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  “Yes.” Levi and Mario said at the same time. Levi held his hand up, and Mario stepped away. Levi continued, “We’re going to need your expertise in tracking to find this child.”

  I shook my head. “I want nothing to do with a vampire child.” Dealing with an undead child wasn’t the path I wanted to go down. I’d heard stories, read case studies. Most children vampire made Ira look sane, but there was still that idea in my brain that a child could never be evil and I could never bring one to vampire justice or PIB justice.

  “Please Abigail. The child is over a hundred years old.” Levi met my gaze. “Come to the meeting, make your judgment then.”

  Levi didn’t say please often, and it made me pause. “Fine, meeting first, answer afterward.” I jerked my thumb at Mario. “Is he part of the council?”

  Mario snorted. “You haven’t told her then?”

  “You’re always stuck to him like a lost puppy, wouldn’t you know if he told me?” I batted my eyes at him.

  “Mario is my guard, and when you’re dealing with vampire business, your guard. The only people who know this are the three of us.”

  “Someone’s going to get suspicious if he’s always around me.” I narrowed my eyes. “You’ve got a cover for him, don’t you?” Simon’s words popped into my mind, a new suitor. I glared at Mario who smirked and crossed his arms. I shook my head. “Oh, no, no, no, no. No.”

  Levi let out a sigh. “It is for your own protection, Abigail, and it’s just a cover. He will be masquerading as your suitor and the public will believe he is courting you.”

  “Modern words, Levi, the public will think we are dating.” I couldn’t get the sarcasm from my voice. “In whose mind did you think this was going to work?”

  Mario let out a dark laugh. “The other members of the council will think Levi is trying to tie you closer to the vampire world, and yes, people who are not privy to the information on you being the princess will think we are dating.”

  So he was a member of the advisory council, great. “Someone’s going to catch on to this.”

  “It’s not unusual for Levi to try and find suitors for you, that’s how you and Simon became friends and briefly dated.”

  I hated the fact that he was right. “No way around this?”

  “No, he’ll be with you every night as you work on the case.”

  I locked my jaw. “And if I refuse to work on the case?”

  “He’ll still have to be around Abby. There’s no telling when Ira might make another attempt on your life. And any case that is vampire related, he needs to be kept in the loop.”

  I rubbed my eyes. “I don’t like this.”

  “I know, but come. We’re running late, and it’s never good for the King of Vampires to be late.”

  Chapter Three

  Levi used his ability to take us somewhere I wasn’t familiar with. I gave my stomach a moment to stop churning from the dizzying way of travel. My legs stopped shaking, and I found my confidence in my stride.

  Mario took my hand and placed it in the crook of his elbow. I glared at him. “What are you doing?”

  “The facade starts now,” he reminded me and walked me down the dark hall. Levi walked in front of us, his feet making almost no sound on the deep-brown hardwood floors. A shiver rushed over my skin, and I looked at Mario.

  “His power, there’s no reason for him to hide it here. Letting it leak out around him like that reminds the council that he is king for a reason,” he whispered. “He kept you hidden from all this, and now you’re going to get a crash course in vampires, Abigail.”

  I pressed my lips together as Levi opened two carved oak doors for Mario and me. He motioned for us to walk through. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t a room with eight vampires dressed in suits sitting around a conference table. Because of what I was required to wear, I had assumed it would be fancier, more formal. Mario pulled a chair out for me, and I sat down as he gracefully scooted it in. He took the empty chair to my right.

  Levi shut the door and sat down in the chair to my left. I was in a vampire sandwich, and suddenly, fear tightened in my throat. I scanned the people at the table until I met the mismatched eyes of Grayson Yorkingson, a PIB special agent who had tried to warn me away from the blood-starved vampire case.

  I locked my jaw to keep from lashing out at him. He’d known the whole time that Levi was the king, that’s why he was trying to warn me away from Ira.

  “As you know, Ira forced my hand in bringing Abigail further into our world. It was originally understood that I would keep her as far away from vampire politics as I could. That has now changed, but instead of forcing her into hiding and away from her normal witch life, I have chosen to invite her into the advisory council so that we may use her as an asset in cases that are handed to me.”

  There was a grumble around the room, and I wondered who was happy about it and who wasn’t.

  “Her newest suitor is also amongst the council.” He motioned to Mario. “I believe they will work best as a team on the case of Keira.”

  Grayson cleared his throat. “I can handle the case as a PIB agent; there’s no need to bring Princess Abigail into this.”

  The title sounded weird to me, and I tried not to shift uncomfortably. I glanced at Levi, and he nodded as if he knew I also wanted to defend my abilities. “I can move around in the daylight, perform tracking and trace spells, I can spin traps with my magic, and move through territories with very little questioning. Can you do the same, Agent Yorkingson?”

  His lip lifted up in a half snarl. “Are you saying that I can’t handle it?”

  “No, I’m saying that certain aspects might be easier for me than you. I’m not here to cause problems.” I folded my hands on the table, and Mario covered them with one of his.

  I resisted the urge to yank away from him. “Mario can help me with any of the vampire politic aspects without giving another tie-in to PIB. I’ve acted as a consultant for Levi before, both as a PIB agent and off the record; this is no different.”

  Grayson leaned back in his seat. “So eager to step into the role?”

  “Ira didn’t really give me a choice now, did he?” I shot back, keeping my voice low. I could be diplomatic when I wanted, but as of right now, I just wanted to make sure these people understood that I wasn’t going to turn into a damsel in distress just because the word ‘Princess’ was suddenly in front of my name.

  Levi nodded. “Keira has left us several drained bodies surrounding the edge of my territory, so that makes it my responsibility to work with Lady R to figure out what is going on and what Keira wants. It’s been about twenty years since the tiny vampire has shown up, and it’s time we put a stop to her.”

  I’d clarify later if he meant to kill her or simply lock her away. It wasn’t a question I wanted to ask in the company of the council.

  “I suggest we allow her to live,” one of the women spoke up. “Assign her to be rehabilitated out in the country somewhere.”

  Could one rehabilitate a vampire? I kept my mouth shut and just observed. There wasn’t anything I had to say on this matter. I wasn’t sure what anyone would do with a tiny vampire.

  Grayson shook his head. “Catalina, Keira is far gone, she’s almost to the same point of insanity that Ira is at.”

  “And yet no one has put a stake in that bastard.” The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. Levi put a hand on my shoulder, and I took it as a warning.

  “Ira is a special situation, Princess,” Grayson snapped back at me.

  So people kept telling me. All I could gather was that if I killed him, his and Levi’s maker was going to come after my ass. I bowed my head to acknowledge what he said, but it didn’t mean that I agreed with him.

  “If Princess Abigail finds herself facing Keira would she be able to kill her?” Catalina looked at me. “No offense, but we are aware of your no-kill morals.”

  “I’ve killed in self-defense a few times. If she backed
me into a corner, I would deal with it.”

  “Mario can help her bring Keira in, and we can decide judgment from there.” Levi nodded. “And until then, we keep all of this away from the media at any cost. Grayson is our in at PIB. Now Abigail can help with that during the daylight hours. Since her outing, PIB has raised her clearance so she can access more.”

  More, but not everything. It was an interesting way of phrasing it, and I knew Levi did it on purpose. So there were still things that would be hiding from me. Great.

  Mario let go of my hands. “Princess Abigail and I will be able to handle the tiny vampire, and if not, I will make sure that we call for backup.”

  I smoothed the wrinkles out on my dress, trying not to glare at anyone in the room. I didn’t want to be involved in this and carry on more charades and lies. I wanted to forget all about it and go back to just being a PIB agent.

  “So what of Ira and his experiments?” another woman asked, and my interest perked up a bit. I wasn’t aware that was going to be discussed tonight as well.

  Levi didn’t answer right away. “He was hurt when we found his main lab. We have reason to believe that he is continuing the research elsewhere, but is currently playing it safe. We haven’t seen him in the last three months, and we have easily dealt with any attempt to harm me.”

  I hadn’t been aware there were any other attempts, other than what had happened when Ira held me hostage. “PIB also has an execution order for Ira that should keep him quiet for a bit as well.”

  There were murmurs around the room, and Grayson nodded. “I made sure that the order went through. There was apparently a hang up because of another case.”

  That was news to me. I made a mental note to check on that situation next time that I got to the office.

  “And if he manages to avoid PIB?” Catalina asked. “They’ve failed before.”

  Levi nodded. “Then I’ll be forced to step in. Despite the consequences.”

  I felt Mario tense. I glanced at him. There was something about that situation that he didn’t like.

  “We’ll back you if that happens.” Grayson looked at me. “And we’ll make sure that Princess Abigail isn’t harmed in the process.”

  I kept my smart-ass response to myself and smiled at him. He knew that I was more than capable of taking care of myself. Most of the time.

  “That is all I have to discuss tonight. We’ll deal with Keira, and I will keep you all updated.” Levi stood, and I took it as my cue to also stand. Mario never left my side, putting a hand on my elbow to guide me. His fingers were cold against my elbow, and I tried not to flinch away.

  Once outside the door, Levi used his abilities to take us back to the mansion.

  I stepped away from Mario the moment we got back. “Do we have to travel that way?”

  “Quickest way, Princess.” Mario smirked at me, and I wanted to smack the look off his face.

  “I’m so glad you can’t call me that in public,” I snapped and started towards my room. “I’m going to change, and then I’m going home. And Mario, I expect you to respect my fucking privacy.”

  I thought I heard one of them protest as I stomped off to get changed. Vampire politics was something I would have to study now because I didn’t know what to make of the advisory council. I only got two names from the group of people sitting there, and Levi hadn’t bothered to introduce me at all. He was either trying to protect me or just assumed I’d figure it out. The facade with Mario was going to be bothersome, but I agreed with Levi on keeping our statuses hidden. The less attention I attracted, the better for my job, but I wanted to be the one to handle Ira and drive the stake into his heart.

  “Abigail?” Levi called through the door. “I wanted to speak to you before you left for the evening.”

  I stared at the door and debated on what to tell him. To either go away or to come in. Had I been at my house, I would have told him to go away, but as it was, this was his house.

  “Come in.” I sat on the bed as he walked in.

  “I know that you’re not happy with me.”

  “That’s putting it mildly.”

  “And that you haven’t said much to me at all since I got back from Romania dealing with Ira’s mess. Abigail, I never wanted to hide this from you. We agreed that it was best for your protection to allow you to grow up as normal as possible.”

  I nodded. “And when I became an adult, you decided to continue to hide, until my life was in danger and you were forced to bring me into it.”

  “I would have continued to hide it so that you didn’t have to worry about it all. Now you’ll be watching your back more than usual. At least you’ll have Mario around at night until Ira is secured.”

  I shook my head. “What else are you hiding from me?”

  “What makes you think that there are still things that I’m hiding?” He leaned against the closed door. “I would deliver the world to you Abigail, and you know that. Everything I do, every choice I make, is to protect you.”

  This wasn’t the type of conversation I was used to having with him. I was used to either arguing or figuring out a case. He was never really a sentimental vampire. “I don’t need protecting.”

  Levi opened his mouth to say something when my phone went off.

  I snatched it out of my pocket and slid the icon to answer it. “Agent Collins speaking.”

  Levi waited patiently, watching my every move.

  Jason’s voice came over the end of the phone. “I have a cause of death for you on both victims.”

  Oh, thank the goddess, a distraction. “What do you have for me?”

  “Puncture marks up the spin, all the same depth and same size, it wasn’t the break in the neck. It seems that was done just to fit them into the box.”

  Interesting. “Any idea what created the puncture marks?”

  “No, but I did find a strange residue on the skin of the face, once that gets back from the lab I’ll have some idea of what it was.”

  I nodded. “Thanks, Jason.” What I wanted to ask was if I needed to rush down there for anything, but he disconnected the phone, and I assumed he had everything handled.

  I turned back to Levi. “We have an idea of what killed our latest two victims.”

  “I heard. Do you have any suspects yet?”

  He’d know if I was lying. “I do, but we’ll see if it pans out. They only have a lead on one victim and not the other, as far as I know.” Of course, no one had given me an identification of the second victim yet. “I should probably get back home.”

  “Mario will go with you.”

  It was too early in the night to argue that it was close to dawn and for Mario to stay here. “I don’t like him. Forcing me to look like I’m dating him isn’t going to make me like him any more. Especially when I know you’re lying to me about him.”

  “Mario is my guard, you are now princess, so it is his job to protect you, and he can’t do that from here.”

  “Did you know Mario is tracking my parent’s murder?” I asked suddenly. “I discovered a board in his room when I came to get the Hummer last time.”

  He was silent for a couple moments. “He’s helping me with your mother’s case.”

  “He had a question mark for the king.” I raised a brow. “But he knows you’re the king.”

  He nodded. “Just in case someone stumbled on the board. Like you.”

  “More lies Levi. Does Mario know everything?”

  “Abigail.” Levi shook his head. “I swore to your mother that I wouldn’t tell you everything. Not until I had to.”

  I shrugged. “Then I can’t trust you. Or Mario.” I walked out of the room, not giving him a moment to respond.

  He didn’t come after me, but Mario stopped me at the door. “Are you ready princess?”

  I threw my hand up and trapped in him in a red circle. “Fuck you, asshole. Good luck getting out of that.” I snorted, I wasn’t going to let him out, and Levi would have to find another witch to remove t
he circle.

  “Abigail.” Levi finally came after me. “Do not leave him trapped.”

  “Good night. I’m going to go work on my case.” I waved and walked out of the house. I’d eventually have to give in and deal with Levi’s wishes, but I was going to enjoy my hissy fit and the reminder to Mario that I could kill him with my magic. Not that I would.

  I walked into my house and tossed my bag on the bench beside the door. Taking a moment, I took my shoes off and then strolled into the living room. There was nothing I needed to do for the rest of the night, so I could go work on my stuff in the basement. I paused as I went to unlock the door. There was something was missing when I walked in.

  My cat.

  Well, sort of my cat. Merick, the man who masqueraded as my cat. “Osiris?” I called out. I didn’t sense anyone else in the house, nothing had triggered my magic, and nothing had set off the security system.

  “I love that the first thing you do is call for me when you walk into the house.” He came out from the hallway. He wore jeans and a black t-shirt. His skin was the tan color you get from genetics instead of spending too long in the sun, and his eyes were a dark brown. “Long day?”

  Relief flooded through me. “Yeah.” I couldn’t really elaborate on it. Merick didn’t know that Levi was the king, but he knew that I had gone on a case. He basically knew as much as Simon did about my quick trip. I hadn’t put it on my investigation board because I didn’t want to face the truth. However, if he was going to be around while Mario was here, he was bound to overhear something. “I might have left Mario in a circle at Levi’s.”

  “A red one?”

  “Well, I wasn’t trying to protect him.” I shot back. “I need coffee.”

  “Planning on working downstairs then?” He walked over to the coffee pot and started making coffee.

  I nodded. “Yep, I have a couple things I want to put down on my board, but we need to have a little chat first.”

  “Are you finally planning on telling me what happened in Romania?”

  I sat down at the breakfast counter and folded my hands. “Levi is the king of vampires.”