King Takes Rook Read online

  Levi turned the news off. "I'm going to get ready for my day. I'm not going to worry about the protests for now." He headed back toward the bathroom with Mario at his heels. "I don't need help showering."

  "You're king. You need to worry about the protests now and how we might be able to calm down both humans and vampires."

  "And I will, but right now, we have a possible missing child on our hands, I need to feed, and who knows what else tonight. One thing at a time. If the protests become worse, I will call a council meeting." Levi stopped at the bathroom door. "Go arrange our meals, and I will see you in a little bit."

  He shut the door and half expected Mario to walk in. Levi shook his head and turned on the water, letting the shower warm up while he took his robe off. It'd been a hell of a few nights, and now he was ready to face this one.

  By the time he was showered and fed, the sun was going down, and there was a text from Abigail on his phone. "Meet me at the house."

  Nothing more.

  No clue to what she wanted or needed. Levi had a feeling that her case had become more involved and she was going to want information. He locked his jaw and stared at the text.

  Mario looked over his shoulder. "You're thinking too hard about it, Levi. She probably has some questions to ask, and that's it."

  He nodded. "Come on, let's go."

  "We have to meet with Oliver tonight as well," Mario reminded him.

  "I'll tell him that it'll have to be later tonight. My daytime people are supposed to be delivering Abby's television tonight, so let's just meet them all there. Shall we?" Levi grabbed his phone and sent Oliver a quick message. The warlock didn't respond right away, so Levi assumed he was still busy. "I'll catch up with you when I'm done talking to Abby."

  "You're not going alone. You'll bend over and give her every bit of information she wants, and that's not going to help any situation. You and I both know that it was Ira in that picture, and that could lead her down another very dangerous road. If you don't want to start revealing things to her, then I suggest you let me go with you, and we keep giving her only the bits and pieces that she truly needs."

  Levi stared at him for a moment, debating how to respond. Levi had sworn not to get involved with Abigail's cases or hide information that could help her solve one. He'd already lied to her once on this case.

  "You know I'm right, Levi."

  Levi sighed. "Yes, I know, but I'm thinking about all the damage these lies might do if she finds out the truth."

  "If it's just the case, I'm sure she'll just be mad for a little bit. If it's everything, we should probably put you in witness protection." Mario chuckled. "Even then, she might hunt you down."

  Levi shook his head and took himself to the Collins' house, expecting Mario to follow behind him. He appeared in the living room and paused. Thinking he heard a voice the moment he arrived, but it wasn't the haunting voice of Elizabeth. It had been male. The house remained silent after he appeared, and he shook his head. Mario appeared next to him. "I see that the TV is here already here."

  Levi looked at the new flat screen television on a stand across from the couch. "Yes."

  The cat came around the corner and paused as it saw them. He sat down and stared as if waiting for them to leave.

  "I don't like that cat," Mario muttered.

  The cat hissed at him and walked off.

  "I don't think it likes you either." Levi shook his head as the naked cat disappeared around the corner.

  Mario nodded and sat on the couch. "Did Abigail say when she'd be here?"

  "She told me to meet her here. I'm assuming that she's on her way." Levi sighed and glanced at his phone. "Oliver hasn't gotten back to me either. I'm hoping that means he's working on something else to help."

  Mario nodded and flipped on the television. "Let's watch some television while we wait."

  Levi should have brought his book, but evening game shows would have to do while they waited. An hour later, the news flipped on, and Levi leaned forward as the headline crossed the screen.

  PIB DISCOVERS BODY PIT.

  Levi closed his eyes as the reporter started talking.

  "PIB has recovered fifteen bodies from a sealed basement in the east part of the city. They have not released any information on the victims or the case. What we do know is that they were well preserved and PIB's statement is simply 'We are in the middle of a full investigation.'"

  "This must be the case Abigail is on." Levi shook his head and tried not to imagine her falling into the bodies. The front door creaked as it opened, and they both stood to greet Abigail as she walked in and eyed the television.

  "It is, and that's what I need to talk to you about." Abby motioned to the couch. "Please sit, Mario. I know you're going to stay either way, so I'm not going to argue against that."

  Levi and Mario sat as Abby turned off the television and then faced them. "There were fifteen corpses in a second basement at that house. The other problem we have is that Detective Mason has contained a small horde of blood-starved vampires on a property nearby."

  Levi tried to keep his surprise in and stared at her with the mask he often used when he was hiding something. A small horde could cover a wide variety of numbers. The problem was that he knew one of Ira's old cabins was near that property, and the fact that there were blood-starved vampires near the scene didn't do anything to ease Levi's panic.

  When Mario also remained silent, Abigail continued, "The corpses were kept in a prison-like basement, fed from by vampires."

  "A century ago that practice was…common among vampires," Mario spoke after a few moments of silence. "It wasn't pretty, and there were laws in our community about it, but it did happen." Samuel had been a fan of feeding nests.

  "These corpses were only ten years old-"

  Anger overtook Levi, and he jumped to his feet. "Bullshit. There's no way someone could cover that up in my territory." Fifteen people going missing, even ten years ago, would have caught the attention of someone. He would have noticed a horde of vampires gathering. Nothing about her timeline made sense.

  "So you had no idea that this was happening?" There was no real emotion to Abigail's voice.

  Levi took a moment to compose himself. "I'm saying your data must be wrong. There's no way that it could have happened in the last ten years." Levi shook his head. "Run the tests again. Use magic to confirm it. Something."

  She glanced at Mario. He pressed his lips together and had a hand on his chin as if he was thinking.

  "I didn't run the tests, and I don't think there is a magic that can help me with that. If I can find someone to help me, I might be able to do a trace spell that shows the final hours to me, but alone I'm not strong enough for that."

  There was only one person Levi knew that would be willing to do the trace spell with her, and Oliver was already on another case.

  "I don't want another witch near this," Mario spoke up as if reading Levi's mind. "There's a possibility I know who it was that did this."

  "The man in the picture. The one you both lied to me about and said you didn't know." She crossed her arms and glared at them. "If you are withholding information that can help me with my case, I need to know it. And if you don't want to give it to me, I'll have Nick bring you in for questioning."

  "You wouldn't dare have Levi arrested." Mario chuckled.

  Levi held a hand up. Clearly, Mario didn't understand what Abby would or wouldn't do. "Don't test her. It could be him, but he wasn't supposed to be in the territory. My guards had said they killed him."

  "Guards?"

  He cursed himself for almost having screwed up. "My people, the ones I send out to take care of the dirty jobs, as you refer to them."

  "What makes you think this could be him?"

  "Other than the picture you found from the first victim?" Levi questioned. "He'd been caught in several
territories for setting up…experiments with humans. Prisons to keep them in and test…I don't even know on them." It was as much information that he could give without directly telling her what went on. Hopefully, it would be enough that she could find something out.

  Mario stood. "It's thought that they were trying to create vampires without draining all the blood, but by mixing blood. This should be vampire business now. I'll talk to the detective in charge and get a vampire PIB agent to take the case."

  That was the wrong thing to say. Abigail's temper shone in her eyes. "Like hell you're taking my case. Mason isn't very trusting of vampires. He's not likely to give the case over."

  Levi nodded. "She's right. He'll feel like something suspicious was up." Mason was a good detective, and he loved working cases with Abigail. There was no way the man would easily give up the case. Even if the King got involved.

  Mario shook his head. "If they get away-"

  "You keep saying they. He's not working alone then? Can I at least have a name?" She put her hands on her hips.

  "No," Mario said.

  "Yes," Levi said at the same time. They'd already given her too much information; the name wouldn't hurt. It would turn up more restricted files, but if they could get a PIB target on Ira, then just maybe PIB could handle him.

  Mario turned to Levi, his jaw locked. "If she screws this up and he gets away, it jeopardizes everything."

  "Seems to me that everything is already in jeopardy," Levi snapped back, trying to tell Mario that it was not the time to discuss it or go against him. "Abigail knows what she is doing. She won't screw it up."

  Abigail remained silent, and Levi wondered what was going through her mind as she watched them bicker.

  "Are you sure you want her that close to the starving vampires?" Mario looked at Abby and then Levi. "Are you willing to risk that?"

  It was a low blow, he didn't want to risk Abby, but there was no way to pull her off the case without letting her in on why. She'd question it all and never trust him.

  Abby cleared her throat. "The day I turned eighteen Levi left me in charge of my own life. It's how I ended up working with PIB."

  Levi nodded towards her, acknowledging her point. "I will give Abby the info she needs to solve this case. With the understanding that she lets you and I handle the starving vampires." That way they could get the information they needed by asking the questions Abby didn't know she should be asking.

  "If the cases connect, I can't make that promise," Abby said.

  "I meant that part of the vampire part of the case. I'll go in and talk to the vampires. You'll stay away from them," Levi corrected himself.

  "Mason wanted to contact you about them anyway. You can handle them with the understanding that you share all information with me."

  "Understood." Levi leaned back on the couch.

  "Are we done here then?" Mario didn't sit.

  "Yes, thanks for your input, Levi."

  Levi didn't miss how she purposely left Mario out of the thanks. It was a more subtle way for her to say she wasn't pleased with Mario.

  Mario opened his mouth to say something, but Levi held a hand up. "Let it go. Abigail, I'll go speak with Mason tonight and see what I can do about the vampires. Is there anything else that you're not telling me?"

  "I visited Tomes. He said that there were others out there, but he didn't give me names."

  Levi growled. "You did what? Alone?" What the hell had she been thinking? Tomes wanted her dead, visiting him wasn't smart.

  "How are you so sure of that?" Mario spoke over Levi's outrage.

  "Agent Grace was with me, so I wasn't alone. And Mario, I'm a witch, magic." Her attitude was back out to play.

  Levi cleared his throat. "Abigail, attitude, please."

  "When he starts being nicer to me, I'll consider curbing my attitude."

  Mario's jaw dropped, and he took a step towards Abby. She put her hand on her gun. "I'd think carefully about your next movements." This wasn't going to end well. Not with both Abigail and Mario upset.

  "You wouldn't dare," Mario challenged.

  "That's the second time you've said something like that tonight. I really don't think you understand what I'll do and what I won't."

  "I think we've had enough discussion for one night." Levi put a hand over Abby's, trying to calm her. "The case has you stressed. I'll send you the name, and from there you can work from your end."

  "Thank you." She bowed her head and moved her hand away from the gun. "I also request that you follow your own rule about other people being in the house." She jerked her head towards Mario. "I know that he's stuck to you like glue, but next time he needs to stay home."

  Levi smirked. She was always stubborn. "I'll see what I can do."

  "Much appreciated."

  Levi gave her one last look before disappearing and taking himself back to the mansion.

  Levi appeared back in the mansion to see Mario there with his arms crossed and his brows pulled together. Levi raised a brow and pulled out his phone.

  "Don't," Mario demanded.

  "Don't what?" Levi's thumb hovered over the icon for unlocking his phone.

  "Don't send her the name. Levi, we're not prepared for the can of worms that this could open. If you want to give her information that's going to lead PIB to Ira, then fine, but we need to set up precautions first."

  Levi shook his head. "We don't have time for that. You heard her; there are fifteen dead bodies. If we get PIB involved, then it can help us catch him without invoking Samuel's rage."

  "Do you really believe that? Samuel would attack and kill any PIB agent that's associated with the case. That means Abigail. Regardless of if he knows you are king or not, Abigail will be his target. And you and I both know what that vampire does to witches."

  Levi didn't want to think about it. He'd seen Samuel's handy work. "Once PIB brings in Ira, then we take Abigail into hiding." He shifted. "We can talk to Boss Man and have him put it under PIB order that she goes into protection." Levi swiped and unlocked his phone.

  "You're going to ruin everything you've worked for," Mario snarled. "Everything. Your crown, your title, your peace of mind, and your daughter."

  Levi shook his head and typed the name Ira Diaz into the message and hit enter. "A lot of the stuff she'll be looking up is restricted. If I know Ira, she won't be able to find him, but Abby can put the call in for the execution. I'll have Boss Man alter the paperwork, and make it look like Nick requested it and then we'll put Abby in protection until we know how Samuel reacts."

  "You and I both know that Boss Man won't do that and you shouldn't be making that choice without talking to the council first." Mario sighed. "You aren't thinking straight. You never do when it comes to her. Which is why we're in this mess to start with. Against advice, you brought Abigail into your care and protection."

  "It was what Elizabeth wanted. She would only be safe with me," Levi snarled and glared at Mario. "If she hadn't been with me, Ira would have slaughtered her the first moment he had a chance."

  "Oliver could have protected her," Mario shot back, and Levi lashed out with his power, slamming Mario into the wall behind him.

  "Oliver wanted to bind her magic and make her helpless. I would not let that happen to her." Levi looked into Mario's wide eyes and pulled in his power, letting Mario step away from the wall. "What's done is done." He turned away from the other vampire and started to the office. He needed to gather his thoughts and his temper. "I'm going to dig up what I can about Sol Ridge. Oliver should be here soon."

  Mario said nothing, and when Levi looked over his shoulder, Mario was gone. Guilt slid over Levi like a heavy coat. He shouldn't have lashed out at Mario. What he said was true. It was a selfish choice to agree to take in Abigail, but he wanted to be the one who made sure his daughter survived.

  He opened the door to his offi
ce, just in time for his phone to ring. "Levi speaking," he answered.

  "Levi, it's Detective Mason. I have a favor to ask of you."

  Levi closed his eyes and tried to keep the exhaustion out of his voice. "Yes? What can I do for you?"

  "I have a bunch of vampires down here that I'd like for you to talk to. Or examine, or…something."

  Levi pressed his lips together. "How many is a bunch, Detective?"

  "We recovered thirty today from a cabin near a crime scene."

  Thirty. Levi took a deep breath. "I can be there later tonight, but I have another meeting tonight that I need to take care of first."

  "Of course. They aren't going anywhere, so there's no rush. But I'm hoping to get information from them on who created them and left them in the cabin."

  "I'll send you a message when I am about to head over to the containment building. I'll talk to you later."

  "Thanks, Levi."

  Levi disconnected the call and sat the phone down on his desk. Thirty vampires, probably blood-starved, and they still needed to know what was going on in Sol Ridge.

  He sat down at his desk and sighed. Ira had been in his territory, and he somehow missed it. None of his people reported anything strange, and blood-starved vampires counted as strange in this territory. Of course, they had been on the outskirts, almost out of PIB's jurisdiction and almost in no-man's land.

  His security system beeped, and on the camera, he saw Oliver standing at the front door. Levi stood and went to let him in. Mario met him at the door.

  "Are we ready for what he has to say?" Mario motioned to the door. "Did he asked for anything for performing today's spell?"

  Levi shook his head. "No, but he didn't mention not wanting his payment for the information." He opened the door, and Oliver raised a brow.

  "Took you long enough. There's a storm rolling in, and I don't want to get caught in the rain." Oliver stepped in and kicked off his shiny dress shoes. "Where shall we talk? There is a lot to tell you, and I need my information from Mario."

  Levi nodded. "Let's go talk in the library then." He motioned to the hall. "We have a bit to discuss about Abigail as well."