To Hell and Back (Hellcat Series Book 4)

by Sharon Hannaford

  “Gabi wait for…” Kyle began, but it was too late, she’d pushed off.

  She scraped her shoulder and hands on the way down, but managed to land relatively easily with a large splash in the rocky pool. She had Nex in hand before she’d even properly gained her footing. Before she could get out of the pool to let the next person land, a cold, foreboding shiver ran up her spine. Evil, pure unadulterated evil lurked down here.

  “Hurry,” she whispered upward as she brushed water drops from her face and cautiously stepped out of the water, searching the almost impenetrable dark with every sense she had. A splash, a grunt and Fergus was beside her.

  “Somethin’ ain’t right down ’ere,” he rumbled in a low voice, his broadsword in his hand. The rest followed, each with a disturbingly loud splash in the eerie darkness. Distant roars and grunts disturbed the musty air, faint but distinct. They were in another small cave; Athena’s light showed a small gap between two rock walls a few feet away. Gabi moved, but more cautiously than she had before. The naturally formed exit led off to the left. The snarling sounds grew louder and more defined; they weren’t coming from anything human. Gabi held up a silent hand to stop the others in their tracks; then she dropped to her haunches and peered cautiously out, Nex at the ready. Her breath caught in her chest, and she froze. They were about to walk into Hell itself.

  At her hiss, Kyle and Fergus crowded up behind her, carefully peering out themselves. Gabi straightened and moved forward a little to give them room. The water-chute cave was in a dark alcove of another massive, open cavern, this one extending metres above them, awash in a sickly green glow. Julius and Benedict stood back to back about a foot apart in the centre of the cave, Julius holding a sword, Benedict with empty hands. The Princep could’ve looked small and inadequate with his lanky, teenage body outlined against Julius’s tall masculine form, but he didn’t. It was all in the way he held himself and in his eyes. They were surrounded. Misshapen, inhuman forms assailed them from all directions. Large, small, limbed, scaled, fanged, clawed, winged; they were closing in. None of them seemed aware of the new arrivals, but Gabi knew that Julius could feel her presence, even though he hadn’t so much as glanced her way.

  “Guess we found the demons,” Gabi growled low in her throat, as one the size of a pony and looking vaguely like a three-headed dog lunged at the pair. Gabi gasped and started forward, but Fergus grabbed her arm. The dog-thing howled in fury as it was suddenly tossed into the air, sailing to strike a thick agate column on the far side of the cave.

  “Wait, lass,” Fergus whispered. “Assess before we rush in.”

  Gabi gritted her teeth and yanked her arm back, but heeded the Scotsman’s advice.

  “There,” Athena said in a harsh whisper. She’d joined them in the dark alcove. She was pointing to a spot on the other side of the two Vampires and their circle of attackers. Gabi narrowed her eyes, squinting, and then she saw it. The Wraith.

  “Fuck,” she drew the word out tiredly. “We’ve got to do something permanent to that thing soon. It’s starting to piss me off.”

  “The Seeker is controlling the rest of them,” Athena said. “If we take it out, the rest will begin fighting amongst themselves.”

  “It takes a Magus to get rid of it,” Gabi snarled bitterly. “I tried, remember?”

  “Why haven’t Benedict or Julius done something about it?” Kyle asked.

  “You have to be a Banisher to send it back to the Etherworld,” Athena explained. “Julius has several magical talents, but Banishing isn’t one of them, and Benedict is predominantly an Enhancer. He wouldn’t be able to do it on his own.”

  “And you?” Gabi asked. “Can you Banish it?”

  “I have a bit of Banishing talent.” Athena sighed. “But not enough to banish something that powerful.”

  “Ye said Benedict can enhance magic,” Fergus said. “How close do ye need to be for ’im to enhance yer powers enough te do it?”

  Athena narrowed her eyes, staring at the scene, but she was running the possibilities. Another demon body went flying through the air to land with a splash in a shallow puddle of water.

  “Benedict is enhancing Julius’s telekinesis. That’s why the demons are flying so far. I think I need to be as close to him as Julius is,” she replied, but it was clear she wasn’t sure.

  “How close were you when he helped you clear the poison out of my system?” Gabi asked, not that she liked to think about her brush with death in the Princep Court.

  “He was touching me,” Athena said, and Kyle backed up her reply with a nod. An unearthly shriek followed by a heavy grunt rent the air.

  “Well then, we can’t count on anything less.” Gabi sighed wearily. “Guess we’re going to have to cut a pathway for you.”

  “Uh, not to interrupt or anything,” Alexander said, “but where are the Dark Ones? Aren’t they supposed to be here somewhere too?” There was silence, and then all eyes turned back to the cavern, searching, scanning.

  “Nothing,” Gabi grumbled. “I can’t see any of them. You guys?” A quiet chorus of negatives echoed around her. Gabi realised she didn’t have the niggling prickle at the back of her neck that usually warned her of Mariska’s presence. “Then where the fuck are they?” She really didn’t want to launch an assault on the demons around Julius when she didn’t know where the next attack might come from.

  “We need a rearguard,” Kyle said. “We can’t all go on the path-cutting mission.”

  Gabi made a quick assessment and nodded. “Fine, you go to wolf form to patrol the perimeter, looking for them. You’ll be quicker on all fours and more deadly to them than in human form,” she told Kyle. “Lex, take Kyle’s MacBow. Once Kyle finds the Dark Ones, you let rip. As long as they don’t have some kind of shield against physical attack, a crossbow bolt through the chest should keep them out of mischief long enough for us to get to Benedict.” She looked Athena over quickly, then pulled the MacDart out of her holster. “Take this. It’s still loaded with Werewolf saliva darts. Aim for eyes, ears or any part that looks soft, and whatever you do, don’t shoot yourself.”

  Athena glared but didn’t say anything as she took the small gun-like weapon. She feigned great interest in it as Kyle began pulling off his protective clothing.

  “Fergus, it’s sandwich time. You and I are the bread; Athena is the meat,” Gabi said, and the Scotsman nodded understanding, his eyes taking on the familiar gleam of anticipation as he hefted the MacChopper onto one shoulder.

  Athena flinched as Kyle, already in wolf form, shook out his fur and huffed.

  “Ready?” Gabi asked, looking around at them. When she received four nods, she settled Nex in her right hand, drew in a deep breath, and set off in a quick lope over the uneven ground towards the thick knot of demons. She paused twice on the way to finish off stunned demons; a single, hefty jab to what passed for a heart or an eyeball and they were out of the fight permanently. And then they were close enough to gag on the rank odour of demon.

  They had the advantage of both surprise and more-than-basic intelligence. No one ever accused demons of being precocious. Gabi and Fergus laid into the outer ring of creatures. They were crowded at least three deep around Julius and Benedict. Gabi could just hear Julius’s grunt of effort over the cacophony of grunts, snarls and inhuman yowls, and a smaller, winged demon went sailing over them, landing with a revolting squelch a few feet to her left. She couldn’t see either of the men in the centre of the circle. The majority of the demons were much taller than her, but she knew, with unquestioned certainty, where they were. As the first few demons fell to her sword, howling in fury, others turned and quickly redirected their savage attention.

  Gabi kept a portion of her attention fixed firmly on Athena. Playing the role of protector didn’t come naturally to her, but she had no intention of letting anything get to the Magus. She had absolutely no desire to face off with a Seeker again. She chopped, hacked, stabbed, spun, danced, leapt, ducked and yanked Athena out of dange
r more than once. To give her credit, the Magus kept her cool, firing the darts with a fairly steady hand and rarely missing, but she had no sense of what was coming at her from beyond her direct view. She lacked the intuitive edge of a seasoned fighter, the one that told you a sword was coming for you before you ever saw it, told you a foe was hiding in a dark corner, told you a demon was about to knock your head off your shoulders from directly behind you.

  Severed arms, hands and other unnamed appendages lay underfoot, making the already precarious footing even more lethal, but the protective leathers were worth tenfold their weight in gold. Claws and teeth had raked her, fangs had tried to pierce, and acid blood had splashed her, but nothing got through the jacket and pants. Nex flashed again, and Gabi heard the zing of the MacChopper followed by Fergus’s exuberant battle howl, and suddenly she could see the empty stretch of rocky floor between Julius and the demons. She hadn’t understood why the space was so defined when they’d viewed the battle from the alcove, but now that she was just a few feet away, she understood. The air in that space was vibrating with power and energy. When one of the demons was pushed forward by its peers into the empty space, it was instantly knocked backwards, bowling down its comrades like an out-of-control bulldozer. Julius and Benedict had erected some kind of protective ward, and Gabi wasn’t sure whether they’d be able to pass unharmed. Athena was right behind her, her eyes large and a little panicky, her breath coming in small gasps.

  “Can we pass through?” Gabi yelled in her ear. Then she lunged sideways, lopping the arm off a demon as it tried to grab Athena by the hair.

  Athena put her hands out to the empty air. “All I can do is bring it down,” Athena told her a second later. “It would be better if they did that, but then the demons could overwhelm us.”

  Gabi nodded understanding.

  “You and Benedict will have to work fast,” she warned the Magus. She checked that Fergus had their defence under control, and prayed Kyle and Alexander had the Dark Ones occupied; then she opened her mind to Julius and yelled at him. She could see him now, though he was facing away from her. She watched his body twitch; then he moved himself so that he could see her. His face was a mask of strain and annoyance. Gabi had the feeling the annoyance was directed at her. She grinned impudently and made a knock-knock motion with her free hand. His lips thinned, and he nudged Benedict with an elbow. Benedict turned to them too, his grin a little more welcoming. A small space had opened up around them as the demons realised just how deadly Fergus was. Julius held up three fingers. Gabi nodded understanding.

  “Ready in three,” she yelled at the other two, then redoubled her attack on a small tentacled creature trying to wind its slithery appendages around her ankles. Suddenly the power near her vortexed, swirling viciously enough to pull her off balance as it withdrew. Athena and Gabi flew over the empty space, Athena nearly crashing into Benedict as she rushed to explain what she needed from him. Gabi went to Julius a little slower and planted herself at his side while the demons who weren’t being chopped up by Fergus milled around, wondering if they could now approach.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” Julius asked her.

  “Well, I’m not in shining armour, and I’m not on a horse,” Gabi said, “but I’d thought I’d come to the rescue anyway.”

  Julius’s lips thinned. “What’s she doing here?” he inclined his head towards Athena, but didn’t take his eyes off the demons.

  “Come to banish the Wraith,” Gabi explained.

  Julius just nodded; the demons had begun edging warily closer. Gabi moved away from his side a little, giving them both room to fight. Fergus broke away from the edge of the horde and backed up to take up a position in front of Athena and Benedict.

  “Can you see Kyle?” Gabi called over her shoulder to him.

  “Aye,” Fergus rumbled. “He’s ’eading over this way noo. He’s got a wee human with him, but I doon think it’s one of them.”

  “What’s he doing?” Julius asked.

  “Covering us from the Dark Ones,” Gabi explained. “Didn’t want them shooting or throwing magic at us from the shadows.”

  A loud keening howl began, and the Seeker raised its cloaked arms towards the ceiling of the cave.

  “Oh. Shit,” Gabi said with feeling.

  “What?” Julius demanded.

  “I think it’s trying to collapse the cave on us,” she replied, throwing a chin in the Seeker’s direction.

  “Oh Gods,” Julius breathed, also glancing the Seeker’s way. “Benedict, hurry.”

  “The rest are coming, Julius,” Benedict yelled over his shoulder. “Use the fire; I can magnify it.”

  Gabi dragged her gaze off the Seeker to see the remnants of the demon force closing in quickly.

  “Fire?” she asked, confused, but not daring to glance Julius’s way, readying herself for the demons. She could feel Julius’s uncertainty, but then his resolve hardened. The power radiating from him swirled faster, suddenly giving off a sense of stinging heat, as though tiny sparks of flame were hitting her exposed face. She was forced to move another step away from him. She heard him pull in a deep breath, and felt some kind of electric zing between him and Benedict. Athena’s quiet chant continued, unrelenting, and the closest demons were just a few feet away. Gabi raised Nex, palming a second sword in her left hand, and then a wall of flames taller than her and at least a foot deep leapt to life two feet in front of her.

  “Holy smoke,” Gabi yelped, backing up a step from the searing heat.

  The nearest demons couldn’t halt their forward progress quickly enough and ran into it. Instantly they began an unearthly, keening yowl, surging back and batting wildly at the flames that now encompassed their bodies, feeding on their clothing, weapons, body hair, anything combustible. Gabi looked around, her mouth open; she could feel the heat on her tongue. The wall of magical fire surrounded them in a tight circle. Demons on all sides were suffering the same plight. The forerunners’ crazed flailing around quickly passed the fire to others near them; within seconds they were all reeling around in apparent agony.

  Gabi forced her open mouth closed just as the original flames began to splutter and die out. She turned to Julius just in time to see him sway. Gabi dropped the spare sword to shove a shoulder under his right arm. His lack of protest to her support caused her heart to beat a little faster in her chest. She looked up at him to see sweat running down his face. His eyes were glazed, and he was breathing in short gasps.

  “Crap,” Gabi muttered, taking as much of his weight as she could manage and wrapping her left arm around his waist. Suddenly the rocky ground under her feet rolled, heaving and bucking as an awful, prolonged boom shattered the air. “Athena, how long?” she yelled.

  “Almost. There,” Benedict’s voice answered her. The words sounded as though they came from behind clenched teeth. Acrid, foul-smelling smoke was filling the cavern as the demons burned, stinging her eyes and searing her throat and lungs.

  “I’ll take ’im, lass.” Fergus’s voice boomed in her right ear as she succumbed to a coughing fit.

  “Gabi, come on,” Kyle’s voice yelled urgently over the unending thunder of moving rock and earth. She reluctantly relinquished her position at Julius’s side to Fergus, his taller, bulkier frame far better suited to supporting him, but she didn’t like the feeling of separation when Julius was so vulnerable. Another more localised shockwave hit and sent Gabi sprawling on her butt. She knew the taste of the magic, though; it was Athena. She’d released the banishing spell. A long, angry shriek sounded from where the Seeker had been standing; then it suddenly cut off, the eerie green illumination with it. Gabi brushed smoke-induced tears from her eyes and pulled her shirt up to cover her mouth and nose, squinting into the deep gloom. Kyle, only a few feet away now, dodging stinking heaps of burning demon, yelled at her to move, waving his arms wildly.

  “Come on,” she rasped, hardly able to hear herself over the chaos, but the others responded, following her lead
. Athena and Benedict clung to each other, but Gabi wasn’t sure exactly who was supporting who. They both looked frayed around the edges. The earth gave another sickening lurch under their feet, bringing them to a halt while they reeled, trying to stay upright. Dozens of rocks, some Gabi-sized, rained down from the walls and ceiling, adding clouds of dust to the already thick air.

  “Hurry the fuck up.” Alexander materialised out of the darkness, alongside Kyle, and rushed to take up Julius’s other side.

  “I’ve got the rear. Go!” screamed Kyle as she passed him.

  She broke into a slow, shuffling jog; visibility was down to less than two feet. An eternity and a half later they seemed to be clear of dead and dying demons, but Gabi only had a vague notion of the direction of the water-chute cave. All this and not only had they not achieved their target, they didn’t even know where the Dark Ones were.

  “Ten degrees left,” Alexander shouted.

  One thing at a time, she reminded herself, forcing her attention back to the ground in front of her feet and making the necessary adjustment. Ten more breaths, forty-six steps and two more changes in direction and suddenly the entrance to the smaller cave appeared from the murk.

  “What’s going on? Is that you guys?” A voice echoed from inside the cave. It was male, but unusually high pitched, stressed and excited. “Please don’t be demons. Please don’t be demons. Oh shit, this place is coming down.”

  “Who the fuck—” Gabi began, but Kyle cut her off.

  “Get inside,” he bellowed and then broke off coughing. “Explain later,” came out as more of a wheeze. A loud, spine-chilling crack sounded directly above them, and there was no more time to argue. The seven of them tumbled into the cave just as a car-sized chunk of rock careened off the wall above where they’d been standing and landed with a resounding explosion of sound and debris, fracturing into several smaller pieces and spraying sharp granite chips in every direction.

  “Anybody got some light?” Gabi asked in the sudden silence. She was face-down on the hard-packed ground with someone lying across her legs and one hip. Too heavy to be Athena and too warm to be a Vampire, it could only be Kyle. “Gerroff,” she wheezed, coughing and thumping him with her free arm. She’d lost Nex somewhere in the crush and hoped no one had been stabbed by accident. The familiar glow of Athena’s crystal lit the cave as Kyle rolled off her legs. She jumped to her feet, counting heads and sagging in relief when she realised they’d all made it inside. As the others unjumbled themselves, Gabi went to assess the entranceway.