To Hell And Back_A Kurtherian Gambit Series

by Natalie Grey

  In the nearby town, reactions to the deaths ranged widely.

  “I always knew there was something wrong with that one,” Maria Quintana, a longtime inhabitant of the town, said. “Never saw him in town, you didn’t, and he was always bringing in outsiders to work at the castle. I’m not at all surprised.”

  However, Ricardo Bover, who moved back to the town recently after working in Madrid, expressed concern for the families of the castle staff. “I only hope that the estate has enough money to help out those poor families,” she said. “It’s a terrible tragedy.”

  ADAM was amused by this. Stephen had laid the groundwork to get the bodies of the hired guards out of the castle and place the bodies of the servants next to the defense mechanisms, which would have produced somewhat similar marks to the Wechselbalg claws and teeth.

  He wondered if he would feel sympathy for the castle staff if he were human.

  He pondered it and decided that he would not. Stephen and Jennifer, who swept the castle, had explained the staff was aware of what happened at the facility and that none had brought the matter to the authorities.

  As Stephen said, they had been judged.

  One of the guards, a man named Adolfo, had tried to report Hugo to the authorities. Unfortunately, due to Hugo’s bribes, the authorities had not passed along his concerns—and had given his name to Hugo. Adolfo’s body had been found in the laboratories.

  As ADAM was considering this, one of his sub processes hit pay dirt. Intrigued, he brought up the satellite imagery.

  It was the helicopter Gerard had taken from Spain.

  Finally. ADAM tracked the helicopter, but it had gone silent and seemed to be equipped with some sort of camouflage within the rotors to render it invisible on satellite imagery. ADAM had developed a program to outsmart that piece of technology if he found the helicopter again, but so far, nothing.

  In the meantime, he had been searching for distinctive fragments of the code Hugo used to restrict communications at the facilities, and he had found a location match that was not one of the facilities Tabitha had identified. It was in France, near a small town called Gordes.

  And there, on the roof, was the helicopter.

  “Stephen?”

  “Yes, ADAM?” Stephen’s eagerness to begin the mission was palpable.

  “I found Gerard’s helicopter,” ADAM informed him. “It is at a site that may be a research facility, though it is not one that Tabitha found. It is possible only Hugo and Gerard knew this location.”

  Stephen swore under his breath. Trust those bastards to have something else up their sleeves. When we find Gerard, I am bringing Barnabas with me so I can make sure there is nothing else he is hiding. Otherwise, I will always wonder about additional unknown facilities.

  “I have devised many ideas to ensure we find all facilities,” ADAM assured him. “One of them provided the location of the helicopter. I will tell you more at a more opportune time. For now, I assume the mechanics do not interest you.”

  “I will be in the conference room in a moment with the team. Find everything pertinent to that place that you can and get a Pod ready.”

  “I will do so immediately.”

  2

  QBS ArchAngel

  Ten minutes later, Stephen, Jennifer, and Irina were clustered around printouts of the satellite images, along with a few grainy images that seemed to show Gerard’s arrival late the day before.

  Jennifer’s lips moved silently as she traced the distance on a nearby map.

  “He would have arrived with just enough time to fly from Spain, with one stop for fuel.”

  Stephen looked at her. He knew her mind was hard at work on the problem, and she was coming to a conclusion.

  “He had a plan in place,” Jennifer said finally. “He left without confirmation that Hugo was dead. Either he knew some other way, or he was prepared for a power struggle.”

  Irina nodded. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the second one.”

  Though she had observed Gerard briefly, mostly hearing snatches of conversation between the scientists instead, she had known that Gerard was dangerous—in many ways, more dangerous than Hugo.

  She had always wondered what would happen if he decided to break with his employer.

  It appeared they were finding out.

  Stephen shook his head. “He left Hugo to die. That’s all it is. He’s a coward.”

  “He saw us storm the other facilities,” Jennifer observed dryly. “He probably knew there was no chance of getting to the castle in time. He would have been too late, judging by when he left.”

  “I don’t care.” Stephen looked grim. “He was loyal to Hugo, he did everything in Hugo’s name—then when the danger came, he abandoned the man he was paid to protect. That speaks of a coward. Cowards like to hide behind the odds.”

  Jennifer nodded, but a smile broke across her face a second later. “Of course, Hugo never had the knack of getting loyalty in the first place. There’s a reason he ended up with spineless bullies.”

  “That, I’ll give you.” Stephen blew out his breath. “ADAM, do you think—”

  The door opened, and Arisha slipped in with Stoyan. Both of them had mussed hair, and Stoyan’s shirt was buttoned incorrectly.

  The corners of Irina’s mouth twitched.

  “You said you needed us?” Stoyan was clearly trying to sound nonchalant.

  Stephen, thinking back on his centuries of hurried trysts in noble’s gardens, and passionate affairs with courtesans across Europe, forbore to comment. “Yes. We’ve found Gerard.”

  “Gerard.” Arisha went to the table at once, seizing the images. “Hsu’s going to want to see this, too, I suppose.”

  “But you want the chance to kill him first?” Irina suggested. She smiled at Arisha.

  “The man’s a psychopath,” Arisha said flatly. Unconsciously, her hand went to her shoulder. As a human, she did not have the fast-healing capabilities of the Wechselbalg, and she still carried the marks Gerard gave her as he tried to kill her in Spain.

  Stoyan growled slightly when he saw the bruises. “I wouldn’t mind a shot at that man, myself.”

  “Whoever sees him, kills him,” Stephen said warningly. “No waiting, no letting everyone get a shot in. Arisha’s right—he’s dangerous, but he’s also slippery. Don’t let him get away.”

  He looked around the room and met each person’s eyes, waiting until they nodded.

  “Good. Now that’s settled—ADAM, do you know if the facility in France received my message about Gerard?”

  “It’s difficult to say.” ADAM’s voice came over the speakers of the conference room. “I sent it via a channel that broadcast to all scientific research facilities. In that case, it might have transmitted to this one—if it is, in fact, a research facility. However, although I was able to get into some of the facilities, I have not yet been able to establish a link to this one. Hugo wanted to make sure it would be very difficult to find his entire operation…and unfortunately, he was good at hiding it.”

  Stephen considered this. “Do you think you could get a message to them now?” he asked ADAM.

  “Yes. There is a dish on the roof. I could send a message.”

  “Send them a message reiterating the danger that Gerard poses,” Stephen said finally. “And tell them again that per Hugo’s instructions, the experiments are to be ended.”

  His mind turned over the different possibilities. There was a chance that if Gerard were cornered, he would lash out. But Stephen had no desire to storm another facility unless it was truly necessary. If he could get the staff of this facility to turn against Gerard, there was the chance that they would allow them in without a fight.

  He looked at Jennifer. “Do we warn them that we’re coming?”

  “We’re going now?” He saw the relief on her face. “Good. I don’t think I could wait another minute. And…I don’t know. If they knew they only had to detain him for a few minutes, they might try harder. But I d
on’t want him to escape.”

  The rest of the group nodded.

  “ADAM, tell them we are coming to pick up Gerard,” Stephen decided. “I don’t want them to put up a fight, and I want them to know that Gerard cannot be allowed to escape.”

  “I will do so.”

  “All right.” Stephen looked around the room. “Get ready. We’re going now. We’ll wait for the others to recover before we go after the other facilities, but we don’t have time on this one.”

  Gordes, France

  “Sir?” One of the Wechselbalg, a woman, named Marie with a heart-shaped face and hazel eyes, beckoned Emeric over to the desk. “We have an incoming message that appears to be from Hugo.”

  “Another one?” Emeric shook his head. “I don’t want to hear it.”

  “Sir, it’s important.” She looked worried. “They say they’re coming here. Now.”

  “What?” Emeric was at her side in a moment, scanning the message.

  GERARD CORDOVA IS ACTING WITHOUT ORDERS FROM HUGO MARCARI, the message read. HE IS TO BE APPREHENDED SO THAT HE MAY FACE JUSTICE. THE EXPERIMENTATION PROGRAM SHOULD CEASE IMMEDIATELY. ALL STAFF WILL BE PROVIDED WITH ESCORT FROM THE PREMISES, AND PERSONNEL WILL MAKE SURE ALL EXPERIMENTS ARE EVACUATED SAFELY. WE WILL ARRIVE SOON.

  “What does ‘soon’ mean?” Emeric asked furiously. He slammed his hand down onto the back of Marie’s chair. He was fuming.

  They needed more time to learn everything they could of the program and its participants.

  “Would you like me to send a message back, sir?” Marie was gazing up at him.

  “No! No. Everyone, get ready to run. We’re leaving now.”

  They would just have to get their information at the next facility.

  “What do we do about the bodies, sir?” one of the Wechselbalg asked.

  Emeric looked around at all of them and, despite their odds, felt his chest swell with pride. These were the strong ones, the ones who had not only survived their torture but endured it long enough to pick their moment and strike out in revenge.

  And they had all sensed the opportunity in the same moment.

  When the message had come to stop the experiments, the scientists had been confused…and they had made mistakes. Cages had been left ajar, and Wechselbalg had been left in the experiment rooms without restraints.

  For most of those scientists, that was the last thing they ever did.

  A moment of distraction was all it took to lose your badge—or the keys to a cage. A moment of distraction was all it took to turn your back on an unchained Wechselbalg who now had no orders.

  A moment of distraction was all it took to wind up dead.

  Emeric wouldn’t make the same mistake. If Hugo was sending more guards and personnel, they could have weapons that would hurt his new pack.

  Emeric must protect them. And he did not intend to die here before he got his revenge.

  “Burn the bodies,” he ordered. “Pile them in the courtyard—naked.”

  They stared at him silently, not understanding.

  “If they know we killed the scientists and escaped, they’re going to hunt us down,” Emeric explained. “But if they think that pile of bodies means the scientists killed us and fled, they’ll probably let them go.”

  “Move quickly. As soon as we’re done, we need to get into the forest and hide.” He paused. “And I want three volunteers. I want to see these people Hugo has sent. We may see them again.”

  Jennifer packed the last of her Wechselbalg armor into a small bag and swung it onto her back. Nearby, Stephen prepared silently, strapping armor on over his bare skin and pulling a black shirt on over it.

  “Hey,” Jennifer called softly.

  He looked up at her wordlessly, and she saw the pain in his eyes.

  “Listen.” Jennifer went over to him and took one of his hands in both of hers. “You aren’t Wechselbalg. If you were, you would have been raised on the stories of mad scientists who wanted to harness our power.”

  Stephen stared at her silently.

  “I guess what I mean is...” She paused and sighed before continuing. “Hold yourself accountable for things you do wrong, sure. It’s one of the things I like about you. You don’t make excuses. But sometimes you take responsibility for things that were never your fault. There will always be someone like Hugo. Nothing you do can prevent that.”

  “I know, but—”

  “No. You don’t.” Jennifer gave him a rueful smile. “And it’s going to drive you crazy if you keep thinking that way.“ She grinned impishly. “Plus, it’ll give you frown lines.”

  Stephen laughed. “I am so lucky I have you. You know, there aren’t many other people who would talk to me that way.”

  “Exactly. That’s why you’re right—you are lucky you have me.” Jennifer checked her magazines and gave him a smile. “Let’s go kick some ass.”

  3

  QBS ArchAngel

  The sound of bubbling filled the room as Bobcat wove between tanks of beer and made his way to the back.

  He was taking an awful risk with this.

  There was a set of tanks in his office right now, supposedly brewing the beer he would use in the competition between himself, Marcus, and William.

  However, the real competition beer was here, in with the tanks that held the beer for the bar. He’d set it all up at three in the morning one time when the station was fast asleep.

  He wouldn’t be able to test it for a month, but he could practically taste it: perfectly balanced, malt and hops blending into a symphony of taste that would sweep across—

  “Bobcat. You in here?”

  Bobcat pulled his head up from where he had been leaning lovingly against the tank, running his hand over the smooth vat.

  He cleared his throat. “Yeah, what’s up?”

  John stooped as he carefully made his way through the room. The warrior looked around himself, nodding happily.

  “This is awesome. Never been in here before.”

  “Yeah.” Bobcat tried to look nonchalant, but his mind was racing. Was John a spy for one of the others? Was he trying to sabotage the beer?

  “Everything okay?” John frowned at him.

  “Oh, yeah. Just didn’t…sleep…well. What can I do for you?” Bobcat clapped the other man on the shoulder and led him away from the tank.

  “I’ll be going with Bethany Anne to check out a few wannabe big shots in the underworld—Wechselbalg taking hit jobs from humans.”

  Bobcat gave a low whistle. There had always been some overlap between the fringes of the Unknown World and the human underworld, but such overlap was strictly forbidden. Letting humans know about the shifters that walked in their midst would open a can of worms no one wanted.

  Of course, some people—Wechselbalg who had been thrown out of their packs, for instance, and who were scraping out a bare existence in the cities—tended not to care much. They’d gladly watch their brethren burn just for revenge.

  “I thought Bethany Anne had been trying not to get involved in that stuff, though, ” Bobcat clarified.

  “She was. But I think this thing with Hugo may have gotten her a bit…angry.” John grinned. “I have to say, I’m looking forward to watching those guys get the ass-kicking they deserve.”

  The two men emerged into the brightness of the bar, Bobcat wiping his hands on a towel.

  “Anyway,” John explained, “she wants to bring Ashur with us, and thought maybe you could give us some ideas on a camouflaged shelter for him—something like the camo pattern on some of your birds.”

  “Yeah, I could totally do that,” Bobcat agreed. “Actually, I think I have some of the material laying around. How soon were you going to leave?”

  “Well…they’re going pretty much now, I was just going to stay and get the shelter and go later with Ashur. But if we can do this pretty quickly, all the better.”

  “No problem at all. Come on, we’ll go dig that stuff up now and get it adhered.”


  Conscious of William at the bar, Bobcat did not want to betray himself by looking over his shoulder toward the brewing room. But he made a promise to the beer:

  I’ll be back.

  “What are we waiting for?” Pete asked the others.

  Eric, doing a last minute check on one of his weapons, gave a shrug. “No idea, man.”

  Ecaterina, running her fingers through Ashur’s white fur, also shrugged. She seemed content to wait on the floor of Bethany Anne’s rooms, leaning up against Ashur’s side.

  Ashur, for his part, was perfectly content to sit still anywhere provided he was being adored. He grinned, tongue lolling out of his mouth as Ecaterina rubbed his tummy.

  “You’re such a stone-cold killer,” Pete told him.

  Ashur chuffed and looked away.

  The doors slid open, and Bethany Anne and John walked in. John carried a folded contraption, each side was coated in a white, pale brown, and black camouflage.

  Pete nodded his head at it, “What’s that?”

  “This is going to be a little hideaway for Ashur,” John explained. He held it out as Ashur heaved himself up and came over to sniff the box. The dog gave John a dubious look. “You’re going to like it,” John assured him. “And you’ll be all camouflaged. You’ll get to chase rabbits all night instead of being cooped up in a hotel room.”

  Ashur gave a happy chuff and sat down next to Bethany Anne, his tongue lolling out of his mouth.

  “I don’t suppose you could get me a tent so I could camp, too,” Ecaterina said wistfully.

  “It’s going to be cold,” Bethany Anne reminded her. “And I promised your husband that I would take care of you.”

  “And I promised my husband that if he went around making people promise that, he and I were going to have words,” Ecaterina said matter-of-factly. “Winter camping is fun. It reminds me of going out on my own, away from everything.” She smiled nostalgically.

  “Winter camping…like, in the snow?” Eric asked, incredulous.