All Hell Breaks Loose (The Hellcat Series)

by Sharon Hannaford

  “Hey, come on in,” she said cheerfully. “I was just sitting down to some lunch, do you want some?”

  “Thanks, but I’m good. I just ate myself almost into oblivion on burgers and chips,” she explained. “You carry on.” She joined Trish at the large dining table.

  “Oh,” Trish almost wailed, “I wish I could pig out on stuff like that and still look like you.” She rolled her eyes with a smile and placed a bowl of salad with lean chicken on the table.

  Gabi frowned. “Hasn’t anyone explained to you that you don’t need to eat sparingly anymore?” she asked.

  The other woman looked great; she had a full, curvy, womanly figure, nothing to be ashamed of, though Gabi could understand her being careful of what she ate to keep herself in shape.

  Trish looked up from the salad in surprise. “Well,” she said hesitantly. “Jonathon did say that I’ll need to eat more than I used to, so I assumed he meant slightly bigger portion sizes.”

  It was Gabi’s turn to roll her eyes. “Men! They don’t think about these things like a woman,” she lamented. “I’m glad I got you alone for a few minutes, it’s easier to talk without them around.”

  Trish nodded wry agreement.

  “Trish,” Gabi said, leaning in towards the woman, “lots of things are going to change about your body. Some are good, and some aren’t. Your metabolism is about to go into overdrive. I’m no expert in things Werewolf, but I am friends with a couple of women in the Blackriver Pack. In a few weeks you won’t have a spare ounce of fat on you, no matter how hard you try.”

  Trish was staring at her in amazement. “You mean I can eat whatever I like and never gain weight?”

  Gabi grinned. “I told you it wasn’t all bad. As I’m sure you’ve noticed, your body heals at an alarmingly quick rate, you won’t pick up flu or colds, and you’re immune to most human infections and diseases.”

  Trish’s eyes were as round as saucers as she grasped another slice of the reality that was her new life.

  “On the negative side is a temper that is difficult to control, especially close to the full moon. That gets easier with time and experience. Most animals, especially dogs, won’t come anywhere near you. Relationships with ‘norms’, uh, full human men are near impossible even if your male Pack mates would allow it, which they won’t. Werewolf males are very protective of the women in their Packs and are also annoyingly possessive.”

  Trish suddenly stilled, and the fork she held over the salad bowl slipped from her fingers. Her face went white, and Werewolf scent filled the room. Gabi realised what she’d said and how a woman who’d been in an abusive relationship might read into it.

  She reached over and put a hand on Trish’s arm, capturing the woman’s eyes. “The Packs in the City would never tolerate violence of any kind towards one of their women. Not a single one of them would touch you if you didn’t want them to. And they would never allow another man to, either. I know each of the Pack leaders personally, and while the men may have to fight for their places in the Pack and for respect, the women are shielded and protected. From other men at least,” she warned wryly. “You may have to put a few women in their place to establish your own niche, but we’ll discuss that in more detail another time.”

  Trish relaxed enough to pick up her fork and pick distractedly at the salad. Gabi didn’t encourage her to eat it; she’d get Kyle to fetch something more substantial from the main communal kitchen later.

  “So, what else haven’t the guys told me?” she asked.

  Gabi paused a moment, trying to work out the best way to phrase her next statement.

  “What many of the women find most difficult to deal with is the fact that they cannot have children,” she said finally. “The need to Change means you can’t carry a foetus to term, even if you could get pregnant, which is difficult as male Werewolves are rendered sterile due to their body temperatures being too high for viable sperm.” She paused, watching Trish’s reactions as the terrible knowledge sank in. “You could get pregnant by a human male, but you would miscarry the first time you Changed. Most women prefer to not go through that, so they either stick to Werewolf males or take specially developed contraceptives.”

  Trish was staring into her salad with a blank expression, but Gabi knew the news had shaken the other woman to the core. Gabi wasn’t very good at doing the best friend stuff, she had far more male friends than girl friends, but she went to Trish and pulled her into a hug. “I’m sorry,” she breathed as Trish gave a little muffled sniff.

  After a moment Trish pulled away and went to stand at the window, staring out unseeingly. “It’s not like it’s something I had even thought about yet,” she whispered. “I’m not sure why it’s upset me so much. Sorry. I don’t mean to blub all over you.” She gave Gabi a watery smile. “Thank you for telling me. I’m sure the guys wouldn’t have thought to. But it was better hearing it from another woman; I don’t think a man can ever understand the emotions it brings.”

  Gabi grabbed a roll of kitchen towel and handed Trish a couple of sheets.

  “Don’t be too sure about that,” Gabi told her. “They may not talk about it often, but the men are also very aware of the fact that they can’t produce children. It’s not exactly the same, but they do understand that need and the sense of loss.”

  Trish turned introspective for a moment, and Gabi could almost see her backbone kick in. The backbone that had helped her get over the terrible things that had already happened in her life—the loss of her parents (Gabi knew Derek had looked after her since her teens) as well as her previous boyfriend putting her in the hospital after knocking her around for months. Gabi knew she’d be okay.

  “Speaking of men…Derek said he acted like an ass last night,” Trish said, blowing her nose and drying her eyes.

  Gabi looked away. “It wasn’t only him,” she sighed. “I should’ve thought to explain things to him before I introduced him to Julius. And then I shouldn’t have tried to explain when we were both tired and edgy.”

  Trish walked over and squeezed her hand sympathetically before steering them both back to the table. “I’m glad you’re not angry with him. He really is sorry for what he said and implied. He—” She broke off, as though trying to decide how to phrase something. “He has feelings for you,” she said hesitantly.

  Gabi nodded, not looking at Trish and feeling guilt punch her in the chest. “You’re not the first to point that out to me recently. I don’t know what—”

  Trish shushed her. “I’m not trying to make you feel bad. Attraction and love can’t be forced; we all know that, including Derek. I just wanted you to know that what you say and think matters to him. If you hold what he said against him, it’ll make him terribly unhappy. He’ll get over what he feels for you, in time, but I think he really needs your friendship and respect, now more than ever.” She smiled at Gabi then, and Gabi caught an edge of mischief in the younger woman. “I can see what he likes about you. He’s never been drawn to needy, clingy women, and he’s always loved a challenge.”

  That brought an involuntary bubble of laughter from Gabi. Just then, Trish cocked her head, and Gabi automatically opened her senses until she could hear it too; the guys were on their way back.

  Feeling it would be easier for Derek without an audience, Gabi went out to meet them and immediately sent Kyle to find some decent food for a newly-made Werewolf. The expression on Derek’s face instantly turned contrite and apologetic. Gabi rolled her eyes and grabbed his arm, dragging him towards a bench under a nearby oak tree without a word.

  “I’m really sorry,” he said in a sincere voice. “I need you to know that I didn’t mean what I said. It came out all wrong.”

  “It wasn’t just you,” she said with a sigh. “I need to apologise as well. I didn’t realise how deeply my relationship with Julius would affect you. I shouldn’t have come to talk to you last night; I only made it harder on you.”

  Derek began shaking his head. “That’s no excuse to speak to
you like I did. I’m not the kind of man who thinks like that and says those things.”

  Gabi smiled sadly. “Derek, things will be different for you now. It’s probably harder on someone like you. Someone who is careful of what they say and aware of how it could affect others. The short temper is just a part of being a Werewolf. You’ll learn to control it with time, but it’s going to get the better of you for a while. People around here will understand.” She took a breath and then plunged on. “And then there’s me. I know you think you know me, but you actually only know the human mask that I put out there for the ‘norms’ to see. What you’ve seen is only partially me, a highly restrained version of me that I can only keep up for a while. The public façade. In reality, I’m probably more short-tempered than most Werewolves, I’m not socially correct, and I have all the patience and emotional finesse of an angry mother elephant. Hang around me in this environment enough and I guess you’ll eventually get used to me, but it’s only fair to warn you that it’s rarely a pretty sight.”

  Derek looked introspective rather than upset by the end of her confession. “I think I’ve seen flickers of it on set. I’ve always wanted to meet you away from the professional setting to get to know the real you.” He smiled ruefully. “I’ve seen you catch yourself when a director is being picky, watched you rein in your temper when someone upsets the animals, seen the fire in your eyes when the mask slips. You put on a good show, though.”

  Gabi was pleased that she’d distracted him from his transgressions, but nitpicking her own shortcomings wasn’t her idea of fun, so she was relieved to see Kyle arrive back with food for Trish.

  “Go and get the list from Trish,” she told Derek. “I’ll take you to her place to collect what she needs.”

  Chapter 11

  It was strange to be on patrol with such a large crew. Usually it was just her and Kyle with a back-up crew on call a few minutes away. It was also strange, and uncomfortable, to be wearing a bulletproof vest. It made drawing Nex almost impossible, so she’d had to resort to a leg sheath, which meant wearing a full-length leather duster to conceal the sword from human eyes. She was feeling bulky, awkward and crowded, which in turn was making her belligerent and irritable. After the third time she’d snapped at them, the extra two Werewolves had melted into the dark behind them and were keeping to the shadows out of her grumbling range. Fergus was up on the rooftops, following them like a dark avenging angel. She could feel his distinctive presence and caught occasional glimpses of his shadowy form swooping from one roof to another. Lord and Lady help anyone who attacked them tonight.

  Unfortunately, the capture order still stood, the Council and Pack leaders wanted a live Werewolf not a dead one, making their job doubly difficult. If they could even find a rogue Werewolf to capture, of course; things in the City were suspiciously quiet tonight. Gabi and company had been assigned the light industrial area just on the outskirts of the City centre. There were a number of small factories that operated twenty-four hours a day and employed physically fit shift-workers, as well as several gyms in the area, so it suited the Modus Operandi of the rogue ‘recruiters’ perfectly.

  Gabi checked the position of her dart gun, making sure it was securely tucked in the waistband of her leather pants. She still wasn’t used to carrying a gun. She’d trained with swords, knives, fighting sticks and nunchaku, but never with a gun. While the guns she and her crew carried only contained tranquiliser darts, the theory was the same. They needed to be deadly accurate with their aim, the tranquiliser needed to go directly into the bloodstream so that the rogues, hopefully, wouldn’t have time to activate their liquid silver failsafe and go felo-de-se. A dart to one of the major arteries was the only sure bet.

  Gabi’s latest grumble was that not even the legendary Magus Oracles had been able to pick up anything useful. Neither of the powerful clairvoyants had had any visions linked to the recent spate of Werewolf infections. It was true that they tended to pick up visions when the City as whole or the Magus Community at large was threatened, rather than individuals or small groups of humans, but that didn’t make their lack of insight any less aggravating. Gabi was getting the distinct impression that Athena wasn’t alone in her views of other supernatural species.

  It was past midnight when the team finished sweeping the area on foot. Even the two crews in vans, who were stationed at the two major entrances to the area, hadn’t reported any unusual sightings. Gabi had done regular sweeps with her extra senses and had also come up empty.

  “Okay, let’s call a break,” Kyle said as they completed the search of the last side street. He pushed the transmit button on his comlink and called the vans to meet them in a nearby vacant lot, after a stop at a nearby all-night service station for food and coffee.

  “So where’s the mad rodent?” Kyle asked as he joined her several minutes later, leaning against the side of one of the vans, blowing on his steaming cup of coffee. There was something hot and savoury in a small paper bag in his other hand.

  “Russell had the night off and offered to look after her,” Gabi explained. “Wasn’t it odd that she didn’t seem to mind you and Derek in the hotel suite? I wonder if it’s squirrels in general or just her that isn’t terrified of Werewolves?” she mused. Her coffee cup was already empty, and she was tucking into a cinnamon donut. “Maybe I’ll see if Rocky will let Trish feed her; that would make my life easier at night.”

  “Hmm,” Kyle mumbled around a steak pie, “I think she’d enjoy that. It seems like she’s suffering from a bit of cabin fever now that she’s up and about.”

  Gabi’s cellphone suddenly vibrated in her back pocket, and as she reached for it, Kyle’s phone chimed too.

  “Damn, that can’t be good news,” Kyle muttered as they both checked messages. “What the…”

  “Shit,” Gabi exclaimed.

  “How could that happen?” Kyle said in shock. A buzz went through the rest of them.

  “What’s afoot?” Fergus rumbled from a dark shadow a few feet away. Everyone but Gabi jumped.

  “Someone broke into HQ and took the other Werewolf,” she said flatly.

  Gabi, Fergus and Kyle rushed for her Mustang. Kyle, being slightly less bulky than Fergus, was relegated to being squished in the back seat. He had to sit sideways with his legs and feet up on the seat so as not to look like a talented contortionist. Gabi slammed the car into gear and put her foot down on the accelerator. She’d had driving lessons from some of the best stunt-car drivers in the movie business. She sent the car rocketing through the dark streets at twice the legal speed limit. Fergus assured them he could take care of any police who stopped them. One of his strengths was rolling the minds of humans; they wouldn’t even remember pulling over a red mustang that seemed to be trying for a new land-speed record.

  They were out of the car and in Headquarters less than twenty minutes after the text messages arrived. Byron was surprised to see them as they barged into his office. He double-checked his watch.

  “Gabi, that was quick,” he said. “Were you on your way back already?”

  “Something like that,” she agreed innocently.

  Byron raised an eyebrow. There were several other people in his office, but Gabi didn’t bother with greetings or polite conversation.

  “Well, I’m glad you brought Kyle back with you. He’s got the best nose I know.” Byron turned to Kyle. “We’ve kept unnecessary people away from the holding room. We were hoping you could tell us who had been inside recently.”

  “Was there a breach? A forced entry?” Gabi demanded.

  “No.” Byron was grim. “It appears to have been accomplished from inside the facility, without triggering any of the wards or alarms.” He ran a hand over his eyes, his expression bleak. “Right now, it’s looking like someone on the inside helped.”

  “Let’s go,” Kyle said.

  Byron dismissed the rest of his guests before he, Gabi and Fergus followed Kyle down to the subterranean rooms.

  “What about
the guard who was on duty?” Gabi asked.

  “Athena and some other Magi are questioning him now,” Byron said. “But he’s denying all knowledge of the event. Says he must have fallen asleep, but swears he’s never done that before.”

  “It would be strange to hang around if he was guilty of helping with the escape,” Gabi noted. “He’d have been better off making a run for it.”

  Byron shrugged. “I don’t know what to think. If Kyle can pick up something, maybe it will help us make sense of what happened.”

  They paused as they came to a solid set of metal doors with a pinpad and fingerprint sensor to one side. Byron keyed in a code and slotted his thumb into the sensor, and the doors clicked open. He pushed through to reveal a small table and chair in a cubbyhole to the right of the doors. The guard station. A corridor stretched out in front of them with doors off to the right at regular intervals.

  “Second room down, Kyle, the one that’s open,” Byron said as he held the doors for the others to enter.

  They waited at the top of the corridor while Kyle walked slowly down, his eyes half-closed and his nostrils flaring. He paused for a moment outside the door and then entered the open room.

  “Well, nothing stands out as particularly unusual,” Kyle said as he strode back to them minutes later. “Two Shape-shifters and a Were that I don’t know personally, Matt, the escapee and you, Byron.”

  Byron looked thoughtful. “Yes, Matt came down to try and talk some sense into the wolf, and I’ve been down a few times to check on him. The guard is a Shape-shifter, and it was one of our newer Werewolves on dinner clean-up duty who discovered he was missing. The second Shape-shifter could be one of our cleaners; they’re in daily.”

  “If I meet them, I can tell you for sure,” Kyle suggested.

  Byron nodded. “Let’s go and see what Athena has discovered about our guard first.”