A Handful of Skulls (Here Witchy Witchy Book 9)

by A. L. Kessler

  “To speak to his father about something. I didn’t push. I wanted to see how you were doing.”

  I raised a brow. “I’m fine.”

  “Clearly, you’re not. You fell asleep the moment you got home and had a nightmare with physical effects.”

  “Which we think was Hannah. We already discussed this.”

  “Abigail, what were you dreaming of?”

  I sighed. “My mom. She was there, but she was so cold.” I put a hand to my cheek. “Her skin melted away, but her spirit appeared when you called my name. She knew it was you. She said that dreams can’t hurt me.” I shook my head. “I never have pleasant dreams of her.” I paused. “She told me I had forgotten what I was.”

  Oliver was quiet for a few minutes. “And what are you?”

  “A witch,” I said, but even I heard the hesitation in my voice.

  Oliver gave a small laugh. “Let’s keep it that way.” There was grief in his voice. “Merick has instructions to make sure that you sleep restfully. We don’t want you dying of fright.”

  “I thought that might be fun,” I grumbled.

  “More or less fun than spending time with Ira.”

  I paused at the sharp tone in his voice. “You’re not typically one to rise to my sarcasm.”

  He nodded. “I’m not, but a lot is going on, and I’m worried that it’s too much for you.”

  “Something else I should know about?”

  He nodded. “But I swore to Levi that I wouldn’t tell you. So your stubborn father needs to do it.”

  I snorted. “We’ll be waiting until we’re dead.” I stretched and reached for my phone. “I’m going to order pizza and settle in to do some research.”

  “I’ll stay with you until Merick comes back. That way, if you need to sleep, you can.”

  “I appreciate it.” I used an app on my phone to order pizza. “Have you heard anything on the wolf pack?”

  “That’s not my territory, Abby. It’s yours. If you’re worried about them, go check the pack lands.”

  “I can’t without Simon’s permission,” I muttered. “Or if my magic goes haywire.”

  Oliver raised a brow. “Since when did you listen to all the rules?”

  “The first time on pack lands, I was almost eaten alive. And if there’s some sort of pack squabble going on, I don’t want to be seen as the enemy or dinner.”

  “And Simon?”

  “Hasn’t answered any of my text. The night I was in the hospital, he said he had to go deal with something, and that was the last I had heard of him.”

  Oliver leaned back. “Give him until after the full moon. Then try again. He has pups still, so he might just have his hands full.”

  That’s what I was hoping too, but there was this little paranoid part of my brain that told me it wasn’t the case. I tried to push that thought off. “Any luck on tracking the phone number that’s been pestering me?”

  “No, and the recording was simply one that could be pulled off of Google.” Oliver looked at his phone. “Has Mario said anything about the doll?”

  “No, he kind of just brushed it off.” I shrugged. “If we have to face Hannah, he can’t do anything about it. And Keira? That creepy chick should have been put into containment a long time ago.”

  Oliver snorted. “Yes, she should have.”

  The doorbell rang, and I hesitated. It was too quick for the pizza, but most people who wanted to hurt me didn’t ring the door bell. Or get through my circle.

  I apparently didn’t move fast enough because knocking came a couple seconds later. “Abby, it’s Liz. Let me in please.” She had ways of getting in without tripping the circle, mostly it was because she meant me no harm, so that explained a lot.

  I looked at Oliver, and he nodded. He stood and went to the door, disarming the alarm first. “Ah, Liz, so glad to see you tonight. No call to announce you’re coming over?”

  “Shove it, Oliver. Where’s Abby?”

  Oh, she was in a mood. “I’m in the living room,” I called. “I ordered pizza if you’re hanging around.” I wondered what on earth Oliver had done to Liz to deserve that attitude.

  She came around the corner a moment later. Her hair was sticking up, and her cheeks were red as if she had run all the way here. “I just got a call about your case with the King.”

  Oh, those agents weren’t kidding. “They want to unseal it so that they can see if Grayson’s disappearance has anything to do with it.” I motioned to the couch. “Sit down, I’ll get you some water. Did you just get done with a run?”

  “Kind of, I tried to transport myself here and ended a few miles down the road.” She hadn’t set off the magic because she was welcomed here and didn’t mean me harm.

  That made me smile. “You’re getting better.” I got up and went to the kitchen to get her a glass of water. Osiris was sitting on the counter. Interesting, I could have sworn that Liz knew Merick was hanging around, but maybe it was just on occasion. I scratched his head and went back to the living room. I handed Liz her water. “So, now what?”

  “They have to have approval from Boss Man for me to unseal that file.”

  And Boss Man was missing still. “Well, that’s going to be a problem, isn’t it? What about Thompson, think he will?”

  She shook her head. “I went to talk to him about it while I was at the office, and he was gone. Office locked up. No one home.”

  “He hasn’t left that office since we’ve started the case.”

  She nodded. “I’m pretty sure he’s involved somehow. So now we have two MIA higher-ups and not a lot to go off of.”

  I held my hand up. “We know they worked together before.”

  “You think they are in this together?”

  “I don’t know, but think about it. Kris was supposed to take over, she declined. Thompson came in to take Boss Man’s place, told us to find him. Called the other two agents off the case after we were hit in the explosions. He called us in demanding we continue. I think he was hoping we’d back down. Tell him to give the case to someone else.”

  She thought for a moment and took a few gulps of her water. “That would make sense.”

  “We gave him some information that would allow him to move forward on his own.”

  “Let’s start looking into him then. Maybe there’s something there that can help us out.”

  I nodded. “Sounds good. But what about the men investigating Grayson’s disappearance?”

  “Grayson never put in the official paperwork, so they won’t find much there. But if they open that file, I can’t promise to keep everything from the media about the King and your involvement in it.”

  “Okay.” I would have to deal with it if it came to that. “I have one more thing to share before we start digging. I have a meeting with a contact from the underground. He says there are rumors about Boss Man floating around down there.”

  Liz raised her brow. “Who’s the contact?”

  “My old partner.”

  She hesitated this time. “Abby, the papers say—”

  “I know exactly what the papers say. But trust me. He is alive and well. And he wasn’t the person any of us thought him to be.”

  She sighed. “Do you trust him?”

  “Not really, but I’m willing to try just about anything to break this case open.”

  “Okay, we’ll see what he has to say.” She nodded. The doorbell rang again, but Oliver got up without question to get it.

  “Thanks.”

  “Sometimes, Abby, our job requires us to do questionable things. We just hope we live through those things to tell the tales. And then tell the new agents not to do it.” She laughed.

  “Welcome to the Black Magic Task Force, where your choices might get you killed. If you’re lucky enough to live, don’t do it again.” I let out a small giggle, and Oliver walked in with the pizza.

  “Did I miss something amusing?”

  Liz shook her head. “No, just releasing some tension with humor
.”

  Oliver nodded. “Well, now that Liz is here and you have work to do, I’m going to take my leave.” He bowed and then disappeared.

  Liz picked up a piece of pizza, and I opened my laptop. “Let’s start with the cases he and Boss Man worked together.”

  I nodded. “I’ve already done a search on those. I should have it saved.”

  “Good. Start with anything that didn’t get closed.”

  I pulled up the saved search and started to scroll through them. I clicked on the first one that wasn’t closed. “A missing child case.” I frowned and scanned the text to see anything that might have made it PIB worthy. Boss Man had been a PIB agent when PIB was the hidden part of the FBI. It might have been just a regular case.

  Except there at the bottom, I’d found my answer. ‘Child’s body recovered from the crime scene, sealed in ballistic gel.’

  I looked at Liz. “We’re dealing with a past criminal.” I handed her the computer and then grabbed my own slice of pizza.

  She scanned the article and clicked on a couple things. “She had a paralyzing rune on her neck. We need to see if records has the rest of the files. Pictures, something else.”

  I nodded. “I’ll call them up first thing when they open.”

  She continued to scroll. “That was the last case they worked together.”

  “If we could figure out what Boss Man’s current case is, then maybe we can connect it all.”

  She nodded. “We only have the clearance to know he’s undercover, not where he is, or what he’s working on.”

  “There’s no way around that right now, is there?”

  “No, there’s not.” She shrugged. “We typically go to Boss Man to get more clearance.”

  I chewed on my pizza and tried to think. “Thompson was concerned about internal affairs finding out about this. Maybe we should go to them.”

  “I have a friend there. Maybe he can help out.”

  Friends in high places were always nice. “Contact him. We’ll figure this out.”

  She nodded and leaned back. “So, now what?”

  “Now we enjoy our pizza, and then I’m going to bed.”

  She laughed. “Sleep is good. Sleep is very good.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  The sleep I had gotten wasn’t restful. There were images and haunting voices that kept me awake for most of the night, and Merick pulled me out of the nightmares more than once. So for the ten am meeting at the coffee shop, I was grumpy, downright ready to kill someone, and wanted some answers.

  I found Nick in the corner of the shop. He had a baseball hat pulled low over his face, but I knew it was him. There was no mistaking the little smirk that showed under the brim.

  He had his hands folded on the table as if to tell me that he was unarmed and meant me no harm. I only believed one of those, and it wasn’t him being unarmed. I sat down across from him.

  “Nick.”

  “Abby, I see you made it on time.”

  I glared at him. “I didn’t oversleep. Too much to do. You said you had heard rumors about Cornelius?”

  “I have. He’s after a particular person. A man by the name of Vlemeinheil.”

  I stared at him for a moment. “Vlemen…what?”

  “Vlemeinheil. He’s a German warlock who supposedly has the answer to immortality.”

  I snorted. “It’s called vampirism.”

  “No, not that answer. One that has nothing to do with changing your blood or what kind of creature you are.” Nick shook his head.

  I leaned back in my chair. I’d dealt with a witch that claimed she could heal lycanthropy, but it required black magic. I’d dealt with a doll maker who could tie souls to dolls. So what Nick was saying wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. “Why would Cornelius be after him?”

  “Because he’s looking for a way to extend the life of someone. That’s the only reason anyone looks for Vlemeinheil.”

  Interesting. “Where can I find him?”

  “I don’t know, Abby. He lives in the shadows and appears when he knows people are looking for him. Maybe the right person just has to know.”

  I pressed my lips together. “I’m going to need you to spell that name for me.”

  He chuckled and pulled his phone out, and a moment later, my phone dinged. “I heard another rumor, if you care to know.”

  “About Cornelius?”

  “No, about you. That you took on Ira Diaz and won. Single-handedly.”

  I stared at him. I gave him my best amused smile. “Isn’t that a cute rumor. I don’t know who killed Ira, but I’m grateful for it.”

  “I know you, Abby. You wouldn’t have let that vampire live if you had the chance. He wasn’t the top dog. He’s not the one presiding over the experiments. The King is.”

  I shook my head. “This isn’t a chance for you to try and convince me to help you kill the King. This is a meeting between the two of us to help with a case. Like old times.”

  “I miss working with you. You’re always so focused and so driven. You’re just on the wrong side of the fight.” He shook his head. “The King is after your life. According the rumors, you being his fledgling would give him a lot of traction in his perceived fight against the humans.”

  For a moment, I wondered if we were talking about the same King. Levi didn’t have a fight against the humans, at least not that I knew of. Of course, the underground also thought Ira was King at some point. “Nick…”

  “Don’t give me that tone of voice. I’m trying to warn you. Join us and help us take him down or die by his hand.”

  Another warning about dying at the hands of a vampire. I was starting to think it was a conspiracy to just freak Abby out. “I’ll heed your warning, but I’m not going to try my luck by joining you in a coup.”

  He nodded. “I guess that makes sense. I’ll see you around.” He stood and grabbed his coffee. “I’ll let you know if I hear anything else about Cornelius, and I hope you live to see your thirties, Abby. I really do.”

  I watched him walk out of the coffee shop before I leaned back in my chair with my own coffee. He gave me a lot to think about, and at least now I had another lead. I texted Liz the name and then headed out of the shop. I could get to the office, do some research, and have plenty of time to reach the pack lands by dusk.

  I didn’t know what I was walking into, but I wanted to know why my magic wasn’t giving me any sort of warning.

  Dread curled in my stomach. There were ways to break the circle, but I should have felt it. I pulled my phone out when I got into the car and called Simon.

  The phone went right to voicemail.

  Fuck research. I was going to pack lands now.

  I called Liz and waited for her to answer.

  “So your contact came back with a German warlock.”

  “They did. Hey, I have to go check on something, so I’m not going to be in the office until later.”

  She was quiet for a moment. “Something case related?”

  “Nope, something personal.”

  “Vampire or werewolf related?”

  I chuckled. “Werewolf. I’ll let you know when I get up there. But Simon hasn’t responded to anything since I was released from the hospital, and I just tried to call and no answer.”

  “There’s something you’re not telling me here, Abby.”

  Damn it. She knew. “Last night, one of the PIB guys that came by to talk to me, he was from the pack, and he told me to be there at dusk.”

  “Do you have any idea what you’re walking into?”

  “Nope.”

  She let out a loud sigh. “Okay, good luck. Don’t die.”

  “I’ll try not to.” I disconnected the call, turned on the car, and headed to the mountains for the day.

  There were several cars in the scenic overlook area that served as the pack parking lot. Which told me there was a lot more going on than just troubled pups. Again there was no sense of danger from the circle, but my gut was telling me otherwis
e.

  I got out of my car and hesitated. I didn’t have permission to bring my gun with me, and if I brought it, I’d be in danger of facing pack justice.

  With a deep breath, I reminded myself that it could be nothing but paranoia that brought me here. I went to my trunk and put the gun in the safe I kept there and grabbed the daggers. I put one in each boot and strapped two to my wrists. They weren’t a ton of protection, but they would do for now.

  And if all else failed, I had my magic.

  I shut the trunk and locked the car. Slinging my bag over my shoulder, I prepared for the small hike that would lead me to the wolves. There was no clear path, just a direction to head. My magic welcomed me when I walked through the clearing.

  Warmth bubbled over me and wrapped around me. A familiar tingle ran over my skin, relaxing me just a bit, because to my magic, this was home. This was safe.

  To my brain, however, there was danger. Because neither Simon or Travis came to greet me, but Luke did.

  He stared at me. “I didn’t think you’d be stupid enough to come up here uninvited.”

  “I’m not uninvited. I’m early. One of your wolves specifically invited me up here at dusk.” I crossed my arms. “Let’s get technicalities out of the way first. I’m here as Abigail Collins, adopted daughter of Leviticus Felcos, not as PIB.”

  He laughed and started to walk around me. “Smart, making it clear that you don’t have to follow PIB protocol while you’re here. In that case, drop your gun. It’s not welcomed on pack ground.”

  “I left it in the car, locked in its safe. I know the rules, Luke.” I followed him in his strange walking circle.

  He was looking at me like I was a predator. “Abigail Collins, girlfriend to Simon, adopted daughter of Levi Felcos. The rules state that I can’t harm you because we have an alliance with Levi, for now. But I demand that you remove your magic from my pack grounds.”

  “No.”

  His eyes flashed yellow at my response. “No?”

  “First of all, when I took over this circle, it was to save the pack. It also took over a magic so deeply embedded into the land, that I can’t simply remove it. Someone else would have to take it over.”

  He stopped pacing, and he looked at me. “Or you’d have to die.”