A Handful of Skulls (Here Witchy Witchy Book 9) Read online

  A Handful of Skulls

  Here Witchy Witchy

  Book Nine

  A.L. Kessler

  Copyright © 2019 Amy Kessler

  No parts of this work may be reproduced without the author’s expressed permission.

  Editing: No Genre Left Behind

  Cover:

  Formatting: Imagine Ink Designs

  Blood and Ink Press thanks you for reading indie authors

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  CHAPTER ONE

  “Cornelius Davenport is missing.”

  The announcement would have had more impact if we had known who Cornelius was. As it happened, I don’t think anyone in the cramped room knew who he was or why some guy in a fancy suit and a PIB badge was telling us this. Early morning, no coffee, and no idea who he was or why the emergency all hands on deck meeting was called.

  Liz practically leaned against me, her hair stuck up every which way as if she had rolled out of bed that way and threw on clothes. I knew that she’d been working late nights. I had no excuse. I simply stayed up too late snuggling Simon, who was still in my nice warm bed. Which wasn’t a crowded PIB conference room.

  No one said anything. We all just kind of stared at the man.

  “Maybe I should break it down for you unintelligent lower agents.”

  Oh boy, that got him a response. Lots of glares and a couple of ‘get your ass on the field’ comments. Liz snickered next to me.

  “Your boss is missing. The man upstairs that hands out your cases?”

  We all continued to stare at him until finally, someone spoke. “Boss Man?”

  It was the man’s turn to give us a blank stare. “Boss Man?”

  “Boss Man doesn’t hand out our cases, he makes sure we close the ones that come across our desks. Occasionally, if there’s a special need, he’ll assign an agent,” someone else spoke.

  I tried not to roll my eyes. We weren’t a police force, no one handed us cases, we were called in by the police. Who the hell was this guy anyway? “Hey, maybe you should start with who the hell you are,” I called out.

  Liz elbowed me, and I glared at her, before adding. “Please.”

  She shook her head, but I saw the smile on her face.

  “My name is Joseph Thompson. I’m a PIB agent in internal affairs. Your head agent, Cornelius, or how you apparently know him, Boss Man, has disappeared.”

  The mummers went around the room that time. I looked at Liz, and she shrugged. Internal Affairs was never a good thing.

  “I will be assembling a team of your best agents to help with this case.”

  I felt something heavy in my stomach. Liz and I had two of the highest close ratios in the location. I didn’t really want to be on this case.

  “When I call your name, you’ll meet me in Cornelius’ office after this meeting.”

  I felt like I was back in the academy. I felt Liz tense behind me.

  “Abigail Collins, Liz Jefferson, Hanson Atlas, Steven Lark, and Sean Tamp.”

  Interesting choices. Two Black Magic Task Force, two normal PIB agents, and the new special agent that took the spot that Agent Yorkingson left when I killed him. Of course, PIB didn’t know I killed him.

  “The other thing that seems to have gone ignored by this branch is the AWOL Agent Grayson Yorkingson.”

  Well shit. Liz tensed next to me again, and I wasn’t sure why. She shouldn’t know anything about what happened to him.

  “I’ll be assembling a team and looking into that. We cannot have a rogue vampire agent out there. Especially one with his clearance.”

  No one made a noise, and I was wondering if half of them hadn’t fallen asleep. Agent Thompson seemed to realize that no one was going to react to what he was saying because he growled and waved a hand. “You’re dismissed.”

  Liz and I walked out together, and I sighed. “Think he’d be mad if we went to get coffee first?”

  “I think you better look alive Agent Collins and get to the office,” Thompson’s voice came from behind me. I looked over my shoulder.

  “No one looks alive without coffee.”

  He didn’t smile. He didn’t even break his step as he moved past Liz and me. I looked at Liz, and she shrugged. “Apparently, he’s already had his coffee.”

  I made a face. “Well, let’s go see how this is going to go down.”

  “Are you sure you’re ready for another high profile case?” Liz stopped me in the hall before we reached the stairs.

  She was one of the only agents in on what happened with Ira. Oliver had included her because he felt he could trust her and needed someone to know why I needed a week off.

  I nodded. “I’m fine, I promise. All healed, back to normal, and ready to take on something other than a teenager cursing their teacher.”

  She snorted. “Okay, I’m trusting you on this.”

  “If I weren’t okay, I wouldn’t have come back to work. He really fucked me up, but I’m good now.” The nightmares were still there, but that’s what Simon was for.

  We started walking toward the stairs and took them to the third floor. Hanson, Steven, and Sean were already standing there with Joseph looking impatient.

  “Take the stairs?” he asked. “Wasting time?”

  “I’m a bit gun shy of elevators.” I crossed my arms. “Not that I owe you an explanation, but my partner was killed by a magical spell placed in an elevator.”

  He seemed to back down a little bit and opened Boss Man’s door. We all walked in. It was weird seeing the desk empty as we stood there. I’d only been in the office a few times, and most of those times I was in trouble for something.

  “I’ve assembled what I believe to be the best agents at this branch. That being said, I’ll be splitting you up between Cornelius’ last known locations.”

  How did someone have multiple last known locations? I wasn’t going to argue, at least not right this second. “Agent Jefferson and Agent Collins, you’ll be going to the academy.”

  I looked at Liz and then to Thompson. “What was he doing at the academy?”

  “I don’t know, Collins, that’s why I’m sending you there.”

  Touché. I kept my mouth shut.

  “Sean will be working with me going through any case files that Cornelius has been a part of recently. Anything he’s signed off on, things like that. Hanson and Steven will be visiting Washington.”

  The academy was a few hours away. So if we wanted to get started, Liz and I needed to leave soon.

  “Collins and Jefferson, I’d like you to stay at the academy instead of driving back and forth.”

  I shifted at that and shook my head. “I’d prefer to stay in my own home.” Where I was safe from terrifying vampires like Samuel and anyone else trying to kill me.

  “It’d be better for the case if you stay there and observe.”

  I tried not to make a displeased noise, but it seemed Thompson was on to me.

  “Scared Collins?”

  “I prefer to call it paranoid,” I shot back.

  Liz cleared her th
roat. “Agent Collins and I will figure it out, sir.”

  She was apparently much more diplomatic than I was this morning.

  “Good. You’ll find the information on your assignments on your desks. Dismissed.”

  Well, wasn’t that cozy. he’d been here a day, and he had access to our offices already. Liz and I turned around to leave.

  “Agent Collins, a moment, please?”

  Liz looked at me. “I’ll wait for you in the hall.”

  I nodded and waited for the others to leave before I turned back to Thompson. “Yes, sir?”

  “Where was that respect a few minutes ago?” He shook his head. “Never mind. I’ve read your files and looked at the previous few years of cases. You’re a strong agent, Collins, but maybe you should kill the attitude. That’s not going to help you find Cornelius.”

  “Paranoia is what keeps me alive, Thompson. If you’ve read my case files, you’ll also see that I’ve closed almost every case I’ve been on in the past four years. I’m sorry for my attitude, but it’s early, there’s no coffee, and none of us are used to just having our assignments handed to us and being told to pack up for an undetermined about of time. I have a cat. I don’t like to just leave.”

  Granted, my cat was kind of special…since he was just a warlock in disguise.

  “Cats are pretty independent, Collins. An agent is supposed to be ready for anything. That includes trips out of town.” He raised a brow. “And yes, I know your close rate, and I also know that you’ve worked with the King of Vampires on a very high profile case recently. I believe it was your bullets found at the scene?”

  Interesting, those files were sealed. “I can’t tell you anything about that case.”

  “I have the clearance,” he stated. “And I’m warning you now, your cockiness and your attitude will get you killed in the field.”

  I snorted. “Is that all, sir? I’d like to go pack.”

  “For now, Collins, for now.”

  I walked out of the room and found Liz leaning against the wall, her arms crossed. “Let’s go.” I didn’t bother saying anything else, because all I wanted at this point was coffee. That’s it. I didn’t like that Agent Thompson had looked into my cases. I’m sure he looked into the others as well since he assembled the team, but he seemed particularly focused on mine.

  Liz followed me down the hall to the stairs without a word. She was a smart witch, she knew how to read me and knew that I wouldn’t say anything within earshot of Thompson.

  When we were in the stairwell, she stopped me with a hand on my shoulder. “What did he want?”

  “To remind me to check my attitude and my cockiness.”

  She made the same noise I had. “Did you tell him you deserve to be a bit cocky?”

  I shook my head. “No. He brought up the Ira case and how my bullets were found at the scene.”

  “That case is sealed, by command of the Vampire King.”

  I nodded. “Which means Thompson has a hell of a high clearance. That worries me.”

  “Makes me wonder what Boss Man has gotten into.” Liz nodded before she continued down the stairs to the second floor. I followed her silently.

  Liz went to her office further down the hall, but I stopped at mine. I had expected to have my file on the desk, as Thompson said it would be, but instead, I found mine in the plastic file hanger outside the door. The manila envelope had the PIB logo and a red ‘Top Secret’ stamp on it. I pulled the file out and smiled to myself as I used my key card to get into the office.

  I had my office protected by a spell tied to a really creepy doll on my desk. The doll had dark hair, brown eyes, and she looked a lot like me. Simon had bought her to keep our cover at a shop during a case. Next to the desk stood a pink flamingo that was from an old flame who had tried to win me back. Both now made me smile and brightened up my otherwise boring office.

  My desk sat facing the door and at my back was a row of big glass windows that looked over the parking lot and the mountains. The door of my office was wood, with a small window that let me see out if people were standing just on the other side.

  There used to be a second desk, but that was gone since PIB thought Nick was deceased, and I wasn’t going to be assigned another partner anytime soon.

  I dropped the file on my desk and sat down. I didn’t know Thompson, which was why the spell kept him out of my office. I did wonder why he didn’t say anything about it when we’d talked, but maybe he didn’t want to admit to being kept out of my office by magic. It probably made him look bad.

  I flipped open the folder and took a look. There was a picture of Boss Man clipped to the top. We all knew what he looked like, greasy black hair, pointed face, and beady eyes, giving him an almost rat-like appearance. The paper below had details on the date he had gone to the Academy, but there was no date listed for when he left.

  The paragraph under that described that he’d shown up to see family somewhere around a month after he went to the Academy, but he had a meeting with one of the directors two days after he had supposedly gone to visit family in Washington.

  Weird timeline, but I’d learned recently that people had their ways of appearing and disappearing in locations that screw up timelines. I wasn’t sure if Boss Man had that ability or not.

  A knock on my door brought my head up from the file. I saw Liz standing there and went to let her in. She had access to my office, she was welcomed, she just typically like to knock first.

  She held up her own manila envelope. “I feel like this is going to be a wild goose chase.”

  “Yeah, me too, and somehow we got assigned the Academy. Did Thompson have any problems getting into your office?”

  She shook her head. “No, my file was on my desk just as he said, but I don’t have the protection that you do around your office.”

  “It means that it works though. Thanks for confirming that.” I grabbed my file. “I’m going to go home and pack a couple of days’ worth of clothes, let my cat know that I’m not going to be back, and tell Simon that it’s my turn to go on an extended trip.”

  “You should bring him.”

  I stared at her. “The cat or Simon?”

  “Simon.”

  “He can’t right now, there’s a lot of pack politics going on, so he doesn’t want to go too far.” Simon was splitting alpha duties with another wolf because there had been a rift in the pack. That was the compromise they came up with to keep the pack together and stop the fighting. I’d asked him to come out of town with me for a bit while I was recovering, and he had declined.

  “We’ll carpool to the Academy.”

  I snorted. “Still scared my car is going to blow up if you let me drive?”

  “Your track record with cars is astounding, Abby.”

  “I’ll agree with that. Pick me up when you’re ready to go.” I put my file in my bag and started walking to the door. “I’m going to pick up some coffee on my way home and make some phone calls.”

  “Okay, I’ll see you in a couple hours then.” She tucked her file under her arm and followed me out of the office. “Make sure you dress in PIB’s finest.”

  “It’s not like I own anything else.”

  “Still have your dress blacks?”

  “Probably. I might have to dust them off. It’s been a while.”

  “Might want to pack those. You know how strict they are about dress code.”

  I tried to imagine a situation where I was going to need my dress uniform and tried not to think of the worst. It was either funerals or graduations, and it wasn’t currently graduation season. “I’ll make sure to pack something appropriate.”

  We walked to the parking lot together. My white car sat perfectly undisturbed next to Liz’s SUV. My car was newer than what I typically bought, but Levi bought it for me as an ‘I’m sorry my council betrayed you’ gift. It was nice, it was highly protected, and it might just last more than a few months.

  My uncle, of course, put a tracker on it, and t
his time I willingly let him do it. He’d saved my ass in my last case, so I was indulging some of his paranoia for a little bit. I unlocked it with the key fob and waved to Liz. “I’ll see you in a few hours.”

  I started the car, and I swore Liz flinched as I did. It wasn’t her fault. I really had destroyed eight cars. Though not all of them exploded.

  I drove off and headed home.

  Home was a three-story house that had been built for my mother and her husband, Tobias, by Levi. A safe place for me to grow up, which hadn’t really worked out as it was also the location of my mother and Tobias’ murder. The unassuming brick house had a porch at the front, a screen door in front of the regular door, recently installed, and two protection spells, a spell to keep vampires from popping in, and a top-notch security system.

  Most of the time, they all worked to keep me safe. Most of the time.

  I parked the car next to Simon’s truck and headed to the door. There were no signs of anyone messing with it, and there had been no notifications that the security system had been disturbed. That was a good way to start the morning.

  I sipped my coffee as I unlocked the door with the code and walked in. The security system beeped at me, telling me that it was disarmed for the time being. I dropped my bag, kicked off my boots, and went to the living room. Simon sat there, holding a cup of coffee in his hands.

  His caramel color hair was still tussled from sleep, and his hazel eyes were still slightly hooded. He gave me a lazy smile. “Early morning at the office?”

  I nodded and sat next to him. He wrapped an arm around me as I sipped my coffee. “Yeah, and I’m only home to pack. I have to go stay at the Academy for a bit.”

  “Back to school, huh? How long are you going to be gone?” Simon sighed. “I just got back.”

  “I know. I shouldn’t be gone long. We just have to go to nail down a timeline and get some answers to a few questions.” Of course, we didn’t know what questions yet. “We’re supposed to observe for a little bit and see if anything helps with the investigation.”

  Simon squeezed me. “So a couple days?”

  “A week at most.” I leaned up and kissed him gently. “We both know that this is how life works out.”