All Hell Breaks Loose (The Hellcat Series)

by Sharon Hannaford

  The only warning she had was a low growl before a huge, dark form launched itself at her from the roof of a squat warehouse. She instinctively dropped to a crouch and threw herself sideways, avoiding the razor-sharp fangs that had been aimed at the back of her neck, but taking a heavy paw to the shoulder. It knocked her to the ground and sent the dart gun spinning from her hand. She cursed, allowing the momentum to roll her away from the beast before coming to her feet in a quick, fluid movement. She stayed crouched low, ignoring the numbness in her shoulder, the taser aimed and ready. The enormous wolf spun as it landed, its speed belying its sheer size, and rushed her again with jaws open and single-minded rage in its ice-blue eyes. She evaded the brutal charge, leaping over the wolf to land lightly behind it, but the damn thing was fast and was facing her as soon as she had the taser ready. They eyed each other warily for a split second, reassessing. She didn’t think it was going to be possible to get close enough to taser this one.

  Running footsteps told her Kyle had heard the commotion. She could hear him calling in the support crews, who were waiting a few blocks away in specially equipped, reinforced vans. They all knew the key to this mission was to get the wolf subdued and into a van as quickly as possible. One of the drivers was also a Werewolf, so they could call on him if they needed to. The rest would be under orders to remain in the vans until the wolf was under control. Lycanthropy infection was often fatal to the Magi and Shape-shifters, who made up the rest of the support crew. Gabi figured the wolf would now realise he was outnumbered and submit quietly. As Kyle rounded the corner in a dead run, the wolf’s attention flicked to the new threat, and Gabi cast a quick look around for her missing dart gun.

  The one second loss of concentration cost her, as the wolf struck again without warning. She only barely had enough time to get her arm in between the saliva-slick fangs and her throat as four hundred pounds of muscle, fur and sinew ploughed into her, thumping her into the cold tarmac and knocking the breath from her lungs. Not even her Kevlar-reinforced jacket sleeve could keep all the knife-edged fangs from her flesh. She felt the crushing burn as the massive jaws clamped down on her arm and a fang pierced deep into her elbow. A vicious snarl tore from its chest as it fought to get to her vulnerable throat. If she’d had the breath, she’d have screamed in fury at the creature but instead used her free arm to bury the taser into its neck. She needed to get free of the wolf or risk being tasered herself. As she prepared to heave the wolf away, a second wolf, larger than the first and eerily quiet, crashed the party.

  It rushed in, clamped its enormous jaws into the neck of the first wolf, and ripped it bodily from Gabi, throwing it against a nearby wall. Kyle’s wolf was astonishing to see, even for Gabi, who’d seen it hundreds of times. The sheer size and grace of the creature was breathtaking. As the two wolves faced each other in a stand-off, Gabi finally managed to drag a painful breath of air into her lungs and roll to her knees. As she quickly scanned the alley, a third, almost black, Werewolf charged onto the scene. Gabi sighed in relief when it came to a stop at Kyle’s shoulder, also facing down the new wolf. It was the Driver, Rory. Gabi’s eyes finally fell on what she was seeking. She grabbed the small dart gun and spun back to the fight just as the rogue wolf launched itself at Kyle.

  As the two wolves tussled, Gabi calmly walked within range and fired two darts into the unknown wolf’s hindquarters. It broke off the attack on Kyle to spin and glare venomously at her before it slowly collapsed to the ground, growling deep in its throat.

  The two other wolves moved to stand protectively between her and the downed wolf until it gave a final snarl and subsided into a deep sleep.

  “Okay,” Gabi sighed, “you two can stop acting like idiots and help me get him into the van.” She tucked the dart gun into a small holster behind her back and bent to pick up the taser. “I’m not hauling him in by myself.” She indicated vaguely in their direction with the taser before tucking it in a pocket.

  The smaller, darker wolf gave a small whuff and loped off back the way he’d come. Kyle’s larger, sand-coloured wolf cocked its head at her for a second; the blue-grey eyes held concern. A second later, Kyle, in human form, was pushing off the ground and striding towards her. Stark naked, of course, but they’d long ago stopped feeling uncomfortable about trivialities of that sort. That kind of attitude towards one another had, for years, fuelled rumours that their relationship was more than simply platonic. That was before her recent, not-as-secret-as-she-had-thought hook-up with Julius, the oh-so-sexy, oh-so-powerful Master Vampire of the City. According to Kyle, the entire membership of the SMV as well as the greater part of the ‘Community’ (as the greater supernatural family referred to themselves) was discussing her relationship with Julius in great detail. She would’ve been interested to know what conclusions they’d drawn because she had no idea how to quantify the status of the relationship. She’d only seen him twice in the past six weeks, and both of those times he had been polite, concerned and unreachably remote.

  “Are you okay?” Kyle’s concerned question brought her back to the worries of the present.

  Gabi rolled her eyes. “I’m fine,” she said in a warning voice. “A few bruises, nothing serious.”

  “He had your elbow in his jaws,” Kyle persisted. “Let me see.”

  “Kevlar reinforced, remember?” she said, holding up her arm to show him the padded jacket sleeve. She was careful to keep the tooth hole out of his line of sight.

  He raised one eyebrow at her. “We both know that doesn’t protect against everything.”

  She remained mutinously silent.

  “And even with the stink around here, I can smell the blood,” he said, “so just give up and show me the wound.”

  “Arghhhhhh,” she growled. “It’s fine, it’s nothing. Stop fussing.” Not that it was feeling fine. It hurt like a son of a bitch.

  “What’s nothing?” a female voice asked as a van pulled up to the two of them. The brown-haired woman who hopped out and threw Kyle some clothes looked barely more than a girl. She chastely averted her gaze as Kyle dressed, but Gabi knew she was no blushing youngster. Melinda had been a Medic for the SMV for several years before Gabi joined as a Hunter. She was a Mage Healer and a very gifted one at that.

  “Gabi was bitten by the Werewolf,” Kyle told Melinda as he finished pulling on his jeans.

  Gabi glared at him. “Traitor!”

  “What?” Melinda demanded in shock. “Let me see. Rory, my medical kit. Now!”

  A second van pulled up, and pandemonium erupted as Melinda’s sudden alarm infected the rest of the crew.

  Gabi gestured to the barely controlled chaos in exasperation. “You see?” she grumbled at Kyle. “Look at the bedlam you create. It’s one tooth mark that we could’ve dressed at home without all the fuss.”

  Kyle simply grinned, unrepentant.

  “It’s okay, everyone,” she shouted over the hubbub. Nobody took any notice of her until she grabbed Melinda by a shoulder and shook her lightly. “Calm down, Melinda,” she shouted at the Medic. “Have you forgotten I’m immune to the virus?”

  Melinda stopped trying to pull from her grip, the fear on her face turning to dawning comprehension. The panic left her features and relief flooded in.

  “Of course! How could I have forgotten that?” she said, slapping a palm to her forehead. “Sorry, Gabi. Sorry for the panic, everyone.” She set the medical kit down and took a deep, calming breath.

  Kyle ruffled her hair like an annoying older brother, a broad smile on his face. “It’s understandable, she does usually manage to avoid getting bitten,” he said in a loud aside, grinning when Gabi narrowed her eyes at him. “She still needs the bite looked at, but let’s get the new wolf loaded and secure first.”

  The team sprang into action with the ease of long practice. Minutes later, the first van was on its way back to SMV headquarters, carrying the still-sedated Werewolf.

  “Shouldn’t he have shifted back by now?” Gabi asked Kyle as they w
atched the departing van turn the corner.

  “Hmm.” Kyle considered the question. “Sometimes with real newbies you have to actually coach them into shifting back. Even the unconscious mind isn’t strong enough to overcome the wolf. It could be that he shifted at the last full moon and hasn’t been able to shift back yet.”

  Gabi frowned. “I didn’t know that could happen.”

  “It’s one of the reasons we’re so quick to try and get to newly turned Werewolves, and why there’s such a strict code of conduct enforced by the Pack leaders,” Kyle explained. “It’s rare that one is turned and left to fend for himself. There’s a harsher punishment for that than if you turn someone by accident and report it immediately to your Pack leader.”

  Gabi finally capitulated to Melinda’s attentions and sat down in the open doorway of the second van.

  “Could it be a Lone Wolf?” she asked Kyle. “One who was just passing through? Don’t they often have less self-control than those in Packs?” She hissed in a breath as Melinda started pulling off her jacket. The Medic knew better than to try cutting through the toughened fabric.

  “Sorry,” Melinda breathed, “almost off.”

  Gabi winced as the sleeve slid off her injured elbow and the extent of the bruising was revealed.

  “Good one,” Kyle said, admiring the deep red and purple marks. “Where’s the bite?”

  Although Gabi gave him a withering look, she was relieved that he’d given up the overly protective crap. She turned her hand palm-up and exposed the tender inside of her elbow where an ugly half-inch-wide hole was seeping blood. “Now, what about the Lone Wolf theory,” she prodded Kyle, directing her attention away from the wound as Melinda set to cleaning and stitching it.

  Gabi was trying to pay attention to what Kyle was saying, but an ominous feeling had the hairs on the back of her neck prickling. She tilted her head slightly, concentrating, trying to get a better sense of the threat.

  “Gabi.” Kyle’s voice brought her back to the van and the sting of Melinda injecting her with something. “What’s up?” Kyle knew her well enough that he was already on instant alert.

  “I’m not sure,” she replied slowly, expanding her senses again. “But I think we’re being watched.”

  Kyle’s body coiled to react as his gaze began roving the dark places that the streetlights didn’t reach.

  “Stop that,” she said between clenched teeth. “Don’t let on that we’re aware of it. It’s going to great pains to stay hidden.”

  Kyle forced his body into a semblance of ease and stopped visibly searching the shadows. Gabi referred to her inner sense as her Vamp-o-meter as it was infallible at detecting Vampires, but sometimes it alerted her to other presences as well. She reached psychically for a stronger sense of their watcher, trying to at least work out if it was an immediate threat, but it was like trying to grab hold of smoke.

  “What are you picking up exactly? Do we need to call Tarryn back?” he asked, referring to the Magus who’d gone with the first van. She was what the SMV called an Eraser: a Magus skilled at being able to manipulate people’s memories. An invaluable asset to the SMV.

  “No. If anything, it wasn’t human,” Gabi answered and realised that Melinda had finished bandaging her arm and was looking wide-eyed and slightly nervous as she packed up her medical kit. Gabi touched her arm reassuringly. “It’s fine. It’s gone now. Whatever ‘it’ was. It was either just observing or didn’t like being outnumbered.”

  The Magus nodded and relaxed a little. Everyone in the SMV knew Gabi had unusual talents, and they had come to trust her evaluation of most situations in the field. Her instincts had saved a crew from a trap or dire situation more than once.

  “Keep an eye on that wound,” she told Gabi. “I know you’re not prone to infection, but that was a really deep one. I’ve given it a little help to get the healing started, and it feels clean, but it wouldn’t be good to leave it if gets any worse.”

  “Thanks, Melinda.” Gabi knew it took a lot of energy for the Magus to use her power of direct healing. She always appreciated the effort, especially when it was used on a minor injury. “I’m sure it’ll be fine, but I’ll see Ian if it isn’t.”

  “You guys can head back to HQ,” Kyle told Melinda and the driver. “Let them know that I’m taking Gabi home, and then I’ll be in to help with the new Werewolf.” Gabi immediately started to protest, but he interrupted her, saying, “Because if she goes in to HQ, Byron is bound to find out about the bite wound and will probably take her off duty for a couple of days.” He was speaking to Melinda, but making his point to Gabi.

  She pulled a face at him. “Fine,” she capitulated sullenly, grabbing her jacket and striding off in the direction of her car.

  Kyle suppressed a grin and closed up the van rear door as the driver started the engine. He gave the van a parting pat and trotted to catch Gabi up.

  Chapter 2

  Not for the first time, Gabi cursed her unnatural dislike of driving an automatic. She loved her car. The bright red Mustang (the most recent Shelby GT 500 model) with black Le Mans racing stripes was her secret pride and joy, and she hated letting anyone else drive it. But with her arm bandaged so tightly that she couldn’t bend or straighten it, she wasn’t going to be able to shift gears. Kyle would have to drive, and that was going to make him look smug all the way to her house. But even that little fact couldn’t truly piss her off.

  Tonight her displays of ill-temper were only a façade. The team expected ill-temper from her, and she didn’t want anybody thinking she wasn’t one hundred percent herself. But after the fight with the new Werewolf, nothing could dampen her high spirits. She’d faced her first opponent since her return to the Hunter squad and hadn’t felt a moment’s hesitation or anxiety. It had felt like slipping back into a comfortable pair of shoes. She’d done it. She’d proved to herself that she was fine. She wasn’t going to be freezing in terror or fleeing the horrors that she faced as a Hunter. If she was suffering from PTSD, like the doctors said, it wasn’t affecting her job as a Hunter, and that’s what counted. She wasn’t going to let her father down.

  Kyle tried to rile her once he was behind the wheel and they were speeding out of the warehouse district. It didn’t take him long to realise she wasn’t as annoyed as she looked and only another minute to figure out why.

  “You’ve proved them all wrong,” he said with a touch of pride in his voice. “Hellcat is back!” He smacked the steering wheel with the palm of his hand in triumph. It was the first time anyone had called her that in six weeks. It felt fantastic.

  “Hey, gently with my car,” she warned even as a smile cracked her irritable veneer.

  Werewolves sometimes forgot their own strength. Even in human form they were faster, stronger and tougher than an uninfected human. Injuries that would take weeks of healing for a normal person could be healed in mere hours by a Werewolf. While lycanthropy was still generally thought of as a terrible infection and thousands of man-hours were being poured into secret research for a cure, there were certainly some advantages for those infected.

  By the time they turned onto her driveway, they hadn’t come to any conclusions about the rogue Werewolf or their unseen watcher. Gabi hoped it was just an isolated incident, but Kyle wanted to discuss it with Byron and Alistair, who was the Werewolf representative on the SMV Council. Though the SMV had started out as a small group of like-minded individuals led by Gabi’s father and Byron, it had evolved to become a kind of governing body, with representatives from most of the supernatural races in the City. Vampires had always held themselves aloof from the rest, but the recent alliance between Julius’s Clan and the SMV had led to an offer being made for Vampires to add their own representative to the SMV Council. As far as Gabi was aware, Julius hadn’t made a decision on that count yet.

  As the new, hi-tech security scanner acknowledged Kyle’s retina scan and began to open the gate for them, Gabi agreed with Kyle that keeping Byron and Alistair in the loop wa
s probably a good idea. The gate closed silently behind them, and Kyle drove up to the pretty little house that Gabi called home. Of course, it wasn’t quite the same house it had been six weeks ago. Her sanctuary had been invaded by Danté with a small army of Vampires and Demons. Demons came from another plane of life (or maybe more appropriately, death) known as the Etherworld. They were kept separated from our world by the Void, a no-man’s-land where nothing survived for long. Some Demons were strong enough to cross into the Void but were still kept in their own world by the Veil, a naturally occurring magical boundary powered by the leylines of the world and tended and nurtured by the Magi.

  Unfortunately, there existed a number of places, at least two of those places found right in the City, where the Veil was periodically unstable. If the right person or Demon came across one of these weak points at the right time, they could literally rip open a doorway to Hell itself, allowing Demons to cross through and wreck whatever havoc they could before they were contained and destroyed. Gabi still shuddered at the thought of the evil creatures being in her home. They were disgusting, repulsive things, in varying monstrous shapes and sizes. She often wondered if JRR Tolkien had been a Magus himself, as the orcs and several other creatures he described in so much detail in The Lord of The Rings were remarkably similar to what came through the Veil when a portal was forced opened.

  Of course, the security gate wasn’t the only recent addition to her house. She hadn’t seen the damage that had been done during the attack; she’d bailed out of her bedroom window to evade the Demon army and had run straight into Dantè waiting for her out in the garden. By the time Jonathon, her Vampire doctor, and Ian, her human doctor, had finally allowed her out of the hospital wing at Julius’s Estate, her house had been renovated and new state-of-the-art security measures had been installed. Gabi sighed. She knew they all meant well, but she didn’t think that she really needed to be as well protected as the Queen of England.