To Hell and Back (Hellcat Series Book 4)

by Sharon Hannaford

  Gabi, who’d gone tense at the mention of Caspian’s name, unexpectedly relaxed a little.

  “That’s not what I intend,” Julius felt the growl in his voice. Gabi’s unease was back.

  “You know he’s going to try to find a way to kill you or to lure the Dhampir away from you,” Benedict pressed. “Every second he’s around, you’re going to have to watch your back and your woman.” The predatory smile on the teenage face made Julius distinctly uncomfortable.

  Mac arrived back from his walk, and Julius decided to steer the conversation away from sensitive matters.

  “He’s not an important issue right now,” Julius said. “I’ll deal with him after this crisis is over. Tell us what happened with the Oracles.”

  Benedict pursed his lips, thoughtfully studying first Julius and then Gabi. Julius wasn’t sure he wanted to know what the Vampire Magus saw. Yesterday he’d been relieved to find out that Benedict didn’t have any true offensive or even defensive magical talent. His greatest strength was his ability to magnify the talents of others, but his secondary strength, and secondary didn’t mean weak, was clairvoyance and clairaudience. Benedict was a person who always knew more than he let on. There was something he wasn’t telling them about Caspian. When they had time to worry about it, he’d have to heed Benedict’s warning.

  “Benedict’s assistance helped the Oracles push through some of their shielding spells,” Athena said, pushing all thoughts of the troublesome Spanish Vampire out of his mind. Her tone wasn’t that of someone who had good news. “The reason they’ve been so impenetrable is that they were multilayered. One of the Magi working with them is a very talented Shielder, able to build very complex walls.” She drew in a long breath. “The Oracles were able to see several dozen future possibilities, but there are too many unquantifiable elements at play here. There isn’t much concrete.”

  “Is there anything they know with relative certainty?” Julius asked.

  “That any attacking moves we make will be countered,” she told them. “In most cases with serious consequences for us. Our only real hope of overcoming them is when they attack and try to gain control of the Source.”

  The silence was heavy.

  “At that time every ounce of their magic, energy and concentration will be poured into one goal,” Benedict took up the explanation. “If we’re strong enough to stand against them then, if we have the numbers and resources we need, we can obliterate them. We need to wipe them off the face of the earth. It’s the only way to protect the stability of the supernatural world.” Benedict’s gaze bored into his meaningfully.

  Julius felt his jaw muscles tighten, his teeth clamping together. If he’d been harbouring any hope that he could get through this fight without having to utilise his newly discovered abilities, Benedict’s look just blew them away. They were expecting him to step up to the plate. A virtually untrained Vampire Magus.

  Benedict’s mouth lifted in a slight smile. “Eventually you’ll believe me when I say you’re underestimating yourself. Consider this your trial by fire.”

  Julius had learnt a little of the Magi ways and knew there was a trial all trained Magi faced when their mentors considered them ready to pass from Apprentice to full Magus. Apparently the trial of a Vampire Magus was a little more serious.

  “So we’re back to sitting around waiting for them to attack?” Gabi sighed, leaning back and agitatedly turning her ring around and around on her finger.

  “Well, not exactly.” The barest hint of a smile touched Athena’s mouth. “We know a lot more about how many are coming against us, and when and where they plan to attack. We can now make plans of our own. The Magi High Council has already put out a call. Every able-bodied Magus on the continent who can make it in time will rally to aid us.” Then her smile was gone, and she dropped her gaze. “There is some bad news, though, and according to the Oracles, there isn’t a damn thing we can do to prevent it.”

  Julius had never heard Athena curse before. She’d paused, working up to what she had to say.

  “What, dammit?” Gabi burst out. “Just tell us.”

  “They’re building a Demon Gate,” Benedict inserted when Athena still seemed to be choking on the words she needed to get out. “A permanent doorway into the Etherworld. A doorway that will allow demons in and out of our reality at their will and whim. And not only demons, but other Dark Magi, there are ways for Dark Magi to travel the void and converge at the Demon Gate. That’s what they’re fighting to protect; that’s what they’ve been so desperate to keep us from finding out. Much of the chaos they’ve already caused has been purely to keep us looking in the wrong places.”

  Silence as each of them digested the revelations in their own way. It was Kyle who broke it, in typical, as Gabi called it, Kyle-style.

  “Well, now we do know about it,” he said. “We’re a step ahead of where they think we are. It means we have an advantage. It means we know it has to be destroyed.” He popped the cap off a beer bottle and took a quick swig as the beer foamed up the neck of the bottle. “We can destroy it, right?” His optimistic attitude suddenly stalled as he realised his assumption may not be correct.

  Athena stood, wiping her hands on a napkin and brushing non-existent crumbs from her slightly creased trousers. “There is one person we think would be able to destroy it, but it needs to be destroyed at the same time that they launch their final attack. We have to wait until they are entirely committed, have put everything into the assault against us and their attempt to break through to the Source before we destroy the Demon Gate. And we have no idea exactly how many demons they will have brought through the gate once it’s open.”

  “Who?” Gabi asked, an edge in her voice; she seemed to know already who Athena was talking about. As Julius looked up to frown at Athena, he saw the answer as well.

  “Julius,” Athena said, “we think you have the best chance of destroying the gate.”

  A sick kind of terror hit him in the chest.

  Gabi felt the fear punch through Julius. It was strong enough to make her glad she was already sitting; if she’d been standing, she may have swayed from the onslaught. Outwardly his face remained impassive, no trace of his terrible uncertainty, though she noticed Alexander glance his way with a frown.

  “What makes you think I, of all people, can destroy this gate?” he asked at last. “I have barely any Magus training. I know little of spells and enchantments, nothing of shielding or breaking wards. I’m assuming we don’t have months until the Dark Ones make their move?”

  “You’re an Air-bender and a Fire-bender, Julius,” Athena said, her tone carefully neutral and patient, but Gabi caught an undercurrent of awe mixed with frustration in her voice. “The strongest Fire-bender we’ve ever heard of. You make Lance look like a first-year apprentice.” The awe was more apparent in her voice now. “That combined with your control of air, well, it makes you the strongest offensive Magus in existence. The testing we did showed you could even have an affinity for other elements, like metals and water.”

  “Hold on,” Gabi interrupted. “You say Air-bender. That’s like James, right?” One of the newer Hunters had actually deflected bullets during an ambush a few months ago; it had been very impressive. “I thought what Julius used was telekinesis, and I was under the impression those are two separate things.”

  “They are, and Julius was under a mis-assumption,” Athena confirmed. “Telekinesis is the ability to affect solid objects, to move them, compress them, drop them, kind of like using a mental hand. Air-bending is one of the elemental powers. It’s the ability to manipulate the air itself. By using the air, you can also lift and move solid objects, but it’s the air you have control of, not the object. Does that make sense?”

  Most of them nodded, including Gabi.

  “It’s more difficult to move solid objects using air-bending talent than using telekinesis, which is why it seems to take so much of Julius’s strength to do it, but air-bending has far more real-world
applications.” She turned from addressing them all to face Julius again. “Once you learn how to use air-bending properly, it won’t be so difficult to move solid objects, but the real strength, and danger, in air-bending is its lack of limits. Once you can manipulate the air around yourself…” She broke off for a moment, shaking her head. “Well, you could pull the air from someone’s lungs, cause a tornado inside a room, prevent a poisonous gas from spreading or direct it straight at someone. You could force an air bubble into a person’s vein or draw the oxygen from their bodies.”

  There was silence as all of them digested this information. Julius obviously hadn’t considered his magical abilities in that light at all.

  Mac moved, clearing his throat. “That still doesn’t explain what he can do against this Demon Gate thing,” he rumbled. “Can he blow it down like the big, bad wolf?”

  “No.” Athena shook her head. “That’s where the Fire-bending comes in, actually. Magical fire is one of the most potent forces against other magic. We don’t broadcast this sort of thing for obvious reasons, but Magus-made fire can burn through spells, wards, shields, just about anything magically defensive.”

  Gabi felt her mouth pop open; she was reeling from the implications. Julius had shut off his emotions from her, but whatever she was feeling, he must be experiencing it magnified a thousandfold.

  “Well, then it’s a darn good thing he’s on our side, isn’t it?” Mac said sagely. The muttered agreement from the group was subdued.

  “And to answer one of your other questions,” Athena continued, “no, we don’t have months to prepare for the attack. We have days, and so few of those we may as well count hours.”

  “How many?” Julius asked, his voice slightly hoarse.

  “Two,” Benedict said, “three at the most. The only reason it’s taking that long is because they’re waiting for reinforcements. They’ve put a call out to other Dark Magi. They’re touting this as the Dark Uprising, the chance to finally overthrow the High Council and bring in a new order of freedom from persecution. Half the able-bodied Dark Magi in the world will be here in the next few days.”

  A frisson of cold washed through Gabi.

  CHAPTER 21

  “You sure this is the best way to do this?” Gabi asked Athena and Benedict as they sat around a large round table at a Magi-owned hotel in the centre of the City. The place still made her a little nervous; the last time they’d been here there had been an ambush waiting for them outside, complete with guns and flying bullets. Alexander had taken a bullet for her, and the thought still gave her the willies.

  There were over two dozen other people at the table. Several of the Magi High Council, all of the SMV Council, representatives from the Werewolf Alliance and the Shape-shifter community as well as the SMV Hunters joined her, plus Kyle and Julius and a few of their people. The atmosphere was heavy enough to smother a puppy. “I’m not convinced separating our forces is a good idea. Can’t we deal with the Demon Gate after we’ve dealt with the main assault?”

  Athena unconsciously rubbed the back of her neck; she looked exhausted. “The Oracles don’t see one future, but all of them. A single person making a single decision can change the future for us all. The Oracles can only tell us the best paths to follow for a favourable outcome. There are no guarantees, and there is no way they can be sure another chain of events won’t unfold that they never saw.” She gave a little shrug. “Our best option is to follow their advice and hope for the best, but be prepared for the worst.”

  “How can we prepare for the worst?” One of the Werewolf Alphas spoke up.

  “I suggest you do as we have done,” Irene spoke up from her seat among the other Magi High Council members, “and put plans in place for an emergency evacuation of your women, children, and loved ones. Safe harbour somewhere in another city or a nearby town. We have called in the support of the Magi community from around the world, but have left a core of strong Magi out of the war preparations. There is no guarantee we will prevail in this; there is every chance we will lose possession of the Source. The rest of the world needs to be ready if that happens. If the Source falls into the Dark Ones’ hands, this will only be the beginning of the war. There must be some outside the City who understand the risks and the implications of what has transpired. Those need to be strong enough, committed enough and talented enough to lead a rebellion, to keep fighting for what we have lost.”

  The Shape-shifter representatives looked pale and shaken by Irene’s words. Gabi felt for them. Shifters are by and large a peaceful, non-aggressive race unaccustomed to violence and conflict. She and Byron had already made plans to evacuate him, Rose and the pets, her mother and stepfather, and his son and daughter if the worst happened. Byron had at first been stubborn about it, not wanting to leave his beloved City and the rest of them to their fate, but reason prevailed when Gabi pointed out exactly what Irene had just said. They needed the security of knowing someone was there to take up the fight if they failed. Who better than to coordinate a revolt than Byron?

  Julius had spoken to the Princeps and warned them of what might happen. The situation was being taken under advisement, but it was obvious that despite both Benedict’s and Julius’s warnings of the possible consequences, the majority of the Princeps felt safe from the wrath of the Dark Magi, considering it an internal Magi matter that had little to do with them. The best they could do was to issue warnings to the other Masters who were on speaking terms with Julius, hoping they would step up to help if the worst actually happened.

  She could see others at the table making mental notes; she knew there would be a small exodus of friends and loved ones from the City in the next several hours. There were no such plans for Julius’s Clan. They’d taken a stand; they had no intentions of becoming a wandering House once more. The City was theirs, and they’d stand to the very last one in its defence. The thought had Gabi deeply depressed. She wished she could convince more of those she cared about to leave too—Trish, Derek, her friends Russell and Shaun, so many others—but they were all insistent on staying to help as much as they could. She comforted herself with the thought that they wouldn’t be directly involved in the fight and would be able to help with the evacuation of others.

  She took a deep breath and slapped herself mentally; wallowing in negative thoughts wasn’t accomplishing anything. She’d done as much as she could for those she loved. Now it was time to concentrate on winning the war. She focused her attention back on the meeting.

  “What size force is going with Julius and Hellcat?” another of the Alphas asked. “Do they need a Werewolf contingent?”

  “The Oracles recommend a small force, but a mix of Werewolves and Vampires would be best,” Athena said. “Julius, do you need extra Werewolves?”

  “No,” Julius said, his voice even. “Gabrielle and I have already selected our team. It will number thirteen, as the Oracles recommended. Fergus, Patrick, Kyle and Razor will be joined by several of my personal guard and some of my Werewolf staff. I have already requested their presence from their Alphas. I only ask for two extra Magi, preferably with some offensive magic and no qualms about using it.”

  “Razor?” the first Alpha spoke again. “Hellcat’s cat is one of your team members?” His splutter seemed to indicate he was caught midway between amusement and consternation.

  Julius’s curt, “Yes,” wiped the amusement from his face, but he, and several others, still looked bemused.

  “The Oracles agree that the cat should be there,” Athena put in, settling the matter.

  They moved onto discussions of the main defence, which would be played out at the site of the Source. The Magi would have to reveal the exact location of the Source to all of them soon, but they were dragging their heels, waiting to divulge the information only once they knew with absolute certainty that the Dark Magi were on the way. Gabi thought that they might secretly be hoping the Dark Ones would simply pack up and move on. She knew it was a vain hope. Athena and Benedict led the
meeting from there on. They, along with the contingent of SMV Hunters, would be leading the resistance, and were tasked with the unenviable job of taking on the Dark Elders and possibly Gemini as well. The Oracles couldn’t tell where Gemini would be during the main assault; it seemed they were uncertain themselves.

  The meeting dragged on, and Gabi wanted nothing more than to be home spending some quality time with her pets and Julius. She needed to drink in the serenity her pets exuded, to recharge and try not to think about saying goodbye. Julius brushed her mind, a gentle kiss of reassurance, despite his own anxiety.

  Perhaps it was the tiredness, perhaps the droning of strategic military planning, but her mind zoned out of the talk around the table, and in the almost meditative state, her intuition suddenly rang a gentle buzzing in the back of her mind. Not the usual clear alarm of warning, more of a nudge to pay attention. And then a memory of a man popped into her mind, a man who talked incessantly, the one they’d saved from the cavern under the warehouse. What was his name? Oh yes, Henry. She recalled that he was being housed at SMV HQ while they tried to decide what to do with him. How strange that he would come to mind. Was there something dangerous about him that she hadn’t picked up on, was he special in some way? What was her subconscious trying to tell her? A word whispered through her mind just as a masculine voice speaking her name snapped her back to the meeting.

  It was nearly two hours later that they finally broke for something to eat and drink. Gabi was in caffeine withdrawal and grumpy to boot. She enjoyed long-winded meetings like she enjoyed being hit in the face by a demon with a cudgel. It was a sombre group that filed out of the room, but the sight of food, tea, coffee and colas in the adjacent hall seemed to bolster spirits. Gabi caught Athena’s arm as the blonde woman walked past. Benedict was on her other side and stopped as she did. Alexander was just behind them, along with Julius and the rest of his staff, his eyes glued to Athena’s back.