Initiative Read online

  "Always the vampires." Levi sighed.

  Grayson laughed. "You should see the witches and the lycans that get out of control. You don't know the half of it."

  He could imagine. He'd seen and heard enough about Abby's cases to keep him from hiring witches he didn't know. He'd also seen what a loose cannon her uncle could be. "There's a reason I never went into PIB or crime fighting."

  Grayson nodded. "It's not for everyone, but I'd rather do that than be king over all of us."

  Levi snorted. "If I was to go back and do it all again, I'm not sure I'd make the same choice."

  "Your life would be completely different." Grayson nodded. "I'll pass on the information I know, and if I need your help, I'll let get in touch. Until then, try to keep an ear out for what is going on and check in with your people."

  Levi nodded. "I know how to handle this sort of situation Grayson."

  "Good." He disappeared, and Levi shook his head. A few months ago it was a drug dealer, and this time it was an out of control vampire. This wasn't the same as the ones he'd seen on his case as king. It was a different style and attack. Starvation had driven the other one, the one now most likely knew what they were doing.

  It was almost an hour later when Greg finally walked into the office. Levi shuffled the papers away and folded his hands over them. "Well?"

  "She's terrified that her leader is coming after her. I've gotten her stitched up, most of her wounds were caused by a silver weapon which is why they aren't healing. She gave me some information that I can't share with you without betraying her trust."

  "I can respect that. How long until she heals up?"

  "I've convinced her to stay for a month. I told her if she wasn't comfortable here, then she could come stay with the pups. She'd rather stay with you."

  A month was a long time to hide someone. "She's welcome here as long as she doesn't cause problems."

  "She won't. She knows that it'll draw too much attention to her." Greg sat down on the chair in front of the desk. "Now, about my missing wolf."

  Levi motioned for him to go on.

  "I need help finding her. She disappeared during a fight, and now I can't find any trace of her."

  Levi raised a brow. "A fight? What is going on in the pack Greg? Simon hasn't mentioned anything unusual going on."

  "Because I told Simon not to report it to you," Greg snapped. "Stop using my second in command to spy on us."

  "You want my help, then you'll change your tone real quick."

  Greg locked his jaw. "I have nowhere else to turn. The pack doesn't know about this, and I don't want PIB involved. My pack is trying to split. There are those who don't like the way that I am running it and are fighting against us, and it's leading to a civil war. The other part of the pack attacked us, and that's when she disappeared."

  "So, Simon doesn't know?"

  "You're using him as a spy. With the split in the pack, I don't want to give out too much information about what is going on. Once we find the wolf, then I'll let him in on what happened. I think the other part of the pack is behind it. Simon thinks we can heal the pack, but I don't."

  That was interesting. Simon didn't act as a spy. He didn't need to because pups gossiped, and it was easy to get information out of them at the clubs. "Simon has the better head on his shoulders when it comes to making choices for the pack. You're lucky that he hasn't decided to take over."

  Greg snarled. "He wouldn't be able to handle the pack."

  "I actually think that he'd be a better alpha." Levi crossed his arms.

  Greg shook his head. "He doesn't want to lead, which means he's incapable of handling it. But I'm not here to discuss Simon's place in the pack. I'm here to talk about my missing wolf."

  Greg was brushing off the comment, but only because he wanted Levi's help. Any other time, Levi knew Greg wouldn't have handled the insult so gracefully. "The only person I trust with a job like this is Abigail. She can use her magic to help find your wolf. I suggest you call her and you speak to her nicely when you ask for help."

  "That witch hates me."

  "Seems like the feeling is mutual. Let her know that it's a favor for me, and she should be more willing to work with you." Levi met his gaze. "And we'll call it even for you helping with Jaimie."

  Greg snorted. "Assuming she finds my wolf."

  "Was there anything else you needed?" Levi kept his remarks to himself. Greg cared about his pack and Levi knew that. Greg would treat Abigail with enough respect to convince her to do the job, but the hot-headed werewolf needed to watch his words.

  Greg hesitated for a moment. "I want help with the pack squabble."

  "I'm not your ally, we help each other out and owe each other favors. I'm not getting in the middle of a pack fight."

  "The pack will split in two if I can't get it under control."

  "I'm not backing you in a war with your own people. Now, if there is nothing else, I suggest you call Abigail and get started on locating your missing wolf." Levi snapped back.

  Greg started to say something but then shook his head. After a moment he took a deep breath. "I'll call Abigail in the morning. I'd hate to disturb her at work, and I have an alpha and queen to greet."

  He didn't miss the sarcasm in his voice. "If she's lucky, she's not on a case right now and isn't at work this late at night."

  Greg didn't respond. He walked out of the office, and Levi let him leave. He wanted to try and talk to Jaimie again about what was going on, and he didn't want Greg hanging around just in case he intimidated her on any level.

  He watched the security feed as Greg got in his car and then left. Levi left the office and went back downstairs to Jaimie's room. He knocked, and she opened the door, all the way this time.

  "The wolf tell you everything?"

  He shook his head. "No, he respected your wishes on keeping things a secret, but I wanted to see if you need anything. I also wanted to let you know that you're welcome to stay here as long as you want."

  "I could use an animal to hunt tomorrow night. I need to see how much the wound on my eye is going to screw up my hunting ability. Your forest is lacking in prey, except for a cat."

  Ah yes, the stray cat that seemed to come and go just for the purpose of setting off the security camera. Levi nodded. "I'll see what I can wrangle up."

  "Thank you." She shut the door.

  Levi stood in the hallway for a moment debating on if he should push for information. After a moment he let it be. Dawn would be coming soon, and he'd rather get some sleep today and face any issues tomorrow.

  Chapter Two

  Levi woke the next evening and did the first thing he always did when he woke up. He checked the news. More often than not, Abigail ended up on it, and if he didn't keep track of it, then she wouldn't tell him what she was involved in.

  Today was no exception. PIB on the scene of a crime flashed over the screen as the newscaster spoke.

  "Bodies in a local lake were found today. The cause of death is currently unknown, but because PIB is on scene, we can assume that it is paranormal related. The police have released a sketch of the victims who had no identifiers on them and are asking people to come forward with any information."

  Faces showed up on the screen. Levi pause in his motions of getting undressed for a shower. He knew one of the faces. It was one of the victims from his case with Agent Tomes and Grace. The one that was released and buried two months ago.

  He pulled his sweatpants back on. He reached for his phone and called Agent Tomes.

  "Agent Tomes speaking."

  "This is Levi, we worked a case together six months ago."

  "How could I forget. You and the other King's Guard came in to help us. What can I do for you Levi?"

  "One of the victims from that case just showed up in a lake nearby, and the local PIB have come to the scene."


  Tomes was quiet for a moment. "Are you on the case?"

  "No, the image just showed up on the news. I just woke for the evening and saw it."

  Another pause from Tomes. "Do you know what agents are on the case?"

  "Agent Abigail Collins and Agent Nick Avarin." And he was hoping he could stay out of it. "At least they are the ones called to the scene."

  "Talk to local PIB, tell them it's our case and that it was closed. That there is no reason to reopen that case."

  He was thinking the same thing, but for different reasons. It could lead Abby to everything else that happened with the case he worked with Tomes and Grace. Like the attack from Ira and the blood-starved vampires. "I'll do what I can. I try to stay out of the affairs of PIB here. They are a good team. If Agent Collins is on the case, I can promise you she'll find the connection as soon as they realize the man is deceased. She'll be barking up your tree in no time."

  He heard a couple clicks in the background and Tomes laughed. "She already has. Have a good night, Levi."

  The line went dead in his hand. Levi rubbed his eyes and headed to the shower, ignoring the rest of the news. He'd take things into his own hands too. He'd warn Abigail off the case and then see what she did with it. Hopefully, she listened to him.

  He chuckled as he started the shower. Who was he kidding?

  After taking a quick shower, he dressed and went to find Mario. He found the vampire in the library, reading. "I need you to do me a favor."

  Mario looked over his book. "Yes?"

  "I need you to go find a livestock animal for Jaimie to hunt tonight. She requested one, and there's not so much as a deer on my property."

  "And we wouldn't want her wandering into anyone else's property, now would we?" He laughed and put a bookmark in the book before laying it down on the table. "Any preference?"

  "No, just get what you can."

  Mario bowed his head and disappeared. Levi sighed and pulled out his phone. He really did hate to interfere with Abigail's job, but he needed to keep her away from this.

  He dialed the phone and waited. She took a bit longer to answer than usual, and he assumed that she would let it go to voicemail. Finally, she picked up. "Agent Collins."

  "Abigail, I need you to come up here tonight." He left no room for argument in his voice. He skipped the pleasantries in hopes that she understood how important it was to tell him yes.

  "I have a date, can this wait?"

  A date. She actually had a date, and she hadn't told him until now. It wasn't like her to make plans last minute, but it reminded him that she had a life. On the other hand, she also had a body connected to an old case. "No. We have something to discuss in regards to your job."

  She was silent for a moment, and he wondered if she was debating whether she was going to come or not. "On a scale of 'Stephanie put me in the tabloids again' to 'someone is killing your people' how important is this and why can't we discuss this over the phone?" When had that become the scale of measurements?

  He skipped that question and answered her last one. "Because Oliver has your phone bugged." The bastard was always tracking her, though at some point Levi had stopped fighting it and just accepted it.

  "And the scale?" she prompted.

  "Top priority."

  "Fine. I'll cancel my date with Simon. Let me get dressed, and I'll be up there in a couple hours."

  He didn't want to interrupt her date, but it did open up a chance to bring Simon in on what was happening with Greg. "Bring the wolf."

  She was quiet for a moment. "I'll see if he wants to tag along. Go eat." She hung up, and Levi shoved the phone into his pocket and went to find his dinner.

  Levi looked up when he heard something peculiar. A sound he did not typically heard in the mansion. The bleat of a sheep. He closed his eyes for a moment and shook his head. He knew exactly what he was going to find when he left the library.

  Mario had brought a sheep for Jaimie to hunt. He stood and walked out of the library and found Mario in the hallway shooing a sheep into the main room.

  "Mario, a sheep?"

  "Well, the cows weren't out at pasture, and they were fresh out of gazelle." He didn't miss a beat. "The sheep was the best I could do."

  The animal bleated again, and Levi shook his head. "Abigail is on her way, what do you suggest I do with a sheep in the house?"

  "Write it off like you always do." Mario cleared his throat and made an impression of Levi. "Vampire business, Abigail."

  Levi cracked a smile. "Grayson contact you at all tonight?"

  "Not yet. I'm waiting for it, but I don't think there was another death. At least not yet."

  "Let's hope it stays that way. Jaimie is still sleeping, as soon as she wakes up, we'll let her know about the sheep."

  "And until then?"

  "Abigail and Simon will be here soon. I need to speak to her about her current case and working for Greg on a missing werewolf issue."

  "The case that was on the news tonight?"

  Levi nodded and started walking back to the office. "It's connected to the one I helped with six months ago."

  Mario followed him. "Do you think Ira has something to do with it?"

  They entered together, and Levi leaned against his desk. "No, I don't. The only connection he had to the actual case out there was being the maker of the vampire who was killing. The blood-starved and the zombies were not connected to that case."

  "So why warn her off?"

  Levi paused. "Because I don't want her to discover that I was out there poking around for more than just the case."

  Mario nodded. "It'd do her no good to discover what was in that hospital."

  Mario hadn't been there, but Levi gave him the details on the bodies they had found. "If she does, she'll want PIB to investigate it, or she'll want to look into it herself. Neither of which we want to happen. It's been bad enough with Cornelius on my tail about hiding the King's cases from him."

  "That seedy warlock has other things he needs to worry about."

  Levi sighed. "Yes, I know he does. And if he's not careful, he's going to end up as PIB case himself."

  "Oh, wouldn't that be entertaining." Mario shook his head, but then he cocked it to one side as the front door sounded. "That would be my sign to leave." He disappeared.

  Levi heard Abigail and Simon head to the main room, and he went to meet him. When he walked in, he saw Abby staring at the sheep.

  "Don't question it. It's vampire business."

  She opened her mouth slightly and then shook her head as if changing her mind. "I don't even think I want to know."

  The sheep bleated, and Simon snickered behind her.

  "We have other things to speak of right now, come along." He drew their attention away from the sheep and walked back out of the main room and into the hallway. He led them to the kitchen where two beers were sitting on the island. He hadn't taken them out, so he could only assume Mario had.

  Simon sat down on a stool without being prompted. Abby followed but met Levi's gaze as she sat down. "So what's so important that we had to cancel our date?"

  She must have been excited about her date to keep rubbing it in that she missed it. "You found a body today, a vampire victim, it came from another territory," Levi said without missing a beat. "You're not pursuing that case, are you?" There was no beating around the bush on this.

  "As far as I know that case was closed, but we need to know why the body was floating in the lake." Seemed they had already learned more than the media thought.

  "He was buried two months ago. His body shouldn't have been near a lake." Levi crossed his arms. "Other than the agent who had the case, did you tell anyone else?"

  "Nick."

  Levi clenched his jaw. He hated that she had a partner now. She didn't miss the tightening of his jaw.

  "He's my partner. I can't hide thing
s from him without the boss getting suspicious. I have to be careful, especially while I handle other issues."

  There was a number of issues she could have been referring too. Levi saw Simon raise a brow, but chose to ignore the silent question. "Look no further into that case, it's out of our territory and closed." Levi shook his head. "That's all I'm asking, your job and your life could be at stake if you dig into that case too much." Like she could get dragged further into the vampire world.

  She was quiet for a moment, and he wished he could see the thoughts running through her head. "Did you have anything to do with his death?"

  There was more than one way that he could have had something to do with it, but this was not one of those cases. He didn't blame her for asking. "No, but I had to help clean up the mess. You can confirm that with the agent that took the case." And he hoped that Tomes wouldn't let Abigail dig further into that case or why Levi was there.

  "I just need to figure out why the body was in the lake. Hopefully, that doesn't turn out to be a big can of worms."

  It was a non-answer, but Levi nodded. "All I ask is if you think it will then stay away from it."

  "Fine, fine." She took a sip of her beer. "Why couldn't we talk about this over the phone?"

  "I don't want Oliver listening in on our conversations." Levi shook his head. "Your uncle is much more of a pain in the ass than I expected." That was putting it mildly.

  "If you're done being paranoid, I'd like to go out for a late movie."

  "No, we need to talk about Greg." Levi was going to try and warn her about the wolf and turned his gaze to Simon who was in mid-drink.

  Abby took a few gulps of her beer. "You're breaking my word if you tell Simon." So Greg had already contacted her, great.

  Levi put a hand up to stop her from speaking more. "Greg is searching for a missing pack member. I sent him to Abigail for help."

  A growl trickled out of Simon's voice. "Greg doesn't like Abby; he must be desperate for help to go to her. Who is the member?"