant.”

  That woke me up. “How did you get a warrant?”

  “Turns out that two of our girls used to work there and that gives us the right to search the property, seeing as one of the women is missing… again.”

  I let out a sigh. “Bridget?”

  “Yep. I’ll see you there in a couple hours?”

  “Yeah, let me shower and get some coffee in me.” I sat up and rubbed my eyes. “I’ll see you there.” I disconnected the call.

  Simon sat up behind me. “It sounds like you guys might have a break in the case?”

  “Depends on what we can find out about this location. But hopefully yes.” I nodded. I pulled myself out of the bed and went to the bathroom to get ready quickly. When I came back out, Simon was sitting on the bed and in clean clothes.

  “When this is all over, let’s go on a vacation together.” I smiled. “Just the two of us.”

  He grinned. “I like that idea, and with the pups doing well, we can get away for a while.”

  “Overseas maybe.” I thought for a moment. “Away from politics and work.”

  He kissed my cheek. “I’ll make it happen.”

  The idea made my heart sore. “Okay, then I’m off to solve a case.” I gave him a little wave as I left the room. I went down the stairs to find coffee already made and a note from Merick.

  ‘Went to handle cult things. See you later.’

  At least I didn’t have to worry about where he was and if Samuel had gotten to him. I shook the thought from my head and made a cup of coffee to go before walking out to the Hummer.

  I stood there for a moment, staring at where I had killed Hannah. She was gone, but there was still that feeling of dread in my stomach that said none of this was over.

  Of course it wasn’t over. Samuel still had Levi and had declared war. He had the King. I shook my head and got into the Hummer. PIB business during the day, vampire at night.

  I pulled up to Alice and the Queen, parking next to Liz’s SUV. We both got out, and she raised a brow. “You look exhausted.”

  “I didn’t sleep well last night. Samuel was haunting my dreams.”

  “No Hannah? Catalina told us what happened.”

  I snorted. “Naw, that bitch is dead. She can’t hurt me anymore.”

  “Good. Let’s go check this room out.” We walked to the front door.

  “Did we get any information from the Wyoming PIB branch on the other victims?” I opened the door and let Liz walk in first.

  She nodded. “Yeah, basically the same type of information. Rune on the arm, had some sort of past with the forest.”

  “Lovely.” We stopped at the podium and waited for a hostess or someone to greet us.

  The woman from before walked up. She looked at me and then to Liz. “You two aren’t welcomed here.”

  Liz pulled the warrant from her pocket and smiled. “Actually, we are. PIB has a warrant to search this location on the account that two victims in a current case worked here and one is missing.”

  She spun on her heels and marched across the dining area, going to the bar. I glanced at Liz, and she shrugged. We walked further into the dining area and started looking around, casually at first, while we tried to find the entrance to the Heart Room.

  Randy was suddenly in front of us.. “Agent Collins, Agent Jefferson. You are not welcomed here.”

  “Again, we have a warrant.” Liz crossed her arms. “So we are within our rights to search.”

  I suddenly started feeling weird, like the world was trying to turn and knock me over. What the hell?

  “Agent Collins?”

  I put a hand out as the dizziness became worse. I was going to hit the ground, and it was going to hurt.

  “Abby?” Liz asked, and the world faded as I fell down.

  I had expected to hit the hard floor of the dining room, but when the world was no longer spinning and fading, I found myself in a red room, and I’d fall on some type of pillow bed.

  Sitting up, I blinked a couple of times. The room was completely red, the color of fresh blood.

  “I was wondering how long he was going to take to bring you here.” Bridget’s voice came from next to me, making me jump. “You’re not the type I usually get, but here you are.”

  I raised a brow. “The usual type?”

  “You aren’t one of the original ones, but we used all of them up. Dead. Destroyed. So much red,” she muttered.

  “You want to tell me what is going on here?” I motioned around us. “Or what I’m doing here?”

  She snorted. “Isn’t it obvious, Agent Collins? We’ve tricked you. We’ve trapped you.” She stood. “And now you’ll be my sacrifice.” She flicked her hands and red magical chains appeared around my wrist, dragging me to the wall.

  I gave her almost a bored look. “What are you going to do? Torture me? Bathe in my blood?”

  She hesitated for a moment. “I need your blood to keep me alive.”

  “You’re not a vampire. You’re a witch, Bridget. Who has been telling you this?”

  She laughed. “Cute, you think I’m merely a witch?”

  I studied her for a moment. She didn’t look like a hybrid. Of course, neither did I. “If you’re not a witch. What are you?”

  “A spirit. Tied to this world, to this place.” She motioned around her. “A spirit with a physical form powered by blood and sacrifices.” She screeched. “A demon, basically. I don’t get to leave. Ever since I went into the fucking forest I’ve been tied here!”

  But the Alice and the Queen wasn’t in the forest. “How did you get tied here?”

  She took a deep breath. “We almost died out there. My brother… my brother knew how to make us su
rvive.”

  A door to my left opened and Randy walked in. “What my sister means to say is that she now holds the spirit of the witch inside her. The witch of the forest.”

  “Except she was at the hospital in physical form, and the crime scene.” I shook my head. I tried to wrap my mind around what was going on here.

  “She can come and go as she pleases until the witch takes over and then she’s back here.” He motioned to a rune on the floor. “I tied her spirit here.”

  I stared at him. “Why would you do that?”

  “Because when she gathered all of us in the forest, she promised she could get us anything we wanted. Riches, success, lovers, anything.” He snarled. “Except the one thing Bridget wanted.”

  I glanced at her. “What was that?”

  “Health. She couldn’t cure what was wrong with me unless I let her soul enter my body and became her new host. It was the only way that I would live.” She held her arms out. “And here I am, while the spirit requires blood and sacrifices to continue being me. Your blood will revive me as a host.”

  “So why your wife, Randy?”

  He laughed. “Going to change subjects now? When we’re about to kill you?”

  “Humor me.” I stared at him while I started pulling up my magic. “You aren’t magical yourself. Are you?”

  His eyes flashed for a moment, something that said panic.

  “You wanted to spare your wife, which is why you told her to keep to the promise of not using magic,” I guessed, but he turned away from me and I figured I was at least close.

  “Do you know what it’s like to watch someone die? The life draining out of them when there’s nothing you can do?” Randy yelled.

  I didn’t answer.

  “They gave Bridget two weeks to live, and all she wanted to do was hike. So we all took her out. That’s where we met the witch, where we were all branded as her sacrifices. But it didn’t matter because my sister would live.” He snarled. “We all got what we wanted. Success, careers, love.” He shook his head. “Except we didn’t know that it would trap her. I cut the tree down that had the witch’s rune on it, and I used it to make this floor.”

  “I brought the sacrifices here. I let her kill them.”

  “And those who are newly branded, like me?”

  He let out a long breath. “My assistant, she’s the magical one.”

  “The hostess?” I guessed.

  He turned back to face me. “That’s the problem with you PIB agents, always poking around in other people’s business. Policing the supernatural world.”

  “Your sister has lived as a host to a demon witch for ten years. What kind of life is that?” I glanced at Bridget. “Are you happy this way?”

  “I’m alive,” she stated, and put a hand on my cheek. “And the witch wants a sacrifice. You’ll do nicely.”

  I had to think fast. “Is it witch blood she needs?” I swallowed. I was ready to lash out with my magic, but I didn't know how strong this thing inside Bridget was.

  “Yes,” Randy answered.

  “Then you’re going to be sorely disappointed. I have vampire blood.”

  That made them both hesitate.

  “You lie,” Bridget said. “Everything about you screams witch.”

  “My blood was mixed when I was taken during a case.”

  Again, they hesitated.

  Randy frowned. “I remember that press conference. They said that you hadn’t been compromised.”

  “They lied.”

  Bridget flicked her wrist, and her fingers turned into fucking claws. I was going to put that down as something I’d not seen from a witch before. She scratched her fingers across my stomach, slicing my shirt and drawing blood. Fuck. Me.

  The wounds stung, and blood dripped down my stomach and landed on the ground. Magic flared around us, and I looked at Bridget.

  She hesitated. “You’re not lying. You’re not fully a witch.”

  “Surprise!” I said and called on my magic to take over whatever was in the room. It wasn’t exactly a circle, but I could feel the surrounding magic, and slowly it became mine and not hers.

  The door opened again, and Liz shoved the hostess in before her.

  I glanced at Liz. “Took you long enough.”

  “Like you’re going anywhere.” She motioned to the chains.

  I closed my eyes and demanded my magic finish taking over. The feeling in the room changed, and I fell from the wall. Landing in a crouch, free of the chains.

  The magic flowing through me felt good, and I met Bridget’s eyes. “Let your witch out to play.”

  It was like the woman’s whole appearance melted away. Leaving a wicked-looking creature in her place with matted black locks of hair. Her skin was a grayish green that made me think of swamp moss and seemed to flake off as she moved. Her hands were the claws that had sliced my stomach open, and she looked at me with red eyes.

  “What is that?” Liz asked.

  “Demon witch.” I tried to keep my voice light. “She’s scarier looking than I thought she would be.”

  Randy laughed behind me. “Behold, I’ve brought you two sacrifices.”

  I turned to look at him. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

  “Abby,” Liz called, and I turned just in time to miss the claws of the witch.

  “Destroy the rune,” I told her, and moved away from her to keep the witch busy.

  As I expected, the hostess and Randy moved to stop Liz while the witch followed me. Liz could take care of herself, but this was a small room and there were four of us in here.

  I held my hand out and called my whip. I left it purple for now. The witch smiled at me, showing pointed teeth.

  “Have you ever fought a demon before?” Her voice was a weird mix of a growl and a hiss.

  I gave a short laugh. “Actually, a couple of them.” If she was truly a demon, I could banish her. Or I could kill her. I hadn’t come in here prepared for either.

  Magic pushed against mine, and it wasn’t a familiar one. I tried not to focus on it and just keep mine in place and my attention on the creature with sharp claws in front of me.

  I snapped the whip. The tip split her skin, leaving a black oily substance in the wound, but then it knit right back up.

  Ah, fuck.

  A gun went off, leaving a ringing in my ears, but stunning both me and the demon for a moment.

  I glanced where Liz was, and she was feet away from the hostess who was now on the ground.

  Turning back to the demon, I held my hand out, calling fire to it. Then she froze, her eyes fixed on the flames.

  “Don’t like fire, do you?” I asked and threw it at her. She moved, but before she could recover, I threw another one at her, this time hitting her. It engulfed her body, and she stumbled back, screaming. I focused on keeping the fire limited to her so she didn’t burn the rest of the room.

  I heard a thunk behind me and then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Randy running toward me.

  His body hit me like a foot-ball player. I hit the floor hard, losing my focus.

  I struggled to get Randy off me and noticed the flash of silver too late, and he stabbed my leg.

  Snarling, I called my magic and shoved him off me, trapping him in a circle. I was panting when I turned back to the witch. She was on the ground, the flames on her just about out.

  Liz appeared at my side and looked at the creature. “Demon. How do we destroy it?”

  “Same way as a vampire. There’s no way to save the host.” I motioned to the witch. “Get. Her.”

  Liz nodded and pulled out her gun. Shooting the demon twice in the heart, once in the head. It would work for now.

  Randy started screaming and banging on the circle. “You killed my sister! How could you!”

  I ignored him and looked at my knife wound. “Seriously. I’m really tired of bleeding.” I used my wound to coat my hand in blood.

  The rune that tied the witch to the room was right next to me.
I was over this bullshit. I put my hand on the rune and shoved my magic into it to break the hold. I removed my hand and watched as the rune shriveled away from the wood.

  Liz came and sat next to me. “Well, I can’t say that’s what I was expecting to run into.”

  I laughed. “Me either.”

  Behind us, Randy was still screaming.

  Liz was trying to catch her breath. “I’ll call Mason and get him booked.”

  “Sounds good. You look rough, we might want to go in and get you patched up.” I looked at the cut on her cheek. “Magic?”

  “Nothing like what you were fighting in here.” She shrugged. “You also need to be patched up.”

  I nodded. “Yeah, and I think I need some coffee.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Liz and I walked into the interview room together. I tried my hardest not to limp, so Randy wouldn’t see any weakness in me when I stared him down. “How’s it going, Randy?” I asked as I sat across from him.

  “I will not talk to PIB.”

  I shrugged. “You don’t have to talk to us. And that’s fine. I want to lie out a few things.”

  I put down photos of the victims. “There are all those you sacrificed to that demon. You had your hostess—”

  “Assistant,” he corrected. “Dannie, who your partner killed in cold blood.”

  “Dannie,” I repeated, ignoring the rest of his statement. “Marked the victims and then tracked them. You’d then what? Invite them in to see the witch?”

  He didn’t answer me.

  “Okay, that’s what I’m going to assume you mean by invitation only for the Heart Room. So you take them in there and the witch kills them. I’m assuming with her claws.” I paused to see if he was going to say anything.

  Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

  “Then you dumped the bodies. Why you did it so we could find some of them, I don’t know.”

  I separated out his wife, Jenny, and Barb. “The witch originally marked these three as sacrifices while you guys were out in the woods together. For some reason, Mable kept avoiding capture. So you needed others. I’m not sure where these four came from, but I’m sure the Wyoming PIB will send me information soon.”

  Still nothing.