To Hell and Back (Hellcat Series Book 4)

by Sharon Hannaford

  “Yep, two birds with one exploding arrow,” Kyle quipped. “I’ll get hold of Byron and update him, run the Doug thing by him, and suggest he gets Derek to start bowmanship training immediately.” Kyle gingerly gave the spike gun back to Mac and loped off to his van as Gabi and Julius pulled out their phones.

  CHAPTER 15

  “Food first,” Gabi told Nathan as she climbed into the passenger seat of the Range Rover. “I’m starving.”

  She’d decided to go with Mac and Nathan on the trip to the lab after Julius relayed a message from Savannah that her new BMW was ready for collection. As much as she loved the McLaren—what was there not to love?—it did draw attention, and she had the feeling they would be trying to keep things on the down-low in the coming days. Nosey human bystanders were likely to end up dead, maimed or seeing something they shouldn’t, a nuisance no matter which way it went. She was at a loose end anyway; Julius had a business meeting that he insisted had to be sorted tonight. Gabi’s intuition told her he was making succession plans, putting things in order in case something happened to him in the coming days. She couldn’t blame him, but the thought sucked the warmth out of the tiny spark of hope she’d only just nurtured to life. After that, he had his first training session with the Magi, something she knew he wasn’t looking forward to.

  Mac was following behind them in his truck, Razor ensconced in his passenger seat. Much to Gabi’s surprise, Razor had made the choice himself, and Mac had seemed both startled and pleased.

  “Of course, my Lady,” Nathan said. As one of Julius’s most senior Clan members, he held the official title of Head of Security, though he relinquished this role to Patrick, the Werewolf, during the day. He was one of the first of Julius’s Clan that she’d met; he’d been part of the elite group sent to kidnap her when Julius wanted to meet her. When two of the group had tried to kill rather than kidnap her, Nathan had been the one to try to stop them. His brother, Liam, was also one of the Clan and was Julius’s business manager as well as the Clan representative on the SMV Council. There was no doubt that the two of them were brothers; they were alike enough to be twins: both heavyset men who moved with quiet grace. Nathan had a deep voice and a mild manner, until he had reason not to be mild-mannered anymore, and then he was an entirely different animal. He never failed to treat her with deep respect, and he was one of the few people she didn’t tease. It made him intensely uncomfortable, and she liked him well enough not to want to make him unhappy.

  “Where would you like to stop? Sit in or drive-through?” Almost every Vampire she knew had a bizarre fascination with watching humans eat. She was getting used to it, but still found it unnerving at times. If they were driving, Nathan would have to keep his gaze on the road.

  “There’s a chicken place with a drive-through not far, just hang a left at the lights,” she told him, glancing in the side mirror to check that Mac was following close enough to see their change of direction.

  The food took the edge off Gabi’s irritable mood, and she was discussing the pros and cons of the BMW with Nathan when they turned onto the narrow, country lane leading to the lab. When they arrived, Savannah was still the bubbly, sanguine, slightly eccentric woman Gabi now knew to be the real Savannah, not the cool, collected, elegant personae she apparently donned for special occasions and large gatherings. She welcomed them all into her workplace. Kyle and Doug had beaten them there by a few minutes. She didn’t so much as blink when Gabi introduced her to a Werewolf, a Shape-shifter and a human, but Gabi couldn’t help but notice that she assessed Mac just a little longer than she assessed Kyle and Doug. And not in the way that a hunter sized up prey, but more in the way a woman sized up a man. She was glad she’d remembered to explain Savannah’s mind-reading skills to the rest of them before they arrived. Hopefully they’d practised the art of singing mindless songs in their heads on the way here.

  Gabi’s second car stood near the front of the open workspace. It was far more understated than the McLaren, but by no means sedate or boring. Savannah proudly showed off a specially modified harness safety belt for Razor, which could be attached to any of the existing human seatbelts, as well as an additional one in the rear of the car for a large dog or wolf. There was also a mesh screen that could be fitted to separate the rear section from the seats; it was imbued with just enough silver to keep Werewolves from touching it. Kyle raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. Razor hopped inside to investigate, but the look he gave the safety harness led Gabi to believe it may take some convincing to make him wear it. Secret compartments had also been installed in the rearmost space for concealing her weapons and other combat gear, and the state-of-the-art computer and GPS console would take Gabi weeks to learn how to fully operate. Savannah lost Gabi entirely when she tried to explain the diagnostic software.

  She cut Savannah off. “I’m a techno dunce, Savannah,” she explained with a snort. “I’ll get my friend Trish to call you one evening, and you can explain it to her, okay?”

  “Yes, of course.” Savannah smiled. “I’m so glad you are brave enough to say when something is beyond your understanding. So many will try to bluff their way through.” She turned away from the car and started towards her own lab. “Come, I have some more things for you, and for gorgeous Razor.” There was a twinkle in her eye as she looked back, gesturing for them to follow. “And then we can get on with the exciting part of the evening.”

  At the doorway to the lab lay a pile of black leather clothes: jackets, coats, pants and gloves in several sizes. “This is the first batch of demon-blood-impervious fighting leathers. The demon blood arrived for final testing yesterday,” she said, sweeping the pile up and thrusting it into Kyle’s hands. “Put that in the BMW, dear lad.”

  Then she swept to the far side of the room and returned just as quickly with a smaller, multi-scaled piece. Razor’s own armour. The cat jumped onto the nearest counter without any prodding, and held his head in a snooty pose as Savannah fitted it over him. It draped perfectly over his shoulders and down across his back, stopping exactly at the end of his rump. Savannah showed Gabi how to fasten it across his chest and under his tummy and through his hind legs. The way the straps fitted together reminded Gabi of a horse blanket, which made sense as a horse blanket was designed to stay in place even when a horse rolled in the grass. Razor was just about as proud as a child on their first day of big school, and wouldn’t let Gabi take it off right away. Gabi smiled a genuinely happy grin for the first time in days watching him. Savannah looked about ready to burst with excitement.

  Gabi was just on her way to move the BMW outside to make room for Mac’s truck when her phone rang. She blew out a breath when the call ended.

  “Sorry, Savannah, but Kyle and I have to go,” she said regretfully. “Is it all right to leave the others with you? Nathan will escort them back to the City when you’re finished for the night.” She hoped Savannah didn’t think Mac was available as dinner, but wasn’t sure how to bring up the subject delicately. Obviously some of her thoughts slipped past her musical barrier, though.

  “Yes, of course, Gabrielle,” Savannah said. “I promise to take good care of them and return them without lacking anything they arrived with.” Her expression was suddenly serious, but her eyes danced with merriment.

  “Thanks,” Gabi said simply, glad Savannah hadn’t made any more of the issue.

  “What’s happened?” Mac asked.

  “We’re needed back at the City Morgue.” She sighed. She didn’t need to say anymore.

  Mac nodded his understanding. “Watch your six,” he rumbled. “If they somehow got to Alexander, they may try with another of you.”

  “We will,” she promised. Then she, Razor and Kyle climbed into the BMW and sped back towards the City.

  Deciding they needed some Vampire backup in case they needed help altering memories of the humans on duty at the morgue, they stopped at the Estate, intending to collect a handy Vampire.

  Benedict was downstairs when they arrived, b
ut was on his way to oversee Julius’s Magi training. Gabi swallowed the bitterness of being excluded from his training. This was apparently secret Magi stuff; no non-Magi allowed. She reminded herself that she had more than enough to deal with, and a few hours’ sleep wouldn’t go amiss if she found any spare time before dawn. Alexander wasn’t to be found, and one of the Werewolf guards informed her that Alexander had attended the meeting with Julius and was only expected back much later. Gabi hoped he wasn’t travelling alone anywhere.

  A quick trip to the staff gymnasium netted Fergus, exactly the Vampire she needed. It was a slightly more complicated mission to the morgue than the last trip. There were three bodies to view, and none of them had any connection to the others, so their backstory was, by necessity, more sophisticated and hence more prone to human suspicion. Luckily for them, Fergus was particularly talented at manipulating human minds.

  When Gabi held up her driver’s licence to the man at the morgue admin desk, he studied it carefully and then nodded the three ‘National Security Agents’ through to the waiting room while getting on the phone to arrange their viewing of the three bodies. Fergus was a true wonder.

  The place smelled as thoroughly unpleasant as it had a few nights ago, but the morgue attendant, a middle-aged woman this time, wasn’t quite as cordial as the man they’d dealt with the last time they were here, but then the last time they’d been playing grieving family, not hard-nosed government agents. The woman wheeled the gurneys into the same small viewing room and yanked back the sheets without preamble, brusquely reading off the initial assessment of the bodies from the clipboard attached to each. Two males and one female, all with dark bruising and purple scarring showing up starkly against their pale, blue-tinged flesh. Contrarily, with them playing roles that required cool detachment this time, two of the bodies actually made the breath hitch in Gabi’s throat, and Kyle closed his eyes, his jaw muscles tightening. These two they knew. Gabi didn’t know them personally, but she’d seen them around. They were both Werewolves from the Blackriver Pack. The third, one of the males, was unknown to them, but the wound patterns and loss of blood were consistent with the other two. This had to also have been a Werewolf.

  It was the wee hours of the morning before they’d finally sorted all the arrangements to get the bodies to SMV HQ. It had taken a lot of negotiating to get the Blackriver Pack Leader to agree to allow the SMV to take charge of the bodies for full autopsies. Gabi knew that delivering the news had been hard for Kyle. Not allowing the Pack to immediately bury their dead was even more traumatising.

  Julius had been conspicuously absent from her mind the entire evening, and it was making her anxious. She tried to call his phone, but only got his non-existent voicemail message. A bland beep. Weariness was weighing her down. It had been a long night, and nothing else could be done, so she returned to her house with Razor. A pair of Werewolves in a nondescript car followed her and positioned themselves outside her gates; Julius might have been busy, but he hadn’t forgotten her protection. He did call her just before she fell asleep as he was driving back to the Estate. His voice reflected her own weariness. She didn’t push him for details and told him to stay at the Estate. It was too close to sunrise to risk the drive to her house. He agreed after a little convincing on her part, but Gabi knew she was going to desperately miss the solid coolness of his body next to and around her while she slept.

  Razor seemed to sense her unhappiness and moved up from the end of the bed to curl into her chest, purring. Soon Slinky and Rocky were also snuggled in, Slinky curled around her head on the pillow and Rocky at the back of her neck in her hair, and within moments they were all fast asleep.

  The full light of morning was something of a shock. Waking to complete darkness had become the norm for her since Julius began sharing her bed. It was also a novelty to not be woken by the ringing of a telephone. She squinted at her nightstand. The absence of ringing might have something to do with the fact that she’d forgotten to plug her phone in to charge. Turning her head a little more, she eyed the bedside clock blearily. Eleven twenty-nine. Sheez! That made her sit up, rubbing sleep from her eyes and stretching. She hadn’t slept this late in months. She was surprised no one had sent a rescue team to look for her already. The pets yawned and stretched too. Rocky set to grooming, and Razor hopped to the floor to see to his morning ablutions. She’d just stepped in a stinging hot shower when she heard the front door open and Kyle’s voice call her name.

  The rest of the day consisted of a meeting with Byron and Teddy, the ex-coroner, who confirmed their suspicions about the manner of death, then seeing the bodies of the two Blackriver Pack members returned to their packs while Byron arranged an investigation into who the third victim could be.

  It was late afternoon before Gabi managed to catch up with Mac and find out how things had gone with Savannah. Mac was returning to the lab after dinner to continue working with the Vamp inventor. He seemed quite enchanted with the lady, impressed with her lab, and was visibly excited about the progress they’d made on replicating the weapons. The two of them grabbed dinner and then parted ways, Mac to collect Doug and a Werewolf escort, and Gabi to the Estate. She wasn’t in a hurry. Julius had already left for another Magi training session and wouldn’t be back until late. She’d thrown a swimsuit in the back of the BMW and had every intention of easing some stiff muscles in the comfort of one of the Estate’s hot tubs for a couple of hours.

  When Julius returned, he was tired. Gabi hadn’t often seen Julius truly tired, but tonight he was. And ill-tempered. That was something she’d never seen before. She knew he’d lost control with what little remained of Dantè’s House after Dantè had tried to Turn her, but she hadn’t been conscious enough to experience that. His Clan and the other staff were giving him a Strait of Gibraltar-sized berth tonight. Even Alexander was being unusually quiet, though it looked as though he’d bitten his tongue to bleeding doing it.

  The Magi training had taken a toll. It bit again that she hadn’t been allowed to accompany him, but she quickly forgot her own pique the moment she saw him. His skin was paler than usual, and dark half circles marred the skin under his eyes.

  There hadn’t been time to try to coax him out of his bad mood; as soon as he’d arrived back at the Estate, he’d called a meeting in the entertainment room. He wanted to talk tactics and strategy, and he wasn’t taking no for an answer. Gabi didn’t think Benedict’s insistence that Julius cast the shielding spell over the room had helped his disposition.

  Kyle and Alexander were sprawled across more than half of the six-seater sofa, Patrick sat less casually on the opposite end of it, and Julius had taken one of the single-seater chairs, as had Benedict. Fergus was looking out of place sitting in the window seat, the dancing light of the fire throwing strange shadows over his scarred face, while Nathan paced the floor behind the long sofa. Gabi perched on the marble shelf to one side of the fireplace, one foot up on the shelf so she could rest her chin on her knee, her mind zoned out as the men discussed defence strategy. The bottle of wine Alexander had brought her was empty, as was her glass. She didn’t have much to contribute; she didn’t know much about defence. She was much better at offence. The double entendre of that thought made her snort. Yes, she could offend just about anybody given the time and the inclination.

  “Something is funny?” Benedict asked her, his voice bland. Conversation broke off, and the rest turned to look at her as well.

  “Not funny, frustrating,” Gabi replied. “The fact that we’re sitting here planning what to do when the Dark Ones come bursting through our door, instead of taking the fight to them.”

  The silence in the room stretched out.

  Yeah, she was great at offence. Her discomfort made her tetchy. “What?” she demanded. “Benedict says he can locate them no matter where they’re hiding. Why not strike pre-emptively? Why are we acting like the proverbial sitting ducks?”

  The previously hostile silence turned to more of a contemplative one.r />
  “She has a point,” Benedict finally conceded, one eyebrow raised. “We have been concentrating on how to counter the Dark Ones’ moves. We could just as easily use my sight to give us the upper hand in a coup de main.”

  “If we have enough time,” Patrick put in, his tone grave with misgivings. As an ex-marine field officer, his input was highly valued tonight. “It would be stupid to rush in there ill-prepared. It would be better to consolidate our forces here and make sure we have a solid defence.”

  “Can’t we do both?” Gabi asked. “Surely a stealthy strike with a small force would be a better idea? That would leave the bulk of our manpower here in case it all went to shit.”

  Silence again. At least they were considering her idea. The thought of sitting here just waiting for the bad guys to arrive was becoming more unpalatable by the minute.

  “When will the first batch of Mac’s weapons be ready?” Kyle asked.

  “The first working prototypes have already been produced.” Julius spoke up, a little less annoyance in his tone. “They’re being tested as we speak. If those are good, full production will start in the morning.”

  “It would make me feel better to have a couple of those in my hands if we’re going to attack the dragon in its den,” Kyle said.

  And just like that, the conversation turned to attack rather than defence. Gabi waved her empty wine bottle at Nathan. He took the hint and moved towards the wine cellar.

  “Flame-throwers,” Gabi said, joining in the conversation. “If we have demons running amok, we could have ghouls, and for ghouls we need flame-throwers.”

  CHAPTER 16