“What about my mother?” Gabi asked. “What happens if our people arrive to collect her and we’re still talking?”
“They will be politely asked to wait. None of mine will make any move to injure any of yours except in self-defence. As long as we are all reasonable, all will turn out fine. I promise you, I have no need of more enemies at this moment in time. Nothing would please me more than for us to all leave as friends tonight.” He smiled that smile again, the one just a whisper shy of bat-shit crazy. “Now, I must ask you both a question before we proceed.” He took several steps forward, alongside the bonfire, until he was just a few feet from them. “Can I trust you not to harm me or try to manipulate me against my will?”
Gabi still hadn’t decided if they were following through with this request of his, so her eyebrows shot skyward at his presumption. He was clearly referring to Julius’s ability to take control of him and his party of mostly Vampires. She glanced sidelong at Julius, but his eyes were narrowed and his attention fixed on Eka. They had discussed the use of his power at length, but had decided to only use it as a last resort; a peaceable outcome was their top priority.
“So long as no one tries to harm us or manipulate us in any way, we will extend the same courtesy to you,” Julius said at last, and with clear emphasis on each word. Gabi was surprised he’d made the formal vow, knowing he wouldn’t break it. Trust me, whispered through her mind. She sent back a mental nod, though she wasn’t entirely convinced of the merit of all of this.
As she glanced back at Eka, he opened his eyes. She wondered how long they’d been closed and to what purpose. The slightly deranged smile made another comeback, and he threw his arms wide. “Excellent, follow me.” He turned on one heel and strode confidently away from them towards the far side of the ruins.
Gabi and Julius exchanged a quick, dubious glance before following in his wake. They were trailed by Fergus and the equally tall and scary-looking Annmarie.
CHAPTER 11
The inside of the large cave was unexpected, to say the least. Gabi couldn’t stop her eyebrows shooting skyward as she followed Julius and the Decurian Number One inside. The entrance was more than large enough to accommodate a horse or pack mule. The floor was smooth and flat, the ground so hard-packed that it felt like concrete beneath her hiking boots. Nearly a dozen bronze wall sconces hugged the rock walls surrounding them, each supporting a lit candle, illuminating most of the cave and creating a warm, comforting glow. Another fire crackled near the back of the cave, the smoke drawn upward by an unseen chimney. A cave-in marred the rear of the otherwise smoothly excavated cavern, leaving large rocks and boulders strewn for several metres, but the rest of the cave was clean and clear of vermin, cobwebs, animal droppings and anything else you’d expect to find in a long disused cave in the middle of undisturbed jungle. To add to the surreal scene, three wingback chairs, opulently upholstered in red and gold, sat in the centre of the room, facing each other, a large hand-woven rug spread out beneath them, and in their midst was a low table with crystal glasses and several carafes of what Gabi could only assume was wine.
“Please come, sit and relax.” Eka strode to the chairs. “I hear that you both indulge in some fruit of the vine. Can I pour for you?”
Julius walked forward as Gabi threw a quick glance behind them to check that Fergus was in position. He gave her a small nod from just outside and flicked his wrist so that the firelight from the cave danced off the blade of his broadsword. They were protected from the outside; now they just needed protection against whatever the Decurian threw at them inside. Gabi was curiously dismayed that the alarm bell in the back of her mind was utterly quiet. She prayed it wasn’t on the fritz.
“My dearest Consort,” Eka called to her, “you have nothing to fear. There is no ill will here. I would not expose my dearest Flora to violence unless I have absolutely no other choice.”
Gabi turned away from the door and mentally steadied herself before going to join the two men.
“I have kept her terribly protected from the brutal reality of my life, and I will keep it that way for as long as I possibly can. Being a parent is such a joy and such a burden at the same time, but what can we do?” He turned a dazzling smile on Gabi, the edge of madness doused. Now he was pure, unadulterated charm. “What can I pour you? I have a wonderful Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Ermitage Cuvee Cathelin.” He rattled off the name of the wine in a near perfect French accent and, though Gabi was no sommelier, even she recognised it. “It’s a wonderful wine from the Syrah grape,” he continued, unaffected by Julius’s twitch and Gabi’s audible swallow. “This is my last bottle. I’ve been saving it for a special occasion.”
Gabi wondered when she’d fallen down the rabbit hole again. This particular wine probably made the list for the top twenty most expensive bottles of wine in the world, and she was being offered it in a cave on a remote mountaintop in central Mauritania by the leader of the group who opposed just about everything she and Julius stood for.
“Come, come,” he continued, holding out one of the flawlessly cut crystal decanters. “If it makes you feel better, I will take the first sip or I can call in one of my people, but I swear to you there is nothing but exceptionally good wine in here.” He picked up a large balloon glass and poured a small quantity of the deep red liquid, swirling it inside the glass until the aroma wafted to Gabi’s nose. It overpowered the smell of the open fire and the jungle, kicking her taste buds to life and turbocharging her saliva glands. Gods be damned, if she had to die tonight, let it be with a glass of that in her belly.
Julius stepped forward and took the glass from Eka’s hand. “Call in one of your wolves,” was all he said. Gabi knew of no poison that could kill a Vampire as strong as Julius, but she wasn’t quite that immortal. Mariska had very nearly killed her with a magically enhanced version of belladonna. The Decurian’s expression didn’t cloud with annoyance as Gabi had expected, his smile merely widened. A moment later a brawny, dark-haired man entered the cave and approached the trio.
“It’s your lucky night, my dear Rodrigo,” the pale man said as Julius held the glass out to him. “You get to sample France’s finest.”
The Werewolf took the proffered glass without comment, closed his eyes and down the contents. Sadly, in Gabi’s view, he didn’t even seem to like the taste.
Eka lifted a sardonic eyebrow as the man bowed slightly, handed the glass back and turned to leave. “Unfortunately he has the palate of a Neanderthal, but never mind.” He lifted a napkin off the table and deftly cleaned the rim of the glass with it. Gabi felt a tiny whisper of power over her skin and glanced at the entrance to see Fergus nod once. Julius had sent him some kind of directive, probably to watch the condition of the Werewolf. The man who should be their mortal enemy refilled the glass and held it out once more. Julius’s hand closed around the glass before Gabi could reach for it. He pulled a handkerchief from his own pocket and wiped the rim himself before handing it to her. Eka must have noticed, but he didn’t react except to fill another glass and hold it out to Julius.
“Now, please, sit, be comfortable.” He indicated the chairs with a wave of his hand. “Do you need anything special to do your thing, Julius?”
Gabi chose the chair that gave her the clearest view of the entrance and sank into the plush seat, adjusting the sword at her back so that the hilt was at the perfect angle to draw, and crossing her legs so that a butterfly sword was just inches from the fingers of her left hand. The Decurian hadn’t mentioned removing weapons, and somehow that put her further on edge. Julius drew in a breath and closed his eyes. Seconds later the pressure of the air around them increased until Gabi felt like she needed to flex her jaw and pop her ears. Goosebumps erupted on her skin and tightened her nipples. A moment later everything felt calm.
“It’s done,” Julius said, folding his lean body into another of the chairs. Gabi held the wine glass to her nose and breathed in the rich, plummy aroma of well-aged grapes.
“It has t
he most wondrous nose, doesn’t it?” Eka asked.
Now that Gabi was less than three feet from him, she could see that his hair was very light, ash blond and not grey as she’d suspected earlier. He had poured himself a glass as well and was nosing the wine with a delighted expression. He sipped, closing his eyes as he rolled the liquid around his mouth and then swallowed slowly, leaning back in his chair as though thoroughly at ease. Gabi watched Julius lift his glass to his lips and take a sip.
“Excellent,” Julius acknowledged with a slight lift of his glass in Eka’s direction.
The other man’s return smile reached his eyes, and the maniacal edge was truly gone. He took another mouthful of wine, savoured it and swallowed before heaving a huge sigh. To Gabi, he seemed like a man shedding an overly heavy burden, laying it on the ground in front of them and taking just a moment to rest.
“Leadership at its best is an onerous task,” he said at last into the silence. “At its worst it becomes its own punishment.”
“You do not want to lead the Decuria any more than they want you there.” Julius stated this as fact instead of posing a question. Gabi finally took a sip from her glass, allowing the warm tingle to flood every part of her mouth before swallowing the smoothest wine she’d ever tasted.
Eka’s smile turned sad. “I cannot admit to that.” He shook his head slowly, staring into his wine. “Isn’t it just the way of the world? The one thing that comes along and changes everything, the one thing that makes everything you’ve worked for worthless, is the one thing you cannot bear to let go of. The one thing that finally makes you want to live again?”
“Flora,” Gabi guessed, idly swirling the wine in her glass and wondering if it had indeed somehow been poisoned. He lifted his eyes to her and the pale, ice blue bored into her.
“Yes,” he agreed. “After so many, many centuries of not caring how the world worked or what happened to those living in it, now my eyes have been opened. Such a blessing and such a curse. I would do anything in my power to make the world the best place for her, but to do that I need to relinquish my role as Number One.”
“And you can’t do that,” Julius said. “They won’t let you leave; with the knowledge and power you possess, they dare not have you working against them.”
“My only way out is the true death,” Eka agreed, “and then who will watch over my Flora?” He drank again. “I think we are kindred spirits in a way,” he said to Julius. “Though the one you love is a little better equipped to take care of herself, you still wouldn’t want to leave her unprotected, would you?”
Indignation rose in Gabi’s chest, but she quashed it down firmly. Julius didn’t reply, his silence answer enough.
“So I walk a razor’s edge and find myself needing to reach out to those I would never have reached out to before. As you pointed out, when friends become enemies, sometimes enemies become friends.”
“Can you get to the point?” Gabi asked, despite the soothing warmth of the wine in her stomach, her patience was wearing thin. Kyle had to be very close to her mother, and all she wanted was to know that her mother was safe.
“Of course, I forget myself sometimes, forgive me,” Eka said, finishing the last mouthful of wine in his glass and sitting forward a little. “I offer you information; first, a way to locate Caspian and the Dark Magus. I do not have an exact location, but I do know a way to find them. And second, I will tell you everything I know about Dhampirs.” He held up a finger as Gabi opened her mouth to interrupt. “My Master was one of the last Vampires to have the services of a Dhampir; I know many things that will interest you. In exchange for this information, you will agree to allow Tabari to train Flora, and I want your promise to protect her as one of your own should something unfortunate happen to me.”
“What about my mother?” Gabi ground out. Nothing he said could deter her from her main focus.
“She is already in the hands of your team. Check your phone.”
Gabi reread the message on her phone for the third time. The tight band that had squeezed her chest, constricted her lungs and weighed down her heart for the past fifty-five hours eased, just a little. Her thumb shook as she tried to tap on the icon to bring up the attached picture. Julius’s warmth filled her, steadying her from the inside out. The picture opened to reveal two familiar faces: her mother’s squashed up against Kyle’s, both smiling. There were dark semicircles under both of their eyes, and both had hair in utter disarray, but they were alive and together. Her mother was safe. The last of the tightness inside her exploded into nothingness, and she could suddenly breathe again.
She was astounded to feel tears burning behind her eyes. The anxiety had swamped her so entirely that she was left reeling from the shock of its sudden departure. She wanted to wrap her arms around herself and rock in a corner for the next several hours. Reality intruded as Eka cleared his throat.
“I hope you can believe me when I say that I never intended to hurt her, and I regret that my needs were such that I was forced to this action,” he said, his tone conciliatory.
It could have been the tone that did it, maybe the words; later Gabi wouldn’t be able to say exactly what it was. A half second after he stopped talking, her knee was in his groin, her left hand around his throat, and Nex’s deadly tip mere millimetres from his heart. Red mist filled the edges of her vision, blurring her periphery, narrowing her world to the ice blue eyes that regarded her, not with fear or shock, but with calm resignation.
“Lea.” A strong, gentle voice touched her ears and echoed through her mind. “Come back to me.”
“He took my mother.” Her words sounded guttural to her own ears. “No one threatens what is mine.” It couldn’t be her voice, but the words were hers. Nex was warm in her hand, the hilt so comfortingly familiar, the gems pressing into her hand in exactly the right places, the bloodstone that had been in her father’s signet ring almost glowing. The man’s suit jacket had fallen open, and Nex had pierced the fabric of the vest and his shirt and slid between his ribs; she knew the feel of the blade in flesh. One small movement from either of them would perforate the man’s heart. Not even a Vampire as old as this one could survive with his heart in two pieces.
“He gave her back. She’s safe. Kyle has her. No one will ever touch her again.”
Julius.
She knew it had to be Julius; his voice was the only one that could pierce the fog that had begun to obscure her view of Nex.
“But he owes us, Lea.” Julius’s voice took on an edge, perhaps anger. No, Julius didn’t do anger. Annoyance maybe or determination. “He must pay for taking her. If you kill him now, he cannot pay his debt. What your mother has been put through will have been for nothing. Make him give us what he promised.” The fog cleared a little more and the man’s eyes once more came into focus.
“I have what you need, Gabrielle,” the man said. “Let me tell you everything.” Something in his eyes made her want to fight the mist. She pulled a breath deep into her lungs, held it for the count of five, and blew it out, imagining the air blowing away the whirling red fog. She closed her eyes. With her hand firmly around the man’s throat and her knee still in his groin, she’d feel if he made the slightest movement, but he didn’t. He stayed absolutely still. She breathed again, blowing away the red mist, letting go of the pent-up rage, facing the fear and the crippling anxiety that had been hers for so many hours and vanquishing it.
When the red cloud had retreated to just the edges of her vision, she opened her eyes again. Slowly, ever so slowly, she pulled Nex’s blade out of the Vampire’s chest. A deep red stain instantly blossomed across the charcoal pinstripe of his waistcoat. She locked eyes with him, and, for a long second, they stared at each other in utter stillness. Until she knew they understood each other. She had spared his life and he owed her.
Slowly, one at a time, she uncurled the fingers of her left hand from around his neck and took a single step backwards.
Julius was at her back, her cool pillar of
strength, the crystal clear waterfall washing away the uncomfortable heat of the fire inside her. As his arm came around her, pulling her back against him, she sensed his underlying tension. Nex still securely in her right hand, she dared to look around, putting her left hand back to touch Julius’s thigh. The cave hadn’t changed much—the candles still burned, the fire crackled cheerfully—but the table had been overturned, the wine and other liqueurs soaking into the carpet, amid shards of broken crystal and one intact glass.
Then the wrongness finally hit her. The utter, utter stillness. Outside, nothing was moving. In the candlelight she could see Annmarie standing at attention at the mouth of the cave. Gabi had just attacked the Master of a Clan and the head of the Decuria, and none of his Clan members were rushing to his defence. They might not be able to hear what was being said through Julius’s ward, but they could see everything through the large cave entrance. Had no one noticed her assault? She didn’t think much of his bodyguards, and then she heard a tiny sob. Finally, her brain made it out of neutral and she realised Julius’s tension was actually strain; he was holding all of Eka’s Vampire guards motionless with his mind. Their Vampires must be holding the Werewolves back.
“You can release my guards, Julius.” Eka sounded unaffected. “They will not rush to my aid. I only ask that you allow me to reassure Flora. She is upset and I find it very distracting.”
There'll be Hell to Pay (Hellcat Series Book 6) Page 15