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  I ran a hand through my wet hair, my fingers tangling in the curls. Even if it wasn’t the Cult, someone tried to kill me in a magical mudslide, and I probably would have been dead or at the very least hurt if Mario hadn’t been there.

  Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad having someone watch my back. A moment of paranoia went through me. Could Mario and Levi have planned that?

  I shook my head. What if we had decided to take the bridge back instead? I flipped on the television in my room as I peeled my wet clothes off.

  The news flashed pictures of the mudslide, but then the bridge came up, well lack thereof. Images showed the concrete bridge had been washed out by a flash flood. A magical explosion and a washed-out bridge. Either way, I could have died, and it was someone who knew that I was going to be at my uncle’s that night.

  I walked into the library where I found Levi and Mario sitting and not talking. I looked between the two of them.

  “Your uncle is getting out of control,” Levi stated the moment I walked in. “I will find another elemental to train you.”

  I shook my head. “That’s not your call to make. Oliver wouldn’t be trying to kill me unless there was something in it for him.”

  “Oliver seemed pretty sure he knew who did it, but you shut him down quickly.” Mario folded his hands. “Who was he referring to and why don’t you think they want you dead?”

  I sighed and sat down. “He thought it was the Cult of Ra.”

  “And why do you think it’s not them?” Levi growled. “They tried to take you out before.”

  “I was visited by one of them today. They said they weren’t aware what was at stake if I died.” I looked at Levi. “Do you have any idea what they were talking about?”

  Neither vampire said a word.

  “And see, this is why I can’t trust you.” I pegged Mario with a stare.

  “I would assume he’s talking about Levi.” Mario shrugged. “Otherwise, I would have no idea what he was speaking of.”

  I met Levi’s gaze. “And you?”

  He motioned to Mario to say that he agreed. “Your uncle has still brought a lot of trouble to you. Whoever attacked you, Cult or not, they knew where you were and which way you’d take home.” He was echoing my paranoia, but I wasn’t going to say that I agreed with him.

  “You really think he has something to do with this?”

  Levi nodded. “I do, and until it’s proven otherwise, I want you to stay away from him.”

  “Not your choice to make,” I said again. “My life, my choices. That was the deal. I’m almost twenty-seven, you can’t control my life.”

  “That was before you knew I was king.”

  “Which is supposed to be a giant fucking secret. You can’t suddenly change everything. Ira already knows who I am; your advisory council knows who I am. There’s no hiding it from the people who matter to your political standing.” I put my hands on my hips. “Boss Man is going to notice if I suddenly pass up certain cases, Oliver won’t let me go long without seeing him because he is the only one who can help me with the elemental abilities, the coven already knows something is going on. If you want it to remain a secret, then my life needs to remain normal.”

  Both vampires stared at me for a moment, and I spun around to leave. I wasn’t sure where I was going, but I wasn’t going to sit here and listen to them talk about protecting me and how Oliver was bringing me trouble.

  “Abigail,” Levi called.

  I ignored him and started heading towards the basement. The basement here held my safe place, a place for me to practice magic without risking damage to the house or the people inside it if something went wrong. It felt like home, and that’s what I needed right now. My place, a place for me without the two vampires.

  I heard footsteps behind me but didn’t look back.

  “Abigail.” Levi put a hand on my shoulder and spun me around. “Do you want to know why I don’t want you near your uncle? Why I kept him out of your life for so long?”

  “You told me it was because he wanted to bind my magic.” I met his gaze and dared him to admit to me that he had been lying.

  He took a deep breath and looked over his shoulder. “Come, let’s talk in your chamber.”

  The chamber was what we called the basement room. I nodded because I didn’t really want Mario around to hear what Levi had to say and Levi tended to be easier to deal with when the other vampire wasn’t there.

  He followed me down the stairs, and I opened the door at the bottom of the stairwell. The room was made out of magically enhanced stone to protect the rest of the house if something went wrong with a spell, a circle was etched in the middle of the floor, and at the far side of the wall, there was a desk that held all my supplies I’d need for spells.

  I spun around just as Levi shut the door. “Don’t want to talk with your bodyguard around?”

  “I’m getting ready to tell you something that Mario doesn’t know. Oliver was at your house the night of your parent’s murder, trying to convince your mother to do some type of spell with him. It was dark magic, and she would never touch it.”

  Because everyone thought she was so good and so pure, except Oliver’s words contradicted that.

  “Your uncle had ties to the Cult, long before now, and I knew he had something to do with her death.”

  I flinched. “Oliver loved my mother more than most people realize. He wouldn’t have put her in harm’s way.”

  “Are you so sure about that? Your uncle wanted to bind your magic, that causes harm. If he’s willing to do that to you, what makes you think he wouldn’t harm your mother?” Levi shook his head. “Your trust in him has gone far enough.”

  I straightened myself up and met his gaze. “I can make my own choices on who I can trust and who I can’t. Oliver expects me to be my own person. He doesn’t baby me.”

  “Because he thinks you’d be better off dead,” Levi snarled, and his power shot through the room. Dust and dirt flew up from the floor and vials on my desk shattered as the desk itself moved a couple feet.

  I threw up a circle before the wave could hit me. I stared at him with wide eyes. “Do you want to explain why you think that?”

  “I can’t.” He spun and left the room, leaving me speechless and wondering what the hell would make him lash out like that.

  Anger clouded my reasoning. I wanted to go up there and demand that Levi tell me what was going on, what he was hiding, but I knew he wouldn’t answer me, and my anger was not something I could afford right now.

  I shoved my hands in my pockets, and my finger jammed against the object that Oliver had given me. I pulled it out and examined the small flash drive. I didn’t have my laptop here, and I didn’t dare try it on one of the computers in Levi’s mansion. I didn’t want him to know Oliver gave me anything, especially the way he was acting right now.

  There was a knock on the door, and I put the flash drive back into my pocket. “What?”

  “Levi sent me down here to give you the information on Keira. He needed to go handle something.” Mario walked in.

  “Like his temper?” I went to my desk and pushed it back the couple feet. I sighed as I looked at the glass that covered the top. I wanted to say something, but I held my tongue.

  Mario looked around the room. “He didn’t say what happened down here, but I’m assuming it wasn’t good.”

  “No, it wasn’t. Anyways, what’s the news on the child vampire?”

  “Levi believes that she is currently staying with a vampire named Kathrine, on the south side of the city. One of his vampires spotted them together.”

  I nodded. “We’ll check it out tomorrow night.”

  “Don’t want to go tonight?”

  I shook my head. “Not really. I’ve got enough to focus on, and I need to meditate or something before I lose my temper.”

  “I’ll let you be then.”

  Chapter Seven

  I woke the next afternoon and lay in my bed. Hopefully, by tonight,
Levi’s temper would have calmed down. I’d stayed in my magical chamber until dawn because I didn’t want to face any of the vampires. Now they were both tucked away, and I could pick up the Hummer and get to the office. I needed to look up Carmen Jones, and I needed to figure out what Oliver put on that flash drive for me.

  I finished getting ready and walked out of the mansion without much thought but stopped when I saw a ring of pink lawn flamingos. There was nothing I could do but stare at it. They were placed in a perfect circle around the Hummer. Each of them standing on one leg, buried just a little bit into the ground so that they wouldn’t fall over. Thirteen in all.

  There was no magic coming from the circle, which was a good sign. There was nothing really menacing about it, but it was certainly unusual. I wasn’t exactly sure what to think of it. I walked around the circle and picked up one of the plastic flamingos. On the leg was a tag with the name ‘Flowerama’ printed on it.

  I was familiar with the place; it sat on the corner of Circle and Yawl not far from my old house. The place always had flamingos and little windmills sitting out front. I guess that I would stop by there today. I gathered up all the flamingos and threw them into the back of the Hummer.

  I got in and started the Hummer. There was no sign of magic at the start of the engine which made me wonder if the flamingos were just a gag. I’d have to check Levi’s security footage later; I knew he had a camera out here somewhere.

  I pulled the Hummer out of the driveway and headed towards the highway. I’d go to my house first. It was early enough that no one would really expect me in the office, so I had time to kill. The drive from Levi’s gave way from trees to houses dotting the forest and eventually to the city. I lived on the north side of the city, back in a secluded part, filled with trees that were untouched by the recent fires over the years. It was peaceful, and I didn’t have to worry about my house exploding, or imploding, as the case may be.

  I pulled into my driveway and parked next to a shiny black car. Nothing had set off my magic around the house though, so whoever it was, they didn’t mean harm. There was no need to panic.

  The door was already unlocked when I reached it, and that made me pause. I had my gun on me, but I could escalate a situation that didn’t need escalating if the person was friendly. My heart banged in my chest as I pushed the door open and walked in.

  “Abigail,” Merick’s voice came the moment I cleared the entryway. “We have company.”

  That was obvious by the car out front. His voice came from the living room, so I headed that way. He was sitting next to another man. The man stood and straightened his three-piece suit. The tone of his skin matched Merick’s, and their faces were similar. For a moment, I thought they might have been brothers, but then another relationship hit me. The man’s face had more wrinkles, more pinching at the corners of his eyes. He was older then Merick by at least twenty years.

  “Abigail, this is my father. High Priest of the Cult of Ra.”

  I felt like someone had sucker punched me. There were so many things I wanted to yell at Merick for but now was not the time.

  The man held his hand out. “It’s a pleasure finally to meet you face to face, Abigail. I’m Seth.”

  I shook his hand, trusting that he meant no harm. Merick gave a subtle nod as if letting me know that I had chosen to do the right thing. “I can’t say it’s a pleasure as your cult has been a pain in my ass for a while.”

  He chuckled. “Just as Merick described you, tall, strong and smart-assed.”

  “I can’t argue with that.” I motioned to the couch. “Please sit. Your lackey told me that you wanted to meet.”

  “He told me you threw up a circle the instant he tried to attack you.” Seth looked at Merick. “Is she always that defensive?”

  I cleared my throat. “As a reminder, my first time dealing with you, you put a hex on me in attempt to kill me.”

  “Not me, personally, but some of my members were just following our laws and rules. I quickly put a stop to it when I realized who you were.” His voice never changed as he spoke, always calm and collected, not raise in pitch at my accusation, simply a business as usual voice.

  I sat down in the chair near the couch. “It’s good to know that you have no personal grudge with me, but at the time I had done nothing against your laws.” I originally wanted to add an insult before laws, but I kept myself professional. I couldn’t tell how powerful he was, which meant that he was hiding it, and chances were, he was stronger than me. I didn’t want to face that in my own house.

  “Are you admitting that you’ve done something since?” He raised his brows. “Abigail, I can see that your aura is clean, and I didn’t come here to debate magical morals with you, as I am well aware that you and I have different ideals. I came here because I need your help with something.”

  It seemed that a lot of people needed my help with something lately. “What can I do for you?”

  “We found a magical site covered in runes, and we need your help translating them.” He folded his hands on his lap. “In exchange, I will provide you with some of the information that you’re seeking.”

  Well, that was an interesting deal. “What kind of magical site? I don’t have my father’s linguistic skills.”

  “You’re right; you don’t. But I can’t trust anyone else with this, and I fully believe that you and Merick will be able to decipher it.”

  I glanced at Merick, who nodded again. He’d been quiet since we sat down. “Okay, I’ll see what I can do. I can’t travel right now because of work, but if you get me some pictures of the runes, I can start there.”

  “They’ll be here by noon,” he promised and stood. “Once we get the site figured out, then we’ll talk about the information you want.”

  Dread filled my stomach, and I wondered for a moment what I was getting myself into. Here was a man who thought his people were acting appropriately when they put a hex on me, the man my uncle wanted me to kill, and I was going to help him because he held the answers that no-one else wanted to give me.

  Merick got up and disarmed the alarm and let his father out. I leaned back in my chair while they stood at the door and talked to each other in a hushed tone. I’m not sure what they were discussing, and at this point, I didn’t know if I wanted to know.

  I closed my eyes until the smell of coffee hit my nostrils. Merick stood there with a steaming mug. I tucked my legs under me on the chair and took the mug from him. “How did you know I’d be coming back this morning?”

  “Oliver came and talked to me last night. He wasn’t pleased with the most recent attempt on your life and assumed that it was the Cult. He said that you were staying at Levi’s and I assumed that you would come here before going to work because of what was going on.”

  I blew on my coffee. “I could have called and chatted with you instead.”

  “You don’t like to talk to me on your phone because your uncle has it bugged.”

  He had a fair point. “Okay, why didn’t you tell me that your father was the High Priest.”

  “Because it would have made you trust me less. Even now, I can feel your tension about the situation.” He sat down on the couch with his own cup of coffee. “The less information you had about me, the better, and the more likely you were to trust me.”

  Again he had a point. “Why didn’t he use you to contact me instead of sending someone to attack me?”

  “So full of questions Abigail. That man was testing your responses, the Cult of Ra isn’t known for peaceful meetings. My father thought it was the best way to get your attention and it worked.” He sipped his coffee. “We were not behind the attack last night. I swore to your uncle that we were no longer after your life. I don’t think he believed me.”

  I sighed. “Levi thinks it was Oliver.”

  “Your uncle is a lot of things, Abigail, but I don’t think he’s evil enough to kill you.”

  Well, at least there was some limit to his evilness. “Oliver isn’t e
vil. I mean he’s not exactly good, but he’s not evil.”

  “You’re correct; it was wrong of me to use such a black and white example. So if it wasn’t me, and it wasn’t Oliver, who is behind the attack?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t know. It wasn’t direct enough for Ira, and I haven’t gotten very far with the cases to really piss someone off. I guess Drake could have placed it, but even then, I’m not sure that he would handle the situation like that.”

  “Drake Moll, the magical taxidermist?” Merick raised a brow. “I thought he died.”

  I snorted. “Technically, he did. He’s a vampire now.”

  “Oh, that’s a great combination.” Merick gave a full laugh. “Drake wasn’t really sane to begin with if you believe all the things people said about him. Turn him into a vampire, and things probably got complicated.”

  That was a good way to state it. “Okay, I’m going to get ready for work. Thanks for the coffee. I have a date tonight with Simon.” I was going to need to find a way to avoid Mario for the night. “So I won’t be home until later. Don’t panic.”

  “I never panic about you, Abby, I just look forward to your stories when you get back.” He held up his coffee. “Don’t get kidnaped, killed, or beaten up.”

  I shook my head. “I never plan on those things.” I took my coffee with me to my room to get ready.

  I locked my door behind me to make sure Merick didn’t come in, even as a cat. I didn’t want him looking over my shoulder. I pulled out the flash drive that Oliver had given me. I didn’t want to do this at the office because I knew IT could look at what we accessed on the computer. Even if it was private.

  I grabbed my laptop from my nightstand and opened the lid. Once it was booted up, I plugged the flash drive in and navigated to the device. There was only one file on it, simply named ‘Abigail.’

  I clicked on the file, but a password field popped up. There was no hint given, nothing that would tell me what my uncle would have used. I didn’t want to text him to ask for it. Not yet. Knowing him, there was a reason he hadn’t give me the password. He was testing me, or he was just trying to drive me insane.