No More Black Magic (23 page)

Simon pulled to a strange dirt parking lot on the side of the road. Cars of all kinds were haphazardly parked and I assumed it was other pack members. We got out and I looked around. A small trail led into the woods and suddenly there was a lump in my throat that I couldn’t breathe past.

“There’s magic around here.” I whispered. “Weres can’t be witches or warlocks.”

“Yes, but it doesn’t mean we don’t ally with them. Come on, follow me.” He held his hand out to me.

I looked at it for a moment before I decided to take it. I wanted the comfort he might be able to provide me. Our fingers interlocked and I calmed a little bit. I closed my eyes for a moment and focused. I could feel his wolf counterpart within him, another soul and another aura if I tried to see it.

He tugged on my hand and I followed him down the path and through the tall trees. I could feel others, I could feel magic below my feet. A witch had blessed the ground. It was supposed to feel like home, but since I was a stranger, it felt wrong for me to be here. It was used to welcome people and keep unwanted visitors away. It made me sick to my stomach, but I pushed on.

Simon and I came to a stop at a large cabin in a clearing. The fire department would have called the lack of trees mitigation, but I knew it was a circle, part of the spell a witch did for them. If I had to guess there was probably a mile on each side of the cabin.

“It’s beautiful.” I said and examined the logs and the design of the cabin. “How many can it house?”

“Twenty to thirty, depending on if we double up in the rooms.  Each room has two beds, but we have extra cots if need be.” He let go of my hand as someone walked out.

I’d never met the Alpha, but I knew this was him. His black hair was cut short and his brown gaze cut into me. He stood tall and demanded attention. Like Simon, he was dressed in older clothes, and I assumed it meant they wouldn’t care if they got ruined. The muscles of his arms were solid and his chest strained against the tight muscle shirt that he wore. Yeah, I wouldn’t stand a chance in a fight against this guy, even if he was human.

Simon bowed his head. “Alpha.”

“Simon, so this is her?” His eyes ran over my body and I raised a brow. I had dressed in my normal black clothes with boots. I had, as requested, left the gun in the car, but my blade was sheathed across my back, hidden by my jacket.

Simon put a hand on my back and urged me to step forward.

“I’m Abigail.” I offered my hand, but Greg grabbed my wrist and jerked me forward. I caught myself with a hand against his chest.

“You are a threat to my people, you offer me the back of your neck in submission.” He growled. “Do you understand that?”

I gritted my teeth and pulled my braid away from the back of my neck and bowed low enough that I offered it to him. My verbal answer wouldn’t have been good enough. He was trying to show off his strength, his power, and I was willing to bet other members of the pack were watching from the windows of the cabin. Arguing with him wouldn’t have done me any good.

I felt his teeth bite the back of my neck. It wasn’t enough to hurt, but enough that I knew he was trying to dominate me. The gesture felt strange in human form, but I let it go. He backed away and let go of my wrist.

I straightened up and met his gaze. I proved that I wasn’t there to threaten him, but I refused to act submissive to him in other terms. “I appreciate your invitation for tonight.”

“I figured I wouldn’t have a choice as soon as you realized that Matthew was here. You’re PIB, laws say I have to work with you. Instead, I invited you here.”

“So I’d have to follow your rules.” Smart. “If we’re playing paranormal politics, that means I must make you aware of my connections to Leviticus Felecos, ruling vampire of the Four Corners Territory.”

He bowed his head. “It is understood that you are to cause no harm while you are here.”

I had to choose my words carefully, they would bind me to the rules for the night. If I went against my word it meant that I could be killed. Levi had taught me well when it came to this. “I will not cause harm as long as my life is not threatened and I request that my witness remains alive so I can use him to close my case.”

I saw something flash in his eyes. He didn’t like my terms. Greg was silent for a few moments. “I will leave your witness alive if he provides us with the information that we need. If your life is in danger you may protect yourself physically. Magic must be restricted to protection only.”

It was the best that I was going to get; hopefully Matthew was willing to talk. “I understand your terms.”

“Good, now we can go inside.” Greg turned and started walking towards the cabin.

I looked at Simon and he gave me a small smile. I assumed it meant that I was doing a decent job at keeping myself alive. We walked in and I looked around. What looked like a cabin on the outside was a state of the art house on the inside. Everything was modern and not what I expected to find in a log cabin, there was a television on the wall in the main room. Men and women were gathered around, some were eating off paper plates, while others were drinking soda.

I hadn’t expected such a big crowd. They all turned to look at me when I walked in. A few growls trickled out of them. Simon put a hand on my back. “Keep following Greg.” He whispered.

I nodded and followed the Alpha down a hall to the right. He unlocked a door and opened it to stairs. I hadn’t seen a basement from outside, which meant that it was against code and had no windows. Fear gripped me. There would be no escape if I was walking into a trap.

“It’s okay, I’m right behind you.” Simon whispered and I followed Greg down the steps. I was going to regret this.

The stairs opened up into a large concrete room with a drain on the floor. Against the wall, in chains, was a man who was missing an arm. My three legged werewolf. His arm looked like a well-healed amputee, but he looked pretty beaten up. I wanted to ask if the local pack did the damage, but I knew the answer.

I stepped around Greg so that Matthew could see me. Greg motioned to me. “This is Agent Collins, she’s from the Paranormal Investigation Bureau. I’m sure you’ve seen her name in the headlines.”

The man nodded and then his green gaze turned to me. “So, you bring her here to torture me too?”

My heart skipped a beat, but I stayed quiet.

“No, she’s your ticket out of here. She needs you alive to be a witness to Kevin’s death.” Kevin must have been the victim in the barn and the owner of the bank box. Greg continued. “You see, if you give us the information, then you can go with her.”

“I didn’t kill him. I swear, it was a man.” Matthew gritted his teeth. “This man drew a symbol on the ground and it exploded. Kevin was right on top of it before we noticed.”

I glanced at Greg and then to Matthew. “Describe the man.”

“Tall, dark hair, insane green eyes. I don’t know what else to tell you, lady. We didn’t like the way he felt, we were both in shifted forms.”

I tried not to imagine an exploding werewolf. “How did you escape?”

Greg started to say something, but then shook his head. Matthew grinned. “He doesn’t like you taking control of this. I’ve told him the same thing over and over.”

I didn’t see why that amused him, but I pressed on. “That doesn’t answer my question. I am trying to see if what you say adds up to the crime scene. Then I can verify your story. You want to live and not be torn apart by a pack that you trespassed on, then you answer my damn questions.” I met his gaze. “You don’t answer them, then I walk away and let them do what they want.”

“As a PIB agent, you can’t do that.” He sounded so confident and a slow, deadly smile appeared on my face.

My mind was slipping into that place that it went when I killed for Levi. The part of my mind that allowed me to justify my paranoia and my actions. “Do you see a badge around my neck?”

“No.”

I lifted my jacket enough that he could see my holster was empty. “A gun?”

He started to look worried. “No.”

“I’m not here as a PIB agent, I’m here to verify your story. That’s it. And honestly, I hate being here where I know I can be ripped to shreds. So answer my damn question.”

“I got hit by a second blast, that’s when I lost my arm. It was about two miles away from the first. I fell into a ditch of some sort. Unconscious. I can tell you that there was a barn a few miles away, abandoned, because we didn’t smell any animals.” He shifted as much as he could in the chains, trying to get more comfortable. “When I woke, Kevin’s body was gone. I assumed that the man removed it.”

“Kevin’s body was in the barn, which exploded after we found it.” I crossed my arms. “You never thought to look or track the man?”

“Lady, I was missing an arm. My first thought was to get back home.”

I frowned. “You’re from the western slope. You didn’t go home. You stayed in town. I saw you at another scene.”

Greg rushed past me and grabbed Matthew’s throat. “Don’t you lie. Your heart skipped and your breathing changed.”

I glanced at Simon who had moved closer to the stairs as if guarding them. That shot my nerves up a notch. “Why didn’t you go home?”

“I caught the man’s scent on my way home and decided I was going to track him. I crossed pack territory and was taken.” He choked out.

I nodded and turned to leave. “Greg, if I may. I’d like to speak to you about Kevin’s murder.”

I didn’t even look over my shoulder. Simon moved in front of me and led the way upstairs. I could feel Greg behind me, he stayed close enough that his breath was on the back of my neck. I tried not to be affected, but the little hairs there stood up in attention. Simon led me to an office, he opened the door, but didn’t go in. I walked in and leaned against the bare wall.

Greg walked in and then motioned for Simon to leave. I didn’t give any sign that it bothered me. I was a big girl, I could handle a conversation with Alpha wolf on my own.

“Was Kevin associated with Jade Macklemore at all?”

“Yes, he helped the coven perform something, they used our land for it. It was before I was alpha, so I never asked.”

I shook my head. “He lent them the land to do a binding spell. The old pack leader had to have been in on it. You guys don’t let witches in here without knowing them first.”

“You’re saying that our pack aided in something illegal?” He snarled.

I held up my hands. “It was before binding spells were illegal. That being said, it wasn’t your whole pack, just the alpha and Kevin.”

“And Matthew?”

“He was part of the pack and a research partner with Devon’s father. I think it might have been his idea to use pack lands. He’s a witness to Kevin’s murder. Which will bring Devon to justice and probably get him to be condemned to an execution.”

“So you’ll kill him?” He chuckled. “You go from wanting your witness alive, to being willing to kill someone who was wronged.”

I shook my head. “No, I’m not an executioner. I need my witness. I need him bound in chains so he doesn’t try to kill you, your pack, or me.”

“No.” Greg snarled. “We will deal with him. Illegal or not, he helped. That means death by pack law.”

I took a deep breath. “I need him alive. What happens to him after the witness account isn’t my business.”

“I don’t think you heard me, Abigail. You will not be getting him. He may not be accountable for Jon’s death, but he did something against pack law.” He took a step towards me.

“You’re going against your word.” I remained calm. “That’s also against Pack law.”

He chuckled. “I am the alpha.” He jumped towards me and I dived for the door. He missed me and ran into the shelf. “You aren’t welcome here, Abigail.” A growl trickled from his throat.

I cursed and threw open the door. Simon was nowhere to be found, but there were a bunch of people there, many of them, their eyes yellow.

“Release Matthew! We shall hunt and have our vengeance. He has gone against pack law.” Greg grabbed my wrist and threw me away from the door. “Run if you dare, Abigail.” He rushed through the crowd and they all followed him out of the house. I stood there, shocked for a moment and unsure what to do.

To go into the forest blindly while the wolves hunted meant that I would be killed. To stay here would be essentially trespassing and Greg would have me hunted. My options were not looking great. I heard howling outside. Maybe if I stayed on the path I’d survive. I looked up to see Simon there.

“I’m sorry, Abby.” His face held sorrow and he moved his arm as if to reach out to me, but thought better of it.

“You let him use me to condemn Matthew.” I clenched my fist. “I have to depend on you to get me out of here. How can I trust you?”

He shook his head. “I didn’t know that’s what he was going to do, but we don’t have time to argue.” He tossed me keys. “I’ll catch a ride back to town. You get out of here.”

So I couldn’t trust him to get me out. Fucking fantastic. I grabbed the car keys. “Just follow the path?”

He nodded. “I’ll keep it as clear as I can for you. Greg won’t be happy that I’m protecting you, but he’ll have to get over it.”

His body started to shake and I could see the bones and muscles move under his skin. Snapping and wet sounds filled the room as his body changed. He hunched over onto all fours and looked at me as his face changed. It lengthened into a muzzle and a growl came from him. In a burst of energy black fur flowed over his body. His head came up to my chest and his yellow eyes met my gaze. He nudged me and I started out. The house was empty, the clearing was too, but I could hear the howls in the distance. Goddess protect me, I was going to try and make it past a bunch of werewolves on a hunt.

I took a deep breath and kissed my pentagram. I darted through the clearing and to the path. My feet crunched on the gravel and I found myself glad I’d worn my combat boots. They weren’t great for running, but at least they’d keep traction. The howls started to get closer, but I refused to look behind me. I had to trust Simon that he would keep the path clear and just look forward.

Footsteps came behind me and I risked a glance. Matthew, with his one arm, was gaining on me. Why the hell didn’t he shift? I picked up my speed, but should have remembered that he was a werewolf. My heart pounded and my lungs burned. I was pushing too hard for not warming up first, but my life was in danger. Warming up was not an option.