My stomach churned at the thought of a child going through the same torture. What kind of person would do such a thing?
One that was crazy with power. Wasn’t that the way it always seemed to go. Power corrupted.
“She’s going to be okay.” Merick’s words made me open my eyes.
“Mentally?”
“I don’t know, Abby. That type of damage was done deliberately to cause pain. Liz is awake and would like to see you.”
I pushed off the wall. “Did Oliver heal her?”
“A little, yes.”
Always like Oliver, just enough so he wouldn’t be caught. “Okay.” I walked into the room.
Oliver was sitting by the bed with a bowl of water, talking softly to Liz. “You need to stay still. Abigail will be here in a moment. You can give her instructions.”
“I’m here now.” I walked up to the bed and looked at Liz. “You look like shit.”
She snorted and then cringed. “I’ll need to go to the hospital. To keep the integrity of the case.”
“Which is why Oliver only healed you a little bit.”
Oliver stood and walked out of the room. “Liz, what the hell were you thinking?”
“I was going to get her, Abby. I was going to kill her for what she’d done. As soon as…” She stopped and coughed a little bit. “As soon as I saw that first scene, I knew she was back. But…” She hung her head. “I wasn’t expecting her to have so many followers. I took out what I could, but each time she wasn’t at that location. Then I went to the third location, and it was like she was waiting for me.”
Another red flag.
“I was given your location.” I locked my jaw. “By your sister.”
“Gabby? Or Jude?”
“Gabby. Jude’s phone has been disconnected.”
She nodded. “Jude went into hiding. Gabby was supposed to.” She sat up. “Call her now.”
I called Gabby’s phone and put it on speaker. “Agent Collins, was I right?”
“Where did you get my location Gabby?” Liz asked, without letting me answer.
The phone disconnected, and Liz cursed. “Once I get released from the hospital, I’ll fill you in on the rest. But right now, I have to act the part of a victim. Do not do anything stupid without me, Abigail.”
I snorted. “I can’t do anything stupid. I get back from vacation on Monday, and Nick will be glued to me.”
“That bastard is back?”
I nodded. “Said he was undercover.”
“O’Donald?”
“Going along with it. Let’s get you to the hospital.”
“O’Donald can’t know that you’re near this.”
I nodded. “I’m going to let Oliver and Merick work that out. I await your call.” I stood up. “I’m glad we found you.”
“But what’s the cost?” She whispered before closing her eyes.
I tried not to think about her words as I walked out of the room. Merick stood there. “I’ll be taking her to the hospital. Your uncle would like to speak with you.”
“I’m sure. Thank you for having my back tonight.”
Merick put a hand on my shoulder. “I’ll always have your back, Abigail.” He walked into the room.
I made my way to Oliver’s office and knocked.
“Come in, Abigail.”
I walked in and took a seat. Part of me felt like I was in trouble, but the other part of me was just exhausted as the adrenaline faded. “Merick said you wanted to see me.”
“Yes, I’ll have to take you home tonight, but first, I want to talk about that little comment about you being changed.”
I sighed. “Mario said it was up for discussion to change me now or wait until Samuel kills me.”
“Why was Mario talking to you about that?”
I took a deep breath. “Because I threw secrets in his face and pissed him off.”
Oliver folded his hands and put them on the desk. “That was a point of discussion at the council meeting the other night.”
“It’s my choice. It shouldn’t be up for discussion by a council.”
“The idea was how to keep you safe, that was just brought up. If Samuel was to take you and change you, you’d be his fledgling.”
I cringed. “Which means that he would be able to control me.”
“Exactly. The other worry was if Levi changed you. His blood runs in your veins, and there’s some worry that Samuel could still control you now, even as a witch.”
I shook my head. “Samuel has had the chance to try that.”
“So it was discussed that Mario change you.”
“No.” The objection came out of my mouth without me even thinking about it. “Hannah is his maker. That’s not much better of a choice.” I shook my head. “I can keep myself safe. I did with Ira…”
He raised a brow.
“Okay, I had help from you.”
He chuckled. “Only because I acted as a distraction. I feel that you would have been able to take him out either way. The council is agreeing that changing you is too far. That you better serve the King as a witch and not as a new vampire. A new vampire requires work. They are a danger to themselves, and Levi doesn’t need the extra distraction.”
“Good. Now, I’d like to go home and get some sleep. I have a feeling Mason will be calling early tomorrow.”
Oliver nodded and stood. “I won’t let them change you, Abigail.”
“If they do, you have to promise to stake me.”
There was no answer as he put his hand on my shoulder and took me back home.
After Oliver dropped me off at home, I texted Simon that I was home safe and then texted Levi saying I needed the Hummer. Two seconds later, there was a knock on the door.
I let Levi in. “Before you decide to yell at me for not having a guard at
