“That is fantastic news,” Gabi said. “I needed some of that.”
Trish’s face instantly turned more serious. “Murphy told me it was another dead end.” The dead end Trish was referring to was the latest goose chase to the other side of the world, hoping to finally track down the Vampire Caspian, the Dark Magus Mariska and the one surviving half of the Gemini twins. Kyle took a seat beside her at the kitchen counter, his expression also sober.
If Slinky hadn’t been snoring ever so slightly in her left ear, Gabi might have been tempted to bang her head on the countertop. The last couple of months had taught her the true meaning of the word frustration.
“This one really seemed promising.” Gabi sighed. “That’s why we stuck around longer than normal. We sniffed out every corner of the town and every corner of every other town in a twenty-mile radius. Nothing. Zip, zero, fuck all. How can the three of them, Mariska heavily pregnant, and the Gemini twin mentally unresponsive, disappear so completely?”
“The world is a big place, Gabs,” Kyle said. “Caspian has been around for centuries; he probably has loads of friends and lowlife contacts no one else knows about. You knew this wasn’t going to be easy setting out.”
Gabi turned a baleful glare on him, and he quickly moved all throwable objects out of her reach. That almost earned him a smile. Kyle always had been the pragmatic one, the reasonable one, the yin to her yang, the calm water to her roaring inferno. He’d get in the canoe with her when she was way up shit creek, and he’d be the one to remember the paddle. He was her oldest and best friend, but there were times she still wanted to hit him with something.
“And SID is still doing an amazing job, even if you haven’t found Caspian yet,” Trish reminded her. “You can’t lose sight of the good things you’re doing. You must celebrate the successes.” That was true, the task force they’d set up at the behest of the Princeps had caught and apprehended three separate Vampires in the act of attempting to create Dhampirs. An act criminalised several months ago by the Princep Council and punishable by death. While putting an end to the Vampires’ cruel attempts was indeed a win for the world at large, Gabi didn’t like the idea of sending them off to the Princeps for trial and execution. More than one of them had begged to be allowed to kiss the sun before they were shipped off to Court. But she didn’t make the rules, and she was trying to keep her head down and her nose clean, determined not to be pulled up in front of the Council herself again. They were a scary bunch, and once was more than enough for her taste.
“You’re right, the Dhampir Squad have done good work,” she agreed, unable to help the ghost of a smile at the name the regular members of SID had bestowed on themselves. She and Julius had a core of experienced Vampires and Werewolves whose only responsibility now was to SID. This included Murphy, a human who, up until a few months ago, called himself Darkstalker and had tried to expose Werewolves to the world at large, but now he worked for them and had shown remarkable talent at computer hacking. Another regular was Mac, a newer Vampire and personal friend of Gabi’s who’d been a private investigator when he was human. And then there was Butch, a Werewolf who could drive just about anything with an engine and was also a dab hand at patching up the wounded. A handful of other trusted Vampires and Werewolves rounded out the group. “And our base of experts to call on is growing by the week. More Clans have offered far more help than we expected.” All of them had anticipated resistance when asking for the assistance of Vampires from other Clans with certain powerful gifts, but the opposite had proved true. Either the might of the Princeps’ wishes was a particularly strong motivator, or other Clans genuinely didn’t want the chaos and upheaval that would ensue if Vampires were once again able to create Dhampirs. Gabi suspected a combination of the two.
“So many great positives.” Trish beamed with approval before turning to the coffee machine, pouring fresh grounds into it and setting it to brew now that the midday heat was finally beginning to dissipate.
Gabi blew out her cheeks. If only she had Trish’s optimistic view on life. “We’re running out of time, you know,” she told her friends. “By our estimations Mariska is between six and seven months along. At this point she could have the babies at any time, and they’d more than likely survive. And then who knows what havoc will follow.”
“Do you really think Caspian will do something to newborn babies?” Trish turned back to her, dawning horror scrawled across her features. “Surely he’ll wait until they’re older?”
“We just don’t know.” Gabi shook her head, trying to dispel the images that flashed through her mind: Caspian sinking his fangs into babies, Mariska using them as blood sacrifices, perhaps hoping to bring back her Dark Magus lover from the brink of death. A shudder crawled down her spine. “But we’d rather not give him, or Mariska, the opportunity to do anything to them.” Slinky seemed to sense her unease and disentangled himself to settle on the counter instead.
Trish came around the counter and pulled Gabi into another hug. “You’ll find them; I know you will.” Gabi allowed herself the luxury of believing her friend, even if it was just for a few minutes. Just as Trish pulled away, her body tensed slightly and she cocked her head to one side, and then she relaxed.
“Speak of the devil, and he rolls into town,” Kyle drawled. And then Gabi heard it, the sound of a car idling at the gate outside. And then the gate was rumbling open. She glanced quizzically at Kyle and Trish, but the pair only smiled, and Trish pulled a fourth mug from the cupboard before pouring coffee.
A minute later the front door opened and Derek bounced inside. Bounced was a strange word to apply to an adult man, especially a tall, well-muscled hunk of a man, but that was the word that sprang to Gabi’s mind. There really was a noticeable spring in his step. His gait was so light and fluid that she could barely detect his limp. He’d grown so accustomed to his prosthetic lower leg that it simply seemed to be part of him now.
“Gabi.” His already cheerful expression lit up in pleasure as she stood up. “I didn’t know you’d made it back.” He caught her up in a huge bear hug, lifting her off the ground, and she let him. It was such a relief to have him back as the friend she thought she’d lost to a half-broken shell of a man, one who imagined himself in love with her. He positively oozed happiness and contentment, and it eased something inside her chest.
“I hear congratulations are in order,” she said, poking him in the ribs so he’d let her take a breath.
“Yep, I’m a taken man,” he announced proudly, letting her go, but keeping one hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry we didn’t wait for you to get back, but the time just seemed right.”
“Don’t be sorry,” she told him. “I’m just happy that you’re happy. And don’t go fucking it up.” She poked him in the ribs again.
“Yes, ma’am.” He stepped back and gave her a cheeky salute before accepting a cup of coffee from his sister.
“So what’s news in the City?” Gabi asked, settling back onto her stool and breathing in her favourite Ethiopian blend. “I only landed early this morning; I haven’t had time to catch up with Alex and Patrick yet.” Alexander, Julius’s second in command, never travelled with them on SID assignments. It was impossible for Julius to avoid the responsibility that had been thrust on them by the Princeps, and that made it even more important that there was a strong second to oversee the Clan while he and Gabi were travelling. Despite the support of the Princeps, there was no guarantee a power-hungry Vampire without a city to call his or her own wouldn’t try their luck and challenge for control while Julius was tied up elsewhere in the world. Alexander had already proven his mettle once before, and he would again if he needed to.
All three of her friends’ faces grew serious.
“Demon attacks are still on the rise,” Kyle told her. “The Magi are working with us and can usually give us a bit of warning. They’ve identified another three weak spots though. And they’re not sure if there are more forming or if we just haven’t found them al
l.”
Gabi grimaced; that wasn’t good news. The Magi were responsible for maintaining the integrity of the Veil, a magically charged shield that separated the demon plane, the Etherworld, from their own. If the Veil became weak, tears could form, allowing demons to force their way through into the natural world. Once on this side of the Veil, demons created chaos, killing and maiming anyone they came across. There was also the ever-present risk of humans turning into Ghouls from the bite or blood of a demon. There was only one good demon and that was a dead one. No one actually wanted a zombie apocalypse despite what mainstream TV would have you believe.
“The Magi still aren’t up to full strength?” she asked. Since the battle for the Source, a fight with Dark Magi over control of the largest pool of magical power in the world, the Magi’s numbers had been severely compromised. Dozens had died and some others had exhausted their magic so completely that it had yet to return to its former strength. They had been working to bolster their forces, fast-tracking promising youngsters and recruiting from across the world, but their race had never been prolific breeders and their population as a whole was small.
“Athena is trying her best,” Trish said. “She looks exhausted every time we see her, but there just aren’t enough of them to go around right now. And the problem isn’t just here, it’s widespread. The best they can do is try to limit the demon raids to cities where there is a force in place to deal with them.”
“We’ve started working with Packs in other cities,” Derek put in. “Explaining the dangers, training them to deal with demon raids, shipping them the most effective weapons. We’re kind of hoping what we’ve started here will rub off on some other towns and cities. If more Werewolf Packs have a proper job, hopefully there’ll be less infighting and less senseless violence. Look how well it’s worked here.” It was true; Gabi hadn’t heard of another city in the world that was home to six different Werewolf Packs that worked together for the good of all, but there was no reason their model couldn’t be adopted elsewhere. Derek was as bad as his sister.
“Annoying optimist,” she growled, backhanding him across the shoulder. “You are doing pretty well though, I have to admit.” She finished her coffee and glanced at her watch. It was after four and she’d only slept about five hours in the last twenty-four, time to get back to the Estate and try to grab a catnap before Julius woke from his daysleep. She called to Ross and Rory, telling them it was time to go, when her phone rang in her back pocket.
The name that flashed under caller ID shouldn’t have made her nervous, but a lead weight suddenly landed in the pit of her stomach all the same.
“Hi, Evan,” she said as she answered the call from the man who was technically her stepfather. “Everything okay?” She didn’t bother with pleasantries. It wasn’t like he ever called her just to chat; theirs wasn’t that kind of relationship. His reply doubled the weight of the lead in her stomach.
CHAPTER 3
“No, Mom and I finished lunch over two hours ago,” Gabi told her stepfather around the sudden tightening of her throat. She had to remind herself not to crack the phone she was holding to her ear. “As far as I know, she was heading straight home. You’ve tried her phone?” Stupid question, but she had to ask it. The Werewolves moved closer around her, her alarm registering loudly to their fine-tuned senses.
“Give me the number,” Trish mouthed before disappearing to the sitting room. Gabi held her free hand open as she listened to Evan, trying to ignore the rising anxiety in his voice. Kyle deposited a pad of paper and a pen into her grasp. She jammed the phone under one ear and quickly scribbled a mobile number down as Trish reappeared with a small laptop. It was open and booting up before Trish set it down on the kitchen counter. Kyle slapped the notepad down next to it.
“Right,” Gabi told Evan, sounding far more calm than she felt. “Stay at the house, near the phone. Use your mobile to contact any of her other friends you haven’t already tried. Do not leave the house. I need you there so that you can let me know the moment she walks in the door. Okay?” She paused, waiting for his reply. He was slow to give it, reluctant to leave the search in her hands. “I have the resources to look for her, you know I do. Promise me you’ll stay there and not try anything stupid. Please.” Her words finally reached him, and his gusty sigh of capitulation hurt her eardrum.
“Just find her, Gabi, swear you’ll find her.” His words were harsh, harder than she’d ever heard him.
Gabi ended the call and took a moment to send a quick fervent prayer to whichever God was listening that her mom was simply broken down somewhere in a bad signal area or had gone shopping and her phone battery had died. But the wretched little niggle in the back of her mind told her that wasn’t the case.
“Her phone is definitely turned off, but I have the location of the last tower it pinged,” Trish said, her voice tense as her fingers flew over the tiny keyboard. “Do you know her license plate offhand?”
Gabi paced over to stand behind Trish where she could view the compact screen. She rattled off her mother’s car license plate number, barely resisting the urge to throw her phone at the nearest wall. Ross, Rory and Derek crowded up behind her, but a quick look from Kyle had them retreating before she could snarl at them. As Trish typed, pulling up pages of data, Kyle carefully pried the phone out of Gabi’s white-knuckled grasp and set it on the counter.
“Breathe, Gabs,” Kyle reminded her.
She gave him a curt nod, grateful he hadn’t tried to tell her everything would be fine. In their world there were no such guarantees.
“Her phone’s last ping was somewhere between First Avenue and Arnold Street at thirty-two minutes past one,” Trish said. “I’m going to try to bring up surveillance footage from the area.”
“That’s only a couple of blocks from where we had lunch,” Gabi said, “and only a few minutes after we left.”
“Which side would she have been traveling from?” Trish asked.
“We were at Minaro’s, down on Third Ave,” Gabi told her.
Trish quickly scrolled down a list of files and double-clicked on one. A video began to load.
“I’ll start with the camera coming from that side. Hopefully we can track her progress from there.” The video began to play and the other Werewolves inched closer again. Kyle bristled, his Wolf taking exception to their proximity. “Hang on a second. Kyle, turn on the TV.” Trish paused the video and shoved a small gadget the size of a USB stick into the laptop. As the TV flared to life, the paused video appeared there too. “The more eyes the better,” Trish explained as she hit play. “What car are we looking for, Gabs?”
“That one.” Gabi pointed to her mother’s unassuming silver sedan as it turned right onto Arnold Street. It was in frame for a couple more seconds and then it disappeared. Trish’s fingers tapped quickly and another video came up.
“She’ll probably take a left onto Fletcher,” Gabi said, knowing her mother was inclined to steer clear of busy intersections even if it meant a longer trip home. A couple of minutes into the new video, a silver car turned. It was too far away to be sure it was her mother’s, but it was turning onto Fletcher. Trish paused that video and brought up yet another.
They tracked her mother’s car for another three minutes. She was being completely predictable, taking exactly the route Gabi guessed she’d take; there was no indication of anything amiss.
And then her mother’s car vanished.
They had a view of the back of it turning left onto Kernsey Road, but it didn’t appear on a single camera after that.
“There’s a freaking blind spot,” Trish fumed. “Right there, in that one-block section of Kernsey, there is no camera.” She continued to mutter under her breath as she jabbed the keyboard with far more force than necessary.
“Can you go back to the video before she turned onto Kernsey?” Derek asked. He was standing shoulder to shoulder with Ross and Rory, three feet from Kyle’s TV.
“Did you see something?” Gabi as
ked, striding over to them.
The video started playing again. The silver car could be seen several blocks in the distance. It stopped at a red light behind two equally unexciting sedans and a taxi and continued its journey when the light turned green. It drove past and under the camera and disappeared.
“Did you see it?” Derek asked, more certainty in his voice this time.
“What?” Gabi demanded. She hadn’t seen anything.
“Wind it back twenty seconds,” Derek told Trish.
As the video replayed for a third time, Derek reached out a hand and pointed to a vehicle parked on the far left of the screen. It was an emergency vehicle of some kind, a white van with bright green and yellow stickers emblazoned across the side and front. It looked like some kind of breakdown service, but the video footage was too grainy to make out any details. Two figures sat in the front seats with caps on, pulled low over their faces, and the driver’s window was rolled halfway down. Gabi squinted, still not sure what Derek had seen. But as her mother’s car approached, she saw the driver come to attention, and something dark and tube-shaped poked out of the open window. A second later her mother’s car passed the van and the black object was withdrawn back inside the car. The driver immediately rolled the window up.
“Keep it going,” Gabi told Trish after the silver sedan vanished from view again. All eyes trained on the logoed van as it pulled out into traffic, heading in the same direction as her mother’s Toyota. “Next one,” Gabi said, her voice hoarse with stress. The next video played, the last one her mother’s car made an appearance in, and sure enough, twenty seconds after her mother turned the corner, the van followed.
The atmosphere in the cottage became heavy as they once again searched the rest of the videos for signs of either vehicle.
There'll be Hell to Pay (Hellcat Series Book 6) Page 4