No More Black Magic (17 page)

“Thanks, I’ll see you around, Abigail.” He let himself out of the office and Simon shook his head.

“I don’t like him.”

I raised a brow. “Really? Why?”

“Just something about him feels off.” He sighed. “Stay away from him Abby, he’s trouble.”

I laughed. “Who’s being paranoid now?”

“Abby...”

I nodded. “Don’t worry, that’s why I told him I’d contact him after the case was over. If he’s connected, he’ll either be long gone, or he’ll be arrested.” Wouldn’t that give me satisfaction? I gave a happy sigh, but then snapped out of it. “Okay, we need to head to the college.”

“Teacher victim?” He asked and I nodded.

“She taught a paranormal class there and I’m hoping someone can shed some light on things for us.”

I grabbed my papers and put them in my bag before heading out. Simon followed and we headed towards the elevator, but we both slowed when we realized that Nick was still waiting for it.

My phone rang and both Simon and I stopped completely. I picked it up. “Agent Collins.”

“Abby, I got a warrant and got into the safety deposit box.” Mason’s voice sounded shaky. “You’ll want to get down here.”

“I was on my way to check out another lead, but I’ll head there. Wait, where is there?” I asked and met Simon’s gaze. I mouthed ‘something’s wrong with Mason.’

“First National bank, Fifth and Main.”

I wasn’t far away. “Great, I’ll be there in just a few minutes.” I disconnected the phone and saw Nick staring at us. I grabbed Simon’s arm and led him to the stairs.

We took them two at a time. “What did you mean something was wrong with Mason?”

“He was shook up. I can’t imagine what he found in a safety deposit box that would affect him that much.” We came out of the stairwell, dropped his badge off at the desk, and ran to the car.

I wasn’t sure why we were running, maybe we both didn’t want to get distracted by Nick. Apparently I’d rather face a mysterious box than a boy from the past. Hell, I was four, there was no past there.

We got into the car and I gunned it to the bank.

There were no cop cars around the bank like I expected, so I assumed that Mason wanted to keep it quiet. I looked at Simon and he nodded. “Yeah, I know. I’ll stay here.” He cranked the radio up and leaned the seat back.

I jumped out of the car and moved my agent badge to the front of my pants so it was no longer hidden. I ran a hand through my hair, trying to make myself look a little more appropriate and then walked into the bank. The security guard’s eyes went straight to my badge and then to my face.

“Right this way, Agent Collins.” He led me to the backroom where I found Detective Mason and a man in a three piece suit standing over a metal box.

The security guard didn’t come in, but he shut the door behind me. I crossed my arms and looked at them. “You’re both pale, please don’t tell me it’s another body part.”

“No, no more body parts.” Mason motioned to the box.

I walked around the little square table in the room and looked down. In it was a picture of a little boy. I looked closer and saw the clear residue over the picture, the rune of a binding spell. They were all trained to see it, know it, in all languages if they were going to be anywhere near paranormal investigations.

My heart sank. I had no way of telling who this child was, how old the picture was. A binding spell was dangerous; it locked away the magic of a particular person. Normally you had to have something special to the person or a piece of them. And if left active too long it could cut the life of the person short.

There was just one thing about this spell. “It’s not active.”

“What?” Mason asked and he sounded relieved. I nodded.

“Whatever they used to draw the rune, it faded away, leaving just the residue behind. It was meant almost like a time release capsule.” I bit my lip and pulled the picture up out of the box. It came up with a sound that made us all cringe. The photo had stuck to the metal.

“Is there any history on this box? How long it’s been here? How often someone came to visit it?”

“I can get it for you.” The bank manager said and disappeared out of the room.

I looked at Mason. “You thought it was an active one.”

He nodded. “I did, we’re just taught what they look like and told not to touch it until someone from PIB came.”

“Yeah, luckily for us, this one wasn’t active. We need to know who the child in the picture is and then we need to find them.” My mind spun with the possibilities of what this could mean. “Figure out if they have any connections with our other victims.”

“What are you thinking, Abby?”

I took a deep breath. “That this might be a revenge killing.”

“And the others?”

“Same thing. Binding spells are not easy, we know all of our victims so far have ties in the magical world. It could have been a group effort.”

“What’s the advantage of that?” He asked and I flipped the picture over.

1989 was scrawled on the back in fading black ink. So the person would be my age.

“Sharing the tinting of the aura and to make a more powerful binding.” I showed him the back where the date was. “Luckily for us, I think this child grew up, which means we’re not dealing with a minor.”

“You don’t sound too relieved.”

I shook my head. “Just another piece of the puzzle and nothing is fitting together. We have people who are related to research on the Cult, a child who was bound, someone who is mimicking the Cult. Mason, we’re missing something.”

“You said you were going to go work a lead?” He took the picture from me.

“Our newest victim, the owner of the lock box, was a teacher at the college. I’m going to go talk to her colleagues and see if I can’t find something out.” I sighed. “We need a break.”

“What’s your next step after that?” He asked. “We’re chasing shadows right now, Abby.”

He didn’t have to remind me of that. “I’m going to do another tracking spell and I have a meeting with one of the coven priestesses tonight. I’m hoping she’ll be able to tell me something.”

I glanced at my watch.

“Okay, do what you need to do. We need to bring this person in.”

He looked down at the photo. “Who would bind a child?”

“Maybe they thought they were protecting him.” I shrugged and started towards the door. “Or maybe those involved didn’t really understand what they were doing.” I walked out without saying anything else. The bank manager walked up with the papers.

“The box was originally owned by a Kevin Smith, instructions were to give Ms. Maclamore the box upon his death.”

“Hand them to Detective Mason, I’m doing foot work.” I’d see if I could try to make a connection between Kevin and Jade. I tried to smile, but I didn’t feel it. All this case was giving me was confusion. It wasn’t often that a case had this many pieces and I needed to start drawing them out. Digging deeper, but I needed a name that went with that innocent face on the picture.

Who could bind a child? Morally? My mind drifted to Oliver and my heart fell. That child could have been me, if he’d gotten his way. I could have been powerless all through my childhood. Goddess only knew what would have happened if Levi hadn’t been the one to take me in.

Simon looked at me from the open car window “You look grim.”

“I can’t talk about it.” I shook my head. “Let’s get to the school and see if I can get any more answers.” Hopefully Detective Mason would call me if he found out the identity of the child in the photo.

A bad feeling crept through me. I tried to shake it off, but it didn’t want to leave me. It meant that something stuck to my aura and I had to wonder if it wasn’t a bit of magical residue from the binding spell. I started the car and headed out.

The school was like any other college. Students bustled around from place to place, some buried in books, others with their gazes glued to their phones, but they all carried big bags and walked with a sense of purpose. Simon and I finally found the administration’s office and stepped in. I took a deep breath, glad to be out of the fast paced crowd of students.

“Can I help you?” The woman looked up from the computer screen at the counter.

I pulled my badge off my belt and showed it to her. “I’m Agent Abigail Collins, and I’m looking into the death of one of your professors.”

“Oh poor Jade”, the woman sighed. “Yes, I was wondering how long until you came to talk to us.”

It was great when people actually worked with me and not against me.

“I suppose you’ll want to see her classroom? I’ll also have a list of students for you.”

She was almost too prepared.

“Ma’am, have you had to deal with something like this before?” I asked gently. No one was this prepared for me or any law enforcement for that matter.

She nodded. “I have. Not the same type of situation, but a few years ago one of our teachers was shot. I handled everyone who came in to talk to the students and staff.”

Tough job, but someone had to do it and this woman was perfectly calm and relaxed about it. That rubbed me the wrong way. “If you know which students have magical abilities, or if there was anyone who audited the class, please mark them. I need to know those in particular.”

That caught her attention, her gaze shot to mine and she nodded. “Of course.” She pulled out a map and a key. She drew two Xs on it. “You’re here.” She pointed to one and then to the other. “That’s her class room. She never switched rooms, she never shared it. It was part of her contract with the school.” She handed me the key. “This is so you can get in. I’ll have the list for you when you return.”

She sat back down and turned to the computer. I glanced at Simon who shrugged. He seemed to do that a lot around me. I was starting to wonder if he really didn’t understand. Of course the woman had caught me off guard too. I turned and left the office, the hall was still busy, but it seemed many of the students had cleared out and made it to their destinations.

I looked at the map and groaned. Why did campuses have to be so big?

W
e fought our way through the crowd and stopped halfway to the classroom for coffee. Simon and I stood in front of the classroom door sipping the mediocre brew. We stared at the door and I felt that we both were avoiding going in. I was physically tired, but I needed to get to the bottom, get a clue of something.

I slid the key into the lock and twisted it. The first thing I felt was a ward click into place. The magic marched down my arms and I found myself wondering how she managed to get one in place like that. Of course, she was dead, so I couldn’t ask her. I walked in and looked around.

Runes in our coven’s language covered the walls, purple light coming from them. My breath caught as I felt nothing but peace when I walked in the room. Wards, protecting wards. I felt the smile cross my face as I walked slowly to the middle of the room and closed my eyes.

“Abby?” Simon asked.

I opened my eyes and he stood right in front of me. “Can you see the runes?”

He shook his head. “No, but I can feel the effects. What do you think it means?”

“That she was powerful, but also that she was scared of something. I have a hard time imagining someone who was this peaceful had anything to do with what was at the bank.” But of course everyone had their pasts. I looked around the classroom. “There’s no way anything bad could happen in here, but I’m surprised the runes are still active.”

He nodded. “Your magic normally dies with you.”

“As soon as the soul abandons the body, but she did die only two nights ago.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” He crossed his arms.

I started to march up the stadium-like seating and look at desks for anything out of the ordinary. Even the desks had runes drawn on them. “The Irish believe that it takes three days for the soul to actually leave the body.”

“So her magic could still be active.” Simon caught on. “What do you think she was so scared of?”

“What makes you think she was scared?” I came back down and went to her desk, pulling out drawers and looking for something that would give me a clue.

“I may not be able to see them, but I know that there are protection runes all over. I can feel them. No one puts up that many wards without being scared of something.”

Paranoia. I clicked my tongue. “I don’t know, it might have something to do with that lock box. She would have been what in 1989? Twenty something? Young?”

“You’re twenty something, so am I.” He laughed. “You consider us young, that’s good.”

I rolled my eyes. “You’re twenty seven, I’m twenty four, my parents were killed twenty years ago. She would have been just about twenty.” I sighed. “Maybe she got mixed up in something stupid. Witches are just starting to discover their powers at this age.”

“Except for you, you seem to have mastered them already.”

The tone in his voice made me look up. “I have got to get you a book on witches.” I made my voice light, even though he had been serious. “I’m not even at the height of my powers yet.”

“No wonder why the Cult wants you dead.”

Yeah, no wonder. I flipped open a planner I’d found in the desk. My eyes grew wide as there was another picture of the child taped to the inside of it. My heart stopped beating for a moment. What the hell?

“You found something.” Simon came bounding over to me and I shut the planner. And got an evidence bag out of my bag. “Yeah, but I can’t show you.” She had known the child. Could the child have been hers? It was a possibility. The child would be only a couple years older than me.

I pulled out my phone and texted Mason about what I found. “I need to drop this off at the lab and then I need to try and get your club done.”

“Why now?” He asked as I slid the planner into my bag.

“Because I’m in the mood to do some blood magic tonight.” I had extra energy that I needed to get out and using a stronger form of magic would help “I have to do the tracking from the chamber so that’s out of the question.” I needed to do something that would ground me. I was taken aback by today. I needed to get myself back into the right headspace. “And I have to meet with Michele tonight, so I can’t go back to the mansion until that is done.”