I opened my door to see Levi getting ready to knock. “Hey.”
“Are you ready?”
I nodded. “Yeah, let’s get this over with. I’d like to get to bed before midnight tonight.”
“Big plans for tomorrow?” He asked, and there was a playful tone back in his voice.
“Oh yes, lots of television watching and introducing Liz to how vampires shop for humans. I do hope you stocked the fridge up enough for two of us.”
“I’ll have someone go out tomorrow to make sure I have enough coffee.”
I chuckled until I saw Mario turn the corner. I knew he’d be coming, and though the tension between the two of us seemed to have lightened earlier in the evening, I didn’t really want him by my side.
“Princess.” He bowed his head.
“Mario.” I didn’t nod or anything. I didn’t want to deal with politics tonight. Levi put a hand on my shoulder.
“Ready?”
“Yeah.” I closed my eyes when he transported us to wherever the chosen meeting place was.
When I opened my eyes, we weren’t in the dark stone hallways of an ancient castle like I was used to. We were in the hallway of a house that had light pink wallpaper with white teapots.
I glanced at Levi and Mario. “What?”
“Catalina’s summer home,” Levi whispered, and he couldn’t keep the smile from crossing his face.
“Huh, she doesn’t strike me as a pink and tea kind of person.”
Catalina’s voice came from behind me. “There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Princess.”
I turned to face her. “That is very true.”
She motioned for us to finish walking down the hallway. “Meeting room is the last door on the right.”
We all walked down the hall on the pristine wood floor and stopped at the door. Levi opened it.
Most houses didn’t have a freaking command center just chilling out in a room. Catalina’s did.
Monitors covered one wall, and the window had a custom steel shutter over it. Oscar, Tabitha, Warren, and Helena sat at a table across from the screens in chairs that swiveled. Catalina went and sat in another one while Mario and Levi led me to sit at the head of the table.
I resisted the urge to swivel in my chair like I did at the office when I sat down. I looked at everyone but waited for Levi to speak.
“Good evening, everyone.” Levi motioned to the screens. “And thank you to Catalina for the use of her command center.”
Currently, all the screens were black.
“Princess Abigail’s safety is the highest concern right now. As many of you know, Samuel is making himself known.” He glanced at me, and I didn’t make a face or anything to show my dislike for the situation.
“We are using this time to try and work through some of the recent events. The shooting, Abigail’s partner returning from the dead, and the case that we recovered the vampires from.”
I wasn’t going to correct him that Liz technically recovered the vampires. The monitors flickered to life, and on each screen was a different image. The first screen held the lady I’d seen the day of the shooting. “This woman was found watching the chaos of the shooting. As if she knew she was safe from being hit. She showed no fear.” Catalina pointed to the screen.
“Where did you get this picture from?”
“From the security camera across the street. Why?”
“Because I saw her as I was walking to the coffee shop. She nodded at me like she knew who I was. I figured she was someone you guys sent to watch during the day, but Levi confirmed it wasn’t one of yours.”
Catalina nodded. “So she’s not anyone you know then?”
I shook my head. “No.”
Tabitha made a note.
“Thrills was around a few years ago, being sold by a vampire. The drug itself isn’t new,” I stated.
Catalina nodded. “But weaponizing it is.”
She had a good point there.
“I’d like to talk about the vampires. I need to know what they had to say about their captivity.” I really didn’t like that half the meeting was focused on my safety.
Catalina glanced at Levi, who nodded. “They are recovering well now that they are feeding. They were kept from blood sources, sliced with silver, stitched up with silver thread. In one word…”
“Torture.” I pressed my lips together. “Thank you.”
“Does it line up with what Liz had done?” Levi asked.
I nodded. “It does. We know who’s doing it, and as soon as my party is over, Liz and I are going to hunt the witch down.”
“Assuming Samuel doesn’t give Levi another order. There’s a reason Samuel has demanded Levi keep you at the mansion,” Warren stated.
“I’ve very well aware that there is a reason behind it. We’ll find out what it is soon enough, but as you all know, I refuse to hide and cower. Liz and I will be going after Adrianna as soon as I can without putting Levi or myself in Samuel’s warpath.”
Everyone stared at me for a moment, and Catalina snorted. “Okay, Princess.”
She pointed to the second screen. This is the house that the vampires were found at. We’ve put surveillance on it, but all we’ve seen is PIB and Mason’s crew there.
I studied the picture. I knew most of Mason’s crew, and there was one person there that wasn’t part of it. “Catalina, can you zoom in on the picture, on the person on the left.”
She nodded and zoomed in. I studied the face and tried to place it. The hair was light, but it looked like a wig. I frowned as I tried to place just the face. In my mind, I
