Scarlet Mirror (Rise of the Vampire Princess Book 3), page 12
Zayne hesitated. “We can’t leave. I tried to take us out of here when we realized something was wrong.”
Mario let out a string of Italian curses. I pressed my lips together. “Keep her downstairs, then. Hopefully, she fed well the rest of the night to keep her bloodlust down. Call Merick, but warn him about the situation.”
“You can’t call him?” Zayne raised a brow. “I thought that would have been the first call you made when you got stuck.”
“My phone is in the office,” I muttered. “So is everyone else’s. We were all checking a message when we smelled the blood.” It was suspicious. No one’s message said the same thing. Everyone had a body part named, and that was it.
Zayne saluted me and walked out of the room. I looked at Catalina. “What now?”
“Now, we wait. When Merick gets here and lets us out, then we’ll supervise Abigail as she investigates the crime scene.”
I motioned to the ballroom windows and the balcony door. “We have a problem. Daylight is only a couple of hours away.”
“Merick can pop in and out. We know we can pop in here…he won’t take a couple hours to arrive.” Oscar crossed his arms.
Catalina looked at me, her face carefully blank. Someone had to have thought this through, and if they did a good enough job, they would have distracted anyone who could have helped us.
I glanced at the decimated body in front of us. The smell of magic blood was sweet in the air. I tried to look at it like Abigail. None of us in the room knew the victim. The manor in which the body was torn up looked to be the same as the photos I’d given her. But this was a witch, not a vampire.
My tongue darted between my lips as I thought about how sweet the blood was.
“We have a problem.” Zayne’s voice came from the doorway, and I spun towards him.
“What?”
“Abigail is trapped in a circle downstairs. She says that it’s her magic, but it’s not responding to her.”
“Fuck,” Mario said next to me.
I had the same response, but there was a spark of hope in me. “When Abigail was younger, just as her magic surfaced…she trapped herself in a circle. She didn’t know how she summoned it, and I had to call Clarissa to get her out.”
“You think that her magic sensed danger and activated?” Catalina asked, and I shook my head.
“I don’t know, but it’s similar to then, so maybe.”
Zayne sighed. “I called Merick. He should be here any moment to get everyone out.”
“Good.” Whoever did this hadn’t thought about our allies. Unless they did not intend to keep us here until the sun rose. Then what was their intent? “Greet him and make sure he knows not to step foot in the ballroom.”
Zayne left the room, and I glanced at Catalina and then at the rest of the council. “We need to figure out who is behind this, and quickly.”
Tabitha walked around the body. “I think I saw this woman on the news. She wasn’t at the attack, but…” She paused. “I think she was a journalist. Maybe we’ve interviewed with her before.”
That was a start, at least. The sound of the front door opening and shutting caught my attention. I could hear Merick’s low voice, and I relaxed a little.
No one said anything else while we waited for Zayne and Merick to get to the room.
Merick raised a brow at the sight. “I see what the problem is.”
“Good, now fix it,” Tabitha snapped.
“Please,” I added. “I’d like to get out of the ballroom before the sun rises.”
Merick nodded. “Then let’s get you free.”
To us, it looked like Merick sat there for almost an hour with his hands against an invisible wall, but we all felt the shock when the magic fell. Merick had felt it too, in more than one way, it seemed. He leaned against the wall, sweat dripping down his face.
“Thank you.” I put a hand on his shoulder. “Any idea whose magic it was?”
He shook his head. “And I’m afraid I’m afraid I’m going to need a nap.”
“Of course, there’s a guest room waiting for you.” I motioned for Zayne to lead Merick to one of the rooms.
Catalina stepped up to my side. “We still can’t leave. I’m not willing to risk walking out the front door right now.”
“Everyone may go to a secure room for the day. I’m going to go check on Abigail.” I walked into the hall, leaving the others to find the rooms they knew didn’t have windows.
Walking down the stairs, I heard her muttering. When I opened the door at the bottom, I found her in a red and purple haze, sitting cross-legged on the floor.
Her eyes were closed, brows pinched in focus and concentration as the Latin words poured from her lips.
She opened her eyes and threw a hand out in frustration. Her vampire powers hit the magic, the circle only shuttering.
“Fuck,” she snapped and then met my gaze as if she had just realized I was there. “You’re free.”
“I am.” I studied her. “This is your magic?”
She hesitated. “It feels like mine. Just like at the pack lands. But it’s not listening to me. I can’t reach out to it to pull it back or down.”
“Abigail,” the sadness that filled her eyes wounded me. I wanted to hold her like a child, tell her it would be fine. Comforting lies I could give her, but instead I told her the truth. “Merick has to rest before he can pull this circle down.”
I couldn’t tell her to try harder and just find her magic. I basically just told her she was helpless. “I’m sorry.”
She looked away from me. “A year ago, I could pull it down with little thought.”
“Now you know how I felt, Princess.” Mario’s voice came from behind me.
“Fuck off.” She flipped him the finger, and I sighed.
“Don’t egg her on,” I told Mario, but I didn’t look at him. “This might not be a bad thing. We don’t know who or what set the trap upstairs for us. Her magic is trying to protect her. Maybe we should let it.”
She laid back on the ground. “Someone throw me a pillow and blanket, please. Because I’ll be stuck here all day.”
“I’ll go get them.” Mario turned around and left.
“Abigail,” I started again.
“Go, Levi. Zayne told me about what was in the ballroom. There’s nothing more you can tell me.”
“Tabitha thinks it was a journalist that was killed. She said she remembered seeing the victim.”
She frowned at that. “Get me a picture of her face, and I’ll research it while I’m stuck in here.”
“Okay.” I turned to leave her. She said nothing as I walked back up the stairs, but I could hear her speaking Latin again.
Zayne was standing at the top of the stairs with a blanket and a pillow. “She’s still at it?”
“Yes. I’m worried she’ll overdo herself before dawn and wake up blood-starved.”
Zayne sighed. “I have a feeling this was a trap from Ivan.”
“This whole thing?”
“I told you, he was at Lady R’s like he was waiting for us. Where else would I have taken Abby to make sure she was safe after a run in like that?”
He had a point. “And the body?”
“Valencia seemed to think that Grayson sent the pictures of the bodies to her home. He’s dead, but I think that’s the only lead we’ve got. Abby has been spending entire nights trying to go through all the files and match things up.”
Abigail’s growl of frustration came up the stairs, and I sighed. “Do we know if Ivan and Valencia have a past together?”
“I don’t know her well enough for that, but I’ll see what I can dig up.” He moved past me and down the stairs.
He greeted Abigail, and I walked away, prepared to go to bed, but I found Mario standing outside my room.
I tried not to sound exhausted. “What?”
He held out his phone to me. “Warlock arrested for arson,” I muttered the title of the article, posted an hour ago.
While we were trapped. While Abigail was in her circle. I saw Nick’s face as a PIB agent had him kneeling on the ground, in front of a driveway I knew well. Abigail’s.
“Fuck,” I muttered. “The house looks okay.”
“Yes, the damage was to the trees surrounding the house. He wasn’t able to get near it.”
I think it was time that I talked to Nick. “Call PIB and tell them I want to talk to that warlock before they release him.”
“Of course.” Mario took his phone back from me. “And Abigail?”
“Trapped for the day, it seems. Hopefully not for the night. I’ll have one of the humans go take a picture of our victim so that Abigail can research it.” I sighed. “Not how I expected this night to go.”
“Never a dull moment.” Mario shoved his phone into his pocket and then walked towards his room.
When dusk fell, I woke to screaming. Pain filled screaming. I darted out of the room and down to Abigail’s chamber, where she was banging against the circle that kept her trapped. Blood dripped from her fists as she tried to force her way out, still screaming.
She didn’t stop when I approached the circle. “Abigail?” Where the fuck was Zayne?
She stopped, and I noticed the tears streaming down her face. “Get me out of here,” she begged.
“What’s wrong?” I put my hand up against the haze, testing it. Tiny little tingles went through my fingertips, warning me I needed to stay away.
She turned away, snatching her phone up from the ground. There on the shattered screen was another article. “Local wolf pack bars targeted. Twenty dead, ten missing.”
“Simon’s not answering his phone. Neither is Travis. I need to get out of here.” She swallowed. “I need to go see if they are okay. If the pups are okay.”
“Where’s Zayne?”
“I don’t know. I woke up alone.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “I can’t get out. The wolves…”
“I’ll call Emric to see if they are okay. Travis is allied with him.”
“It happened in the early morning. When we were here. Someone didn’t want us to leave.” She snarled. “The first thing I’m going to do when I get out of here is go to pack lands.”
Merick walked in. “The pack lands are fine.”
I’d forgotten he’d taken over Abigail’s circle. The relief on Abigail’s face was clear, but then the look hardened again. “Simon?” She asked.
Merick didn’t answer, but he went to the circle and put his hand on it. “It’s your magic.”
“I can’t control it. I can’t feel it tethered to me either.” Abigail glanced at him. “Can you take it down?”
He nodded. Liz came skidding down the stairs a moment later. “Don’t let her out.”
“What?” I asked as I turned towards her.
“One, she’s blood-starved. Two, if she gets out of there, you know exactly where she’s going first.” Liz shook her head. “There are attacks on all the werewolves' places right now. We can’t risk her going out and getting hurt.”
Abigail looked up at me, her jaw clenched. “I am not blood-starved. I’m furious. Let me out of here so I can check on the wolves.”
“Nothing has passed my circle on pack lands, so as long as they are there, they are safe.” Merick said. “But I think Liz is right. I think it best we get Abigail a meal before I let her out.”
Abigail let out a long growl of frustration that sounded like an animal. My phone rang, and I sighed, pulling it out of my pocket.
“Levi speaking.”
“Hello King Levi. I was told you wanted to speak with a warlock that I have in custody?” A female voice came over the phone.
“Yes, the one that was arrested early this morning for arson. That was my property he was on, and I’d like to speak to him about it.”
The woman hesitated. “That’s not a valid reason, sir. I have instructions to—”
“Give me the phone.” Liz grabbed the phone from my hand. “Listen up Raylynn, you let Levi in on that interview or we’re going to have a host of other problems.”
Everyone stared at Liz for a moment.
It took Raylynn a second to answer. “Yes ma’am, but O’Donald won’t be happy about it.”
“O’Donald is with me on this, trust me. We’ve had problems with that person before.”
Abigail tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. “Who is it?”
So, she hadn’t seen that article yet.
“Okay, please tell Levi that he may come to the north PIB building at eight pm when I do the interview.”
The phone disconnected, and Liz handed it back to me. “She’s new, like just out of academy new.”
“Why is she on that case, then?” I asked.
“Because we thought it was just a case of magical mayhem and that it wasn’t Nick.”
The moment the name left her lips, Abigail’s vampire powers hit the circle.
I swore it creaked under the pressure as the magic rippled around her. “Rein in your temper, Abigail.”
She took a deep, shaky breath. Her fists were clenched, her eyes closed. “That bastard.”
“We don’t know if he’s behind the other attacks,” Liz said. “It’s unlikely because he was in custody during them.”
“That doesn’t mean he didn’t facilitate them.” Abigail growled and opened her eyes. Red flashed in her gaze, and I knew Liz’s original observation had been true.
“I’ll drive to a donor’s house and bring you back a meal,” I said. “Assuming I can walk out of the house.”
“Don’t bother.” Zayne’s voice came behind me and we turned around. Nadine stood by his side, her hair pulled back in a braid, dark circles under her eyes as if she hadn’t slept all day or the night before.
“Are you up for feeding Abigail?” I asked gently, and she nodded.
“I wouldn’t be here otherwise.” She stepped forward. “It was a long night of damage control at the club. And day.” She waved a hand. “I’ll take a nap when I get done here.”
“She’s blood-starved.” I warned.
Nadine snorted. “I can handle her. Promise.”
“Okay, Merick, bring the circle down.”
Liz stepped up next to him. “I’ll help.”
Abigail stepped back to the center of the circle and met my gaze. “There’s going to be hell to pay if he’s dead.”
She didn’t have to say who she was talking about. Simon. “You’d have to play it within the rules of the supernatural world, Abigail.”
The snarl told me she didn’t like my answer, but I stayed silent. She needed to remember that she was a princess of vampires now. Going on a killing spree in the name of a werewolf would not help our look right now.
Liz and Merick both gasped as the circle crashed down. Abigail cried out and fell to one knee, her hand on her chest. I rushed to her side and put a hand on her shoulder so she wouldn’t dart from the room.
She looked up at me, a small smile on her face. “There’s a flicker of magic in me.”
If my heart had been beating, it would have stopped. “Truly?”
She frowned. “I felt it.”
“And now?”
She shook her head, and her eyes flashed red. “I need to feed. You can let go of me. I will not run, not right now.”
“We’ll give you some room.” I motioned for everyone to leave except Zayne.
We gathered in the kitchen, and Liz made coffee. Merick and I stood silently while she went through the motions. Finally, I asked, “Do we know if Simon survived?”
Merick shrugged. “I’ve been asleep all day.” He looked at Liz.
She’d gone still, stopping in her steps of making coffee, her back to us. Her breathing became deeper, like she was trying to calm herself. “No.”
“No, he didn’t survive or no, you don’t know?”
Liz hung her head. “He didn’t survive.”
Fuck.
“We found Travis and Simon slaughtered at Wolf’s Bane. There were two other bodies there that we didn’t know. We were lucky because the club had been set on fire. Just like the others.”
“Then it couldn’t have been a human that had done the damage. Wards protect Wolf’s Bane to keep the humans out,” Merick muttered. “What are we’re looking at?”
Liz poured herself a cup of coffee and then handed one to Merick as well. “We think it was an inside attack. We’re waiting for the third in line to contact us. He or she is alpha now.”
“I will contact Emric and see what he knows about all of this. They were his allies. Abigail is going to be devastated.”
Merick nodded. “Her and Simon were in love. I think if she hadn’t changed, they would have planned a future together.” He sipped his coffee.
Guilt filled me. If she hadn’t been dragged into the vampire world, then she and Simon could have lived a fulfilling life together.
Or she could have been killed with him tonight. “Liz, please keep me updated on that case.”
“It’s not my case, but I’ll see what I can do for you.” Liz sat on the stool and cupped her coffee mug. “What are you going to do about that body in your ballroom?”
“Have Abigail investigate it and see if it’s like the current case I have her on. The major difference was that this victim was a witch.”
Liz sighed. “Meaning it’s changed or there’s a copycat.”
“Or they were trying to leave us a message.” Abigail walked into the room. “That witch was the journalist we were supposed to have our exclusive interview with.” She put her cracked phone on the counter so we could see the bio that she’d pulled up.
“Someone knew we were going to give her the interview,” I stated. “But who?”
“I don’t know. She could have bragged about it to another friend or to someone in the press. There’s a teaser on her Instagram about ‘an exclusive,’ but she didn’t state what it was or who it was with.” She pulled her phone back and went to the coffee machine. “I’ll look into tonight after I figure out if Simon is okay.”
No one said a word, but she turned around. “There’s something in the air.” She met our gaze. She had to have seen it on our faces and put it together with what she was tasting in the air because she shook her head. “No.”
