Grace's lips formed a straight line. "Your Agent came to my house uninvited. He was just protecting our property."
"You're leaving out the demon." I blurted out without any control. I hated truth spells. "And I came to make amends and to snoop because I had evidence that you were involved."
It was time to shut up. Grace traced her finger idly over the table, near Liz's.
"You two are so dense if you think you can stop me. Stop us. Carson is out there now with the demon."
Carson? It couldn't be the same Carson that Merick was talking about. Could it?
"He promised me revenge on the bastard that killed my sister. Promised that he could bring her back if I got him the information he needed." Her eyes met mine. "Your precious partner killed my sister."
I jerked. "Nick wouldn't do that."
"He failed to catch the asshole who killed her, who's killing now."
I tried to make a timeline in my head. "Nick would have been a rookie then, just barely starting in PIB."
"Nick started out as a cop," she snapped. "Didn't you research the hell out of your partner?"
"Well no, because until I met you and Tomes, I didn't think I had to worry about PIB agents," I shot back.
Liz looked up as people started screaming outside. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I didn't want to face the demon again. "Wait, Liz, can you do a full circle that way?"
She nodded. "I don't know the demon trap one though."
I grabbed her notebook and pen and drew it out.
She grabbed the paper from me and started tracing the line mumbling the welcoming of the elements and the goddess.
The crashing sounds came closer, and Grace started laughing maniacally. My heart pounded, and I was praying that Liz was going to be able to pull this off, her tiny circle could act like a miniature guide for me.
I felt the magic click into place. "Wait for it."
"You can't trap him, Abigail." Grace squealed behind me. "No one can control him."
The demon came crashing through the door and the wall. This wasn't the same one that had knocked me around before; this one had claws the size of my head dripping with blood already. His elongated face had teeth that would make any vampire pale in comparison. Leathery black and red skin stretched over its humanoid form, and it locked red eyes on me.
Fuck. That. Shit.
The damn thing picked up the door and threw it at us. Liz and I jumped out of the way, and I saw her drop the paper with the tiny glowing circle on it.
Crap crap crap.
The demon roared while Grace laughed. "Get her." She pointed with her bound hands. "Shred her."
It came rampaging toward me, and I threw my hand out for a circle, it probably wouldn't work, but I had to try. I didn't try for a purple one this time. The red glow wrapped around him, but he crashed right through it.
I cringed as my magic shot back into me, and I backed up and drew my gun. My body ached with the movements as I aimed and shot, the recoil sending a wave of pain through me.
Liz grabbed the paper from behind the demon and gave me a nod. The demon didn't hesitate as my bullets pierced its shoulder or stomach. A head shot wasn't working because I couldn't keep the gun aimed with the pain.
I jumped out of the way as a claw swiped at me. I felt the magic flair up as Liz seemed to shoot the circle off the paper and onto the floor under the demon's feet. I threw my own magic into it to fortify Liz's.
It stopped as the red lines circled it and the intricate designs crossed below his feet.
I held my breath as it seemed to laugh at me. He tried to move forward, but his foot wouldn't budge. Oh, thank the goddess. I smiled, and I knew it wasn't nice. This was more advanced than the circle I had used at the book fest, but with Liz and my magic together, we had him.
Grace shouted behind me, but I paid no heed to what she was saying. I spoke the words that would send the demon back to his hell hole. With each phrase he started banging against the circle trying to get out, pushing against the magic. His claws tried to shred the red around him, but it was no use.
The last word fell from my lips, and I felt my magic push out, and the circle spun and shrank until that and the demon disappeared with a little pop.
I tried to catch my breath and fell to my knees. Exhaustion filled me, and pain floated through my stomach and arm. Liz came up next to me. "Where on earth did you learn that?"
I snorted. "My uncle, he thought I needed to be well prepared." It was that moment that I realized that the truth spell was still active. I stood and turned to Grace, ignoring the shouts and busted wall behind me.
"Why the demon Grace?"
"Because he could kill someone for a sacrifice and it wouldn't taint Carson's aura. He didn't know how many sacrifices we'd need to bring Starla back." She met my gaze.
I put my hands on the table and leaned forward. "Tell me exactly what is going on."
"You're breaking the rules," she chided, "I can't answer that without my lawyer here."
It was a way of getting around the truth, she knew it, I knew it, and all I wanted to do was smack her. Liz wiped the truth rune away as I heard sirens get closer to the building. How many people had the demon killed as it rampaged in here? How many more people was Grace trying to kill to bring back the real Starla?
"This isn't over." I spun and turned around to look at the damage. It looked a lot like a movie when something barrels through a building, except there were more bodies than you see in a film. My heart fell as I looked around for Mason. I saw him off to the side talking with some officers and giving orders, pointing his finger in various directions.
The knot in my stomach eased, and I looked at Liz. "I think I've had enough excitement for today."
"I've got it from here. I'll see you in the office tomorrow? For paperwork?"
I rolled my eyes. "For paperwork."
"Not so fast." A PIB agent I didn't know stepped up to us. "We need statements."
I glanced at Liz, and she nodded. "You're not getting out of it Abby."
Of course I wasn't. I looked at Grace who was waiting patiently with her hands folded. She looked more like a cat who ate the canary than someone waiting to be interrogated.
I turned to go with the PIB agent who held his hand out to introduce himself when the man who had shot me stepped up.
He wore a three-piece suit and held a black leather briefcase in his hand. He brushed passed me with a knowing smile and went to Liz.
"Hello, I'm Carson Trimm, and I represent Melody Grace."
You had to be fucking kidding me. I turned to tell Liz about him, but the PIB agent cleared his throat. "Agent Collins, I'm Agent Cavendish, we need to talk about what just happened."
"Give me a second; I need to tell Liz something."
Liz raised a hand. "I think I know Abby, go."
She wanted me out of there. I could trust her. I needed to trust her on this. I took a deep breath and turned back to Agent Cavendish and followed him away from what was left of the interrogation room.
∞
A couple hours later, I was done giving statements, and Liz had moved Grace to a more secure location. I had barely had time to get back to the mansion before the vampires woke for the evening. I had just slipped into the kitchen to make me some coffee when Levi and Mario both walked in.
I tried to give them a casual look as they eyed the coffee and then me.
"What have you been doing today, Abigail?"
I didn't miss the accusing tone of Levi's voice. "Oh, you know, I went into town to the house to feed my cat and get a few things. Then I went to the coffee shop to work and came back up here."
"Is that why you have plaster in your hair? And dust on your clothes? Why you smell like gunpowder?" Mario raised a brow. "Why do you bother trying to lie?"
I looked down at my black clothes and let out an irri
tated sigh. "Okay fine, I went to the station to help Liz interrogate Melody Grace, and there was a rampaging demon, okay?"
"While you were wounded." Levi hung his head in defeat. "Abigail, how could you do something so stupid?"
"I wasn't expecting the demon. And isn't it normally Mario's job to call me stupid?" I narrowed my eyes. "Oh, Merick will be here in a couple hours."
"What?" They both spoke at the same time, and it gave me some satisfaction.
"That's who I'm bringing in as my second." I grabbed my coffee and headed toward the hallway. "I can trust him to have my back, and I know he's stronger than Hannah. I can't use magic, but he can. Isn't that part of the truce?"
"We didn't negotiate about magic, we tried, but Ira didn't want to agree, saying he wanted Hannah to be able to defend them if you lost control."
I sipped my coffee, proud of myself for not lashing out about the information I was now aware of. I met Levi's gaze. "Then I want Merick to have my back. I'm wounded. If something goes wrong, there's only so much I can do with a knife with my non-dominant hand."
"Mario-"
"Can't do jack shit against Hannah." I shook my head. "You're not winning this one. Now, if you would excuse me, I apparently have to go shower because I have plaster in my hair."
Levi followed after me. "Abigail, Merick is Cult. He cannot be trusted."
I spun around to face him. There was so much I wanted to shout and scream at him, but I couldn't. Not now. I needed to focus on surviving tonight first. "That is my call to make right now. If Clarissa were alive, I would have asked her, because her magic focused on protection. I don't have that option now. Oliver would have been my next choice, but no, he had to give some things up to save me from Mario's fuck up. So he's not an option. Nick is…well, I don't know what the hell he is."
"But Cult?" Levi searched my face. "They are responsible for your parents' death."
"Not Merick. He didn't sign their death warrant."
"How do you know you can trust him?"
I sighed. "Because he's saved my ass a couple times."
"You've been lying about him. No secrets, that was the deal when you turned eighteen Abigail."
I snorted. "You're one to talk. I have to go get ready for my trap with Ira." I brushed passed him and went to my room. I wasn't going to look back at him. I wasn't going to call him out right this moment about him lying to me. No. Survive first. Ask questions and demand answers later.
I got into my room and set my coffee down on the nightstand. On the bed was a new outfit laid out. Originally, I had expected a dress, like when I meet with the council with Levi, but no, this was something much more suited to me.
Leather pants and a blood red shirt. Next to it sat my blades, two that would go in my boots, and one that would go in a sheath on my back. I wouldn't go in looking weak. I'd go in looking dangerous.
I smiled at the ensemble before going to the shower. I faced down a demon today. I could handle a couple vampires. I took my time showering and then getting dressed. Taking pleasure in arming myself. If things went down tonight, I wasn't going without a fight. I was free from Ira's influences, so the only thing I had to worry about was Hannah's magic.
The moment I walked into the foyer, I knew that wasn't true. Oliver stood there with Merick. Levi was shaking his head. "No. You can tell Ira that we are done with negotiations."
"What's going on?"
They all looked at me, and Oliver held his hand out. "Let me see your pentagram."
"Why?" I narrowed my eyes at him. "I want to know what you're talking about first."
Merick crossed his arms. "Ira wants to negotiate further, no weapons, no magical items, and that would go for both sides."
"I've given up my gun; I'm not giving up the blades or the pentagram." I looked at Levi. "This is sounding more and more like a trap. He sent Oliver to talk to you?"
Levi nodded. "Your Uncle is betraying us, Abigail."
"I'm not getting into it right now. Oliver, why the pentagram?"
"Because I don't actually expect you to give it up, but there's one more thing I want to add to the protection that your mother left you."
I tried not to glance at Levi. "From?"
"From Hannah, Abigail, walk with me?"
"You can say what you need to in front of me," Levi stated. "Abigail is going nowhere with you; you're working for him."
"You want the truth, Levi?" Oliver turned to face him, and I'd never seen such hate in his eyes. "Ira is planning on having Hannah use her magic to bring Abigail down to her knees and start driving her insane. He wants to make sure that she remembers every little fuck up Lizzy and you did. From the moment he fed from her as an infant to when his crazy creatures almost ate her alive, the death of her mother."
I'd never heard so much venom from my uncle before. His calm demeanor melted away. "I'm putting a protection spell on the pentagram to keep her from that."
"That doesn't sound very pleasant, but I'm not aware of how magic can do that." I glanced at Merick. "Can you confirm that?"
Merick nodded. "Think about it as a trace spell, just specific to your memories and in your mind. It's dark magic, but since Hannah doesn't really have a soul to worry about, I doubt she's concerned with it."
He had a point. Oliver held his hand out. "There is also something that Ira plans on having Hannah undo." He glanced at Levi. "And I suggest you let me protect Abigail from that happening."
I had a feeling I knew what he was talking about, but I wasn't ready to come clean with what I knew. Not right now when tensions were so high. I took the pentagram off and handed it to Oliver. "I'm trusting you here."
"I would never truly betray you, Abby. Your mother would come back and haunt me." He wrapped his hand around it. "May I borrow your chamber so I can use the circle?"
I nodded. "Yeah, go ahead."
Levi didn't look happy, but he couldn't argue. "None of this is going to end well."
"You should have thought about that before you made an agreement for me to see Ira." I looked at Merick. "You prepared for this?"
"I am, I think that me being here instead of Mario will lean things in our favor."
"The spell on the pentagram, will you be able to tell if Oliver did anything malicious?"
"I think you'll be able to tell, but yes, I'll sense it if you let me touch it."
I looked at Levi. "I have my bases covered, do you?"
"Mario and I will be out of the building, but we won't be far. If you're in danger, I'll know it."
He didn't say he'd come running to save me, and his face was carefully blank.
"And if I need help?"
"He has to break the truce first."
For fuck's sake. "Stupid vampire politics."
Merick laughed, and Levi shot him a nasty look. "You better not put her in any extra danger."
"You've put her in plenty yourself already."
I held my hand up. "Now is not the time to argue. Tonight's focus is survival. We survive, and we'll all have a nice little chat after."
Levi raised a brow. "You act like there's a lot to talk about."
"Let's just say it might need to include wine instead of coffee." A lot of wine. Maybe something stronger.
Oliver came back upstairs and handed me my pentagram back. He met my gaze. "Remember what I've said, Abby. I promised Lizzy I'd protect you always."
Something occurred to me as I handed Merick the pentagram to check. "Oliver, are you his second?"
"No. I'm not. I'm nothing compared to Hannah, according to Ira. Besides, he thinks Hannah will give him the advantage. I won't perform the spell that she's going to try. Too dark for me." He tugged on his shirt. "No, I'm going to tell Ira that the negotiation failed. Then, I'm going to go back home and wait for a call that says you survived."
Levi actually rolled his eyes this time. "I am not sending her
to her death."
"Yeah, well that's what it feels like." I shook my head. "Okay, so no new negotiations. Now all there is left to do is wait."
Merick handed me back my pentagram. I put it on and felt the magic flow over me. I closed my eyes for a moment and let it settle over my aura. Whatever spell it was, it was strong, but it didn't feel evil or malicious. I looked at Oliver; I'd never really seen him perform magic meant to protect before.
Oliver pulled me into a quick hug before heading out. I remembered what I saw in the trace spell, and my mom's words came back to me.
"So much blood. Death at the hands of vampires," I whispered.
Levi turned to me. "What?"
"Clarissa saw something in her cards a few months back. She said that the reading was so strong that it gave her a vision."
I looked at Levi. "There are so many ways to interpret, but I'm hoping tonight is not the night she saw. Because I really don't want to die by Ira or Hannah's hands."
∞
I took a deep breath as I walked into the main room. Merick was at my back, a few feet away as to not give the illusion he was there to protect me. Ira and Hannah were waiting there already. Ira was lounging in Levi's throne, one leg thrown over the elegantly carved wood and his back against the other arm.
"Abigail, Abigail," Ira taunted, "Oh Abigail."
I felt powers brush up against my aura and I smiled as his influence didn't find its way through me. He sat up abruptly and stared at me.
"Surprised?" I asked, walking a little closer. "I had some help getting your influences out of me. Seems my mother had a little spell for that."
Hannah smiled as she ran her hand over the back of the throne, her perfectly manicured nails stood out against the black. "A talented witch, even in her death."
I wasn't going to rise to her bait in this. I was in control here. We were on Levi's grounds, Merick was at my back, and we'd already surprised Ira once. We could do it again. "Why did you want this meeting? You seemed to have given me all the information you could when you assaulted me at Hannah's."
"And were you able to confirm my suspicions?"
Everyone has Their Demons (Here Witchy Witchy Book 6) Page 19
