My heart pounded as I turned to the next image. The black and red beams had grown, and the wounds were now openly bleeding as her eyes were half open and her jaw slack. I hoped for her sake she was dead by this point. The next image was almost a mid-motion shot as the light tore through her body and the parts were scattered mid-air.
My stomach churned, and I flipped to the last one. The globs of flesh and blood had landed in the circle. Whatever the magic was, it had torn her apart so viciously that we hadn't been able to able to identify any of the body parts. I put the photos back in the envelope and took a few deep breaths to calm my heart and my stomach. I wasn't going to pass out because of a bunch of pictures. I was stronger than that.
"Abby?" Simon asked.
"I'm okay, but holy shit I'm going to have nightmares from that." I handed the envelope back to Mason. There was a lot of nightmare fuel there. I swallowed and picked my coffee back up. I wasn't ready to drink it, but that didn't mean I couldn't hide behind it for a little bit.
"What do you think it was?" Mason asked.
I shrugged. "Black magic is all I know at this point. We need to look into the victim of this crime and the others to see if they have a similar link."
"Brittany's alpha isn't answering his phone right now. I left a message saying we needed to talk." Simon crossed his arms.
"If you want, I'll call him, or you can give him my information. Delivering news like this sucks." I was getting to be a seasoned pro at it now. I sipped my coffee, and to my surprise my stomach accepted it. "Tell me about Brittany. She was out here looking at houses to stay at for college. She's from Luna Grove. What else?"
"Luna Grove is a primarily supernatural community. She wanted to leave because the majority of the population is witches."
I wrinkled my nose and wondered if that was the connection there. Wolf wants to escape a majority witchy community and dies via black magic. I was starting to see a trip to Luna Grove in my future.
"Are you offended?" Travis asked.
I shook my head. "No, I'm worried there's a connection there. I know some warlocks and witches that dabble in black magic, but even that is more violent than they've done." My mind turned to my uncle Oliver, but he was still MIA and not talking to me.
"Could those people tell you who might be capable of something like this?"
I knew someone who was working on translating the runes. "I might have a connection that can help me out. I'll need a copy of the pictures." I locked my jaw.
"Anyone I know?" Mason asked. "I don't know if I want an unknown source in on this."
I nodded. "I know someone who has been trying to translate the runes since they showed up. Merick."
"A good resource to have at your back," Mason agreed and then looked at Simon. "You okay with bringing in a linguist?"
Simon nodded. He knew Merick from a couple different times. He also knew that Merick masqueraded around as my cat. "I trust Abby."
It was good that someone did. "Get me a copy of the pictures, and I'll give him a call to run them by him."
"I'll e-mail you a copy." Mason sighed. "Until then, research what you can and tell me if anything shows up."
"I will." I sighed and turned to go back to my car. I held up my coffee. "Thanks for the coffee, Travis."
Simon took a few quick steps to catch up to me. "I'll swing by tonight? Talk to you and Merick?"
I hesitated slightly. I'm not sure what made me hesitate. Maybe the potential for Mario to show up and get jealous like the last time Mario caught Simon and me together. In the end, I nodded. "Yeah, that sounds good." If Mario showed up, I'd trap his ass in a circle. Again. "I'll see you later tonight."
Simon nodded and turned back to talk to Travis and Mason.
I climbed into the driver's side of the car, started it, and waited for just a moment. Luckily for me, it didn't explode.
CHAPTER TWO
After an entire day of research turning nothing up except rumors here and there, I walked into my house ready to get into my sweatpants, drink some coffee or wine, and relax. Except I had to talk to Merick about the death.
A meow from inside told me that he was currently in his cat form. Osiris was what I had named him before I realized he was a warlock in disguise. A minute after the meow, I heard a voice.
"Abigail." Mario's Italian accented voice came from the kitchen.
I took a few deep breaths, so I didn't murder him right there. "I thought we all had an agreement about popping into my house?"
He came around the corner and crossed his arms. "You never let me in when I knock, and tonight, it's important." His black hair looked like he'd just rolled out of bed, but of course, maybe he had, it was just after dusk after all. His dark eyes met my gaze and to pull it all together his skin was slightly darker than most vampires, making him almost too handsome to resist. Almost.
"Levi could have come instead," I shot back and put my bag on the counter.
He stood there and considered me for a moment. "Levi is busy with a council meeting."
Lovely. "Okay, so what's so important that you're here?"
"Ira has left us several victims. The council and Levi want to move you to a safe house."
I stared at him for a moment. My initial reaction was to lash out at him and scream, but that wasn't going to help the situation. "No." Was what finally came out of my mouth.
"Abigail, Ira wants you."
"And he almost had me. Had my uncle not negotiated for my safety, I'd still be in that situation," I snarled at him. It had been his fault I'd ended up in Ira's hands. Mario had betrayed me because of the influences of his maker. I had to come understand that he hadn't been in his right mind, but it hadn't meant that I had forgiven him. "I refuse to go into hiding. I have a job and nasty case on my hands."
"Grayson can-"
I cut him off. "Agent Yorkingson cannot take this case. It's a black magic case, and he is not on that taskforce." I met Mario's gaze. "You tell Levi that I'm on a case, I'm not taking a vacation, or hiding, or running away from Ira."
Mario let out a sigh. "You are the most stubborn and infuriating witch."
"So I hear, now leave."
I saw him debate for a moment, but in the end, he bowed his head and disappeared. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, my life was a mess, and being in danger was nothing new, but I still had nightmares of the brief time I had spent with Ira and Hannah. I didn't want to repeat that.
A few deep breaths later, I turned to my cat and stared at the naked creature. "I'm seriously going to have to get you a sweater as the weather gets colder or people are going to start questioning things."
In a strange shiver of magic, the cat morphed into a human. His dark skin and hair hinted to his heritage. "Don't you dare." Merick shook his head. "I don't need a sweater, and honestly, if vampires would stop visiting, I could probably get away as living here as a roommate instead of a cat."
"Yeah well, until we're willing to tell Levi that we've been lying to him, you're going to have to stay as a cat." I went to the coffee maker and started making a pot of coffee. "I need you as a consultant on a case."
"Oh?"
I nodded and scooped the grounds into the filter. "We have a murder with the same runes that killed Clarissa." For once I didn't stumble over the words. "The witch or warlock killed a visiting werewolf this time. Simon is coming over to discuss it as well."
Merick cursed. "Where is all this black magic suddenly coming from?"
I shrugged and turned on the coffee maker. "Hell if I know, but I guess it's job security."
He snorted. "Only you, Abigail. What do we know so far about this?"
"The wolf is from a small town called Luna Grove -"
"Oh, I know that place." He laughed. "That's home to some of the most powerful warlocks and witches known to us."
I stared at him. "Don't tell
me that, because I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to visit there."
He was silent for a moment. "You can't go alone."
"You going to tag along?"
He shook his head. "No. It's an automatic death sentence if I go. The cult has agreed to stay out of their territory. They have the numbers to out-magic us."
That wasn't comforting. "We'll see where the case leads me."
The doorbell rang, and I glanced at the security panel to see Simon standing there with pizza. I opened the door and greeted him with a smile. "Come on in. Merick was just telling me about what a lovely place Luna Grove is."
"Your sarcasm hurts." Simon chuckled and kissed my cheek. It was a bit of a surprise, but I welcomed it. "From the way Brittany made it sound, it wasn't horrible, as long as you stayed on the good side of the local coven."
"And look what happened to Brittany." I shook my head. "Have you talked to her alpha yet?"
Simon nodded. "I have. He was upset and shaken and asked for a night of grieving with the pack before PIB starts asking questions. I told him I'd see what I could do." He met my gaze. "Think you can do that?"
"Yeah, I'll call later tomorrow. Tonight, we'll focus on what we know." I pulled up my laptop and logged into my work e-mail. Mason had e-mailed me a copy of the photos. I didn't bother to warn Merick about the gruesomeness of the images because I was sure he'd seen worse.
I spread the photos out in order on the screen and turned it to face Merick. He took a sharp breath. "The good news is, that it matches that Cult crime scene, the bad news is, we still haven't made any headway on the runes."
"Same runes as Clarissa's death, but obviously different results. If I knew the warlock's true name, maybe I could trace him back to Luna Grove and make a connection there, but all we have to go on is Carson." I sighed and grabbed a piece of pizza.
Both the guys looked at me. "I haven't eaten since breakfast, I'm hungry, and I'm over the gore."
Merick snorted, and Simon shook his head. "We know that Brittany and all her background papers point to the pack at Luna Grove. I met with the alpha when he visited here."
Simon had once made the mistake of not checking into a visiting wolf's background before. It hadn't ended well.
"Okay, not much other than being a werewolf showed up on the other victims."
"So?" Simon asked, and my phone rang.
Liz's ring tone blared through the room, and I answered it. "Agent Collins speaking."
"Hey, I know that it's late…" she paused, "okay actually, I'm talking to you here. All you think about is work. You probably have the pictures right in front of you."
Liz was the team lead for the Black Magic Taskforce, and as usual, she was right.
"Maybe," I muttered. "What's up?"
"I got a call from a PIB agent working in Luna Grove. Your search sent her a notification." She hesitated for a moment.
"Do I need to hand the case over or work with her?"
"Not exactly. She wants you to go in undercover."
I knew this was going to end up with me traveling. "How deep undercover? I'm pretty well-known thanks to the news, so that might not work out well."
"I'll give you details in the morning, but I wanted to see what you thought of it tonight?"
I looked at the pictures in front of me. It could let me get one step closer to Clarissa's killer, and one step closer to getting the information that I needed from the cult. "I can do it. Am I going in alone?"
"No, but I need to get a hold of the other person. The alpha from the pack in Luna Grove called me as well and was hoping to work with us and not against us."
I glanced at Simon. "Okay, and what happens if another murder like that shows up here?"
"The pattern has been this, a murder somewhere else, one in Luna Grove. So in theory, you'll be there in time for the next murder or to stop it."
I thought about it. It wasn't very reassuring, and part of me wondered if Mario or Levi put her up to it.
"Don't worry, Abby, if another murder pops up here, I'll handle it personally."
See, Liz was always right. "Okay, thank you. I'll see you in the office first thing tomorrow morning."
I disconnected the call and then shut the computer. "I'm going to throw up." I put the pizza back in the box and closed my eyes. Undercover wasn't easy. There were too many ways to screw up.
Simon's phone rang a split second later. He looked at the screen and frowned. "I don't know that number."
I looked over his shoulder. "I do. It's Liz."
Simon looked at me as he answered it. "Hello?"
For a moment I wished that I had supernatural hearing because I wanted to know what she was telling him. Simon stood up and stepped into the living room to chat.
I looked at Merick. "Are you sure you can't go to Luna Grove? Even as a cat?"
"I'd be risking my life. I'm much more useful to you alive."
I sighed. "PIB is sending me there undercover."
"What?" His eyes widened. "They must be serious about this. Do you need to check with Levi on it? I know there's a big vampire territory around there."
I cringed. "I probably should. He's at a council meeting tonight though, so I'll have to talk to him about it tomorrow. I could turn down the assignment, but I don't want to."
Merick watched me for a moment. "Because you think you'll be close to solving Clarissa's murder?"
"And getting more information on the runes, which would also help get me closer to my parent's murderer." I picked up the pizza again and started to nibble it. I tried to wrap my mind about going undercover. I didn't think it was something that happened quickly or easily, but Liz sounded pretty sure about the situation.
A lot of identities took years to craft and place just right, but if I was going in just for information, it could be a quick trip.
Simon came back in the room and put his phone in his pocket. "Looks like you and I are going to take a vacation together."
"One to Luna Grove?"
He nodded. "I'll be in for briefing tomorrow morning. The alpha has requested I come to chat with him."
"So you're not going undercover?"
"But you are." He wrapped his arm around my shoulder. "Girlfriend."
Merick laughed. "Oh, your life is just full of fake suitors."
I glared at him. "At least I can pull it off better with Simon than Mario."
"It helps that we dated." Simon reached for a piece of pizza. "The question is, which one of us is going to tell Mario and Levi? If Mario tags along or pops in, it'll ruin the facade."
I nodded. "I'll talk to Levi tomorrow. He's busy tonight." I made sure to choose my words carefully because Simon wasn't in on the entire secret of who and what Levi was. My biological father, thanks to some magic on my mother's part, and the king of all vampires.
Simon took a bite of his pizza, and the three of us sat in silence for a bit as we ate and drank coffee.
Finally I stood. "Okay, well, there's nothing more we can do tonight."
Simon looked down at his phone. "I should go. I'll have to tell Travis what is going on before tomorrow."
"Okay, I should probably turn in too if I want some sleep before work." I looked at Merick, and he nodded in agreement as if he had a say in my bedtime or not.
I disarmed the alarm so Simon could let himself out, and then went to put the pizza in the fridge. Merick was staring at me when I turned back around.
"What?"
"You're tense, your movements are slow, go get some rest."
I tried not to roll my eyes. "Yes, mom."
"Abigail, I am worried about you. That's it. These last few months I've seen you go from taking everything head on and returning home perfectly fine, to returning home beaten and exhausted."
I rubbed my eyes. "Grief will do that to you, Merick. I'm fine. I promise. Just need some rest."
; He made a noise like he didn't believe me, and I didn't blame him. I hadn't been sleeping well. Ira haunted my dreams, nightmares of Clarissa's death plagued me, Mario's betrayal played over and over in my head. It was starting to wear on me. I wasn't willing to share. If Clarissa were still alive, I would have asked her for a potion to help, but she wasn't.
I walked up the stairs to my bedroom and closed my eyes before walking in. This house had been my mother's and the man who I had always thought was my father. I moved in after someone destroyed my house. It had never really been my plan, but that's how it worked out.
∞
I got dressed in my PJs and laid down for the night. Exhaustion moved through me, and I closed my eyes…just in time for my phone to ring.
Levi's tone blared through the room, and I sighed, grabbing it. "What?"
"Grumpy tonight, are we?"
"I literally just crawled into bed." I rubbed my eyes. "I'm tired, and I have a huge briefing tomorrow, and Liz might kill me if I'm late."
"What kind of briefing?"
I sat up realizing that Levi wasn't just going to say 'Oh I'm sorry, call me tomorrow night' "A briefing for a big case that fell in my lap. What did you need?"
"Mario said you refused protection." There was something in his voice that I couldn't decipher.
"Yes, because I have a big case to solve. A black magic spell ripped apart a werewolf." I sighed. "I can't run and hide every time you think Ira is going to make a try at me. I'm not actually sure he wants me dead. He had the chance to kill me a few times, and he let me live."
Levi hesitated on the other end. "You're right. I'm wondering if he's not planning on forcing you to join him."
"He won't be able to. I know he's an evil bastard, and there's nothing that will make me work for him." I shook my head. "Look, I'm exhausted, can we talk about this tomorrow night?"
Between the Lines (Here Witchy Witchy Book 7) Page 2
