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

  Someone once told me that it should have struck me as odd, and I should have questioned it.

  She had been right, and now I was hoping it wasn’t too late to question the authority.

  I went down the stairs and to the interview rooms. I watched from the two-way glass as Liz talked to Kris.

  “I just have a couple more questions,” Liz said gently. “Did Cornelius mention anything about the nature of his case?”

  “No. He simply told me that I would be taking his place as head of this branch until he returned.”

  “You said you refused to take it.”

  She nodded. “I sent in a request to our higher-ups for someone else to take it. I never heard back, so I assumed they found someone else.”

  That was a nice little piece of information.

  “When did you send that request in?”

  “About an hour after he and I met.”

  I made a note about that to see if we could track it or not.

  “Thank you, Agent Bittman. If we need anything else, we’ll call you in again.”

  She nodded and stood. Liz let her out of the room, and they both disappeared from my view.

  If Bittman was telling the truth, we weren’t any closer to finding Boss Man. If she was lying, then we were in a lot of trouble because we had no clue and no leads. I leaned against the wall and tried to think through the situations, but nothing was jumping out at me.

  The door opened, and I looked over as Liz entered. “Well?”

  Liz put her hands on her hips. “Truth spell checks her out, and she’s clean. We have a warrant to search her house and see if we can find anything related to Trent’s death there.”

  “Okay. My talk with Thompson came up with something interesting. He doesn’t have the same clearance that you and I do.”

  “Internal investigations should have the same clearance as us if not higher.” She frowned. “Let’s dig on him some.”

  “Absolutely.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  I went back to the house for the night instead of the mansion. Levi approved it since Oliver had healed me. He made me swear I’d keep him in the loop on any other threats or creepy dolls. I walked into the house and threw my bag on the couch. Merick didn’t come greet me at the door, so I assumed he was somewhere else.

  I sat on the couch and leaned back with a sigh. I was tired, but there was research to do, so sleep really wasn’t going to be an option right this second.

  But it seemed my eyes had a completely different idea. They started to close of their own accord even though I struggled to stay awake.

  I made myself a promise of coffee.

  And a promise of food.

  But still, my eyes closed, and sleep dragged me under.

  The world was dark where I stood. I could feel the grass under my bare feet and the wind whip around me, but I couldn’t see more than a foot in front of me. I closed my eyes and listened to the wind, no voices, nothing came in the whispers.

  Nothing felt familiar to me, but there was no panic inside me either.

  “Abigail, my Abigail.”

  I turned to the voice that I only heard in my dreams. My mother. If it was her actual voice or if it was a voice my mind created for her, I didn’t know, but to me, it was her.

  She stood near me in a white dress that seemed to glow. Her hair was dark like mine, wavy, but her eyes were a dark brown.

  “Mom.” The grief in my voice was almost tangible. Typically when I dreamed of her, it was only her voice or things quickly switched into a nightmare.

  “My Abigail, look how you’ve grown. How quick you forget who you are.”

  I paused at her words. “I haven’t forgotten.”

  “No?” She took a step toward me and put a hand on my cheek.

  Her fingers were cold against my skin. “You are a witch, my dear. Nothing more, nothing else.”

  “I’ve never forgotten that I’m a witch, and I’ve never asked to be anything else.”

  She laughed. “You’re right, you never asked.” Her skin started melting away, and I tried to get myself to wake up, but it didn’t happen. I couldn’t pull myself from the dream as her flesh dripped off her bones, and her voice started to warp. “You were an innocent child in all this, and now you have no choice but to step into a new world.”

  I pulled away from her as her bones dug into my cheek. My heart hammered in my chest as blood dripped down my face.

  A new voice joined in the dark, calling for me. Merick. What the hell?

  Oliver’s voice joined in after that, and I looked at the skeleton in front of me. It seemed to hesitate at Oliver’s voice.

  “Brother,” my mother’s voice seemed to float around me.

  “Abigail, Abigail, wake up.”

  A ghost-like figure floated above the skeleton as the bones collapsed.

  “Go, Abigail, be safe. Dreams can’t hurt you.” She faded into the darkness as I tried to force myself to wake up.

  Hands started grabbing me from all around, pulling me down. I flung my limbs around to try and break free as the grass below me turned into a swirling vortex. The power of it dragged me down, stopping my breath and my struggling. I tried to gasp for breath before my head went under.

  I woke trying to pull myself up from the floor, but two pairs of hands held me down. I looked up at the frightened faces of Merick and Oliver. I took a couple of deep shaking breaths and forced my body to listen to me and calm down. “I’m okay, you can let me up.”

  Oliver looked over at Merick and then nodded. “She’s awake now.”

  “What do you mean, ‘she’s awake now?’ was there doubt before?”

  Merick let go of me and stood. He held a hand down to help me off the floor. “Yes, you opened your eyes and started mumbling a few things. Then you started thrashing around.”

  Hmm. “I was having a nightmare.”

  Oliver touched my cheek, and his fingers came back spotted with blood. “That’s a hell of a nightmare.”

  I touched my cheek as if trying to confirm what he had done. Sure enough, there was blood. I closed my eyes. “I don’t know what happened. I got home, I fell asleep, and had a nightmare.”

  “Long night at the office?”

  I shook my head. “No, I just got extremely tired when I got home.” I shrugged. “I assumed it’s because the last few days have been pretty fucking traumatic.”

  Merick snorted. “There’s no doubt about that.”

  “Nothing set off my magic, so I doubt it’s a spell here.”

  Oliver sighed. “There are spells that can attack your dreams. It’s black magic, and like anything that dark, they need something of yours.”

  My mind went to one person that might have something of mine and who would be out to at least scare me at this point. Hannah.

  Merick looked at me. “You’ve thought of something?”

  I nodded and looked at Oliver. “Keira and Hannah. Hannah might be trying to fuck with me. I can’t have her in my dreams all the time.”

  “I agree.” Oliver sighed. “We find Hannah, we kill her.”

  Merick stared at him. “Abby can’t go around killing random vampires, no matter how much of a threat Hannah is. Her position as PIB and her situation with Levi will not allow for that.”

  “She would be in trouble on both sides, yes, but we can’t let Hannah torment her with dream spells.” Oliver shook his head. “Let me check my library, maybe I have something there.”

  “I will see what I can do as well. Until then, Abigail, just be prepared for some very rough sleep.”

  I put my fingers to my cheek again. “Can she kill me in my dreams?”

  Neither of them gave me an answer. “Not comforting, you two.”

  “She can do little damages, cuts here and there, but death would be from your body’s reaction to something. Think about it like being scared to death,” Merick finally stated. “It’s not common, but it can happen.”

  I shivered as something crossed the
protective circle around the house. I looked at Merick, who turned into his cat form. I picked up the sphynx and went to the door before the visitor could knock. I disarmed the alarm and opened the door.

  Two agents I didn’t know from either PIB branch stood there, but it was possible that I just hadn’t seen them around. They both showed me their PIB badges.

  “Agent Collins, Agent Crawford and I would like to speak to you about the disappearance of Agent Grayson Yorkingson.” The tallest one spoke.

  I stood there for a moment debating on letting them in. They had crossed my circle, which meant they had no intentions of harming me. Oliver was still in the house, as far as I knew, and Merick was in my arms, so I had back up if I needed it. I stepped to the side. “Please come in.”

  They both came in, and I led them to the living room, Oliver was still sitting on the couch, watching the situation closely. “Agents, this is Oliver Macintosh, my uncle. He was just here for a cup of tea. You caught us off guard.” I put Osiris down.

  Agent Crawford raised a brow. “We didn’t see a car outside other than yours.”

  “There are other ways to travel, Agent,” Oliver spoke. He stood and stretched. “I’ll go make us some tea, Abigail. Agents, would you like some?”

  They both declined, and Oliver walked into the kitchen. I sat on the couch and motioned to the two armchairs for the agents to sit down. “You said you were here about Agent Yorkingson?”

  The first agent nodded. “He’s been missing for a few months, never checked in after following a lead on a case.”

  “I’m sorry, Agent?”

  “Porter,” he informed me.

  “Porter, I’m not sure how I can help with this. I’m Black Magic Task Force, Yorkingson is a special agent not assigned to a force.” I smiled at him. “Honestly, I wasn’t aware that he was missing.” Missing, dead, two different things.

  “She’s lying,” Agent Crawford said without missing a beat.

  I made a mental check of my physical signs. My heart was calm, my breathing hadn’t changed. There was one thing I couldn’t check, my scent. “A werewolf?” I guessed.

  He nodded at me. “I am, one of Luke’s wolves, not Simon’s.”

  Interesting that he made that distinction. “I’m not sitting here to discuss pack politics. We’re here discussing Yorkingson. You’re right, I lied, I knew he hadn’t been in the office lately. But I hadn’t known he’d officially ‘gone missing.’”

  Oliver came back in with cups of tea for him and me. I gratefully took mine. Agent Crawford wrinkled his nose. “What is that smell?”

  “Oh, it’s just tea. Abigail likes hers strong. I’m sorry.” Oliver sat down next to me.

  I sipped my tea. The smell was strong, but not awful, a mix of vanilla, turmeric, and honey. But I knew he’d made it strong to mess with the wolf sitting in front of us.

  Crawford seemed to rein his disgust in. Porter cleared his throat. “Before Yorkingson disappeared, you consulted on a case of his.”

  I nodded. “I did, and that was all I did. I didn’t agree with his methods, and in the end, it all went to hell. That case is sealed though, so I can’t give you any more details than that.”

  “Internal investigations can have it unsealed if it proves to be useful,” Porter mentioned. “So it’s really in your best interest to work with us.”

  I took a moment to pretend that I was debating. “You’ll need the King of Vampire’s permission before you can unseal it. I’m telling you what I can, but I’ll tell you that there’s nothing in that case file that will tell you where Yorkingson is. I know he checked into the office after that case was closed. Have you checked on security cams?”

  “We’ve spoken to security. We were hoping that his last case might have something to do with his disappearance. Or that you might know what happened to him. Do you?”

  I blinked at him. “Do I what?”

  “Do you know what happened to him?” Crawford leaned forward. “You were the last one to see him alive in person, not on film.”

  I smiled over my cup at the memory of shooting Grayson. It gave me comfort knowing that he was never going to fuck with my life again. “No idea.”

  I waited for Crawford to say something about me lying, but he kept his mouth shut. Good. “Now, are we done?”

  Porter nodded. “We are. I’ll be contacting the King’s guard to see if he will allow us to unseal the case. Until then, Agent Collins.”

  The two agents stood up, and I got up to disarm the alarm before they walked out. Crawford stopped right next to me. “Packland. Dusk,” he growled in my ear before he continued to follow Porter out. It was so quick that I wasn’t sure that I had heard it correctly.

  I came back to find my uncle still sitting on the couch, holding his tea. “How did you know he’d smell the lie on me?”

  Oliver shrugged. “I figured your magic would take care of any lie-detecting spell, but if PIB were smart, they’d send a wolf to question you.” He held up his cup. “So, I made it a bit stronger than normal.”

  I snorted and shook my head. “I don’t like that they’re asking about Grayson.”

  Merick walked in, in human form. “I don’t either. It means that someone tipped them off, and Levi didn’t cover his tracks nearly as well as he should have.”

  I wasn’t sure if Levi was in charge of covering those tracks or if the council did. I made a mental note to ask the next time I saw him. “I’ll send Levi a text later and let him know what happened. I’m hoping nothing comes of the investigation because I really don’t want those files to be unsealed.”

  We all paused as we knew what that meant. The media could get wind of what happened with Ira, know that he was responsible for the blood-starved, and that I was the agent on the case who killed him. All it would take would be one agent to start the rumor. I glanced at the door, thinking about the two agents that had come in to question me.

  I pulled my bag close to me and got my computer out. Opening it, I connected to the work network and started my search.

  The two agents checked out, which meant that the case they were on was probably legitimate. Hmm. I leaned back against the couch and sighed.

  “Don’t put too much thought into it.” Oliver patted my leg. “Levi will take care of it.”

  “Maybe. Without a connection at the local PIB branch, Levi might not be able to pull any strings.” I sat up. “You don’t think Samuel had something to do with it, do you?”

  Merick looked at Oliver over my head and then to me. “I don’t think it’d be out of the realms of possibility.”

  “Did Levi say what Samuel wanted?” Oliver asked.

  I shook my head. “He didn’t say. He said that Samuel was upset, but that was it. When we met with Samuel, he said that Hannah was working with him. I don’t know if Hannah knows I killed Ira or not.”

  “No one else was in that mansion. Ira hadn’t told Hannah what he was going to do.” Something haunting was in Oliver’s voice, and it made me look at him. “He didn’t want Hannah involved because she had screwed up last time.”

  Merick pressed his lips together. “Last time?”

  “When Mario delivered me to her. It wasn’t really her screw up. Oliver had been there, and he negotiated with Ira to save me.” I laughed. “When we talk about this out loud, it seems kind of ridiculous.”

  “That you’ve been betrayed to Ira twice? No, I don’t think that sounds ridiculous at all.” Oliver looked at Merick. “Check with the cult and see if anyone has heard rumors on the killing. I’ll check with the underground.”

  The underground. I hadn’t thought about that in connection with Boss Man. I stood. “I need to make a phone call.”

  Both of the men looked at me, and I shook my head. “I’ll be right back.” I went upstairs to my room and pulled my phone out. It was a long shot, but if Nick hadn’t disconnected his number, maybe I could get some information from him.

  The phone rang a few times until someone picked up. “Hel
lo?”

  “Nick?”

  “Abby, are you ready to join us?”

  I rolled my eyes. “No, I’m not going to join you on a wild goose chase to kill the King of Vampires. I need to see if you’ve heard any rumors lately.”

  “I’ve heard a bunch of rumors, what do you need?”

  I didn’t think he was going to be so willing, but I was going to take advantage of it. “There’s a man named Cornelius Davenport who’s gone missing. Apparently, he had a pretty big secret.”

  Nick was silent for a moment. “I’ve heard a few things.”

  “Any idea where he might be hiding?”

  There were some noises on the other side of the line that I couldn’t make out, and I assumed someone was probably coaching Nick into what to say.

  “I can’t say over the phone. Meet me?”

  “Last time we met, you pulled a gun on me,” I growled. “I’m not sure if I’m ready to meet in person again.”

  “Okay, public place, neutral ground?”

  I pressed my lips together. The underground had been trying to kill me on Samuel’s orders. I hadn’t had an assassin sent after me since Ira died, but I wasn’t willing to think that I was out of the woods yet. “I need your word, and the word of whoever is listening, that you mean me no harm.”

  “You have my word, Abby, and the word of my employer.”

  Interesting. “Okay, I need some sleep, so let’s go with ten am. I’ll meet you at The Bean, far back corner.”

  “Deal.” He disconnected the call, and I wondered for a moment what I might be walking into.

  I was willing to get information from the underground.

  But all my key witnesses were dead.

  My one lead had turned up nothing.

  And a tracking spell wasn’t working.

  I needed something to break this case, and Nick might be it.

  I came back down the stairs to see Oliver staring at me. “You can listen in to the conversation later on your software, it might prove to be interesting to you.” I sat back down. “Where’d Merick go?”