“What?” Julius asked, his voice strained, as though in pain.
“Link with me, deeper than we’ve ever linked before,” she whispered, already stripping her mind bare of all defences. “Hurry.” His arm came around her waist, and she bit back a gasp as he touched her bruised ribs. She felt his mind brush hers, probing gently. “Drop your defences, Julius,” she urged through gritted teeth. “It’s our only hope.” She felt his dismay and his sense of inevitability, and then she felt his pain. It stole the breath from her lungs and made the world swirl dangerously under her feet. It took her several precious seconds to come to terms with the sensation of being on fire, feeling as though lava ran through her veins, roasting her from the inside out. The Seekers weren’t preparing to attack again; they’d never stopped attacking. They were wearing him down, and there was no way he could withstand this for much longer, the Clan was too far away for him to draw on their strength.
A roar snapped her head around, and a wave of relief swamped her at the familiar sound. Fergus crested the hill and barrelled towards them.
“Don’t touch them,” Gabi yelled and he skirted the Seekers. A second later he was at their side, easing Julius’s weight from her.
“What the—” he broke off as he touched Julius, and Gabi felt the Scotsman’s mind join their union. She closed her eyes as she tried to show him what was wrong and she heard him growl, and then a torrent of strength and power poured from him, filling Julius’s almost empty reserve, gushing so fast it poured into Gabi as well. The last of the fog left her brain, her shoulders straightened and her knees steadied.
“Julius, use the fire,” she gasped again. “Use my eyes.” She opened her eyes and carefully took in the scene. The tornado-like presence of her Consort locked onto her consciousness and she felt it as their senses merged. His body stiffened, pulling away from her support, straightening to his full height as his head fell back and his arms rose upward. Then his fingers splayed out and flames as high as a house sprang to life in a large circle around the Seekers. Instantly the fiery pain inside Julius died. The absence of pain was like the shock of a cold shower, making Gabi gasp aloud and leaving her reeling.
The Seekers broke apart and clustered together in the centre of the ring of flames, lurching jerkily as the hungry fingers of fire snatched at them. Julius stood with his eyes closed, his feet apart, no longer swaying. He brought his hands together slowly, millimetre by millimetre, and the flames followed his lead, inexorably closing in on the trio.
In a move so fast Gabi could barely track it, the dark-robed Seeker grabbed for the other two, thrusting them headlong into the flames, using them like some kind of springboard to surge skyward. The inhuman shrieks of the Seekers pierced Gabi’s eardrums, leaving them buzzing as the grey cloaks caught fire and were consumed in a flash of dust and fireworks. Sparks caught the bottom of the other Seeker’s cloak as it surged up and over the ring of fire and vanished into the mist.
“Send the fire towards the portal,” Gabi shouted, grasping Julius’s arm and turning him with her to face the way the Seeker had just vanished. “It’ll keep them back until we can shut it down.” Julius’s arms dropped and the flames died down. When he raised them again, a thick wall of fire sprang to life in the centre of the fog.
Shouts erupted to their left, and Gabi spun, Nex up and ready. Fergus flowed to her side. But what rushed towards them was a large group of people in a tight military formation, dressed in dark clothes, with weapons strapped to every limb. Their grace and fluid movement gave them away as Vampires. They were being escorted in by two large, panting, blood-soaked wolves.
CHAPTER 19
The uneven stones of the wall dug into her back and the ground under her butt was as hard as concrete, but the discomfort wasn’t enough to make her move. Utter exhaustion weighed her down, her ribs ached, some larger lacerations still oozed blood, and her right wrist was all but useless. Razor sat beside her, miraculously unscathed except for missing the whiskers on his right side. He had come too close to fire at some point, and only little black nubs remained. She would have to pluck them out so that new ones grew back; he wasn’t going to be happy with her.
Nex lay in her lap and her thumb worried over the large gem in the centre of the hilt. It had been the gemstone from her father’s signet ring. Until very recently it had been a vibrant green stippled with tiny flecks of red: a bloodstone. A stone of protection and victory and, according to her one Sensei, able to deflect evil and dark energy. Now it was a dull, matt black. And Gabi knew the sword would never again feel the same in her hand. It was as though the very spirit of the sword had died, and she felt like she’d lost a true and valued friend. She wanted to grieve, but how could you grieve for an inanimate object? Especially when there was a very animate object to grieve over. Her mind shied away from that reality; she didn’t think she could deal with that just yet. If it wasn’t for her father’s bloodstone, she too might be…
Suddenly annoyed with herself, she leaned forward, shoved Nex back into the sheath down her back and pushed to her feet with a groan. Overused muscles had grown cold and stiff, and the scratches and cuts pulled and stung as they began to scab over. Her eyes automatically found Julius; he was all dark, brooding business. Standing with the leader of the local Vampire Clan’s security force, he looked grim as they talked and pointed. Around them Vampires dug shallow holes in the ground and buried the evidence of deceased demons. There was one thing to be said for fighting demons in a graveyard; no one was likely to be questioning freshly turned soil in the morning. She corrected herself; it was already morning. Dawn was less than an hour away; they would need to finish things up here soon. The Vampires were working quickly, but there were so many puddles of demon goo.
“Gabs,” Kyle called from her left as he trotted up to her, “it’s probably time to get back to the vehicles.” He looked none the worse for wear although his combat trousers were torn in places, and blood and other things darkened patches of the fabric. He’d found a blue T-shirt somewhere to replace his combat jacket.
“Where are the others?” she asked, her voice as dark as her mood.
“Big Dog is just finishing patching Butch up. Looks like he has a cracked shoulder and stuffed knee. Julius says the seal he put on the portal will hold for a few hours, long enough for a Magus to get here and do a proper job. A local Werewolf pack will guard the graveyard until that Magus turns up.” He paused for the tiniest moment and his voice changed, pain softening his next words. “Fergus is taking Lance on ahead to the plane.” In a body bag, Gabi filled in the words he didn’t say aloud. Her brooding, sarcastic, easy to annoy friend… She shut the door on the thought, forced back the tears that threatened to spill, and concentrated on Kyle.
“Sasha is waiting at the cars with the baby.” Kyle gave a funny laugh and Gabi looked at him sharply. A soft, reluctant smile tugged at one corner of his mouth.
Anger flooded Gabi. How dare he feel joy right now? They had accomplished what they’d set out to do here, but this was no kind of victory. There was no room for happiness in this godforsaken graveyard.
“Come with me; you have to meet her to understand.” Kyle held out his hand.
She stared at it. Every ounce of her wanted to turn and run in the opposite direction. Run as fast as she could, as far as she could until she no longer had the capacity to run.
Kyle’s large hand settled on her shoulder. He shook her a little until she met his eyes. “Do you trust me?” he asked.
There was no point denying it. She trusted Kyle more than anyone else in the world, including Julius. She treated him to a flat stare.
He grinned. “Then let’s go.”
“Fergus rescued her,” Kyle explained as they walked down the length of the stone wall towards the entrance. “The clinic burned to the ground. I went back to check a little while ago. Nothing remains; fire crews only just managed to save the buildings on either side. We don’t know exactly what happened, Fergus thought Caspian was tryi
ng to circle back to grab the babies, but the doctor and nurses were dead and the place was alight just after Caspian ran from Julius. So something must have gone wrong. Christos, Alicante’s Master Vampire, will keep us informed of what they find and what the official cause of the fire was.”
“And Caspian?” she asked.
“He met his true death. Fergus killed him,” Kyle said, without emotion. “Julius was following him, but left the chase when he heard we needed him here.” He looked down at Razor with a grin. “You’re not too bad for a cat, fluffy.” Razor bestowed Kyle a narrow-eyed glare. “Fergus even took an extra half a minute to sweep his ashes into a storm water drain.” That eased some of the onerous weight on Gabi’s shoulders. No more Caspian, no more Dhampirs.
If Eka was correct.
They reached the heavy metal gates and exited to find the two Hummers parked on the road outside. Two Vampires Gabi didn’t know stood sentry about a hundred meters on either side. Probably keeping any norms away from the scene while they cleaned up.
Sasha was leaning against the side of the lead vehicle, holding a bundle wrapped in pink and yellow with practiced ease, rocking back and forth with a gentle bounce. Her face was a picture of contentment and happiness. Gabi had seen her angry, disdainful and, more recently, carefully constrained, but never happy. This softer version of the tough-talking human was disconcerting. The back of the Hummer stood open, and several shopping bags spilled their contents to mix with crossbow bolts, dart guns and combat clothing. Gabi recognised a few items, but most were way beyond her limited understanding of baby paraphernalia.
“Come and see her.” Kyle dragged Gabi by one arm, making her wince. She knew in principle that babies were cute and adorable and elicited coos from women of all ages, but she’d never had much to do with them. She’d made faces and wriggled her fingers at a couple in restaurants and shopping malls when they stared at her with big, blue eyes, but that was about as far as her interaction with them went.
Sasha looked up at their approach and made a half-assed attempt at putting the scowl back on her face. Gabi guessed it was for her benefit rather than Kyle’s.
“I got as much as I could for her at a late night convenience store,” Sasha explained as if they’d just grilled her on what she was doing. “I even got them to give me some hot water to make her a bottle of formula. It’s not ideal, but it was better than nothing. She’ll be hungry again soon; we need to get to the plane.”
Close enough to smell the baby smell, Gabi leaned in to look at the child, expecting it to be asleep. Sasha leaned her shoulder and dropped her arm a fraction so Gabi and Kyle could see her. The baby opened her eyes and looked at Gabi.
And Gabi was lost.
The clear blue eyes caught hers and held them, and Gabi felt the world shift under her feet. She was being measured, weighed and assessed.
“She’s incredible, isn’t she?” Kyle asked, breaking the spell Gabi was under.
She forced a smile, drawing breath as though she’d been underwater for minutes. “She’s…she’s quite something,” Gabi managed at last. The little girl wriggled a little, turning to nuzzle into Sasha’s chest.
“Here, take her for a minute,” Sasha said, moving close to Gabi and holding the baby towards her. “I need to find her something to suck on until we can prepare another bottle.”
Gabi opened her mouth to protest, ready to cite her damaged wrist, but Sasha simply deposited the bundle in her arms. The baby was truly tiny, no more than five pounds, but the weight of the responsibility of holding her made her feel like she weighed a hundred.
“Just support her head and neck,” Sasha warned as she flitted around to the back of the Hummer.
“That suits you,” a warm voice purred in her ear and she jumped, automatically clutching the baby closer to her chest. As she turned to face him, Julius smiled, but there was sadness in it. “Christos’s crew will finish here. They’ve tracked down all of the escapees and will keep us informed of anything important. Let’s get back to the plane.”
A paediatric consultation via Skype wasn’t ideal, but it was the best they had until the plane touched down in the City. It helped to have several people on the plane who could sense temperature, heart rate and blood pressure without the need for medical equipment. Ian and Jonathon were both in on the call, and they were unanimous in their opinions. She was a miracle. At least four to six weeks premature, she was breathing well, wasn’t terribly underweight, and showed no sign of infection or brain haemorrhage, some of the more common complications of premature birth. She would get a thorough check-up as soon as they landed; and Jonathon was already arranging delivery of an incubator and other paediatric medical equipment for the clinic at the Estate. In the meanwhile, they only needed to feed her, change her and help regulate her temperature until they landed. Warming her up was as easy as handing her to Kyle, who ran a couple of degrees warmer than non-Weres; the doctors had agreed that skin to skin was best, so they stripped off her overlarge Babygro and laid her against Kyle’s bare chest and covered them both with a blanket. She nestled in with content little snorts and snuffles whenever she touched him. Gabi’s heart made a little hiccup when she saw the look on her long-time friend’s face; fatherhood suited him.
Once the baby’s temperature rose slightly above normal, she did the rounds with everyone else. Gabi even gamely took her turn. All the men were instantly entranced, even Julius. The looks he gave Gabi when either of them were holding her were filled with questions and heavy with meaning.
She needed to have a talk with him, but it would have to wait until they were alone.
The welcoming committee at the airport was far larger than normal. Alexander, Ian, most of the Silver Ridge Pack and a large contingent of Magi were waiting in the private lounge, and a cavalcade of vehicles were lined up outside the windows. If it hadn’t been mid-morning, half the Clan probably would’ve been here as well. Neither Fergus nor Julius were showing any strain being awake this late despite the energy they’d expended just a few hours ago, and Alexander looked positively perky. They’d be giving Vampires a bad name soon.
Trish burst from the group as they all trudged from the plane. She’d dropped a pile of bags and a baby car-seat to rush forward. Fergus had the honour of carrying the baby off the plane. It seemed fitting and the baby wasn’t complaining; after Kyle, Fergus seemed to be her second favourite. The few times she’d become slightly unsettled, Fergus had been quick to take over and she’d calmed within moments. He had a knack with her for sure, and Gabi had the strangest notion that he seemed to have lost some of the grim edge he usually carried with him. Saving a baby had to be good for the soul.
Athena was just a few steps behind Trish, but had, Gabi noted, been standing next to Alexander when the plane door opened, and the two had exchanged a loaded look. The two women zeroed in on Fergus and the baby.
“You’ve been usurped,” Gabi teased Kyle with a nudge in the ribs.
“So it seems,” he agreed, but he had a silly, dopey grin on his face.
“I’ve bought special formula and preemie nappies and a baby capsule with a five-star safety rating and, oh…” Trish’s excited babble broke off as Fergus stopped and bent for them to see the precious bundle he held. “Oh my…”
“May I touch her?” Athena asked quietly as the rest of the tired travellers crowded around, waiting to see if the ‘baby magic’, as they’d coined it, worked on everyone else as effectively as it’d worked on them. Fergus held the baby out towards the High Magus, but she shook her head. “I just need to touch her forehead.” She looked up and caught Gabi’s eye as though asking permission.
Gabi inclined her head and the Magus lifted her hand, then very slowly reached towards the baby girl. A smile creased Athena’s face before she even touched the baby, her shoulders relaxing and the tension in her spine easing. “This is the baby I saw as a bright white soul,” she breathed, her gaze locked with bright blue baby eyes. And then her fingertips met the baby’s
forehead. For a moment nothing happened.
Then Athena cried out, her spine arching and her head thrown back, her eyes wide. Her fingers never left the baby’s head though. Gabi, and everyone around her, reacted instantly, leaping forward to intervene.
“Stop,” Alexander roared, halting everyone in their tracks. He appeared alongside them. “Don’t touch her. She warned me this might happen. Just wait it out.”
Gabi and Kyle withdrew their hands, both just millimetres from Athena’s shoulders. Fergus held his ground, gritting his teeth as though in some kind of pain. Sasha and Big Dog fell back a few steps as Julius pulled Gabi back against his chest and Kyle turned to hug Trish to his side. They all waited in a tight circle around the trio, tense and unsure.
Athena’s eyes had closed, and she began a low murmured chant through clenched teeth. The baby’s eyes were also closed, but her face was serene. After what felt like an hour, but was probably no more than two or three minutes, Athena gasped and withdrew her hand. Her knees buckled and Alexander caught her before she hit the ground.
While Athena recovered in a chair in the lounge, her head resting on Alexander’s shoulder, Gabi and Julius sent everyone home. Fergus oversaw the transfer of Lance’s body and the meagre remains of Mariska to a small contingent of Magi waiting to receive them. Gabi paused to watch them go; Lance’s body had been transferred into a plain but beautifully crafted coffin and loaded into a dark, hearse-length car, while the other body bag, the one containing what was left of Mariska, was placed in a crate lined with something dark and shimmering and loaded into a separate vehicle.
Blinking back the tears, Gabi turned back to the hustle around her. Trish had taken over mothering duty, and having changed the baby into better-fitting clothing and nappy, she, Kyle and Ian loaded everything, baby included, into a waiting SUV and left for the Estate.
There'll be Hell to Pay (Hellcat Series Book 6) Page 25