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  I tapped the picture that he was looking at, as I passed by to get the sugar. “Where were these taken exactly?”

  He went silent. “I can’t let you know that.”

  “Ah, secrets, secrets.” I handed him his coffee and the sugar container. “I’ll see if I can help translate it, but that’s about all I’m going to be able to do if you don’t tell me any more about the situation.”

  “That’s all we want you to do.” Merick met my gaze. “Because if you knew any more, you’d have to join the Cult or be killed.”

  I searched his face for any signs of him joking and there were none. His lips were in a straight line, his brows flat, and no humor shone in his eyes. “Well, that’s good to know.” Because I didn’t want to join the Cult, nor did I want to die by their hand. If I could, I wanted to avoid the fate of my parents.

  I sat at the breakfast bar next to him and looked at the picture. “I’ve seen this somewhere before, this writing.”

  “Recently?”

  I shook my head. “No, it’s kind of like that distant memory that you can’t quite grasp.”

  “Interesting.” He flipped to the next picture. The rune was carved on a different surface than the first and for some reason dread filled my stomach, dragging it down. I put my mug down, away from the binder.

  Something was tugging at the back of my mind. I knew these symbols. “Do you have any references to the Cult’s original runes?”

  He gave me a droll stare. “They were hieroglyphs.”

  “Okay, after that, when your Cult started using runes?” I sipped my coffee, and my phone buzzed. I looked down at it to see Liz’ text.

  “Meet you at the office.”

  I downed the rest of my coffee. “Okay, time for me to head out. I’m going to pick up Liz from the office and go check out a workshop location for Drake. Don’t let anyone bring in poison wine, okay?”

  Merick rolled his eyes. “I will see you later, Abigail, be safe.”

  I grabbed my bag and keys then headed out to the Hummer. I don’t know what compelled me to trust Liz, but for some reason, I knew she’d have my back in this situation, plus it was a good time to make an impression on my team lead.

  I pulled up to the office to find Liz standing outside. I rolled the passenger side window down. “Jump on in.”

  She climbed in and buckled up. “Nice ride you got here.”

  “It’s temporary.” For some reason, a small smile crossed my face. “My normal ride was taken out by a landslide.”

  She stared at me, and my smile grew. “Special Agent Jefferson —”

  “Liz, please.”

  “Liz,” I corrected. “What have you heard about me?” I wasn’t sure if she was aware of my record with cars.”

  “Depends on who I talked to. Some say you’re cursed; some say that you’re damn good at what you do. I know you’ve taken on some tough cases, had your partner killed.”

  “I’ve destroyed five cars b within the last two years. You’ll get used to seeing the yellow Hummer around.” I laughed a little bit. “But I’m glad people are speaking highly of me.”

  “I’ve heard about your cars, you shooting a suspect on riot grounds.” She glanced at me. “I’ve also heard about your partner’s death, your parents’ death, and the fact that the local vampire territory leader adopted you. None of that matters though as long as you know how to close the cases, protect yourself against Black Magic, and don’t kill your teammates on purpose.”

  I cringed. “I didn’t kill Nick, and technically, it wasn’t a riot until I tried to shoot the suspect.”

  She laughed. “Lighten up; I just thought I’d tell you the bad with the good. So, how did you get the address to this place?”

  I drove out of the parking lot and shrugged. “One of my contacts was able to get it for me. He wasn’t sure what I might be walking into, so I wanted backup. You told me to let you know if I needed any support.”

  “I’m happy to be your backup. So no idea what we’re walking into?”

  I shook my head. “None. I talked to Drake’s granddaughter who told me that he could make himself appear in people’s visions as whoever he wanted

  “That talent doesn’t flow in many bloodlines. Do you think she was telling the truth?”

  I tightened my grip on the steering wheel. “She had no reason to lie to me. I didn’t tell her about the murders or why I was there to talk to her.”

  “He could have warned her though.” Liz looked out the window. “Just trying to consider our options.”

  “She has the ability too, just not to appear as different people.”

  Liz was silent for a moment. “Well shit.”

  “Exactly.” I looked down at the GPS for a moment to see where my next turn would be. “All I know is that the vampires changed this guy because one of them thought they needed his ability. He turned even more insane than he was before. Two out of three of our victims have connections to him; I’m betting the third will too.”

  “What kind of connections?”

  “They were both seeking him out for something.” My phone rang, and I looked down to see Jason’s number. I answered it on the handsfree system. “Special Agent Collins and Special Agent Jefferson.”

  “Aw Abby, did they pair you up with another person?”

  I snorted. “No Jason, I called her in for backup. Whatcha got for me?”

  “Mason said you wanted to know if any of our victims had wine or some sort of sweet drink before they were killed.”

  “Yeah, I have a theory, and that was the first step of confirming it.”

  “Turns out that they both had some red wine within an hour of their death.”

  “Thanks, that’s what I needed to know. Anything else come up?”

  “Nope, sorry Abby, there’s really not much on the bodies that are going to help you.”

  I sighed. “All good, Jason, thanks for checking in.” I disconnected the call. “So Drake is using a poison to incapacitate his victims.”

  “Like the one you were dealt last night?”

  I nodded. “Luckily for me though, my boyfriend was there to stop anything else that might have happened.”

  “That was pretty lucky.”

  I exited off the highway and headed into a housing development. The rows of houses gave way to empty lots, leading me to a lone house. No lights were on that I could see as I parked in front of it.

  “Yellow isn’t a very inconspicuous color,” Liz mused.

  “It used to be dark green, Levi had it repainted, and I don’t know why.” I shrugged. “I won’t drive it if I’m ever aiming for stealth.”

  She motioned to the house. “Does this not call for a time that needs stealth?”

  “Drake is a vampire; his daughter should be down at the shop.” I closed my eyes and let my magic leak out from me, reaching to and around the house, searching for a circle to activate or anything else that might tell me there were hidden dangers. My magic hit three different circles somewhere in the house, and it shot my magic back into me.

  Liz and I gasped at the same time. I resisted the urge to jump up and down saying ow. I settled for shaking my hands out. I saw Liz doing the same thing and laughed. “You felt it too then?”

  “Yeah, zapped me as well. So let’s go see what we found before someone reacts to us touching their circle.” She marched up to the walkway that led to the front door.

  She knocked. Knocked again. And once more. But nothing came, not that either of us expected someone to answer the door. She waved her hand over the knob, and the tumbler clicked.

  “Breaking and entering with magic,” I chided. “On what grounds Agent Jefferson?”

  “On the grounds that I heard a scream.” She winked at me and walked in. I didn’t enter right after her, we both paused to make sure nothing was activated. Neither of us sensed a hex or a protection spell, just the three circles, but being cautious never hurt, especially in our line of work.

  Once I was sure not
hing was going to blow up or kill us, I walked in after her and shut the door behind me. I turned around stared at all the creepy dolls that were looking at us.

  Dolls lined the walls. Some looked brand new; others look old and frail. There were a few in glass cases while others seemed haphazardly thrown on the shelf. There was one doll on the end table that looked familiar. A ragged doll, with only a few strands of yellow yarn hair left on its head and a tattered black dress. It was the doll from my vision.

  I walked over to pick it up, a sinking feeling claiming my stomach. Not only was it the doll from my vision, but it also it matched the girl from my vision. When I picked up the doll, something warm went through me. I looked at Liz. “There’s some type of spell on this doll.”

  “Then put it down.” She shook her head. “Don’t risk it being a hex.”

  “I don’t think it is. It’s warm and comforting.” I put it down anyway, and we moved out of the living room and down the hall to the bedrooms. There were three bedrooms and a bathroom, divided evenly on either side of the hallway.

  Liz started opening doors without any true method. She opened, looked in, and moved to the next room. Unlike me, her hand wasn’t itching to pull out her gun. That could mean a few different things, but my mind went straight to paranoia.

  Liz looked at me. “What’s up?”

  “You don’t sweep with your gun.” I narrowed my eyes.

  She nodded. “I don’t like my gun or my taser; I prefer to use my magic.”

  Interesting. I was the opposite and never thought about another PIB agent preferring magic over their gun. “Got it.”

  “Let’s find the basement.”

  Basement. Why did it always have to be basements? I walked back down the hall and to the kitchen. There was a door right where I expected it to be.

  “Know the house?” Liz asked.

  “No, it’s a common layout.” I looked down the stairs and noticed a faint red glow. “I think the circles are down there.”

  Liz nodded. “Let’s go take a look.”

  I pulled my gun out of the holster and held it by my side as I walked down the stairs. My foot went from carpeted step to concrete when I reached the bottom. I looked to my left where the glow was coming from.

  A person was standing in each one, except they were people who were supposed to be dead. Lark, Carmen, and Karen all stood there looking back at us, but with lifeless eyes.

  “Something’s off.” Liz stepped up next to me. “They don’t look right.”

  I shook the shock off and gave them glance closer look. Their faces seemed sleek and hard, with details carved out rather than changing with emotions or thoughts.

  Suddenly I realized something terrible. “Life Magic. Holy shit.”

  “He’s tying souls to dolls, animating them.”

  “I’ve never seen this done.” My voice raised a pitch. “I don’t even know how to go about fixing it.”

  Liz walked around the circle. “You’ve seen Life Magic before?”

  “Yeah, a kid accidentally brought a raptor back to life.”

  She stared at me from across the circle. “Mesa?”

  “Yeah.” I raised a brow. “I didn’t know that it made the press over here.”

  “It’s actually a case study. Nick submitted it to be one.”

  I hadn’t known that. “Well then.” I motioned to the living dolls in front of me. “We’ll make sure to submit this one too.”

  “You guys let the raptor live, I don’t think we can do that with these three.” She moved to another circle and walked around. “Why does he have them trapped?”

  I heard footsteps above me. “I don’t think I want to find out.”

  We both ran up the stairs but found ourselves trapped in the kitchen. Loraine stood in the other way out.

  “Hello, agents, I see you found my little experiments.”

  That wasn’t what I was expecting. “Yours?”

  “Well, they were my idea, I crafted the spells, the dolls, the circles, everything. My father merely brought me who I asked for.”

  Liz grabbed my arm. “Hang on.”

  I looked at her without thinking; my only thought was that we needed to get out. I wasn’t sure why she was holding onto my gun arm. Suddenly the world faded away and then resolidified around us. We were on the other side of Loraine. What the hell. My eyes grew wide. “You’re Cult,” were the only words I could manage to say.

  Liz shook her head. “No, I’ll explain later, come on, time to run.”

  I followed her toward the door, but it was shut and bolted. Liz ran her hand over it and a visible shock of electricity shot at her hand.

  “Can’t you take us out?”

  “No, I’m not that strong yet. I can only move short distances and not through solid objects.” The panic sounded in her voice.

  I pressed my lips together. “I’m going to do something, and you have to swear to all that is fucking holy you won’t tell.”

  “If it’s going to save my ass, you bet ya.” Liz scooted behind me. “I’m trusting you.”

  I nodded and focused on Loraine, and a circle of fire danced up around her, trapping her a few feet away from us. Liz stepped up to my side. “That’s impressive.”

  But the bitch actually laughed. She pushed her hand against the fire, and it disappeared. Holy shit. “Are you done with your little parlor tricks?”

  My heart dropped, and I raised the gun. I shot, but the bullet went off wild once it hit a barrier in front of Loraine.

  She laughed again, and Liz grabbed my arm, dragging me to the side where a glass bay window was. All we needed to do was get out and get to the Hummer. We both ran together and jumped through the window, using the bay bench to launch us forward. Glass shattered around us, the little shards tore at my skin and clothing, but we both landed on our feet and kept running.

  We jumped into the Hummer, and I wasted no time peeling out of the housing district. I slowed down once I was sure Loraine wasn’t following us anymore. My heart was still pounding in my chest, and my limbs were shaking.

  “So, um. That’s not Drake.” Liz gave a nervous laugh. “You’re an elemental, and that bitch is crazy strong.”

  I started laughing. “Says the person who can just transport us a couple feet. What kind of spell is that?”

  “A transportation spell, obviously.”

  Obviously, but I’d never heard of one. I’d have to ask her to teach me when things weren’t so crazy. We both started laughing uncontrollably as I drove. We’d sobered up a little bit by the time I pulled into the office.

  “So next time you need backup, give me a warning that it’s going to be that dangerous. Okay?” Liz unbuckled, but she didn’t move. “Are you okay going the rest alone?”

  I thought about it, was I okay with dealing with Life Magic and strangely animated dolls? “Yeah, for now. Right now, all I’m going to do is some research, talk to the ex-husbands, because I think there may be more on that angle. I’m betting Loraine has probably moved things already.” Unless she was like Keira who really just seemed to like to taunt PIB.

  “Let me know if you go back in there; I’ll make sure SWAT goes with you. I don’t want you to go alone.” Liz got out of the Hummer, and I followed.

  “Aye aye captain.” I saluted her and she rolled her eyes.

  “You’re something else, Abby.”

  We walked to the building together, and the receptionist stood. “Agent Collins. I have someone waiting upstairs for you.”

  I really hoped she meant outside my office and not in it. “Did they say what they wanted?”

  “It was a Mr. Jones, said he was here about a Ms. Jones.”

  I glanced at Liz. “If you would excuse me, seems like I’m going to get a jump start on the ex-husband lead.”

  “I’ll catch you later then. Remember what I said, Agent Collins. You don’t go back there alone.”

  “Don’t worry; I’m able to admit when I’m in over my head.” I kept the sm
ile on my face, but we both knew I was serious.

  A man stood outside my office, his arms crossed and his head held down. His eyes were closed, and I wondered for a moment if he was saying a prayer.

  “Excuse me, Mr. Jones?”

  He looked up at me and gave me a small smile. “You must be Agent Collins. I was told you were in charge of the investigation on my ex-wife.”

  “I am. Please, come in and have a seat. Do you have some information for me?” I swiped my card and opened the door for him. He walked in and sat down.

  I went to my side of the desk and caught him staring at the doll. “Kind of creepy isn’t it.”

  “The likeness of you is uncanny, where did you get it?”

  “Down in Manitou.”

  “Oh yes, I bought my daughter a doll there, a couple years ago.”

  That was interesting. “You did?”

  “Yes, a lady there made it for her. It was kind of an ‘I’m sorry Mommy and Daddy split’ kind of gift.” He hung his head. “I was just trying to make things easier for her.”

  I wondered if the other children had dolls from the shop as well. “Did you or your wife know the owner?”

  “I didn’t. I don’t know about my ex; she seemed to know almost everyone. That was one of the reasons we divorced. She was always somewhere, doing something else, not worrying about our kid. Hell, I’d come home from work to find our daughter with a sitter instead.”

  “Were you aware your ex-wife was a shifter?”

  He slowly shook his head. “No.”

  “You’re going to want to keep that in mind when your daughter hits puberty. Carmen was a shifter; she showed up dead in a box at our other PIB office.”

  He sat back in the chair, his face a little bit paler than it was before, his lips were pressed together in a fine line. “How was she killed?”

  “Three puncture wounds on her back, right up her spine.” That was the only information I was willing to give. “Does the name Drake or Loraine Moll ring any bells?”

  He shook his head. “No, should they?”

  “Loraine is the lady who made the doll that you bought your daughter.”