King Takes Rook

by A. L. Kessler

  "She did. We're working with a warlock to help locate your son, but I need to ask you some questions."

  She slowly opened the door. "Come in and let's talk."

  He relaxed a little at her willingness and walked into the house. The inside, much like the outside, was bright, cheerful, and almost too much for anyone handle. "Is there anyone that you or your husband know who would want to hurt you?"

  She shook her head. "No. We make sure to take care of our enemies."

  "And how do you do that?"

  She smirked at him. "We're a family of witches and warlocks, Levi, we have our ways."

  And he knew they probably weren't good ways, judging by the tone in her voice. "Your son was young, but had he started showing any abilities?"

  Her smirk disappeared and formed into a hard line. She met his gaze, but he didn't miss the small change in her heartbeat. "No. He's much too young for that."

  She was lying though. "You need to tell me the truth or I won't be able to help you."

  "It seems to me that you haven't been much help at all. I don't know why Laura invited you in to help with this."

  "Because it originally started out as a vampire problem and then escalated from there. Now, do you want to tell me the truth? Or should I go?"

  "You can leave." She turned away from him. "We have no living enemies, and he's just an innocent boy."

  Levi held in his growl of frustration and walked out of the house. Mario stood there and shook his head. "This is all a mess."

  "I know, and I don't know what to make of any of it. What did the doctor have to say?"

  "The boys died because the wounds weren't healing naturally or with magic. They bled out." Mario closed his eyes. "So much blood Levi."

  "Go feed," Levi demanded. He knew that tone, even if Mario fed the night before, that much blood could trigger bloodlust, and the last thing they needed was for Mario to have that kind of temptation. "I'll meet you back at the mansion." His phone dinged, and he looked down to see a text from Abigail.

  "Where are you?"

  He debated his answer for a moment. It hadn't been too long since he'd been at the station, and she didn't need to know where he really was. "Just finished up at the station."

  Her reply came quickly.

  "Meet me at my parents' house."

  A sinking feeling claimed him. She needed to talk to him, and it wasn't something she wanted to discuss over the phone. She didn't want to do it at the mansion, which meant she wanted more control over the situation. Had she found something out about Ira?

  "Mario, meet me at Abigail's. She needs to talk to me."

  Mario nodded and disappeared. Levi took a deep breath and took himself to the house. It would be a while before Abby pulled up, but he'd rather meet her there than keep her waiting.

  Levi sat on the porch, enjoying the silence of the area. His mind tried to pull up memories of Elizabeth at the house. He closed his eyes and saw a toddler Abigail struggling to walk across the lawn, Tobias right behind her while Elizabeth stood in front of Abby to encourage her. That should have been Abby's life, growing up in this house, going through her life as a witch. Not growing up with her life being a lie.

  Bitterness moved through him followed by guilt. He'd done this to her, his own daughter. Maybe it was time to set things straight?

  He opened his eyes at the sound of the Hummer pulling up the driveway. If looks could kill, Abigail would have murdered him right there. She wasn't just upset; she was downright angry. She got out of the car, and the rage rolled off her aura as she moved forward.

  "No just waltzing in or popping in?" The tone of her voice matched her rage.

  "No, I thought it was best considering the kind of night we've both had." Levi kept his voice calm. It wasn't time to bring up her mood. "I'm sorry about Nick."

  Her face flashed from anger to grief, and he swore he saw tears in her eyes. "Clarissa call you and tell you about me leaving the coven barbecue?"

  "She did, the moment the sun went down. Right before Mason called me to interrogate the suspect you brought in. Why didn't he want you to handle the vampire?"

  "I handled the human." She shrugged. "But that brings me to why I asked you to come here. Merick helped me do a trace spell tonight."

  His lip lifted in a half sneer at the name. "You worked with him?" That man was nothing but trouble, and she was letting him near her? After what the Cult tried to do to her?

  "I didn't really have a choice. When was the last time you saw Ira?"

  Levi debated on what to tell her when Mario's voice came around the corner of the house.

  "Don't, Levi." He walked over to join them. "She can solve the case without that information. She has enough to condemn him."

  "Stay where you are Mario," Abby snarled at him. "Levi, I'm not a vampire, I can't tell when you are lying by pulse and breathing, but I was able to trace the events at that house. The one with the blood-starved vampires."

  Mario took a step forward. "He doesn't have to listen to you, witch."

  Abigail flung her hand in Mario's direction and a red circle enclosed around him. Levi stared at the color for a moment. He'd never seen Abby summon a red one. Her magic was dangerous tonight, and if they didn't play their cards right, they could push her off the edge.

  "Then you know the answer, Abigail." Levi kept his voice even.

  "Why lie to me? I know that Ira has a connection to the vampire king, by relation, that means you do too." She met his gaze and Mario moved an inch forward. "You touch that circle, and you're going to burn. I am not in the mood to deal with your ass."

  Dangerous. Levi didn't doubt that Abby would hurt Mario, not with her emotions so out of control. "Mario. Go back to the mansion." Levi glanced at the vampire. "It's been a long time since I've seen her in this mood, but you don't want to push her."

  Mario nodded, and the circle disappeared. Mario also disappeared without another word.

  When he was gone, Levi turned to the house. "Shall we talk inside?"

  She motioned to the house, and they both walked in and went to the living room. Levi used the few moments of silence to figure out what he wanted to give away.

  "Yes, I was a King's guard ten years ago. I stepped down about the time you graduated high school. I was sent to give Ira another warning to stop." It wasn't the complete truth. Levi was masquerading as a King's guard then, before he 'retired' as one to stay near Abigail as she came into her magic.

  "And what was his relationship to the king?"

  All the lines smoothed out of Levi's face as he put on his emotionless mask. "They had the same maker."

  "Which is why the king was so hesitant to kill him. Had the King done it, then we wouldn't be dealing with this now. Had you not lied to me, I would have had a better lead on the case," she snapped. "Now he might have gotten to a place our executioners can't get to."

  "He'll evade them. He's a master at that. This isn't a case you're going to be able to close, Abigail. He's too powerful and too close to the vampire king." And too dangerous for her to even think about going after herself.

  "But you can get to him."

  Levi shook his head. "No, I can't. I don't have that kind of authority anymore. It doesn't work that way, but send the executioners after him, and the case will be off your plate." Not to mention the death sentence Samuel would deal. He waved a hand, dismissing it.

  "Why did you lie?"

  He tried not to cringe at the hurt in her tone. "To protect you." Like everything he did. To keep her away from Ira and the dangers of what she was.

  "From what? I have nothing to do with this or the vampires because you've kept it all locked away and hidden from me. Which means I should be in no danger because I am not a threat to anything political." She closed her eyes, and Levi felt the magic around her. "I'll be ordering an executioner group tomorrow and working
on solving the other cases. If I can handle it, I'm going to go see the PIB building and my house tomorrow."

  "To see if you can figure out who killed Nick?" It would be good for her to focus on something other than the lies.

  "Yes, and if I find out that it has something to do with your lies, I'm going to trap you in a circle and leave your ass there."

  He snorted. "I can't believe you trapped Mario in one."

  "He's lucky I didn't do more. My anger is out of control tonight."

  He could sense the truth in her words. "Then it's best I leave."

  Levi disappeared, taking himself back to the mansion. The moment he reappeared at his own home, he leaned against the wall and closed his eyes.

  "Why did you send me away?" Mario demanded.

  Levi opened his eyes. "Because I didn't trust Abigail not to kill you."

  "You think she's capable of that?"

  "I think that her emotions are high, and her magic and grief are out of control." Levi shook his head. "With Nick dead, the full moon overhead, and the trace spell that she performed tonight, there was a deadly mix in her. You saw the color of her circle."

  "Red, typically it's purple." Mario crossed his arms. "How much information did you give her?"

  "The same story everyone gets. I was a king's guard, and I lied to protect her. I didn't tell her about who I was." He sighed. "But it's becoming more of an issue, and the lies are becoming more complicated. Eventually, someone is going to break the code of silence, and she won't only find out that I'm king, but that I'm also her biological father."

  Mario sighed. "Do you want to tell her?"

  Levi hesitated. Did he? Could he look Abigail in the face and tell her that he had lied her entire life? He recalled the anger on her face when she had learned about him lying about Ira. He put a hand to his chest. How much more anger would she have if she knew how much he'd hidden from her? "I want her to know I'm her father, but I don't know what the cost will be."

  "Then let things take place naturally, and we'll deal with it we're forced to admit to truth." Mario walked down the hall. "Just like our original plan was."

  Levi nodded. "I need to make a phone call, and then I'll start looking into contacting Laura's ex-boyfriend."

  "Who are you calling?"

  "Oliver. He and I need to have a little chat about the color of Abigail's circle." Levi walked to his office. If Mario had a comment about Levi's phone call, he said nothing. Levi shut the door behind him and pulled out his phone.

  He found Oliver's name in the list and hit call.

  "You know, for us not liking each other, you call me an awful lot. Make any progress on the little boy?"

  "Turns out there may be an ex-boyfriend involved. But that's not what I'm calling about. I'm calling about Abigail."

  "Is she alright?" Oliver asked. "Is she handling Nick's death okay?"

  "She trapped Mario in a red circle tonight."

  Oliver actually laughed. "Really? Did she release him?"

  "Yes, only when he agreed to go back to the mansion and let her and I talk alone. This is not a laughing matter Oliver. Her magic is changing."

  "She's Lizzy's daughter, of course it's changing. Lizzy wasn't pure and perfect." Oliver chuckled again. "I'm surprised it took this long for Abby to give in a bit to her darker side."

  "She isn't dark; she isn't like Elizabeth." Levi snarled. "She was perfectly fine until your influences. You have something to do with this. I want you to step away from her. Back off the mentoring and the elemental training until she regains control."

  Oliver snorted. "What are you afraid of, Levi? That Abigail becomes skilled at walking the line between light and dark like Lizzy?"

  "You and I both know that black magic, or even gray magic, comes at the cost of being addictive. I don't want her having to fight that battle," Levi growled. "I'm going to tell you again to back off."

  "I'll leave it up to Abby." Oliver disconnected.

  Levi put his phone down and took a deep breath. He'd seen Elizabeth struggle to stay in the light and he didn't want Abigail to be the same. He wanted his daughter to continue using her magic to protect people, not threaten them.

  Maybe that wasn't possible. Maybe it really did run in her blood.

  He sat down to pull up the information on Laura's ex-boyfriend. Omar Kensing. A simple internet search pulled up a recent article about an art exhibit down in Manitou where Omar Kensing was listed as one of the featured exhibitors. Levi clicked on the link to his website. Omar's picture popped up. A nice headshot of a young man, dark skin, black hair, and a clean-cut goatee. Levi found himself wondering if Omar was a warlock or a shifter, maybe even human. But if he was from the small town, chances were he was something supernatural.

  Levi went back to the screen about the art show. The hours would allow him to go and visit during the grand opening, so hopefully he'd be able to meet Omar and ask him a few questions. He glanced at the clock. He had time to check the park again and see what he could find. See if there were any signs of a Fae or anything else. Until he was able to talk to Omar, he was at a dead end. Especially when Laura's mother refused to tell him the truth.

  He stood just as Mario opened the door. "I was going to go back to the town and take another look at the park."

  "Nothing else we can do right now." Mario nodded. "I wanted to show you something before you go."

  Levi walked to the door. "Okay."

  Mario led Levi down the hall to Mario's room. He opened the door, and there on the far side of the room stood a pin board with pictures all over it. Levi's eyes roamed the pictures of Tobias, Elizabeth, and the empty square that said 'king.' Levi's breath caught as he started to make the connections.

  "You're trying to solve the murder."

  Mario nodded. "I've been working on it for a while now, piecing that night together the best that I can."

  "Have you found out much?"

  "Abigail's discovery of it being the Cult has helped a little bit. I've been using Elizabeth's and Tobias' research notes to make any connections that I can. I don't know if I'm getting any closer to finding out what happened."

  Levi sighed. "Thank you."

  "I know that you hurt any time that you think of her, and you want nothing more than to protect Abby. This is the only way I know to help."

  Levi clapped a hand on Mario's shoulder. "And I truly thank you. Now come, we have a situation where we can actually help someone."

  Mario chuckled. "Keep telling yourself that, we both know we're at a dead end."

  Levi shrugged and disappeared.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Levi reappeared in the small town. The roads were silent tonight, no sign of the woman who Ira had fed from. Mario appeared next to Levi. "Things have gone quiet tonight."

  "A nice change," Levi agreed. The park sat in front of them, spreading out into the night undisturbed. "There are very few witches and warlocks who dabble in that kind of magic. The list was short, and we'll start on it tomorrow." Levi started walking further into the park.

  "And what are you hoping to discover here?"

  Levi shrugged. "I don't know. Something that will give us an idea of what was out here."

  "Oliver was pretty certain that there was no actual visual of the person who did this."

  Levi nodded and stopped close to where the boys had appeared. "But everyone in this town is skilled as a witch, warlock, or a shifter. They would expect a trace spell. They might have figured out how to mess with the magic."

  "I don't think it's possible to mess with a spell like that."

  Levi wasn't sure either, but it was the only other theory that he had. The grass in the area remained untouched, and there were no signs of the boys appearing here the night before. Nothing even showed that there had been a disturbance.

  Mario looked around. "It looks a little too perfect."
r />   "That's what I was just thinking. Like nothing happened. There are not even dried spots of blood."

  "Rain?" Mario suggested and took a few steps forward.

  "I didn't smell any on the air. Those boys were truly bleeding. Those wounds were not fake."

  "It wasn't an illusion." Mario shook his head. "You can't fake that."

  Levi stood there and questioned his sanity for a moment. As a vampire he should have still been able to smell the blood that had been spilled the night before, there should have been some signs of the boys reappearing. If there were a whirlwind, then there should have been damage, somewhere.

  But everything remained perfect.

  "Something's not right here." Mario shook his head. "What on earth?"

  Levi pressed his lips together. "There's only one way I can explain this. Magic."

  "Or someone is pulling a well thought out prank."

  "This is pretty extensive for a prank. And a lot of work just to drag on and drag us out." Levi sighed. "But we're back to square one without any leads."

  "Except for the ex."

  "Except for the ex. He has an art show tomorrow night that I plan on going to. I'll talk to him there. We'll see what he has to say and then follow up with Lauren." Levi took a few more steps forward, and something ran over his body causing him to shiver. He looked over his shoulder and found that Mario was gone. What the hell?

  "Mario?" Levi called, but there was no response. He turned back to where he was and saw dried blood and matted grass. There were parts of the grass bent down as if something had been dragged across it. He swallowed and took a few steps back, and the scene disappeared.

  "Levi?" Mario asked, and Levi turned to find his guard still standing there. "Where did you go?"

  "I only took a few steps forward, and you disappeared, and the entire scene changed." He motioned to the area in front of them. "This is not what it appears to be."

  "Magic?"

  "Yes, some type of glamour magic. Call Oliver, get him back out here and see what he can make of it." Levi stepped forward again and once more the scene in front of him changed. This time a moment later Mario appeared at his side.