Come Hell or High Water (Hellcat Series Book 5)

by Sharon Hannaford

  “Bastard,” she grumbled, wiping at the stinging cut. Darkstalker was onto her, he was tracking her, and she was now too far from him for the darts’ range. “Shit.” She glanced around, needing a distraction. A dark coat swished in her peripheral vision. “Mac,” she called in relief. Her friend’s body stiffened as he took several bullets, and then he was behind the metal contraption with her.

  “You okay?” Mac checked.

  Gabi nodded. “You?”

  He grinned widely. “Better than ever.” He was actually enjoying his new, almost-unkillable status.

  “You know it’s gonna hurt when they dig them out later,” she warned over the din of the fight, scooting closer to him when another zing bounced off the floor near her feet.

  “That’s later’s problem,” he told her. “What do you need?”

  “Take out the human with the tattoos.” Mac poked his head out of cover and looked around. Another round of bullets hit all around them.

  “Which one?” Mac grumbled. “They’ve all got tattoos.”

  Gabi hadn’t noticed in all the craziness, but he was probably right. “The crazy, muscular, bald one standing on top of the cage,” she specified.

  He peeked out again. “Ah, that one. Okay. You got any darts to spare? I’m almost out. We’re going to have to resort to cracking heads soon.”

  Gabi handed over one of her two spare clips and Mac was gone. She counted to three and stuck her head out again.

  The storm outside lashed the factory as a storm of a different kind raged inside it. The tattooed man grinned like Batman’s Joker and began to fire into the melee, dodging darts with an uncanny precision. It was almost as though he could sense them coming. Another wild battle cry rang out, but this one didn’t sound male. Gabi’s eyes caught movement above the cage, to Darkstalker’s left, as a leather-clad woman dropped from somewhere above to land beside him on top of the cage.

  “Zap him, dimwit,” she yelled in Mr Glasses’ direction. She held a gun in each hand, and she held them like she knew exactly how to use them. Gabi didn’t know enough about guns to accurately identify them, but they were some kind of sub-machine gun. A trail of bullets hung down below each one, and Gabi’s chest squeezed tight. The Vampires had already taken heavy damage, they might be incredibly good at healing, but even they had their limits.

  Darkstalker glanced over at the woman, who could only be Lady Helsing. She was taller than her picture had hinted, slim and muscular. Her leather outfit hugged every curve and she wore gun holsters Lara Croft style, strapped to her thighs. Her long, silver hair hung loose, her mouth twisted in annoyance, and her eyes flashed with anger. Darkstalker’s momentary distraction gave Gabi the gap she needed to swing the crossbow off her shoulder and take aim. A haze of red filled her peripheral vision, narrowing her focus and steadying her arm. She breathed out as she squeezed the trigger and felt a grim flash of victory as the pencil-thick bolt struck deep in the man’s bicep. He spun towards her, anger and pain twisting his face, but the gun hung loose in his grip.

  A spray of bullets assailed her, forcing her to curl into a tiny ball. It seemed Lady Helsing didn’t like anyone taking down her man. Several bullets hit a steel girder a few feet above Gabi’s head and the misshapen bullets rained down on her. They were still hot, and one stung her hand where it touched. Gabi flicked it aside, preparing to find a new place to take cover when something about the bullet made her pause. She picked it up and studied it, hunching over with her collar pulled up to avoid the stinging bullet rain. Excitement bubbled up as she rechecked the bullet and she touched her ear, activating the commlink.

  “I think they’re running out of silver bullets,” she said, hoping someone would hear her over the din. “Don’t go in blindly, some of them may still have silver left, but the ones coming my way now are tungsten.”

  “Right, we’re moving in.” Kyle’s voice echoed in her head. “Where do you need us?” A huge rumble of thunder drowned out anything else Kyle said.

  “Everywhere,” Gabi said, cursing as another bullet bounced off the concrete next to her. She tapped the commlink off and straightened, pondering her next move as the hail of bullets cut off. An anguished howl pierced the air as an electric buzz prickled across her skin and the smell of burnt flesh joined the smell of gunpowder and smoke.

  “Shit.” She flattened herself to the floor and poked her head out. Darkstalker and Lady Helsing were still atop the cage. He’d yanked the bolt from his bicep and blood was streaming down his arm, and at least four darts pierced his skin in various places, but he was still upright. She was still peppering the pockets of Vampires with bullets, but her attention was on the young man beneath her feet.

  He was writhing as electric shocks racked him, his body straining against the metal chains wrapped around him. Tears leaked from his eyes, but he was grimly hanging onto his wolf. Gabi started as a large, dark shape burst out of the shadows to her left.

  “Come on,” Julius said, grabbing her hand and pulling her to her feet. “You’re a sitting duck here.”

  “She’ll eventually run out of bullets,” Gabi groused, her teeth clenched. Needing to be rescued in the middle of a fight wasn’t something that happened to her often. Or ever.

  “And then the two of you can have a fair fight.” Julius grinned over his shoulder, despite the two bullets he took to the shoulder. Even when the coat protected him, the punch of them hitting was enough to knock most people over.

  “She’s mine,” Gabi agreed. A ripping crackle of lightning and an explosion of thunder punctuated her words.

  “She’s high on Vamp blood,” Julius warned her. “I can smell it on her. Darkstalker too, that’s why he’s still standing. There may be others. They’ll be stronger, faster and quicker to heal than you expect. Don’t underestimate them.” He tugged her into an alcove between two large and very solid pieces of machinery. There were several places she could use to view the action while staying relatively protected. Julius ran his tongue quickly over the ragged slice on her cheek and his eyes turned to molten gold, with a groan he turned to leave.

  “You’re going after the Lieutenant?” she asked.

  He glanced back and nodded. “I’ll be back soon. Don’t get yourself killed in the meanwhile.”

  She glared at his back before he vanished from sight. A moment later a Razor-sized shadow appeared at her feet. He purred and rubbed against her, reassuring himself that she was okay. When she knelt to get a view of the action, he stood on his hind legs with his paws on her thigh to see what was happening.

  Julius had taken her much closer to the action. She was in darting distance of Mr Glasses, and she could clearly see the agony on the young Werewolf’s face as he fought not to Change. She swung the crossbow back onto her shoulder and pulled out the MacDart. A quick check made her drop the empty clip and slide her last one into position. Calling on the Red Rage again, she poked her face out of cover and aimed for the chubby man. There was a lot of him to aim for now that she was behind him. Hunched over a sparking box, she would later claim that she simply didn’t aim properly as she shot him right in the ass.

  He jerked as the dart jabbed into the fleshy bit of his butt, arms immediately flailing to remove the offending dart, but it was too late. Gabi just hoped the dose was enough to deal with a man of his weight. And that he wasn’t amped on Vamp blood. She glanced into the cage; the Werewolf was no longer spasming, but he was hunched forward as much as he could manage. His Change was now inevitable.

  Or was it. Setting aside the fact that his Change may well be recorded and sent around the world, a forced Change was a hundredfold more painful than a normal Change, especially if the human side was fighting it. On top of that, the position the Kresniks had tied him in was all wrong for his wolf shape, and most wolves were bigger than their human forms, so the chains, already tight on the human, would crush the wolf.

  “Bugger, bugger, bugger,” Gabi hissed between gritted teeth. She pressed a cautioning hand onto Razor’s
head and, before she could contemplate the pain of another gunshot, she plunged out of hiding and rushed for the cage.

  Dodging crumpled human forms and Vampires struggling to subdue others without seriously injuring them, she threw herself towards the cage, hoping the wire would provide a small amount of cover.

  “Hellcat,” Mac’s voice shouted, “what in Hades name are you doing?” He was away to the left, binding a tall man’s hands and ankles with zip-ties.

  Gabi grimaced as his shout alerted the Kresnik leaders to her intentions, and a spray of bullets stuttered around her. She lifted her protective jacket up to cover her face and head and prayed. A moment later she heard a loud grunt and peeked up to see Darkstalker tumble off the edge of the cage onto the ground, Mac’s crossbow tumbling with him, and a bleeding egg on his temple. A second later Razor erupted from his hiding place and latched onto the Kresnik leader’s gun hand, sinking teeth into flesh and bringing a roar of pain. With no time to waste, Gabi flung her power towards the rocking, howling Werewolf. His wolf was crazed with anger and pain, throwing himself against the wall. His human side was desperately trying to keep strong. “Calm, calm, the hurt is gone. I’ll free him soon. Calm…” Gabi whispered, desperately throwing the sentiment of the words into the power she projected.

  The human dragged his gaze upward; bloodshot eyes found hers, pleading.

  “You bitch,” Lady Helsing screamed. She’d stilled momentarily as she watched her lover fall, but now she brought one of the guns up, aiming directly for Gabi’s head. “Say bye-bye, whatever the Hell kind of creature you are.”

  Gabi braced herself. She knew the jacket wouldn’t hold up to those bullets at this distance.

  Click. Click, click, click. “Oh, for the love of…” the woman growled.

  Gabi exhaled with a gasp as she thanked whatever deity or guardian angel was watching over her. Somehow she’d maintained a thread of calming influence over the wolf, and she immediately strengthened it. He was backing down, retreating. Still snapping and snarling, but no longer fighting for control.

  “Thank you, thank you,” the young man whispered hoarsely.

  “I’ll get you out in a minute,” she vowed, already looking for something to cut the silver-plated wire with. “Hang in—” Her words were cut off when the woman flung herself off the top of the cage, somersaulting and landing just feet from Gabi. Fury twisted her features, narrowing her eyes and pulling her mouth into a pout.

  “I don’t need bullets,” she sneered. “I’ll take you like this.” She darted forward, swinging the empty machine gun for Gabi’s head.

  Gabi scooted backward, avoiding the blow and reading the woman’s movements, assessing, appraising, sizing her up. Movement to her left alerted her to someone else’s approach. It felt like a friendly.

  “She’s mine,” Gabi growled. “Secure the male, and release the captive wolf.” The newcomer backed off and Lady Helsing smiled. It wasn’t a nice smile. Gabi understood that smile. And Gabi actually had the goods to back up that smile. This human, amped up on Vamp blood, was a pretender, a trumped-up bitch with an attitude problem. A little like Gabi used to be just a few short months ago. Gabi returned the smile with one of her own, only hers hinted at the veracity of her thoughts. Lady Helsing paused in her attack, sensing this was more of a challenge than she’d anticipated, doing some sizing up of her own. They circled, never still, Gabi with the MacBow in her hand, Lady Helsing with the gun. Nex itched against Gabi’s spine.

  Lady Helsing broke first, lunging in and swinging the gun towards Gabi’s abdomen while bringing her other fist up hard, aiming for the underside of Gabi’s jaw. Gabi blocked the fist with her bow, allowing the solid metal of the gun to thud into the protective hardness of her jacket, the blow drove the wind from her lungs, but she caught hold of the weapon and yanked the woman in close enough to headbutt her in the nose, hard enough to hurt, but not quite hard enough to break anything. Lady Helsing yowled in pain and anger and thrust away from Gabi, the gun clattering to the floor as the two of them broke apart. Fury blazed in the other woman’s eyes as she wiped the trickle of blood from her nose with the back of one hand. Then she adjusted her movements, a gleam of anticipation in her eyes. She held Gabi’s gaze as she purposefully tugged the coat from her shoulders and threw it to the floor behind her, and this time, as she stretched her hands out, inviting Gabi in, something glinted dully on the knuckles of her right hand. A silver knuckleduster, complete with large, razor-sharp studs and a vicious claw attached to the pinkie side. Lacking the patience for showboating, Gabi charged, leaping to land a double-booted, forward kick right in Lady Helsing’s midriff.

  CHAPTER 17

  The fight with the esteemed Lady Helsing had taken longer than Gabi realised, though it couldn’t have been more than four or five minutes. In the meanwhile the thunder and lightning had ebbed, but heavy rain beat against the roof in a steady waterfall. When she finally pulled the zip-tie tight around the other woman’s ankles, there was little other fighting and no further gunshots in the factory. Vampires were drifting from one slumped human to another, tying them up or lifting them and carrying them away. The cage stood open and the young Werewolf was gone. The chubby man Darkstalker had called Mastermind was still slumped over his array of electronics; Gabi was sorely tempted to hook him up to his own shock device, but sadly there were more constructive things that needed to be done. There was still a long night ahead of them.

  She wiped sweat from her forehead and blood from the corner of her mouth; she could taste more inside her mouth and a couple of her teeth ached. Her left eye was already swelling and she had a couple of bruised, possibly cracked, ribs. The woman had been a competent adversary, better than Gabi could’ve imagined. She was naturally quick, agile and tenacious, and her body was honed to perfection. Under different circumstances, Gabi could actually respect her.

  She rolled the unconscious woman over with one boot; she too sported bruises to her face and arms, a cut under one eye, and probably some broken fingers. Beneath her clothing there would be a host of additional bruises, but nothing that would require medical attention. Gabi was exceptionally proud of herself. It had taken more effort than she expected to exhaust and finally knock out the Vamped-up human without causing serious injuries. She rolled her head across her shoulders and stretched her back, easing soreness. She dared not leave Lady Helsing here unsupervised. If she roused, she might still be strong enough to break her bonds, but Gabi wanted to join Julius in his hunt for the Lieutenant. He’d gone quiet in her mind while she fought, and now had an impenetrable mental wall erected between them; perhaps her fight had been distracting him while he needed to focus.

  She glanced around, looking for a Werewolf or Vampire to hand the Kresnik leader over to, when something made her look up towards a suspended catwalk on the other side of the factory. Movement had caught her attention; it looked as though a Kresnik was making one last stand despite the odds. Through the smoky haze of too many gunshots and some fried electrical equipment, it was hard to make out exactly what was going on. Casting a narrow-eyed glare at the trussed-up woman, she moved closer to the pair of male figures on the catwalk. She stilled the moment she recognised the smaller of the two. Henry was trying to fend off a much bigger man, a man wielding a crowbar, while Henry only held a piece of wood no bigger than a baseball bat.

  “Shit,” Gabi swore, sprinting for the nearest metal staircase. She took the stairs three at a time. Henry wasn’t even supposed to be here; he was under orders to leave at any point that fighting broke out. What in Hell’s name was he still doing here?

  She couldn’t see him now, and she prayed he would hold out a few more seconds. Damn, damn, damn. She reached the catwalk, pausing for a millisecond to assess the situation. He was facing her with his attacker between them. A crowbar-shaped mark reddened his entire left cheek, blood leaked from the corner of his mouth, and his face was already beginning to swell. His eyes were slightly glazed as they found her. A tiny hint of a s
mile lifted the unbloodied side of his mouth. The man raised the crowbar again, and this time Henry didn’t have the strength to raise his own weapon in defence.

  “No,” Gabi shrieked as she ploughed towards them. But she would be too late, the man didn’t even turn to see what came for him. She reached them just as the crowbar landed against the other side of Henry’s head, connecting with his temple and sending him crashing against the railing. His fragile body buckled as it hit and Gabi heard something snap as his head rebounded from the solid upper rail.

  Gabi slammed the butt of her crossbow into the base of the man’s skull and the man mountain crumpled to the ground without a word. She wasn’t sure if she’d killed him, and she really didn’t care.

  “No,” Gabi whispered, leaping over the man’s prone form to rush to Henry’s side. “Lord and Lady, Henry.” Her friend’s body lay in an unnatural heap, and blood ran from the ragged split in his scalp as well as from one ear, his mouth and nose. His eyes opened and, with a little effort, focused on her. Gabi pressed the comm device at her ear.

  “I need a medic up on the top level. A human one.” The Magi Healers wouldn’t be able to help a Null. “Now!” she growled, but her heart already knew it was too late. Henry’s head was bent against one shoulder, and the sound she’d heard could only have been bone splintering. His mouth lifted in yet another smile, his eyes aware. He knew. In his gaze pain and sadness mixed with understanding.

  “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck,” Gabi swore. She was cursing herself, the world, the bastards who’d set this all in motion.

  “It’s okay, Hellcat,” Henry rasped. “I’m okay. There’s no pain.” There was no pain because his spinal cord had been severed, she thought, her teeth clamping together painfully. Even if they managed to save his life, he’d probably never walk again. When would the carnage end?