Page 12 of The Vampire and the Tattooist (The Vampire and Series Book 4)
Gabriel closed the portal and looked around. They had come out in his office.
“Shall we start here?” Ian asked.
Gabriel shook his head. “No, we need to go to Leonard’s rooms and look in his secret room. Hopefully everything we need will be there,” he said, walking to the door and unlocking it with magic before opening it and waving them all out so he could lock the door afterwards. There were few people he trusted in the coven, so locking all important rooms no one else could enter was necessary.
Sean and Kayden led the way towards the stairs. The coven house was quiet, which worried Gabriel. “Sean, Kayden, can you guys have a wander round and find out if everyone is still hiding in their rooms or have even packed up and left?”
“We can do that,” Sean said. He and Kayden changed directions and walked down the hall towards the kitchen while Gabriel led Ian, Ivan, and Neill up to Leonard’s room.
“I take it it’s not always this quiet?” Neill asked.
Ian snorted but didn’t say anything.
“No, coven members took to their rooms when the bombings started,” Gabriel told them before stopping and looking at them. “Sorry, I should have asked if you knew what happened here.”
“We’ve heard chatter. That your brother and a man called Kay and some others tried to kill you, killed some coven members, and were into illegal stuff,” Ivan said.
“Pretty much. We found out that one of the big things they were into was paranormal child trafficking. There was also money laundering and probably a host of other things we don’t yet know about,” Gabriel replied.
“But you’ve caught everyone involved?” Neill asked.
“Honestly, I have no idea. The ones we questioned said it was only them, Roberto, Kay, and Leonard, but David offered his expertise in looking into everyone.”
“Yep, he asked me to do a deep background on everyone belonging to the coven. I have a programme running now doing deep searches on everyone,” Ivan told him.
“Thank you,” Gabriel said, carrying on walking before stopping at a door and looking it over. “Someone has tried to break down my spell.”
“Do you know the magic?” Ian asked.
“I’m not sure. I’ll get my magic to remember it so I can look later.”
“You can do that?” Ian asked in surprise.
Gabriel grinned. “I guess we’ll find out.” He looked at the door and placed his hand on it, opening it. “Let me check the room first,” he said, standing in the doorway. He sent his magic out looking for any bombs. He found three. “I need to defuse three bombs. Once I do that, you can come in.”
“Do you know where they are?” Neill said, looking around confused.
“I do. You can come and look, but stand where I tell you, and if I say move, move.”
Gabriel walked to the first one, which was on one of the bedside tables. “Okay, come and stand round me, but stay behind.”
The three walked over.
“I don’t see a bomb,” Ivan said, looking confused.
“Witch bombs 101,” Ian said. “They’re different from anything you’ve ever seen. It could be a strand of hair, a chip on something, anything can be a witch bomb.”
“Look at the lamp. At a quick glance, it looks perfect, right?” Gabriel asked.
“Yes,” Neill said.
“No, there is a slight chip on the left side at the base. The chip is lying next to it,” Ivan said.
“And that’s the bomb,” Gabriel said. He pushed his magic into the lamp and deactivated the bomb and fixed the chip. “There, one down, two to go.”
“That’s actually incredible,” Neill said.
“It really is,” Ian said. “The one we encountered was a random strand of hair.”
“How did you undo it?” Ivan asked.
Ian shook his head. “We didn’t. We tripped that sucker before we could figure out how to undo it.”
“Where is the next one?” Neill asked.
“Over here.” Gabriel led them to the wardrobe. “Now I’m going to help you slightly with this one. It’s on this side,” he said, pointing to the left side. “Have a look without moving forward and see if you can find it.”
The three men looked, and after a minute, Ian spoke. “Third scroll down, the flower on the left, the petal is pointing the wrong way.”
Gabriel nodded. “Yes.”
“That’s so tiny,” Ivan said.
“It is. That”s why witch bombs are so hard to find.” Gabriel pushed his magic into the bomb and diffused it, and the petal went back into its proper position. “Now this one, I’m not sure I would have discovered it without my magic,” He led them to the fireplace. “Don’t move in front of me but see if you can find it.”
The three men looked, and after a few minutes, Neill let out a frustrated breath. “I can’t see it. Everything looks normal.”
“I think I’ve found it,” Ivan said. “One of the threads is broken on the spider”s web.”
Gabriel nodded. “Yes.”
Ian whistled. “I never would have got that one.”
Gabriel disabled the last bomb. “And now the room is safe. We just need to find his secret room.”
Just then, Sean and Kayden walked in. “Can you not find the secret room?” Sean asked.
“We haven’t started looking yet. We — and by we, I mean Gabe — had to sort out the bombs first,” Ian told them.
“What did you find out?” Gabe asked his friends.
“So, there has been no new killings. Those that work outside the coven house are still going to work, but otherwise, people are sticking to their rooms for the moment,” Kayden said.
“The bodies in the dining room have been taken away, but we couldn’t find out where they were taken or who took them, and Rafe is with Sheldon, keeping him company,” Sean added.
“Well that’s something, at least,” Ian said.
Just then, Gabriel’s phone rang. He pulled it out. “It’s Mathis,” he said, clicking the answer button. “Hey, vampy.”
“Hey, little witch. Can we borrow you for a few minutes?”
“Yep, give me two minutes and I’ll be there.”
“See you in a moment.”
“You will,” Gabe said, hanging up. “I’m needed at the vamps. If I find the secret room, can you five start having a look and I’ll join you as soon as I can?”
“We can do that,” Kayden said.
Gabe sent his magic out, and the bookcase swung open. He also checked for bombs but there weren’t any. “There you go. Have fun, and I’ll be back soon.” And with that, he opened a portal and reappeared in the vampires’ kitchen.