Gabi found herself enthralled, and even Kyle was paying close attention as Julius’s discourse about the abilities and disabilities of being Vampire continued. The tension around the table gradually started to ease, and Alexander even added in the odd snippet of information. Julius confirmed that while breathing was not necessary, they still did it to both appear normal in human company, as well as to be able to smell their environment, a sense essential to a Vampire. Julius sent out a thread of power to summon the waitress back to clear the table and take dessert orders from Kyle and Gabi. Julius then turned the tables on her.
“Would you tell us something, now that we have been open with you?” he suddenly asked.
“I guess that depends on what you want to know,” she said, suddenly wary.
“Your exceptional….” he paused searching for the right word, “abilities,” he settled with, “are they Vampire in nature?”
“Why would you say Vampire?” she hedged.
He smiled but answered her. “Well, firstly the word on the street is that you are half Vampire, and secondly you have a very subtle but very definite Vampire scent.”
Gabi concentrated on taking a large sip of her Irish coffee, contemplating her answer. He waited her out patiently. Finally she made up her mind.
“Yes, they are Vampire in nature,” she said, only answering his direct question; she was going to make him work for his answers. His eyes narrowed and she thought he looked a trifle disturbed.
“But that’s impossible, unless you are ingesting Vampire blood on a regular basis,” he said slowly.
Gabi kept a calm face and looked directly into his eyes. “No, it’s not impossible and no I’m not drinking Vampire blood,” she said holding his gaze.
He had gone dead still, he didn’t even appear to be breathing.
Gabi flinched when Kyle’s mobile suddenly vibrated. He glanced at the incoming number and immediately pushed away from the table to take the call. The others turned their attention to him, and as he listened to the voice on the other side of the call, his expression turned serious.
“Shit,” he swore roundly. “When, where and how many?”
As he listened again Gabi knew instantly what was happening. She glanced at Julius. “Call the waitress. We need the cheque,” she said tersely, looking regretfully at her bowl of chocolate mousse, knowing it was heading back to the kitchen.
“What’s wrong?” Julius asked, instantly on full alert. The air was saturated with the scent of adrenaline by the time Kyle disconnected the call.
“I gotta go,” he stated simply. Gabi grabbed his arm as he went to stand.
“How many?” she demanded.
“Too many,” came his brusque reply. “Can you catch a cab home?”
“No chance. I’m coming with you,” she declared.
“Don’t be stupid,” he responded curtly. “You’re already injured; you’ll only make things worse.”
“I can see it on your face, they need every sword we’ve got. My perfect good health is not worth the life of innocents.”
Kyle shook his head, realising he didn’t have the time to get through to her. “OK. Fine. Whatever.”
Julius spoke then, “You’re talking about a Demon attack, aren’t you?”
“Demon attacks,” Kyle asserted, emphasising the plural. “At least three different locations, multiple Demons. It’s not going to be pretty. We have to go. Now.” He stood drawing Gabi up with him.
“We’re coming with you, give me co-ordinates and I’ll call for reinforcements,” Julius announced. “Alexander call Nathan, tell him to get the team together we’ll call him with the details soon.”
Kyle started to protest, but Gabi quickly stopped him.
“It makes sense; why not let them help if they’re willing?” She looked at him challengingly. When he didn’t argue further she turned to Julius. “You’ll have to stick with us though; I can’t guarantee the other teams will see you as allies instead of enemies.”
He nodded, standing as Alexander pulled a phone from a pocket and began dialling. He drew a wad of notes from his pocket and slid them under an empty wine bottle. “Let’s go. We’ll follow you.”
Chapter 10
“We need more weapons,” Gabi muttered darkly around a lollipop. “I have some extras in the trunk of my car, but not enough.”
They were in Gabi’s car and Kyle was pushing the car like a racing driver. Julius and Alexander were right on the Mustang’s tail, having no trouble keeping up, but then they were in an Aston Martin V12 Vantage. Master Vampire was obviously a very lucrative profession.
“The Clean-up Crew is bringing more from HQ,” Kyle said. “I still don’t think you should be fighting.”
Gabi ignored him; it was pointless getting into an argument over it. “Where are we headed?”
“Central City Train Station.”
“Shit! Keeping this one under wraps is going to be fucking impossible.” She texted the location to Julius’s phone as she spoke.
“Byron had a gas leak called in, he should be able to keep civilians clear for a couple of hours.”
“How has he spread out the Hunters?”
“Matthew and I are covering the train station, Douglas has the old stadium and Lance is heading for another weak spot behind the City Cathedral.”
She felt her eyebrows shoot up at the last one.
Kyle grinned wryly. “Go figure, huh?”
“I’ll call Byron, tell him we have Vampire back-up and he can send Matthew to help Doug.”
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Kyle asked earnestly. “What if this is some kind of set-up by Julius, we could be playing directly into his hands.”
“I can’t tell you why, but I trust him. Alexander’s behaviour certainly didn’t suggest someone trying to charm us into letting down our guard, and I can’t feel any deceit in their actions or emotions. If there is something more going on we’ll figure it out after the Demons are dealt with.”
Kyle finally capitulated, trusting Gabi’s instincts. “OK. Call Byron, I think you’re right, Doug will need the help at the Stadium.”
Gabi dialled. It took her several minutes to convince him that she trusted the Vampires, and they would cope without Doug. She promised to stay out of the main fighting if she could, and hoped she could keep her word. As she ended the call Kyle pulled the Mustang into a parking space across the road from the train station. There were two vans pulled right up to the main entrance, both with Hazmat warning signs on them. Gabi had to smile, what did Byron not have up his sleeve? The Clean-up Crew, dressed in Hazmat uniforms, were already evacuating the handful of late night travellers and pointing them in the direction of the nearest bus station.
Julius stopped in the space behind them and both Vampires were out the car in the blink of an eye. Gabi grimaced as she reached to pull open the centre console, she didn’t really want an audience for this. She quickly pulled something out and slid it up her sleeve before throwing the lollipop stick into the console and getting out. Kyle opened the trunk and hefted out a large, black nylon bag.
“We’ll gear up inside, out of sight,” Kyle said. “Let’s go.”
Gabi hung back. “Go on, I’ll be there in a second,” she caught the keys Kyle tossed her way and turned back to the car, leaning inside and pretending to search for something. As Kyle hurried away she pulled the filled syringe out of her sleeve. It was her emergency stash of Morphine, and it had come in handy more than once. Good thing she couldn’t get addicted to drugs, she knew it was easy to get hooked on Morphine if you were full human. She undid the button on her right sleeve and popped the lid off the needle, as she started to push up her sleeve a voice behind her said, “Can I help you with that?”
Gabi bit back a yelp, nearly banging her head on the door frame of the car as she spun to face Julius.
“Bloody hell,” she swore, “I thought you went with the others.”
“Obviously,” he had a slightly smug expression on his face.
&
nbsp; “I have another option for you,” he said inscrutably. “That,” he indicated the syringe with a nod, “will only dull the pain, making it easier to further injure yourself.” He paused a moment as if weighing his next words. “If you take blood from me it will not only accelerate your healing, but make you stronger and faster, less destructible and more deadly.” He fell silent, waiting for her response.
Gabi was stunned; her mind whirling with the possibilities and the implications. Then she realised there was no time to debate the issue. “Thanks for the offer,” she said carefully, “uh, maybe next time.” When she had more time to find out the full extent of the side-effects of taking his blood, and to decide if she trusted him she finished silently.
Julius simply nodded, “Then allow me to help at least,” he said reaching for the syringe.
Her immediate reaction was to snatch it back and tell him she was quite capable of doing it herself, but then she realised she was going to be trying it left-handed, and she was bound to make a hash of it, so instead she pushed her sleeve up and offered him her arm. He took her arm gently and deftly slid the needle into her vein, she barely even felt the prick. After he drew the needle out, he rubbed the tiny pinprick of blood away with his thumb.
“The offer stands if you change your mind,” he said with an uncharacteristic rough edge to his voice.
Gabi could’ve sworn his fangs seemed slightly longer than they had been a moment ago. She winced as she pulled off the black scarf she’d been using for a sling, and used it to tie up her hair. Then she flexed her shoulder a few times and inclined her head toward the station.
“Let’s go kill some Demons,” she said, tossing the empty syringe into the car and slamming the door.
“After you Angeli Morte,” Julius intoned.
She threw him a withering look and took off in a sprint across the road.
The rest of the Crew were already gearing up in the main foyer. Civilians had been evacuated, trains had been diverted to other stations, and the usual emergency crews had been sent to the other side of the huge complex of buildings and told not to enter until the all clear was given by the Hazmat squad, i.e. SMV Crew in drag. Gabi introduced the two Vampires to the other members of the crew, giving them stern looks when they threw suspicious glances at the Vampires. Alex and Julius both had their own long swords, but strapped on throwing knives and butterfly swords from the supply in one of the vans. Gabi and Kyle both added a Werewolf dartgun to their arsenal and Gabi grabbed a compact crossbow as well. She wasn’t keen to go hand-to-hand with Demons tonight. She caught Alex glancing at her out of the corner of his eye; he seemed amused by the sight of her kitting up.
Kyle and the Magi were discussing their options and making contingency plans when the rest of the Vampires arrived. A murmured ripple washed through the other crew members, fear and anxiety tainted the air around them as the five male Vampires came through the doors. The crew had rarely been this close to live Vampires before.
Gabi quickly stepped forward. “Hey, Nate,” she called good naturedly to the burly Vampire. “Looks like you’re gonna get your chance to make it up to me.” She tossed him a short sword out of the pile, and he caught it easily by the hilt. She hoped her easy acceptance of their presence would help ease tension. “Gear up with whatever you’re comfortable using and then we’ll go over the plan of action. We don’t want to be tripping over each other or letting any of these bastards escape.”
Nathan nodded curtly at her and looked at Julius; waiting for his quick nod, before introducing the other four Vampires.
“Marcello,” he indicated a slightly built, dark haired, dark eyed male with an easy smile, who gave Gabi an elegant bow as she recognised him as Stephan’s accomplice in the bar charade. “Quentin’s on the right.” A tall, lanky male with shoulder length hair and a serious expression, inclined his head. “Charlie’s the one in the stupid hat.” A shorter male with broad shoulders, a Stetson and cowboy boots gave them a mock salute. “And Fergus,” Nathan moved aside to expose a muscular male in combat trousers and a black vest. He was as muscular as Sly Stallone in his young days, but the first thing that struck all the onlookers was the terrible scar running across his face. It was an angry red line as thick as a pencil, and it slashed his face from his left temple, over his eye and down to the left corner of his mouth. It gave him a macabre and savage look, enough to frighten Freddy Kruger, Gabi thought absently; but as he stepped forward he cracked a huge incongruous smile and his voice boomed with a rough Scottish accent.
“Point me to them Demons! I been itching fer a good fight.”
Gabi grinned viciously; something told her she and Fergus were going to get along just fine.
“Right, can someone give us an ETA on the Demons?” she called to the trio of Magi standing in a huddle to one side. Gabi recognised the two women from the fight two nights ago, and the third was a short, older male. It was the man who answered her.
“HQ says the Veil will be thinnest at just after eleven pm.” The man paused and his eyes grew distant. Gabi started to ask another question, but one of the women held up her hand to cut her off. Gabi gave the woman a flat, unfriendly glare and received a wide-eyed, apologetic look in return.
“Sorry,” the slim blonde whispered nervously, “but he’s scanning. Neil should be able to pinpoint the location of the gateway.”
So the group waited; most shifting impatiently, but the Vampires stood inhumanly still in a cluster near the entrance. Neil suddenly shook himself, a quiver running from his head to his feet, and blinked rapidly a few times.
“The gateway will open on the platforms, somewhere between platforms five and six,” he announced.
“Ok,” Gabi lifted her voice to get the attention of the whole group. She glanced at her watch. “It’s five to eleven, so let’s go over the plan of action quickly. There are only two exits from the platforms, clean-up crew split into two groups, one at each exit. You know the routine; whatever happens, do not tackle one. Magi, you come in with us, stay as close as you can to the fighting without endangering yourselves, banish only if there is no other choice.” She then turned towards the Vampires, but addressed Julius. “Our usual method of attack is to wait until the Demons have exited and assess their strengths and weaknesses, we try to match up Hunters to Demons so that we don’t trip over each other attacking the same one or letting one go unnoticed. If you finish off the one you’ve claimed you can help anyone else who looks like they need it.” She looked askance at Julius, knowing instinctively that his Vampires were not going to take orders from her, so he needed to decide whether he was onboard with them, or fighting his own fight.
“You are the Demon hunters, we are here to help,” Julius turned his head slightly to look at his men, “and to learn. We’ll follow your lead.”
Some of the Vampires looked at each other, but no one said a word and their expressions were carefully neutral. Gabi was sceptical of their acquiescence but ploughed on anyway.
“It’s better if we can double up two hunters to a Demon,” she said raising her voice, though she probably didn’t need to for the Vampires’ benefit, “but we may be outnumbered if the last attack was anything to go by. We’ll need to eliminate the most dangerous ones first if that’s the case, and run down the others later. Demon blood corrodes anything it comes into contact with, including metal, and the best way to kill them is sword or knife to the heart, if you can find it. There was a particularly bad one at our last encounter, a Wraith-like creature I would recommend staying away from. The Magi will have to deal with that one, as it has no physical form to damage.” She tried to suppress a small shudder at the thought of her encounter with it. She lifted the compact crossbow to her shoulder and gave them all a small nod. “The rest you’ll have to learn the hard way. Let’s go.” With that she stalked off towards the platforms, Kyle next to her and the pack of Vampires moving on silent feet close behind. The rest of them scurried to get into their assigned positions.
Juliu
s couldn’t help but enjoy the view of Gabi’s curvy backside as she strode down the corridor ahead of him. She may take charge like a man, appear to be tough and fearless like a man, but she was all woman when she moved. The minute trace of blood in the air when he injected her earlier had awoken a thirst in him. As he watched her become the ice cold, deadly Angeli Morte in front of his eyes, his thirst had ignited into a fierce desire.
The Hunters and the Vampires gathered half-way down platform four, having left the Magi clustered closely together on platform one. They were arrayed in a loose line, all looking closely at the area that Neil had indicated to them as the likely entrance point. Gabi took a moment to assess the new Vampires. She was relieved to see the hardened, anticipatory look of seasoned warriors like an aura around them. While most of them stood in alert stillness, Fergus was openly excited, a joyful, predatory gleam in his eye. Julius watched her appraisal of his warriors with a carefully blank expression.
“Ready?” she asked him.
He gave her a short nod.
“Good, ‘cause here they come.” She stepped back and loaded her crossbow as the familiar prickle of malicious energy washed over her. A thick, putrid smelling fog rose up from the ground under the train tracks and began to fill the large enclosed space. From the stinking fog, grotesque forms began emerging one by one. This time they didn’t pause before attacking; as they emerged they launched themselves straight for the defenders. Gabi let the men charge in, standing back to try and assess the situation, trying to count heads, but gave that up as she realised two of the Demons had more than one head. She thought there were no more than seven Demons, so at least they weren’t outnumbered, and she hoped like hell the portal had closed.
The Vampire group was fighting well as a team, though she could see, even in the dim lighting and hazy air, that Alexander and Marcello’s faces reflected a mixture of shock and revulsion. She began scouting the area for flying Demons when she realised that a small group of troll-like Demons was using the cover of fog to try and leave the main fight and head towards the far exit.
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